Final-Weekend Blitz: Trump Returns to the Trail as Early Votes Top 51 Million
Photo: Tom Arthur from Orange, CA, United States / CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Final-Weekend Blitz: Trump Returns to the Trail as Early Votes Top 51 Million
Two days out, both parties flood the battlegrounds
With two days to go before the November 3 Election Day, the 2026 midterm campaign roared into its final weekend, with candidates and high-profile surrogates barnstorming competitive states to drive turnout and persuade the last undecided voters.
Trump reverses course with Sunday stops in Iowa and Kansas
President Donald Trump reversed his Thursday cancellation and will hold back-to-back in-person rallies in Iowa and Kansas on Sunday, two traditionally Republican states with unexpectedly tight Senate races. The Republican National Committee had said televised telerallies would reach more voters, but a person familiar with the plans confirmed the in-person return.
Eleven Senate battlegrounds will decide the chamber
All 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats are on the ballot. To win the Senate, Democrats must hold seats such as Michigan's and flip at least four Republican-held states. One national tracker rates 11 Senate battlegrounds: Maine, Michigan, Ohio, Texas and Alaska as toss-ups, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina as leaning Republican, and Georgia, North Carolina and New Hampshire as leaning Democratic.
Kansas and Iowa polls show unexpectedly close Senate races
In Kansas, Democrat Adam Hamilton led Republican Senator Roger Marshall by 49 to 45 percent in a CNN/SSRS poll. In Iowa, an Oct. 28 co/efficient poll had Republican Ashley Hinson leading Democrat Josh Turek by 48 to 46 percent. In Texas, James Talarico and Ken Paxton remain within the margin of error, with polls giving Talarico a roughly two-point edge and Hispanic voters accounting for about 18 percent of early votes cast so far.
Record early vote passes 2022 levels
More than 51.3 million ballots had been cast as of midday Saturday, above the 45.9 million cast before Election Day in 2022. Another count put early turnout above 48.5 million four days before Election Day, with Democrats holding a roughly 12-point early-vote turnout advantage. Where party registration is reported, about 6.8 million Democrats and 5.2 million Republicans had voted early. Georgia finished early voting on October 30 with more than 2.8 million ballots, 34 percent of its 8.2 million registered voters and up 13 percent from 2022, while Virginia had reported 770,916 ballots as of October 20, or 25.5 percent of its 2022 total. Compared with the same point in 2022, early voting was up 74 percent in Texas, more than doubled in Kansas, and up more than 30 percent in Maine, North Carolina and Ohio.
Michigan duel four miles apart amid Democratic rift
In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers campaigned about four miles apart in Macomb County on Saturday. El-Sayed's campaign asked former primary rival Haley Stevens to stay away from closing-days events, clouding a planned Sunday joint appearance with Jim Clyburn at a Detroit church. In Texas, Talarico returned after nine days off the trail with the flu.
What comes next is two days and then the count
Candidates have Sunday and Monday for closing arguments before polls begin closing on Tuesday evening. Some close races could take longer than election night to resolve. The outcome decides whether Trump governs his final two years with his own party leading Congress or with Democrats controlling the House, the Senate, or both. Discussion: What is one local issue that would actually get you or your neighbors to vote early, and why does that issue feel personal?