Tim Scott

Absentee voting is underway in Detroit as Michigan prepares to elect a new governor, U.S. senator, members of Congress, the state Legislature, and other state and local offices. According to Detroit Votes, the city's nonpartisan voter information campaign, about 85,000 of Detroit's roughly 101,000 requested absentee ballots had been mailed as of Monday morning, with the remainder expected to go out later in the week.

Election officials are urging voters to return completed ballots promptly, including via 38 secure drop boxes located throughout the city. Michigan's nine-day statewide early voting period begins Oct. 24, offering another option for Detroiters to cast ballots ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3. The pace of absentee returns in a major Democratic stronghold like Detroit is a closely watched indicator for statewide turnout trends.

Portland-area election officials say they remain confident in Oregon's vote-by-mail system after an unidentified whistleblower alleged the U.S. Postal Service is rushing out a ballot-processing system riddled with errors, warning a single scanning mistake could block an entire batch of ballots. The new USPS system is tied to a March executive order requiring states to submit lists of eligible voters for mail ballots, an order Oregon and other states are challenging in federal court as unconstitutional.

Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott said the county's system remains secure and convenient, and expects a temporary restraining order against the executive order to hold. He noted vote-by-mail was established by a 1998 Oregon voter initiative, not legislators. Clackamas County officials say they are proceeding as with any election, urging voters to confirm their addresses, request ballots if needed, and sign up for tracking. Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read said the state will keep challenging the USPS plan while ensuring safe, accurate elections regardless of the outcome. President Trump has said the order targets election fraud.

South Carolina's Republican Senate primary runoff has narrowed to a contest between interim Senator Darline Graham and Congressman Ralph Norman, both seeking to serve the remainder of the term left vacant by the death of longtime Senator Lindsey Graham. Governor Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham, the late senator's sister, to hold the seat on an interim basis before the runoff.

Endorsements from President Donald Trump and Senator Tim Scott have given Graham a notable boost heading into the vote, while Norman continues to draw on his House base. Turnout patterns across the Upstate and coastal regions of the state are expected to be decisive in determining the outcome. The race is being watched as a signal of Republican voter priorities in South Carolina and could shape the GOP's approach to filling the seat through the next election cycle.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren visited Pittsfield to promote the "21st Century Road to Housing Act," a bipartisan housing reform bill she co-sponsored with Sen. Tim Scott that became law without President Trump's signature after he demanded passage of a separate voter ID measure, the SAVE America Act, first. Warren said the housing law includes nearly 50 provisions aimed at boosting housing supply and, notably, bars private equity firms from buying up single-family homes.

Warren also addressed reports of CIA involvement in strikes on suspected drug boats near the Galapagos Islands, calling for a congressional investigation, and criticized the Pentagon's handling of conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. She framed the 2026 midterms as a check on Trump, urging Democratic turnout to guard against election interference.

The visit coincided with other Massachusetts political developments: a new poll showing Democratic primary challenger Patrick Roath narrowing the gap against Rep. Stephen Lynch in the 8th District, and a congressional inspection of an ICE detention facility in Plymouth County by Reps. Jim McGovern, Lynch and Ayanna Pressley.

President Donald Trump held a rally in Myrtle Beach urging South Carolina Republicans to back Sen. Darline Graham in Tuesday's runoff against Rep. Ralph Norman, the contest that will decide the GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate seat once held by her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham. Trump, not on the ballot this cycle, told supporters to "pretend" he was in order to boost turnout and reiterated his "complete and total endorsement" of Graham. Gov. Henry McMaster, who appointed Graham to the seat after her brother's death, formally endorsed her hours before the rally.

The race tightened after Graham stumbled in a debate when asked about Taiwan and the South China Sea, admitting she was "not that informed on national security." Trump defended her as being "honest." The debate moment fueled momentum for Norman, who picked up a notable endorsement from former Gov. Mark Sanford, who broke with Trump, citing the nation's fiscal challenges after the national debt hit $40 trillion. The runoff winner becomes the GOP nominee for the November general election in the reliably red state.

South Carolina Republicans returned to the polls Tuesday to pick a nominee for the Senate seat long held by the late Lindsey Graham, who died in July after winning renomination in June. Sen. Darline Graham, appointed to fill her brother's term and backed by President Trump and Sen. Tim Scott, faced Rep. Ralph Norman in a runoff after neither cleared a majority in the Aug. 11 primary; third-place finisher Rep. Russell Fry endorsed Graham. The winner faces Democrat Annie Andrews in the fall.

In Georgia's 13th Congressional District near Atlanta, Democrats Everton Blair and Marcye Scott, daughter of late Rep. David Scott, competed in a runoff to serve the remainder of Scott's term after topping a five-candidate field in July. Neither is seeking the full term beginning in 2027; that contest will pit Democratic state Rep. Jasmine Clark against Republican Jonathan Chavez in November. Both races drew attention as tests of turnout and party strength ahead of the 2026 midterms, now 70 days off.