“Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee for Ohio governor, confirmed on Thursday that his campaign is no longer airing an attack ad that features the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton,” The Guardian reports.
Washington Sun: Ramaswamy pulls controversial ad featuring his opponent’s estranged mother.
“Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed will campaign Sunday in Detroit alongside former primary rival Rep. Haley Stevens, marking their first public appearance together in months after a week in which lingering divisions spilled into public view,” the Associated Press reports.
CNBC: “Netanyahu’s party has intensified claims that the Arab-led parties ‘stole’ the election, amplifying an allegation that spread after exit polls showed the prime minister’s bloc had suffered a setback.”
“Likud asserted Thursday, without evidence, that foreign interference was ‘aimed at facilitating a foreign takeover of the Knesset, the Islamization of Israel and toppling of the right wing government.'”
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A new Mountain States Poll poll in Montana finds Kurt Alme (R) leading Seth Bodnar (I) in the U.S. Senate race, 30% to 26%, with Alani Bankhead (D) at 21%, Kyle Austin (L) at 3% and Jami Woodman (WRIT) at 1%.
“President Trump erupted last week after he learned that one of his former lawyers, Alina Habba Mildon, secured a contract worth more than $50 million to work for a billionaire Venezuelan family,” the New York Times reports.
“Angered at the size of Mrs. Mildon’s deal, Mr. Trump has told aides and allies that she should donate a portion of that money to his future presidential library or another Trump-related entity, according to multiple people briefed on the conversations.”
“A high-profile Georgia Republican who ran a massive Ponzi loan scheme that brought losses of more than $76 million to more than 300 investors was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison on Monday, according to federal prosecutors,” the New York Times reports.
“As winter set in and Election Day neared in Alaska, high prices for diesel and home heating oil drove voter anger at President Trump and incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, making the Senate race in this red state one of the most competitive in the country,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Now, with just days to go, allegations that Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign secretly worked to recruit a spoiler candidate to help her party win the pivotal Alaska seat—and potentially retake control of the Senate—has become this midterm election’s biggest October surprise.”
“President Donald Trump has canceled two rallies in the final days of the critical 2026 midterm elections, and instead, is now spending the weekend holding a flurry of tele-rallies – shorter virtual events – as polls show Republicans facing growing political headwinds,” MS NOW reports.
“The president was originally set to campaign in Salina, Kansas, on Saturday and Dubuque, Iowa, on Sunday, but the Republican National Committee, which has been organizing his final campaign blitz, suddenly announced on Thursday that those rallies will no longer take place.”
“State election officials and the Trump administration are eyeing one another with extreme suspicion ahead of Tuesday’s midterms, after months of hostile interactions over the procedures for how Americans vote,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
CBS News: “In this midterm cycle, 18 of 35 Senate races and 12 of the 36 gubernatorial races did not feature a debate between the major party candidates, and in those that did occur, many were defined by mudslinging and character assaults that wound up viral online.”
“Ken Paxton, Texas’ attorney general and its Republican Senate nominee, is homing in on the ultraconservative voters who have long powered his political career in his final push to win the grueling race,” the Washington Sun reports.
“Paxton has largely leaned into familiar conservative messages — like attacking transgender people and aligning himself with President Donald Trump — betting that the Republican base will be enough to carry him to victory in November. The approach reflects a political calculation that has long worked for Republicans in Texas, which is to energize conservative voters and capitalize on the state’s conservative bent.”
“It’s a risky strategy for a general election that presupposes Texas is not the battleground just about everyone else — including some Republicans — think it is.”
“Next week’s midterm elections could prove momentous for Social Security, with time running out to put the program on solid financial ground,” CBS News reports.
“Social Security trustees’ most recent report projects that the program’s main trust fund is on course to be depleted by late 2032, after which Social Security recipients would face a more than 20% cut in benefits.”
Aaron Blake: “Imagine when the dust settles on the 2026 midterm elections that Democrats haven’t gained a single Senate seat and are stuck at 47.”
“Now imagine it’s a week after the election, and Democrats have won 55 seats — or even as many 57 — giving them the second-largest Senate majority for either party since 1981.”
“The distance between those two outcomes isn’t nearly as large as you might think.”
“With just five days left in the 2026 election, there is a huge margin of error in the battle for the Senate — with many races showing no clear leader in the polls.”
Gallup: “The economy, healthcare and the situation in Iran lead in importance to U.S. voters in this year’s election, among 11 issues rated. Half of registered voters say the economy and healthcare are extremely important to their vote, and 47% say the same about Iran.”
“The country is doing unbelievably well.”
— President Trump, quoted by Politico.
Ed Kilgore: “Midterm elections are typically referenda on the performance and popularity of whoever happens to occupy the White House. In the case of the 2026 midterms, it’s fair to say that no president ever has gone to a greater effort than Donald Trump to personalize an election in which he is not on the ballot.”
“For one thing, he has spent an entire decade molding the Republican Party in his image, purging or beating intra-party critics into submission, with his triumphant 2024 comeback and vengeful second-term agenda sealing the deal. For another he’s been omnipresent during the midterm battle, from his very personal direction of entirely unprecedented mid-decade House gerrymandering efforts to his pursuit of such unhelpful policy initiatives as a war of choice with Iran, all punctuated by his ubiquitous rallies.”
“So as the 2026 campaign comes to its end, it’s worth a final look at the president’s job-approval numbers for a sense of what he brings to the table in the penultimate national election of his career in public office.”
“The Justice Department has dramatically accelerated a criminal probe into whether Alaska Democrats sought to confuse voters by recruiting a Senate candidate intended to siphon votes from the Republican, issuing dozens of new grand jury subpoenas and homing in on new potential charges,” CNN reports.
Wall Street Journal: The Justice Department expanded its probe into alleged efforts to manipulate Alaska’s Senate ballot as Trump calls for Mary Peltola’s prosecution.
“Democrats have a closer in Michigan’s Senate race: South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn. He’s heading to Michigan this weekend to rally Democrats in support of Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed,” Semafor reports.
“Michigan Democrats are trying to project unity and turn out Black voters ahead of Election Day amid concerns among some party members that Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers could erode the party’s edge among Black voters.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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