As the 2026 midterm campaign reached its final hours, unexpected developments in Alaska and Michigan highlighted how a small number of Senate contests could shape control of Congress. NBC News described the two states as important pieces in the fight for a Senate majority. Democrats’ path depends not only on defending seats but also on converting competitive races and making gains in states that backed Donald Trump by wide margins in the 2024 presidential election. Alaska, in particular, could become decisive if the national balance remains close.
Michigan’s Senate race was jolted when Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens, who had lost the party’s primary to Abdul El-Sayed, endorsed Republican nominee Mike Rogers just two days before Election Day. The Associated Press reported that Stevens appeared with Rogers after tensions with El-Sayed’s campaign had escalated. Her move was an extraordinary public break with the party’s nominee at a moment when Democrats were trying to maintain unity and turn out voters. It also gave Republicans an opportunity to emphasize divisions among Democrats in a closely watched contest.
El-Sayed and other Michigan Democrats sought to move beyond the endorsement and refocus the campaign on getting supporters to the polls. The Associated Press reported that El-Sayed’s campaign said it raised $2.4 million on Sunday, the day Stevens endorsed Rogers, describing it as the campaign’s largest single-day fundraising total. Rogers continued to characterize El-Sayed as too extreme, while El-Sayed appealed for unity across differences in geography, race, gender identity and faith. The race matters beyond Michigan: its outcome could affect the arithmetic of the Senate majority.
In Alaska, Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan is facing Democrat Mary Peltola and another candidate named Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from the fishing community of Petersburg. The New York Times reported that political operatives aligned with Peltola’s campaign had worked to recruit candidates who could draw votes away from the incumbent. Peltola has denied personal involvement in the alleged effort, while Dan J. Sullivan has said he entered the race on his own. The state’s ranked-choice voting system and ballot labels distinguishing the incumbent from the challenger add important context to the dispute.
The Justice Department sought to prevent Alaska from certifying the Senate result if the incumbent narrowly lost, and asked for ballots associated with Dan J. Sullivan to be segregated. US District Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed the lawsuit. CNN reported that she found the federal government lacked standing to force the state to separate ballots and said the proposed process would threaten voters’ right to cast a secret ballot. The Justice Department filed an appeal. The ruling rejected the remedy the government sought; it did not resolve every factual allegation about how the challenger was recruited or establish that anyone committed a crime.
An Associated Press report from Petersburg described FBI agents questioning residents who had donated to Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign. The community’s response was divided. Some residents viewed the federal inquiry as excessive, while others considered the alleged recruitment tactic improper. Federal authorities are investigating allegations that Democratic campaigners sought to recruit candidates to run against the incumbent. The reporting did not establish that the people involved had been charged with a crime. An investigation, an allegation and a criminal finding are different things, and the distinction is especially important in a heated election.
On the eve of voting, Trump spoke at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, emphasizing renovation work and criticizing Democratic candidates. He acknowledged that the president’s party historically tends to struggle in midterm elections, while urging supporters to vote. NBC News characterized the remarks as his final major public speech before Election Day. The closing arguments in Michigan and Alaska unfolded against a broader national debate over the economy, the administration’s record and the future direction of Congress. Alaska’s mail-ballot and ranked-choice counting procedures also mean that the final result may take longer to settle than the election-night vote totals suggest.