Welcome to our coverage. Our reporters are on the ground in key states as we enter the final stretch of the midterm election cycle.
Here’s what we covered this weekend:
• Trump’s red-state rallies: President Donald Trump plans to headline midterm rallies all week. He’ll be in Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Iowa, Florida and Georgia. These are states Trump won in 2024, where Republicans are competing in surprisingly competitive races. On Saturday, he was in Kentucky, where he promised his latest gift to voters if Republicans are victorious in the midterms: a $100 million investment in a pharmaceutical plant in the Bluegrass State.
• Tight Texas contest: Today is the first day of early voting in the Lone Star State. GOP Senate candidate Ken Paxton and his Democratic opponent, James Talarico, drew stark contrasts between each other in dual rallies yesterday. Paxton said Talarico was “most radical Democrat ever to run statewide,” while the Democrat described his opponent as corrupt and unfit for office.
• Flashpoint in Michigan: The war of words between Trump and Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed continued, with the Democrat slamming the president for attacks tied to El-Sayed’s Muslim faith. Michigan’s Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers distanced himself from Trump’s comments in an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union”.
• Russia sanctions: House Speaker Mike Johnson said there are concerns within his GOP conference about the “unintended consequences” of Trump’s moves to waive sanctions on Russian fuel sales in the final weeks before the midterms.
• In the polls: National polls show Democrats have an advantage. In the CNN Poll of Polls averaging recent “generic ballot” questions — which ask voters which party’s congressional candidate they would support in their district — the Democrats lead the Republicans 54% to 45%, with little variation in the margin across polls.
• Jackson doubles down: Maine Senate Democratic nominee Troy Jackson told CNN he had no regrets telling his Republican opponent, Sen. Susan Collins, to “shut up” at their debate last week. He also stressed his support for ending the war in Iran, but did not appear to have a clear plan on how.
Exclusive interview with Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson
Exclusive interview with Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson
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• Protests nationwide: Thousands of “No Kings: Vote Early” events, aimed at promoting mass turnout for the midterm elections, were held. Protests were seen across the country, including in Georgia and Washington, DC, where CNN reporters spoke to first-time voters among the demonstrators.
CNN’s Jeff Zeleny, Manu Raju, Aileen Graef, Katherine Koretski, Molly English, Alison Main, August Phillips, Alayna Treene, Kaanita Iyer, Gloria Pazmino and Aleena Fayaz contributed reporting.