Pipeline

An Anchorage Daily News opinion piece has spotlighted Alaska's upcoming gubernatorial election, framing it around the state's economic stagnation, population loss, and regulatory climate compared with faster-growing states like Arizona. The three contenders discussed are Bernadette Wilson, associated with MAGA-aligned rhetoric; Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, who favors tax policy aimed at broader "fair share" contributions; and former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson, portrayed as a pragmatic option focused on reducing government friction for businesses and residents.

The commentary reflects broader voter frustration over housing costs, out-migration, and partisan gridlock ahead of the Nov. 3 election, underscoring how Alaska's race is being read as a referendum on the state's economic direction rather than strict party lines.

An October grid emergency at Golden Valley Electric Association, which warned Interior Alaska customers of possible rolling blackouts, has sharpened debate over the long-delayed Alaska LNG pipeline. Recent investment pledges from South Korea and Taiwan have advanced the project, but as planned the mainline could bypass Fairbanks without a spur line delivering gas locally. A group of Interior community leaders published an op-ed backing gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and running mate Zac Johnson, citing Kreiss-Tomkins's pledge to secure a Fairbanks spur and interim plans for an energy bond, utility reform, and cross-party cooperation.

The episode underscores how high heating and electricity costs in the Interior are becoming a central issue ahead of Alaska's November gubernatorial election.

Following an Oct. 9 call between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the U.S. Treasury Department issued a license easing sanctions on Russian diesel through April 2027. A bipartisan group of senators called the move "a gift to our adversary," and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned it could embolden further Russian attacks. The decision appears to soften a Russia sanctions law Trump signed weeks earlier, though the administration frames it as a way to lower fuel prices.

The debate centers on whether engaging Russia can weaken its deepening cooperation with China, Iran and North Korea, echoing Nixon-era efforts to exploit splits among adversaries. Analysts note strains between Moscow and Beijing, including stalled Power of Siberia 2 pipeline talks, but caution that sanctions relief alone proves little without verifiable Russian concessions on Ukraine and military cooperation with Beijing.

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.

Three weeks before Election Day, President Trump traveled to Alaska's Matanuska-Susitna Valley on an extensive, multi-leg trip to rally support for Republicans and boost the reelection campaign of Sen. Dan Sullivan. Despite the show of support and heavy outside spending, Sullivan faces a tighter-than-expected race against Democrat Mary Peltola, a former U.S. House member popular with Alaska's large bloc of independent voters. The Cook Political Report has shifted its rating of the race from Lean Republican to Toss Up.

Alaska strategists and voters note that Trump's approval rating in the state has slipped, and independents outnumber registered Republicans and Democrats combined, complicating turnout math for the GOP. Veteran strategist Scott Kendall, who has worked on Sen. Lisa Murkowski's campaigns, described Trump's influence as "both a blessing and a curse" for Sullivan. Alaska's ranked-choice voting system adds further complications, including confusion tied to a minor candidate dubbed "Decoy Dan," as Sullivan and Peltola prepare to debate ahead of an election Sullivan argues could decide control of the Senate.

Republican Sen. Jon Husted and Democratic challenger Sherrod Brown sparred over top voter concerns ahead of Ohio's Nov. 3 U.S. Senate election, with inflation, crime and immigration dominating the debate.

Brown blamed rising prices on an unfair economic "system," linking costs to ongoing war spending and tariffs, and pledged to end the war, roll back tariffs and restore an expanded child tax credit if reelected. Husted argued prices will fall only by boosting domestic energy and farm supply, calling for more drilling, pipelines, refineries and power plants to lower input costs.

On crime and immigration, Husted accused Brown and local leaders, including those in Cincinnati, of supporting sanctuary policies and failing to enforce border security, pointing to Ohio's high rate of repeat violent offenders. Brown countered that he supports deporting criminals, enforcing sentencing laws and tightening gun access for people with mental health issues.

The race is among the most closely watched Senate contests nationally, with control of the chamber potentially hinging on the outcome.

Michigan voters will choose between Democrat Jocelyn Benson, the secretary of state, and Republican John James, a U.S. House member, in the Nov. 3 gubernatorial election, with a televised debate set for Oct. 6. The two candidates diverge sharply across a wide range of policy areas, including health care, housing, energy costs, taxes and utility regulation. Benson has pledged an electricity cost freeze, a Prescription Drug Affordability Board and expanded housing tax credits, while James favors deregulation, increased utility competition and sweeping income tax cuts paired with a government spending audit.

The candidates also split on right-to-work repeal, Line 5 pipeline construction, tariffs on Canada, and their relationships with President Trump, who has endorsed James. On the 2020 election, Benson defends Michigan's results as secure while James has suggested he was "screwed" in his own Senate loss that year. Other flashpoints include transgender athletes in girls sports, abortion rights, data center moratoriums, gun policy, Flock camera regulations and expanding the state's Freedom of Information Act. If elected, Benson would extend Democratic control of the governorship, while James would become Michigan's first Black governor.

Kevin O'Leary's "Wonder Valley" project, rebranded in Utah as Stratos, aimed to build what O'Leary called the world's largest data center on 40,000 acres in Box Elder County, backed by a 9-gigawatt gas plant. The deal moved through the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) and county commissioners at extraordinary speed, drawing scrutiny over water use near the shrinking Great Salt Lake, air pollution, and secretive dealmaking involving entrepreneur Austin Pritchett and former Rep. Jason Chaffetz.

O'Leary inflamed tensions by claiming on Fox Business that critics were linked to Chinese agents, naming local advocacy groups and individuals. He later retracted the claim, and Fox apologized on air; he and Fox were subsequently sued for defamation and have moved to dismiss the case. Commissioners approved the project after a chaotic public meeting where officials voted from a back room amid chants of "shame." Political fallout followed: Senate President Stuart Adams lost his primary, MIDA's director retired, and two commissioners were unseated. Litigation over a referendum continues, and MIDA has paused the project, with no tenant or land sales yet confirmed.