As Election Week arrives in America, political campaigns are making their final moves, with voters heading to the polls to decide midterm races, Roll Call reported.
Closing Arguments at the Lincoln Memorial and Across the Map
President Donald Trump will use the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as the location for his midterm closing argument. Trump told reporters Sunday that he wanted to show how beautiful it is
while also expected to hold additional tele-rallies to reach supporters in the campaign’s closing hours.
Before focusing on national messaging, Trump campaigned in person on Sunday in Iowa and Kansas. Both states host competitive Senate matchups that sit firmly on the map of Toss-up races, according to Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales. In Iowa, Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson is running for the seat being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Joni Ernst. Hinson faces Democratic State Rep. Josh Turek, a two-time Paralympic gold medalist. Meanwhile, in Kansas, Republican Sen. Roger Marshall faces a Toss-up challenge from Democrat Adam Hamilton.
The remaining Senate Toss-ups are located in Alaska and Maine. Both are currently held by Republicans, leaving no Senate races rated as Toss-ups or favoring the GOP where the current senator is a Democrat.
Iowa Incumbents Face Vulnerable House Contests
Iowa also stands as a crucial battleground for control of the House of Representatives, hosting several closely watched contests. Two Iowa Republican incumbents, Reps. Zach Nunn and Marinnette Miller-Meeks, appeared on CQ Roll Call’s final list of the cycle’s most vulnerable House members.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has continued to argue that the polling favorable to Democrats should not be believed. On Sunday, Johnson campaigned alongside Trump in Iowa. I work almost as hard as this guy. I try to keep up with him, he doesn’t sleep at all,
Johnson remarked of Trump before treating the rally crowd to a brief impression of the president.
Johnson’s travel schedule reflects the compressed final timeline of the campaign. He is slated to join Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., for an Election Eve rally in Virginia Beach before flying to Texas. There, he will kick off Election Day with an early morning event alongside Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz and GOP candidates Eric Flores and Tano Tijerina. Flores is running in the reconfigured 34th District to unseat Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, while Tijerina is seeking to oust Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar.
Haley Stevens Abruptly Supports Republican Senate Candidate
The surprise of the final weekend unfolded in Michigan. Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens abruptly announced her support for — and appeared alongside — Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers, the GOP Senate candidate.
Stevens had previously competed in the Democratic primary for Senate and was initially expected to appear with Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed. Instead, she made a last-minute pivot toward Rogers, leaving Democrats flummoxed.
As you may have seen, our Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Abdul, said that I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away. And he’s right. And that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers,
Stevens stated Sunday in a video shared on social media.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., condemned the announcement, describing Stevens’ pivot as a despicable betrayal.
Beyond intra-party friction, Democratic leadership is bracing for potential challenges to the vote count. Schumer convened a call with Senate Democrats on Sunday to coordinate a response to any efforts by Trump or his allies to undermine the midterm results.
If Trump and his allies attempt to interfere with the will of the voters, Senate Democrats are prepared to fight back immediately and aggressively, on Election Day and for as long as it takes to ensure the results are respected,
a Senate Democratic aide stated.
