Final sprint to Election Day
• Haley Stevens talks to CNN: The Michigan Democrat struggled at times to defend flipping her endorsement from the state’s Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed to Mike Rogers, telling Anderson Cooper her backing of the Republican is “rock solid,” but refusing to explain her switch.
• Democratic hopes on midterm eve: A series of New York Times/Siena polls show Democrats leading in five of seven key battleground states that could decide Senate control. El-Sayed leads Rogers by 11 points and Texas Democrat James Talarico leads Ken Paxton by seven.
• Trump’s final event: The president closes the midterm campaign with telerallies and a speech at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool today. He campaigned yesterday in Iowa and Kansas, two red states that Democrats believe they can flip.
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(9)Judge throws out attempt to delay Alaska Senate race
The Department of Justice sought to delay the Senate race in Alaska over alleged “spoiler candidate” Daniel J. Sullivan, who shares a name with the incumbent, Republican Daniel S. Sullivan. CNN’s Gabe Cohen reports.
The Department of Justice sought to delay the Senate race in Alaska over alleged "spoiler candidate" Daniel J. Sullivan, who shares a name with the incumbent, Republican Daniel S. Sullivan. CNN's Gabe Cohen reports.
Trump to make "closing argument" about midterms at Reflecting Pool
President Donald Trump said he’s holding an event at the Reflecting Pool on Monday “just to show how beautiful it is.”
Trump is expected to talk about his DC projects and reopening the pool, but also make a broader “closing argument” about the midterms, people familiar with the matter previously told CNN.
Several of Trump’s advisers have urged him not to focus on his Washington construction projects in the lead-up to the midterm elections.
Trump vowed to restore the Reflecting Pool as part of his executive order to make the nation’s capital “safe and beautiful.” However, the renovation project was plagued with issues from the start.
Could Stevens’ switch shift the Michigan Senate race?
After Democrat Haley Stevens endorsed GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers in Michigan, CNN’s David Chalian asks: Could her public decision shift the results away from Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed?
After Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens endorsed GOP nominee Mike Rogers in Michigan, CNN's David Chalian asks the question, "Could her public decision shift the results away from Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed?"
Michigan Democrats slam Stevens’ endorsement shift as a betrayal
Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens’ 11th-hour endorsement for Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers over Abdul El-Sayed has sparked outrage from her Democratic colleagues, with some framing the shift as a betrayal to her colleagues and constituents.
After Stevens’ tense interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Sunday, fellow Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell said: “That was one of the most painful interviews I have ever watched.”
Dingell also said she thought Stevens’ reversal was “backfiring.”
“Abdul has raised more money today, more than $1 million,” she said.
Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel, too, said Stevens’ shift has actually “energized” the Democratic base.
“She lied to me, she lied to her colleagues, she lied to Jim Clyburn. But what’s more important, she lied to her constituents,” Hertel said. “She’s endorsing somebody who she has said she does not share the values of in any way, shape or form.”
Democrats have also expressed concern about how Stevens’ endorsement shift will resonate with Black voters in Michigan, a critical constituency for the party whose support could prove decisive.
“African American voters have a history in this country of being incredibly pragmatic. Very rarely is there the perfect candidate that comes along who everybody runs to go support,” CNN political commentator Jamal Simmons, a Democrat and Detroit native, told Dean.
After Stevens shifted her endorsement, Eli Savit, the Democratic nominee for Michigan attorney general, said he is “proud to vote for my friend Abdul El-Sayed” and that he is part of the “most diverse ticket in Michigan’s history.”
“We won’t be distracted by those who seek to divide us. The issues Michiganders face are too important,” he said on X.
Trump wrapped his rally blitz Sunday. Here's what else happened on the campaign trail
President Donald Trump kicked off his final midterms rally in Kansas tonight after a day that in which attention was largely monopolized by Democrat Haley Stevens’ shock endorsement of Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers.
You can catch up on Stevens’ flip and the fallout here. Here’s what else you may have missed today:
- POTUS’ last rallies: The president said he’s “closing it down tonight” after a campaign blitz for Republican candidates in over a dozen states. “I could have been home watching television or some crappy thing. I’d rather be with you,” Trump told a crowd in Salina, Kansas, where he was stumping for Sen. Roger Marshall. Earlier in Dubuque, Iowa, he told rally goers higher gas prices are “a small price to pay” for national security as the war in Iran deepens cost-of-living concerns.
- Dems lead Senate polls: Democratic candidates hold leads in five of the seven critical races polled by The New York Times and Siena University. Democrats are leading in Michigan, Texas, Maine, Ohio and Kansas, with Alaska and Iowa deadlocked, according to the poll.
- In court: A federal judge threw out a DOJ lawsuit that sought to potentially delay the certification of Alaska’s Senate race. The legal battle stems from an alleged Democratic scheme to confuse voters by recruiting a spoiler candidate in the race between Mary Peltola and Republican Dan Sullivan. Trump stood by the lawsuit today, saying it was “most meritful” and that the ballot controversy was “voter fraud at the highest level.” CNN also spoke to voters in Big Lake, Alaska, who expressed confidence in the electoral process despite the ballot drama.
The Department of Justice sought to delay the Senate race in Alaska over alleged "spoiler candidate" Daniel J. Sullivan, who shares a name with the incumbent, Republican Daniel S. Sullivan. CNN's Gabe Cohen reports.
- Elsewhere on the trail: Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico offered their differing visions for Texas in dueling rallies. In Maine, Democratic nominee Troy Jackson teamed up with Massachusetts progressive Sen. Ed Markey in the final stages of his race against battle-tested incumbent Sen. Susan Collins.
CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Logan Schiciano, Jennifer Agiesta, Matt Meyer, Maureen Chowdhury, Danya Gainor and Molly English contributed reporting.
"I didn't want to take a chance": Trump wraps midterm campaign blitz in Kansas
As President Donald Trump took the stage in Kansas for his 30th rally, he wanted to be clear: No one could say he didn’t do everything possible to salvage the midterms for Republicans.
In an hour-plus speech that was by turns dark, wistful, agitated and celebratory, Trump boasted about his administration’s various political victories — and warned that Democrats would take it all away if they got control of Congress on Tuesday.
He repeatedly pleaded with his supporters to turn out to vote for Marshall and down-ballot Republicans, urging them to “pretend I’m on the ballot” and do this last favor for him.
But for as much as he praised Marshall and touted his candidacy, it was clear the crowd was here — as always — for Trump.
And, as always, the president obliged.
“I’m very good at teleprompters, but when I read every single word on the teleprompter, you would be so bored,” he said at one point, as he embarked on another signature off-the-cuff riff.
Still, as Trump stretched well beyond the hour mark, even his devotees began to get restless. After he joked about wrapping up abruptly, big portions of the crowd took it as their cue. As Trump launched into the next part of his speech, rallygoers began streaming out the back of the venue.
Democrats leading in 5 critical Senate races: New York Times/Siena polls
Democrats hold leads in five of the seven critical Senate races polled by The New York Times and Siena University as the 2026 midterm campaign comes to a close, with no clear leader in the other two races.
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed leads Republican Mike Rogers by a wide 53% to 42% among likely voters in Michigan. Democrat James Talarico tops Republican Ken Paxton by 50% to 43% among likely voters in Texas. Democrat Troy Jackson runs ahead of incumbent Republican Susan Collins by 51% to 45% among likely voters in Maine.
Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown tops Republican Sen. Jon Husted among likely voters in Ohio 49% to 44%. And in Kansas, Democrat Adam Hamilton leads incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall among likely voters by 49% to 44%.
The surveys find no clear leader races in Alaska, where Democrat Mary Peltola holds 48% support to Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan’s 46%, and in Iowa, where Democrat Josh Turek holds 48% to Republican Ashley Hinson’s 47%.
The polls, which largely fielded through the last few days, align with other recent public polling in several of these states, but the Michigan results suggest a far wider race than other polling. A CNN poll conducted by SSRS and released last week found El-Sayed topping Rogers by 7 points, and the CNN Poll of Polls on the race suggests a 5-point margin in El-Sayed’s favor.
Should the results of these polls match the results in Tuesday’s election, Democratic victories in the four Republican-held states where they lead outside the margin of sampling error would be enough to flip control of the Senate, if Democrats were also to hold all of their currently held seats.
Even in these late-fielding polls, though, there is still room for movement. With the exception of Michigan, each of these surveys finds the Democratic candidate holding roughly 50% support, suggesting there is room for the roughly 5% of likely voters who haven’t committed to one of the two major candidates to shift or tighten the margins.
The New York Times/Siena University polls were conducted between October 23 and November 1 among likely voters in each states. Margins of sampling error for results from the full sample stand at +/-4.8 percentage points in Alaska, +/-4.4% points in Iowa, +/-4.1% points in Kansas, +/-4.3% points in Maine, +/-3.6% points in Michigan, +/-4.2% points in Ohio and +/-3.3% points in Texas.
What happened before Stevens’ surprise endorsement of Rogers
As recently as Saturday night, the prospect of Democrat Haley Stevens endorsing Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s Senate race had seemed implausible.
Stevens issued a statement praising Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed for saying he disagreed with a controversial advertisement that blamed the high cost of living in Michigan on the United States’ aid to Israel. Despite a week of speculation about her withdrawing an endorsement for El-Sayed, her primary rival, she repeatedly said that she would do no such thing.
When staffers reached out last week to urge her not to endorse Rogers, Stevens replied in a text message, according to a person who saw the message:
She told several Democrats she intended to appear with El-Sayed at church on Sunday. As recently as midnight Saturday, she told a key ally that she was sticking with El-Sayed.
Then on Sunday morning, things changed.
She appeared at a Black church in Detroit with Rogers and then announced her change of heart to reporters gathered outside and on social media.
Her move stunned the political world — including Stevens’ friends, colleagues and even her own congressional staffers, most of whom found out about her decision on social media and promptly quit, according to a statement from her chief of staff and people familiar with the matter.
Stevens says her choice to back a Republican is “rock solid.” Here's what she told CNN
Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens spoke to CNN’s Anderson Cooper last night about her last-minute choice to revoke her support from Democratic Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed and back GOP candidate Mike Rogers in the consequential race.
Stevens said she was endorsing Rogers after appearing with the GOP candidate at a church in Detroit on Sunday morning, following recent tensions between her and El-Sayed, her former opponent in the Democratic primary.
Here are the top lines from her interview with Cooper:
- On what changed: Stevens said “nothing with me changed” despite her choice to reverse her endorsement less than 48 hours from Election Day. “I would just say that, you know, I had some time to, you know, think,” Stevens told Cooper. “I woke up this morning clear-eyed, fresh and focused on what was in my heart, and that’s that.”
- On staff exodus: The Michigan Democrat said she is under “transition” when asked about the resignation of her congressional chief of staff and others following her Rogers endorsement. “These are great individuals who, you know, I care a lot about,” she said, adding “they’re free to share their views on this.” Stevens’ former chief of staff, Justin German, said earlier her congressional team was “shocked and heartbroken” by the endorsement.
Speaking to CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) said her team is free to share their views after her endorsement of GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers. Her chief of staff said in an earlier statement that many members of her team have resigned.
- On whether she’ll change her mind: Stevens said she hasn’t yet cast her ballot — but she’s “rock solid” in her choice to back Rogers. “I’m an independent woman, I made my decision,” she said, adding “I still love my party a whole lot.”
- On why she reversed course: Stevens refused to articulate what inspired her endorsement reversal. “I changed my mind. (El-Sayed) said, ‘Hey, I don’t need your endorsement.’ That’s fine. Why the anger? Why the frustration?” she said, sidestepping questions about what prompted the sudden about-face. “I hope to see more kindness in the Democratic Party and for all of us to just accept when somebody has a disagreement,” she added.
CNN’s Danya Gainor and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn contributed to this report.
