Twitter Said to Delay Changes to Check Mark Badges Until After Midterm Election  —  Users and employees had raised concerns that Elon Musk's plan to give check marks to those who paid a monthly fee could be misused to sow discord.  —  Twitter is delaying the rollout of verification check marks …

Democrats catch up to GOP on enthusiasm in final NBC News poll before midterms  —  NBC News poll: Republicans have momentum ahead of Election Day  —  The final national NBC News poll of the 2022 midterms finds a highly competitive campaign landscape ahead of Election Day.

Trump-DeSantis Rift Grows, With Dueling Rallies in Florida  —  The Republican Party's top two stars are campaigning, separately, in the midterms' last days.  —  SUN CITY CENTER, Fla. — Former President Donald J. Trump hasn't endorsed Gov. Ron DeSantis this year because, as he has explained, his fellow Floridian never asked.

Senior White House Official Involved in Undisclosed Talks With Top Putin Aides  —  Jake Sullivan has had confidential discussions with Russian counterparts amid concerns over escalation and nuclear threats  —  WASHINGTON—President Biden's top national-security adviser has engaged …

Trump May Pose a Test No Special Counsel Can Pass  —  Former President Donald J. Trump's apparent plan to soon announce his candidacy is challenging Attorney General Merrick B. Garland's desire to show that the Justice Dept. can operate above partisanship.  —  WASHINGTON — Attorney General …

Russia Reactivates Its Trolls and Bots Ahead of Tuesday's Midterms  —  Researchers have identified a series of Russian information operations to influence American elections and, perhaps, erode support for Ukraine.  —  The user on Gab who identifies as Nora Berka resurfaced in August …

Kari Lake's campaign headquarters receives ‘suspicious’ mail containing white powder  —  An envelope containing “suspicious white powder” was received Saturday at the campaign headquarters of the Republican nominee for governor in Arizona.  —  A staffer at Kari Lake's campaign headquarters …

How Molly Jong-Fast Tweeted Her Way to Liberal Media Stardom  —  She wasn't a political expert.  But her Trump-era angst found a following among Democrats — and even the White House is interested.  —  Molly Jong-Fast had just finished interviewing Vice President Kamala Harris for her podcast …

‘Kill them’: Arizona election workers face midterm threats  —  Election workers in Arizona's most fiercely contested county faced more than 100 violent threats and intimidating communications in the run-up to Tuesday's midterms, most of them based on election conspiracy theories promoted by former President Donald Trump and his allies.

Cotton passes on 2024 presidential run after considering campaign  —  Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton has decided that he won't run for president in 2024 — making him the first big-name Republican to step aside as former President Donald Trump and others make moves toward running.

Ronald Lauder: New York's Billionaire Political Disrupter  —  The cosmetics heir has pumped at least $11 million into efforts to elect Representative Lee Zeldin, a Republican, as governor of New York.  —  Ronald S. Lauder, a 78-year-old cosmetics heir, philanthropist and art collector …

Facebook Parent Meta Is Preparing to Notify Employees of Large-Scale Layoffs This Week  —  Social-media company's planned cuts expected to affect many thousands of its workforce  —  Meta Platforms Inc. META 2.11%increase; green up pointing triangle is planning to begin large-scale layoffs this week …

The Week's Best Cartoons: The GOP Chooses Violence  —  My only message to you today is to please, please be sure you vote by Tuesday.  As this week's cartoons clearly demonstrate, the GOP is eager to continue to drag us down a dark, dark path.  We must keep them out of power at every level of government.

Salena Zito: Oz aims to complete transformation from television talker to practical politician  —  Had you just followed the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee John Fetterman's tweets — or the staffer the Fetterman campaign says does much of his tweeting — you would be led to believe voters …