Record early voting underway

By Sunday, October twenty-fifth, nearly twenty-seven million Americans had voted early or by mail ahead of the November third midterm elections.

What's at stake in midterms

All four hundred thirty-five House seats and thirty-five Senate seats are up for election, along with many governorships, state legislative seats and local offices.

Democrats could gain control

Polling data suggests Democrats could take control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate, clawing back seats held by Republicans for years.

Trump ignores unpopularity data

President Donald Trump insists his approval rating is more than double what polling shows, even as opinion data points to his growing unpopularity.

Cost of living drives voters

The key issue for voters is affordability: the general cost of living, rising interest rates, and especially rapid increases in petrol and diesel fuel prices.

Gas prices as political weapon

Pollster Nate Silver observed that every time somebody drives past a gas station, it's an advertisement for the Democrats.

“Every time somebody drives past a gas station, it's an advertisement for the Democrats.”

Iran war fuels voter anger

Voters link Donald Trump's war of choice against Iran to restrictions on Middle East oil flow and rising fuel prices at the pump.

Other voter concerns emerge

Voters worry about excessive force by federal immigration officers and efforts by the Trump administration to restrict voting rights.

Obama rallies Democrats

Former President Barack Obama campaigned for Democrats in key battleground states including Michigan and Ohio, showing why he remains the US's most inspiring public speaker.

Obama invokes civil rights icon

In Cleveland, Ohio, Obama quoted Fannie Lou Hamer's nineteen sixty-four address: I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. It was a direct swipe at Trump's governance.

“I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

Republicans face controversies

Vivek Ramaswamy's Ohio gubernatorial campaign used a video from Amy Acton's mother calling her a liar, despite the mother's role in a rape case involving Acton as a child.

Michigan campaign rhetoric deteriorates

Trump and Republican candidate Mike Rogers have called Democrat Abdul El-Sayed a Muslim Brotherhood supporter, communist and fascist in their Michigan Senate race.

Alaska ballot confusion erupts

The Trump administration's Justice Department sued to block Alaska's Senate race results because two candidates named Dan Sullivan appear on the ballot alongside Democrat Mary Peltola.

Daniel Sullivan runs independently

Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher from Petersburg, Alaska, says he is running for Senate of his own accord, not as a Democratic plant to siphon Republican votes.