What to know leading up to Election Day 2026:
o More than 57 million Americans have already voted early ahead of Election Day, this Tuesday, Nov. 3, according to the University of Florida Voting Lab.

o As the campaign season comes to a close, President Trump delivered his final scheduled remarks of the 2026 midterm elections. "We gave this a very strong shot," Mr. Trump said Tuesday at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

o A rift between Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens, whom he defeated in the primary, spilled into public view as Stevens endorsed Republican Mike Rogers on Sunday. Leading Democrats condemned Stevens, while Mr. Trump praised her decision.

0m ago
Trump says he'll go on Sean Hannity's Fox News show tonight
Taking to Truth Social, the president said he'll be joining Sean Hannity's Fox News show Monday night at 9 p.m., in what could be his final pitch before Election Day.

"This is the Golden Age of America with 25 Trillion Dollars of Growth and Wealth being created just since my Election — A very short period of time," he wrote. "There has never been anything like it in World History, nor has there been anything close."

Mr. Trump touted tax breaks on tips, overtime and Social Security.

"It has all been a BLESSING for our Country," he said. "It is my Great Honor to be your President during this Great Time in American History!"

4m ago
University of Florida Election Lab says 57 million Americans have voted early
As of Monday afternoon, more than 57 million Americans have cast their ballots, according to the University of Florida Election Lab.

Nearly 32 million people have voted early in person, and more than 25 million have cast their ballots by mail, according to the UF Election Lab.

That 57 million number easily surpasses the nearly 46 million who voted early in the 2022 midterm elections.

10m ago
Senate hopeful Troy Jackson says "I feel good" about home turf in Northern Maine
During a campaign stop in the Portland area, Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson told CBS News "I feel good" about voters in Northern Maine.

"I mean, I've been winning up there for two decades," Jackson said, pointing to his time representing the area in the Maine state legislature.

Both Jackson and Republican Sen. Susan Collins hail from the state's northernmost county, Aroostook County. Collins is from Caribou, and Jackson is from the small logging town of Allagash, which is even further north. The county is heavily GOP-leaning.

"I don't know that I'm going to win … in that area, but you know, I feel good," he continued. "People up there know that I've been fighting for them for a long time, and I'm an Aroostook County guy. You know, that's where I live and that's where my heart is."

Maine leans Democratic, but Collins has a long history of outperforming other Republicans. She is seeking a sixth term, and has run on her record of bringing federal funding home and pointed to her record of pushing back against President Trump.

Collins supporter Tom Knowlton called the senator "awesome," saying she "gets s*** done."

But Democrats have argued she hasn't pushed back enough. Jackson supporter Marge Baird told CBS News the race is "very big for the state of Maine."

"Susan Collins was wonderful in the very beginning, many years ago, and just isn't helping right now," she said.

24m ago
At Paxton event, Ted Cruz warns Democrats could win every statewide race in Texas "if the election were over today"
During an event for Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz warned supporters: "If the election were over today, the Democrats could well win every single statewide position in Texas."

Cruz issued a similar warning last week, as Paxton faces a competitive contest against Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico.

"If the election were today, it would be ugly," he said Monday. But he noted that there are more Republicans than Democrats in Texas, arguing: "If our people show up tomorrow, we win."

Cruz also addressed the divisions among Texas Republicans since Paxton defeated incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn in a bitter primary earlier this year. His message to Republican voters was: "Whatever you're upset about, it's fine. Spend the next two years trying to make the party do better. But tomorrow, show the hell up."

During the event in Conroe, Texas, located in Montgomery County north of Houston, Paxton told the crowd that a vote for Talarico is "a vote for a guy named Chuck Schumer to run the U.S. Senate, and I know Montgomery County won't like that."

42m ago
Democrat Josh Turek urges supporters in Iowa Senate race to do "just a little bit more than what we've done before"
During a campaign stop at a small business, the Democratic candidate in Iowa's competitive Senate contest reminded people that he won his first state House race in 2022 by just six votes.

Josh Turek urged his supporters to make "six touch points" in the final stretch before the election, by speaking to people about the race or bringing them to the polls.

"If each and every one of us does just a little bit more than what we've done before, it will be the difference between winning and losing this election," Turek said in Onawa, Iowa.

In brief remarks, Turek said, "Iowans are struggling" with the impacts of tariffs and the Iran war.

The Republican nominee, Rep. Ashley Hinson, is also closing out her campaign by focusing on the cost of living. President Trump held a rally for Hinson last month, but she has put some distance between herself and the president, calling for the Iran war to come to a "successful and immediate end" and vowing to "push back on [Mr. Trump] when necessary."

One Turek supporter who attended the Onawa event, Doug Zima, said his top issue is "anti-Trump.)

"I think we need sanity in the Senate," he told CBS News. "Iowa has the oldest senator and now we need to balance it, I think, with a Democrat to balance out Chuck Grassley."

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Posted by Temmy
Yesterday at 10:50pm