The Trump administration pressed a criminal investigation into Alaska’s pivotal US Senate race and said it would likely take its fight over thousands of California mail-in ballots to the Supreme Court, as the midterm campaign for control of Congress entered its final weekend.
In Alaska, federal prosecutors are investigating whether aides to Democratic challenger Mary Peltola helped recruit a retired schoolteacher, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., to run because he shares a name with the Republican incumbent, Senator Dan S. Sullivan. The race is seen as crucial to Democratic hopes of taking the Senate in Tuesday’s vote.
US Attorney Michael Heyman said at a Friday press conference that a recent New York Times article about the reported recruitment effort had driven a “surge” of FBI resources onto the case. He called Sullivan Jr. a “sham candidate” but declined to say what crime may have been committed. Peltola and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have denied involvement in any recruitment effort, and the retired teacher has denied coordinating with Peltola’s campaign.
The stakes cover 35 Senate races and all 435 House seats. Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority and a narrow edge in the House. Losing either chamber would let Democrats block President Donald Trump’s agenda and launch investigations of an administration that has so far faced largely compliant Republican majorities.
Early voting has set a record. More than 51 million Americans have already cast ballots in person or by mail, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab, up from nearly 46 million who voted before Election Day at the last midterms in 2022.
In California, a federal appeals court ruled 2-1 earlier this week that the Justice Department had failed to justify its emergency bid to force the state to set aside mail ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters it alleges are likely noncitizens. Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter told Fox News on Saturday that the Supreme Court was probably next, and that any request would come before Tuesday’s election. On Friday, a federal judge ordered the Justice Department to stop threatening to prosecute California election officials who defy its directives.
Trump spent Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, after a campaign blitz across multiple states over the past month. He returns to the campaign trail on Sunday in Kansas and Iowa.
Source: Reuters
