Former President Barack Obama reignited his Cheesecake Factory feud with President Donald Trump on Wednesday night, ridiculing the administration's response to his viral joke about the White House renovations and mocking Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's visit to the restaurant chain.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Atlanta, Obama revisited his comparison of Trump's gold-heavy White House decor to "Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory," which sparked a back-and-forth with the president and his administration earlier this week.
"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.
"The president wasn't even mad about the Saddam Hussein comparison--very upset about the Cheesecake Factory comments. He took great umbrage," he continued.
Trump defended the renovations Monday, pushing back on Obama's mockery and arguing that the White House deserves the highest standards of upkeep and craftsmanship.
Bessent also entered the dispute, visiting a Cheesecake Factory for lunch and telling FOX Business he ordered his usual French dip cheeseburger. He suggested the former president's Martha's Vineyard circle should try the restaurant.
Obama seized on that appearance Wednesday, accusing the administration of devoting excessive attention to his joke.
"They mobilized a whole of government response to that joke, not to inflation, but to that joke," Obama said.
He then mocked Bessent's restaurant visit, contrasting it with his own experience overseeing the federal response to the financial crisis.
"I never called my treasury secretary. Tim Geithner said, man, you got to go to Arby's. Order roast beef. No cheese. Though that may look elitist," Obama joked.
The former president also renewed his criticism of Trump's White House renovations, including the ballroom, Rose Garden changes and gold decorations.
"He is literally doing arts and crafts while we are fighting a war and trying to deal with out of control prices," Obama said.
Obama accused the administration of manufacturing distractions rather than addressing Americans' economic concerns, saying Republicans would rather have voters discussing the restaurant controversy than rising household expenses.
"This is what I mean when I say these are not serious people. They don't have solutions to actual problems," Obama said.
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, accused Democrat challenger Mary Peltola of participating in a yearlong effort to confuse voters by recruiting another candidate with his name, calling the controversy a major scandal just six days before Election Day.
"Mary Peltola, her campaign team, senior DSCC Democrats had a scheme, a secret scheme, to trick Alaskan voters," Sullivan told Fox News' Sean Hannity on Wednesday night.
"And then Sean, they've been lying for almost a year about it, and now they're caught," he added.
Sullivan's remarks follow a New York Times report detailing discussions involving Democrat operatives about recruiting Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with a nearly-identical name.
Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have denied involvement in recruiting the candidate.
Sullivan accused his opponent of refusing to acknowledge the controversy and demanded that she answer questions about her campaign's involvement.
"Even today, she has not apologized. Even today, she's kind of playing as if nothing happened," Sullivan said.
The senator also suggested the alleged effort reached senior Democrat officials in Washington.
"This goes to the highest levels of Democrats in D.C. Schumer, Gillibrand. It's an outrage," he said.
Asked whether he planned additional legal action, Sullivan said his immediate priority was campaigning and warning voters about the similarly named candidate.
"My focus right now is campaigning and is getting out the vote and is making sure that the most important thing we can do is telling all Alaskans, do not be tricked," Sullivan said.
Sullivan said he would continue campaigning through Election Day while monitoring the legal developments surrounding the ballot controversy.
"This is a scandal at the highest order," he declared.
President Donald Trump floated bringing a new Space Academy to Ohio on Wednesday night if Republican Sen. Jon Husted wins reelection, dangling another major federal investment as he campaigned for the incumbent just six days before the midterms.
"And I wanted you to know that if John Husted wins. I am going to consider putting the Space Academy right here," Trump told supporters at his rally in Chillicothe, Ohio.
The president said states across the country were competing for the opportunity, making clear that the potential project would depend on Husted's electoral success.
Trump also credited Husted and fellow Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno with securing a Navy facility in Ohio to service submarines.
"The Department of War has selected the new home of the Navy's Future Component Repair Center, which is a big deal to work on all new and existing submarines right here in Ohio," Trump said. "That was John."
Trump joked that Husted and Moreno had relentlessly lobbied him for the investment.
"They'd call. Sir, can we speak to you like two times? Three times a day. I said, these guys keep calling. What the hell? They wanted it. I gave it to you. I gave it to you. Just leave me alone now," the president recalled.
{{#rendered}}Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., invoked the Bible to condemn President Donald Trump during a Wednesday evening campaign rally, predicting Georgia voters would deliver a decisive rejection of the president and his party in next week's midterm elections.
"Each day. Donald Trump digs the moral pit deeper," Ossoff told supporters.
"But Pastor Brian, isn't it in Proverbs that says whoever digs a pit. Whoever digs a pit will fall into it?" he continued, referencing a Biblical warning about those who set traps for others.
Ossoff accused Trump of "depravity" while praising Democrat supporters for organizing protests and rallies across Georgia over the past year.
"In Georgia over the last year, in defiance of his depravity, we've marched together in protest, and we've gathered at rallies like this one that just keeps getting bigger and bigger," Ossoff said.
The Democrat senator expressed confidence that his party would prevail on Election Day, touting its statewide voter turnout operation and support for gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms.
"In six days, we'll elect a medicaid expanding governor. Keisha Lance bottoms," Ossoff declared.
He concluded by accusing Trump of criminality and promising a political reckoning at the ballot box.
"And in six days, Georgia will rebuke the crook President Donald Trump with such clarity and power that no president will dare such abuses of power," Ossoff said.
It was raining hats in Ohio on Wednesday as President Donald Trump and Republican Sens. Jon Husted and Bernie Moreno each took turns tossing campaign caps to cheering supporters during separate appearances throughout the day.
Trump capped off the festivities at his evening rally in Chillicothe, Ohio, sending white baseball caps sailing into the crowd as enthusiastic supporters cheered and reached to catch the presidential souvenirs.
The president's playful moment followed similar scenes earlier Wednesday, when Husted and Moreno separately tossed hats to supporters in the crowd.
The lighthearted displays added a dose of fun to an otherwise intense final week of campaigning, with Republicans making a last-minute push to energize voters ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections.
Trump's evening appearance at the Shoemaker Center on Ohio University Chillicothe's campus marked his third visit to the state this month.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, condemned an alleged Democrat ballot-stacking scheme in her state's Senate race Wednesday, accusing Democrat nominee Mary Peltola's campaign of a "pattern of lies and coverups" amid growing scrutiny of a second candidate named Dan Sullivan.
"While some may try to write this off as just how politics works now, ballot-stacking should have no place in our electoral process," Murkowski wrote on X.
"Run and win on your merits: your views, your policy ideas, and your accomplishments," she continued. "By contrast, recruiting candidates to manipulate the field and influence voting outcomes is simply wrong."
The remarks follow a New York Times report detailing discussions among Democrat operatives about recruiting spoiler candidates, including Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., whose name closely resembles that of incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan.
Murkowski demanded greater transparency from Peltola and her campaign.
"Alaskans deserve the honest truth from Mary and her campaign—what has been revealed is a pattern of lies and coverups and a culture of deception that belongs nowhere in our elections or among our elected officials," she wrote.
{{#rendered}}The fiancé of Democrat Rep. Haley Stevens says he will vote for Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan's Senate race, breaking with his future wife's party over concerns about Democrat nominee Abdul El-Sayed's rhetoric on Israel and antisemitism.
Jason Turkish, a Jewish Democrat donor and civil rights attorney, told The Detroit News on Wednesday that he had become convinced El-Sayed's rhetoric was endangering Michigan's Jewish community.
"I’ve just seen an escalation in his rhetoric since the primary, and it makes folks unsafe. Every time he talks about genocide (in Gaza), Jews get death threats," Turkish told the outlet.
Turkish described his decision to support Rogers as "putting country before party."
Stevens, who lost the August Democratic primary to El-Sayed, endorsed her former rival after the election but has not publicly campaigned alongside him since shortly after the primary, according to The Detroit News.
Asked about Turkish's decision following a campaign rally in Wyandotte, Michigan, El-Sayed defended his campaign's focus on opposing President Donald Trump.
"If folks have issues that are more important to them than that, that's fine. That's their choice," El-Sayed told reporters.
"There are always going to be some folks who have different opinions, and they're welcome to that. That's the beauty of democracy," he added.
The Democrat nominee reiterated his opposition to funding foreign militaries, saying his position extends beyond Israel to other countries, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Turkish told The Detroit News that although he disagrees with Rogers on numerous policy issues, his concerns about Jewish safety ultimately outweighed those differences.
"I'm going to vote for Mike Rogers. That's the highest measure of the support I can give somebody is my vote, and that's what I intend to do. But this is not a decision I ever thought I would have to make," Turkish said.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent trip to Wisconsin to stump for Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Crowley shows his campaign is struggling to rally voters, according to his Republican opponent, Rep. Tom Tiffany.
Harris arrived in the key battleground state Monday to campaign alongside Crowley in Milwaukee just eight days before Election Day.
"For the last year and a half, I know many of us have been going through a whole lot of emotion: anger, sadness, disappointment, destruction, depression, all kinds of emotions," Harris told supporters at Milwaukee’s Pfister Hotel.
"And we've been feeling powerless. People have been feeling like, ‘I can't do anything about this.’ And I know how much pain people are in. I know how it is creating so much fear among so many communities of people."
Tiffany asserted that Harris was brought in to energize a Democratic base where Crowley’s campaign has lagged amid a sense of national political fatigue caused by polarization and endless campaign messaging.
"This is clearly a move that says that they're struggling to get their base to vote. David Crowley has not excited the base," Tiffany told Fox News Digital.
Critics and political opponents have accused Crowley of being handpicked by Democratic leaders, including Gov. Tony Evers, as a centrist alternative to more progressive candidates such as state Rep. Francesca Hong, whom Crowley narrowly defeated in the primary.
The critique echoes challenges Harris faced during her own presidential bid.
"It was, once again, the Democrats that pulled somebody off the bench," Tiffany said. "They handpicked them rather than letting democracy work in their own party, and there's people very frustrated with that. They're trying to excite their base, and it's a problem for them."
Tiffany has framed himself as a commonsense candidate while targeting Crowley, the current Milwaukee County executive, over local economic conditions.
This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano.
President Donald Trump called Wednesday for Democrat Senate candidate Mary Peltola to withdraw from Alaska's Senate race and face criminal prosecution over an alleged scheme to place a second candidate named Dan Sullivan on the ballot, escalating his accusations during an underwing gaggle and a series of Truth Social posts.
"Oh, it's terrible what's happened in Alaska," Trump told reporters. "So they said they didn't do this, and it turned out they did. The New York Times just released, actually, an incredible story on it."
"They created a fake candidate. They took a candidate named Dan Sullivan, to run against another candidate who's a great senator named Dan Sullivan in order to cheat in the election," the president continued.
Trump accused Democrats of misleading the public about their involvement and demanded consequences for Peltola.
"Mary Peltola should resign from the race. I think she should be prosecuted criminally for what she did," Trump said.
The president also accused individuals involved in the alleged scheme of making false sworn statements.
"This guy, Dan Sullivan, just ran against Dan Sullivan. It turned out it was a scheme by the Democrats. That's what they do best. They cheat. They have bad policy, but they cheat," Trump said.
In a separate Truth Social post, Trump went further, calling for both Peltola and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. to face prosecution.
"This is Voter Fraud at the Highest Level, and the Dumocrat Candidate, who was involved in the scheme, Mary Peltola, should be removed from the Ballot and prosecuted — So should the FAKE Dan Sullivan. Nothing else will do!" Trump wrote.
The accusations follow a New York Times report detailing discussions involving Democrat operatives about recruiting additional candidates, including another Dan Sullivan, who could potentially draw votes away from incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan.
Peltola's campaign has denied involvement, telling Fox News that it "has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign." The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has also denied recruiting the second Sullivan.
Trump separately urged Alaska voters to distinguish between the two candidates, issuing a lengthy endorsement of the incumbent Republican senator.
"The Dumocrats are trying to steal this Race by putting a FAKE Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr. on the Ballot. People will not be able to figure it out, and many Votes will be lost," Trump wrote.
"SULLIVAN, DAN S. (REGISTERED REPUBLICAN) INCUMBENT" has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election — HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!" Trump wrote.
{{#rendered}}Federal prosecutors are conducting an "aggressive criminal investigation" into how a second candidate named Dan Sullivan secured a spot on Alaska's Senate ballot, two sources familiar with the investigation told Fox News.
The investigation, led by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Alaska, has been underway for several months but intensified following a New York Times report detailing an alleged Democrat effort to recruit spoiler candidates to siphon votes from incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan.
Multiple grand jury subpoenas are expected to be issued in the coming hours and days, according to the sources.
Investigators are also preparing preservation orders for cellphone companies to secure text messages and emails that could help establish a timeline surrounding Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.'s candidacy.
Federal prosecutors are examining potential charges involving the deprivation of Alaska voters' rights, the sources said.
The investigation is expected to continue beyond Tuesday's midterms election.
The Justice Department declined to comment when contacted by Fox News about the existence of an investigation.
Trump-endorsed Alaska gubernatorial candidate Bernadette Wilson criticized the state's ranked-choice voting system Wednesday, arguing that it allows political operatives to manipulate elections by backing candidates they have no intention of supporting.
"Because Ranked Choice Voting allows the top four to go on, you now have political parties, special interest groups, that are funding a candidate who they don't even support," Wilson said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
"They're holding them up, they're manipulating this system, because they know that if they can shave off 2%, 3%, maybe it's 5%," she added, arguing that even a small shift in votes could benefit a rival candidate.
Wilson's criticism comes amid controversy surrounding Alaska's Senate race, where a second candidate named Dan J. Sullivan is challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola.
The New York Times reported that Democratic operatives discussed recruiting candidates to potentially draw votes away from the Republican incumbent. Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have denied involvement in recruiting the second Sullivan.
"It definitely appears as though it is quite fraudulent behavior. It is very much deceiving," Wilson said.
Fox News Digital's Pedro B. Rodriguez contributed to this reporting.
Sen. Tim Scott , R-S.C., blasted Democrats Wednesday over an alleged effort to recruit a second candidate named Dan Sullivan in Alaska's Senate race, warning that political "dirty tricks" extend far beyond the state.
"I'm thankful that President Trump decided to sue, making sure that they knew, Alaskans knew, that there was a fake Dan Sullivan on the ballot recruited by the other side," Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told Martha MacCallum on "The Story."
"He wanted to expose the dirty tricks in advance of the election."
Scott acknowledged that Republicans had previously lost a state court challenge seeking to keep the second Sullivan off the ballot.
"But what I can tell you is that these dirty tricks, by they way, Martha, they're nationwide," Scott said, pivoting to criticism of Democrat Senate candidates James Talarico in Texas and Annie Andrews in South Carolina.
MacCallum pushed back on his broader argument, noting that politicians changing their positions is not inherently illegal.
Scott also outlined his preferred ranked-choice voting strategy for Alaska, urging Republicans to rank incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan first and leave Democrat challenger Mary Peltola unranked.
{{#rendered}}LUBBOCK, Texas — Supporters at Democrat James Talarico’s rally Tuesday said President Donald Trump’s appearance across town with Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton showed the GOP was worried about losing ground in Texas.
“Trump’s in Lubbock? Trump’s in Lubbock, Texas? He’s scared, he is scared,” one supporter told Fox News Digital.
Natalie also viewed the same-day rallies as a sign of Republican discomfort.
“I think they have to be nervous, and I think it’s performative, like to come the exact same day as he [Talarico] is here,” she said.
Lubbock resident Elias said Paxton’s reliance on Trump reflected poorly on the Republican candidate, pointing to Paxton’s past controversies and impeachment by the Texas House.
“I think it shows that Paxton is a weak leader,” Elias said. “He had a chance to kind of redeem himself despite his ugly past, but he’s not a man, he can’t stand up for himself. He needs daddy Trump to come and support him.”
Other Talarico supporters said they believe Texas could turn blue. “This is the year that we flip blue,” Lubbock resident Paloma said.
LUBBOCK, Texas — Outside President Donald Trump’s rally Tuesday with Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton, voters predicted Texas would “stay red.”
Jenny, who traveled from Brownsville, dismissed the idea that the race was close.
“What else do the Democrats have? They have Talarico going against Paxton,” she told Fox News Digital.
“All they’ve got is the ability to try and make people think that it’s close and there is no point in voting.”
“No, it’s not close,” Jenny added. “Paxton is going to wipe the floor with him.” Erick, a Lubbock voter, said Democratic policies do not align with his views and predicted Texas would remain Republican.
“Texas is going to stay red, absolutely,” he said.
Lisa also from Lubbock said the election will be a 'landslide' for Republicans.
The second Dan Sullivan running for U.S. Senate in Alaska quietly changed his voter registration from Republican to undeclared ahead of the November election, according to a report from the Alaska Beacon.
Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., whose candidacy has sparked controversy over potential voter confusion with incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, made the switch while requesting an absentee ballot for the August primary, according to state election records obtained by the outlet.
The candidate initially denied requesting the change but acknowledged it after the Alaska Division of Elections produced his signed form.
"holy cow … I did!" Sullivan told the Alaska Beacon. "I can only guess I was thinking that since they didn’t affiliate me on the ballot, I should go with that, but to be honest with you, I am frazzled by all of this."
{{#rendered}}President Donald Trump called Wednesday for Democrat Senate nominee Mary Peltola and a second candidate named Dan Sullivan to be removed from Alaska's ballot following a New York Times report detailing an alleged Democratic effort to recruit spoiler candidates.
"It has just been determined that the Democrats in Alaska illegally searched for, and recruited, a man named Dan Sullivan to run against our distinguished Republican Senator, Dan Sullivan, in order to defraud, confuse, and obfuscate the Election," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The Times reported that aides connected to Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee participated in discussions about recruiting candidates, including another Dan J. Sullivan, to potentially draw votes away from the Republican incumbent.
Peltola's campaign denied involvement in a statement to Fox News.
"The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign. Like Mary, our campaign is focused on lowering costs and fixing the rigged system in DC," a campaign spokesperson said.
Trump accused Democrats of making false statements under oath in federal court and demanded consequences.
"Mary Peltola should suffer the Legal and Political consequences for what she has done, A FRAUD ON THE AMERICAN PUBLIC, and Dan Sullivan should be allowed to run without either Mary Peltola or FAKE Dan Sullivan on the Ballot," Trump wrote.
Supporters of President Donald Trump gathered in Chillicothe, Ohio, Wednesday ahead of his campaign rally, expressing confidence in Republicans' midterm prospects while raising concerns about the economy.
Fox News spoke with voters outside the Shoemaker Center, where some expressed frustration with rising costs just six days before Election Day.
"Well, right now it's not real bad, but I do know it's getting worse," voter Clara Adams said of the economy. "The longer you know that the war goes on, the harder it's getting."
Other supporters remained optimistic about November's results.
"I think it's going to be just a total red wave," Chris Allen of Grove City told Fox News.
Ohio voter McKenzie Adams said she hoped to hear Trump's vision for the Republican Party's future, including whether Vice President JD Vance might seek the presidency.
Fox News' Mark Meredith contributed to this reporting.
Nearly 200 House Democrats are moving to shield Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., from further investigation after federal investigators raided her Washington, D.C., home earlier this month.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., led 175 members of the House Democratic Caucus in a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Attorney General Todd Blanche, criticizing the probe into Omar's immigration history as a partisan attack and accusing them of trying to sway her bid for another term in Congress.
"Congresswoman Omar is seeking reelection in Minnesota’s 5th congressional district in just one week. News of the search warrant, whether properly predicated or not, could affect voters’ decisions, which is exactly why federal law enforcement should not engage in such conduct when voters are casting their ballots. This type of interference strips Minnesotans of their right to a free and fair election guaranteed to them under the Constitution," the letter said.
"We stand with Congresswoman Omar and condemn the weaponization of law enforcement against her. You have already disgraced the offices you hold, and we demand you refrain from taking any further actions that could affect the outcome of the upcoming election."
Omar, D-Minn., is under federal investigation over allegations she or her father lied about her birth year on immigration paperwork to obtain her citizenship when her family fled Somalia in the late 1990s. If she was 17 when her father obtained citizenship, as previously thought, she would have automatically qualified along with him. If she was 18 or older, which federal officials now suspect, she would have had to make her own application.
Her fellow House Democrats recounted the allegations in their letter, saying, "Your probe into the congresswoman reportedly concerns her late father’s filing of immigration paperwork after she fled Somalia’s civil war at age eight, making her a U.S. citizen at age seventeen."
But they argued it does not justify "a pre-dawn raid on her home for paperwork her father filed when she was a minor."
Federal agents executed a judicially authorized search warrant on Omar's home on Oct. 12, seizing multiple phones and notebooks, among other items.
This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News Digital's Liz Elkind.
{{#rendered}}Alaskans for Dan Sullivan, the campaign for incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, is calling out "Mary Peltola’s coordinated scheme to deceive Alaska voters."
"Alaskans deserve to know the truth," Nate Adams, spokesperson for Alaskans for Dan Sullivan, wrote in a statement Wednesday. "Mary Peltola, her campaign, and her senior advisors colluded with the DSCC, national Democrat lawyers, and Alaska Democrat operatives to recruit a candidate to deliberately deceive and confuse voters, and then repeatedly lied about it.
"Not one player in this operation has acted in good faith with Alaska voters. Mary Peltola and her campaign have spent months gaslighting Alaskans, denying a scheme they were running all along.
"We always knew this was a concerted effort to deceive voters, and Mary Peltola was hoping it would stay hidden until after the election."
The Justice Department blasted Virginia Democratic Attorney General Jay Jones' Election Day guidance as "bluster and political posturing," pushing back against his 10-page directive advising local election officials to call police when federal agents approach polling places and to document their activities.
The Oct. 15 bulletin, jointly issued by Jones' office and the Virginia Department of Elections, outlines how officials should respond to federal agents, scrutinize requests from DOJ election monitors and prepare for potential federal demands for ballots and voting equipment.
The dispute comes as conservative litigation firm America First Legal pursues records concerning the state's warnings about potential federal election interference, which Fox News Digital has learned.
This is an excerpt from Fox News Digital's Charles Creitz report.
The Trump administration has issued more than 100 subpoenas seeking records on tens of thousands of voters across at least a dozen states in an escalating push to identify unlawful noncitizen voting before next week’s midterms, Reuters reported.
Many of the subpoenas, some tied to grand juries, went to election officials in Democratic strongholds including Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, as well as competitive states such as Texas, Kansas and Georgia.
The White House said the effort is necessary because noncitizen voting is a significant problem and vowed to hold offenders accountable.
"Only Americans should be electing America’s leaders,” spokesperson Lauren Bis said.
Critics argue the probes could fuel post-election challenges and undermine confidence in close results.
Reuters contributed to this report.
{{#rendered}}New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he is hopeful Democrats will take back the House and win the Senate, while cautioning that close races over the next week will be decided by more than optimism.
"Hope will not win the election," Mamdani told reporters Wednesday. "However, the action that comes from hope can."
Mamdani plans to barnstorm New York City while campaigning with incumbent Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul against Republican Gov.-nominee Bruce Blakeman.
With early voting underway, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley (Massachusetts) said her office is prepared to investigate and prosecute federal election law violations in connection with the Nov. 3 general election in her state.
"Anyone who attempts to undermine a federal election through criminal conduct should understand that we are prepared to investigate, enforce the law and pursue accountability," she said. "The integrity of our elections is not negotiable."
Operatives aligned with Democratic Senate nominee Mary Peltola spent months recruiting candidates in an effort to dilute support for Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan on Alaska’s crowded ballot, according to The New York Times.
The effort, internally dubbed the “ballot composition project,” included an early directive to a Peltola staffer in the summer of 2025: find as many people named Dan Sullivan as possible in the state.
The goal, the report says, was to land another Dan Sullivan on the ballot to create confusion and siphon votes from the incumbent.
The White House communications department weighed in with a firm rebuke of the reporting that has come out after nearly 60,000 early votes have been cast in that election thus far, according to The Associated Press.
A retired teacher from the small Panhandle community of Petersburg, Dan J. Sullivan, ultimately filed and is now on the November ballot alongside the senator, Peltola, and long-shot candidate Gerald Heikes.
Fox News Digital reached out to all groups allegedly involved for comment.
The Times, citing interviews with 12 people and dozens of text messages, reported that Peltola campaign aides and senior Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee officials participated in regular discussions about the project.
"The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign and did not recruit any candidates into the race," the Peltola campaign said in a statement to the Times.
The DSCC issued a similar denial, saying it had "no involvement" in recruiting the other Sullivan or any other Republican candidate.
"The DSCC is not involved with Dan J. Sullivan," the statement read. "Republicans have a long history of recruiting and propping up candidates in an attempt to boost their own campaigns – including recruiting a prisoner with a New York address to run against Mary Peltola and spending nearly half a million dollars to secure a spot on the ballot in Alaska for an Arizona resident in the Senate race this cycle."
National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Communications Director Joanna Rodriguez fired back in a statement on X.
"The Democrats that cry about threats to democracy spent months working to intentionally undermine it," she wrote. "Mary Peltola is a LIAR and a CHEAT who mooches off taxpayers and thinks Alaskans are stupid. Rank Dan S, Daniel, Gerry, DON'T RANK LYING MARY."
Former Peltola campaign manager Elisa Rios, who was fired in August, described the project in interviews with the Times and said Peltola was "definitely aware," though not directly involved.
"Peltola will be held accountable this election for her dishonesty and deception," Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., chair of the NRSC, wrote in a statement. "Alaskans will leave Peltola unranked on the ballot because of her dirty tricks. Voters can trust the real Dan Sullivan, and I'm confident he'll be re-elected."
The Elias Law Group, led by well-known Democrat-linked attorney Marc Elias, is alleged to have ties to the scheme through Jacquelyn Lopez, an attorney there, Rios told the Times.
A campaign consultant asked Rios via text, the Times reported: "Do we need to follow up with Jackie about MAGA party stuff?"
Rios later sought to retract her statements as the story was being prepared for publication; the Times said it had never agreed the interviews were off the record and that her account was consistent with other reporting.
Alaska’s nonpartisan primary system makes it relatively easy to place additional candidates on the general-election ballot.
The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit seeking to block certification of results if votes for the other Dan Sullivan cost the incumbent the race.
"Biggest we told-you-so moment," a senior DOJ official told Fox News. "Quote me."
Fox News' Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
{{#rendered}}President Donald Trump weighed in on the Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, lawsuit and Alaska's ranked-choice voting system.
"I revealed what everyone knows, that the Ranked Choice Voting Ballot is a TOTAL DEMOCRAT SCAM meant to confuse the Voter, so that Senator Dan Sullivan will lose Votes to a man who has never participated in Politics before, named Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr.," Trump wrote early Sunday morning on Truth Social.
"He is only there because the Democrats want to steal the Election.
"It is a reason to vote out ranked-choice voting," Trump added. "The Democrats are trying to steal this important Republican Seat and, if that happens, everything we’ve done for Alaska will come to an immediate hault [sic]," Trump concluded. "VOTE 'YES' AGAINST RANKED CHOICE VOTING, on Ballot Measure 2. SAVE ALASKA!"
A senior Justice Department official weighed in on the latest report in The New York Times on the other Dan Sullivan in Alaska's Senate race against incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska.
"Biggest we told-you-so moment," a senior DOJ official told Fox News on Wednesday. "Quote me."
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit to block certification of Alaska's Senate results if a second Dan Sullivan costs the incumbent the race.
The comment comes after the Times reporting on details tying Democratic efforts to place the spoiler candidate on the ballot.
Fox News' Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., offered a behind-the-scenes look at his latest conversation with President Donald Trump and detailed his role in preparing Georgia's infrastructure for a multibillion-dollar manufacturing investment during an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
Collins, a trucking company owner challenging Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., said he spoke privately with Trump following Saturday's rally in Perry, Georgia, where the president announced a $4.2 billion investment by German automaker Audi.
The Georgia congressman described a president eager to hear feedback from those around him and said he personally relayed what he had observed while meeting rallygoers.
The Georgia Senate race is one of the key battlegrounds that could determine the majority in the upper chamber.
This is an excerpt from Fox News Digital's Jasmine Baehr report.
{{#rendered}}Former Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, holding a narrow 3-point lead over incumbent Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, in a closely watched battleground race, according to a new Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll released Wednesday.
Brown leads Husted 47% to 44% among likely voters, with 3% supporting other candidates and 4% undecided, according to the survey of 500 likely voters conducted Oct. 21-26.
The results are within the margins of error, leaving voter turnout pivotal in the race's final week. The race could help determine the majority in the narrowly divided Senate.
The margin is identical to Suffolk’s September poll, and the final Fox News Power Rankings listed this race one of the three shifts, moving from toss-up to Lean Democrat.
The race is even closer in the Portage County bellwether, where Brown edges Husted 49% to 48%.
The statewide survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. The Portage County sample of 300 voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.6 points.
With one week until Election Day, Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, is framing his reelection bid in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District as a continuation of the "pragmatism" and results that have defined his tenure in one of the country’s most competitive House seats.
"Right now we’ve had just a privilege of getting to serve in one of the most competitive districts in America," Nunn told Fox News from Urbandale, Iowa. "And so I’m working really hard to be able to bring Republicans on board with our pragmatism, independence, with our record of accomplishment."
Fox News Power Rankings list Iowa-3 as Lean Democrat.
Nunn hailed his record of winning Democratic-held seats in the key election battleground.
"We won every race we’ve gone in, and most of those races have been in Democrat incumbent seats, and we've still been able to win and deliver," Nunn added. "So I'm excited about this. We're not going to count any poll. We're going to count with the voters, say, on Election Day, and we can already feel the energies behind us on this."
The comments come as Nunn, a former Air Force officer and state legislator, seeks a third term against Democratic state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott.
The district, which includes Des Moines and surrounding rural areas, has remained a perennial battleground even as national conditions have shifted.
Fox News' Arianna Bertolotti contributed to this report.
Republican California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton blasted deep-blue California's homeless and drug crises.
Hilton joined "Fox & Friends" and also warned of the potential Democratic Socialists of America takeover and added a rebuke of Democratic Gov.-nominee Xavier Becerra's record.
The current policies are failing California residents, according to Hilton, who calls for urgent reform in the state's leadership.
Fox News Power Rankings rated California's gubernatorial rate as Solid Democrat.
{{#rendered}}President Donald Trump's maximum pressure campaign on Iran is on the ballot in next Tuesday's midterm elections, according to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who vows to end the war.
"Trump and his ego led us into this war with no plan, no authority, and no exit strategy," Schumer wrote in a statement Wednesday, saying Democrats can stop Trump's effort to keep Iran from a nuclear weapon, if not force Trump to end the Strait of Hormuz blockade on Iran's designs to control oil shipping there.
"Senate Democrats will continue to do everything in our power to end this disaster of a war and stop the costs, chaos, and corruption seeping from the White House."
Schumer began the midterm pitch with a rebuke of costs and the cost of lives on Trump's designs to keep Iran from a nuclear weapon and the ongoing blockade of Iran's oil shipping out of the strait.
"For eight months, American families have been buried by the heavy cost of Trump’s disastrous war in Iran," Schumer's statement began. "Twenty-one servicemembers have died and hundreds more have been wounded.
"Prices are skyrocketing, and families are struggling to make ends meet. Meanwhile, Republicans continue to look the other way.
"Democrats have given Republicans 14 chances to hold Trump accountable and end this reckless war. Republicans continue to refuse and ignore the cruel reality."
Republican Senate nominee Michele Tafoya sharpened her attack on Democratic Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan on Wednesday, arguing the state's billion-dollar fraud scandals occurred under Flanagan and Gov. Tim Walz.
Flanagan cannot distance herself from that, Tafoya told "Fox & Friends" on Steve Doocy's daily midterm diner tour.
"Peggy Flanagan has been attached to Tim Walz from day one, when they were sworn in together, it was the Walz-Flanagan administration," Tafoya said. "We’re going to do everything together so she cannot cherry-pick what she’s responsible for and what she is not.
"This fraud happened under her watch. You don't get a promotion when that happens, you get a pink slip."
Tafoya corrected Doocy when the scale of the fraud was described as "hundreds of millions," saying, no, it was "billions."
The race as a clear contrast between Flanagan's record in office, according to Tafoya, and the change she says Minnesota voters are seeking with Election Day less than a week away.
"It is a stark contrast we have in my opponent, the lieutenant governor of this state, second in command for the last eight years: While this state has seen historic fraud, schools go down the drain and crime go up," Tafoya concluded. "So to me, it’s a very easy answer. We're going to find out what Minnesota thinks in six days."
Florida Democratic Senate nominee Angie Nixon’s response to a straightforward question about Cuba has forced her own party’s candidates into a day of defensive messaging just days before the midterms.
In a CBS News interview that aired Monday, Nixon was asked whether she considers Cuba a dictatorship. “That is what people have told me. I have never been to Cuba, and so I will have to take their word for it.”
She also criticized the “decades-long failed embargo” and called for a return to Obama-era engagement policies.
Nixon, a Democratic Socialists of America-affiliated state representative, later accused CBS of misrepresenting her answer as a refusal to call Cuba a dictatorship.
But incumbent Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla. , Nixon’s opponent, said the comments did not surprise her.
“I think it should be disqualifying to not be able to identify a communist regime and a dictator, but that’s exactly why I’m running — because you need people that are tethered to what this country was founded on, and understand the principles of freedom,” Moody said from the stump in Florida on Tuesday.
Moody and others also tied the remarks to Nixon's past vote against a Florida law requiring schools to teach the dangers of communism.
The more striking development was the rapid response from other Florida Democrats.
With Cuban-American voters a decisive bloc in the state, candidates in competitive races spent the day stating what most Floridians already treat as settled fact.
Almost none named Nixon directly, though.
"Cuba is absolutely a dictatorship," Rep. Darren Soto, D-Fla., said. "From diplomacy to sanctions, parole to exposing human rights violations and more, we stand with Cubans in their fight to bring democracy back to the island.”
He added that he has worked on communications access for opposition groups and protecting Florida radio stations from Cuban interference.
"Cuba is a dictatorship," Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla. "Full Stop."
He said the regime has imprisoned dissidents, silenced dissent, and denied basic freedoms for generations, and that Cuban-American families "deserve leaders who recognize their suffering and stand firmly with them." He called for the release of every political prisoner and a democratic future.
"Kathy Castor has been exceedingly clear there is a dictatorship in Cuba, she rejects socialism, and stands with the Cuban people against oppressive authoritarian regimes," Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla. , said via her campaign.
Democratic Rep.-nominee Pia Dandiya: "I unequivocally condemn Cuba's brutal dictatorship, reject socialism and communism, and stand against authoritarian regimes that oppress their own people."
Democratic Rep.-nominee Bale Dalton: "Cuba is a communist dictatorship, and acknowledging anything less is an insult to the countless Floridians who fled brutality and the Cuban people still forced to endure an authoritarian regime."
Democratic Rep.-nominee Eliott Rodriguez, challenging Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., wrote that while he agrees with Nixon on many issues, "Cuba being a dictatorship is not a matter of opinion. It is a fact."
Democratic Rep.-nominee Phil Ehr, challenging Rep. Carlos Giménez, R-Fla., said he found it "profoundly disturbing" that a Senate aspirant would struggle with the question and declared he would "not stand behind Angie Nixon or defend her remarks."
{{#rendered}}The South Carolina Senate race is effectively tied less than a week before Election Day, The New York Times/Siena College poll released Wednesday shows.
Incumbent Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., appointed in July after the sudden death of her brother, longtime Sen. Lindsey Graham, holds a lead of less than one percentage point over Democratic nominee Annie Andrews among likely voters.
The poll results make turnout in the final days a deciding factor for next Tuesday, turning a historically safe Republican seat into a genuine battleground.
"Republicans view this as an uncomfortably close race," Fox News' Power Rankings noted earlier this week. "South Carolina moves from Likely R to Lean R."
The survey of 707 voters, conducted Oct. 19-26, puts the race within the margin of error.
South Carolina has not elected a Democrat to the Senate this century, and President Donald Trump carried the state by nearly 18 points in 2024.
Graham was appointed by Gov. Henry McMaster to finish her brother’s term and later won the special Republican primary with Trump’s strong backing.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., assesses the Democratic Party’s midterm messaging, telling "The Ingraham Angle" on Tuesday night there is a lot on the line for Republicans.
A recently released Gallup Poll showed that Republican voters make patriotism a top priority, which Democrats put it dead last among 12 issues.
Democratic Florida Sen.-nominee Angie Nixon faces backlash over Cuba comments, having once questioned whether it was a dictatorship but now relenting on the issue.
Fox News contributor Joe Concha analyzed the ongoing scrutiny on Wedneday's "Fox & Friends First."
{{#rendered}}President Donald Trump accused the Iranian regime of stringing the United States along in negotiations to end the ongoing war, alleging Tehran is deliberately running out the clock to await leverage gains after the midterm elections.
"Simply a question when do I want to end it, and what I want to make a deal," Trump told reporters on an airport tarmac last night after two campaign rally stops in Texas.
"But they wanted to make a deal, but they like tapping it along. Maybe they're waiting for the election or something, but that's not going to help them. The election is not going to help."
Coordinated disinformation videos believed to be generated with artificial intelligence and traced to Russia are reportedly hijacking real people’s identities to smear Democratic Senate candidates in the critical final stretch of midterm voting.
The operations have deployed fabricated allegations against candidates in two high-stakes races, weaponizing the names and photos of unsuspecting private citizens to deceive voters before ballots are tallied.
In Ohio , a deceptive video stylized as a legitimate television newscast targeted Sherrod Brown in his race against incumbent Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio. The clip featured photos of former staff members, including former intern Haya Akbik, falsely attributing explosive accusations to her.
“It’s my name, it’s my reputation, making this allegation, and it’s just completely false,” Akbik told The Associated Press, calling the smear appalling.
“And it harms the senator, someone else, in the process. So, it’s just messed up.”
Akbik added that the exploitation of her likeness demonstrates why lawmakers must rein in what she called “AI slop on the internet,” warning that “this is so damaging.”
A similar attack surfaced in Texas aimed at James Talarico, who is challenging Sen. Ken Paxton, R-Texas. That video adopted the format of an intimate, direct-to-camera confessional purportedly from one of Talarico’s former students, but researchers found the testimonial was manipulated using artificial intelligence tools.
“The most powerful people in the world know they can’t beat James Talarico with the truth, so they’re slandering him with AI deepfakes, foreign bots, and conspiracy theories to protect their broken, corrupt political system,” Talarico campaign spokesperson JT Ennis said.
Digital forensics experts told the AP the campaign bears unmistakable ties to Storm-1516, a well-known Russian disinformation network that ran sophisticated online influence campaigns during the 2024 presidential election.
Dartmouth College professor Hany Farid, an expert in synthetic media, found the Brown clip was a “fairly low-tech fake,” he told the AP, while the Talarico confessional was likely produced through generative AI, noting that “it is consistent with previous disinformation campaigns released close to Election Day.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
LUBBOCK, Texas — As Texas' unexpectedly competitive Senate race takes center stage in West Texas, three college roommates have very different ideas about who should shape the state's future.
The students attend Texas Tech University, where they're balancing classes, career ambitions and newfound independence while navigating political differences that extend far beyond their shared apartment.
Their differences come into focus as President Donald Trump descended on Lubbock to rally alongside Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton on Tuesday. Across town, Democrat James Talarico was courting voters in a state Republicans have dominated for decades.
This is an excerpt from Fox News Digital's Amanda Macias' report.
{{#rendered}}The Federal Reserve is widely anticipated to freeze benchmark interest rates Wednesday afternoon, opting for a brief policy pause just six days before nationwide midterm elections where consumer inflation and living costs remain the central fight between parties.
Investors have priced in a 90% probability that the Fed will leave the federal funds rate in the 3.75% to 4.00% range when it releases its 2 p.m. ET policy statement.
The expected decision sidesteps an immediate election-eve rate shock, shifting the political spotlight directly to the Nov. 3 balloting that will decide control of both chambers of Congress.
Yet the reprieve offers little comfort on the cost of living.
Rather than signaling an end to borrowing pain, market analysts and central bank watchers see Wednesday’s move as a tactical "skip" before borrowing costs climb again.
With inflation stuck at or above 3% annualized amid rampant growth – above the central bank’s 2% target but well below the average during the Biden administration post-COVID – economists project as many as three additional rate increases stretching into mid-2027.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has thrown her support behind Democratic Alaska gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins as well as his nonpartisan running mate Zac Johnson, who is seeking the lieutenant governorship.
"Our future is too important to be hamstrung by partisan divisions,” Murkowski said, according to a press release from the candidates' campaign. “Jonathan understands that governing requires listening to people with different perspectives and finding common ground to solve the problems all of us face. Alaska needs a serious conversation about our fiscal future, as well as a focus on the cost of energy and growing our economy. I believe Jonathan is committed to working toward solutions that serve all Alaskans, regardless of party.
"I encourage Alaskans of every political stripe, whether Republicans, independents, or Democrats, to take a close look at Jonathan and Zac. Alaska needs leaders who will put our state first, and I’m proud to support them.”
While there are multiple Republicans running in the ranked-choice voting contest, President Donald Trump has endorsed Bernadette Wilson.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Monday that investigators have identified more than 400 noncitizens illegally registered to vote in Washington state, some of whom have cast ballots in multiple elections dating back decades.
Many on the list are green card holders with legal immigration status and permanent residency, according to the U.S. attorney’s offices for the Eastern and Western districts of Washington.
"We have identified over 400 noncitizens who are registered to vote and have voted in multiple elections. This is only the tip of the iceberg," Neil Floyd, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, said in a statement.
{{#rendered}}It seems like there are two electorates in these midterms.
The first is frustrated with President Donald Trump and ready to reject Republicans. It includes growing numbers of independent, rural and Hispanic voters who say they’ll vote for a Democrat.
That’s what the latest round of House polling shows, including a survey last week that had Democrats up 11 points on the generic ballot, and Fox’s most recent national poll.
The second electorate is wavering on Republicans but won’t necessarily hand Democrats the Senate. These are the voters in the Midwest and a few other places. They say they prefer the Democrat or Republican in their states by a point or two at most.
That’s the right conclusion from most of the battleground Senate polling.
How could both things be true? In other words, if Democrats have such a wide lead in the House, won’t the Senate fall too?
Both are true, and a big lead in the House doesn’t necessarily translate to the Senate. These voters are all in the same electorate, and they only seem divorced from each other because the House and Senate maps are so far apart this year.
A growing intraparty fracture is roiling the South Carolina Senate race as a Republican congressman is accusing President Donald Trump of trying to force his hand-picked candidate on Palmetto State voters.
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., who lost to Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., in a runoff for the Senate GOP nomination earlier this year, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that he has no plans to help Graham in the final week before Election Day.
"The voters in S.C. are not buying the argument that everyone has to ‘settle’ for a candidate that has been propped up by special interest groups and a Republican president spending millions of dollars spreading false narratives about why Darlene [sic] Graham is qualified to be elected to the U.S. Senate for the next six years," Norman told Fox News Digital via text message in all capital letters.
He said the general election "is about attempts to ‘force’ a candidate on the voters of S.C. and regardless of the outcome, it didn’t have to be this way as the great people living in South Carolina deserve ‘better!!’"
"Elections have consequences," Norman ended the message.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind and Alex Miller, click here to read more
Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that Michigan represents the nation’s most important election next week as Republicans fight to hold the Senate seat targeted by Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.
Speaking at a rally in Howell, Vance framed the race between Republican Mike Rogers and El-Sayed as a “clash of competing visions” and urged voters to send Rogers to the Senate.
“Michigan is the most important election in the United States of America in a week,” Vance said, arguing that the state’s Senate race reflects a broader choice between Republican policies and what he called the “far left.”
Vance’s appearance came as President Donald Trump prepared to campaign in Ohio, another state Republicans won comfortably in 2024 but are now treating as a critical battleground.
{{#rendered}}Republicans are leaning heavily on President Donald Trump and transgender-related attacks as they make their closing arguments before Election Day.
GOP campaigns and allied groups have spent an estimated $183 million on transgender-focused television ads this election cycle, according to AdImpact data provided to The Associated Press.
The strategy comes as Republicans face voter frustration over high prices, rising fuel costs and the war with Iran. About 8 in 10 voters in an October AP-NORC poll cited the economy or cost of living as one of the most important issues in the election, compared with roughly 1 in 10 who cited transgender issues.
The final days will test whether cultural issues can motivate voters enough to overcome economic anxiety and concerns about Trump’s leadership.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to campaign in Chillicothe, Ohio, on Wednesday as Republicans work to protect the state’s Senate and gubernatorial races.
Trump’s visit will be his third to Ohio this month and the fifth visit by the president or Vice President JD Vance, reflecting Republican concern about turnout and the competitiveness of races in a state Trump won by 11 points in 2024.
The Senate race between Republican Sen. Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown is among the contests that could help determine control of the chamber. The governor’s race has also drawn national attention amid controversy over Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s ad targeting Democratic rival Amy Acton’s childhood.
Coverage for this event has ended.