On the campaign trail
• All eyes on Texas: Early in-person voting opens today in the Lone Star State, home to marquee races for US Senate and governor. Democrats are hoping they can break through statewide for the first time in 32 years. Follow CNN’s early voting tracker here.
• The Latino shift: Polls suggest the nation’s 36 million Latino voters are shifting in significant numbers in Democrats’ favor. If that mirrors election results, Latinos could be responsible for handing Democrats control of the House and Senate.
• Trump across the country: The president plans to headline rallies every day this week, starting today in Kansas, home to another surprisingly competitive Senate race. CNN’s Manu Raju spent time with both candidates in that race. Watch his report here.
Updates
(13)Voters in Dallas suburb turn out to cast ballots on first day of early voting
The notion that Texas might truly be a battleground state this midterm election is something voters are still trying wrap their minds around. Campaign television commercials are running endlessly, and the voters showing up on the first day of early voting say they could not be more exhausted by the sensory political overload.
Despite that, voters are showing tremendous enthusiasm as they cast their ballots in the Senate race between Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico.
In McKinney, a suburb roughly 30 miles north of Dallas, there was a steady stream of people showing up to the polls at a local library, with a line of voters winding its way into the parking lot.
Greg Adkins, a Republican who supports Paxton in the Senate race, had backed longtime Sen. John Cornyn in his losing primary bid, and he believes Cornyn would have been a “slam dunk” to easily defeat Talarico. Adkins said he strongly favors Paxton’s experience over his Democratic opponent.
“I’m getting tired of name-calling and attacks,” according to Jason Davis, a Talarico supporter who said he voted for the Democratic ticket across the board.
Robert Jacobs, who is supporting Paxton, told CNN why he thinks the GOP candidate “is going to be better for us.”
Why Trump is targeting deep-red states on the campaign trail
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll over the weekend featured a telling stat.
Other recent polls have generally shown voters prefer Democrats over Republicans for Congress by close to 10 points on the all-important “generic ballot.”
But when President Donald Trump is invoked — i.e. choosing between a Democratic-controlled Congress that could act as a check on Trump, versus a GOP-controlled Congress that could pass his agenda — that gap balloons. Registered voters preferred the blue side by 19 points, 58%-39%, in the Post-ABC News poll
It’s clear from those numbers why Republicans in swing areas would be reluctant to campaign with Trump — and why he’s hitting such red territory.
With the president’s midterm travels now in full swing, a number of patterns have emerged: 1) He’s campaigning overwhelmingly in red states that voted for him by double digits in 2024, and 2) when he does campaign in more competitive areas, it’s generally for candidates in red states who are struggling — and seem to need to roll the dice on Trump driving up turnout among a dejected GOP base.
There are exceptions to both, and Trump’s travel schedule is evolving. But that’s about the shape of it.
It’s certainly a far cry from when Trump said during the Republican midterm convention last month that he would travel to all 35 of the biggest “swings” in the country. NPR calculates he’s been to less than one-third of them.
Take a closer look at the pattern of Trump’s midterm travel here.
Early voting kicks off in several states, including Texas and South Carolina
Election Day is still 15 days away, but as many as two-thirds of ballots in the midterms could be cast by mail or through early in-person voting.
In-person early voting begins today in several states, including in some that are expected to be competitive: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, South Carolina and Texas.
In recent years, Democrats have been much more likely to vote ahead of Election Day, especially as President Donald Trump has made unfounded claims about the integrity of mail ballots.
Republicans typically prefer to vote in person during early voting or on Election Day.
Subscribers can read more about early voting data here.
Total ballot counts in each state above come from data compiled by CNN, the Associated Press, and the data firm Catalist.
Comparisons to previous cycles come from Catalist, a company that provides data, analytics and other services to Democrats, academics and nonprofit advocacy groups, including insights into who is voting before November. The charts exclude states reporting less than 1,000 votes so far this cycle; states will be added as more ballots are cast.
CNN’s Koko Nakajima, Annette Choi, Ethan Cohen and John Murphy-Teixidor contributed to this report.
Trump touts new work on women’s health before midterms. His admin disbanded a prior effort
President Donald Trump on Monday touted a new executive order to increase research into women’s health, taking credit for the idea as a first for the federal government just two weeks before the midterm election.
The problem: Former first lady Jill Biden spearheaded a similar initiative and it was scrapped under Trump’s administration.
“I don’t know why they don’t do things. I don’t know why they haven’t done things. There’s so many things that would seem so basic. Think of it: a women’s health division, and it hasn’t been done. But it’s been done under this historic initiative conceived by Melania,” Trump said in the Rose Garden moments before signing the order.
“When I heard about it, I said, ‘Are you sure they don’t have that? Who the hell wouldn’t have a women’s health division?’ Melania said, ‘They don’t have it.’ So, good it’s coming,” the president added.
The order creates two new entities to direct research into health issues that disproportionately affect women. First lady Melania Trump, who led the effort, called the order a “transformative moment” for women’s health. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. are co-chairing the White House task force on the issue, according to an official.
The order also formally rescinds a Biden-era executive order on women’s health research championed by Jill Biden.
In 2024, President Joe Biden signed an executive order directing federal agencies to integrate and prioritize women’s health across their work and to expand research. It also ordered the Office of Management and Budget and the Gender Policy Council to identify gaps in federal funding.
But in April 2025, the Trump administration made sweeping contract and grant cuts at federal health agencies, which cut Biden’s push to close funding and research gaps in women’s health.
Trump tees off on judge in golf course showdown just two weeks before midterms
Here’s what’s on President Donald Trump’s mind just about two weeks before Election Day.
He’s hardly obsessing about bringing costs down for Americans — despite a new NBC News poll showing only 27% approve of his handling of the cost of living.
Instead he’s fixated on his latest legacy project — a hard scrabble public golf course in Washington, DC, that he plans to turn into a championship venue capable of hosting the US Open or the Ryder Cup.
Trump lashed out Monday on social media at a judge who is hearing challenges to his plan, calling her “a crazed lunatic whose courthouse tapes will reveal, may be insane.” He said work on the “world class” course would begin “IMMEDIATELY” — a step that could contravene a court order.
District Judge Ana C. Reyes has knocked back Trump’s attempts to remove her from the case and last week ordered a halt to tree removal at the site. Groups opposing the plan argue the president’s vision for the Hains Point peninsula threatens a beloved community golf course and a recreational space also used by non-golfers.
The East Potomac Park links — famed for views of Washington monuments and spectacular flowering cherry trees, is basic, prone to flooding and could certainly use some work. But its affordable green fees, short nine-hole tracks suitable for kids, and reputation as a place where all races and economic classes mix means it carries forward the egalitarian ethos of public golf in its Scottish homeland.
Some users fear Trump — who owns multiple luxury golf complexes — will transform it into an exclusive resort style-experience that will obliterate its unique spirit and price out regular golfers.
In Florida, GOP Rep. Salazar picks up another endorsement from a foreign leader
Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican representing a Miami-area district, picked up another endorsement on Monday from a foreign leader.
Argentina’s President Javier Milei, a far-right libertarian, endorsed Salazar in a social media post. It comes after Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella, a far-right populist ally of President Donald Trump, and Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient María Corina Machado backed the GOP congresswoman running for reelection earlier this month.
Salazar is working to shore up support in her district, which is home to a large immigrant population, as more than 70% of residents identify as Latino or Hispanic. She made waves last month pushing back on Trump’s tough immigration enforcement, saying some of his administration’s actions have “gone too far.”
Salazar is facing off against Democratic candidate Eliott Rodriguez in a race that is testing the sentiment of Latino voters, who have shown signs of souring on the president after boosting him to the White House in 2024.
Trump’s approval rating dips ahead of planned rallies this week
A Republican National Committee official says President Donald Trump’s rallies this month are aimed at getting Republican voters to the polls, even as his approval sits near record lows.
Trump is traveling to Kansas today to start a week of campaigning for Republicans in key races with around two weeks to go until the midterm election.
He plans to campaign in a different state each day this week, as Vice President JD Vance also travels around the country ahead of the November 3 midterm election.
You can watch our report below.
How El-Sayed responded to Trump’s attacks
Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed pointed to the Trump family’s dealings in the Middle East as he responded to Republican attacks on his faith and name.
He would be the first Muslim to serve in the Senate — if elected — as he faces Republican Mike Rogers in a competitive race.
Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed pointed to the Trump family's dealings in the Middle East as he responded to Republican attacks on his faith and name. The Michigan-born doctor would be the first Muslim to serve in the US Senate if elected, facing Republican Mike Rogers in a competitive race.
Can Hamilton turn Kansas blue?
CNN’s Manu Raju hit the trail in Kansas, where Democrat Adam Hamilton hopes to unseat GOP Sen. Roger Marshall this fall.
It’s been 94 years since a Democrat was elected to serve as one of Kansas’ senators, but Democrats think this is their chance to flip it.
Watch our report below.
Trump to start this week's campaign blitz in Kansas
President Donald Trump is traveling to Kansas today to start a week of campaigning for Republicans in key races with just about two weeks to go until the midterm election.
“I’m going to the Great State of Kansas today to Rally support for Roger Marshall, one of the absolutely best Senators in the U.S. Senate. His opponent is a Fake, and would be a DISASTER for Kansas, a State I won all three times, getting the highest vote in the history of Kansas - Such an honor! See you all later!!!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Monday morning.
Kansas has emerged as a surprising battleground state even though the last time a Democrat won a senate seat there was in 1932. Polls suggest a close race between Democratic candidate Adam Hamilton and Republican Sen. Roger Marshall.
In a video responding to Trump’s visit, Hamilton welcomed the president and said he would be willing to work with anyone to improve the lives of Kansans.
The president plans to campaign in a different state each day this week, as Vice President JD Vance also travels around the country ahead of the November 3 midterm election.
In addition to Kansas, the president will head to North Carolina, South Carolina, Iowa and Florida throughout the week.
“I don’t need to do this. I could sit home. I already won,” Trump said at a rally in Kentucky last week.
“But I have to because if they win the midterms, all of the sudden you’re going to see a slide, and all of the crap that we talk about, the incompetent stuff that we talk about, is going to come back,” Trump said.
Texas Senate candidates Paxton and Talarico hold dual rallies ahead of early voting
The candidates vying to represent Texas in the US Senate, Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico, drew stark contrasts between each other in dual rallies yesterday as they both sought boost turnout ahead of the first day of early voting in the Lone Star State.
This year’s contest in Texas has become one of the marquee races in the fight for control of the chamber, a leading example of how Republicans are scrambling to defend deeply red terrain.
Paxton, the state’s attorney general, claimed Talarico was “most radical Democrat ever to run statewide in Texas.”
“While Talarico fights for his radical agenda, we fight for the simple things of faith, family and freedom,” Paxton told a crowd in San Antonio. “He wants to transition our kids. He wants to transition Texas off of oil and gas. How about we transition him and his crazy ideas right out of Texas?”
Meanwhile, Talarico, hundreds of miles away in Plano, described Paxton as a corrupt politician who is unfit for office. He pointed to the 2023 impeachment trial of Paxton, and insisted that billionaires are attempting to install “their puppet” in the critical Senate seat. (Paxton was later acquitted in the trial.)
“Republicans know just as well as Democrats that there is no place in Texas for guys like Ken Paxton,” Talarico said. “It was a sobering experience, and at the end of it, Democrats and Republicans alike came to the same conclusion: This man is unfit for public office.”
Falling Republican support from Latinos could have impact in midterms
Two years ago, aircraft worker Mayumi Castro Fernandez voted for Donald Trump. But on Friday afternoon, she was canvassing a Miami neighborhood for the Democrat challenging an incumbent House Republican in a district where Latinos souring on the president could hand Democrats a win in next month’s midterms — and help propel the party to congressional majorities.
“All the prices go up — the gas, the food, the health insurance,” said Castro Fernandez, a Cuban American who identifies politically as independent and was canvassing with her union, which has backed the Democrat. By the end of the month, she said, families don’t “have all the money we need.”
“We need a change,” she said. “I change my mind. They can change it too.”
Latinos have emerged in recent years as perhaps the biggest group of swing voters in the United States. And if results next month mirror polls that suggest the nation’s 36 million Latino voters are shifting in significant numbers in Democrats’ favor, those voters could be responsible for handing the party control of Congress for the final two years of Trump’s presidency.
Traditionally a Democratic-leaning portion of the electorate in most of the nation, Latinos swung heavily toward Trump in the 2024 election — igniting Republican dreams of a long-term political realignment that could remake the American political map, particularly across the growing South.
But the economic frustrations that helped propel Trump to victory are now fueling dissatisfaction among many of those same voters with Republicans who fully control the federal government.
Subscribers can read more here.
Here's what happened on the campaign trail this weekend
Welcome to our coverage. Our reporters are on the ground in key states as we enter the final stretch of the midterm election cycle.
Here’s what we covered this weekend:
• Trump’s red-state rallies: President Donald Trump plans to headline midterm rallies all week. He’ll be in Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Iowa, Florida and Georgia. These are states Trump won in 2024, where Republicans are competing in surprisingly competitive races. On Saturday, he was in Kentucky, where he promised his latest gift to voters if Republicans are victorious in the midterms: a $100 million investment in a pharmaceutical plant in the Bluegrass State.
• Tight Texas contest: Today is the first day of early voting in the Lone Star State. GOP Senate candidate Ken Paxton and his Democratic opponent, James Talarico, drew stark contrasts between each other in dual rallies yesterday. Paxton said Talarico was “most radical Democrat ever to run statewide,” while the Democrat described his opponent as corrupt and unfit for office.
• Flashpoint in Michigan: The war of words between Trump and Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed continued, with the Democrat slamming the president for attacks tied to El-Sayed’s Muslim faith. Michigan’s Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers distanced himself from Trump’s comments in an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union”.
• Russia sanctions: House Speaker Mike Johnson said there are concerns within his GOP conference about the “unintended consequences” of Trump’s moves to waive sanctions on Russian fuel sales in the final weeks before the midterms.
• In the polls: National polls show Democrats have an advantage. In the CNN Poll of Polls averaging recent “generic ballot” questions — which ask voters which party’s congressional candidate they would support in their district — the Democrats lead the Republicans 54% to 45%, with little variation in the margin across polls.
• Jackson doubles down: Maine Senate Democratic nominee Troy Jackson told CNN he had no regrets telling his Republican opponent, Sen. Susan Collins, to “shut up” at their debate last week. He also stressed his support for ending the war in Iran, but did not appear to have a clear plan on how.
• Protests nationwide: Thousands of “No Kings: Vote Early” events, aimed at promoting mass turnout for the midterm elections, were held. Protests were seen across the country, including in Georgia and Washington, DC, where CNN reporters spoke to first-time voters among the demonstrators.
CNN’s Jeff Zeleny, Manu Raju, Aileen Graef, Katherine Koretski, Molly English, Alison Main, August Phillips, Alayna Treene, Kaanita Iyer, Gloria Pazmino and Aleena Fayaz contributed reporting.
