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Turmoil in Shasta County, California's elections office has intensified after registrar Clint Curtis sealed a room containing primary ballots with locks and duct tape, claiming without evidence they seemed suspicious. County leaders publicly condemned Curtis and asked the FBI, California's attorney general and secretary of state to investigate his conduct, while Curtis separately said he too had asked the FBI to look into the matter. The county's Board of Supervisors previously censured Curtis over treatment of staff, and internal investigations found he threatened employees and misused work time on his own campaign.

Curtis, a longtime election denier with no prior election administration experience, drew national attention for seeking to hire Tina Peters, a convicted former Colorado clerk tied to a 2021 voting-machine breach, as a consultant. California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom's office are reviewing whether such a hire would violate state law. The dispute echoes a separate case in Riverside County, where a sheriff's seizure of ballots is being challenged before the California Supreme Court, raising broader questions about election security and oversight ahead of the midterms.

Minnesota voters went to the polls August 11 in Democratic primaries pitting moderate Rep. Angie Craig against progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan for the open Senate seat left by retiring Sen. Tina Smith. Flanagan drew backing from Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Ilhan Omar and Smith herself, while Craig secured establishment support from Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi, Pete Buttigieg and Gwen Walz, and roughly doubled Flanagan's fundraising. The race centered on Craig's contested vote for the Laken Riley Act, which she has since disavowed, immigration enforcement after federal agents killed two protesters during "Operation Metro Surge," and clashing views on Israel and AIPAC funding. On the Republican side, Michele Tafoya leads a fundraising-heavy field including party-endorsed Adam Schwarze and Royce White, while Amy Klobuchar faces minimal opposition for governor against Republicans Mike Lindell (Trump-endorsed), Lisa Demuth and Kendall Qualls, as the GOP seeks its first statewide win since 2006.

Craig's departure also triggered a six-way Democratic primary for her open 2nd Congressional District seat. The results will help determine whether Democrats lean moderate or progressive heading into the midterms and test Republican hopes of ending their statewide losing streak. Prediction markets, which favored Flanagan and Craig-adjacent dynamics entering Election Day, are watching outcomes as an early signal for the broader 2026 fight over Congress and Minnesota's state government.