Trump and Clinton Court Voters as Early Ballot Totals Climb

President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton held rallies in separate states on Friday, each urging supporters to vote in the midterm elections that will decide control of Congress.

Trump spoke in Daytona, Florida, telling the crowd, "These are the most important midterm elections ever." An hour earlier in Tupelo, Mississippi, Clinton argued that democracy is self-correcting and asked voters to support Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom.

Early ballot totals are running higher than four years ago. An Associated Press analysis of voting data found that nearly 10 million more Americans had cast ballots five days before Election Day than at the same point in 2022. In Texas, 6.3 million voters had cast ballots early as of Wednesday, compared with 4.2 million at that point in 2022, a 50% increase. Early voting is up more than 30% from 2022 in Maine, Michigan, North Carolina and Kansas. In South Carolina, where voters are choosing a successor to the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, early voting has risen 83%.

U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman in Alaska said on Friday that federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into a candidate listed on the ballot alongside Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. Heyman said law enforcement resources were deployed to the state this week after a report that Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola's campaign appeared involved in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan to run. Peltola said on Thursday she did not know about the effort to place another candidate with her opponent's name on the ballot. The Justice Department said it plans to isolate ballots ranking Dan J. Sullivan to measure voter confusion.

Trump canceled and then restored campaign visits to Iowa and Kansas this weekend. He had scrapped the trips earlier on Friday before scheduling Sunday rallies in both states, where Senate races will help determine whether Republicans keep their narrow Senate majority. Trump has already traveled to both states this month to support Sen. Roger Marshall in Kansas and Iowa House member Ashley Hinson.

In Michigan, Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens criticized Abdul El-Sayed, who defeated her in the August primary for Senate. Stevens posted on social media on Friday demanding that El-Sayed address an advertisement linking U.S. support for Israel to grocery prices. "Abdul promises to get money out of politics," Stevens wrote. "He can begin by getting Israel out of his explanation for everything Michigan cannot afford." El-Sayed said in a statement that he defeated Stevens in the primary and urged Democrats to focus on beating Republican Mike Rogers.