Live Midterm Election Updates: Trump campaigns in South Carolina for Darline Graham and more from the trail

President Trump is expected to participate in telerallies in at least 19 states in the coming days, according to a news release from his super PAC, MAGA Inc. 

Telerallies are being planned in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. 

The release noted additional virtual campaign events may be announced. 

President Trump's in-person rally on Sunday in Dubuque, Iowa, was canceled and replaced with a telerally, according to three sources familiar with the decision.

A rally in Kansas scheduled for Saturday was also canceled. Mr. Trump said he canceled that appearance because Republican Sen. Roger Marshall was "doing very well."

Next week's midterm elections could prove momentous for Social Security, with time running out to put the program on solid financial ground. Social Security trustees' most recent report projects that the program's main trust fund is on course to be depleted by late 2032, after which Social Security recipients would face a more than 20% cut in benefits.

In effect, that means the burden of repairing Social Security will fall on both sitting and newly elected lawmakers. If Congress wants to avert what would amount to a devastating financial blow for millions of Americans, it will need to solve an issue that previous generations of legislators have punted on for decades.

Social Security's funding is running low largely due to demographic factors, as the U.S. population ages. More baby boomers are claiming benefits while comparatively fewer workers are paying into the program, forcing the agency to draw down its trust funds.

Read more here.

Republican Sen. Roger Marshall said he wasn't sure why President Trump canceled his in-person rally scheduled for Saturday in Salina, Kansas. 

"I'm not sure yet," he said when asked by a Scripps reporter for his reaction. "They think that I'm doing so well in the polls that he's probably got better places to spend his time. Not sure."

Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One in South Carolina, the president said he's not going to Kansas to campaign for Sen. Roger Marshall because the incumbent Republican is "doing very well" in his reelection race. 

"I'm not going to Kansas because he's doing very well," the president said. "I'm going to do a telerally." 

"I don't feel I have to go to Kansas," the president added, saying he's going to Florida on Friday. 

A reporter asked the president if he isn't traveling to Kansas because he's tired of traveling so much. 

"You're sick to ask that question," the president responded. 

Maine's Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who had declined to endorse in the highly watched Senate race, posted on X on Thursday that she voted for Troy Jackson, as well as other Democrats on the ballot.

Mills had been running for the Democratic nomination against Jackson and Graham Platner, before she and Jackson both dropped out ahead of the June 9 primary, which Platner won. But Platner withdrew from the race after being accused of sexual assault. At the state Democrats' nominating convention in July, the party ultimately nominated Jackson.

A short interruption in the Maine Senate debate from Oct. 15 is still relevant a week before Election Day. Democratic nominee Troy Jackson told five-term incumbent Sen. Susan Collins to "shut up," after she said a protester was "obviously one of Troy's supporters." Jackson has since been asked to apologize, which he declined to do, and the clip made its way into GOP attack ads. 

Maine is among the close races that will determine which party controls the Senate. Jackson's comment, unprompted by a question from the moderator nor an answer from Collins, speaks to the high risk of debating. Small moments can cause catastrophes, according to Democratic strategist and CBS News contributor Chuck Rocha.

"You may not win a race during a debate, but you can certainly lose one," Rocha said. "People are super cautious these days." 

In  this midterm cycle, 18 of 35 Senate races and 12 of the 36 gubernatorial races did not feature a debate between the major party candidates, and in those that did occur, many were defined by mudslinging and character assaults that wound up viral online. 

"Debates are defined by big moments," Republican strategist and CBS News contributor Terry Sullivan said. "Ninety-five percent of what happens in debates does not matter. You're banking on not making the 5% mistake and trying to force the other guy to make the 5% mistake."

Read more here.

President Trump's planned Saturday rally in Kansas has been called off,  said Kasey Windhorst, Business and Communications Manager for the Salina Airport Authority. The rally was scheduled to take place in a hangar at the Salina Regional Airport.

Mr. Trump was slated to stump for Republicans there, including Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, who is in an unexpectedly close race against Democrat Adam Hamilton. 

Windhorst told CBS News that the Republican National Committee informed them of the cancellation this morning, and referred all further questions to the RNC. Windhorst said the RNC did not give them a reason for the cancellation.

A White House official told CBS News that Mr. Trump will "continue connecting directly with Americans nationwide through more than 20 telerallies before Election Day." 

 In South Carolina, while touting Graham and Alan Wilson, the Republican nominee for governor, the president spent a chunk of his speech talking about the senate race in North Carolina. 

Mr. Trump called Michael Whatley, the Republican Senate nominee in North Carolina, the "next senator." He blasted Roy Cooper, the former governor of North Carolina who is running for Senate and leading Whatley in the polls. But at the same time, the president acknowledged Whatley may not win. 

"Whatley should win," Mr. Trump said. "He's phenomenal. But, what are you going to do?"

President Trump told supporters in South Carolina to "pretend" that he's on the ballot because "I am on the ballot," as he urged them to not stay home Tuesday and vote for Sen. Darline Graham. 

"I'm asking you to do me one favor — pretend that I'm on the ballot," he said, insisting that more people show up when he's on the ballot. "And I am on the ballot. Because all of these things that we've done, all of these incredible successes that we have, there's never been, we're not even that close to two years, there's never been two years like this for any other president. Look at the numbers."

"So we're on the ballot because they can destroy it," he added. "I'm on the ballot." 

Minneapolis officials say the city has set an early voting record for a non-presidential election this year. 

Minneapolis Elections and Voters Services has accepted 52,661 ballots as of close of business Wednesday. That includes both early voters and absentee ballots. 

The previous record was set in 2018 with 52,313 early and absentee ballots cast. 

Officials say this year's numbers show nearly an 80% increase in early vote turnout compared to 2022. 

Read more at CBS Minnesota.  

As Vice President JD Vance announced a visit to northern New York's 21st District on the eve of Election Day, President Trump posted another endorsement of Republican Anthony Constantino. 

Mr. Trump easily won the district in 2024, and Rep. Elise Stefanik won by 24 points the same year. Stefanik opted not to run for reelection, and Mr. Trump had backed Constantio in the primary over a state assemblymember who had the support of the state Republican Party and other local GOP officials.

A Siena University poll sponsored by the Albany Times-Union, WAMC and WPTZ-NBC5 earlier this month had Constantino's opponent, Democrat Blake Gendebien leading by 4 points, although other polls sponsored by Democratic groups had shown Constantino ahead. 

Two new polls show Gov. Kathy Hochul holding a double-digit lead over her Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman. A Siena poll finds more than two-thirds of voters, including 40% of Republicans, believe Hochul will win reelection. A Marist poll also puts Hochul at 53% among likely voters to Blakeman's 42% 

Blakeman blasted the polls in a statement. 

"Today's polls are nothing more than voter suppression tactics designed to discourage Republicans and manipulate the outcome of this election," Blakeman's statement said, in part. He claimed his campaign's polling and internal surveys "show a neck-and-neck race."

Read more at CBS New York. 

President Trump will campaign in South Carolina on Tuesday for Sen. Darline Graham, one day after a shocking New York Times/Siena poll had Graham leading by less than a single percentage point. 

Graham is facing Democrat Annie Andrews on the ballot. President Trump won South Carolina by more than 17 points in 2024, and a Democrat has not won a Senate race in the state since 1998. 

Although South Carolina is a deep-red state, Democrats have tried in recent cycles to flip the state and successfully raised a lot of money for their candidates, but have been burned by polls before. In 2020, a Quinnipiac poll shortly before Election Day had the late Sen. Lindsey Graham tied with Democrat Jaime Harrison, and Graham ultimately won by 10 points. 

Alaska's Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday ordered an investigation into Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola's campaign after a New York Times report that people aligned with the campaign helped recruit a candidate with the same first and last names as her main opponent, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.

Dunleavy said in a post on social media that there had already been a probe by the Alaska Division of Elections, so he was ordering the Department of Public Safety to "investigate whether this scheme violated Alaska's laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted."

"Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support," Dunleavy wrote. "Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections."

Peltola's campaign and the Democrats' Senate campaign arm have strongly denied any hand in getting the second Sullivan on the ballot.

At a campaign stop in Soldotna, Alaska, Peltola called the report a "distraction," according to Alaska Public Media.

"Nobody's waking up worried about ballot composition," she said. "Not even me. I'm worried about my bills. I'm worried about affordability in health care."

Read more here.

The candidates for New Hampshire's open Senate seat — Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas and Republican former Sen. John E. Sununu — sparred in a debate Wednesday evening.

New Hampshire has leaned blue in national races, but has a history of close elections and a lot of independent voters.

Sununu was endorsed by President Trump, but has distanced himself from some Trump policies, a theme he continued Wednesday. He criticized Mr. Trump's handling of the Iran war and tariffs, and called Maine Sen. Susan Collins a "great model" for a Republican who stands up to Mr. Trump. He said: "I've never hesitated to stand up when I think it's right for New Hampshire."

Sununu argued Pappas — who has served in the House since 2019 — is overly partisan, saying at one point that on inflation, "you've been part of the problem for eight years." He jabbed Sununu for campaigning with former Vice President Kamala Harris, a California native, and Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom, saying, "I don't know what Chris's infatuation is with California." In response, Pappas said, "Here in New Hampshire, we welcome out-of-town guests."

Pappas argued Sununu was far less critical of the Iran war in its early stages, saying Sununu "cheered it on from the beginning" and "now he's changing his tune." He also suggested Sununu had downplayed the impact of the Trump tariffs.

More broadly, Pappas repeatedly dinged Sununu for the Trump endorsement and emphasized the importance of "changing the balance of power in the Senate" by winning a Democratic Senate majority. He questioned how independent of Mr. Trump Sununu really is and said "we need leadership that's not just going to say a few nice things before an election." At one point he said: "The guy who gave you his complete and total endorsement is wrecking New Hampshire's Main Street economy, and we deserve a senator who's going to stand up and fight back."

They also scuffled over Social Security. When Sununu was in the Senate in the 2000s, he cosponsored a bill that would voluntarily shift some people's Social Security savings to private investment accounts. Pappas called it an attempt to privatize Social Security and said it "would have taken people out of the system." Sununu denied that, saying Pappas' attack was "designed to scare senior citizens, and that's just wrong."

On immigration, Pappas criticized former President Joe Biden because he "let things get out of control on the Southern border" but called for a "balanced approach" to enforcement. Sununu said people who have committed crimes should be prioritized, but "it's worth emphasizing the incredible achievement of providing secure borders in a way that we haven't had in decades."

Rep. Haley Stevens told CNN on Wednesday she's still supporting Abdul El-Sayed — who defeated her in the Michigan Democratic Senate primary — in the general election, hours after Stevens' fiancé said he would vote for Republican nominee Mike Rogers.

"Like a lot of households across America, we're a household divided," Stevens said, later calling herself a "passionate Democrat."

But Stevens argued that there are still lots of undecided voters in Michigan, and encouraged El-Sayed to distance himself from a set of "hateful" ads, including one advertisement from an outside group that connected U.S. military support for Israel to the high cost of groceries.

"I am the weirdest loser in this country," she said, adding that she and El-Sayed "hugged it out" after the primary. "I'm voting for the Democratic ticket, but I want to encourage … this campaign to shut out the hate and to call it out and to make people who are in my coalition … feel comfortable about coming to the polls."

Earlier Wednesday, Stevens' fiancé, Jason Turkish, told The Detroit News that he believes El-Sayed — a vehement critic of Israel — had acted "recklessly toward the safety of Jews in the community."

Asked about Turkish's decision during a campaign stop, El-Sayed said, "to me, this election is about control of the United States Senate. It's about putting a check on Donald Trump."

"I'm welcoming a big tent of folks to come together around the effort to push back on Trump, to push back on gas prices, to push back on the price of groceries, to push back on the the way he's making it harder to see doctors, and I hope that that as many folks out there can join," he said. "We feel really strong about our ability to bring people together. There are always going to be some folks who have different opinions, and they're welcome to that. That's the beauty of democracy."

President Trump rallied Ohio voters on Wednesday, seeking to boost Republican Sen. Jon Husted and gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and — as he has in many of his recent rallies — urging voters in the state to "pretend I'm on the ballot."

Mr. Trump won Ohio three times in a row, leading by 11.2 points in 2024. But polls show a set of tight races in the Buckeye State, as former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown attempts to return to Congress.

The president promoted his record and defended his handling of the Iran war, which he said he'll "finish up … very quickly." He also continued to riff on a familiar theme — Husted's physique, which Mr. Trump has brought up several times in recent days.

Mr. Trump also said if Husted wins next week, he will consider putting a planned U.S. military service academy — the Space Academy — in Ohio. "Everybody wants it. Every state, they all want it," he said.

After former President Barack Obama drew President Trump's ire for saying the recent spate of White House renovations looked like "Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory," the former president cleared up in a Georgia rally Wednesday that his issue isn't with the restaurant chain, per se.

"I heard the president was not happy when I joked over the weekend that he's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory," Obama said. "First of all, let me get this on the record: I am the father of two daughters. Do you think I could have survived their childhood without going to the Cheesecake Factory? I lived at Chuck E. Cheese and California Pizza Kitchen and the Cheesecake Factory. That was my jam for about a decade."

The former president continued: "Of course the real problem is: Prices [have] gotten so high, a lot of folks can barely afford to go out to eat." 

Obama delivered his Cheesecake Factory riff during a rally over the weekend, mocking the gold-hued furnishings that have appeared in the Oval Office. Democrats applauded the comments, while Trump allies derided Obama as out-of-touch for making fun of the ubiquitous restaurant famous for its golden columns, massive entrées and Tolstoy-length menu. And Mr. Trump has defended the White House renovations themselves, saying Obama lacks appreciation for his efforts to make the building "pristine."

At his own rally in Ohio on Wednesday, Mr. Trump said Obama "doesn't understand cleanliness," and he's focused on renovations "because the White House, I think, is the number one symbol of our country."

Obama on Wednesday cast the Trump administration's reactions to his Cheesecake Factory crack as "distractions" and "phony outrage," calling Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's visit to the restaurant part of a "whole-of-government response to that joke."

Obama — who was in Georgia to rally voters for Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff and gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms — also argued the Trump administration's decisions are "directly responsible for rising costs," and said they are "not serious people."

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration's bid to require California election officials to separate out mail ballots received from roughly 20,000 people it claims are not U.S. citizens.

The decision from U.S. District Judge David Carter is the latest setback for the Trump administration in its efforts to exert more federal control over election administration just ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, when voters will decide which party controls the House and Senate.

Carter said that the Justice Department's request for California to segregate and exclude more than 20,000 ballots violates "longstanding constitutional principles" giving states the authority to administer their own elections.

"Never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state and local government to abandon their own Constitutional elections procedures and bend to the will of the Executive Branch," the judge wrote in a 26-page decision. "In bringing this lawsuit, the Executive would have this Court believe that it reigns as a sole sovereign. But California and its people are sovereign, too."

Read more here.

During a rally for Republican candidates in Ohio, President Trump once again defended gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, whose campaign drew controversy over an attack ad that featured the estranged mother of Democrat Amy Acton calling her a "liar."

The husband of Acton's mother was accused of raping Acton when she was a child. Acton's campaign called the ad a "despicable low" last week.

Mr. Trump said Wednesday that Vivek was "treated very unfairly."

"He had the mother of his opponent say that her daughter was a liar. I said, 'Why can't I have an opponent like that?'" the president told the crowd. "The mother said that Amy Acton, the daughter, is a liar, that she's no good … How the hell is that his problem?"

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has increased his polling lead to 7 percentage points over Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman, among likely voters in a nationally watched U.S. Senate race in Michigan.

Mitchell Research & Communications conducted the statewide poll Oct. 26-27 for CBS Detroit and other Michigan television stations. It surveyed likely voters in the Nov. 3 general election.

El-Sayed was the choice of 51% of likely voters, with Rogers at 44%, in the latest Mitchell poll. Three percent were undecided, and third-party candidates each drew 1% or less. The margin of error is 3.9 percentage points, the research company said, at a 95%+ confidence level.

Read more here.

Republican Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio joked about President Trump's comments about his backside, telling CBS News on Wednesday that "my wife and I have a good sense of humor about it." 

"I told her the other day, I'm like, 'hey, I got to get to the gym more often. I got a reputation to uphold,'" he said. 

Mr. Trump has mentioned Husted's physique several times while on the campaign trail. 

"I'm studying his body," Mr. Trump said at a rally in North Carolina last week. "I've never studied the body of a man before. Not my thing. Nothing wrong with it, of course. I always proceeded by saying nothing wrong. That's never been my thing, to be honest with you. But when I looked at his ass, and then I looked at his legs, and I said, 'his ass looks like a pile of muscle'. Then I looked at his legs and I said, 'man, his feet are big.' Then I looked at his shoulders and I tapped him on the shoulder and it actually hurt my hand. This is like a piece of steel."

President Trump posted Wednesday on Truth Social that Democratic Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola "shouldn't be allowed to run," after The New York Times alleged that people aligned with Peltola helped recruit a candidate with the same first and last name as incumbent GOP Sen. Dan S. Sullivan.

Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee both denied the allegations.

Alaska's ranked-choice ballot lists four candidates, including Peltola, Sullivan (who is identified as a Republican incumbent) and a man named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. 

The second Sullivan has vexed Republicans for months. State officials initially sought to keep him off the ballot, finding that he was trying to confuse voters — which second Dan Sullivan denied. The Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the other Sullivan can appear on the ballot. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit last week seeking to prevent the election from being certified if Sen. Dan Sullivan loses.

On Wednesday, after the Times reported on the alleged effort to draw a second Sullivan into the race, Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social: "I don't think Mary Peltola, after perpetrating such a terrible scheme, should be allowed to run, because this is ELECTION FRAUD. The Democrats cheated!"

The president later told reporters, "I think (Peltola and the other Sullivan) should be prosecuted."

"It's terrible what's happened in Alaska," he said. "They created a fake candidate."  

In response to the Times' reporting, a spokesperson for Peltola's campaign said it "has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign. Like Mary, our campaign is focused on lowering costs and fixing the rigged system in DC."

A spokesperson for Senate Democrats' campaign arm said the group "is not involved with Dan J. Sullivan." The spokesperson also argued Republicans "have a long history of recruiting and propping up candidates in an attempt to boost their own campaigns."

Read more here.

Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan — At a campaign event outside of Detroit, GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas attempted to tie Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood — a claim El-Sayed has repeatedly denied.

"My nickname for the guy is the jihadist leprechaun," Cruz said about El-Sayed. 

Cruz later said that El-Sayed would get top-level security clearance as a U.S. Senator if elected, claiming that El-Sayed could be put on the Senate Intelligence Committee, "and if I am correct that he is a passionate supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, there is a very real risk that Americans will die as a result."

The insinuation El-Sayed has ties with the Muslim Brotherhood has been a core part of the closing message for Republican nominee Mike Rogers in what is expected to be a razor-tight Senate race in Michigan. Some branches of the group were designated as a terrorist organization by the Trump administration in January. 

El-Sayed said in a recent interview with Fox News: "I have never been a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, I never will be a member of the Muslim Brotherhood."

Read more here. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is no longer set to travel with President Trump to an Ohio rally, a State Department official told CBS News.

A senior administration official had said earlier Wednesday that Rubio would travel to the rally "in his capacity as national security adviser." 

Later, a State Department official said, "As often happens, schedules change."

Mr. Trump is heading to Ohio to rally for Sen. Jon Husted and other prominent Republicans. 

Mr. Trump pulled Rubio on stage during Tuesday's event in Lubbock, Texas, saying "we love Marco."

At a campaign stop in Brooksville, Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and Rep. Byron Donalds, who is running to succeed him, tried to appeal to Democrats as crossover voters, saying the Democrats are "no longer the party of Bill Clinton." 

"I want to take a moment to talk about those long-standing Democrat voters in our state," Donalds said. "These are people who, when you talk to them individually, some of them still care about Florida. They care about America. But they still think their party is the party of JFK and Bill Clinton. The Democrat party is no longer the party of Bill Clinton. The Democrat party is now the party of Bernie Sanders, and AOC and democratic socialists."

Donalds' Democratic opponent, David Jolly, is a former Republican, but Donalds is seeking to tie him to national progressives and Florida's Democratic Senate candidate Angie Nixon, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. 

Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee for governor, did not attend a rally Tuesday in Lima, Ohio, with other prominent GOP candidates, including Sen. John Husted and Lt. Gov. Rob McColley. Ramaswamy was the only statewide GOP candidate who did not attend. 

The state's senior senator, Bernie Moreno, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Dr. Mehmet Oz, the current administrator of Medicare and Medicaid Services,  attended the event.

President Trump will be in Ohio on Wednesday night to campaign. Mr. Trump has expressed support for Ramawamy after his controversial ad featuring Democrat Amy Acton's estranged mother, although several Ohio Republicans have distanced themselves from Ramaswamy over the ad. 

 Florida Democratic Senate candidate Angie Nixon held a rally Tuesday night in Kissimmee with progressive lawmakers Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Maxwell Frost and Nydia Velázquez as well as actor Wilson Cruz. The lawmakers and Cruz are all Puerto Rican, and they were encouraging the state's large Puerto Rican population to turn out for Democrats. 

Given Florida's large number of Cuban-Americans, Nixon and Ocasio-Cortez both addressed her "socialist" label. Nixon, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who defeated a moderate Democrat in the primary, accused Sen. Ashley Moody of believing "common-sense things are extreme, radical, socialist." 

"If believing that a mother working two jobs, working more than 40 hours a week, should earn enough to be able to put food on the table is radical, then call me a radical," Nixon said. 

"These folks like to say that everything that they don't like is communism, and they like to call everyone that they disagree with a communist," Ocasio-Cortez said. "But we've got news for you: Good schools is not communism, funded hospitals is not communism and guaranteeing healthcare as a right to every American is not communism; it's common sense." 

As polls have shown that corruption is becoming increasingly important to voters, Ocasio-Cortez and Nixon both slammed Republicans and Moody for corruption.

"We're seeing corruption on levels that we have never seen before," Ocasio-Cortez said. "Genuinely and truly, we're talking about corruption coming out of this White House that is unconscionable for democracy in the United States."

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, has for two years led his colleagues through unforgiving terrain, trying to do two things at once: advance the president's agenda and preserve the Senate's independence.

Now, next week's midterm election stands as the clearest test yet of whether that balancing act has paid off. A map that once favored Senate Republicans has turned perilous amid an unpopular war with Iran and stubbornly high gas prices, and their low-key leader faces questions voters are about to answer: Has Thune's approach worked — for Republicans, and for him? And has it been enough to keep the majority?

Read more here. 

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who has bucked President Trump and the GOP, on Tuesday backed the Democratic candidate for governor in Alaska, Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, who is widely referred to as JKT.

"JKT is a young Alaskan with a view and a perspective that I think Alaska needs right now," Murkowski told Anchorage's KTUU-TV on Tuesday. 

She said Kriess-Tomkins will "work with the legislature," adding that will be important for the state's at-large representative and senators in Washington, D.C. In a news release, Murkowski encouraged "Alaskans of every political stripe, whether Republicans, independents, or Democrats" to consider Kriess-Tomkins, adding "Alaska needs leaders who will put our state first, and I'm proud to support them."

Murkowski said she has "found fault" with the current GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy's administration. Dunleavy is prevented from running for reelection due to term limits. 

"I think that they have left federal money on the table," Murkowski said of Dunleavy. "I think in certain areas, where we have worked hard to put opportunities from the federal side, here, into the state, the state has failed with it."

Kriess-Tomkins has three Republican challengers on the ballot on Nov. 3, and Alaska uses ranked-choice voting. 

In a statement, Kriess-Tomkins, who has touted bipartisanship on the trail, said he was "honored to have Senator Murkowski's support." 

President Trump held two rallies in Texas on Tuesday to campaign for Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for Senate, and several House candidates, including Rep. Monica De La Cruz in South Texas.

The campaign stops in Corpus Christi and Lubbock came as Republicans fight to stave off their first statewide loss in Texas in more than 30 years. CBS News considers the race between Paxton and Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico a toss-up, even though Mr. Trump won Texas by more than 13 points two years ago.

Talarico held a rally nearby in Lubbock. 

During his visit to Lubbock, the president touted his record and offered his familiar refrain for voters to "pretend I'm on the ballot." He also encouraged voters who are on the fence about voting for Paxton: "Before you pull the trigger … take a look at your 401(k)'s."

He also predicted gas prices — which are elevated due to the Iran war, frustrating many voters — will come down "very, very rapidly." But he noted that Texas' oil industry has performed well. 

"We are making an absolute fortune. More than we ever have," the president said. "Texas has never, ever done numbers like this."

Mr. Trump railed against Talarico and said if Democrats win control of the Senate, "I'll be vetoing like crazy, OK? But I'd rather work from the positive side as opposed to the negative side."

The president also defended an eyebrow-raising riff at a rally earlier this month, when he marveled at Republican Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio's college football career, and described "examining his body" and "look[ing] at his ass."

"I made the mistake of saying that I started off by studying his ass," Mr. Trump told the crowd in Lubbock on Tuesday, noting that he also complimented other parts of Husted's anatomy — his hands, feet and shoulders — and lamenting that media outlets "only covered the ass part."

Mr. Trump argued the joke about Husted helped the Ohioan in the polls.

"Maybe I should do that with Ken Paxton, but I'm not sure your body is gonna qualify," he said.

President Trump is scheduled to campaign in Ohio on Wednesday for Republicans, including GOP Sen. Jon Husted and Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican running for governor. 

Although Ohio has become more reliably red in recent years, the race between Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown, who served in the Senate from 2007 to 2025, is currently considered a toss-up by CBS News. Polls also show the governor's race between Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton could also be close. 

It's Mr. Trump's third visit to the Buckeye State this month. Vice President JD Vance, who grew up in Ohio, has also made several visits to the state in recent months, including one last week.

Former President Barack Obama campaigned in Cleveland over the weekend for Brown, Acton and more Democrats. 

Control of the House of Representatives will come down to a number of battleground seats. CBS News has identified 47 House districts that will likely determine which party will have the majority. 

Of those seats, 20 are currently held by Democrats and 27 are held by Republicans.  

Republicans currently hold a razor-thin majority, with 218 seats, plus an independent who normally caucuses with them. Democrats hold 214 seats. There are two vacancies. 

CBS News' Battleground Tracker model estimated on Sunday that Democrats are on track to take control of the House with 229 seats. There is still a path for the GOP to keep the House: The Battleground Tracker's estimates ranged from 215 Democratic seats — which would give Republicans a narrow majority — to 237 seats.

Republicans currently hold 53 seats in the Senate, while Democrats have 47. 

CBS News has identified 10 key seats this election that could determine control of the Senate.

Seven of those seats are held by Republicans: Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, Kansas, Iowa, Texas and Alaska.

The other three are held by Democrats: New Hampshire, Michigan and Georgia.

At two campaign stops on Tuesday, Ohio gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy avoided mentioning his campaign's recent ad that featured Democrat Amy Acton's mother. 

At the first event, Ramaswamy did not mention Acton. He spoke for just over seven minutes at Vance Outdoors, a hunting and fishing retailer in Hebron, where he predicted Republicans will win down the ballot on Election Day. 

He framed the election as a "fork in the road," conflating Democratic socialist candidates' election wins with socialism around the world and warned it could "infect" Ohio. Around 100 Republicans gathered in the middle of the store, and several down-ballot Republicans spoke before him, including the lieutenant governor nominee.

At the second event, Ramaswamy directly called out Acton for leaving her post as public health director during the COVID-19 pandemic, but he didn't mention the ad.

Ramaswamy has faced bipartisan backlash, including from Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, over the ad, which featured Acton's estranged mother calling her a liar. Acton has said she was abused by her now-deceased stepfather, and her campaign provided court documents to CBS News and other outlets detailing that he was charged with abusing her when she was 12 years old. According to Acton, she has not seen her mother since she and her stepfather appeared for a court date decades ago. Acton said that her mother and stepfather left town after posting bond. 

President Trump is scheduled to campaign in Ohio on Wednesday for Republicans, including GOP Sen. Jon Husted and Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican running for governor. 

Although Ohio has become more reliably red in recent years, the race between Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown, who served in the Senate from 2007 to 2025, is currently considered a toss-up by CBS News. Polls also show the governor's race between Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton could also be close. 

It's Mr. Trump's third visit to the Buckeye State this month. Vice President JD Vance, who grew up in Ohio, has also made several visits to the state in recent months, including one last week.

Former President Barack Obama campaigned in Cleveland over the weekend for Brown, Acton and more Democrats.