Bill Clinton

Santa Clara County rejected a DOJ demand for data on 902 voters it suspects are noncitizens and to set aside their ballots, calling it unlawful and infeasible before Election Day; San Mateo and Contra Costa counties raised similar objections, noting the DOJ letters carry no court order. The dispute escalated after a federal judge and a 9th Circuit panel both rejected a related Trump administration effort to block roughly 20,000 California ballots statewide, calling the claims about noncitizen voters not credible and the intervention unconstitutional. The DOJ has appealed again. Gov. Newsom says California is deploying election attorneys to monitor DOJ observers at polling sites.

Project 50, a political group founded by Illinois abortion-rights veterans including former state Sen. Heather Steans and ex-HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, is working to replicate Illinois' decades-old shift toward abortion access by targeting state legislative races in conservative states with bans or heavy restrictions. After early setbacks in Arizona, the group refocused on culturally conservative states in 2023, winning three races in its first three years and four more in 2025, including in Virginia. It has raised over $3.7 million from donors such as Michael Bloomberg and Gov. JB Pritzker. Organizers say the strategy targets voters uneasy with total abortion bans, not broad support for unrestricted access. Abortion-rights opponents call its electoral impact limited so far.

With under two weeks until Election Day, Florida has drawn heavy national attention, with surrogates from both parties campaigning across the state. President Trump is set to rally with Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds, whose campaign faced scrutiny after briefly removing Trump references from its website, which Donalds called routine updates. Vice President JD Vance has framed the election as a choice between continuing current GOP policies or returning to Biden-era priorities. Democrats, hoping to flip seats, deployed Bernie Sanders for Senate candidate Angie Nixon against incumbent Ashley Moody, while Bill Clinton campaigned with gubernatorial candidate David Jolly. Competitive U.S. House races in Florida's 13th and 14th districts are also drawing close attention.

Colorado, once a reliable Republican state, has leaned decidedly Democratic in recent cycles, and 2026 looks similar. Gov. Phil Weiser and Sen. John Hickenlooper are favored for easy wins over underfunded Republican opponents Victor Marx and Mark Baisley, with some GOP figures, including former Rep. Ken Buck, crossing over to back Weiser. The closest races are in the U.S. House: Democrat Manny Rutinel is seen as favored over Republican incumbent Gabe Evans in District 8, while Republican incumbent Jeff Crank is expected to hold District 5 against well-funded Democrat Jessica Killin despite backlash over the Space Command relocation. Analysts attribute the overall Democratic advantage to anti-Trump sentiment and weak Republican statewide recruitment.

Jose Fiscal Belli, a 32-year-old restaurant co-owner and Little League coach in Paris, Illinois, has been held in ICE custody since July 21 after Indiana State Police stopped him for a parking violation outside an Indianapolis government building and turned him over to federal agents. Fiscal Belli, brought to the U.S. from Mexico at 16, had a 2011 deportation order he says he didn't know about while pursuing legal status through marriage to his American wife. An immigration judge denied him bond despite no criminal record. The case has split the heavily pro-Trump town of about 8,000, where residents, local Republican officials, and the Democratic mayor have rallied to support him, raising funds and writing letters urging his release while he fights deportation from a Kentucky jail.

Kansas, which has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1932, has become an unexpected midterm battleground. Republican Sen. Roger Marshall faces a tighter-than-anticipated race against megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton, with recent polls, including a YouGov survey, showing Hamilton narrowly ahead. The Cook Political Report has moved the contest from "Likely Republican" to "Toss Up," prompting the GOP's Senate Leadership Fund to pour millions into a seat once considered safe. Hamilton, pastor of the country's largest Methodist congregation, draws support across party lines and is campaigning heavily in red, agriculture-heavy counties.

Analysts attribute the shift to voter frustration over the economy, rising diesel and fertilizer costs during harvest season, tariff disputes affecting farmers and ranchers angered by eased beef-import tariffs, and immigration enforcement actions. Marshall, a close Trump ally endorsed by the president, retains a fundraising edge but faces scrutiny over lawsuits against patients with unpaid bills, some of whom were arrested. Trump's declining approval in the state has complicated Marshall's path, with Republicans outnumbering Democrats nearly two to one statewide, making Hamilton's bid for unaffiliated and crossover voters pivotal to national Senate control.

At Texas Faith Fest, an annual event hosted by advocacy group Texas Values, Republican state lawmakers and pastors discussed policy proposals aimed at restricting Islamic religious practice in the state. During a panel titled "Don't Sharia My Texas," speakers called for banning public vouchers for Islamic schools, prohibiting halal food in prisons and other public institutions, and barring broadcasts of the Muslim call to prayer. Some panelists, including a Texas Values board member, questioned whether Islam should be recognized as a religion at all and said the goal was to make Muslims feel unwelcome enough to leave Texas.

The proposals follow Gov. Greg Abbott's earlier pledge to "fully ban sharia law in Texas" after controversy over a planned Muslim-centric development near Dallas. Muslims make up roughly 2% of Texas's population. Religious liberty scholars warned that government-sanctioned favoritism toward one faith could violate First Amendment protections and set a precedent threatening religious freedom broadly, while some lawmakers argued their proposals, such as banning all religious dietary accommodations, would apply neutrally across faiths.

Political strategist Khalil Thompson, co-founder of Win With Black Men, hosted a discussion at Philly Cuts barbershop in West Philadelphia to explore why some Black men shifted toward Donald Trump in 2024 rather than backing Kamala Harris. About one-quarter of Black men supported Trump last year, up from 12% in 2020, according to AP VoteCast. The two-hour conversation drew local politicians, union leaders, and residents, and grew heated at times as attendees debated Trump's relationship with Black culture, racism, and disillusionment with both parties. Harris had visited the same barbershop nine days before losing the election.

Attendees agreed on the need for greater government investment in Black communities, better educational opportunities, and paths to economic independence, while voicing distrust of political institutions across party lines. Pollster Terrance Woodbury noted stark economic disparities, including higher Black male unemployment and far lower median family wealth compared to white families, as context for the political divide. Strategists say Black men, despite being a small share of the electorate, could prove decisive in close races, and several potential 2028 Democratic candidates are already seeking guidance on outreach to this bloc, particularly ahead of the South Carolina primary.