Tensions rise as midterm campaign ends with control of Congress at stake

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Congressional candidates made their final arguments to US voters on Monday, the eve of the midterm elections, with tensions running high in Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed aims to become the first Muslim elected to the Senate, and in California, where the Supreme Court quashed an attempt by President Donald Trump’s Justice Department to intervene.

With control of the US Congress at stake for his final two years ‌in office, Trump devoted his last major speech before voting day to touting 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.

All 435 seats in the US House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 US Senate seats will be contested on Tuesday. Democrats are widely favored to retake the House but face a greater challenge in the Senate.

Loss of control in either chamber would constrain Trump’s ability to pass legislation and empower Democrats to investigate his administration, while a Senate majority would also allow them to block his appointees to federal courts including the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to temporarily block California from counting mail-in ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters who federal officials alleged were likely non-US citizens.

It was quick action from the high court. California had argued the federal lawsuit would disenfranchise 20,000 voters based on vague accusations and that the process for identifying noncitizens was ⁠error-prone.

A US judge on Monday also ordered the Trump administration to stop demanding that California segregate ballots cast by people on lists of suspected noncitizens.

Trump, 80, has campaigned hard for Republicans, holding events in 20 states over the past 32 days, the White House said. His final event was a speech at the belated reopening of the Washington reflecting pool, where the former real-estate developer spent more than 20 minutes discussing pipes, joints, caulking, granite resurfacing, algae and leaks.

“So we have a lot of great things planned for Washington, and I could get into the nation, but for that you don’t have enough time,” Trump said, also mentioning the grass at the White House, his new Marine One helipad, a golf course and plans for a triumphal arch that are facing a court challenge.

He made brief reference to the election, saying: “When you vote, remember: A party that hates America cannot be allowed to rule over the people who built our country.”

A Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday found 46% of registered voters said they would vote for Democrats in congressional elections, compared with 38% who picked Republicans.

Early voting, whether in person or by mail, has already set a record with 57 million votes cast as of Monday afternoon, up from 45 million in all of the 2022 midterms.

MICHIGAN TENSIONS HIGH

In Michigan, Democratic candidate El-Sayed, a physician and former public health official, is attempting to become the first Muslim elected to the Senate, running against Republican Mike Rogers.

Their tight Senate race grew more heated over the weekend when US Representative Haley Stevens, who lost the Democratic primary to El-Sayed, switched to backing Rogers.

Afterward, El-Sayed’s campaign said it raised $2.4 million on Sunday, its largest ‌single-day fundraising haul, ⁠fueled by small-dollar donations.

Alabas Farhat, a representative in the Michigan House, said the endorsement would energize Democratic voters, pointing to a surge in early voting in Dearborn, home to a large Arab American population.

“She’s ignited a new fire among the base to go out and vote with this betrayal of the party,” Farhat said.

El-Sayed, an Egyptian American Muslim born in Michigan, has been targeted by Trump and other Republicans who have questioned his loyalty to the US and baselessly called him a terrorist sympathizer. El-Sayed has called questions about his loyalty to the US “shameful.”

The verbal attacks fit a broader pattern of inflammatory rhetoric targeting Muslims and transgender people and portraying Democrats as communists and dangerous radicals.

In Sterling Heights, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, several voters who supported Rogers voiced anti-Muslim sentiment.

Norm Nichols, 65, referred to El-Sayed as “unfortunately” part of the Muslim community, adding, “I think one side of it is, it has a ⁠tendency to lean more to invade the United States and take over from within.”

Another voter, Carolyn Clauw, 65, asked: “And do I believe he would do terrorism to the United States? Yes.”

TRUMP SEEKS TO INTERVENE

The Trump administration also has sought to intervene in election disputes in Alaska.

A federal judge on Sunday dismissed a US Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block certification of election results in Alaska if Republican incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan narrowly loses. The Justice Department has argued voters may be confused by a challenger named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. on the same ballot.

The issue of two Sullivans running in ⁠Alaska has roiled the campaign since the New York Times reported last week that Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign was involved in recruiting the latter Sullivan into the race as a spoiler.

The senator said on Sunday he would accept the results of Tuesday’s election even as the Trump administration presses a criminal investigation into the issue.

Peltola has denied involvement, and Sullivan Jr. has denied coordinating with Peltola’s campaign.

In Alaska, a supporter of Republican Senate challenger Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. said FBI agents questioned him about his $500 donation.

On Friday, two agents “said they were investigating ⁠possible fraud, and asked me if I had intentionally donated to (Daniel J. Sullivan Jr’s) campaign,” said Barry Bracken, a retired fisheries biologist living in Sullivan’s hometown of Petersburg, Alaska, where he said they have known each other more than 40 years.

“I said I had” and the agents left soon after, he told Reuters. “They seemed kind of embarrassed to ask,” Bracken said.

The FBI did not reply to a request for comment.

Reprinted from Reuters