Nevada

California's Proposition 40 would create the first U.S. tax on billionaires' net worth, but two rival measures, Propositions 41 and 42, contain "poison pill" language that could nullify it even if it wins a majority. Polling shows all three measures drawing majority support, pointing to voter confusion over the ballot language. A billionaire-backed coalition, including Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt, has bankrolled the opposition, with spending topping $350 million against roughly $34 million raised by supporters, including labor unions like SEIU-UHW. Democrats are split: Bernie Sanders backs Prop. 40 while Gavin Newsom opposes it, favoring a national wealth tax instead. If competing measures both pass, the outcome would likely be settled in court.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has moved South Carolina's Senate race to "lean Republican" from "likely Republican" and Mississippi's to "likely Republican" from "solid Republican," citing candidate quality and Democrats' broader push into red territory. Democrats are backing the shift with money: the Senate Majority PAC announced a $1.2 million ad buy in Mississippi attacking incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, boosting Democratic nominee Scott Colom. In South Carolina, Democrat Annie Andrews is challenging appointed Sen. Darline Graham. Both races remain steep climbs for Democrats given past Republican margins, but the ratings change adds two more contests to the list Republicans must defend amid economic headwinds ahead of the midterms.

The Trump administration has warned California election officials that processing ballots cast by suspected noncitizen voters could expose them to criminal investigation and prosecution. A letter from acting deputy attorney general Trent McCotter called noncitizen voting a federal crime and said officials who knowingly facilitate it risk being treated as aiders and abettors. The DOJ sued California after it missed a 48-hour deadline to cross-check a federal list of roughly 20,000 flagged names; federal prosecutors have since charged 28 green-card holders across California, 11 arrested, saying all appeared on that list. Secretary of State Shirley Weber called the demand unprecedented and said officials provided too little information to verify names. Governor Newsom calls the suit voter suppression; the dispute looms over competitive California House races in the midterms.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford has appealed to the state Supreme Court to revive criminal charges against six Republicans accused in the 2020 "fake electors" scheme. A Clark County District Court judge dismissed the case in August, ruling prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence from the grand jury and failed to show "fraudulent intent." The defendants—Michael McDonald, Jesse Law, James DeGraffenreid, Durward Hindle III, Shawn Meehan and Eileen Rice—had faced forgery charges for submitting a certificate falsely declaring Donald Trump the winner of Nevada in 2020. Trump pardoned them federally last year, but that pardon does not cover state charges. Ford, now running for governor against incumbent Joe Lombardo, says he expects the high court to side with his office.

Arizona has filed a motion to intervene in Nevada's lawsuit challenging a Trump administration plan for major water cutbacks on the Colorado River. Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke said the mandatory cuts "would devastate Arizona's economy." Nevada sued in August, arguing the plan could severely shrink its allotment and harm Las Vegas and surrounding areas. Arizona relies on the river for about 36% of its water, much of it delivered via the Central Arizona Project canal system, which has lower-priority water rights and faces earlier cuts. The expanding legal fight could reach the U.S. Supreme Court, complicating efforts by seven western states to manage the shrinking river's supply.

The Department of Justice escalated its dispute with California over a list of voters flagged as possible noncitizens, filing an emergency lawsuit Oct. 15 in federal court in the Central District of California after state officials missed a roughly 48-hour deadline set by Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter to review the names. DOJ had sent Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan and Secretary of State Shirley Weber a password-protected thumb drive naming more than 20,000 "likely noncitizens," identified through a multiagency USCIS and Homeland Security Investigations review of state voter and federal citizenship data. The 15-page complaint accuses California of violating the Constitution's supremacy clause by knowingly sending and counting mail ballots from likely noncitizens, and asks the court to order the state to set aside such ballots until citizenship is verified. Attorney General Todd Blanche called the alleged practice "state-facilitated voter fraud."

Logan's office declined to open the drive, citing data privacy protocols, while Weber argued federal officials provided insufficient evidence. Governor Gavin Newsom called the lawsuit a "sad, desperate attempt" by President Trump to suppress California voters weeks before Election Day. The suit is the administration's first direct attempt to block vote-counting, following a broader push including a blocked citizenship-verification mandate, a mail-voting executive order partly struck down by the Supreme Court, and roughly 30 similar voter-roll suits against other states with limited success. Senate Democrats have demanded oversight briefings on the administration's election-interference efforts.

Leigh Ann Rinehart, 54, of Elkins, West Virginia, has pleaded guilty to bank fraud for her role in a scheme that funneled more than $440,000 in COVID-related unemployment benefits through her home address. Prosecutors said unemployment claims were filed in the names of people living in Nevada, California, New York and other states, none of whom resided in West Virginia or authorized Rinehart to use their benefits.

More than 24 Electronic Benefit Payment debit cards tied to the fraudulent claims were mailed to Rinehart's home between June 2020 and November 2022. She activated the cards, withdrew cash, purchased money orders and cryptocurrency, and passed funds or goods to others involved in the scheme. The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Workforce West Virginia, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Conklin. It is part of the Justice Department's broader crackdown on pandemic-era benefit fraud under its new National Fraud Enforcement Division.