Human Race: Mamdani’s momentum

Mayoral candidate and self-described democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani began a weeklong Five Boroughs Against Trump tour in New York City on Aug. 11, touting endorsements from New York Assembly­member Harvey Epstein and other local Democrats. The campaign tour came a week after Mamdani snagged the backing of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who proclaimed Mamdani’s focus on affordability as “the central reason to be a Democrat.” Mamdani, a Muslim immigrant and state assemblyman from Queens who won the Democratic primary in June, also has the support of far-left Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

Mamdani’s upset primary win against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo led to Cuomo’s continued presence in the race as an independent candidate. Mayor Eric Adams is also vying for reelection as an independent. Mamdani, 33, has proposed free universal child care for every child in New York City ages 6 weeks to 5 years. He also has a plan for city-run, publicly funded grocery stores. But it’s his criticism of Israel and his past calls to “defund the police” that have many establishment Democrats unwilling to link arms with the upstart contender.

During an Aug. 7 press conference, Mamdani, who was leading in the polls, declared that his administration would be “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare.”

Fed appointment

President Donald Trump on Aug. 7 tapped economist Stephen Miran, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, to temporarily fill a vacant seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, pending Senate confirmation. Days earlier, former Federal Reserve Gov. Adriana Kugler had tendered her resignation without explanation, several months before her term was slated to expire. The Board of Governors, a group of seven presidentially appointed members, vote monthly on federal interest rates and report to Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Miran, a former Manhattan Institute senior fellow, is credited with authoring the “Mar-a-Lago Accord,” an unofficial plan to devalue the U.S. dollar to manage the deficit. Miran, like Trump, has publicly said the Federal Reserve should have lowered interest rates months ago. His vote on the board is expected to add pressure on Powell to do so. —Carolina Lumetta

Gubernatorial bid

Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn officially announced a bid for governor of Tennessee Aug. 6. Blackburn hopes to replace outgoing Republican Bill Lee, who has served for two terms and cannot run for reelection. In her video announcement, Tennessee’s first woman senator promoted parent-­empowered childhood education, tough-on-immigration law enforcement, and an end to “gender pronoun insanity.” Pollsters expect her to compete well in next August’s primary and November elections. Voters first sent Blackburn to Washington in 2003 as a member of Congress, where she served until winning her Senate seat in 2018. If elected governor, Blackburn, who owns a small business and sold books door to door as a college student, would appoint her Senate successor. —Todd Vician

Woman in charge

Jen Pawol made history Aug. 9 when she became the first woman to umpire a regular-­season Major League Baseball game. The 48-year-old monitored first base during the first game of a doubleheader between the Miami Marlins and the host Atlanta Braves, then made calls at third during the second game. Pawol also became the first woman to call balls and strikes in a major league game in the Aug. 10 finale of the Braves’ five-game home series against the Marlins. She had worked in the minor leagues for nearly 10 years and was one of eight female umpires in the minors before receiving her historic call-up from MLB. Pawol donated the cap she wore during the first game to the Baseball Hall of Fame. —Ray Hacke

Actress settles

Actress Gina Carano on Aug. 7 said she finally settled her lawsuit with Disney and Lucasfilm years after they fired her from The Mandalorian. Carano had played a tough rebel soldier called Cara Dune in the Star Wars streaming series, but Lucasfilm fired her in 2021 after fans criticized her for social media activities, including posting an image with text mocking masking regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic and her refusal to add gender pronouns to her social media profile, instead writing “beep/bop/boop.” In a statement on X, Carano didn’t give details about the settlement but said she was “humbled and grateful to God for His love and grace in this outcome.” Lucasfilm said it was pleased to have reached a settlement and looked forward to finding opportunities to work with Carano in the future. —Elizabeth Russell

Antarctic flyer

Teenager Ethan Guo’s flight to raise money for cancer research took an unplanned hiatus after he broke the law. Earlier this summer, Chilean authorities charged Guo with providing “false flight plan data” to ground control authorities. Hoping to become the youngest person to fly solo across all seven continents, Guo had landed his single-engine Cessna 182Q on King George Island in the Antarctic, despite having been authorized only to fly over Punta Arenas in South America’s southernmost region. On Aug. 11, a judge dropped the charges but required the young pilot to donate $30,000 to a children’s cancer foundation. Guo has raised more than $130,000 so far. The judge also ordered Guo to leave the Chilean-claimed territory once conditions allow him to depart. Guo has stayed on an island military base since late June due to severe cold weather. Once he is able to leave, Guo will be prohibited from returning to Chilean territory for three years. —Bekah McCallum

No greater love

Cohen Turner, 22, drowned in floodwaters Aug. 3 in Cleburne County, Ala., while saving the life of his childhood friend. Turner and the unnamed friend were driving home from a night of fishing on Lake Wedowee when a flash flood engulfed their vehicle, submerging it in a creek. Although both men escaped through the sunroof, the friend afterward was caught in the current. “His friend went under and his [Turner’s] last actions were that of abandoning his own safety and pushing his friend to a tree for safety,” Turner’s uncle, Danny Turner, a police officer in Lincoln, explained in a Facebook post. “A heroic act by everyone’s definition.” —Emma Freire

Lawmaker accused

A threat of revenge porn is the latest in a string of troubling allegations against a U.S. congressman from Florida. In a July police filing that Drop Site News reported in early August, Lindsey Langston, the reigning Miss United States and an ex-­girlfriend of Republican Rep. Cory Mills, claimed Mills threatened to release explicit videos of her following their breakup. Mills has previously been accused of assault, lying about details of his military service, failing to pay $85,000 in rent, and omitting information on financial reports. The lawmaker awaits a House Ethics Committee review, although he denies wrongdoing for any alleged offense. In an Aug. 5 statement, Mills, 45, called the most recent accusations a political attack. “I have always conducted myself with integrity,” said Mills, “both personally and in service to Florida’s 7th District.” Mills represents one of 35 congressional districts that Democrats hope to challenge in 2026, although Republi­cans view his seat as secure. —B.M.