1. New poll: GOP candidates doing fine in Alabama.

• A new survey by Alabama Farmers Federation’s FarmPAC shows statewide Republican candidates with comfortable leads over their Democratic opponents.
• The Farmers Federation is known for its polling operation. It’s one of the resources they use to help their endorsed candidates.
• But ALFA political surveys are rarely, if ever, made public.
• It’s a smaller sample, but the survey gives us a snapshot of what the statewide races look like six weeks out of the general election.
• Perhaps the biggest data points sticking out to me are the Right Track / Wrong Track numbers and the Tom Parker / Robert Vance race.
• See the full results HERE, the first of two stories about this Farmers Federation poll.

2. Race profile: Senate District 25.

• Continuing Alabama Daily News’ coverage of the 2018 legislative races, Will Whatley takes a look at Senate District 25, where Will Barfoot and David Sadler are running to replace retiring State Sen. Dick Brewbaker.
• It’s a Republican seat, to be sure, and Sadler would need a lot to break his way in order to win.
• But Montgomery has been trending Democratic, and if there is a ‘blue wave,’ this is one of the races where it could matter.
• Read Will’s full writeup HERE.
• Also, don’t forget to send Will and Caroline tips for other races around the state that are worth watching/covering.

A message from the Boeing Company

• How quickly could an interim solution be in place to meet the U.S. Army’s need for a cruise missile defense system?
• An upgrade to Boeing’s Avenger system would take 12 months – offering real capability in half the time and with 30 percent cost savings.
• Find out more about Boeing’s upgraded Avenger offer HERE.

3. Here we go: SCOTUS hearing today.

• At 9:00 a.m. Central Time, the Senate Judiciary Committee will convene for a hearing on allegations of sexual misconduct for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
• I’d tell you where to watch, but I don’t think you’ll be able to miss it if you are near a TV or computer or are generally awake at all today.

• NBC News reported that the Committee has investigated new and different allegations. Some are anonymous, some have been recanted, and some are so unverifiable that Democrats are accusing Republicans of leaking them to prove a point.
• Jessica Swetnick came forward to accuse Kavanaugh of being a part of gang rape parties, only to have an ex-boyfriend question her credibility publicly, reports Politico.
• And this buried bombshell: The Committee interviewed two men who say they, not Kavanaugh, had the sexual encounter with Christine Blasey Ford at a party in the early 1980s. (Did you listen to the Malcolm Gladwell Revisionist History podcast???)

4. Elsewhere on the Hill.

• On Wednesday, the House gave final passage to that Defense-HHS-Labor-Education Appropriations bill.
• President Trump has complained about it a little, but he’s likely to sign it.
• So there is no threat of a government shutdown and most agencies are funded for next year.

• House and Senate leaders announced a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on landmark opioid legislation.
• It aims to stem the influx of drugs across the border, crack down on illegal synthetic drugs like Fentanyl, encourage the development of non-addictive pain killers, and remove barriers to treatment for those addicted.
• Read more HERE.

• The House passed one of Rep. Martha Roby’s bills – H.R. 6847 The Preventing Child Exploitation Act.
• The bill combines some of the related legislation into one package: the Strengthening Children’s Safety Act, the Global Child Protection Act, the Protecting Against Child Exploitation Act, and the Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act.
• Read more about it HERE.

• Freedom Caucus leader and would-be Speaker of the House Jim Jordan is still furious about Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s comments and wants there to be a hearing about it.
• But House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte is kind of ghosting him, and President Trump doesn’t seem all that worked up about it either.
• That Trump/Rosenstein meeting that was supposed to happen today has been delayed.
• More on all that HERE.

5. News Briefs.

• A University of South Alabama student has been suspended for hanging two nooses on campus.
• University President Tony Waldrop said the student was suspended after admitting to hanging two nooses and a bicycle in a tree on campus. The student will face a discipline hearing.

• Former state Rep. Oliver Robinson will be sentenced today in federal court in Birmingham after pleading guilty to bribery and tax evasion.
• Prosecutors are seeking nearly three years in prison for Robinson, who misled constituents and abused his office by accepting payments for working against an EPA plan to expand an environmental cleanup site.
• That story HERE.

• Flash floods trapped people in homes and vehicles in north Alabama on Wednesday, and forecasters said the threat could last another day.
• Torrents of rain from a cold front moving through the state caused water to quickly cover roads and low-lying areas near Birmingham.
• Read more HERE.

• A federal appeals court panel ruled Wednesday that a Louisiana law requiring that abortion providers have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals does not violate women’s constitutional abortion rights.
• That’s significant because, if upheld by the Supreme Court, the ruling could limit abortion providers from employing certain doctors.
• Several states – including Alabama – have sought to pass such laws in the wake of Philadelphia abortion doctor Kenneth Gosnell’s “House of Horrors” revelation.
• Full story HERE.

Headlines.

Front Pages (images link to newspaper websites, which you should visit and patronize).