Peltola supporters say ballot-stacking report isn’t impacting their Alaska Senate vote

On the campaign trail

• Alaskans weigh in : Several voters told CNN the reported efforts by Mary Peltola staffers to recruit a second Dan Sullivan to the Senate ballot wouldn’t change their vote . More subpoenas are expected today as the DOJ accelerates a criminal probe into whether the Democrats sought to confuse voters, sources said.

• Trump’s final midterm rally? The president visits Florida today for another red-state rally. But he’s canceled his weekend events — a decision that took even Republicans by surprise and raises questions about his strategy .

• New early voting data : Younger Democrats are far outpacing younger Republicans in early votes cast so far in the midterms. Democrats lead Republicans in turnout by 31 points among voters younger than 30, a 20-point increase from the same time two years ago.

Younger Democrats are far outpacing younger Republicans in midterm early votes

We’ve previously reported on weak youth turnout among Republicans to start early voting. Now, early voting data from states across the nation clearly show this is not an isolated trend.

Overall, in 25 states that are reporting both counts of early votes cast and where voters register with a party, registered Democrats lead registered Republicans by nearly 15 points, 10 points more than at the same point in 2024, according to data from Catalist.

But that shift is even greater among young voters. Democrats lead Republicans in turnout by 31 points among voters younger than 30, a 20-point increase from the same time two years ago. And for voters ages 30 to 49, the Democratic lead is 27 points, up 15 points from this time in 2024.

The Democratic advantage is smaller among voters 65 and older – it’s 11 points now, 7 points higher than the equivalent point two years ago.

This dynamic is driven by a collapse in turnout among younger Republicans. Republicans under age 30 have cast just 30% of the ballots they’d cast at the same point in 2024, compared to 63% for younger Democrats. The gap is smaller among older voters: Republicans age 65 and older are at 72% of the same point two years ago, while older Democrats are at 84%.

CNN’s most recent national poll found younger Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are highly unmotivated to vote and are particularly sour on the state of the country compared to their older counterparts.

Younger Republicans in particular are more likely to vote on Election Day, and they still may show up. But the early vote suggest Republicans are on track to be much more reliant on election day this year to match their 2024 margins among young voters.

What to know about the "Decoy Dan" controversy in Alaska's Senate race

An October surprise has surfaced in a race that could well determine who wins the Senate majority in next week’s midterm elections. The New York Times reported that Democratic operatives helped recruit a potential spoiler candidate in Alaska — the other Dan Sullivan — who qualified for the general election ballot. CNN's Patrick Svitek reports.

More subpoenas are expected today as the Justice Department dramatically accelerates a criminal probe into whether Alaska Democrats sought to confuse voters by recruiting a Senate candidate intended to siphon votes from the Republican, according to sources.

Department officials filed a long-shot lawsuit last week seeking to delay certification if Sen. Sullivan loses and the votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan under the ranked choice system would have been enough to change the outcome.

They worked quickly to amend that lawsuit after a New York Times report describing an alleged coordinated effort linked to Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign.

In the new version of the lawsuit , the department alleges that her campaign and a national Democratic Party office submitted “misleading” arguments about their knowledge of the alleged efforts to recruit Daniel J. Sullivan, nicknamed “Decoy Dan” by his opponents.

Critics have slammed the lawsuit as political maneuvering, particularly after President Donald Trump told reporters he directed it.

Some in the department privately admit that the lawsuit, which is all but destined to fail, serves a purpose by creating headlines that warn Alaskans about what one source described as a “massive voter fraud attempt.”

A state official told CNN that there are examples of voters who are well-informed about the dueling Sullivans still erroneously filling out their ballots and having to seek new ones. It’s unclear how many of the spoiled ballots are related to the Sullivans confusion.

Trump scraps weekend rallies in red states ahead of midterms. Catch up on the headlines

President Donald Trump has scrapped plans for weekend rallies in red states Iowa and Kansas. He’s instead planning as many as 20 telerallies in a strategy shift days ahead of the midterm elections.

For now, the only in-person event Trump has planned is a rally in Florida on Friday.

More on this and other headlines:

Trump lashes out: The president said his decision to scrap the Kansas event had nothing to do with the GOP candidate’s electoral prospects or his own stamina, berating a reporter who asked about his health. Some top Republican officials quietly expressed relief . “He hasn’t moved the needle anywhere,” one said.

Alaska Senate race: State officials said that a judge should reject the Justice Department’s attempt to seize on the new revelations about the recruitment of a spoiler candidate in its Senate race. The DOJ has accelerated a criminal probe into whether Alaska Democrats sought to confuse voters, issuing dozens of new grand jury subpoenas and homing in on new potential charges, according to sources. Several residents in Anchorage told CNN the controversy is not influencing who they are voting for.

Robocall push: Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico said a recent push of AI-powered robocalls attacking his campaign is “pretty rich that they are using AI bots to attack me over data centers.” Talarico said he has criticized data centers that don’t “meet the demands of the people who live in these communities.”

Incendiary ad goes offline: The campaign of Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee for Ohio governor, is no longer running a controversial ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent Amy Acton. “It ran to completion, and we put up four other ads,” the Columbus Dispatch reported Ramaswamy as saying.

DOJ appeals ruling again: For a second time in a week, the Justice Department launched an emergency appeal of its case seeking to segregate ballots in California, based on a controversial list of 20,000 supposed noncitizens assembled by the Trump administration. It also issued federal grand jury subpoenas to local election officials.

CNN’s Gabe Cohen, Kylie Atwood, Patrick Svitek, Alayna Treene, Kevin Liptak, Tierney Sneed, Jeff Zeleny, Hannah Rabinowitz, Jeff Zeleny, Isa Mudannayake, Alejandra Jaramillo, Kaitlan Collins, Molly English, Ed Lavandera, Ashley Killough, Taylor Romine and Christian Sierra contributed reporting.

Reliably red Iowa becomes battleground state

CNN’s Manu Raju reports from Iowa, where polls indicate that the state has shifted to battleground territory.

CNN's Manu Raju reports from Iowa where polls indicate that the reliably red state has shifted to battleground territory. Democratic nominee Josh Turek is looking to defeat Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson in the race for the US Senate, while Democratic nominee Rob Sand and Republican nominee Zach Lahn are vying to be governor of Iowa.

Recap: Here are Thursday's highlights from the campaign trail

With less than a week before Election Day, Republicans and Democrats are racing to reach voters. Here’s what some high-profile politicians said at their Thursday events:

President Donald Trump rallied in South Carolina.

On Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed: Trump dubbed Black and Jewish voters supporting El-Sayed “crazy,” adding to a cacophony of attacks on the candidate related to his Muslim faith.

On polling: Trump slammed recent polling as “totally phony,” asking how many of his supporters had been polled.

Vice President JD Vance appeared in a Fox News town hall in Texas.

On $5K check promise: Vance defended Trump’s promise to give $5,000 to every US adult if they elect GOP congressional majorities, and claimed they would be different from the stimulus checks handed out under former president Joe Biden.

On Trump’s “ass” comments: Vance said it’s an example of a politician not “taking himself so seriously.” Trump has commented on Ohio Sen. Jon Husted’s derrière repeatedly.

An “exception” among GOP: Vance said he’s an “exception” within a Republican Party that’s not paying enough attention to young people’s affordability issues. He blamed illegal immigration and investors buying up homes for high prices.

On immigration: Vance argued that Democrats El-Sayed and James Talarico “reject the idea of assimilation.” He added: “This is why we have the immigration policy that we do.”

El-Sayed spoke at a rally in Kalamazoo.

During a campaign rally, Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed addressed comments from his opponents criticizing his faith, saying, “Let me just tell you, I am Muslim.”

On criticism of his Muslim faith: El-Sayed spent a good chunk of time attacking Trump but tried to bring the focus back to affordability. “My name and my faith are not the reason you can’t afford your groceries,” he said.

On joint appearance with former rival: El-Sayed brushed aside questions about why it has taken him so long to invite his Democratic primary rival, Rep. Haley Stevens, to join him on the campaign trail. They are set to make a rare joint appearance on Sunday after reports of tensions.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris was in Atlanta, Georgia for back-to-back events.

Criticism of Trump administration: Harris said the administration was “lining their pockets on the backs of working people of America” and that it showed “a level of cruelty like we have never seen and a level of hypocrisy.” Her comments parallel that of former president Barack Obama , who earlier blasted Trump for years of “chaos, and cruelty, and corruption.”

CNN’s Jeff Zeleny, Patrick Svitek, Alejandra Jaramillo, Kaitlan Collins, Molly English, Christian Sierra, Tierney Sneed, Tori B. Powell and Taylor Romine contributed reporting.

在竞选活动中

• 阿拉斯加选民发表意见：多位选民告诉CNN，玛丽·佩尔托拉的幕僚试图招募第二个丹·沙利文参选参议院的报道不会改变他们的投票意向。消息人士称，随着司法部加快对民主党是否试图混淆选民视听的刑事调查，预计今天将发出更多传票。

• 特朗普的中期选举最后一场集会？总统今天将前往佛罗里达州，参加另一场共和党占优势的州的集会。但他取消了周末的活动——这一决定甚至让共和党人都感到意外，也引发了人们对他策略的质疑。

• 最新提前投票数据显示：在目前为止的中期选举提前投票中，年轻的民主党选民远远领先于年轻的共和党选民。在30岁以下的选民中，民主党的投票率比共和党高出31个百分点，比两年前同期增加了20个百分点。

在期中选举的提前投票中，年轻的民主党人远远超过年轻的共和党人。

我们此前曾报道过共和党年轻选民提前投票率低迷的问题。现在，来自全国各州的提前投票数据显示，这并非个例。

根据 Catalist 的数据，在 25 个同时报告提前投票数额和选民登记党派的州中，登记的民主党人领先登记的共和党人近 15 个百分点，比 2024 年同期领先 10 个百分点。

但这种转变在年轻选民中更为显著。在30岁以下的选民中，民主党的投票率领先共和党31个百分点，比两年前同期增加了20个百分点。而在30至49岁的选民中，民主党的领先优势为27个百分点，比2024年同期增加了15个百分点。

民主党在 65 岁及以上选民中的优势较小——目前为 11 个百分点，比两年前的相应比例高出 7 个百分点。

这一趋势主要源于年轻共和党选民投票率的骤降。30岁以下的共和党选民目前的投票率仅为2024年同期水平的30%，而年轻民主党选民的投票率则高达63%。老年选民的投票率差距较小：65岁及以上的共和党选民目前的投票率仅为两年前的72%，而老年民主党选民的投票率则高达84%。

CNN 最新全国民调发现，年轻的共和党人和倾向于共和党的独立人士投票积极性很低，而且与年长的共和党人相比，他们对国家现状尤其不满。

年轻的共和党人尤其倾向于在选举日当天投票，而且他们今年可能仍然会去投票。但提前投票的情况表明，共和党今年可能需要更加依赖选举日当天的投票才能达到他们在年轻选民中的优势水平（2024年）。

关于阿拉斯加州参议员竞选中的“诱饵丹”争议，你需要了解哪些信息

一场可能决定下周中期选举参议院多数席位归属的选战中，出现了令人意想不到的“十月惊奇”。《纽约时报》报道称，民主党人士帮助阿拉斯加州招募了一位潜在的“搅局者”候选人——另一位丹·沙利文——该候选人已获得普选资格。CNN记者帕特里克·斯维特克报道。

据消息人士透露，今天预计将发出更多传票，因为司法部正在大幅加快对阿拉斯加民主党人是否试图通过招募一名旨在从共和党人手中分走选票的参议院候选人来迷惑选民的刑事调查。

上周，教育部官员提起了一项胜算渺茫的诉讼，试图推迟苏利文参议员的认证，因为如果根据排名选择制度，投给丹尼尔·J·苏利文的选票足以改变结果，那么苏利文参议员的败选将会影响认证结果。

在《纽约时报》报道了一起与民主党人玛丽·佩尔托拉的竞选活动有关的所谓协同行动后，他们迅速修改了诉讼。

在新版本的诉讼中，该部门声称她的竞选团队和民主党全国办公室提交了“误导性”的论点，说明他们是否了解招募丹尼尔·J·沙利文（被对手戏称为“诱饵丹”）的所谓努力。

批评人士抨击这起诉讼是政治操纵，尤其是在唐纳德·特朗普总统告诉记者是他指示提起诉讼之后。

该部门的一些人士私下承认，这场几乎注定失败的诉讼，其目的在于制造新闻头条，警告阿拉斯加民众注意一位消息人士所描述的“大规模选民欺诈企图”。

一位州政府官员告诉CNN，有些选民虽然对两位苏利文竞选总统的情况非常了解，但仍然错误地填写了选票，不得不重新申请。目前尚不清楚有多少废票与苏利文竞选总统的混乱局面有关。

特朗普取消了中期选举前在几个红色州举行的周末竞选集会。以下是相关新闻报道。

唐纳德·特朗普总统取消了原定于周末在爱荷华州和堪萨斯州这两个传统共和党州举行的竞选集会。取而代之的是，在距离中期选举仅剩几天之际，他改变了策略，计划举行多达20场电话集会。

目前，特朗普唯一计划的线下活动是周五在佛罗里达州举行的一场集会。

更多相关新闻：

特朗普怒斥：总统表示，他取消堪萨斯州竞选活动的决定与共和党候选人的选情或他自身的健康状况无关，并斥责了一位询问他健康状况的记者。一些共和党高层官员私下里表示松了一口气。“他（特朗普）的举动并没有产生任何影响，”一位官员说道。

阿拉斯加州参议员选举：州政府官员表示，法官应驳回司法部试图利用有关该州参议员选举中招募“搅局者”候选人的新披露信息进行干预的企图。据消息人士透露，司法部已加快对阿拉斯加民主党人是否试图混淆选民视听的刑事调查，发出数十份新的大陪审团传票，并着手调查新的潜在指控。安克雷奇的多位居民告诉CNN，这场争议不会影响他们的投票意向。

针对近期人工智能驱动的自动语音电话攻击，德克萨斯州民主党参议员候选人詹姆斯·塔拉里科表示：“他们竟然用人工智能机器人攻击我，就数据中心问题攻击我，真是太可笑了。”塔拉里科说，他曾批评过一些数据中心“未能满足当地居民的需求”。

引发争议的竞选广告下线：俄亥俄州州长共和党候选人维韦克·拉马斯瓦米的竞选团队已停止播放一则引发争议的广告，该广告中出现了他民主党对手艾米·阿克顿的疏远母亲。“广告已经播放完毕，我们又投放了四则其他广告，”《哥伦布电讯报》援引拉马斯瓦米的话说。

司法部再次提起上诉：一周内，司法部第二次就其要求加州隔离选票的案件提起紧急上诉。该案的依据是特朗普政府编制的一份备受争议的、包含2万名所谓“非公民”的名单。司法部还向地方选举官员发出联邦大陪审团传票。

CNN 的 Gabe Cohen、Kylie Atwood、Patrick Svitek、Alayna Treene、Kevin Liptak、Tierney Sneed、Jeff Zeleny、Hannah Rabinowitz、Jeff Zeleny、Isa Mudannayake、Alejandra Jaramillo、Kaitlan Collins、Molly English、Ed Lavandera、Ashley Killough、Taylor Romine 和 Christian Sierra 都参与了报道。

一向以共和党为主的爱荷华州变成了摇摆州

CNN记者马努·拉朱从爱荷华州报道，民调显示该州已转变为摇摆州。

CNN记者马努·拉朱从爱荷华州报道，民调显示，这个以往的共和党传统票仓已经转变为摇摆州。民主党候选人乔什·图雷克正力图在联邦参议员竞选中击败共和党众议员阿什利·欣森，而民主党候选人罗布·桑德和共和党候选人扎克·拉恩则在角逐爱荷华州州长之位。

回顾：以下是周四竞选活动的要点

距离选举日不到一周，共和党和民主党都在争分夺秒地争取选民支持。以下是一些知名政治人物在周四活动中的讲话：

唐纳德·特朗普总统在南卡罗来纳州举行竞选集会。

关于密歇根州参议员候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德：特朗普称支持埃尔-赛义德的黑人和犹太选民“疯了”，这加剧了针对这位候选人与其穆斯林信仰有关的攻击。

关于民调：特朗普抨击最近的民调“完全是假的”，并质问有多少他的支持者接受过民调。

副总统JD Vance在德克萨斯州参加了福克斯新闻的市民大会。

关于 5000 美元支票的承诺：万斯为特朗普的承诺辩护，即如果共和党赢得国会多数席位，将向每位美国成年人发放 5000 美元，并声称这将与前总统乔·拜登发放的刺激支票不同。

关于特朗普的“屁股”言论：万斯表示，这表明这位政治人物“并不把自己看得太重”。特朗普曾多次评论俄亥俄州参议员乔恩·赫斯特的臀部。

共和党内的“例外”：万斯表示，在共和党内部，他是一个“例外”，因为共和党对年轻人的住房负担能力问题关注不足。他将问题归咎于非法移民和投资者高价购房。

关于移民问题：万斯认为，民主党人埃尔-赛义德和詹姆斯·塔拉里科“拒绝同化理念”。他补充说：“这就是我们制定现行移民政策的原因。”

埃尔-赛义德在卡拉马祖的一次集会上发表了讲话。

在一次竞选集会上，密歇根州民主党参议员候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德回应了对手对其信仰的批评，他说：“我只想告诉你们，我是穆斯林。”

针对外界对其穆斯林信仰的批评，埃尔-赛义德花了不少时间抨击特朗普，但随后试图将焦点重新拉回到生活成本问题上。“我的名字和我的信仰并不是你们买不起食品杂货的原因，”他说。

与前竞争对手共同亮相：埃尔-赛义德回避了为何迟迟未邀请民主党初选对手、众议员海莉·史蒂文斯加入竞选活动的问题。此前有报道称两人关系紧张，但他们将于周日罕见地共同亮相。

前副总统卡马拉·哈里斯在佐治亚州亚特兰大连续参加了两场活动。

哈里斯批评特朗普政府，称该政府“靠剥削美国劳动人民中饱私囊”，并表示其展现了“前所未有的残忍和虚伪”。她的言论与前总统奥巴马的言论如出一辙，奥巴马此前也曾抨击特朗普多年来“制造混乱、残暴和腐败”。

CNN 的 Jeff Zeleny、Patrick Svitek、Alejandra Jaramillo、Kaitlan Collins、Molly English、Christian Sierra、Tierney Sneed、Tori B. Powell 和 Taylor Romine 对此报道做出了贡献。