Tensions rise as midterm campaign ends with control of Congress at stake
US voters got their final pitch from congressional candidates and President Donald Trump on Monday, the eve of the midterm elections, as tensions rise in Michigan where Abdul El-Sayed is seeking to become the first Muslim elected to the Senate.
California also made headlines as the Supreme Court quickly rejected a bid from Trump’s Justice Department to intervene and halt vote counting from accused non-U.S. citizens.
In his last big address before voters go to the polls, Trump highlighted the renovations of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, one of the Washington public works projects he has made a priority since returning to the White House, as he begins his last two years in office with control of the US Congress up for grabs.
In a telephone interview later with Fox News’ “Hannity” show, he said Republicans should pretend he is on the ballot to drive up turnout. “We got to vote. If our people vote, we win in a landslide’, Trump remarked.
All 435 seats in the US House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the US Senate are being contested on Tuesday. Democrats are heavy favourites to win the House but have a tougher task in the Senate.
And losing control of either chamber would put limits on Trump and give Democrats the power to investigate his administration. A Senate majority would also give Democrats the right to deny his choices to federal courts including the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court Monday refused to let the Trump administration temporarily prohibit California from counting mail-in ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters federal officials said were likely not U.S. citizens.
The top court was swift on the draw. California contended the federal lawsuit would disenfranchise 20,000 voters on vague claims and that the method for identifying noncitizens is error-prone.
Also on Monday, a U.S. judge ordered the Trump administration to cease asking California to pull back ballots cast by people on lists of suspected noncitizens.
Trump, 80, has been campaigning hard for Republicans, hosting rallies in 20 states in the past 32 days, the White House said. His most recent in-person engagement was a lecture at the delayed re-opening of the Washington reflecting pool, where the former real-estate developer talked for more than 20 minutes on pipes, joints, caulking, granite resurfacing, algae and leaks. “”So we have a lot of great things planned for Washington. I could get into the nation, but for that you don’t have enough time,” Trump said, also noting the grass at the White House, his new Marine One helipad, a golf course and plans for a triumphal arch that is facing a court challenge.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Monday showed 46% of registered voters saying they would choose Democrats in House elections, compared with 38% who chose Republicans.
The University of Florida’s Election Lab said early voting, either by mail or in person, has already broken a record, with 57 million ballots cast as of Monday afternoon, compared to 45 million in all of the 2022 midterms.
TENSIONS HIGH IN MICHIGAN
In Michigan, Democratic candidate El-Sayed, a physician and former public health officer, is trying to become the first Muslim elected to the Senate, campaigning against Republican Mike Rogers.
Their hotly watched Senate battle became more hotter over the weekend when US Representative Haley Stevens, who lost the Democratic primary to El-Sayed, moved to support Rogers.
El-Sayed’s campaign later reported it raised $2.4 million Sunday, its greatest single-day record, driven by small-dollar donations.
El-Sayed, an Egyptian American Muslim who grew up in Michigan, has been attacked by Trump and other Republicans for his commitment to the US and falsely accused of being a terrorist sympathiser. El-Sayed has termed concerns about his loyalty to the US “shameful”.
Rogers told Fox News’ “Hannity” broadcast Monday that El-Sayed was “just too extreme.”
“This election was never about how someone prays,” Rogers declared Monday at a Michigan rally. “It was always about how you think, your philosophy, your ideology.
“I think we have an opportunity to break down those barriers, barriers of geography, of race, of sexual orientation, gender identity, of faith, to build together what we can only have together,” El-Sayed said at a campaign event on Monday.
TRUMP SEEKS INTERVENTION
The Trump administration also has sought to weigh in on election disputes in Alaska.
A US Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block certification of election results in Alaska should Republican incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan narrowly lose was dismissed by a federal judge Sunday. The Justice Department has stated that voters could be confused by a challenger called Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. on the same ballot.
The prospect of two Sullivans running in Alaska has roiled the campaign since the New York Times reported last week that Democrat Mary Peltola’s team was involved in recruiting the latter Sullivan into the race as a spoiler.
The senator stated Sunday he will accept the results of Tuesday’s election even as the Trump administration pursues a criminal inquiry into the problem. Peltola has denied any connection, and Sullivan Jr. has denied working with Peltola’s campaign.
At a rally in Alaska on Monday, the senator, introduced as “the real Dan Sullivan,” said Democrats consider Alaska vital to winning control of the Senate.“It’s not just Alaska,” he remarked. “Right now, we are the firewall for freedom for America.”
An FBI agent questioned a supporter of Senate contender Sullivan Jr. about his $500 donation Friday. Barry Bracken, a retired fisheries biologist in Sullivan’s hometown of Petersburg, Alaska, where he said he and Sullivan have known each other for more than 40 years, said he told the agents he purposely gave to Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.’s campaign, and they quickly left.
The FBI declined comment.