Americans vote on Tuesday in midterm elections that will decide which party controls Congress for the last two years of Donald Trump's presidency. Trump spent the final weekend rallying in Florida and Iowa, telling supporters Republicans would win up and down the line, while Democrats closed on affordability and the cost of living. Polls suggest the House is likely to flip, and Democratic candidates lead in the most competitive Senate races. The campaign's final days brought a judge's dismissal of a Justice Department suit over Alaska's Senate race, a Supreme Court request on California ballots, and the hospitalisation of Senator Chris Murphy after a stroke.
A federal judge has dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit that sought to block certification of Alaska's Senate results if Republican Senator Dan Sullivan loses. Sullivan said he would honour the outcome of the vote regardless of the ruling. The decision lands a day before midterm elections in which all 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats are being contested. Democrat Mary Peltola, who is running for the Senate seat, delayed campaign events after sustaining minor injuries in a car crash. The case was one of several legal fights over election administration in the closing week of the campaign.
A federal judge in California late on Friday barred the Justice Department from threatening or coercing election officials who are processing midterm ballots. Judge Trina Thompson of the Northern District of California issued an eight-page temporary restraining order in response to a suit filed the same day by labour unions representing election workers. She wrote that senior Justice Department and Homeland Security officials had run a campaign to intimidate state and local staff. The ruling capped a week in which the administration lost three bids to set aside roughly 20,000 California ballots it says may have been cast by non-citizens. Election Day is Tuesday.
President Donald Trump cancelled weekend rallies in Iowa and Kansas, two states with unexpectedly competitive Senate races, and will instead hold tele-rallies reaching voters in nearly 20 states. The Republican National Committee called the switch a final 72-hour sprint before Tuesday's midterm elections. Democrats enter the last weekend with a national advantage and are favoured to win the House, while the Senate remains close. Trump said he did not feel he had to go to Kansas and predicted a strong Tuesday night. A Reuters/Ipsos poll put his approval at a record low of 31 percent.
The US midterm campaign enters its last weekend before the November 3 vote, with Democrats holding a nine-point lead in national polling and Republicans defending narrow majorities in Congress. An Ipsos analysis put Democrats at 53 percent and Republicans at 44 percent among voters. Fox News Power Rankings forecast that Democrats retake the House, while calling the Senate a toss-up at 48 Democratic seats, 47 Republican and five undecided. Early in-person voting in Georgia closes on Friday. President Donald Trump campaigned in Ohio, South Carolina and Texas this week, while former president Barack Obama rallied in Georgia, attacking the Iran war, fuel prices, tariffs and immigration enforcement.
President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama spent the final week of the US midterm campaign in the same battlegrounds, offering voters competing accounts of the economy. Trump held two rallies in Texas on Tuesday, his fourth trip there since Labor Day, campaigning for Senate candidate Ken Paxton. About 210 million registered voters will decide the full House and a third of the Senate on November 3. Polling averages put Trump's approval in the high 30s, and cost of living is the top voter concern. Democrats are favoured to take the House while the Senate remains close, with Michigan, Texas and Alaska the tightest races.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to restore an immigration rule that allowed judges to suspend some deportation cases. In an unsigned order with no noted dissents, the justices refused a request from Baltimore, New Haven, Columbus and a legal services group to pause an agreement between Texas and the Justice Department. The rule, adopted in 2024, permitted administrative closure so crime victims or witnesses could pursue relief. Texas sued in June, the Justice Department joined, and a single-judge courthouse in Wichita Falls granted a final judgment the same day. The court acted four days after briefing closed, and judges are now expected to decide cases rather than shelve them.
The US Justice Department sued Alaska's election officials on Thursday, asking a federal court to block certification of the Senate result if Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan does not win. The suit argues that a second candidate named Dan Sullivan on the ballot could confuse voters. Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired schoolteacher, was ruled eligible by a state judge and the Alaska Supreme Court. The filing was signed by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward; Attorney General Todd Blanche had said hours earlier that interfering with certification was never the department's intention. On Friday President Donald Trump said: 'I'm the one who said do it.' Democrats have asked the judge to dismiss the case.
The US Justice Department has sued to stop Alaska from certifying its Senate election unless Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan wins, arguing that votes cast for a little-known candidate with the same name could change the outcome. The suit was filed on Thursday, and Attorney General Todd Blanche defended it on Sunday. Alaska's Supreme Court ruled earlier that both Dan Sullivans could appear on the ballot. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he ordered the lawsuit. The state uses ranked-choice voting, and the election is on 3 November. Legal experts questioned how the department could determine voter intent. The department is asking a federal judge to act before the state certifies its results.
Kimberly Guilfoyle has left her post as US ambassador to Greece after a report that she asked a donor to President Donald Trump for $100,000 to clear credit card debt shortly before her confirmation hearing. Trump had told reporters he was looking at firing her, and the White House moved quickly to close the issue rather than defend her. The departure removes a public distraction for Republicans weeks before the midterm elections, in which prices, the Iran war and candidate quality are already shaping races. Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host and longtime figure in Trump's orbit, has not given a detailed public account of the allegation.