Exclusive: Ad backfiring on Ramaswamy, GOP poll finds … - The ad “is having a significant effect on the gubernatorial race,” a memo attached to the poll states. … - Acton has said she was sexually abused by her stepfather when she was 12 and that her mother sided with her abuser.

Inside Democrats' Secret Effort to Stack Alaska's Ballot  —  Operatives aligned with Mary Peltola, the Democratic nominee for Senate, spent months recruiting candidates to peel votes from Senator Dan Sullivan, the Republican.  —  In the summer of 2025, a staffer for Mary Peltola …

What Our New Senate Polls Tell Us About the State of the Midterms  —  South Carolina seems like a serious race; Minnesota may not be; and Florida still appears out of reach for Democrats.  —  How big is the battleground for Senate control?  —  It might be at least one state wider than generally assumed.

ICE Is Running One of the Largest Anti-Left Surveillance Operations in US History  —  ICE's Homeland Security Investigations is engaged in far-reaching spying against left-wing activists that rivals the FBI and CIA crackdowns on the Civil Rights and anti-war movements.

Dolores Huerta, Labor Leader and Force for Civil Rights, Has Died  —  She founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez.  In early 2026, she told The Times that she had been raped by him decades earlier.  She was 96.  —  Dolores Huerta at a women's march in Utah in 2017.By Getty Images

Brazilian judge orders investigation into JD Vance donor network  —  A presidential candidate in Brazil alleged that Vance's Rockbridge Network discussed potential aid to the campaign of Flávio Bolsonaro.  Rockbridge denies involvement.  —  SummaryLoading...

Israeli Arab Parties Claim Kingmaker Status in Tight Vote  —  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent much of election day warning his base that Arab citizens were voting in record numbers.  He was right.  —  Results on Wednesday showed the two Israeli Arab parties are likely …

Putin salutes Musk's genius as Russia plays catch-up with Starlink  —  President Vladimir Putin hailed Elon Musk as a genius on Wednesday, acknowledging Russia is only beginning to roll out its answer to his Starlink satellite internet system.  —  The admission was all the more striking …

Federal judge disqualifies Trump-appointed prosecutor for ‘unlawfully serving’ in role  —  Bill Essayli, a former GOP lawmaker and ally of president, has not been confirmed by the Senate in his role  —  A US judge ruled on Tuesday that Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in southern California …

U.S. Warns Gulf of Possible Short, Intense Renewal of Iran War After Midterms  —  There are new signs that the American and Israeli militaries are preparing a potential wave of strikes to muscle Tehran to the negotiating table  —  DUBAI—The U.S. has told several Gulf Arab countries …

Outrage as gun control nut spray paints 9/11 Memorial in sick political stunt  —  A gun control nut vandalized the 9/11 Memorial Reflecting Pool with red spray paint in a broad daylight political stunt.  —  Jonathan Andrew Tijerina, 31, was arrested and charged with criminal mischief …

Trump Cannot Be the End of the Story  —  Writing under the pseudonym Publicola in support of the new Constitution, the North Carolina attorney and legislator Archibald Maclaine rebuffed critics who charged that the president was little more than a king.  —  “It is a maxim in the British government …

A US cruise ship suspends a global voyage in Asia due to fuel costs, stranding 200 passengers  —  A U.S. cruise ship on an around-the-world voyage that touted its cabins as floating homes suspended its three-year voyage in Cambodia due to fuel costs, forcing hundreds of passengers to disembark.

McMahon Spends $43,000 for New Furniture as She Looks to Close Her Department  —  The education secretary says her old furniture “cannot be configurationally or aesthetically integrated” into new office space.  —  Education Secretary Linda McMahon plans to spend $43,000 on new furniture …

How the midterms will determine the next phase of the redistricting wars  —  Dozens of states are holding elections that will decide who controls the mapmaker's pen  —  The redistricting wars triggered by Donald Trump and turbocharged by the Supreme Court are not over—they've only paused long enough for the November midterms.

FBI raids home of Eric Swalwell's billionaire donor  —  The FBI raided the home of Eric Swalwell's billionaire donor on Tuesday as part of the ongoing probe into sexual assault allegations against the former Democratic congressman, a senior law enforcement official told Reuters.

Game recognize game  —  With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco and Irie Sentner  —  POLITICO Named Digiday's Most Innovative Publisher  —  Yesterday POLITICO was named 2026 Most Innovative Publisher by Digiday.  We are proud of this honor and of the incredible efforts of our team around the world.

Google's AI Chatbot Refuses to Answer Question of Who Won 2020 Presidential Election  —  Maybe Google's AI chatbot is gunning for a place in President Donald Trump's administration.  —  The artificial intelligence would not directly answer the question Wednesday of who won the 2020 presidential election …

The Founder of Arab Americans for Trump Has Some Regrets  —  The Michigan Senate race between the Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and the Republican Mike Rogers has been subsumed in recent days by an endless stream of bigoted, Islamophobic attacks.  A Rogers surrogate—Senator John Kennedy …

Record Lows Say Congressional Incumbents Deserve Reelection  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, record-low shares of U.S. registered voters say they would reelect their own representative or most members of Congress.  For the first time in a final pre-midterm reading …

Trump is using tariffs as a ‘tool for grift,’ Raskin says in demand for donor records … A top House Democrat on Wednesday accused President Donald Trump of using tariffs as a “tool for grift and self-enrichment,” pointing to what he says are suspicious import-tax exemptions for industries whose leaders …

DC judge orders new golf course hearing after Trump vows to push ahead with redevelopment  —  A federal judge is ordering a new hearing regarding President Trump's plans to redevelop East Potomac Park after he posted on social media this week vowing to press ahead with his plans for the property despite her ruling halting it.

Classified material missing from Epstein files, documents suggest  —  Attorney General Todd Blanche has long maintained that the so-called Epstein files, even those kept from the public, contain no secret information related to national security.  —  When the document releases began last winter …

Trump could be a ‘super-lame duck’ if things go badly for the president on Election Day  —  2026 is showing us the future of American politics.  —  Tuesday could mark the end of the Trump era.  That was Nate Silver's read on Ezra Klein's podcast.  —  “He'll still be president for two more years,” Silver said.

Trump Plot for Stunning New Gift to Putin Exposed … Donald Trump is weighing a plum new gift to Vladimir Putin that would allow the Russian tyrant to strengthen the Kremlin's influence around the world.  —  Officials are looking at axing measures against the multibillion-dollar Russian …

Billionaires shatter spending record to fight California wealth tax  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Billionaire opponents of California's proposed wealth tax have spent more fighting it than they ever have on a political cause in the state, according to a POLITICO analysis.

Trump jokes $5,000 would buy ‘a hamburger and maybe a small dessert’ at Mar-a-Lago as affordability looms over midterm … President Donald Trump joked Tuesday night that the $5,000 payments he's promised U.S. adults would buy little more than “a hamburger and maybe a small dessert” …

Fox's Trump Fatigue … On Wednesday, each of the television news networks will release their October ratings numbers.  Ahead of the midterms, especially with the stakes as high as they are this November, the networks would typically be expected to post viewership gains as audiences tune in for coverage of the consequential races.