We are just north of a month away from Election Day and the country is watching to see if there are any October surprises that could potentially affect Vice President Harris's or former President Donald Trump’s campaigns.

In this week’s episode of Capitol Gains, anchor Rachelle Akuffo, Washington Correspondent Ben Werschkul, and senior columnist Rick Newman break down the current events that are making headlines and could potentially impact the economy and move the needle ahead of Election Day.

Editor’s note: This week's episode of Capitol Gains was recorded prior to the East Coast ports suspending their strike.

“There are three October surprises happening simultaneously”, according to Werschkul. We are only a few days into October and the candidates and nation are facing the growing conflict in the Middle East, aftermath of Hurricane Helene, and East Coast port strikes. While Werschkul believes the handling of the hurricane has pulled a lot of presidential focus, Newman believes the tensions in the Middle East could affect the election if something happens to oil and gasoline prices.

Later in the episode, Akuffo, Werschkul, and Newman are joined by Kyle Kondik, Sabato’s Crystal Ball Managing Editor at the University of Virginia Center for Politics to discuss battleground states as well as deciding factors that could sway voters.

Watch more episodes of Capitol Gains here.

This post was written by Lauren Pokedoff