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US military operations killed 153 civilians in 2025, official says, citing Pentagon assessment

2026-08-12T03:34:36.536Z / Reuters

By Kanishka Singh and Idrees Ali

August 12, 2026 3:34 AM UTC Updated 29 mins ago

A fighter plane takes off, said to be, for an operation against the Yemen’s Houthis at an unidentified location in this screengrab taken from a handout video released on March 18, 2025. US CENTCOM via X/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) – U.S. military operations in 2025 killed 153 civilians and wounded 243, a U.S. official said on ​Tuesday, citing Pentagon assessments.

This compares with a Pentagon assessment that ‌two civilians were killed and two were injured by U.S. military operations in 2024.

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Here are details:

• A Pentagon report submitted to the U.S. Congress and published by U.S. media said ​that all the death and injury tolls against civilians recorded ​in 2025 were due to three U.S. strikes in Yemen.
• The ⁠Pentagon report said the U.S. Central Command had assessed that the three ​strikes in April 2025 in Yemen “more likely than not” resulted in civilian ​harm.
• The Pentagon report also said that as of February 2026, there were 15 other incidents in Yemen that the U.S. Central Command was currently assessing in response to ​reports received through non-governmental organizations.
• The U.S. military says it aims to ​degrade the capabilities of Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen.
• The Pentagon report did not include ‌any casualties ⁠from U.S. strikes in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.
• The report said as of February 1, 2026, the U.S. Southern Command assessed that “there were no incidents in which civilian casualties more likely than not resulted from U.S. military ​operations in the ​USSOUTHCOM area of ⁠responsibility in 2025.”
• President Donald Trump’s administration has struck vessels that it accuses of transporting narcotics in the Eastern Pacific, ​casting its targets as “narco-terrorists.”
• The U.S. military’s strikes on such ​vessels have ⁠killed more than 200 people since September 2025, according to a tally of death tolls published after each strike.
• Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International consider ⁠such ​strikes unlawful extrajudicial killings. The American Civil ​Liberties Union casts the assertions by the Trump administration against those it targets as “unsubstantiated, fear-mongering claims.”

Reporting ​by Kanishka Singh and Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Edwina Gibbs

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Republican survives primary on Tim Walz’s old congressional turf as Dems eye seat flip

August 11, 2026 9:52pm EDT / Fox News

Rep Brad Finstad is one of the two Republicans currently holding a state-wide seat in increasingly blue Minnesota

By Amanda Macias Fox News

Senate Majority Leader John Thune analyzes GOP midterm strategy and Iran tensions

Senate Majority Leader John Thune addresses the GOP fundraising shortfall in crucial 2026 midterm races during an interview on ‘America’s Newsroom.’ Thune reacts to Chuck Schumer embracing Democratic Socialists of America candidates and analyzes ongoing maritime tensions with Iran. He also weighs in on the confirmation path for Todd Blanche as attorney general, highlighting the narrow margins in the Senate.

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Republican voters in Minnesota chose their incumbent representative in the U.S. House as their nominee in the race for the state’s 1st Congressional District.

Finstad faced off with Gregory Goetzman and Oliver Morlan in the Republican primary on Tuesday.

Goetzman previously unsuccessfully challenged Finstad in 2024, earning a measly 4.26% of the vote compared to the incumbent’s 90.9%. Morlan, who is involved in his family’s industrial cleaning business, ran in Tuesday’s race as the political outsider.

2026 MIDTERMS: PRIMARIES, KEY RACES AND ELECTION RESULTS

Incumbent Rep. Brad Finstad, R-Minn., faced challengers Gregory Goetzman and Oliver Morlan in the Republican primary.(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images)

Of Minnesota’s eight districts in the U.S. House of Representatives, the 1st District is one of the state’s four Republican-held House seats. It covers a large swath of southern Minnesota, including Rochester and much of the state’s farm country.

Finstad will advance to the November general election to face the winner of the Democratic primary between Alex Eaton, a math teacher and former teachers-union leader, and Jake Johnson, a small business owner. Eaton is considered more establishment while Johnson is considered to be the more progressive of the Democrat candidates.

The bipartisan Cook Political Report ranks the race as ‘lean Republican,’ a downgrade from the ‘solid Republican’ ranking in the last elections as Minnesota, especially in its city centers, increasingly embraces leftist ideals.

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A sign is seen outside a polling place in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on March 3, 2020.(Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Rep. Finstad has represented Minnesota in the House since winning a 2022 special election. It was held after Republican Rep. Jim Hagedorn, who after years of therapy and surgery for a kidney cancer diagnosis in 2019 and after testing positive in January 2022 for COVID-19, died on February 17, 2022.

Before Hagedorn, the seat was represented by Democrat Tim Walz, who left Congress after being elected governor in 2018. He is still governor, after an unsuccessful run for vice president on the ticket with then-Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

Walz announced on January 5, 2026 he would not seek reelection.

The district has leaned Republican in recent election cycles but has a history of electing candidates from both parties.(Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images)

Minnesota’s 1st congressional district has trended Republican in recent election cycles but has a history of electing candidates from both parties.

Agriculture, health care, manufacturing and the economy are expected to remain central issues as the race moves toward the November general election.

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The Republican and Democratic nominees will compete in November to determine who will represent southern Minnesota in the U.S. House.

Amanda Macias covers the intersection of business, economics and politics, with a focus on how policy decisions shape markets, businesses and American workers.

US bars federal funding of gender-affirming care for low-income minors

2026-08-12T00:02:54.076Z / Reuters

WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) – The Trump administration finalized a rule on Tuesday barring two major federal health programs from funding puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries to treat gender dysphoria ​in minors, reshaping access for low-income youth nationwide.

The rule, scheduled for publication on Thursday and effective in October, cuts off funding under Medicaid ‌and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, which together cover 35.5 million U.S. children.

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Roughly a decade after U.S. specialty clinics began offering pediatric gender treatments, the government says it will no longer share the cost for children under 18 in Medicaid and under 19 in CHIP, citing what it called weak evidence of benefit and risks of irreversible harm.

The move marks one of ​the administration’s most sweeping restrictions yet on transgender healthcare. It forms part of a wider crackdown on the rights of transgender people through the elimination ​of legal protections in the military, healthcare, education and the workplace.

The rule does not ban the procedures but removes the federal ⁠support that makes them accessible to millions of low-income children, shifting the burden to states, families and private insurance.

“By cutting off federal funds for these sex-rejecting procedures, we’re ​following the science, saving taxpayer dollars, and, most importantly, protecting children from potentially irreversible harm so they can truly flourish,” Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. ​Mehmet Oz said in a statement.

The measure reflects a broader reassessment of pediatric gender medicine, even as major U.S. medical organizations back such care and warn against restricting it. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association say such decisions should rest with children, parents and healthcare professionals.

OPPONENTS CHALLENGE FUNDING CUT

CMS asserts that the 1965 Medicaid statute, which requires that care serve ​beneficiaries’ “best interests,” authorizes it to cut the funding, a novel use of the provision that opponents say exceeds its power.

Democratic state attorneys general sued in Oregon federal court ​over an earlier version, calling it an unlawful attempt to dictate medical standards and strip states of authority to regulate medicine. More than 90% of about 11,000 public comments opposed the ‌cut; the ⁠government finalized it anyway, largely as written.

The rule sets up a clash with the 14 states and the District of Columbia that have enacted “shield laws” protecting gender-related care, leaving them to drop coverage or pay themselves.

CMS projects the rule will cut combined Medicaid and CHIP spending by about $235 million over a decade, $138 million in federal funds and $97 million in state funds, reflecting what governments would save by dropping coverage. States that do not would have to absorb the full cost themselves.

U.S. health data analyzed for ​Reuters by Komodo Health shows more than ​121,000 children aged 6 to 17 ⁠were diagnosed with gender dysphoria between 2017 and 2021; and 17,683 started puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or both.

TRUMP TOUTS POLICY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

President Donald Trump claimed credit in a Truth Social post, saying he had directed Oz to end funding for what ​he called “barbaric surgeries and practices” on minors, and urging voters to “remember this” in November’s midterm elections.

Though Trump and Oz touted ​savings, the $138 million in ⁠federal savings within Medicaid and CHIP that CMS projects amounts to roughly 0.002% of total federal spending in the programs over a decade, and the agency says the rule is not meant “as a means of achieving budgetary savings.”

Transgender rights have become a contentious U.S. political issue, with several Republicans campaigning in 2024 on rolling back protections. The administration has moved ⁠to bar ​transgender people from the military, block them from listing their gender identity on passports, and restrict federal ​workers’ bathroom use.

Children now on hormone therapy through Medicaid or CHIP will get six months of continued coverage to taper off, a concession CMS added after warnings that abruptly halting treatment could cause harm.

The ​relief is narrow: it covers only hormones, not surgeries or puberty blockers, and only children already in treatment on the effective date.

Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Chris Reese

Lindsey Graham’s sister advances to runoff for US Senate seat in South Carolina

2026-08-12 00:34:41 UTC / Reuters

By Reuters

August 12, 2026 12:34 AM UTC Updated 3 hours ago

U.S. Senator Darline Graham (R-SC), the sister of late U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), is seen in Columbia, South Carolina, U.S., July 29, 2026. REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Aug 11 (Reuters) – Lindsey Graham’s sister Darline ​Graham advanced ‌to the runoff for the ​Republican U.S. ​Senate nomination in South ⁠Carolina, according ​to U.S. ​media projections on Tuesday.

Graham will ​be one ​of two candidates to ‌advance ⁠to the runoff in August, as no ​one ​is ⁠set to gain more ​than ​50 ⁠percent of the vote.

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Reporting by ⁠Costas ​Pitas; ​Editing by Michael Learmonth ​and Lincoln Feast

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Schumer dealt another blow as progressive insurgency scores win in key Senate battle

August 11, 2026 11:41pm EDT / Fox News

Tim Walz’s lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan, won backing from Bernie Sanders and Ilhan Omar

By Alex Miller, Fox News

Democratic Senate hopeful pushes ‘ripping ICE apart’

Minnesota Democratic Senate candidate Peggy Flanagan expressed support for ‘ripping ICE apart’ during a campaign rally.

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Progressives again scored a victory in Minnesota where Gov. Tim Walz’s second-in-command toppled an establishment-backed member of Congress.

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan eked out a victory over Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., on Tuesday, marking yet another battle won in the progressive proxy war to reshape the Democratic Party during this midterm election cycle.

Flanagan, like other progressives in the hunt for a position of power in Congress, has honed her left-leaning bona fides by backing Medicare for all and pushing an end to military aid to Israel.

REPUBLICANS GET THE DEMOCRAT THEY WANTED AS SOCIALIST ABDUL EL-SAYED WINS MICHIGAN SENATE PRIMARY

Peggy Flanagan, Minnesota’s lieutenant governor and Senate hopeful, faced backlash over her progressive activism and outreach amid the state’s sprawling fraud controversy.(Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

She’s also vowed to go after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the wake of two deadly immigration enforcement-related shootings in Minnesota and used Craig’s support of legislation, like the Laken Riley Act, as a political cudgel to build a distinction between the two of them.

Those positions have earned her the backing of progressive heavyweights like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and even Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., whose decision to retire from the Senate opened up the contest.

Notably, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who is running for governor, has not weighed in on the race so far.

Craig, who was viewed as the safer, more moderate pick, had the backing of the Democratic old-guard, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

BIG MONEY PROPELS DEM MEGACHURCH PASTOR TO VICTORY IN LONGSHOT KANSAS SENATE BID

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Republicans are licking their chops, too, at Schumer getting handed another loss.

“Morale among Chuck Schumer’s establishment is at an all-time low, and Bernie Sanders’ socialist flank is filling the gap with candidates like Peggy Flanagan and Abdul El-Sayed,” Bernadette Breslin, a spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told Fox News Digital.

And it’s also brought reams of cash into the race. Craig has raised nearly $13 million this cycle, according to filings from the Federal Election Commission, while Flanagan has raked in just shy of $7 million.

“Peggy Flanagan is about bringing about real change, standing up to the big money interests,” Sanders told “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “There is a reason why the super PACs and the billionaires are flooding Minnesota with all kinds of money. Same thing as Michigan.”

Republicans see Flanagan’s candidacy in the same vein as Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who last week similarly squeaked out a narrow win over Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., who, like Craig, has Schumer’s backing.

BOMB-THROWER DEM MAKES SHOCKING PROMISE TO KICK SCHUMER TO CURB DURING SENATE DEBATE

Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., addresses media on Feb. 20, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn.(David Berding/Getty Images)

They also have built-in messaging against her: Flanagan was Walz’s right hand as the Minnesota fraud scandal rippled across the airwaves and nation. While the scandal killed his prospects of running for reelection as governor, it has so far not kneecapped Flanagan’s candidacy. And Walz hasn’t waded into the endorsement game in the Senate contest, either.

They’re confident that national Republicans’ candidate of choice, former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, will win her primary and be the candidate to turn Minnesota red. There’s also the possibility that Flanagan, who has not raked in the same level of cash that Craig did, may become a resource drain for other key races on Democrats’ score card.

“Minnesota and Michigan being in play was not on Chuck Schumer’s bingo card this cycle,” a GOP operative told Fox News Digital. “It remains to be seen which battleground(s) Democrats will have to pull resources from to drag socialists like Peggy Flanagan and Abdul El-Sayed across the finish line in November.”

And Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., when asked by CNN which races kept him up at night, said one contest gave him hope.

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“The one thing that gets me excited when I think about this election cycle on the map is Minnesota,” said Scott, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). “I think Minnesota, we have a real shot with Michele Tafoya.”

“What we know without question is, she is within a point of the lieutenant governor right now,” he said. “So if we can continue to let her show the contrast between the two candidates, I think Michele Tafoya’s the kind of Republican that can win.”

Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.

Dems eye pick-up in Wisconsin swing district as Rep Van Orden set for rematch in key House race

August 11, 2026 10:39pm EDT / Fox News

The former waitress and dairy farm native defeated Emily Berge to secure the nomination for a third-straight time

By Morgan Phillips Fox News

Battleground Democrat opposed conversion therapy ban before reversing course

Democrat Rebecca Cooke said “no” when asked whether she would support a federal conversion therapy ban during a June candidate forum in Platteville, Wis. (Credit: CD Chair 3rd CD DPW via Youtube – June 19)

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A former waitress, small-business owner and nonprofit founder won the Democratic primary in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday, setting her up for a rematch with Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden.

Rebecca Cooke, raised on an Eau Claire-area dairy farm, defeated former Eau Claire City Council President Emily Berge on Tuesday evening. The win puts Cooke back on the ballot in one of Democrats’ top House pickup opportunities this fall.

It will be Cooke’s third attempt to win the western Wisconsin seat. She lost the 2022 Democratic primary to then-state Sen. Brad Pfaff before securing the party’s nomination in 2024. Van Orden defeated her that November by roughly 11,000 votes, winning 51.4% of the vote to Cooke’s 48.6%.

WISCONSIN DEM TOUTS ENDORSEMENT FROM UNION PUSHING BACK AGAINST CDL CRACKDOWNS ON ILLEGAL ALIEN TRUCKERS

Rebecca Cooke, candidate for Congress in Wisconsin’s Third Congressional District, speaks during a town hall hosted by Pete Buttigieg at the La Crosse Center on January 16, 2026 in La Crosse, Wisconsin.(Kayla Wolf/Getty Images)

Cooke has sought to make her working-class background central to her campaign. She grew up on a dairy farm near Eau Claire, has worked as a waitress since she was a teenager and founded the Red Letter Grant, a nonprofit supporting women entrepreneurs. She also previously operated a small retail business and served on the board of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. after being appointed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

Her campaign has focused on affordability, health care and the economic challenges facing rural communities, while portraying Cooke as a pragmatic Democrat able to appeal across party lines in a district that includes Eau Claire, La Crosse and much of western Wisconsin.

Cooke entered the primary as the better-funded candidate and with national support from Democrats.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) added Cooke to its “Red to Blue” program, which directs party resources toward candidates viewed as viable in competitive districts.

Berge, a mental health counselor and former Eau Claire City Council president, ran as a local alternative to Cooke, arguing voters should have a choice rather than see the nomination effectively decided by national party backing and fundraising. Her strongest base of support was expected to be in and around Eau Claire.

IOWA DEM ADMITS BEING ‘UNCOMFORTABLE’ WITH WHITENESS AS SHE SEEKS TO FLIP COMPETITIVE HOUSE SEAT

Rep. Derrick Van Orden speaks before Vice President JD Vance at Pointe Precision in Plover, Wis., on Feb. 26, 2026.(Getty Images)

The general election is likely to renew scrutiny of Cooke’s personal finances and past political work. Van Orden’s campaign has pressed her to release a financial disclosure that was extended until Aug. 13, two days after the primary. The campaign has argued that earlier disclosures showing income from political consulting and rental properties undercut Cooke’s working-class image.

Republicans have also sought to cast Cooke as a Democratic political insider, pointing to her work on Democratic campaigns and fundraising. Cooke has presented that experience as part of a broader record that includes operating a business, leading a nonprofit and working in the hospitality industry.

MADISON, WI – NOVEMBER 03: Poll worker Rebecca Brandt, center, feeds a voting tabulation machine with absentee ballots in the gym at Sun Prairie High School on November 3, 2020 in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. The entire gym was dedicated to counting the absentee ballots. After a record-breaking early voting turnout, Americans head to the polls on the last day to cast their vote for incumbent U.S. President Donald Trump or Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. (Photo by Andy Manis/Getty Images)

Van Orden, a retired Navy SEAL who was first elected in 2022, is seeking a third term.

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The 3rd district in Wisconsin, a swing state, has leaned Republican in recent presidential elections, but Cooke’s narrow 2024 loss and substantial fundraising have made the race a closely watched contest as Democrats seek to win back the House in November.

The bipartisan Cook Political Report moved the race from “lean Republican” in the last election cycle to “toss up.”

Trump says his plane faced ‘greater risk’ in secret flight change

August 12, 2026 1:20 AM UTC / Reuters

WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he secretly switched planes in ‌Turkey last month at the direction of the U.S. Secret Service, but that the plane he ultimately flew on was still more vulnerable than Air Force One.

Following a NATO summit in Ankara, Trump was transferred from Air Force One to a military ​plane via a catering truck in an extraordinary deception prompted by an Iranian assassination threat, U.S. media ​reported.

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The White House did not disclose the change and it remained a secret until ⁠the Washington Post first reported it on Monday. Some media commentators questioned whether the operation left Trump’s aides and ​journalists traveling with him at risk aboard the plane presumed to be carrying the president.

“I think actually the ​plane that I flew on was at greater risk,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. “I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for.”

After a day of social media ​memes portraying Trump as hiding out in the catering truck, the image-conscious president, who often promotes memes of ​himself as a bold and courageous leader, said he was following the direction of the Secret Service, the agency that protects ‌the ⁠president.

[1/2]U.S. President Donald Trump arrives aboard the new Qatari-gifted Air Force One, as he returns to Washington after participating in a NATO leaders’ summit in Turkey, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., July 9, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

“Well, it’s only up to Secret Service. I just follow what they’d like to do, so I go by Secret Service and the military,” Trump said.

“I guess there was a threat out there. I didn’t really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats,” Trump said.

The White House said at the time that ​the president was flying aboard ​Air Force One from ⁠Turkey to Britain. But moments after Trump boarded the plane, he left it in secret via the catering truck and boarded another aircraft for the flight to ​Britain, the Post said on Monday, quoting unnamed sources.

Trump had taken a newly renovated ​Qatari-donated jet ⁠to Ankara for the NATO summit but unexpectedly announced he would use an older Air Force One when departing the country, a move that prompted questions about the newer plane’s security.

The trip to NATO was the first international travel ⁠for ​the new plane, whose speedy upgrades triggered questions over its cost ​and security, and took place as hostilities escalated with Iran, which borders Turkey.

Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward in Washington; Additional reporting ​by Humeyra Pamuk and Christian Martinez; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Tom Hogue, Ross Colvin and Lincoln Feast.

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Republicans pick Marques to face Democrat Figures in redrawn Alabama US House seat vote

2026-08-12T01:28:44.612Z / Reuters

By Reuters

August 12, 2026 1:28 AM UTC Updated 2 hours ago

The Alabama State Capitol stands in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S., May 7, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

Aug 11 (Reuters) – Republican voters in Alabama on ​Tuesday picked state representative ‌Rhett Marques to be their candidate in ​November’s election ​for the state’s 2nd District ⁠U.S. House ​seat, after the party ​redrew the electoral map and hopes to flip ​the area won ​by the Democrats in 2024.

The ‌Republican ⁠nominee will face Democrat Shomari Figures, who is hoping ​for ​a ⁠second term in the seat ​where a Supreme Court ​decision ⁠allowed the use of a pro-Republican ⁠congressional ​map.

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Reporting by ​Costas Pitas; Editing by Michael ​Learmonth and Tom Hogue

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Democrats take sixth shot at ousting popular GOP governor who voted for Harris

August 11, 2026 11:03pm EDT / Fox News

Democrats in deep blue Vermont have a new nominee as they take a sixth straight shot at trying to oust popular Republican Gov. Phil Scott.

Democrats in deep blue Vermont have a new nominee as they take a sixth straight shot at trying to oust popular Republican Gov. Phil Scott.

Economist Amanda Janoo on Tuesday defeated former child advocacy organization CEO Aly Richards — who is backed by former Democratic Govs. Howard Dean and Madeleine Kunin — to capture the party’s gubernatorial nomination, the Associated Press reported.

Amanda Janoo, an economist, is a Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Vermont.(Amanda Janoo gubernatorial campaign)

Scott was unopposed as he cruised to the GOP gubernatorial nomination. Scott is running for a sixth two-year term steering Vermont, and if he wins the general election and completes another term, he’ll pass Dean as the northern New England state’s longest serving governor. Vermont and neighboring New Hampshire are the only two states in the nation to elect governors every two years.

Republican Vermont Gov. Phil Scott walks out the House chamber of the Statehouse after giving his budget address to the Legislature, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024, in Montpelier, Vt. Scott proposed an $8.6 billion budget for fiscal year 2025 and, as he has done before, urged lawmakers not to raise taxes or fees.(AP Photo/Lisa Rathke)

Scott is a moderate Republican and a vocal GOP critic of President Donald Trump.

The governor endorsed former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries, and voted for then-Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, over Trump in that year’s general election.

Republican Gov. Phil Scott of Vermont is running for re-election in 2026 for a sixth two-year term in office.(Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Beating Scott in November will once again be a tough task for Democrats in a state where their party normally dominates elections.

Scott won a whopping 73% of the vote in his 2024 re-election, besting the 69% he received in his 2022 victory.

Paul Steinhauser covers the national campaign trail from coast to coast for Fox News

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乘风破浪无年限 八旬爷爷坚持风帆冲浪逾40年

2026年8月12日 11:17 / 新明日报

杜华强从43岁起就开始热爱风帆冲浪。图为他十多年前在水上大放异彩。 （受访者提供）

只要天气许可，86岁的退休人士杜华强几乎每天都会到东海岸“报到”，出海进行至少一小时的风帆冲浪。

杜华强43岁那年，偶然在海边散步时看到一群人玩风帆冲浪（windsurfing），当场就对这项运动“一见钟情”。他觉得，帆板和风帆仅靠风力驱动十分有趣，既能享受乘风而行的乐趣，也能锻炼体能、保持活跃。

他于是报名参加俱乐部开办的风帆冲浪课程，从此展开超过40年的“乘风破浪”之旅。杜华强忆述，当时虽然已年过40，但年龄并没有阻碍他尝试新的水上运动。

杜华强玩风帆冲浪40多年来，赢得不少比赛。（受访者提供）

他说，风帆冲浪看似借风而行，但要“驾驭”强风其实很考验体力和技巧，选用合适的器材也很重要。例如，风力强劲时若使用面积过大的风帆，风帆可能被强风吹倒，把人“压”在水中，甚至造成受伤。

20多年前，杜华强花了三年完成初级、中级和高级教练课程，正式成为一名风帆冲浪教练。他多年来训练过多名学员，也在孙子小时候，尝试教他们风帆冲浪。

除了风帆冲浪，杜华强也会视风力情况，进行风翼冲浪（windsurf foiling）。他说，两项运动相近，但后者的帆板底部装有水翼，达到一定速度后，帆板会升离水面，仿佛“飞”在水面上，带来不一样的刺激感。

杜华强几年前也开始学风翼冲浪（windsurf foiling）。（受访者提供）

这项爱好的开销并不低。杜华强说，视品牌而定，一个帆板约2000元，风帆或水翼则约1000元。目前，他拥有两套风帆冲浪器材和一套水翼设备，单是存放器材，每月平均就要花近200元。

不过，他认为，从中获得的乐趣和意义远超过这些花费。

“这两项水上运动又刺激又好玩，还让我近距离接触大自然。”

杜华强笑说，如今他的孙子都大了，没时间与他一起风帆冲浪了。（受访者提供）