Republican Party (United States)

Tarrant County, Texas's third-largest and once solidly Republican, has become a closely divided battleground as both parties court moderate GOP voters ahead of Tuesday's midterms. Some lifelong Republicans, including Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, plan to split tickets, backing certain Democrats statewide while supporting Republican Tim O'Hare for county judge. Democrats hope scandal-tied candidates like Ken Paxton and Bo French push moderates away, while Republicans lean on fundraising advantages and redrawn commissioner maps to limit defections.

The county has swung between Trump and Biden in recent cycles, and a January special election flip of a state Senate seat has both sides watching closely, with rising Latino turnout and affordability concerns adding further uncertainty.

Alaska's Republican-run state government has urged a federal judge to dismiss, with prejudice, the Justice Department lawsuit filed at President Trump's direction to block certification of a possible Senate win by Democrat Mary Peltola over GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan. In a Saturday filing, the state's attorney general's office called the suit "meritless" and said there was no reason for the court to entertain it further. The suit claims voters may have been confused by a second, unrelated candidate also named Dan Sullivan and had asked the court to segregate ballots cast for him, a step Alaska's attorneys called "disturbing and impossible" and a violation of voter privacy, noting the ballot clearly distinguished the two by party and incumbency. Trump has also called for Peltola's prosecution over reports her campaign helped recruit the spoiler candidate. U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Gleason is weighing whether to dismiss the case without a hearing.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, seeking a fourth term against Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, faces a closer-than-expected race amid rural backlash over data centers, school vouchers, and an unpopular Iran conflict. Public polling shows Hinojosa within striking distance, an unusual position for Texas' dominant GOP leader. Abbott is deploying his extensive "Abbott Impact App" turnout operation, built on thousands of volunteers and voter data, to aid his own campaign and that of Attorney General Ken Paxton, who faces Democrat James Talarico in a competitive Senate race.

Democrats are meanwhile building new grassroots infrastructure in traditionally Republican counties like Brazoria, hoping demographic shifts and sustained organizing can finally end the party's three-decade statewide losing streak.

A divided 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel paused a lower court ruling that had found Idaho's near-total abortion ban unconstitutional for lacking a health exception. The 2-1 decision said a doctor challenging the law is unlikely to prevail on claims that the Constitution protects abortion access to preserve a patient's health, citing the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. The lower court's order, the first since Dobbs to recognize a constitutional right to abortion in limited circumstances, had barred enforcement against the plaintiff pending appeal. Idaho's attorney general praised the outcome; the plaintiff's lawyer called it a temporary setback and vowed to continue the appeal.

Ahead of Nov. 3 elections, early voting has topped recent midterm totals in multiple states. In Ohio, nearly 1.5 million ballots were cast by Oct. 30 — about 907,000 in person and 580,000 by mail — exceeding 2018 and 2022 totals, with voters favoring in-person voting over mail ballots. In Missouri's St. Louis County, more than 130,000 people voted early, already surpassing the county's entire 2022 midterm early-voting turnout, aided by an expansion from seven to 200 polling sites. South Carolina has also seen record turnout for its gubernatorial election, with nearly 950,000 ballots cast statewide as of Oct. 24, the highest early total since the state introduced early voting in 2022.

Ohio's races include every statewide executive office plus U.S. Senate and House seats that could shift Washington's balance of power; unaffiliated voters lead turnout there, narrowly ahead of Democrats and Republicans. Missouri officials caution strong early turnout doesn't guarantee a higher overall total, noting 2024's election-day surge. Ohio's early in-person voting ends Nov. 1, with ballots due by 7:30 p.m. on Election Night; South Carolina's early voting period runs through Oct. 31.

Charles E. Williams II, Michigan chapter president of Al Sharpton's National Action Network, criticized Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in undercover footage, calling him untrustworthy and describing "flat-out disdain" for him among black voters. Williams said he backed El-Sayed's primary rival, Haley Stevens, and questioned the feasibility of El-Sayed's progressive policy promises. He urged his community to vote but stopped short of endorsing a candidate. Sharpton visited Detroit to encourage turnout without endorsing El-Sayed. Polling has shown a notable gap between general Democratic support and support for El-Sayed among black voters, a dynamic that could affect turnout in Michigan's competitive Senate primary.