Alaska’s Republican governor has ordered an investigation into whether criminal charges or civil penalties should be brought over alleged Democratic efforts to confuse voters by recruiting a Senate candidate with the same name as GOP incumbent candidate Dan Sullivan.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump said Democrat Mary Peltola should drop out of the Alaska Senate race and face criminal charges over the allegations raised in a New York Times report.
Experts have said the reported recruiting of a spoiler candidate didn’t appear to be illegal .
The Democrat’s opponent told Fox News that Peltola should “come clean.” But her campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have both denied involvement in the alleged plan.
Alaska election officials previously told CNN that there’s still no role for the Trump administration in deciding who gets to run, after the DOJ filed a lawsuit to block certification of the election if the incumbent loses, citing the confusion that could be caused by two Dan Sullivans.
CNN’s Stephen Collinson outlines the questions the controversy raises here.
Here are Wednesday’s top headlines:
At a rally in Georgia, former President Barack Obama said President Donald Trump was more offended by his comments likening the White House renovations to the Cheesecake Factory than being compared to Saddam Hussein or by rising costs in the US.
Michigan Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens reaffirmed her support for Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed after The Detroit News reported her fiancé said he’s voting for Republican candidate Mike Rogers in the state's high-stakes Senate race.
CNN’s Jeremy Herb, Katelyn Polantz, Kaanita Iyer, Stephen Collinson, Kit Maher, Manu Raju, Ellis Kim, Rebekah Riess, Andy Rose, Steve Contorno, Eric Bradner and Marshall Cohen contributed to this report.
CNN polling across four key Senate races finds Democrats well-positioned in Michigan and Texas , with no clear leader in the races in Maine or Kansas .
The four states tell the story of a playing field that has shifted in unexpected ways, leaving Democrats hopeful that they’ll be able to take control of the Senate.
In Michigan , Democrat Abdul El-Sayed (49%) has opened up a lead over Republican Mike Rogers (42%) among likely voters amid signs that the state’s Democratic base has unified behind him, and that discouraged Republicans are checking out.
Texas gives Democrat James Talarico (49%) a narrow lead over Republican Ken Paxton (43%) among likely voters. Talarico’s bid benefits from deeply negative impressions of Paxton, as well as sizable support among the Black, Latino and Asian voters in the state who voted for President Donald Trump in 2024.
Early on, Maine was widely viewed as one of Democrats’ best pickup opportunities, with Sen. Susan Collins the only Republican up for reelection in a state that voted Democratic in 2024. But the race has remained tight: The new poll of likely voters finds no clear leader between Collins (45%) and her Democratic challenger Troy Jackson (49%), even as the race has become squarely a referendum on Collins.
And in deep-red Kansas , there is no clear leader between Democrat Adam Hamilton (49%) and Republican Sen. Roger Marshall (45%), even as likely voters there say they would prefer Republicans to control the Senate. Voters here largely view Marshall unfavorably and say their choices are about Marshall more so than Hamilton.
These states paint a picture of a Democratic Party well-positioned to make a play for Senate control. They exemplify the range of the playing field in a political environment that borders on historic negativity toward the party in power, and of the ways in which candidates can overcome – or succumb to – the forces of political habit.
President Donald Trump says the polls are rigged, and some of his supporters believe him. Harry Enten tells Donie O’Sullivan why they’re wrong.
Trump says the polls are rigged, and some of his supporters believe him. CNN’s Harry Enten explains to Donie O’Sullivan why they’re wrong.
CNN analyzed early voting data in 25 states that are reporting both counts of early votes cast and where voters register with a party, using data from Catalist, and found a Democratic advantage in turnout among both low- and high-propensity voters.
Across the 25 states, Democrats have a 14-point advantage in turnout among high propensity voters (those who participated in the last two general elections). This lead is up to 18 points among voters who cast a ballot in just one of the two elections and also among those who turned out in neither.
At the same point in 2024, Democrats had a 6-point lead among voters who turned out in both the 2020 and 2022 elections and a 1-point lead among voters who stayed home for both prior elections.
These patterns are particularly stark in places like Kansas and North Carolina.
Among voters who turned out in 2022 and 2024, registered Democrats lead registered Republicans by 2 points in Kansas. This balloons to 14 points among voters who turned out in just one of those elections and 26 points among voters who turned out in neither. In North Carolina, the Democratic advantage is 14 points among the highest propensity voters and 25 points among the lowest.
While the highest propensity voters cast most of the ballots, lower propensity voters are still a meaningful share of the electorate and could be a decisive group in tight contests. Across the 25 states analyzed, about 6% of ballots have been cast by voters who did not turn out in either of the past two general elections and another 15% came from voters who participated in just one.
There’s still time for Republicans. A large share of high-propensity Republican voters has yet to cast their ballots. But not all of those voters will necessarily turn out, and the data so far suggest Republicans will need to be more reliant on strong election day turnout than they were in 2024.
Alaska’s governor on Wednesday night announced he was ordering an investigation into whether criminal charges or civil penalties should be brought over alleged Democratic efforts to confuse voters by recruiting a Senate candidate with the same name as GOP incumbent Dan Sullivan.
Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy made the announcement following a bombshell report from the New York Times about Democrats aligned with candidate Mary Peltola, noting on X the Alaska Division of Elections investigated such concerns in June.
CNN has reached out to Peltola’s campaign for comment, as well as the Alaska Division of Elections and the state’s Department of Public Safety for more information.
“Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support. Deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections. Anyone or any organization found to have broken the law must be held accountable,” he said.
Peltola, the state’s former at-large House member, is considered one of Senate Democrats’ top recruits of the midterms and her campaign continues to deny any involvement in the campaign of Daniel J. Sullivan.
Earlier Wednesday, President Donald Trump seized on the explosive report , calling it “Voter Fraud at the Highest Level,” and urged Peltola be “removed from the ballot and prosecuted.”
Alaska election officials told CNN on Wednesday that there’s no role for the Trump administration in deciding who gets to run in the state’s election.
We’re in the last stretch before Election Day as candidates across the country squeeze in as many campaign stops as possible to make their final pitch.
President Donald Trump is returning to South Carolina to champion Republican Sen. Darline Graham, who is effectively in a tie with her Democratic opponent Annie Andrews.
Trump has been traveling near daily in October, mostly to states he won in the 2024 election, as he aims to boost Republican turnout.
Vice President JD Vance again heads to Texas , where Democrats are hoping to snap a 32-year statewide losing streak in the Senate and governor’s races.
Both parties are bringing out their biggest names in the final week before midterms, with former President Barack Obama rallying in Georgia last night.
Today in Georgia, former Vice President Kamala Harris, meanwhile, will be campaigning to mobilize voters in support of Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.
