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(59)Key takeaways from Monday
• Red-state rally: President Donald Trump shrugged off any concerns about the Republican candidate not winning Mississippi’s Senate seat, even as his very presence in the ruby-red state underscored GOP concerns about once-safe seats. “I can’t take a chance,” he said at the event for Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.
• Judges weigh in: A federal appeals court rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to force California to set aside votes from 20,000 people it claims are noncitizens. Another federal judge hinted she will rule quickly in a lawsuit brought by the Justice Department seeking to potentially block certification of Alaska’s Senate race.
• Minnesota controversy: Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar participated in an event with controversial left-wing Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, dividing Minnesota Democrats. Before taking the stage, Piker shrugged off criticism from some senior Democrats.
• Votes already in: More than 30 million votes have already been cast with just over a week to go until Election Day. This is several days ahead of the pace in 2022.
Ted Cruz and Tim Scott warn Republican voters in SC: Democrats will go after Trump
GOP senators warned a room of South Carolina Republicans on Monday night that Democrats will go after President Donald Trump relentlessly if they control Congress for his final two years in the White House.
Cruz and other prominent national Republicans are in Myrtle Beach rallying support behind Sen. Darline Graham, who is running as Trump’s hand-selected pick to serve a full term in her late brother’s Senate seat.
GOP groups have pumped money into South Carolina over the past few weeks as concerns grow that the race against Democratic Annie Andrews is too close for comfort in the state that Trump won three times by double digits.
Sen. Tim Scott, the chairman of the Senate GOP campaign arm, cautioned that a “dark, insidious force from the far left” was “lurching across this country,” highlighting Democrats in battleground races that Republicans are trying to paint as too radical to serve in Congress.
After railing against James Talarico and Abdul El-Sayed, the respective Democratic Senate candidates in Texas and Michigan, Scott claimed Andrews is “as radical, dangerous, and weird as the two other candidates I mentioned.”
Shortly after taking office, Graham introduced a Russia sanctions bill named after her brother, Lindsey, who championed cracking down on countries that purchased Russian oil and gas.
Though the legislation passed by bipartisan majorities in both chambers and signed into law, Trump has since rolled back some sanctions on Russian diesel as he attempts to drive down fuel prices ahead of the midterms.
Protestor slams White House ballroom renovation at Trump rally
At a rally in Corinth, Mississippi, a protester interrupted President Donald Trump to shout about the White House ballroom renovation project.
When President Donald Trump delivered his speech at a midterm rally in Corinth, Mississippi, a heckler interrupted him about the White House ballroom renovation project.
Trump rallies in Mississippi, saying "I just got to make sure." Catch up on campaign news here
President Donald Trump was in Mississippi to support Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith this evening — continuing his blitz through red states amid lagging enthusiasm for Republicans among voters.
He shrugged off concerns about the GOP candidate not winning the ruby-red state’s Senate seat during the rally, but said:
Here’s what else happened on the campaign trail over the past few hours:
- In a social media post earlier today, 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 Michele Tafoya is running against Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.
- A federal appeals court rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to force California to set aside votes from 20,000 people it claims are noncitizens. Minutes before the ruling, the state’s attorney general said it was an “unconstitutional” effort to “sow distrust” among voters.
- More than 30 million ballots have been cast with just over a week to go until Election Day, according to data gathered by CNN, the Associated Press and Catalist. This is several days ahead of the pace in 2022.
- As Vice President JD Vance campaigned in Kansas for GOP Sen. Roger Marshall, he retooled his argument on gas prices — this time blaming rising costs on “tinpot dictators in the Middle East.”
- Meanwhile in Wisconsin, former Vice President Kamala Harris told voters the elections are an opportunity to turn “anger, sadness, disappointment, frustration” into action with their vote.
- Rep. Ilhan Omar appeared with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker at a campaign event in Minnesota despite state Democrats distancing themselves from him. Speaking to CNN before taking the stage, Piker shrugged off criticism and said his engaged young audience mobilizes to knock on doors and phone bank for campaigns.
- In South Carolina, Sen. Darline Graham dodged a question from CNN on the toll of the Iran war on voters in the state. While many GOP candidates in competitive races have said the war needs to end, Graham has defended the need to give Trump more time to achieve his goal of cutting off Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
CNN's Manu Raju spoke to South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham on the campaign trail as she battles through a close race to retain her Senate seat.
CNN’s Alejandra Jaramillo, Elise Hammond, Edward-Isaac Dovere, Allison Main, Manu Raju, Kevin Liptak and Molly English contributed reporting.
Rep. Ilhan Omar campaigns with streamer Hasan Piker as other Democrats distance themselves
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar appeared with controversial left-wing Twitch streamer Hasan Piker on Monday as early voting is underway in the state.
Greeted by enthusiastic chants, Omar sought to rally attendees to get out the vote for Democratic candidates with just eight days left before Election Day.
“Reach out to every single person,” the congresswoman said as she referenced the tumult the state has faced amid federal immigration enforcement operations this year.
The event took place amid high security at a theater in Cedar-Riverside, a Minneapolis neighborhood widely known as the heart of the city’s Somali American community.
Before the event, prominent Minnesota Democrats, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar who is running for governor in the state, distanced themselves from Piker, who has said that American Jews’ support of Israel will make antisemitism worse and invite violence and that America is “pound for pound as far as the number of deaths” worse than Al-Qaeda.
“The Senator believes that a number of the statements he has made are reckless and unacceptable,” a spokesperson for Klobuchar’s campaign said.
Speaking to CNN before taking the stage, Piker shrugged off criticism from some senior Democrats, saying he believed candidates would still want to campaign with him. He pointed to his engaged young audience, which he says he mobilizes to knock on doors and phone bank for campaigns.
Darline Graham dodges question on economic toll of Iran war on South Carolina constituents
Sen. Darline Graham dodged a question on the toll of the Iran war on South Carolina voters as she left a campaign event on Monday night.
The South Carolina Republican, who is running to serve a full term in the seat previously occupied by her late brother, did not respond and kept walking when asked by CNN’s Manu Raju if it was worth it for her constituents to pay higher prices due to the war.
While many GOP candidates in competitive races have stated that the war needs to end imminently, Graham has gone further in defending the need to give President Donald Trump more time to achieve his goal of cutting off Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
She has faced skepticism about her qualifications after a gaffe in the Republican primary debate earlier this year where she admitted that foreign policy was “not my thing.”
She told Raju earlier on Monday that she was “becoming very informed” on national security.
CNN's Manu Raju spoke to South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham on the campaign trail as she battles through a close race to retain her Senate seat.
In Nevada, Trump's promises are not enough as voters drown in rising costs
Ahead of next week’s Election Day, Nevada voters tell CNN that rising day-to-day costs and struggling local businesses make President Donald Trump’s economic promises ring hollow.
"I can't take a chance": Trump rallies in deep-red Mississippi amid GOP concerns
President Donald Trump shrugged off any concern about holding Mississippi’s Senate seat during a visit Monday, even as his very presence in the ruby-red state underscored persistent Republican concerns about once-safe seats.
Trump’s self-assurance belied worries that Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith may be in trouble amid lagging enthusiasm for Republicans and an energized base of Democrats looking to repudiate the president.
The president has been looking to combat those headwinds with a frenetic blitz through red states — a schedule whose toll was in evidence this evening as the president touted his record with a strained voice. “You know, God didn’t make your vocal cords to do a rally every day,” he joked.
He framed his record as one of unadulterated success and made little mention of cost-of-living concerns that have dragged down his popularity.
Trump defended the monthslong war in Iran, claiming the US had “beat the sh*t” out of the Islamic Republic and that the ensuing rise in gas prices was temporary, and pointed to recent stock market rallies as evidence that his economic policies are working, despite the market remaining volatile.
Trump did not avoid topics some of his advisers would prefer he skip, such as lengthy descriptions of his renovation work around the White House. “It actually relaxes me,” he said.
He responded to former President Barack Obama, who lambasted Trump’s fixation on renovations over the weekend.
“He doesn’t understand,” Trump said of the former president. “The White House has to be clean, pristine, beautiful.”
Trump’s speech at the Crossroads Arena, in rural Corinth, was well attended, though by the time he was wrapping up, large swaths of seats had emptied.
Judge hints she’ll rule quickly in Department of Justice's election lawsuit in Alaska
A federal judge granted a request by Democrats that she fast track a lawsuit brought by the Justice Department seeking to potentially block certification of Alaska’s Senate race, with a new scheduling order that also hinted at some skepticism about the Trump administration’s arguments for a federal court getting involved.
The new scheduling order from Judge Sharon Gleason, who was appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama, would allow her to rule in the case as early as the end of this week.
Her brief order noted the events that led up to DOJ’s new claims that the presence of a candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot could confuse voters intending to vote for Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, the GOP incumbent.
Gleason said she would rule by Wednesday evening on requests from the Democrats, as well as from non-partisan voter groups, that they be allowed to intervene in the case to fight the DOJ’s lawsuit. If those requests are granted, DOJ will have until Thursday evening to respond to their arguments that the case should be dismissed, the judge said.
More than 30 million ballots have been cast in early voting
More than 30 million ballots have already been cast with just over a week to go until Election Day.
That’s according to data from 47 states and the District of Columbia, gathered by CNN, the Associated Press, and Catalist, a company providing data, analytics and other services to Democrats, academics and nonprofit issue-advocacy organizations and is giving insights into who is voting before November.
Overall, the nation is at about 54% of total pre-election turnout in 2022, and about 28% of the total votes cast in that election.
Vance retools “tinpot dictators" gas price remark as he stumps in Kansas
Vice President JD Vance campaigned in Kansas on Monday with a tweaked version of his gas-price argument, this time blaming rising costs on “tinpot dictators in the Middle East,” after Democrats used his earlier phrasing to criticize President Donald Trump.
At a rally in Montana, Vance acknowledged that high gas prices have left some voters undecided ahead of the midterm elections, arguing that prices spike “every time some tinpot dictator decides to throw a tantrum,” sparking online backlash and social media comparisons to Trump.
In Kansas, Vance turned the issue squarely on Democrats, saying the opposing party’s priorities had made the country too reliant on “tinpot dictators in the Middle East.”
“Their policies are the reason that these Middle Eastern dictators ever controlled our lives in the first place, and Donald Trump and Roger Marshall are stopping it every single day,” he added.
Vance was in the state to boost Kansas GOP Sen. Roger Marshall, who is up for reelection and facing a surprisingly competitive challenge from Democrat Adam Hamilton. The vice president tried to frame Hamilton, who is a pastor, as a Democrat who would be the “stooge” of Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
“I can’t possibly know what is in the man’s heart, but I do know the lawgiver and Adam Hamilton’s world. It isn’t Moses, It’s not Jesus. It’s Chuck Schumer,” Vance said.
Vance framed the Trump movement around sovereignty, saying it “was about reminding the American people that their government belongs to them,” and that the government ought to “fight for Americans first.” He frequently mentioned the needs of farmers, and touted that “Roger helped us unlock billions of dollars for fuel relief for farmers during this harvest season.”
In Wisconsin, Harris urges voters to turn anger into action
The midterm elections are an opportunity for Americans who are unhappy with the state of the country to turn emotion into action, former Vice President Kamala Harris said at a campaign event today in Wisconsin.
The former vice president, who lost a presidential bid to President Donald Trump in 2024, called the current administration the “most callous and corrupt and incompetent” in the history of America.
She is back in the key presidential battleground state as she weighs another run for the White House in 2028. Much of the political insider world has been clear in not wanting Harris to run again for president, yet with her midterm stops across the country in recent weeks, she’s hearing from many Democratic campaigns who believe having her around helps.
Two years after losing, Harris said if she runs again her motivation will be to “actually do the job.”
CNN’s Edward-Isaac Dovere contributed reporting to this post.
Jim Jordan remains elusive about possibly running to lead House GOP if party loses majority
Who will lead House Republicans if they lose the majority? It remains an open question.
Will Speaker Mike Johnson actually run for minority leader, as he recently suggested? Will others mount a bid for the top GOP spot — namely Majority Leader Steve Scalise or Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan?
Jordan was coy when CNN asked if he would run.
The leadership election is expected to take place a week after Election Day and will be conducted by secret ballot. Jordan, Scalise and House GOP Whip Tom Emmer all fell short in previous runs for speaker, as Emmer is expected to run for the whip position in the next Congress.
California AG calls Trump vote-count lawsuit an effort to "sow distrust" among voters
Just minutes before a federal appeals court rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to intervene in California’s ballot processing, the state’s attorney general said it was an “unconstitutional” effort to “sow distrust” among voters.
The administration’s lawsuit sought to force California to set aside votes from 20,000 people it claims are noncitizens — an escalation in its effort to crack down on voting fraud despite data showing that it remains vanishingly rare.
Bonta reiterated that California’s elections are secure, and said various audits have affirmed that there “is no widespread voter fraud.” Further, he said, states have sole authority over the time, place and manner of elections under the Constitution.
Appeals court rejects Trump DOJ demand to set aside 20,000 California mail ballots
A federal appeals court on Monday rejected the Trump administration’s unprecedented attempt to force California to set aside votes from 20,000 people it claims are noncitizens.
The Justice Department’s lawsuit in California, filed earlier this month, is part of its escalating effort to insert the federal government into how states run their elections.
A three-judge panel on the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Justice Department’s emergency appeal following arguments in an unusual emergency Sunday hearing held via Zoom.
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.
