{"id":15693,"date":"2026-04-14T18:51:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T01:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=15693"},"modified":"2026-04-14T18:57:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T01:57:39","slug":"midterm-elections-reality-check-bradcast-4142026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=15693","title":{"rendered":"Midterm Elections Reality Check: &#8216;BradCast&#8217; 4\/14\/2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/Images\/BradCast_USCapitol-Lightning_041426.jpg\" hspace=\"6\" vspace=\"3\" border=\"0\" align=\"right\">On today&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/BradCast\"><i>BradCast<\/i><\/a>: With voters in Hungary demonstrating on Sunday that the ballot box can be mightier than the autocrat, and with shake-ups in the U.S. House this week and fresh news from the Gerrymandering Wars, it seems a good moment to consider all of this news in light of the critical November midterms. [<i>Audio link to full show follows this summary.<\/i>]\n<p>Also today, some weather and climate news, and an update on paper tiger Trump in the Middle East.  Among our stories today&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>As we go to air, the most powerful storm currently on Earth &#8212; and of 2026, so far &#8212; <b>Super Typhoon Sinlaku<\/b> is <a href=\"https:\/\/weather.com\/storms\/hurricane\/news\/2026-04-13-super-typhoon-sinlaku-marianas-guam-saipan-tinian-el-nino\">slamming<\/a> tens of thousands of citizens on U.S. territories in the western Pacific Ocean, including the <b>Northern Mariana Islands<\/b> and <b>Guam<\/b>. The damage may continue for a while, as the devastating storm &#8212; unusual for this early in the year &#8212; slowed down as it reached the islands, potentially resulting in maximum destruction.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Back here on the mainland, it&#8217;s a <i>political<\/i> storm blowing through the <b>U.S. House<\/b> this week. Following serious sexual assault allegations first reported on Friday, <b>California<\/b>&#8216;s Democratic Rep. <b>Eric Swalwell<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/congress\/reps-tony-gonzales-eric-swalwell-officially-resign-misconduct-claims-rcna331765\">resigned<\/a> from the U.S. House on Tuesday. He may now also be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/congress\/reps-tony-gonzales-eric-swalwell-officially-resign-misconduct-claims-rcna331765\">facing a criminal probe<\/a> following a fifth woman stepping forward today with still more disturbing accusations. His resignation was followed shortly after by the resignation of <b>Texas<\/b> Republican Rep. <b>Anthony Gonzalez<\/b>, whose affair with a married staffer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c0700pd0xx1o\">lead to her suicide<\/a>. While the allegations against Gonzalez have been known for some time, it was only <i>after<\/i> Swalwell&#8217;s announcement that he was stepping down on Monday (facing threats of expulsion) that the Texas Rep. agreed to leave as well, safeguarding the GOP&#8217;s razor-thin majority in the lower chamber during the interim.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Speaking of which, new news today in the <b>Gerrymandering Wars<\/b> kicked off last year by <b>Donald Trump<\/b>&#8216;s order to Republican states to redraw their U.S. House maps to steal &#8220;blue&#8221; seats from voters this November. One of the hopes for Democrats to redraw their own maps in response to the GOP campaign was <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/redistricting-wes-moore-maryland-florida-virginia-4481f51e7f1f007be4ba02d91b3bfa63\">dashed<\/a> on Monday night, as state Senate Democrats in <b>Maryland<\/b> ended their latest session without voting on a new state map, as sought by Democratic Gov. <b>Wes Moore<\/b>. He had asked for a redrawn map to help flip the state&#8217;s last Republican-held House District in favor of the Dems, but was blocked by the Democratic state Senate President who felt the move might end up harming Democrats.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>In other related Gerrymandering War news, the Republican-dominated <b>Florida<\/b> legislature is <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/florida-redistricting-census-desantis-b10b743019ba7f25a2f26d3ccdaf9a67\">set to convene<\/a> a special session next week to consider redrawing its already gerrymandered U.S. House map, even as <b>Virginia<\/b> voters are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pilotonline.com\/2026\/04\/14\/virginia-redistricting-battle-final-stretch\/\">already early voting<\/a> on a state Constitutional Amendment sponsored by Democrats to temporarily set aside the state&#8217;s independently drawn U.S. House map in favor of one that could flip as many as four more seats from &#8220;red&#8221; to &#8220;blue&#8221; this November. The Special Election Day is next Tuesday, April 21, and pre-election polling suggests it could be a close contest!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>In Congress&#8217; upper chamber, meanwhile, the <b>Cook Political Report<\/b> this week made <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/5829228-senate-races-shift-democrats\/\">four adjustments<\/a> to their November forecast for the <b>U.S. Senate<\/b>, with all four changes moving toward the left for this year&#8217;s races in <b>North Carolina<\/b>, <b>Ohio<\/b>, <b>Nebraska<\/b> and <b>Georgia<\/b>. That said, Cook&#8217;s current forecast for the Senate still predicts Republicans hanging on to majority control of the upper chamber next year &#8212; if just barely for now.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Why has Trump ordered the U.S. Navy to blockade traffic in the <b>Strait of Hormuz<\/b> in his effort to prevent Iran from blockading traffic through the Strait of Hormuz? We try to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/04\/12\/business\/strait-of-hormuz-blockade\">explain<\/a> today, before noting that <b>China<\/b> now seems to be <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/international\/5830128-chinese-tanker-strait-hormuz-blockade\/\">calling Trump&#8217;s bluff<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for <a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=15691\">our latest <i>Green News Report<\/i><\/a>, as the war on <b>Iran<\/b> deepens global poverty even as <b>Big Oil<\/b> is rolling in profits; as news policies in the <b>UK<\/b> and <b>France<\/b> seek to permanently reduce dependency on fossil fuels; and as birds turn out to be smarter than <b>Donald Trump<\/b> when it comes to <b>wind energy<\/b>, according to newly released studies&#8230;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\".\/Images\/Speaker_Icon_24.png\" style=\"width: 24px; float: none; vertical-align: middle;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; line-height: 18px;\"> <b><i><a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/audio\/BradCast_BradFriedman-SinlakuMarianas-SwalwellGonzalezOut-RedistMD-VA-FL-CookSenate-TrumpChinaIran_041426.mp3\">CLICK TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD SHOW!&#8230;<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><center><b>* * *<\/b><\/center><i>While we post <a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/BradCast\"><\/i>The BradCast<i><\/a> here every day, and you can hear it across all of our great affiliate stations and websites, to automagically get new episodes as soon as they&#8217;re available sent right to your computer or personal device, subscribe for free at <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-bradcast-w-brad-friedman\/id803467610\">iTunes<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pandora.com\/podcast\/the-bradcast-w-brad-friedman\/PC:1000025838\">Pandora<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/tunein.com\/radio\/The-BradCast-with-Brad-Friedman-p477565\/\">TuneIn<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iheart.com\/podcast\/256-the-bradcast-w-brad-friedm-30973643\/\">iHeart<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/The-BradCast-w-Brad-Friedman\/dp\/B08JJRN86R\/ref=sr_1_1\">Amazon<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/podcastgen\/bradcast\/feed.xml\">our native RSS feed<\/a>!<\/i><\/p>\n<p><!--BB-DONATEPITCH-START--><\/p>\n<div style=\"background:#f5f0e0; border:2px solid #6b5a2e; border-radius:6px; padding:10px 14px; text-align:center; font-family:Georgia,serif;\"><span style=\"display:block; margin:0 0 8px 0; color:#3a2e0e; font-size:0.95em; line-height:1.5;\"><strong>The BRAD BLOG<\/strong>, <em>The BradCast<\/em> and <em>Green News Report<\/em> are all 100% independent and 100% listener and reader supported!<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/Donate\" style=\"display:inline-block; background:#6b5a2e; color:#ffffff; padding:6px 18px; border-radius:4px; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; font-family:Georgia,serif; font-size:0.9em;\">Please CLICK HERE to help support our work today!<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!--BB-DONATEPITCH-END--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On today&#8217;s BradCast: With voters in Hungary demonstrating on Sunday that the ballot box can be mightier than the autocrat, and with shake-ups in the U.S. House this week and fresh news from the Gerrymandering Wars, it seems a good moment to consider all of this news in light of the critical November midterms. [Audio [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,89,675,598,543,479,2053,1326,548,16,72,1110,134,477,102,310,43,15,540,198,233,105,1786,541],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-15693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accountability","category-media-appearance","category-bradcast","category-china","category-climate-change","category-donald-trump","category-election-2026","category-eric-swalwell","category-extreme-weather","category-florida","category-georgia","category-gerrymandering","category-iran","category-kpfk","category-maryland","category-nebraska","category-north-carolina","category-ohio","category-oil","category-us-house","category-us-senate","category-virginia","category-wes-moore","category-wind","bb-type-bradcast"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15693\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15693"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=15693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}