memeorandum: Ken Paxton appears to cancel final rally of his “Come and Take It” tour at the Alamo (Kayla Guo/The Texas Tribune)

5:15 AM ET, November 1, 2026

Top Items:

Anna Griffin / New York Times:

Democrats File Suit Over Closed Polling Places in Rural Alaska — Voting sites in 18 far-flung communities failed to open, the suit claims. — As a Justice Department lawsuit challenging the presence of two U.S. Senate candidates named Dan Sullivan on the Alaska ballot plays out …

Amy Sherman / PBS NewsHour:

When will we know 2026 midterm election results? It may take some time, but that's normal — If you go to bed on election night and don't know who won a midterm congressional race, that's normal. And if you wake up the next morning and find that a candidate who was behind hours earlier has since pulled ahead, that's normal, too.

Discussion: Tell Me How This Ends, The Gateway Pundit, The Washington Sun and Votebeat

Hans Nichols / Axios: Your election night cheat sheet

Associated Press:

Attorneys for Alaska say ‘meritless’ Trump demand to set aside Senate ballots ‘not even possible’ — Alaska's Republican-run state government on Saturday urged a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed at President Donald Trump's direction to stop the certification of a possible Democratic win …

Discussion: NBC News, NewsMax.com, Political.org, Democracy Docket, The Alaska Current and Associated Press

Associated Press:

FBI visits Dan J. Sullivan donor in candidate's home town as Alaska Senate inquiry widens — The FBI on Friday began reaching out to donors of Dan J. Sullivan asking about potential deception, as federal authorities ramped up their investigation over the U.S. Senate candidate in Alaska who shares a name with the Republican incumbent.

Discussion: Legal Insurrection, The Independent, Mediaite, Political.org, Newsweek and CBS News

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Let's Talk About Alaska

Discussion: OutsideTheBeltway and NewsNation

New York Times:

El-Sayed Doesn't Want Haley Stevens to Join Him at Sunday Event — Tensions have flared between Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan, and his former primary rival. “I don't want any distractions,” Dr. El-Sayed said Saturday. — Dr. Abdul El-Sayed …

Discussion: The Guardian, Breitbart, The Hill, Reuters, The Washington Sun, Mediaite, Townhall, Jewish Insider, Political.org, Daily Mail, HotAir, Politico and NewsNation

Ben Johansen / Politico:
The last weekend of midterm campaigning begins

Discussion: Mediaite

Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:
Why Haley Stevens Can't Stop Talking About Abdul El-Sayed

Marina Dunbar / The Guardian:

Judge dismisses Trump lawsuit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein birthday letter — Ruling ‘with prejudice’ means US president may not amend or refile his lawsuit over his alleged birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein — A US judge dismissed Donald Trump's lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal …

Discussion: Associated Press, Straight Arrow, The Gateway Pundit, CBS News, MS NOW, New York Times, Deadline, The Independent, Mediaite and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Ben Berkowitz / Axios:
Judge tosses Trump lawsuit against WSJ, Murdoch over Epstein story

Discussion: CNBC, Newsweek, Associated Press, The Parnas Perspective, MeidasTouch, Joe.My.God., The Wrap, Political.org and Variety

Nicholas Riccardi / Associated Press:

More than 40% of names on DOJ list of alleged noncitizens not on California's voter rolls — More than 4 in 10 names flagged as possible noncitizen voters in California by the Trump administration cannot even be found on the state's voter rolls, according to a legal filing Saturday by an immigrant rights group.

Discussion: Political.org, Democracy Docket and Salon

Andrew Childers / Democracy Docket:

DHS Secretary Mullin claims 300,000 noncitizens under investigation for illegally voting — Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin claimed his department is investigating 300,000 cases of potential noncitizens voting, with 1,600 active investigations.

Discussion: NewsMax.com

Jacob Knutson / Democracy Docket:
Judge orders DOJ to stop threatening election officials

Discussion: ABC News, The Independent, The Daily Wire, Washington Post, Truthout, The Gateway Pundit, CBS News, Political.org, Fox News, Reuters, NewsNation, MS NOW, Politico, NBC News and Axios

Kayla Guo / The Texas Tribune:

Ken Paxton appears to cancel final rally of his “Come and Take It” tour at the Alamo — Paxton's campaign initially said he would close his get-out-the-vote push at the landmark. Instead, his campaign schedule lists events in North Texas on the eve of Election Day. — TAKE OUR CONTENT — PLEASE!

Bill Barrow / Associated Press:

Paxton and Talarico tussle for Texas Senate seat. Trump to campaign virtually instead of in person — Texas was not expected to be an epicenter of midterm elections that could reshape the final chapters of Donald Trump's second presidency. — But Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico …

Discussion: NewsNation, Associated Press, Breitbart, WTOP News, Political.org and Vanity Fair

Julia Mueller / The Hill:
The 6 races that could decide Senate control

Discussion: Fox News and Political.org

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
Republicans Tried to Turn the Cheesecake Factory Against Democrats. It Flopped.

Discussion: DeLong's Grasping …

Tyler Pager / New York Times:

Trump Calls Former Lawyer's $50 Million Deal ‘Obnoxious and Outrageous’ — At a Halloween event in Florida, President Trump told reporters that Alina Habba Mildon's lucrative work for someone seeking a pardon was “not acceptable.” — President Trump on Saturday strongly criticized his former lawyer …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Laurie Perez / CBS News:

Video shows immigration agent detaining man in North Hollywood, pointing gun at bystander — Los Angeles leaders are speaking out after video captured the moments when what appeared to be a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent pointed a gun at a bystander as a different man was detained in North Hollywood on Friday.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times

Patrick Marley / Washington Post:

In unusual email, Social Security Administration touts Trump days before elections — Days before consequential midterm elections, the head of the Social Security Administration blasted out an email to the public praising President Donald Trump. — “Under President Donald J. Trump …

Discussion: Townhall

U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Russia:

Security Alert: Threat to Tsaritsyno Museum Reserve in Moscow (October 31, 2026) — Security Alert: Threat to Tsaritsyno Museum Reserve in Moscow — Security Alert: Threat to Tsaritsyno Museum Reserve in Moscow (October 31, 2026) — The U.S. Embassy in Moscow is aware of a credible threat …

Discussion: Legal Insurrection, Political.org, Human Events, Reuters and WAGA-TV

Ros Krasny / Bloomberg:
US Embassy Warns of Mass Casualty Threat at Moscow Museum

Discussion: Agence France-Presse, Townhall and Global News

New York Times:

Inside the Times's Decisions on the Alaska Senate Race Story — Our investigation found that Democratic operatives were behind a plan to bring a potential spoiler into the Senate race. — Interviews by Patrick Healy and Terence McGinley — How did a potential Republican spoiler end …

Discussion: The Hill, Al Jazeera and Wall Street Journal

Sahil Kapur / NBC News:

2026 Democratic candidates throw Joe Biden under the bus on the border — From Senate to House races, in red and purple areas, Democrats are looking to make a clean break from Joe Biden's unpopular border enforcement policies in a bid to redefine the party.

Discussion: NewsMax.com and Al Jazeera

Washington Post:

D.C. and Virginia sue to block Trump's proposed triumphal arch — The lawsuit increases legal pressure against the president's planned 250-foot-tall project. — SummaryLoading... The D.C. government and the commonwealth of Virginia sued Saturday to block construction …