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Developing story
Voters had cast 52.7 million early ballots by Saturday, Oct. 31, passing the midterm record set in 2022, according to the Washington State Standard. Control of the House and Senate is at stake when polls close Tuesday.
Voters had cast 52.7 million early ballots by Saturday, Oct. 31, the Washington State Standard reported. That tops the midterm record set in 2022. Analysts were reluctant to read the number as a sign of a Democratic wave, the report said.
Campaigns are on track to spend $11.6 billion on ads this cycle, according to the firm AdImpact. The Ohio and Texas Senate races led the spending.
Democrats need a net gain of four seats to win the Senate. Republicans hold a narrow House majority.
Court fights over the vote
On Friday, Oct. 30, the Trump administration suffered a setback when a federal appeals court rejected its push to make state officials set aside as many as 20,000 voter ballots. According to the report, the Justice Department had previously lost cases involving mail-in voting and its access to state voter rolls as well.
The department is still pursuing a preemptive lawsuit over the results of Alaska’s U.S. Senate race, the report said.
Asked on Tuesday, Oct. 27, whether he would accept a Democratic victory, President Donald Trump said:
“I will, if they’re honest elections.”
Senate races to watch
As of Oct. 30, The Cook Political Report rated seven Senate races as toss-ups: Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Ohio and Texas.
An Emerson College Polling survey of Kansas voters, taken Oct. 26 to 28, put Democrat Adam Hamilton at 49% and Republican Sen. Roger Marshall at 45%. The margin of error was 3.5 percentage points.
The report said polls show cost of living, including fuel and food prices, as the top issue for voters.
Results are not yet known. Polls close Tuesday night.
This story is developing and will be updated.
What it means for you
- Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polls close that night, and control of both chambers of Congress is in play.
- Democrats need a net gain of four seats to take the Senate. Republicans hold a narrow House majority.
- Polls cited in the report name cost of living, including fuel and food prices, as the top voter concern.
- Court fights over ballots and voter rolls could continue after Election Day, including the Justice Department’s Alaska Senate lawsuit.