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Welcome to our live coverage of the US midterm elections, where several critical races could have major consequences for US politics and Donald Trump’s presidency.
With polls opening across the country, here’s what you need to know ahead of election night.
- President Donald Trump gave his final address of the midterm election campaign at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington DC, where he drew controversy for focusing on his renovation efforts.
- A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Monday showed Trump’s approval rating near a record low, but there are also signs that the battle for Congress between Democrats and Republicans could be tightening. Other polling suggested the Democrats could sweep both houses of Congress in a blue wave.
- Polls will start to close at 6pm Eastern time (10am AEDT), with Texas and most Midwest states closing at 9pm Eastern (1pm AEDT) and Alaska closing at midnight Eastern (4pm AEDT).
Read more on US politics:
Republican biotech billionaire and Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has cast his vote, to cap off a campaign marred by controversy over a political ad he released to attack his opponent, Democrat Dr Amy Acton.
In the closing weeks of the contest, Ramaswamy aired an ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother that prompted bipartisan backlash across the country. Acton, the state’s former COVID-era health director, benefited from a late surge in fundraising after Ramaswamy started running the spot.
The 60-second spot featured Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, calling her daughter “a liar” with a “serious problem” with being honest about her past. She urged Ohioans not to vote for Acton.
Arthur has been estranged from Acton for decades. She lost custody of her children after her husband, the children’s stepfather, was indicted for raping Acton from ages 9 to 12 before pleading not guilty and fleeing the state before he could be tried. Acton said she last saw her mother at a courthouse in 1978.
The Senate race between Republican congresswoman Ashley Hinson and Democratic state legislator Josh Turek in Iowa is something of a case study on the popularity of Trump.
Traditionally red Iowa could be on the cusp of turning blue, with Turek neck and neck with self-described “common-sense” mum, Hinson.
Inflation is hitting the state hard – even Hinson has been recorded asking supporters to donate “gas money” for her campaign bus. After voting in favour of the Iran war, Hinson has since criticised the president’s decision to buy oil from Russia and stated that a vote for her is not necessarily a vote for the president.
“I do want to see the war come to an end as soon as possible,” she told NBC. “A vote for me is a vote for Iowa.”
Turek, a former Paralympian who was born with spina bifida, says if elected, he will push for an end to the Iran war and the repeal of Trump’s widespread tariffs, but has no interest in voting to impeach the president.
Iran’s chief negotiator and parliament speaker says it’s up to the United States to prevent new fighting after Tehran delivered what he called a “firm and rational response” to the US, state TV reported.
In an address to parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran remained ready “for battle with its finger on the trigger”.
He did not elaborate, and it was unclear what “response” he referred to. His comment came after a US official said the military conducted defensive strikes on some Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the official, the strikes targeted Iranians using surface-to-air missiles. The official wasn’t authorised to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Iranian state television reported that explosions were heard on Qeshm Island.
AP
Donald Trump won Alaska in 2024, but surging heating fuel, electricity and grocery prices are disproportionately whacking residents of this remote, traditionally red state.
In these midterms, Democrat Mary Peltola is up against incumbent Republican senator Dan S. Sullivan and a similarly named unaffiliated candidate called Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.
With control of the Senate potentially at stake, this race has been particularly bitter.
Last week, the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit requesting Alaska not to certify its Senate results if Peltola wins, arguing that having two Dan Sullivans on the ballot threatened the “integrity” of the vote count.
President Donald Trump dialled in to Fox News’ Fox and Friends on election morning, where he gave a wide-ranging interview that included the announcement of a deal that would end military aid to Israel by the end of 2026.
Asked to give his pitch to voters, Trump said they should vote Republican to “keep America great”, claiming that the US is now the “hottest country in the world”, adding that “everyone respects us again”.
Later in the long interview, Trump said aid to Israel would be stopped, as “Israel no longer needs it” and that some Democrats and left-wing politicians were using this US funding to Israel as a talking point to criticise Republicans.
“Now, as far as paying Israel, Bibi Netanyahu and I have made a deal that we give Israel $US4 billion ($5.7 billion) a year, and we made a deal months ago that we’re stopping,” Trump said.
Thirty-five Senate seats are up for grabs in the midterm elections, but some races will be far more closely watched than others.
If Democrats can flip at least four Republican-held Senate seats, and not lose any of their existing seats, they will win a Senate majority.
North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Maine, Kansas, Alaska, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Georgia are among the key races. As Americans head to the polls, we’ll run you through each race and what is at stake.
It’s the morning of November 3 in the United States, and polls are open in 27 states. For our Australian readers, polls will start to close from 10am on Wednesday, and continue to close from East to West until 4pm.
Here are the first images of Americans heading out to cast their votes.
Americans are heading to the polls for midterm elections that could have big ramifications for the second half of Donald Trump’s presidency.
They are held midway between presidential elections to determine the make-up of Congress, which comprises both the House of Representatives (which has two-year terms) and the Senate (six-year terms).
All seats in the US House of Representatives and a third of those in the Senate are up for grabs.
The results will determine whether the Democrats can neuter Trump’s agenda or if he will maintain his grip on America until the presidential election in November 2028.
The Republican Party currently controls both the House and the Senate.
Read our quick guide to the midterms here.
Welcome to our live coverage of the US midterm elections, where several critical races could have major consequences for US politics and Donald Trump’s presidency.
With polls opening across the country, here’s what you need to know ahead of election night.
- President Donald Trump gave his final address of the midterm election campaign at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington DC, where he drew controversy for focusing on his renovation efforts.
- A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Monday showed Trump’s approval rating near a record low, but there are also signs that the battle for Congress between Democrats and Republicans could be tightening. Other polling suggested the Democrats could sweep both houses of Congress in a blue wave.
- Polls will start to close at 6pm Eastern time (10am AEDT), with Texas and most Midwest states closing at 9pm Eastern (1pm AEDT) and Alaska closing at midnight Eastern (4pm AEDT).
Read more on US politics:
