US Midterm Elections LIVE Updates: More than 40 Million Early Votes Cast Ahead of Election Day, NBC Reports

Pennsylvania is holding one of the key Senate races as Mehmet Oz, the Trump-backed Republican challenger and John Fetterman, the hoodie-clad progressive Democrat contender go head-to-head. But Republicans casting doubts regarding polling results and NAACP and ACLU’s lawsuits against counties – demanding they count undated or wrongly dated mail ballots – have heated up the competition ahead of Tuesday, reports Fox News and CNN.

A report by CNN pointed out that Republicans have a real chance at defeating Maggie Hassan, the incumbent Senator from New Hampshire as Republican Don Bolduc remained ahead by four points on the generic congressional ballot

According to NBC, 41,348,158 early and mail-in votes have been cast already, and 50,768,630 mail-in ballots have been requested so far, thus there are more 9 million mail-in ballots which will arrive ahead of the counting

In Wisconsin, Senator Ron Johnson is being seen as a Republican in trouble but Mandela Barnes, Democrat challenger, has not led in the polls ahead of the election day. Despite this, some analysts feel it is too close to call

Less than a week from the US midterm elections, star campaigners for Democrats, including two former presidents and another former presidential candidate, have picked up the pace on the campaign trail, for key polls amid the record high inflation and slowing American economy. Former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are campaigning hard while President Joe Biden kept a light schedule, Fox news reported.

Twitter is delaying the rollout of verification check marks to subscribers of its new $8 a month service until after Tuesday’s crucial midterm elections in the United States, the New York Times reported. The US midterm elections on Tuesday will decide whether Republicans or President Joe Biden’s Democrats will control Congress. Earlier this month, Musk had announced that verification blue tick in front of a user’s name that authenticates an account will be charged USD 8 per month. Twitter’s strategy to introduce a monthly charge for the verified badge has polarised users globally.

American voters on Tuesday will turn up at the polling booth as the entire House of Representatives and one-third of the House of Senate is up for reelection along with key gubernatorial races. The outcome of these midterm elections are crucial as it could affect the 2024 Presidential Elections where former US president and Republican leader Donald Trump is eyeing a comeback and Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis is planning to take on both Trump and Biden. Here is a list of key races – House of Representatives, Gubernatorial and Senate – and the key contenders. READ MORE

Trump remains a dominant force in the Republican Party, but Tuesday’s contests will test his strength among the broader electorate. He is not on the ballot, of course, but dozens of Trump-endorsed candidates are. In Pennsylvania, Trump loyalist Doug Mastriano, the Republican candidate for governor, has struggled in the polls against Democrat Josh Shapiro. Trump’s pick for the Senate, Dr. Mehmet Oz, is locked in a close race with Democrat John Fetterman. In Arizona, gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Senate contender Blake Masters, who both promoted Trump’s lies of a stolen 2020 election, are in position to win. Other Trump loyalists to watch: Ohio Senate candidate JD Vance, North Carolina Senate contender Ted Budd, Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon and New York gubernatorial hopeful Lee Zeldin.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump headline a frantic last day of campaigning Monday on the eve of a midterm election that will shape the rest of the US president’s term — and could pave the way for a White House comeback by his predecessor. Biden’s Democrats are facing a gargantuan struggle to hang on to Congress, after a race the president has cast as a “defining” moment for US democracy — though kitchen-table issues like inflation have largely dominated the campaign. Republicans are comfortably placed to snatch a House majority on Tuesday, and many Democrats fear the Senate also slipping away in a defeat that would see Biden’s foes in near total charge of legislation during his last two years in the White House.

The US President, who is arguably the most powerful elected political executive in the world, gets a reality check of where his government stands and what is the opinion of the people vis a vis the ruling government. The leaders, people and the world at large get to sense the mood of the electorates and also about the economic, political and social issues that concern the American people. That would turn the last two years of Biden’s first term into a dogfight and set the stage for a tense 2024 presidential election, with questions over whether Biden, who turns 80 this month, will want to run again. READ MORE

All signs point to Republicans making significant gains on Tuesday. But whether it’s a red ripple or a tsunami remains to be seen. Voters are overwhelmingly pessimistic about the direction of the country as inflation surges and political divisions explode. And history suggests that voters will take out their frustrations on the party in power. The party that occupies the White House has suffered significant losses in nearly every president’s first midterm election for more than a century. Exceptions were in 1934 during the Great Depression; in 1998 during the effort to impeach Bill Clinton; and in 2002 after the Sept. Democrats were initially hopeful that the Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate abortion rights might be enough to disrupt historical trends.

After months of primaries, campaign events and fundraising pleas, the midterm elections that will determine the balance of power in Washington and state capitals are finally here. Republicans are predicting a massive red wave as anxious Democrats defend their narrow majorities in Congress while struggling to overcome pervasive concerns about the economy, crime and President Joe Biden’s leadership. Democrats are hoping that a backlash against the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade will save them. The political environment has led to an unusually large playing field as emboldened Republicans press into Democratic strongholds like New York, California, New Mexico and Washington state.

Bullish Republicans promised to deliver a “wake-up call” to Joe Biden and retake Congress on Tuesday’s crucial midterm elections, as the US president’s Democrats insisted they were still in the fight with two days to go. More than 39 million people have voted early in Tuesday’s races, which will decide control of Congress and key governorships — the first national election since a mob overran the Capitol. Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump have been pulling out the stops to draw voters to the polls in Tuesday’s contest — which Biden says marks a defining moment for US democracy. READ MORE