memeorandum: In the First of Midterm Results, Republicans Flip Guam. Yes, Really. (Jennifer Oliver O'Connell/RedState)

4:50 PM ET, November 3, 2026

Top Items:

Mike Zapler / Axios:

Democrats could learn wrong message from a blowout victory — Democrats are poised to romp in today's election — easily winning the House and, according to most forecasts, flipping the Senate too. … Even the GOP has a better brand. … Confusing the two could tempt Democrats to overread …

Andrew Egger / The Bulwark:

The Alex Pretti Election — It's Election Day, and boy, do we have election coverage for you: Tim, Sarah, and JVL will kick off our election night broadcast at 7:00 p.m. EST on Substack, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch. Sam and the rest of the Bulwark team will carry us through the night as results come in across the country.

Discussion: The Guardian

G. Elliott Morris / FiftyPlusOne:

The final polls and race ratings show a late shift toward Democrats — The party has gained ground in the generic ballot and several key Senate races, according to both the polls and expert handicappers — G. Elliott Morris, FiftyPlusOne, and Katie Marriner

Discussion: Political.org, Newsweek, MS NOW and Paul Krugman

Sabrina Siddiqui / Wall Street Journal:

El-Sayed Offers Barbed Support for Trump's Israel Move — Abdul El-Sayed offered barbed support for President Trump's Election Day announcement that the U.S. would phase out billions of dollars in aid to Israel. — “Even a broken clock can be right twice a day,” the Michigan Democratic …

Discussion: TMZ.com, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, New York Post, The Hill, CBS News, Stars & Stripes and The Daily Caller

Bret Stephens / New York Times:
What a Vote for Abdul El-Sayed Means

Discussion: RNS, Washington Examiner and Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Herb Scribner / Axios:
Election night opens with Trump in battle mode

Discussion: Forbes, MS NOW, The Contrarian, France 24, HuffPost, CBS News, New York Magazine and The Hill

Alex Isenstadt / Axios: Inside the White House's Election Day messaging strategy

Alexander Smith / NBC News:
U.S. will stop $4B in aid to Israel at the end of the year, Trump says

Discussion: The Hill, Associated Press, Jewish Insider, Mother Jones, Reuters, NextDraft, Washington Examiner, The Independent, Straight Arrow and New Republic

Will Bunch / The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Vote for the lives of immigrants who can't vote

Discussion: El País

Eric Levitz / Vox:
Trump just said he was ending aid to Israel. He might actually mean it.

David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Trump Says U.S. to End $4 Billion in Aid to Israel in Favor of New Deal

Discussion: The Intercept, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, France 24 and Toledo Blade

SB Sarah / Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches …:

The New York Times Terminates Contract with Romance Columnist Olivia Waite After Bluesky Repost — Please be advised that the following article discusses rape allegations. — ... The New York Times has terminated their contract with author Olivia Waite, their romance columnist …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

The Atlantic:

The Election Deniers Are in Retreat — Standing next to Donald Trump at a rally in 2022, Pennsylvania State Treasurer Stacy Garrity told the crowd that Trump had “won” the 2020 election. Garrity is now running for governor—and she has a very different view of the contest …

Discussion: Newsweek, Talking Points Memo and Votebeat

Jonathan Martin / Politico:
Republicans Are About to Pay for Trump's Mistakes

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, MM Press and Axios

Politico:
'We forgot what it's like to be populist': Republicans see Trump's 2024 crumbling

Discussion: Salon, The Bulwark, The Independent and CBS News

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker: Finally, the Beginning of Trump's End

Politico: ‘The Armageddon of all elections’ — With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco and Irie Sentner

Glenn Kessler / MS NOW:
I've spent years fact-checking Trump. Here are 5 election claims he's already making — and the facts undercutting them.

Discussion: HotAir, Democracy Docket, Los Angeles Times, KSTP-TV, The Guardian, CBS News, Spotlight PA, Iowa Starting Line and Votebeat

New York Times:

Google Will Turn Off Search for Schools That Reject A.I. — Google is making it easier to restrict its A.I. tools for students. But schools that block A.I. entirely will lose student access to Google's search engine. — Google announced Tuesday that early next year it would turn off …

Discussion: Washington Post, CBS News, Gizmodo, Joe.My.God., The Verge, Forbes, KFTC-TV, TechCrunch, Ars Technica, Chalkbeat and Google, more at Techmeme »

Glenn Thrush / New York Times:

Justice Dept. Sends Target Letters to Democrats in Escalation of Alaska Inquiry — The move is a highly unusual action to take at the decisive moment in a close race between the incumbent, Dan Sullivan, and his Democrat rival, Mary Peltola. — The Justice Department is intensifying …

Discussion: Axios, CBS News, RedState, All Rise News, CNBC, Yahoo News, JONATHAN TURLEY and Washington Examiner

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
DOJ sends target letters to Democrats in Alaska spoiler candidacy probe

Discussion: Erick Erickson's Show Notes and Daily Mail

E. Lansing / US Department of Justice:

DOJ To Monitor Elections in All 50 States for First Time — For Immediate Release — One of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) most important missions is ensuring election integrity, supporting free and fair elections, and protecting the right to vote for U.S. citizens across the United States.

Nikki McCann Ramirez / Rolling Stone:
Trump Deploys Election Monitors to Battleground Polling Places

Discussion: Washington Post, NBC Connecticut, Democracy Docket and The Washington Sun

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Pardoned Jan. 6 defendant facing new charges for threatening DC federal judges … Now Cleveland Meredith is facing new federal charges for allegedly threatening to murder the federal judges who presided over his — and thousands of other — criminal cases stemming from the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Discussion: Mediaite, New Republic and Newsweek

Gavin J. Quinton / The Washington Sun:
Justice Department Bars Jack Smith From Testifying in Trump's BBC Lawsuit

Discussion: Variety

Axios:

Scoop: Haley Stevens requests U.S. marshals' protection after death threats — Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens has requested U.S. marshals' protection after the Democrat told authorities she had received death threats for endorsing Republican Mike Rogers in the swing state's hotly contested Senate race …

Discussion: The Independent, Townhall, Jerusalem Post, The Gateway Pundit and Legal Insurrection

G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:

2026 ELECTION DAY LIVE BLOG — What to follow on Election Day and how to watch results come in, Strength In Numbers style — Intro — Welcome to the Strength In Numbers Election Day live blog! This page is your one-stop shop for all things data-driven commentary on Election Day 2026.

Discussion: The Downballot

Jacob Rosen / CBS News:

Oklahoma man charged with mailing letters with white powder to hundreds of officials — Washington — An Oklahoma man faces federal charges after allegedly sending hundreds of letters containing white powder to public officials and media outlets ahead of both the 2024 and 2026 elections.

Associated Press:
Man charged with mailing hundreds of letters containing powder to officials ahead of the election

Discussion: The Hill, SFist, Roll Call, PBS NewsHour, KFTC-TV, Political.org, Fox News and Mediaite

Herb Scribner / Axios:

Voting machine chaos hits key House battleground — Voting machines across New York's Westchester County are rejecting paper ballots on Election Day, raising concerns about potential delays in one of the nation's most competitive House races. … - The Board of Elections said it is speaking …

Jennifer Oliver O'Connell / RedState:

In the First of Midterm Results, Republicans Flip Guam. Yes, Really. — In the first decisive victory for Republicans in the November 3 midterm elections, in the U.S. territory of Guam, Republican Vicente Ada has won the governor's race, defeating Democrat Therese Terlaje 51 percent to 48 percent.

Discussion: MS NOW, American Greatness, Townhall, Newsweek, Blaze Media and The Gateway Pundit

Ken Burns / New York Times:

Why I'm Optimistic About the Midterms — There have been three great crises in American history: the Civil War, perhaps the defining event in our history after the Revolution itself, the Great Depression and World War II. These events tested our republic and our resolve in fundamental ways …

Discussion: The Hill

Thomas English / New York Post:

NY Times mocked over story claiming Abdul El-Sayed's Jewish supporters include man named ‘Jack Mehoff’ — The New York Times came in for online mockery Tuesday after a list it published of Jewish voters saying they would back Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed for Senate included the unfortunate moniker “Jack Mehoff.”

Discussion: Townhall, Mediaite, The Post Millennial, twitchy.com and The Daily Wire

Justin Papp / CNBC:

Sen. Chris Murphy still hospitalized after suffering a stroke over the weekend … Sen. Chris Murphy remained hospitalized Tuesday after suffering a stroke over the weekend, his office confirmed. — “He's continuing to improve and heartened by the outpouring of well wishes,” Josh Sorbe …

Discussion: One America News Network, Blaze Media and Mediaite

David Frum / The Atlantic:

Things Are Going to Get Ugly — Donald Trump is about to redefine the lame-duck presidency. — Donald Trump won't be able to cope. If he loses control of one chamber of Congress, never mind both, the world will see a personality collapse and rage meltdown on the scale of the final sequence of the Lord of the Rings.

Ted Widmer / The Guardian:

America has been witnessing the worst speeches in presidential history — The US has seen plenty of terrible speeches over the centuries. But Trump's midterm rallies are a new low — In a sense, history has already been made. We do not know the result of the election yet …

Lisa Needham / Public Notice:

James O'Keefe's Minnesota stunt backfires spectacularly — The fraud came from inside the house. … Well, well, well. — Do you think those cringy scammers, James O'Keefe and Cam Higby, have enjoyed being hoisted by their own petard, as it were? Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty …

Discussion: The Mahablog and UNICORN RIOT

Jessica Piper / Politico:

Election Day in America — Voters are taking to the polls in a midterm election that will define the future of both parties. — What time do the polls close? When we'll start getting key election results. — The first polls of the midterms will close at 6 p.m. on the East Coast …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Slate, CBS News, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, TheGrio, New York Post, Associated Press and New York Times

Marc Caputo / Axios:

Fired general accused of being source for Wall Street Journal, NYT — The Pentagon's former top military planner is under federal investigation and may face a court-martial for allegedly leaking to reporters from the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, according to three sources familiar with the controversy.

Discussion: NewsMax.com and Mediaite

Brian Beutler / Off Message:

What We Should Hear From The Winners Tonight — Clear declarations about reckoning for the past, vigilance in the present, and deterrence for the future. — I really dislike the genre of commentary that takes the form of speech text some powerful person should deliver, replete with Sorkinesque romantic flourishes.

Discussion: Puck