Both Parties Make Their Final Push Before Midterm Elections

With midterm elections just days away, both Democrats and Republicans are making their strongest final arguments to voters across the United States. Democrats are focusing on the high cost of living and government corruption, hoping to win full control of Congress. Republicans are spending heavily on ads and rallies, warning voters about what they call dangerous left-wing ideas. Both sides are racing to win over undecided voters before Election Day.

President Donald Trump's approval ratings are at all-time lows, but Republicans still see him as their most powerful supporter. Trump spent part of the weekend hosting a Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida before traveling to Kansas and Iowa for rallies. He had canceled those rallies earlier but rescheduled them after receiving criticism. Republicans believe that keeping Trump in the spotlight will help their candidates win.

Trump has encouraged Republican candidates to talk up the economy, support his agenda, and campaign as if he were personally on the ballot. His influence can be seen across many races, from helping choose candidates in House and Senate contests to pushing Southern states to redraw voting districts in ways that favor Republicans. Democrats have welcomed this focus on Trump, using it as a way to connect Republican candidates to his record.

At a rally in Virginia, Democratic candidate Elaine Luria told volunteers to open every conversation by saying that her opponent, Rep. Jen Kiggans, voted 100 percent of the time with Trump. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told voters at the same rally that Trump had left behind a graveyard of broken promises. Jeffries said that if Democrats win the House majority, they will work to restore Medicaid funding, end the war in Iran, and reduce health insurance costs. He also promised to hold people in the Trump administration accountable for what he called widespread corruption.

On the Republican side, House Speaker Mike Johnson rallied supporters in Michigan, telling them that polls are wrong and that his party will beat the odds. Johnson warned that a Democratic victory would put America on what he called a dark, dangerous road to communism. He urged voters to think beyond rising prices and focus on what he described as the growing power of socialist ideas within the Democratic Party. Other Republicans around the country used similar language at their own events.

In Texas, Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico called his Republican opponent, Ken Paxton, corrupt and too close to billionaires. Talarico accused tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has spent at least $446 million to influence the midterm elections, of trying to buy a Senate seat. This election is about whether you want a politician who puts money in your pocket or his own, Talarico told the cheering crowd.

When it comes to money, Republicans have had the upper hand in advertising. During the final week before Election Day, total ad spending reached $561 million, with Republicans spending $305 million and Democrats spending $256 million. The economy was the top topic in ads for both parties, appearing in nearly two-thirds of all ads in close races. Republicans also spent $235 million across the whole election cycle on ads about transgender issues.

These issues are affecting voters in complicated ways. In Maine, 26-year-old Sophie Robbins said she won't vote again for Republican Senator Susan Collins because of the senator's positions on Israel's war in Gaza and her long time in office. But Robbins, who has voted for candidates from both parties, is also unsure about Collins's Democratic opponent, Troy Jackson, because she thinks his views on transgender athletes in women's sports are too liberal. She said she would decide by Tuesday whether to vote for Jackson or skip the race entirely.

Jackson, a former logger, tried to show his down-to-earth side by greeting trick-or-treaters in downtown Portland dressed as a cord of wood — a reference to a negative ad against him — while pushing his infant granddaughter in a stroller. He said the economy is hurting people through tariffs, high child care costs, and rising fuel prices. The economy is crashing people, Jackson said, and we haven't even gotten to the worst of it yet.