On the campaign trail today
• Midterms promise: President Donald Trump offered a $1 million payout to anyone who reports voter fraud that results in a conviction even as experts contend that election cheating of this kind is vanishingly rare in US elections.
• Trump in Mississippi: The president’s appearance tonight in a state he won by 23 points underscores the challenges Republicans face in reliably red states this year. He’ll be rallying for Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who faces Democrat Scott Colom in a state where Democrats haven’t won a Senate seat since 1982.
• Minnesota controversy: Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s planned participation in an event tonight with the Twitch streamer Hasan Piker is dividing Minnesota Democrats.
• Early voting: With eight days until the election and nearly 30 million ballots cast already, CNN takes a look at what the data shows for each state.
Updates
(44)Trump says government will be "watching closely" for fraud in Minnesota Senate race
President Donald Trump seemingly laid the groundwork to potentially claim fraud in Minnesota if Republicans don’t pull out a win in the state’s Senate race.
Former sportscaster Tafoya is running against Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. One state Democratic official described the race in Minnesota, seen as one of the reddest blue states, as “far too close for comfort.”
Trump’s post about Minnesota comes just hours after he said he would offer a $1 million payout to anyone who reports voter fraud that results in a conviction.
The president also said over the weekend that Michigan needs to “watch it” as he seemed to suggest, without evidence, that vote counters there could attempt to alter the results of the state’s midterm elections.
Mississippi voters await "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to see a president
As President Donald Trump arrives in Mississippi, there are few open seats remaining at Crossroads Arena in Corinth.
On the way in, many voters said they were here because it was a singular chance to see an American president in person.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here in small-town Corinth, Mississippi,” said Amanda McDaniels, a 42-year-old nurse. “He’s got a lot accomplished.”
Other rallygoers sounded less sure about Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, whom Trump is trying to help across the finish line.
“To be honest, I really don’t know anything about her,” John Grisham, a 20-year-old student, said of Hyde-Smith. “I really should do more research on it. I was not intending to vote coming up, but I have had thoughts recently on doing my research and voting. But it’s not necessarily guaranteed to be the Republican.”
Tammy Bond, who works in logistics, said the first two years of Trump’s term had been “bumpy,” though she said her respect for the office had brought her out to see him.
Hyde-Smith, she acknowledged, had experienced a similar fate.
“She’s had a few bumps and bruises a long way too,” she said, stopping short of saying whether she would vote for her: “We’ll see after tonight. I really want to listen to her.”
How Trump and the GOP are defending new frontiers that seem open to Democrats
President Donald Trump is rallying for Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in reliably red Mississippi on Monday. CNN's Kevin Liptak explains why Democrats think their candidate, Scott Colom, could have a path to victory this midterm election. Discover more videos, including live streams and exclusive storytelling, on our Watch page.
President Donald Trump will campaign in Mississippi today for GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a surprising place to have to bolster a GOP incumbent’s popularity when he carried the state by 23 points in 2024.
But that’s just another example of the red states the president has had to campaign in, given his unpopularity has opened up new frontiers for Democratic optimism.
With Election Day only a week away, the midterm races are heating up. Catch up on key developments from the last few hours:
• President Donald Trump on Monday — eight days before the midterm election — promised a $1 million payout to anyone who reports voter fraud that results in a conviction. Experts contend that election cheating of this kind is vanishingly rare in American elections, despite the president’s longstanding focus on the topic and his administration’s increasing claims that noncitizens have infiltrated the voter rolls.
• A Democratic Party leader in Alaska described the Trump administration’s preemptive lawsuit in the matter of two Dan Sullivans on the ballot “a desperate attempt.” If you remember, one is the incumbent, GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan, and the other a political newcomer who filed to run as a Republican.
• Trump also spent some time defending his White House renovations after former President Barack Obama mocked the gilded makeover of the presidential residence.
• Sen. Darline Graham insisted that her viral flub during a primary debate — where she said national security is “not my thing” — is not impacting her closer-than-expected race to hold her late brother’s Senate seat. She downplayed her comment and told CNN that her race is only tight because of the influx of Democratic cash flooding the airwaves.
• Republicans are still sidestepping questions around Ohio GOP governor nominee Vivek Ramaswamy’s controversial campaign ad. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz deflected a question about the ad, saying voters want conservative values, and Rep. Jim Jordan said the matter is Democrats’ attempt to “deflect from Amy Acton’s record.”
CNN’s Alison Main, Manu Raju, Alejandra Jaramillo and Kevin Liptak contributed to the post.
GOP Rep. Jim Jordan deflects over Ramaswamy ad controversy
Republican Rep. Jim Jordan did not take issue Monday with Ohio GOP gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy’s ad featuring his Democratic opponent’s estranged mother, which the state’s Republican governor has urged Ramaswamy to take down.
“I think it’s the Democrats wanting to deflect from Amy Acton’s record,” he told CNN on Monday, adding, “Remember, she’s been called the (Anthony) Fauci of Ohio.”
Acton served as the director of the Ohio Department of Health during the coronavirus pandemic, appearing at daily briefings with Gov. Mike DeWine and taking heat for controversial decisions such as closing businesses and requiring people to stay at home.
“I think this is all the Democrats saying we’ve got to say anything, do anything, talk about anything other than Amy Acton’s record,” said Jordan, who represents Ohio’s 4th District.
While DeWine and some other prominent Ohio Republicans have condemned the ad, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have defended Ramaswamy.
Jordan is in South Carolina this evening campaigning for Republicans in the state, including Sen. Darline Graham and Rep. Russell Fry.
Trump's efforts to crack down on voter fraud comes as it remains exceedingly rare
President Donald Trump just offered a $1 million payout to anyone who offers a tip on voter fraud that results in a conviction.
But experts contend that election cheating of this kind is vanishingly rare in American elections, despite the president’s longstanding focus on the topic and his administration’s increasing claims that noncitizens have infiltrated the voter rolls.
In Georgia, for instance, state officials last month released a citizenship review that found 432 people who have cast ballots in the last 30 years may not have been citizens. And the left-leaning Brennan Center for Justice has compiled a long list of studies on the topic that underscore how rarely fraud occurs.
Trump's Mississippi stop underscores GOP challenges in reliably red states
If you’d asked anyone around President Donald Trump six months ago whether he’d be in Mississippi a week before Election Day, you’d probably get some funny looks.
But here he will be later Monday — in a state he won by 23 points in 2024 — trying to ignite his turnout machine for GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.
The trip underscores just how much the president’s unpopularity has opened up new frontiers for Democratic optimism. And it’s a remarkable illustration of the challenges facing Republicans, who are spending hundreds of millions of dollars defending seats in red states across the map.
“We want to make sure she gets elected,” Trump told reporters on Monday.
Democrats are calling this a rescue mission for Hyde-Smith, whom they view as vulnerable. They are quick to point out she underperformed Trump in Mississippi when they shared a ticket in 2020 (she won by 10 points, he won by more than 16). Even some Republicans see her campaign performance this year as uneven. She’s kept a low profile, and her fundraising has lagged.
She’s also had some flubs — like when she responded to higher beef prices by saying there were other proteins to choose from. Democrats turned that into one of more memorable ads of this midterm season.
Whether Democrats can actually win a Senate seat here for the first time since 1982 is an open question. And there are plenty of skeptics in both parties.
Boosting Democratic hopes is Scott Colom, a district attorney. Colom needs a huge turnout from Black voters and about a quarter of the White vote, Democrats say, to be successful.
That could be a tall order in a state as ruby red as Mississippi. But the fact that both parties are spending money and sending some of their most prominent figures here is an indication Mississippi has entered the conversation in a big way.
Rep. Ilhan Omar's upcoming event with Hasan Piker divides Minnesota Democrats
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s planned participation in an event with the Twitch streamer Hasan Piker in Minneapolis tonight is dividing Minnesota Democrats just one week before the midterm elections.
Omar is due to appear on-stage with Piker for a live taping of a podcast hosted by Omar Fateh, a Minnesota Democratic state senator.
Piker, who has campaigned with democratic socialist and other left-leaning candidates, has become a lightning rod within the Democratic Party because of controversial statements he has made on his Twitch stream where he has more than 3 million followers.
Some Democratic candidates have tried to tap into Piker’s large young online audience, and organizers of Monday’s event said it sold out in less than five minutes.
In a statement to local Minnesota station Fox 9, Omar’s campaign said the congresswoman was “excited” to take part in an “event to mobilize young voters and get them to vote in this critical midterm election.”
In response to the plans for the Piker event, Richard Carlbom, the chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), said in a statement to CNN, “DFL values include respect and inclusion, and I condemn this individual’s comments that divide us.”
A spokesperson for Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s campaign for Minnesota governor said of Piker, “The Senator believes that a number of the statements he has made are reckless and unacceptable.”
Minnesota Democratic Rep. Angie Craig wrote on X, “Hasan Piker’s rhetoric is polarizing and dangerous, and embracing him as a party is a mistake.”
CNN reported earlier this month that Democratic US Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed, who campaigned with Piker ahead of the Michigan Democratic primary, called Piker to warn him his rhetoric was costing El-Sayed votes.
One prominent Minnesotan who has defended Piker’s visit to the state is former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura.
“The First Amendment is there not to protect popular speech,” Ventura said while appearing live on Piker’s Twitch stream Sunday night, “it’s there to protect unpopular speech.”
Trump fires back at Obama over Cheesecake Factory jab: “He’s not a smart guy”
President Donald Trump spent about three minutes Monday defending his renovations of the White House after former President Barack Obama mocked the president’s gilded makeover over the weekend, saying it looked like “Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.”
“You know, I’ve taken care of the White House. I fixed it with the finest artisans in the world,” Trump told reporters.
“We reskinned it. It was in horrible shape. A lot of the ornaments and the things that were originally built on the White House were missing, or damaged, or gone for a long time,” he added before turning his attention to Obama’s remarks.
He accused Obama of not noticing the broken architecture and masonry, or a lack of cleanliness in the building. He then questioned Obama’s intelligence, saying the former president doesn’t understand his renovations because “he’s not a smart guy.”
“It’s not about money. It’s about seeing. Guys like Obama don’t see it. You don’t see dirt. He doesn’t see filth. He doesn’t see broken ornaments on a building,” he said, adding: “And for you to say it’s a cheesecake factory, that just shows why you were a lousy president back then.”
Obama took aim at the renovations during a rally in Ohio on Saturday, ticking through the changes Trump has made to the White House grounds.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he seems very focused on home renovations. He should be on HGTV. Guy’s building a ballroom that’s bigger than the White House. It’s paved over the Rose Garden. Put a helicopter pad on the South Lawn, and there’s gold everywhere. What’s up with the gold? Everything, more gold. He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory. Just gold everywhere,” Obama said.
Oh, nuts: Squirrel causes pole fire outside North Carolina voting site
A squirrel blew a transformer and ignited a pole fire outside an early voting site in North Carolina on Monday, according to Monroe Mayor Robert Burns.
“Only in Monroe,” Burns wrote on social media, adding, “To the rest of the squirrels, I’d sit this one out.”
The mayor did not comment on how the fire impacted voter activity at the library, but reminded residents that early voting runs through this Saturday, with same-day registration available.
The evident “squarrel” between the animal and electrical equipment comes as early voting is underway in North Carolina, where voters will cast their ballots in a closely watched Senate contest between Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper and GOP nominee Michael Whatley.
CNN’s Amanda Jackson contributed to this report.
Trump offers $1 million for voter fraud tips as midterms loom
President Donald Trump on Monday — eight days before the midterm election — promised a $1 million payout to anyone who reports voter fraud that results in a conviction.
“Anybody reporting Voter Fraud in the past Elections, or the upcoming 2026 Midterm Election, will be paid $1,000,000 upon the arrest and conviction of those that created the Fraud! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
The offer goes well beyond a whistleblower program the president unveiled with Vice President JD Vance just last week, which aims to reward Americans who come forward with information on suspected fraud within the federal government.
Under the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program, anyone whose tip leads to a fraud conviction or a significant federal enforcement action can receive up to $30,000, according to the White House, which said the Justice Department will run it.
Vance pins gas price spikes on "tinpot” dictators as he courts voters in Montana
Vice President JD Vance acknowledged Monday that high gas prices have left some voters undecided ahead of the midterm election, but argued that price spikes happen “every time some tinpot dictator decides to throw a tantrum.”
“I want to speak a little bit to the undecided voters out there,” Vance said at a GOP rally in Montana. “You will hear many say that gas prices are too high.”
“I agree with it, but remember,” Vance continued, “let’s just talk about gas prices, remember, in 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine and gas prices skyrocketed.”
“They skyrocketed, by the way, far higher then than they are today. They skyrocketed in 1979. They skyrocketed in 2001. They skyrocketed in 2007,” he went on. “They skyrocket every time some tinpot dictator decides to throw a tantrum.”
Voters are indisputably feeling the pinch at the pump, with a gallon of unleaded gas costing 40% more today than it did last year. A gallon of diesel is running nearly 75% higher.
The vice president was stumping for various GOP candidates, including Aaron Flint, who is in a tighter-than-expected race for the western Montana congressional seat. Both Vance and Trump have often traveled to pretty red territory lately, signaling GOP anxiety as the party battles to keep control of Congress.
After a heckler tried to derail the speech and was escorted out by security, Vance returned to a common theme of his speeches: While voters may be frustrated with some Republican policies, Democrats would be worse.
“Don’t judge them by the yahoos they send to protest our events, judge them by what they’ve done,” he said.
White House defends Trump bragging about oil profits as Americans hurt from high prices
The White House today sought to defend President Donald Trump’s boasts about the benefits of the same high oil and gasoline prices angering voters across the country.
Trump raised eyebrows and confusion over the weekend by bragging about oil profits.
“The United States oil and gas business is making hundreds of billions of dollars,” Trump said at a campaign event on Saturday. “Our country is making hundreds of billions of dollars because of what’s happened in the Middle East, because they’re coming to Texas and they’re coming to Oklahoma and they’re coming to Louisiana and they’re taking that oil.”
Trump said that while his advisers didn’t want him to mention this development because “people are paying a little higher,” he’s doing it anyway.
The White House official told CNN that Trump’s mention of “our country” making money refers to tankers filling up in Texas and Louisiana instead of Iran.
It’s true that US exports of oil, gasoline and diesel are high — so high that Trump briefly flirted with the controversial idea of blocking diesel sales to other countries. It’s also true that Big Oil and its shareholders are cashing in on higher profits.
Trump has disclosed owning shares of Exxon, Chevron and other oil companies.
Of course, Americans broadly are hurting from $4 gas and $6 diesel. US consumers have spent a total of nearly $145 billion extra on gas and diesel alone since the war started, according to research from Brown University.
Alaska Democratic Party leader calls Trump administration's lawsuit a "desperate attempt"
Alaska’s ballot will feature two Dan Sullivans for the Senate seat: One is the incumbent, GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan, and the other a political newcomer who filed to run as a Republican. In the latest development, the executive director of the Alaska Democratic Party described the Trump administration’s preemptive lawsuit on the matter “a desperate attempt.”
What to know: The lawsuit seeks to block certification of Alaska’s US Senate election if the incumbent Sen. Sullivan loses in the critical contest, which could decide the balance of power in the Senate. It alleges the newcomer candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan, could confuse voters and wants a court to potentially delay the certification of the election if the incumbent is defeated but would have won if “all votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan” had “been cast instead for Senator Sullivan.” President Donald Trump took credit for the legal challenge.
What the ballot would look like: Republicans have alleged the newcomer is running a spoiler candidacy designed to confuse voters. Daniel J. Sullivan is a registered Republican, but state election officials listed him on the ballot without a party affiliation. Sen. Sullivan is labeled on the ballot as “Registered Republican” and “incumbent.” In the primary, the incumbent Dan Sullivan won 68,726 votes; Daniel J. Sullivan won 4,107.
“Any reasonable Alaskan looking at a ballot knows exactly how to vote. This is not confusing,” Stryker said, adding that in the case of a long-drawn legal battle, the Democrats are “prepared for any fight that stands before us.”
You can also check out CNN’s Dana Bash interview with Attorney General Todd Blanche over the Trump administration’s argument.
CNN’s Tierney Sneed and Ethan Cohen contributed to this post.
Cruz sidesteps question on Ramaswamy ad, says voters want "conservative values"
Sen. Ted Cruz did not raise any issues on Monday when asked about Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s controversial ad showcasing his Democratic opponent’s estranged mother.
“I think there’s nothing the media likes more than to attack Republicans. And at the end of the day, what voters don’t want is the radical left taking over this country. I think that’s common sense, conservative values is what the voters want,” Cruz told CNN when asked about the ad.
Cruz’s comments came as he’s been barnstorming the country for Senate candidates, including on Monday for Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina.
Several Republicans have been sharply critical of the Ramaswamy ad, including Ohio’s Republican Gov. Mike Dewine, who urged him to take it down. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have defended Ramaswamy.
The latest campaign moves and what they mean in key states
Early voting is underway in several states as candidates — and their surrogates — hit the campaign trail in full force.
With just over a week to go until Election Day, Democrats are hoping the early voting data is a good sign in their quest to flip congressional seats. Meanwhile, GOP super PACs are moving money to key races where Republican candidates are under pressure.
If you’re just joining us, here’s what to know:
- To get a picture of where things stand, follow the money. A top Republican super PAC is investing more money into Senate races Mississippi, South Carolina and Kansas, red states where Democratic challengers have outraised Republican candidates in the first two weeks of October.
- In Michigan, Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens, who lost the Senate primary in August, criticized an ad that seeks to boost the nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, by linking US aid to Israel with high costs. The ad is not affiliated with El-Sayed’s campaign, a spokesperson said.
- President Donald Trump has been intensifying his anti-Muslim attacks against El-Sayed, but the Democrat said he’s “not worried” the messaging will weigh on voters. Trump was in Michigan yesterday campaigning for Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers.
- In South Carolina, another highly-watched race, Democratic Senate candidate Annie Andrews was endorsed by two former governors: Republican David Beasley and Democrat Jim Hodges.
- Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia said today that if Democrats win a Senate majority they should conduct oversight of the Trump administration, including what he said are the misuse of public funds, conflicts of interest and the Trump family’s “self-enrichment.”
- Election monitors from the Justice Department will be at select polling places in every state. The DOJ said it would send about 1,000 lawyers to watch for federal voting-law violations.
Looking ahead: Former Vice President Kamala Harris will join a virtual fundraiser Tuesday for Jermaine Johnson, the South Carolina Democrat running for governor. Though the race is not seen as competitive, it marks a return for Harris to Palmetto State politics as potential presidential hopefuls look to boost support ahead of 2028. Harris will be at events in Wisconsin today.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance are also on the campaign trail, holding events for Republican candidates in Michigan and Texas tomorrow. Trump will be in Mississippi tonight to bolster Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.
CNN’s Dianne Gallagher, Jeff Zeleny, David Wright, Patrick Svitek and Hannah Rabinowitz contributed reporting.
Sen. Darline Graham says she's "becoming very informed" after national security debate flub
Sen. Darline Graham insisted that her viral flub during a primary debate — where she said national security is “not my thing” — is not impacting her closer-than-expected race to hold her late brother’s Senate seat.
Speaking to CNN in Myrtle Beach, Graham downplayed her comment and said that her race is only tight because of the influx of Democratic cash flooding the airwaves.
“I don’t think it hurt me at all,” Graham said after a campaign stop with South Carolina Republicans and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. “I’m becoming very informed on national security. I never said it wasn’t important. It’s extremely important. But what’s important to South Carolinians is affordability, the price of gas, putting food on the table. Every time I go to one of these events, they’re not talking about that. They’re talking about affordability. So that’s what’s on my mind.”
Graham, who was appointed to Lindsey Graham’s seat after he suddenly died this summer, argued that the huge amount of money has changed the race and made her race against Democrat Annie Andrews tight ahead of the election next week.
“Democrats are pouring money into this state,” Graham told CNN when asked about the tightness of the race. “She’s spending a million dollars a week on ads, so I think that’s why it’s so close. Because Democrats are pouring money into South Carolina, trying to turn our state blue,” she said.
From the day after the primary, August 26, through Election Day, Democrats are outspending Republicans on ads for the South Carolina Senate race by about $21.5 million to $18 million.
Graham has tied herself closely to Trump, who endorsed her and helped push her to victory in the primary. But she has broken with Trump over easing sanctions on Russia for help with sky-high diesel prices.
Asked on Monday if she has spoken to Trump on the issue, which was a central component of a sanctions law her late brother championed, Graham said: “He knows how I feel, yes.”
El-Sayed on Trump's attacks: "We’re bigger than that"
Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed pushed back on President Donald Trump’s intensifying anti-Muslim attacks, telling CNN he is “not worried” the messaging will weigh on voters who are on the fence about his candidacy in the closing stretch of the campaign.
“I know that Michiganders are a lot bigger than that, and I know they’re going to look at that and say that’s not me, that’s not us, that’s not what I teach my kids, that’s not who I want them to be,” he added. “We’re bigger than that. We’re gritty. We are earnest and we don’t want to be taken advantage of by a millionaire from Florida or a billionaire from New York.”
El-Sayed’s comments came one day after President Trump rallied in the state for GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers. Trump focused much of his speech in Port Huron on Sunday on levying Islamophobic attacks against El-Sayed, including again baselessly call him a “jihadist” and suggesting he would “have to go through a metal detector before he’s allowed to go into the Senate.”
“He knows I’ve got those Wolverine claws,” El-Sayed, a graduate of the University of Michigan, quipped.
El-Sayed also spoke of the personal nature of the attacks, saying his young daughters will get to see “the whole arc” of the campaign. “I hope I get to show them how even with those who are small-minded that you can bring whatever bigness is in them out of them.”
Justice Department to send election monitors to all 50 states
The Justice Department will send election monitors to all 50 states for the midterm elections, the largest-ever effort to observe polling locations for potential civil rights violations.
The department says that approximately 1,000 monitors — Justice Department lawyers, not law enforcement officers — will observe polling places for federal voting law violations like racial discrimination, voter intimidation, and failures to provide required language access. They are instructed not to interfere with voting.
Still, some Democrats and voting rights activists have raised concerns that this year’s monitors could be used to undermine the voting process or to collect evidence for long-shot lawsuits to interfere with the election outcomes.
In a statement to CNN, Justice Department spokesperson Keirsten Pels said that the monitors only role is to “observe for potential violations of federal law and report concerns to the Department, which the Department will review after Election Day and act where appropriate.”
While the mobilization to all 50 states is significantly broader than previous efforts, where monitors are dispatched can shift between election seasons and under different administrations. During the primary elections, the department sent more than 100 monitors to polling locations.
During the 2022 midterms, during the Biden administration, the Justice Department sent less than 400 monitors to 24 states.
Andrews gets bipartisan boost from two former South Carolina governors
Annie Andrews, the Democratic nominee in South Carolina’s increasingly competitive Senate race, was endorsed Monday by two former South Carolina governors: Republican David Beasley and Democrat Jim Hodges.
“We may have served as your governor from different political parties, but we agree South Carolina deserves better than more of the same political fighting,” Beasley says in a minutelong video, sitting next to Hodges.
Hodges defeated Beasley in his 1998 reelection campaign, a major breakthrough for the state’s Democrats at the time.
The joint endorsement gives Andrews, a pediatrician, another bipartisan boost as she looks to pull off an upset against GOP Sen. Darline Graham in the solidly red state. Warren Norman — the son of Graham’s former primary rival, Rep. Ralph Norman — announced Friday he would not vote for Graham and was leaning toward Andrews.
Beasley has been open about his disillusionment with the modern GOP. In an interview published last week by PBS News, Beasley declined to say whether he had left the party, instead calling himself an “American.”
National Republicans have been increasingly focused on the state in the final days of the midterms. The Republican National Committee announced earlier Monday that President Donald Trump would return to the state on Thursday for his second rally of the midterms there.
Stevens condemns ad tying Israel aid to affordability struggles
Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan, who lost a close Senate primary earlier this year, criticized an ad Monday that seeks to boost Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed by linking US aid to Israel with cost-of-living problems.
“This type of fearmongering about Israel is wrong,” Stevens wrote on X. “It is not a winning strategy for any state. It does nothing to help Michigan Democrats win up and down the ballot in eight days.”
Stevens lost to El-Sayed, a sharp critic of the Israeli government, in the August primary after she received tens of millions of dollars in backing tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Stevens has pledged to support Michigan Democrats in the general election but has hedged on backing El-Sayed, including Sunday on CNN.
The ad from Rebellion PAC, founded by “The Young Turks” host Cenk Uygur, depicts a couple struggling to afford groceries as they lament how much money the United States sends to Israel. At one point, the mother says they have to put eggs back because “we have to set that $7 aside — for killing Palestinians.”
It was not immediately clear where the ad was running and how much money was behind it. Uygur promoted it Friday on X, saying it would be “dropping in Michigan.”
“This ad is not affiliated in any way with the Abdul for Senate campaign,” El-Sayed spokesperson Roxie Richner said in a statement. “Abdul is focused on pushing back against Trump’s agenda that is raising prices for Michiganders. No one speaks for Abdul but himself and his campaign.”
