Voters in Michigan and Alaska switch from blue to red in last minute fury over ‘decoy’ Dan Sullivan scandal and Abdul El-Sayed: Live election updates
By KATRINA SCHOLLENBERGER, US HEAD OF LIVE NEWS and BREANNE DEPPISCH, US SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER and RACHEL BOWMAN, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER and WILL POTTER, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER and JON MICHAEL RAASCH, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT and ELINA SHIRAZI, US SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER
Updated:
Disgruntled Democrats in crucial swing states say they are switching their votes at the last minute after being turned off by dirty tricks and campaign antics from liberals.
Swing state voters told the Daily Mail on Tuesday that they changed their votes on election day because they were ‘troubled’ by the Democratic choices, despite polls showing Republicans are expected to struggle in the midterms.
In Michigan, voters said the far-left platform of Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed had alarmed them, following allegations of antisemitism during his campaign against Republican Mike Rogers.
Scandal has also upended Alaska’s vital Senate election, with Republicans accusing Democrat Mary Peltola of running a ‘decoy’ scheme to recruit a man with the same name as her GOP rival Dan Sullivan to confuse voters and splinter his vote.
With voters heading to the polls on Tuesday, President Trump made a surprise announcement that he was cutting all $4 billion in aid the US supplies to Israel, which he admitted had become too powerful of a talking point for Democrats while Republicans ‘suffer the slings.’
Trump said the issue was giving political ammunition to ‘lunatics like (Abdul) El-Sayed’.
With Republicans bracing for a ‘blue tsunami’ in the midterms, polls opened across the US on Tuesday morning as crucial Senate, House, and governor seats are up for grabs – and historical GOP strongholds have turned into political battlegrounds.
In the Senate, Democrats must flip four Republican-held seats to gain control. In the House, Democrats need to pick up just three seats.
The first polls close at 6pm ET and the last polls wrap up at 1am ET. Then the nation will wait as ballots are counted across the country to find out whether Republicans or Democrats will take power.
Follow the Daily Mail for more updates…
Exclusive:Jewish voters in Detroit tell the Daily Mail why they’re voting for Mike Rogers
Jewish voters in Detroit, Michigan tell the Daily Mail that they are changing their usual liberal voting habits and opting for Republican Mike Rogers over Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.
Voter Shlomi Bennett said Tuesday morning that he is voting for Rogers because he holds ‘serious concerns about El-Sayed’s response to antisemitism.’
‘I’m particularly troubled by what I see as his failure to clearly condemn ads that Jewish voters have called antisemitic, and his associations with controversial figures such as Hasan Piker and Tucker Carlson,’ Bennett said.
He said he voted for Haley Stevens in the primary over El-Sayed, and he said Stevens’ endorsement of Rogers was indicative of ‘a serious divide’ in American politics.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin also said he found Stevens’ decision to cross party lines ‘courageous’.
‘Whether or not you agree with Rep Haley Stevens endorsement of Mike Rogers, everyone should respect the courage that it took for her to defy her party and take what she feels is a principled stand,’ he said.
‘Such courage – at great cost to her political career – is all too rare in today’s political world. I general, I hope we learn to respect each other’s decisions without demonizing those positions we disagree with.’
Maine Sen. Susan Collins’ office vandalized with fake blood ahead of midterms showdown
The office of Maine Senator Susan Collins was vandalized overnight as protesters sprayed fake blood outside her campaign HQ.
Graffiti reading ‘BLOOD ON HER HANDS’ was written in the fake blood outside Collins’s office overnight Monday.
Collins is fighting for re-election against Democrat Troy Jackson in Tuesday’s midterms, and the Republican told Fox News that her staff were ‘undeterred’ by the graffiti.
Mike Rogers stresses his Michigan Senate election is ‘the most important race in the country’
Republican nominee for Senate in Michigan Mike Rogers stressed that his race is ‘the most important’ of the midterms as he awaits results on election day.
Speaking to reporters after casting his vote on Tuesday, Rogers said he ‘feels really good’ about the race that could decide control of the US Senate.
‘This has been a vigorous campaign for sure,’ Rogers said, as he thanked Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens for her surprise endorsement of him on Monday.
He praised Stevens for putting ‘country over party’ as she rescinded her endorsement of his Democratic rival, Abdul El-Sayed.
Alaska voter says he turned on Peltola and voted Republican over ‘Decoy Dan’ candidate scandal
An Alaska voter says he was ‘so disgusted’ by allegations that Alaska Democrats recruited a decoy candidate to confuse the electorate that he changed his vote to Republican.
The voter said he was ‘all set’ to vote for Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola in Alaska, until reports alleged her campaign was behind a scheme to splinter her rival’s vote share.
A New York Times investigation alleged that Peltola’s campaign recruited a man with the same name as her GOP rival Dan Sullivan to appear on the ballot. Peltola has denied the allegations.
Speaking on Tuesday, the Alaska voter said he believed the decoy scheme was ‘sketchy from the get-go.’
‘When the New York Times article came out, I was so disgusted and I thought it was so sleazy,’ he said.
‘Compounding that, I think Mary Peltola is lying about not knowing, how could she not know right?’
Michigan Democrats say they voted for GOP because they are against El-Sayed’s ‘hate’
Two Michigan Democrats said they voted against their usual party and opted for the Republicans over their concerns about Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
One voter told CNN that she voted for Haley Stevens in the primary over El-Sayed, and agreed it was a ‘big message’ to vote for Republican Mike Rogers on Tuesday.
Another voter said he had ‘never’ voted for a Republican before Tuesday’s midterms.
Asked why he ‘could not vote for El-Sayed’, the voter responded: ‘Because I’m against hate.’
Voters sent scam texts falsely claiming polling places were moved in Fulton County, Georgia, officials say
Election officials in Fulton County, Georgia, have warned voters to ignore scam texts telling them polling places have been moved on election day.
The county’s X account said Tuesday that the text messages ‘were not sent my Fulton County’, and urged voters to verify their polling location online.
Fulton County is the most populous in Georgia, and is where President Trump was indicted on election fraud charges related to the 2020 presidential election results.
Are Michigan voters swayed by El-Sayed’s looks?
With the Michigan Senate race expected to come down to the wire, some voters tell the Daily Mail that their votes be decided by Abdul El-Sayed’s appearance.
The Democratic nominee and doctor has won over Michigan voter Tracy Grasy, 60, who told the Daily Mail she previously voted for his opponent Mike Rogers.
‘I mean, he’s not a bad-looking man. He really isn’t! He just isn’t!’ Grasy said of El-Sayed.
‘He’s easy on the eyes, and he’s educated. That’s even better!’
First-time voter Meilyn Rodriguez, 18, said she was also voting for El-Sayed because he ‘just seems right for the people.’
The teenager said she and her friends had seen TikTok videos about El-Sayed’s looks, and said she had seen people say they were ‘voting for him because he’s hot.’
‘Like mostly just because he’s hot,’ she said.
‘But, I’m not really doing that. Like I would just rather not vote for the other guy.’
Sham ballots, fake resumes and vile attack ads make these midterms the dirtiest ever: KENNEDY reveals candidates’ filthiest tricks in her guide for voters… who hate both parties!
Forget the lovable NASCAR Dads and feisty Soccer Moms of yesteryear – even Mama Bears are too quaint for 2026.
The critical voting bloc this campaign season matches the unhinged vitriol and anguish of the times: Behold the ‘Double Haters.’
They are the angriest swing voters in a generation, now massing in numbers never previously recorded in a US election, and just in time for what may be shaping up to be one of the dirtiest midterms in recent memory.
White House is ‘cautiously optimistic’ despite daunting swing state polling, Trump insiders say
The White House remains ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the midterms result on Tuesday despite polls suggesting Republicans will struggle, insiders say.
An advisor who spoke to President Trump on Monday night told CNN that he was ‘in great spirits’ ahead of the legacy-defining results.
‘He’s an eternal optimist,’ the advisor said.
NASA astronaut casts his midterms vote from space
NASA astronaut Anil Menon urged Americans to get out to vote on Tuesday as he shared a video explaining how he can cast his ballot from space.
Menon said he filled out an electronic voting form from his computer on board the space station, to vote in Harris County, Texas.
‘Yes, you can even vote from space!’ Menon wrote on X.
‘All three US crew members had the privilege of voting from space station. We filled out an electronic ballot and sent it securely to the election officials.’
New York election officials forced to use ‘secure orange bags’ to hold paper ballots after voting machine issue
Images show the ‘secure orange bags’ that election officials in Westchester County, New York have been forced to use after a voting machine issue upended election day.
Officials said an issue with the ‘thickness’ of the ballots were causing malfunctions with the voting machines across the county.
Voters were told to use paper ballots while the issues were fixed, which were to be held in the orange bags until they could be counted when polls close.
At-risk Republican says he still has confidence in results after ballot machine issue
Republican Rep. Mike Lawler says he still has confidence in the legitimacy of his race’s results amid ballot machine issues in Westchester County.
The GOP congressman is fighting to retain his NY17 House seat against Cait Conley in deep-blue New York.
Early on Tuesday, election officials said an issue with the ‘thickness’ of the ballots in the county had caused vote tabulation issues, and voters were told to use paper ballots that would be held in ‘secure’ orange bags.
Lawler told CNN when he cast his vote that he understood the issue was with ‘the formatting of the machines.’
The Republican urged voters to remain in line and cast their ballots, and he vowed: ‘Every ballot will be counted, and everybody should be rest assured that their vote will count.’