How Harris’ candidacy reshapes the battle for Congress: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.

In today’s edition, Capitol Hill reporters Sahil Kapur and Scott Wong explore how having Kamala Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket is changing the down-ballot dynamic. Plus, national political correspondent Steve Kornacki breaks down the polls that show a lower number of undecided voters in a Donald Trump-Harris matchup.

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How Harris’ candidacy reshapes the battle for Congress

By Sahil Kapur and Scott Wong

The rapid replacement of President Joe Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris as the de facto Democratic nominee isn’t just upending the race for the White House. It’s also reshaping the dynamics for both parties in key contests set to decide control of Congress.

For Republicans, the calculus changes dramatically. Their candidates have embraced former President Donald Trump and were banking on tying Democrats to an aging and unpopular Biden to win competitive House and Senate races. Now they’re eyeing a way to pivot to Harris, and GOP operatives are already testing new lines of attack on her.

For Democrats, candidates in battleground races still plan to localize their races as much as possible. But lawmakers and party operatives now hope they can benefit from the wave of enthusiasm provided by Harris’ campaign in down-ballot races.

GOP strategists said their priority is to craft and drive a negative portrait of Harris in the minds of voters, using some of the issues they attacked Biden on, such as immigration, crime and inflation.

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