The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, Carolyn Fiddler, and Matt Booker, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.

Leading Off

● VA State House: While Virginia Republicans currently lead in 52 races for the state House and Democrats in just 48, the final outcome hasn’t been decided yet because two contests where Democrats trail are poised for recounts.

One of those two Democrats, Del. Martha Mugler, in fact conceded on Friday, prompting House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn to issue a statement congratulating Republicans on their victory. But Mugler, who represents the 91st District in the Hampton Roads area, rescinded her concession over the weekend after a tabulation error cut Republican A.C. Cordoza’s lead almost in half, from 185 votes to just 94.

Just to the south in Virginia Beach, 85th District Rep. Alex Askew is likewise in a very tight race, just 127 votes behind Republican Karen Greenhalgh. Both races are within the 0.5% margin that would trigger an automatic recount paid for by the state. If somehow both elections were to flip, Democrats and Republicans would find themselves with 50 seats apiece in the House, necessitating a power-sharing agreement. Recounts very seldom change electoral outcomes, though the error in Mugler’s race gives Democrats very good reason to pursue a thorough review.

Redistricting

● GA Redistricting: On a party-line vote on Friday, a committee in Georgia’s Republican-run state Senate advanced the GOP’s new map for the chamber. The proposal represents an extreme gerrymander: Donald Trump would have won half of the Senate’s districts by at least 15 points despite losing statewide. The full Senate will reportedly take up the plan this week.

Campaign Action

● ID Redistricting: Idaho’s evenly divided bipartisan redistricting commission has approved new maps for the state, making minimal changes to the congressional boundaries. The legislative map, which is used to elect both the state Senate and House, likewise does nothing to affect the GOP’s dominance. Commissioners must now forward their plans to the secretary of state’s office (which will likely happen this week), at which point anyone unhappy with the maps has 35 days to challenge them before the state Supreme Court.

● SC Redistricting: South Carolina’s Republican-run Senate has released a draft map for its own chamber. Lawmakers have yet to unveil proposals for the state House or Congress.

● WI Redistricting: Wisconsin’s Republican-run state Senate passed the GOP’s new redistricting proposals for Congress and the state legislature on a party-line vote on Monday. The Assembly, which is also in Republican hands, will reportedly take up the maps on Thursday. After the Senate vote, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers reiterated his pledge to veto “Republicans’ new gerrymandered maps.”

Senate

● AZ-Sen: Saving Arizona PAC, the group funded with a $10 million donation from billionaire Peter Thiel, has released a poll from Fabrizio Lee arguing that the ad campaign it’s running has had an impact on next year’s GOP primary. The PAC’s endorsed candidate, Thiel Capital chief operating officer Blake Masters, trails state Attorney General Mark Brnovich 26-14, but a previously unreleased August survey had Brnovich ahead by a wider 29-5 spread. Predictably, Saving Arizona’s ads have attacked Brnovich for failing to act on the Big Lie, something Donald Trump himself has of course also whined about.

● NC-Sen: The far-right Club for Growth, which has already spent millions promoting Republican Rep. Ted Budd in next year’s Senate primary, has put out a new poll from WPA Intelligence suggesting their candidate is surging. The numbers find former Gov. Pat McCrory leading Budd 36-33, compared to a much larger 45-21 margin in June. Former Rep. Mark Walker is at 13% in both polls. The Club’s ads have focused on publicizing Donald Trump’s endorsement of Budd.

● NH-Sen: Are we there yet? Republican Gov. Chris Sununu told Fox News on Friday night that he’ll “probably come to some decision in the next week or so” regarding a bid against Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, adding, “Maybe sooner.” Sununu made the remarks in Las Vegas while attending an event held by the Republican Jewish Coalition.

Governor

● GA-Gov: DeKalb County CEO Mike Thurmond indicated on Friday that he might run in next year’s Democratic primary for governor if Stacey Abrams declines to seek a rematch, saying, “I’m always interested. Hope springs eternal in every political heart, but we’ll see what the future brings.” Thurmond, who lost a bid for Senate in 2010 by a 58-39 margin, also made it clear that he’d defer to Abrams, who hasn’t said anything publicly about her plans.

● MA-Gov: State Attorney General Maura Healey is still weighing a bid for governor, saying on Saturday, “I continue to seriously consider running for governor. And I’ll make a decision soon.” In mid-July, she said she’d “know more by fall” about her plans. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker has likewise refused to offer a specific timetable about whether he’ll seek a third term, saying last week only that he’d decide “soon.”

● PA-Gov: State Senate President Jake Corman, who’s been eyeing a bid for governor, is reportedly planning a “special announcement” Thursday, at which the Philadelphia Inquirer's Andrew Seidman says “he’s expected to launch his campaign for governor.” Corman would join a very large Republican field in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, while Democrats have consolidated around state Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

House

● IL-06: EMILY’s List has endorsed freshman Rep. Marie Newman as she seeks re-election in Illinois’ redrawn 6th District, where she’s been thrown together with fellow Democratic Rep. Sean Casten.

● MI-13: State Rep. Shri Thanedar said on Monday he’s considering a bid for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, which is currently held by Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib. Thanedar, however, didn’t indicate he has any beef with the congresswoman, and redistricting is still underway, so there’s no telling where the next incarnation of the 13th District might end up. That might not matter much to Thanedar, though: After badly losing the 2018 Democratic primary for governor despite spending $10 million of his own money, he moved from Ann Arbor to Detroit and spent another $300,000 to win a safely blue state in the state House.

● MO-04: State Sen. Caleb Rowden, who had been considering joining the GOP primary for Missouri’s open 4th Congressional District, has announced he won’t run.

● NC-06: Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam, who last year became the first Muslim woman to win elective office in North Carolina, announced on Monday that she’ll run for the redrawn 6th Congressional District. Allam had been considering a bid for the old 4th District, the predecessor to the new 6th, which became open when veteran Democratic Rep. David Price announced his retirement last month. She joins state Sen. Wiley Nickel in the Democratic primary. The 6th is a safely blue seat in the Chapel Hill-Durham area that would have voted for Joe Biden 73-25 last year, according to Dave’s Redistricting App.

● NJ-03: Wealthy yacht manufacturer and yoga instructor Robert Healey has entered the race against Democratic Rep. Andy Kim in New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District, though the seat’s precise future remains uncertain as the Garden State’s redistricting commission has yet to release even a draft map. The New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstein previously reported that Healey “is expected to self-fund a major portion of his campaign” and noted that he’s a former punk rock singer who is “[h]eavily-tattooed with long hair and nipple piercings,” though in a more recent photo, he appears to have cut his hair and shaved his beard.

● OR-05, OR-06: Democratic Rep. Kurt Schrader announced over the weekend that he’d seek re-election in Oregon’s 5th District, which contains his home town of Canby, rather than in the new 6th, where more of his current constituents have wound up. Though the 6th is slightly bluer (it would have voted for Joe Biden 55-42, while the new 5th would have gone 53-44), it’s already attracted the attention of some heavyweight progressive Democrats, making it less appetizing for the Blue Dog Schrader. However, the congressman still faces a primary challenge from attorney Jamie McLeod-Skinner, who kicked off a bid recently.

● PA-17: Democratic operative Sean Meloy, who previously worked as a campaign staffer for retiring Rep. Mike Doyle, launched a bid for Pennsylvania’s open 17th Congressional District on Monday. Meloy, who is currently an official with the LGBTQ Victory Fund, would be the first gay person to represent the state in Congress. He joins Navy veteran Chris Deluzio in the primary.

● SC-01: Physician Annie Andrews has announced a challenge to Republican Rep. Nancy Mace in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, making her the first notable Democrat to do so. The 1st is tough territory for Democrats, though—it voted 52-46 for Donald Trump last year as Mace was ousting Rep. Joe Cunningham 51-49—and Republicans in the legislature may try to make it redder in the redistricting process.