2026 midterm elections live updates: Latest news, results, and analysis

Ohio Republican Vivek Ramaswamy said the mother of his gubernatorial opponent wasn’t paid for a campaign ad she was featured in.

Amy Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur, “was not compensated,” Ramaswamy said at a town hall on Tuesday. “I asked my team that question because we’ve got that question. She was not compensated.”

The attack ad has been widely criticized for featuring Acton’s mother, who claimed her daughter was a “liar” and made the case that she is not fit to serve as Ohio’s governor.

It was later revealed that Arthur stayed married to a man who sexually abused Acton when she was a child. In the ad, Arthur reveals that she helped build “one of the first two sexual abuse programs in America.” Acton and her brother were ultimately removed from their mother’s custody when they were children.

After receiving pushback over the ad, Ramaswamy stood firm, spending $4 million to continue airing it ahead of Election Day. One of the reasons for the ad’s criticism was that it was initially unclear who had paid to run it. Ramaswamy eventually confirmed his campaign was behind the attack ad.

The Republican candidate said he never met Arthur or Acton, who has refused to debate Ramaswamy before Ohio voters head to the polls on Nov. 3.

Vice President JD Vance dismissed the idea of Democrats winning statewide in his home state of Ohio.

“I just do not think the state of Ohio wants to give Sherrod Brown a 50th year when he didn’t do anything with his first 49 years in public service,” Vance told the Washington Examiner at the Cincinnati FBI Field Office in Kenwood, Ohio. “I don’t think that they want to give the governorship over to a person who lies about every single one of her positions, who pretends that she’s a reasonable moderate when her entire life in public service she’s been a far left Democrat.”

Vance said his message to the people of Ohio is “very simple.”

“This is a good state,” he added. “The far left has run and taken over the Democratic Party. Don’t give these people power. They’re going to cause more of the very problems that we’ve been fighting against. That’s going to be my message, and I think ultimately it’s going to carry the day in the state of Ohio.”

Vance was in Ohio Wednesday morning to announce his White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud had identified $40 million in SNAP fraud, with 40 people prosecuted for alleged misconduct.

Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers released a new campaign ad on Wednesday that tied Democratic candidate Abdul el Sayed’s “radical ideology” to national security.

“Abdul el Sayed is funded by people who finance Hamas. His family has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Abdul publicly supported these terrorists, and they publicly supported his primary will,” Rogers said, citing news reports in the 30-second ad. “Those are the facts. Abdul el Sayed’s radical ideology is a threat to our national security.”

Rogers also mentioned he was an Army officer, an FBI special agent, and the House Intelligence Committee chairman from 2011 to 2015 when he represented Michigan in the lower chamber of Congress.

“I know a threat to America when I see one,” he said after listing his credentials.

Allegations of el Sayed’s affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt in 1928, recently surfaced. El Sayed explicitly disavowed the group.

The U.S. government has designated certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations or specially designated global terrorists rather than placing a blanket designation on the entire global organization.

Michigan Democrat Abdul el Sayed wrote a letter to Jewish voters, vowing to protect them from antisemitism if he’s elected to the Senate.

“As your Senator, I will always stand up against antisemitism and take the threat of violence against our Jewish community incredibly seriously,” he wrote in the letter, detailed with his campaign letterhead. “Antisemitism is a scourge, and we need to address it in all its forms. It has no place in our communities. Ever. Full stop.”

“I hope to earn your vote,” he concluded.

El Sayed’s promise is notable, considering he has faced intense scrutiny from Republican candidate Mike Rogers and Jewish leaders over the issue of antisemitism in the Senate race.

The Democratic nominee’s letter garnered a sharp response from Nonnegotiable Michigan, a coalition of Michigan rabbis and Jewish Democrats. The group is upset that el Sayed hasn’t met with its members yet.

“We have asked you to engage, publicly and privately, reiterating that Nonnegotiable is an invitation to dialogue,” the coalition said in a statement on its website. “You have not responded, and your silence only deepens our concern.”

Nonnegotiable explained the Muslim candidate misunderstands why Jews are being targeted in Michigan, making the case that the suspect who committed the vehicle-ramming and shooting attack at a synagogue in March did so because of the house of worship’s association with Israel rather than the Jewish faith.

“Much of the antisemitism endangering Jewish lives in America today is aimed at our connection to Israel –– not at our faith,” the group said.

“You cannot fight antisemitism without naming and condemning the kind of anti-Jewish bigotry rooted in the Jewish people’s inextricable connection to the land, people and State of Israel,” it added. “You cannot protect Jews while refusing to address that violent strain of this ancient bigotry.”

The Washington Examiner contacted el Sayed’s campaign for comment on the letter’s authenticity and Nonnegotiable’s statement.

Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is putting journalists and broadcasters on notice for publishing false polls “without regard to basic journalistic ethics” ahead of the midterm elections.

Carr said on Wednesday the polls are “designed to do nothing more than interfere with the regular functioning of the electoral process and alter the normal patterns of voter turnout and enthusiasm.” He warned broadcasters against “engaging in News Distortion or promoting Broadcast Hoaxes” while urging them to “comply with their public interest obligations.”

The warning appears to be symbolic, but the FCC could presumably take action against broadcasters for airing fake polls if it deems fit.

“Broadcasters are advised to avoid engaging in News Distortions or running Broadcast Hoaxes by airing Polls that would violate their regulatory obligations,” Carr said. “If broadcasters believe they should provide their viewers with additional context and information about Polls they have covered, they can now take those actions consistent with FCC regulations.”

The statement came one day after Wedgewood admitted to fabricating its polling data, prompting the New York Times to retract the pollster’s surveys from its election tracker. Wedgewood said it intentionally fabricated polling numbers as part of an “experimental project to demonstrate the vulnerabilities, lack of oversight, and overall low barrier to entry in the modern political polling industry.”

Over the summer, Median Strategies also revealed it fabricated its polls as part of a “social experiment.” Unlike Wedgewood, Median never had its polls in the New York Times database.

The New York Times published an editor’s note in which the newspaper revealed it pulled 15 polls conducted by Wedgewood after the pollster admitted to fabricating data.

“This page previously included surveys from Wedgewood Polls,” the editor’s note reads. “On Oct. 20, after being questioned by the polling site FiftyPlusOne, Wedgewood released a statement admitting it had fabricated data for its polls. All of Wedgewood’s polls have been removed from our poll tracking project.”

The polls were published between June and October in multiple state and congressional races, including those in Michigan, Georgia, Mississippi, Maine, and Kansas.

The New York Times said it vetted Wedgewood before adding the polls to its database, asking about the pollster’s team, sampling methodology, weighting procedures, and the source of its funding.

The news outlet’s statement came one day after Wedgewood said it intentionally fabricated polling numbers as part of an “experimental project to demonstrate the vulnerabilities, lack of oversight, and overall low barrier to entry in the modern political polling industry.”

Wedgewood is the latest pollster that faked its figures this election cycle, following a similar admission from Median Strategies in August. The New York Times never included Median’s surveys in its trackers because the fake pollster didn’t answer its methodology questions.

Maine Democrat Troy Jackson revealed he voted for Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in 1996 when she first ran for the Senate.

Speaking at a Maine AFL-CIO event last week, Jackson said he shared voters’ frustration with the five-term incumbent over the past three decades because he once supported her. He was a Republican before joining the Democratic Party in 2004.

“She’s not willing to stand up to [President Donald] Trump. She’s given up her role as a U.S. senator,” Jackson said.

The Democratic nominee has been open about his displeasure with Collins as the two candidates make their final pleas to voters before Election Day.

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) is leading Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) by 8 points in the latest poll on the Georgia Senate race.

The Democratic incumbent’s polling lead is the latest sign that he will hold on to his Senate seat for a second term. The survey shows 48% of voters backing Ossoff to Rogers’s 40% support, though 12% of Georgia voters are still undecided. Despite an endorsement from President Donald Trump, Collins has consistently failed to make a dent in his opponent’s electoral edge.

While Ossoff is far ahead of his competition, the same can’t be said for Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms in the state’s gubernatorial race. She sits 1 point behind Republican candidate Rick Jackson, who’s at 46%, according to the new poll.

The University of Georgia, in partnership with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, surveyed 1,000 likely voters from Oct. 7 to 15. The poll has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

MAGA Inc., the primary super PAC of President Donald Trump, spent just over $201 million in September to boost Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections.

The number was revealed in the latest Federal Election Commission filings submitted late Tuesday.

Starting September with more than $415 million in cash on hand, MAGA Inc. spent an additional $75 million in the first half of October. The super PAC transferred money to its two affiliates, $25 million to the Safety and Affordability PAC and $200 million to the No Going Back PAC. Much of that money was spent on political ads across the country.

The newly released spending figures came hours after Trump said he plans to spend more than $400 million before Election Day through MAGA Inc. The president previously promised he would spend up to $500 million on the midterm elections.

President Donald Trump obsessed over Sen. Jon Husted’s (R-OH) strong physique again while headlining a midterm election rally in North Carolina on Tuesday.

During his speech, Trump called Husted’s backside a “pile of muscle” and complimented other parts of the senator’s anatomy.

“I’m studying his body. I’ve never studied the body of a man before. It’s not my thing. Nothing wrong with it, of course,” he said before chuckling.

“But I looked at his a**, and then I looked at his legs,” he continued. “I said, ‘His a**, s***, it’s like a pile of muscle.’ Then I looked at his legs and I said, ‘Man, his feet are big.’ And I looked at his shoulders and tapped him on the shoulder, and it actually hurt my hand. He’s like a piece of steel. And I said, ‘This guy’s a monster.'”

The president first commented on Husted’s body during a recent campaign rally in Ohio.

Husted is not the only Republican candidate whose appearance has drawn Trump’s attention. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who’s running for the Senate, has received playful compliments from the president about his fashion style. Trump joked that Paxton “may not dress right” or “may not be the best-looking guy I’ve ever seen,” but he noted that the Texas Republican looked “very spiffy” in a certain suit.

Voters across the country in this year’s midterm elections will decide on ballot initiatives to slow down development or issue guardrails for data centers, which have seen sharply increasing public backlash.

President Donald Trump has pushed for data center development, arguing they are necessary to win the artificial intelligence race against China. However, the 41 ballot measures across eight states reveal the growing public opposition to data centers.

Of the 41 ballot measures, three would temporarily pause data center development. For instance, the city of Bloomington, Illinois, will vote on an initiative to advise the city to impose a moratorium on large-scale data centers.

A measure in York County, Maine, would set a 180-day moratorium on data centers. One in Wiscasset, Maine, would set a six-month moratorium for new or expanded data centers.

Read more about the ballot measures.

Democrat James Talarico heads into the final two weeks of his pivotal Texas Senate race after months of working to close an enthusiasm gap with black voters, a key voting bloc that could complicate his path to victory in much the same way GOP rival Ken Paxton is struggling to unite the Right.

Talarico has made crucial headway to minimize what used to be nearly a third of black voters who said months ago they did not plan to support the state representative, but recent polling suggests he still lacks backing from 15% to 20% of the cohort that overwhelmingly tends to side with Democrats.

A pair of surveys conducted in recent weeks showed Talarico with 85% and 83% of black voters, while Paxton clocked in at 10% and 17%, respectively.

The results show the lingering side effect of the contentious primary between Talarico and Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) and the continued tensions between them. Crockett has not campaigned for Talarico, and her PAC did not endorse him despite her doing so.

Read more about Talarico’s strategy to gain support from the key voting bloc.

BANGOR, Maine — Hope Brogunier was visibly exasperated on Friday after watching Troy Jackson onstage for his final debate against Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).

“I was just wincing,” said Brogunier, a retiree from Bangor and former Graham Platner supporter who shook her head in disbelief that Collins was so well prepared. “I could barely stand it!”

It’s not that Brogunier doesn’t think Jackson, a former leader of the Maine Senate, is a good candidate for Democrats. She considers his working-class background as an Allagash logger “endearing” and, as a matter of principle, believes he’s committed to “helping people on the bottom of the pile.”

But the debate confirmed to her that Jackson wasn’t nearly as dynamic as Platner, an oysterman whose insurgent campaign in the Democratic primary was marked by large rallies and a certain Trump-like Teflon that made him nearly impervious to scandal.

Read more about Democrats’ apprehension about Troy Jackson.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick joined Trump onstage in North Carolina to announce two semiconductor manufacturing efforts being brought to the state, one by industrial mining company Sibelco and another by the Department of War.

The two investments will bring semiconductor production closer to home as the largest manufacturing hub is in Taiwan.

“It’s all made in Taiwan, right? And that’s just too far away for America, so he’s bringing it home,” Lutnick said of the effort. “We’re announcing Sabelco is going to build silicon manufacturing. It’s quartz manufacturing. It is basically the foundation of semiconductors, and they’re going to build it right here in North Carolina. Hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Trump then took back the podium to tout the investment and announce that the War Department would be making an additional $1.5 billion investment in semiconductor chip production.