Trump alleges Alaska election fraud as Michigan Democrat backs Republican Rogers

Michigan Democrat backs the Republican challenger

Haley Stevens, who lost the August Democratic Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed by a very narrow margin, said on Sunday, 1 November, that she would back Republican Mike Rogers. She announced her support in a video after a church service in northern Detroit, where she prayed alongside Rogers and his wife, Kristi, and her chief adviser then resigned. Stevens said the Democratic Senate candidate had told her she was no longer welcome in his campaign and should step aside. El-Sayed dismissed the endorsement when reporters asked him later that day, saying he was focused on voter concerns such as the cost of living. Rogers, a former congressman, is in a close race with El-Sayed for the seat that Democrat Gary Peters is leaving.

Alaska fraud claims and federal probe

Trump has alleged electoral fraud in Alaska, where federal authorities are running a criminal investigation into a Senate candidate who shares a name with the incumbent Republican, Dan S. Sullivan. The administration says the candidate, a retired professor, was recruited to run in order to confuse voters and pull ballots away from the senator. It also says the campaign team of Democratic candidate Mary Peltola may have been involved, an allegation she denies. At a rally on Friday, 30 October, Peltola, a former House member, said she was deeply offended by suggestions that she had any role in another candidate's bid. FBI agents have contacted donors in two isolated Alaska communities and two in Massachusetts, asking whether they had been deceived. One donor told reporters he did not feel misled because he knew whom he was backing, while on Saturday, 31 October, Senator Sullivan told Fox News that Peltola could not have been unaware of the scheme. Republicans currently hold a 53 to 47 Senate majority, which makes Alaska one of the races that could shape control of the chamber.

Harris and Trump in the final days

Kamala Harris, the former Democratic presidential candidate, is campaigning in seven states for her party's candidates and urging a large turnout ahead of the vote on Tuesday, 3 November. She described Trump as heartless, corrupt and incompetent, and mocked him as the chief decorator of White House renovations. Harris also called for structured work on expanding the Supreme Court, granting statehood to Washington DC and Puerto Rico, and reviewing the Electoral College. Trump has said he would accept the midterm results if the vote is honest, and in a Truth Social post he offered one million dollars to anyone who flags electoral fraud that leads to arrests and convictions. Polls suggest Republicans could lose their House majority and possibly the Senate as well.

Impeachment talk and the Iran war

Democratic leaders say Trump commits impeachable offences almost daily, yet they are wary of launching a third impeachment attempt. According to The Times, Pete Hegseth, the secretary of war, may be the first cabinet official Democrats target if they win back the House. Matt Bennett of the Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank in Washington, called a third impeachment a bad idea, noting that no president has ever lost a Senate impeachment vote, which requires a two-thirds majority. Reporting by iNews, relayed by Ziare.com, argues that the war against Iran has pushed up prices and could prove electorally damaging for Trump. Nate Silver, the election analyst, told the New York Times that a result in line with the polls would mark the end of the Trump era.

Russia sanctions and what Congress could change

Russia policy is the transatlantic angle. A Conversation analysis notes that Trump has agreed to allow imports of Russian diesel to bring fuel prices down before polling day. On 12 October the EU adopted its largest expansion of sanctions against Russia's military-industrial complex, targeting 1,569 individuals and entities. Four days later Trump dropped new US sanctions on Russia that he had signed into law only weeks earlier. Three outcomes are possible: Republicans keep both chambers, Democrats take both, or Democrats win the House while Republicans keep the Senate. A Democratic House could block legislation, investigate the administration and negotiate spending, while Senate control would shape appointments, including ambassadors.