A federal judge on Friday ordered the Justice Department to stop threatening state and local election officials with criminal prosecution over their handling of disputes about voter qualifications.U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson also ordered the Trump administration to cease demanding that election workers remove voters from statewide rolls, refuse to issue ballots to specific voters or segregate ballots cast in the midterms based on the administration’s claims that some voters are ineligible.”Because the public has a paramount interest in ensuring that election officials and workers are able to carry out their work in accordance with federal law and election procedure, and the official day of the Elections is only a couple of days away, the balance of the equities and public interest weigh in Plaintiffs’ favor,” Thompson wrote.Thompson, a San Francisco-based Biden appointee, issued the temporary restraining order in connection with a lawsuit brought by the Service Employees International Union and other groups. Her directive also requires the DOJ to reach out to any state or local officials who received warnings about possible prosecution and inform them that “demands and threats of prosecution to election officials and workers … have been enjoined.”The Justice Department on Thursday sent letters to election workers in all 50 states alluding to possible prosecution if they didn’t preserve election records. DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the judge’s broad ruling.Thompson’s order effectively enforces a stern warning issued to the Trump administration by another California-based federal judge, David Carter, earlier this week. “These threats must stop,” Carter wrote in a ruling that threw out the Justice Department’s effort to compel California to set aside any ballots cast by up to 20,000 people federal officials had identified as likely noncitizens. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday declined to set aside Carter’s order.Thompson’s new directive also follows an order by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, chief of the federal district court in Washington, D.C., to require the Trump administration to provide the list of those 20,000 purported noncitizens to an immigrant advocacy group. Boasberg’s order was rooted, in part, on the group’s claim that the Trump administration’s threats were influencing the conduct of state and local elected officials.This article originally appeared on Politico at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/judge-orders-doj-stop-threatening-010547369.html

US stocks plunged in the final trading day of the month as earnings from Amazon (AMZN) and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) this week rekindled concerns about the amount of money Big Tech is spending on its AI ambitions.The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) tumbled 2.8% as a tech-fueled sell-off intensified. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 1.2%, or over 650 points, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped 2%. For the month, the Dow gained 1.5%, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 gave up gains, falling 5.2% and 1.2%, respectively. October marked the worst month for the Nasdaq since March 2025.Stocks fell for the second day in a row after Amazon and Alphabet posted rare earnings misses, renewing concerns about the sustainability of the AI boom. Amazon shares fell 2%, while Alphabet continued to erase market value after its stock suffered its worst day in over 20 years.Intel (INTC) also suffered a brutal reaction to its earnings report, dropping 29% in premarket trading after the company’s Q4 outlook came up short.One bright spot in the market was ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX), whose stocks briefly touched record highs after the oil majors reported that their earnings were boosted as refining margins widened amid the war in the Middle East. Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca (AZN) also reported an earnings beat before the opening bell.While earnings remain in focus, oil prices rebounded higher, putting additional pressure on markets. Brent crude futures (BZ=F) rose to $112 per barrel, while WTI crude (CL=F) reached $104 per barrel.Bitcoin (BTC-USD) prices tumbled more than 2% as crypto assets were rattled following a $6.3 billion hack on cryptocurrency exchange Binance, marking the largest heist of its kind in history.This article originally appeared on Yahoo Finance at https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/live/stock-market-today-friday-october-30-dow-sp-500-nasdaq-amazon-intel-ai-sell-off-191429143.html

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice pushed Friday for a court order to isolate certain Alaska ballots to investigate potential voter confusion, while federal officials confirmed the existence of a criminal probe over a Senate candidate who shares a name with the Republican incumbent. The dueling developments came days before Tuesday’s ranked choice general election, in a race headlined by two-term Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola. The race is among a handful nationwide expected to determine control of the Senate. Alaska U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman told reporters in Anchorage that the investigation has been ongoing for several months, but recent revelations from The New York Times that Peltola’s campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan have resulted in a “significant surge of law enforcement assets to Alaska.” Separately, the Justice Department — as part of a lawsuit it filed last week — asked a judge to order that state elections officials isolate ballots ranking Dan J. Sullivan to investigate potential voter “confusion” with the senator. The owner of a boat dealership in the candidate’s hometown of Petersburg who had donated to his campaign told The Associated Press that an FBI agent visited the business and wanted to know whether he had been misled by Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy. He said he had not and that “Everybody knows who the incumbent is.” Alaska Assistant U.S. Attorney E. Bryan Wilson, in a filing, said the government “seeks to preserve and segregate all ballots ranking Daniel J. Sullivan for the purposes of investigating whether such ranking was the product of voter confusion, should such an investigation become necessary.” The Department of Justice also filed with the court a list of proposed questions it seeks to compel the Peltola campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to answer as part of the civil case seeking to block certification of the Senate race if the incumbent loses. President Donald Trump has said he told the department to file the case. State elections officials made efforts to distinguish the two Sullivans on the ballot Peltola denied Thursday that she knew anything about the effort to put Dan J. Sullivan on the ballot: “I am not interested in tricking voters,” she said. Democrats, including the DSCC, have repeatedly denied that they were involved in any campaign trick. Dan J. Sullivan has long denied he was running at Democrats’ behest. The request to segregate the ballots in Alaska comes after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Justice Department’s request for California to set aside disputed ballots received in the midterm election sent to some 20,000 people the administration contends may not be U.S. citizens. California officials argued the list is highly unreliable and most likely includes many people who are U.S. citizens. Justice Department attorneys in the Alaska case said there is a “substantial risk” that Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy “will mislead voters and ultimately result in an electoral process that lacks integrity.” “To guard against this danger, the United States seeks an order directing Defendants to preserve and segregate all ballots ranking Daniel J. Sullivan for the purposes of investigating whether such ranking was the product of voter confusion, should such an investigation become necessary,” the filing states. It requests a decision by Monday. Attorneys for the state in response questioned how segregation would be possible, writing that voters’ ballots are commingled in the ballot box on Election Day and that election workers couldn’t segregate ballots ranking Dan J. Sullivan without violating ballot secrecy protections. Ballots segregated or not wouldn’t reveal any voter’s reason for voting for Dan J. Sullivan, they said. They have asked a judge to dismiss the case and said Alaska elections officials already took steps to distinguish the two Sullivans on the ballot. The senator is listed as Dan S. Sullivan, Republican and incumbent, while the challenger is listed as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation. That’s also how they appeared on the August open primary ballot. Attorneys for the state also have argued that Alaska’s ranked voting system further addresses concerns about potential confusion by allowing voters to rank both Sullivans. Timing of Justice Department announcements unusual Heyman on Friday would not say what potential crimes authorities are looking into or the targets of the probe, but asked members of the public to come forward with tips that could help investigators. It’s highly unusual for Justice Department officials to publicly discuss a criminal investigation or even confirm its existence. The timing of the press conference is particularly notable given the Justice Department has had a longstanding practice of avoiding taking public steps in the weeks leading up to an election that could be perceived as attempting to influence a political outcome. Trump during a rally late Friday in Florida said Peltola and Dan J. Sullivan should be prosecuted. He noted U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche was in attendance and said, “He’s going to make his own decision.” Trump, then addressing Blanche directly, said of decisions regarding the case, “Todd, please make your own,” and watched Blanche’s response. Trump added: “OK, he said ‘yes.’” Peltola, at a campaign rally in Anchorage late Friday, said she is “so deeply offended by these accusations about having any involvement with anyone else’s candidacy.” She said she doesn’t need any help in winning the race outside of the support of voters. She was asked before the rally if it was possible that someone on her campaign was involved in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan: “I have no idea,” she told KTUU. “I honestly have no idea.” The Times story revealing the potential recruitment of Dan J. Sullivan was based partly on interviews with a former campaign manager, Elisa Rios, who was fired before the August primary. Asked about Rios by the station, Peltola said certain people are “gone for a good reason. If I could fire them again, I’d be happy to fire them again.” Federal prosecutors this week issued dozens of grand jury subpoenas and requests to preserve records, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said, following The New York Times’ reporting, that he’d ordered an investigation into whether any violations took place. Meanwhile, the Alaska Democratic Party has sued state elections officials, alleging absentee in-person voting sites did not open as advertised in some rural communities. The director of the Division of Elections in a letter dated Monday said the agency signs agreements with local or tribal offices to operate the sites and that most of the 18 highlighted had opened. A message seeking comment from the state Department of Law was not immediately returned. ___ Durkin Richer reported from Washington. Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska. AP reporter Will Weissert contributed from Washington.This article originally appeared on Associated Press at https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/top-federal-prosecutor-alaska-says-202506121.html

When South Carolina’s longtime Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham died suddenly in July, his sister Darline stepped in to fill his seat in the Senate for the final six months of his term. “Lindsey has always been there for me, and now I will be there for him,” Darline Graham said in her first remarks after being appointed to her brother’s old seat.The choice to put Darline Graham in the seat was made by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster. But now that Darline Graham is seeking election to a full six-year term, her political future is in the hands of South Carolina’s voters.The Palmetto State hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1998. The specific Senate seat Graham now occupies has been held by a Republican for more than 60 years. But polls suggest that, in a midterm cycle in which the GOP is playing defense in red states across the country, Graham’s Democratic opponent, Annie Andrews, may have a genuine chance of pulling off an upset on Nov. 3.Here’s what to know about Darline Graham as she fights to defend what could be a critical seat in the nationwide battle over control of the Senate. Who is Darline Graham?South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham hugs his sister, Darline Graham, after announcing his bid for the presidency, on June 1, 2015, in Central, S.C.Rainier Ehrhardt/APGraham was born in the city of Central, S.C., where her parents operated a combination bar, liquor store and pool hall called the Sanitary Cafe. The family lived in rooms behind the business.  Her mother died in 1976 after being diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. She was buried the day before Darline Graham’s 12th birthday, the Post and Courier reported.Fifteen months later, her father died of a massive heart attack. Lindsey Graham was 22 and a senior at the University of South Carolina. Darline Graham, then 13, discovered their father’s body after trying to wake him for school.”I can remember the day my father passed away, standing in the living room of that house, absolutely scared to death,” Darline Graham told NPR in 2015. “Lindsey wrapped his arms around me and promised me he would always be there for me and always take care of me.”Lindsey Graham kept the promise, returning home from Columbia nearly every weekend to look after his sister, who lived with relatives in nearby Seneca, S.C., where he kept tabs on her curfew and her friends.”I never let her date. I smelled her clothes if she smoked. I listened in on her phone calls. I was probably pressing too hard, just ’cause I felt such responsibility for her,” Lindsey Graham once told the Washington Post. “I thought that was my job and I felt very happy to have done it. She is the light of my life.”When Lindsey Graham joined the Air Force as a military lawyer, he became his sister’s legal guardian and later adopted her so she would be eligible for his military benefits if anything happened to him.”He’s kind of like a brother, a father and a mother rolled into one,” she said in a 2015 interview with the New York Times. Darline Graham went on to become a mother of two, and her career has focused on helping people with disabilities. According to her LinkedIn profile, she served for over a decade as communications director for the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department, and has been commissioner of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind — which assists blind or visually impaired South Carolinians — since 2019.”Of all the things that have happened in my life, her turning out so well is the highlight of it by far,” Lindsey Graham told C-SPAN in 2015.No stranger to politicsPresidential candidate and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham photobombs a local weatherman’s live television shot beside his sister, Darline Graham, as he walks down the midway at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, in 2015.Al Drago/CQ Roll Call via Getty ImagesAlthough Darline Graham had never held public office, she was relatively active in supporting her brother’s political ambitions, often appearing in his campaign ads.”I have always looked up to Lindsey,” she said in a campaign ad for his 2014 reelection. “He’s just always been there for me as long as I can remember. If I fell down and scraped my knee, Lindsey was the one I ran to.”And she was at his side when he launched his short-lived 2016 presidential campaign.Lindsey Graham, who never married, told ABC News that if he were to win the White House, he would have a “rotating first lady,” suggesting his sister and friends “could play that role if necessary.”Supporting a sibling who’s a senator is a very different task from being one yourself, as Darline Graham learned when she was abruptly thrust into the political spotlight following her brother’s death. She’s faced questions about her lack of experience throughout her Senate campaign. That line of criticism became especially pointed following a primary debate in August, when she struggled to answer a question about the U.S. relationship with Taiwan, eventually telling the moderator, “I’m not that informed on national security.” In that same debate, she also mistakenly stated that South Carolina is home to 50 million people. The state’s true population is 5.6 million. Despite those hiccups, and with a boost from President Trump’s endorsement, Graham won the Republican primary after defeating U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman in a runoff. What does she stand for?Like her brother, Graham is a conservative. But she’s farther to the right than he was on certain issues. One of the biggest differences is on immigration. Lindsey Graham cosponsored a bill that would have given a path to citizenship to “Dreamers,” undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. He said he opposed Trump’s mass deportation agenda during the 2016 presidential election. “My stance is a little bit stronger,” Darline Graham said in August. “I think it’s real simple. If you’re here illegally, you need to go back immediately.”Both siblings supported Trump’s proposed slate of election reforms, the SAVE America Act, but Lindsey opposed eliminating the filibuster to get it passed in the Senate. Darline has said she supports getting rid of it.On most other issues, Darline Graham’s positions align with her brother’s, which puts her squarely in the conservative wing of the Republican Party. She opposes abortion, is a strong supporter of gun rights, wants to make tax cuts in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill permanent and is against allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ and women’s sports. Graham has pledged to “keep fighting every single day for President Trump’s agenda.” Unlike some other Republicans in close Senate races, who have called for the president to end the war in Iran, she has stood by the president’s approach. She has also backed Trump’s tariffs on other countries. “I will have President Trump’s back 100%,” she told the crowd at a rally in August.What are her chances?Polls showed Graham with a lead of about 7 percentage points shortly after she won the Republican primary. But that advantage shrank in the following weeks, and the polls have shown her Democratic opponent, Andrews, only slightly behind as Election Day has grown closer. A New York Times/Siena poll released Wednesday even showed the race effectively tied. This article originally appeared on Yahoo News at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/article/who-is-darline-graham-what-to-know-about-the-sc-republican-in-an-unexpectedly-close-race-to-keep-her-late-brothers-senate-seat-183504476.html

It’s crunch time. With just days to go until the 2026 midterm elections, Democratic and Republican candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives nationwide are making one last push to persuade voters in their districts — and help their party win or retain control of the chamber on Nov. 3.The stakes are high. President Trump has enjoyed complete Republican control of Congress for the first half of his second term. Flipping the House would give Democrats the power to block parts of the president’s agenda, investigate his administration and even impeach him (again).Historically speaking, a president’s party almost always loses seats when voters return to the polls to judge his first two years in office. (The average number lost since World War II? Twenty-six.) Sometimes, the backlash is so pervasive that the president’s party loses seats across a wide range of competitive districts — a phenomenon known as a “wave” election.But the past doesn’t necessarily predict the future, and Republicans have certain advantages today that they didn’t have before. Here’s what needs to happen for each party to come out on top. The races to watchThe first thing to know about any House election is that while all 435 congressional districts are technically up for grabs, roughly 80% of those contests (representing about 350 seats) are not considered competitive. House incumbents have always had huge advantages: money and name recognition, mostly. But their head start has only widened in recent years as partisan polarization and redistricting have helped make the vast majority of congressional districts “safe” for one party. These days, incumbents tend to focus more on fending off primary challengers. The general election can be a breeze in comparison.As a result, this year’s true battleground is relatively small. According to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report’s “race ratings,” just 18 contests are genuine “tossups” at this point. Another 18 “lean Democratic,” and 17 “lean Republican.” There’s also a third competitive category that includes 18 seats where Democrats are the “likely” winners, and 14 seats where the same could be said about Republicans.  That’s 85 competitive districts — again, out of 435. It’s clear from looking at those ratings which party is playing more defense and which is playing more offense — and where. Only 30 Democratic-held seats are considered competitive, and more than half of them (17) are “likely” to remain Democratic, according to Cook. Just four Democratic seats are toss ups. Just three are leaning Republican.In contrast, a full 55 Republican-held seats are considered competitive — and about half of them are tossups (14) or leaning Democratic (13). Geographically, this year’s tossups are concentrated in certain kinds of places: Rust Belt districts in states that have swung from party to party in the past (such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio); Mid-Atlantic suburbs (in states such as New York, Virginia and North Carolina) where Trump has scrambled some of the usual coalitions; and Sun Belt districts (think Florida, Texas, California and Nevada) where Latinos factor heavily. Trump carried many of these areas in 2024.On Friday, Cook shifted another dozen of its race ratings toward Democrats — part of a pattern that has seen the outlet move a total of 75 race ratings toward Democrats over the last month.“As the House battleground map has expanded, Democrats now have the potential to win their largest majority since 2009. President Donald Trump’s approval rating is underwater even in deep red seats that he won comfortably in 2024, and heavy spending from Republicans doesn’t appear to be moving the needle,” Cook’s House analyst wrote. “While Democrats won’t reach the 257 seats they had following President Barack Obama’s election — a high water mark for them this century — they could surpass the majorities they had following the 2006 and 2018 blue wave cycles.”She went on to project that Democrats “will flip 12 to 25 seats, giving them as many as 240 seats in the House.” Overall, the map gives Democrats more pickup options — which means more paths to a House majority. The path to a Democratic HouseSenate and governor contests can be quirky — more state-specific and personality-driven. But national dynamics tend to play a larger role in shaping the composition of the incoming House. So it’s not just a matter of who has more targets on the board. It’s that the board itself tends to tilt to one side or the other, taking most of those targets with it. A recent example was the 2010 midterm election, when impatience with America’s slow recovery from the 2008 financial collapse and frustration with President Barack Obama’s response helped Republicans gain 64 House seats. Beyond the history of midterm backlash against the president’s party, Democrats have two big advantages right now. One is that the current Republican majority is so minuscule — just 219 votes to 214, including an independent who caucuses with Republicans — that Democrats only need a net gain of three seats to win back the House. The other is that the board seems to be tilting in Democrats’ favor — assuming the polls are right. Surveys suggest there’s one underlying factor pulling the national electorate to the left: dissatisfaction with Trump. According to the data journalists at Silver Bulletin, an average of 60% of Americans currently disapprove of how Trump is handling his job vs. 37% who approve. That puts the president’s net approval rating at -23% — near his all-time low.Trump is earning even lower marks on voters’ top issue this year: the cost of living. Shortly after he returned to office, roughly equal numbers of Americans approved and disapproved of how the president was handling inflation. But today — as tariffs and the Iran war help drive prices up — 70% disapprove and 25% approve. That’s a 45-point gap.President Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at F&M Bank Arena on Oct. 10, 2026, in Clarksville, Tenn.AP Photo/Alex BrandonDemocrats aren’t particularly popular. But for the party in power, it may be hard to overcome this level of dissatisfaction with the status quo. That’s why, when pollsters ask their so-called generic ballot question — If an election for U.S. Congress were held today, which party’s candidate would you vote for in your district? — Americans are currently giving Democrats a substantial lead of 9 percentage points, on average. Making matters worse for Republicans, that lead has expanded as swing voters who favored Trump in 2024 — including some Latinos and independents — say they’re planning to vote Democratic.To put a 9-point lead in perspective, Democrats were leading by an average of 7.5 points on the generic ballot at this point in 2018, with Trump as president and Republican majorities in the House and Senate. On Election Day, they picked up 41 seats and flipped the House.If the polls are right, Democrats might win control of the House again.The path to a Republican HouseBut are the polls right? Recently, Republicans have pointed to some surprising survey results on the Senate side — including Democratic leads in rural red states such as Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska — to argue that pollsters might be misjudging public sentiment. They’re not wrong to say the polls have missed in the past. Polling errors are commonplace; they happen in most elections. But they tend to be random and to change directions from one cycle to another. The Trump era has been a little different. In each of the three presidential contests that Trump himself has competed in, the final average of polls conducted before Election Day underestimated Republicans’ performance in the popular vote by an average of 3.8 percentage points, according to data journalist Nate Silver. The theory is that a phenomenon called nonresponse bias — in which Democratic voters are more eager or available to respond to pollsters than Republican voters — might have made Democratic support look stronger than it actually was. Pollsters try to adjust for this by weighting their results — that is, using statistical methods to give less weight to respondents who are overrepresented demographically and more weight to respondents who are underrepresented demographically. But it’s difficult to predict in advance who will show up on Election Day. This time around, there are signs that rural Republicans are not responding to pollsters in certain states.Could that mean Republican candidates in those places will outperform their polling? Possibly. But experts say it may also mean that rural Republicans are less supportive of the GOP than they were in 2024 — potentially voting Democratic or staying home on Nov. 3. A voter walks toward his polling place.REUTERS / REUTERSAfter all, there’s been virtually no polling bias toward Democrats in Trump era elections when Trump himself wasn’t on the ballot. In fact, the polls since 2016 have overestimated Republican support in midterm elections (by an average of 0.2%) and off-year, special and runoff elections (by an average of 1.3%), according to Silver. Either way, pollsters aren’t seeing signs of this rural effect in most states — and even if they were, it might make only a minor dent in Democrats’ 9-point national lead. Redistricting is the other Republican advantage. House redistricting efforts typically take place every 10 years, after each new census reveals changes in population distribution. But last summer, Trump successfully pushed GOP legislators in Texas to pass new congressional district boundaries five years earlier than normal to help Republicans win five additional House seats in 2026. This kicked off a tit-for-tat cycle that saw nine states adopt new congressional maps for the midterms — some to benefit Democrats, others Republicans.Now that the dust has settled, Cook projects that Republicans could win nine seats because of redistricting (in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas), while Democrats could win five (in California and Utah). If that plays out, it would net the GOP four seats overall. It’s not what Republicans initially hoped to gain from gerrymandering. “We’re not gonna win all 13 of those redistricted seats. That’s correct. We’re not,” GOP House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota told Axios recently. But it’s also not nothing. The hope for the GOP is that some combination of polling error and redistricting boost — along with a late influx of hundreds of millions of dollars to help defend districts Trump won in 2024 — will be just enough to preserve their slim House majority.This article originally appeared on Yahoo News at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/article/midterms-2026-will-republicans-or-democrats-win-control-of-the-house-these-are-the-key-races-to-watch-170805806.html