Your US mid-term elections daily digest

There are a little more than four weeks until the elections that will help define the rest of Donald Trump's presidency.

The mid-term elections will see people vote for members of both houses of Congress, as well as for governors in 36 out of 50 states.

Between now and then, we'll bring you updates and all the best analysis every weekday in this round-up.

One big question

Have opponents of Brett Kavanaugh's nomination helped invigorate Republicans?

After a rancorous confirmation process, Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in to the US Supreme Court on Saturday, a little more than a week after denying accusations of sexual assault during a Senate hearing.

All but one Democrat in the Senate had voted against his confirmation, and the party's members had rallied to highlight what they saw as his unsuitability for the role.

So, the big question: what effect will this have on the mid-terms?

"It's turned our base on fire," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Saturday.

And on Sunday, he credited the behaviour of Democrats with energising Republicans, "particularly in the red states where we're trying to pick up seats out across America".

As our man Anthony Zurcher points out, the polls provide some evidence that McConnell has a point - the Kavanaugh battle has coincided with a pick-up in enthusiasm among Republican voters and may well have reversed momentum that had been with Democrats all summer.

One statistic

If you're a Republican running for Senate or governor, it helps to be on the president's good side - in primaries earlier this year, candidates who backed Trump tended to come out on top.

If you're a Republican candidate for the smaller districts in the House, however...it's a bit more complicated.

In 2016, Trump did better in low-income districts, and less well in high-income districts with college-educated voters. So if you're a Republican defending a House seat in one of those higher-income areas, you're in a tricky spot.

Analysis by Reuters of 56 battleground districts for Republican candidates for the House found that 19 (close to a third) haven't mentioned the president at all.

Reuters looked through campaign websites and thousands of social media posts to come to their conclusions.

One race to watch

Taylor Swift in 2016, in the process of not giving her views on the presidential race

Never in my Wildest Dreams did I imagine that Taylor Swift would end up in a story about the mid-terms. But Look What You Made Me Do.

The singer is not one for making political statements (a point that has brought her some criticism in the past) but she's made her opinion known on the delicate Senate race taking place in Tennessee, where she's a registered voter.

In an Instagram post, she said she would vote for the Democratic candidates for the Senate, Phil Bredesen, and House of Representatives, Jim Cooper.

The Senate race in particular is worth keeping an eye on - Bredesen is running against Republican candidate Marsha Blackburn and the state is one of only a handful where the result is a toss-up, even though it overwhelmingly backed Trump in 2016.

Blackburn, whose voting record Swift said "terrifies" her, is marginally ahead, recent polls indicate.

However, it is not clear how important a part the Swiftian vote might play in the outcome.

One thing to read

Since this is our first daily round-up, we thought you might appreciate our handy guide to what's at stake in the mid-terms.

Until tomorrow, have a good day.