Trump and Clinton rally as early voting surges, Alaska probe widens, and
Michigan Democrats feud
[October 31, 2026]
By MICHELLE L. PRICE, SEUNG MIN KIM and JOEY CAPPELLETTI
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump rallied with Republican
supporters in Florida on Friday while former President Bill Clinton
spoke to Democrats just two states over in Mississippi, both of them
beseeching voters to head to the polls for the midterm election that
will determine which party controls Congress.
“These are the most important midterm elections ever,” Trump told his
crowd in Daytona. Just an hour earlier, Clinton, on a stage in Tupelo,
gave a similar argument by invoking a third president — a Republican.
“My friend George Bush once said, ‘Democracy is self-correcting.' We are
about to find out in Mississippi if it’s true,” he said, ending by
asking the crowd to vote for Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom.
Millions of people across America have already heeded that call in an
election that will determine whether Trump's final two years in the
White House are smooth sailing with a Republican Congress, or bogged
down with Democratic opposition.
Nearly 10 million more Americans had cast ballots five days before
Election Day than at the same point in 2022, according to an Associated
Press analysis of voting data.
The increases have been particularly pronounced in states with
competitive Senate races — including Iowa and Kansas, where early voting
is up roughly 30% and where Trump plans to visit on Sunday.
Democrats and Republicans each hope that rise in early voting favors
them as they fight for control of Congress in an election that has
turned largely on affordability issues and the president’s unpopularity.
Criminal investigation confirmed into would-be spoiler candidate in
Alaska
Trump has also signaled that his administration plans to aggressively
pursue an investigation into an alleged scheme to confuse voters in
Alaska, another state with a competitive Senate race.
U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman in Alaska confirmed on Friday a probe —
underway for months — into a candidate with the same name as the
Republican incumbent.
Heyman said law enforcement assets were surged to the state this week
after The New York Times reported that Democratic Senate candidate Mary
Peltola’s campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan
to run in the race alongside her Republican opponent, Sen. Dan Sullivan.
Peltola denied on Thursday that she knew anything about the work to add
another candidate with her opponent’s name to the ballot.
The Justice Department said it wants to isolate ballots ranking Dan J.
Sullivan to test the level of “confusion” among voters.
Weekend rallies back on after Trump says, ‘I don’t feel I have to go’
Trump has spent October doing rally after rally to try to energize his
supporters. He briefly seemed to change strategy on Friday, saying he'd
do more telerallies in the homestretch, and canceled plans to visit Iowa
and Kansas this weekend.
But on Friday, Trump abruptly rescheduled back-to-back campaign rallies
for those states on Sunday.
“I thought this was going to be my last one, Byron,” Trump said to
Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds at his Daytona rally.
“I thought this was it. I thought I could relax. Twenty-eight days in a
row of this crap is a lot,” he said.
The Senate races in Kansas and Iowa will help determine whether
Republicans hold onto their narrow majority in the chamber in the
midterm elections.
[to top of second column]
|
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton takes a photo with a supporter of
Florida Democratic candidate for governor David Jolly, Tuesday, Oct.
20, 2026, in Hollywood, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Trump has already traveled to both states this month to boost Sen.
Roger Marshall in Kansas and Republican Iowa Senate candidate Ashley
Hinson, who currently serves in the House.
Fighting between Michigan Democrats returns to the headlines
In Michigan, where Democrats had hoped to put a bruising Senate
primary behind them after progressive Abdul El-Sayed narrowly
defeated Rep. Haley Stevens in August, fighting between the rivals
again dominated headlines.
Stevens reemerged in the final week before the general election,
appearing on CNN to reaffirm that she would vote for El-Sayed while
calling on him to repair relations with Jewish and Black voters. Her
appearance came hours after her fiance said he would vote for El-Sayed’s
Republican opponent, Mike Rogers.
Then on Friday, after agreeing to campaign alongside El-Sayed and
Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina in Detroit on Sunday, Stevens
released a lengthy statement on social media criticizing her former
rival and demanding he condemn an advertisement linking U.S. support
for Israel to rising grocery prices and address concerns about his
past rhetoric.
“Abdul promises to get money out of politics,” Stevens wrote. “He
can begin by getting Israel out of his explanation for everything
Michigan cannot afford.”
El-Sayed has apologized for some of his past comments while
attempting to unify Democrats. But in a statement Friday, El-Sayed
touted his defeat of Stevens and said that while she “seems intent
on relitigating a primary ... let's all focus on the task at hand:
beating Mike Rogers."
Rogers — who has been working to court Jewish Democratic voters —
later applauded Stevens, calling her “a courageous leader who
deserves the respect of every Michigan voter.” He said Stevens was
“absolutely right to call” on El-Sayed to denounce the ad. “It is as
shameful as it is disappointing that his response to her clearly
shows that he does not care about those concerns,” Rogers wrote on
X.
Both parties hope a surge in voting favors them
Early voting is significantly outpacing the last midterm election,
with millions more Americans casting ballots in advance.
In Texas, where voters are deciding closely watched Senate, House
and governor’s races, more than 6.3 million Texans had voted early
as of Wednesday, compared with 4.2 million at the same point four
years ago, a 50% increase.
Advance voting has also increased more than 30% from the same point
four years ago in Maine, Michigan, North Carolina and Kansas, states
with competitive Senate races. In South Carolina, where voters are
choosing a successor to the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham,
early voting is up 83%.
Historic amounts of money have flowed into this year’s midterm
elections. Republicans have expressed concerns about their voters
not turning out in the midst of voter dissatisfaction with Trump and
high costs, issues Democrats have focused on in their campaigns.
___
Associated Press writers Meg Kinnard and Will Weissert in Washington
and Jesse Bedayn in Austin contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
