Voters cast ballots with control of Congress on the line; Dems look to flip House, Senate

The left-leaning Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals voted 6-5 on Tuesday to reinstate a stay of restrictions — allowing the Trump administration to proceed with its efforts to have states set aside ballots suspected of being cast by noncitizens, according to SCOTUS Wire.

The ruling allows federal officials to resume asking state election administrators to segregate potentially unlawful ballots and warn that knowingly counting such votes could expose officials to federal prosecution. States are not required to comply with the requests.

The decision marked the court's third order in roughly 12 hours, following conflicting rulings over restrictions imposed by a district judge.

The appeals court also suspended requirements that the administration disclose certain pending warrants and grand jury subpoenas involving allegedly ineligible voters.

Five judges dissented, with Obama-appointed Chief Judge Mary Murguia warning that threats of prosecution could leave election officials facing conflicting legal obligations.

Biden-appointed Judge Roopali Desai separately raised concerns about confusion and potential voter disenfranchisement.

Trump-appointed Judges Eric Miller and Mark Bennett acknowledged that DOJ's legal interpretations might lack merit but argued that courts generally cannot prohibit the department from expressing its interpretation of criminal law, according to SCOTUS Wire.

The decision does not require states to segregate ballots or establish that the voters in question are noncitizens; it allows federal officials to make such requests while leaving compliance to state election authorities.

California Democratic gubernatorial nominee Xavier Becerra appeared to hesitate on endorsing his self-described longtime friend, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, as she fights for re-election against socialist City Councilwoman Nithya Raman.

Spencer Pratt, an actor and political independent who lost to Bass and Raman in the June primary, mocked the spectacle that unfolded on a KNBC news camera on Tuesday.

"This is hilariously awkward," Pratt wrote on X. "Xavier Basura is standing next to Karen Basura and refuses to endorse her even after being pressed multiple times."

"He can't even look at anyone. LMAO That's your sister from another mister, Xavier."

"Basura" is the Spanish word for "rubbish" and Pratt has used it throughout the summer to refer to his former rival.

When pressed by a reporter at the scene, Becerra responded:

"[P]olitics is one thing, friendships are another thing. And, I hope that folks recognize that you can have friendships that far exceed whatever goes on in politics."

Becerra faces Republican Steve Hilton, a former top strategist for then-United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron and a former Fox News Channel host.

James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, appeared to extend an olive branch to President Donald Trump in a podcast released Monday, expressing a willingness to work with Trump on a wide range of issues.

"I would love, as the next U.S. senator from Texas, to work with Donald Trump to actually fulfill some of the promise of his political project," Talarico told Steve Bartlett, the host of "The Diary of a CEO" podcast.

"The promise of MAGA was that we were going to transform this government so that it delivered for the people who have been left behind, the people who have been forgotten in this country. And there's still time to do that," Talarico continued.

Talarico, who Trump has frequently mocked and criticized in the months leading up to the Texas state representative's crucial midterm contest against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, explained that he'd love to work with Trump on issues like healthcare and housing.

"If the president wants to work with me or with any Democrat to expand healthcare access, I'm there. If he wants to make sure that every single kid in this country gets high-quality, accessible childcare, I'm there. If he wants to tackle the housing problem — Donald Trump is a builder — if he wants us to slash the red tape in this country so we could build millions of new homes and ensure everyone in this country has a place to call home, that I'm there. I'll work with him to do it. I would love to do that," Talarico said.

Michigan voters showed the swinginess of their state in conversations with Fox News the day before the midterm elections, with one former Democrat firmly backing GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers and a lifelong Republican holding his nose to vote for Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat.

After casting a ballot for Rogers, voter Marjorie Mehney said she was a Democrat "years ago" and would be "embarrassed to be one today" with candidates like El-Sayed representing the party.

However, she pointed out that El-Sayed has won over many voters in her hometown of Petoskey, located in Emmet County, where President Donald Trump took more than 55% of the vote in 2024.

HOW TO WATCH CRITICAL 2026 MIDTERM ELECTION RACES IN MICHIGAN

"The majority are Republican. However, there's a great deal of signage for Abdul. So it's very mixed. We've never seen anything like the support that's going on with signs in front yards," Mehney told Fox News in downtown Rochester.

When asked if she knew why there had been a shift toward El-Sayed, she said she had "no idea" and called the momentum he is experiencing in her community "a bit shocking."

"They are people I've known and never knew that they felt this way that Abdul does," she said. "It's a little concerning."

Mehney predicted that El-Sayed will prevail over Rogers on Tuesday, but warned that Michigan voters will come to regret sending him to the Senate.

As the Senate race in Alaska makes headlines over an alleged Democrat-linked election scheme, Fox News spoke with voters on Monday, including one man who said he is voting for incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, despite having previously considered voting for the Democratic Senate candidate, former Rep. Mary Peltola.

The Senate race, which is a ranked-choice voting contest, has been the subject of significant national attention due to the inclusion of a candidate with nearly the same name as the incumbent GOP lawmaker.

The male voter, who did not provide his name, explained that he "thought it was sketchy from the get-go."

A New York Times report published last week detailed the alleged scam that involved Democrats seeking to recruit Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. to run in the race against the incumbent Sen. Daniel S. Sullivan.

"When The New York Times article came out, and I found out how that transpired, I was disgusted by the whole thing, so sleazy," the voter noted.

A woman who was with the man in Alaska noted that he had "thought about voting for Mary Peltola."

"I switched," he said.

BANGOR, MAINE – Former Republican Gov. Paul LePage says if he’s elected to Congress, he’ll work with fellow Republicans in the House “to make sure that DSA [Democratic Socialists of America] does not survive.”

LePage, a former two-term governor, is the Republican nominee in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, a large mostly rural seat that President Donald Trump carried in all three of his elections.

The open Democrat controlled seat is a top target for Republicans to flip from blue to red in the midterms. 

HOW TO WATCH CRITICAL 2026 MIDTERM ELECTION RACES IN MAINE

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital on Tuesday outside of a polling station in Maine's third most populous city, LePage was asked how he’d try to combat the Democrats if the opposition party retakes the House majority. 

“I'm going to do exactly what I did as governor. I will stop and stop and stop and I will uphold vetoes,” LePage said as he referred to likely vetoes by Trump against measures passed by a potential Democratic-controlled Congress.

Former Rep. Justin Amash — who announced on Monday that he did not vote for Abdul El-Sayed or former Rep. Mike Rogers in Michigan's U.S. Senate race — said he thinks El-Sayed would "be far less dangerous in practice than Rogers."

"It goes without saying that I have major disagreements with both Mike Rogers and Abdul El-Sayed, and neither one particularly likes me," Amash wrote in a thread on X. "I also don’t vote for 'the lesser of two evils.' I believe you should support a candidate only if you truly want the person to hold that office. I’ve already voted, and consistent with the above principle, I didn’t vote for Rogers or El-Sayed. But I do know which one would be more dangerous in the U.S. Senate — and it’s not even close."

Amash pointed to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as a political figure who resembles El-Sayed. Sanders has supported El-Sayed in the Senate race.

HOW TO WATCH CRITICAL 2026 MIDTERM ELECTION RACES IN MICHIGAN

"To assess who is the greater threat to American freedom, let’s take a look at my time in Congress with Rogers and Bernie Sanders, who shares many of El-Sayed’s views and can serve as his stand-in," Amash wrote. "Several of Sanders’s key proposals, in my opinion, would be exceptionally bad for our country. But given the structure of our government, he’s in no position to get those ideas enacted and enforced.

"In contrast, Rogers is extraordinarily bad on all the issues on which an individual member of Congress may be the deciding vote. Again, these are issues like war powers, surveillance, privacy, the freedom of speech, criminal justice, and government oversight and accountability," he asserted. "In this world — the real world, not the imaginary one that partisan pundits on the right and left live in — Rogers poses a far greater threat to individual liberty and the Constitution than Sanders. Moreover, it’s not just that Rogers is awful here; it’s that Sanders is actually much better on these issues than the median member of Congress." 

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., told reporters Tuesday afternoon that he expects New York to have election results tonight, despite ongoing ballot machine issues in his district.

"There's been a lot of frustration with what has happened in Westchester County since 6 a.m. this morning," Lawler began, referring to the news that the county's ballot readers cannot read paper ballots.

"Do not leave the polling place without voting. Every vote is going to be counted, and it's going to be counted tonight," he said.

He further added that "both sides" were nearing an agreement to go to court and present to a judge for a sign off on a plan to set up new voting machines.

Lawler said new machines are being brought to polling places already he said. Furthermore, paper ballots that were cast and placed into emergency orange bags, will be brought by police escort from polling sites to the county's board of elections.

"Those ballots will not be opened at the polling site, they will be opened at the board of electons where attorneys from both campaigns will be, where both parties will have representation so that there be no question, that there be no conspiracy theory, and that every vote is counted," he continued.

"No matter the outcome, every vote should be counted. And that is what is going to happen, and it is going to happen tonight," Lawler said

The Biddeford office is near the scene of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer-involved shooting in which a law enforcement officer shot and killed 26-year-old Colombian national Johan Sebastián Guerrero in July.Days after the shooting, protesters barged into the Biddeford office's front door, chanting "vote her out."

Prominent podcaster Patrick Bet-David said Tuesday that he had been turned away from his usual Broward County, Florida voting location.

"Very weird, I always come here to vote in Broward County. Today is the first time that I go in there and they tell me 'you can't vote here.' What do you mean I can't vote here?" Bet-David asked in a video he posted to his X account on Tuesday.

Bet-David said officials redirected him to another voting location, but questioned whether or not the added friction would prevent other people from voting,

"Now I'm gonna go vote at the other location. How many people do you think don't go because the other place is 25 minutes away and people got things to do?" Bet-David asked.

HOW TO WATCH CRITICAL 2026 MIDTERM ELECTION RACES IN FLORIDA

During the video, Yoni Anijar, a Republican candidate for the Florida statehouse in the district, popped in and appeared to blame the relocation on Joe Scott, Broward County's Supervisor of Elections.

"Joe Scott is in charge of all things voting in Broward County," Anijar told Bet-David.

"I'm a candidate running for statehouse in District 100, I've been here since 6am, I've met dozens of people, supporters of mine, the only Republican district in Broward, that people are being turned away at the polls," Anijar continued.

"The only Republican district in Broward that's being pushed away," Bet-David repeated. "Ridiculous," he added.

"I made sure to vote, so no matter what they do, move it two, three... a lady came in right now saying 'this is the third location I went to.' Whatever you do, persevere and go out there and vote," Bet-David concluded.

Fox News Digital contacted the office of the Broward County Supervisor of Elections for comment.

An internal strategy memo released by the campaign committee for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N. Y.) and distributed to key allies makes the case that the lawmaker has evolved from a progressive firebrand into a formidable national political force.

The five-page document makes no mention of a potential 2028 presidential or Senate run. Instead, it urges stakeholders to view her record as that of one of the Democratic Party's most effective messengers for working-class voters.

Following President Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory, the memo states, Ocasio-Cortez launched an aggressive nationwide push to rebuild the party around economic populism and establish a broad movement for working families.

"Over the past two years, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez has built a record of success that extends beyond her own electoral victories," the memo reads. "The Congresswoman has emerged as one of the most powerful endorsements in the United States and New York State specifically. Candidates from rural districts and battleground seats see her as an asset for their general election campaigns."

The document highlights her fundraising reach, citing more than 2 million contributions totaling $38 million, an average donation of $17. 56, and over $3 million funneled to other Democratic candidates and state parties.'

Her small fundraising operation is unmatched in the House and rivals that of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the memo claims.

According to the document, Ocasio-Cortez’s strategy was shaped by post-2024 conversations with "Trump-AOC" split-ticket voters in her New York district, who expressed deep, cross-partisan frustration with a political establishment perceived as favoring corporate billionaires over ordinary workers.

"As Democrats tried to understand why Trump had won again, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez argued that the path for the party to win back working class voters should be centered on economic populism, confronting concentrated wealth and power, and revitalizing American democracy," the memo states.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Louis Casiano Jr.

Banners with left-wing messaging on them were spotted hanging on the outside wall of a polling place in South Minneapolis.

Fox News Digital photographed the banners, which say “PROTECT IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES,” “PROTECT QUEER KIDS,” and “SHARE THE WEALTH.”

HOW TO WATCH CRITICAL 2026 MIDTERM ELECTION RACES IN MINNESOTA

The banners face the main entrance to the polling location, the Creekside United Church of Christ.

Hennepin County officials did not immediately return a request for comment.

Fox News' Peter D'Abrosca contributed to this report.

Maine is on track to break its record for voter turnout in a midterm election, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said Tuesday.

Bellows told Fox News' Bryan Llenas that Maine has competitive races all up and down the ticket, adding that the state holds to the "gold standard" of only using paper ballots.

"We last broke a midterm record in 2022. I think we're on track to break yet another record for turnout in a mid-term election. Now, in 2022, that was 62 percent of citizen-age voters, meaning eligible voters, here in our state. I think we might see 65 percent or even 70 percent given that over a third of registered voters have already cast their ballot in that early voting period, which is really truly remarkable," Bellows said.

HOW TO WATCH CRITICAL 2026 MIDTERM ELECTION RACES IN MAINE

Maine is one of a few states that allows for ranked choice voting, a process that often delays results.

"I think it's highly possible that the U.S. Senate race will go to ranked-choice voting," she said. "Maine is a state that counts all of the ballots on election night in the towns. Towns will be reporting out their results. Under the law, they have to post them in the voting places. Most towns will be sharing them with members of the media. We have asked the towns to share them with my office tonight. However, legally they have two business days to do so. So by Thursday, we'll know the official results from all of the towns and we'll for sure whether it goes to ranked choice voting or not, if not before."

Republican Sen. Jon Husted voted at Windermere Elementary School in Columbus on Tuesday morning and told Fox News Digital his closing message to undecided voters.

HOW TO WATCH CRITICAL 2026 MIDTERM ELECTION RACES IN OHIO

Republicans are under threat of losing their slim majorities in both the House and Senate.

Voting machines in Westchester County, New York, the state's seventh most populous county, are not accepting paper ballots at polling locations throughout the county, the Westchester County Board of Elections said in a statement Tuesday morning."

The Westchester County Board of Elections (BOE) is aware of an issue involving the paper ballots that is preventing some voting machines from accepting ballots at polling locations throughout the County," the statement read.

The board relayed that it is communicating with state and county officials and with poll workers to address the issue while repeatedly affirming to voters that all paper ballots will be counted.

"Voters should continue to complete their paper ballots as instructed by poll workers. Ballots that cannot be processed by voting machines will be placed in designated orange emergency ballot bags, which will remain secure and monitored. These ballots will subsequently be counted," the BOE said.

In a statement, Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins said, "My office is fully aware of the ongoing problems with ballots and voting scanners across Westchester County, and I want to be absolutely clear: this situation is unacceptable."

Voters should remain in line and exercise their right to vote. Every eligible voter will have the opportunity to cast their ballot, and every vote must be counted. I have directed County officials, including representatives from our Law Department, to monitor the voting process and ensure that voters can cast their ballots without interference and that every vote is properly and accurately counted.

"Once these issues are resolved, I will convene a bipartisan team to conduct a thorough review of the decisions and failures that led to this debacle, determine where accountability lies and ensure that this never happens again.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Robert McGreevy.

Democratic strategist James Carville compared Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., to a "used condom" on the "Politicon" podcast Sunday, hours after she endorsed Republican Mike Rogers.

"I mean, lady, if you're going to sell your soul, you got to get more for it than a f---ing cheeseburger, OK," Carville said. "I'm just telling you that you got to put some kind of a price on yourself for some kind of a g------ self-pride, but your political career is over."

Carville said Stevens' endorsement of Rogers would leave her without support from either party, using a vulgar comparison to describe how he believed Republicans and Democrats viewed her.

"If you think that these Republicans are going to treat you as anything other than what they view you as, and that is, let me just break the news to you, a used condom. The Democrats don't even think you're worth a used condom. But that's about where you are," he continued. "You made your bed, sleep in it. You s--- in your mess kit, eat it."

HOW TO WATCH CRITICAL 2026 MIDTERM ELECTION RACES IN MICHIGAN

Stephen Kent, media director at the Consumer Choice Center, told Fox News Digital that Carville's criticism conflicted with his recent willingness to contemplate Republican victories to limit the influence of democratic socialists.

"Putting aside the gross language, this is ridiculous coming from a guy who just two weeks ago said he'd prefer Republicans hold on to a handful of House seats so that the Democratic Socialist bloc doesn't have too much control of the chamber," Kent said.

"He said after this election, he didn't want to be in the same party as Hasan Piker. So for him to chide Haley Stevens for making the exact same calculus is not shrewd — it's just hypocrisy," he added. 

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' CJ Womak.

Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, running for Ohio governor against Democrat Amy Acton, voted and spoke to reporters at Burbank Early Childhood School in Columbus on Tuesday morning.

As polls close across the country's biggest battlegrounds on Tuesday, Fox News Channel and will deliver live results, race calls and analysis of the contests that could determine control of Congress.

Viewers can watch live coverage on Fox News Go with a participating television provider or stream Fox News Channel through FOX One.

Fox News Channel's special "FOX News Democracy 26" coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET and will be co-anchored by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.

Dana Perino, Brit Hume, Harold Ford Jr., Bill Hemmer, Sandra Smith, Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity and other Fox News personalities will contribute throughout the evening.

The Fox News Decision Desk will provide race calls for House, Senate and gubernatorial contests, along with projections of which party will control each chamber of Congress.

FOX Business will simulcast Fox News Channel's Election Night coverage from 6 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday. Trace Gallagher will lead overnight coverage, with a special early edition of "FOX & Friends First" beginning at 4 a.m.

Readers can follow a live Election Night blog featuring breaking developments on Fox News Digital, which will include coverage of Fox News Power Rankings and Fox News Voter Analysis as polls close across the country.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Hanna Panreck.

California voters are set to cast their ballots to determine the fate of a proposed billionaire tax that could see the Golden State lose wealthy residents and may not deliver the revenue advocates hope for.

The ballot measure, known as Proposition 40, would impose a one-time 5% wealth tax on taxpayers and trusts with assets in excess of $1 billion and use the revenue to fund state healthcare programs, public education and food assistance.

The tax would be payable over five years and covered assets would include businesses, securities, art, collectibles and intellectual property – though real property, pensions and certain retirement accounts would be exempt.

The threat of the wealth tax, which as drafted would apply retroactively to those who were California residents as of Jan. 1, 2026, has caused some prominent billionaires to move out of the state or relocate businesses – including Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Oracle founder Larry Ellison and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.

Max Levchin, the billionaire co-founder of Affirm Holdings, told Bloomberg on Monday that he would "probably" leave California if voters pass the wealth tax.

"I love California. I think it’s beautiful," Levchin said. "But the notion of the popular opinion saying ‘Actually, we’re totally OK with asset seizure because we just really, really need it,’ I just think that is so wrong."

Proponents of the billionaire tax argue that it would bring in about $100 billion in revenue from the roughly $2.3 trillion in wealth held by the state's billionaires in mid-2026, though a recent analysis suggests the tax could permanently shrink the state's tax base over the long-term and with losses exceeding near-term revenue gains.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Eric Revell.