US midterms: 1 day to go – Democrats rally around El-Sayed amid attacks

Democrats slam Haley Stevens over her endorsement of a Republican candidate a day before the polls.

Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens [AP Photo]

With one day to go before the United States midterm elections , campaigning has reached a fever pitch with Democratic and Republican leaders pulling out all the stops to mobilise voters.

Democrats are hoping to flip control of both chambers of Congress, which is currently controlled by US President Donald Trump’s Republican Party.

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All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the Senate’s 100 seats are up for grabs on Tuesday. Voting will also be held to elect governors in 36 of the 50 US states.

With the cost-of-living crisis, exacerbated by the US-Israel war on Iran, becoming one of the key talking points of these elections, here’s where things stand as of Monday:

What’s happened on the campaign trail in the past 24 hours?

In a dramatic political development on Sunday, Democratic Congresswoman Haley Stevens threw her support behind Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers over her own party’s nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, in Michigan – one of the most closely watched races of the US midterm elections. Stevens had lost Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary in August to El-Sayed.

Her announcement followed weeks of tension with El-Sayed over US support to Israel, which has been accused of committing genocide in Gaza. El-Sayed has opposed military support to Israel, arguing that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed the US into the Iran war. Stevens has accused El-Sayed of anti-Semitism for his criticism of Israeli actions in Gaza.

El-Sayed said a vote for his rival Rogers “is going to be a vote for Donald Trump” as his campaign reportedly saw a fundraising surge after Stevens crossed party lines.

Democratic leaders have rallied behind El-Sayed, who has faced Islamophobic attacks during the campaign.

The chairman of the Democratic Party in Michigan criticised Stevens. “She does not speak for that larger community,” Curtis Hertel said in an interview with CNN.

The leader of the Democrats in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, slammed Stevens over her endorsement of the Republican candidate.

“This is a despicable betrayal from Representative Stevens,” he posted on X.

“Senate Democrats are united in our support for Abdul El-Sayed, because we know he will fight for the economic interests of working families in Michigan, unlike Mike Rogers, who is a tool of Donald Trump and billionaire donors.”

Meanwhile, the advocacy group Michigan Jews for Democracy has backed El-Sayed.

“Haley Stevens does not speak for Michigan’s Jewish community,” it said in a statement, which rejected her “attempt to divide our community” two days before the election.

While Democrats have been angered by Stevens’s action, Trump celebrated her decision.

During a rally in Iowa later on Sunday, the US president said he would “love” it if Stevens joined the Republican Party. “Haley said what few people are willing to say,” Trump added. “It’s a thing called bravery.”

The question now is whether Stevens’s endorsement could persuade some of her supporters to back Rogers or discourage them from voting altogether.

Polling suggested El-Sayed has largely consolidated Democratic support, according to the Reuters news agency.

Judge dismisses Trump’s Alaska election lawsuit

Meanwhile, a ⁠federal ⁠judge has thrown out a Trump administration ⁠lawsuit seeking to block Alaska from ⁠certifying a loss by Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. The administration has argued that a rival on the ballot with the same name could change the outcome.

Sullivan pledged to accept the election outcome, days after the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit seeking to decertify the results of the Senate race if he loses.

“I’m going to accept the election results,” Sullivan, an ally of Trump, told CNN on Sunday.

Alaska’s Senate race is one of seven key toss-up races that will likely decide whether Republicans keep their majority in the upper chamber of the US Congress.

How many Americans have already voted?

This year, out of about 210 million registered voters, 54.5 million had voted early as of 10am US East Coast time (15:00 GMT) on Sunday, according to a University of Florida analysis. This includes 30 million in-person votes and 24 million mail-in ballots.

In the 2022 midterm elections, 46 million people voted early.

Early voting enthusiasm has been higher among Democrats this year with more than 11 million registered Democrats having voted early, compared with about 8 million registered Republicans, according to the university’s analysis.

Early voting has particularly surged in the state of Texas, a key battleground, where more than 7.7 million people have voted early.

According to an Associated Press polling analysis, in South Carolina, where Trump won by nearly 18 percentage points in 2024, early voting has surged 83 percent compared with the same point in 2022. The state has open races for governor and US Senate this year.

Kansas, Michigan and Maine have also seen a surge in early voting.

Early turnout figures, however, don’t show which candidates voters have chosen or what the final results will be.

民主党人猛烈抨击海莉·史蒂文斯在投票前一天公开支持共和党候选人。

阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德和海莉·史蒂文斯 [美联社照片]

距离美国中期选举仅剩一天，竞选活动已进入白热化阶段，民主党和共和党领导人使出浑身解数动员选民。

民主党人希望能够夺回国会两院的控制权，目前国会由美国总统唐纳德·特朗普所在的共和党控制。

美国中期选举系列文章（共三篇）：关于独立选民和候选人你需要了解的信息（第一篇）

（共3条，第2条）特朗普在最后冲刺阶段的竞选集会上煽动伊斯兰恐惧症和阴谋论

名单 3/3 拉尔夫：南卡罗来纳州共和党人挑战特朗普的参议员提名人选

周二，众议院全部435个席位和参议院100个席位中的35个将进行改选。此外，美国50个州中的36个州还将举行州长选举。

生活成本危机因美以对伊朗的战争而加剧，成为本次选举的关键议题之一。截至周一，情况如下：

过去24小时竞选活动中发生了什么？

周日，密歇根州的选举结果出现戏剧性的变化：民主党众议员海莉·史蒂文斯转而支持共和党参议员候选人迈克·罗杰斯，而非本党候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德。密歇根州是美国中期选举中最受关注的选区之一。史蒂文斯曾在8月份的密歇根州民主党参议员初选中败给了埃尔-赛义德。

在她发表声明之前，她与埃尔-赛义德就美国支持以色列一事已紧张数周。以色列被指控在加沙犯下种族灭绝罪行。埃尔-赛义德反对向以色列提供军事支持，他认为以色列总理内塔尼亚胡将美国拖入了伊朗战争。史蒂文斯指责埃尔-赛义德批评以色列在加沙的行动是反犹主义。

埃尔-赛义德表示，投票给他的竞争对手罗杰斯“就等于投票给唐纳德·特朗普”，据报道，在史蒂文斯跨越党派界限后，罗杰斯的竞选活动筹款激增。

民主党领导人纷纷声援埃尔-赛义德，他在竞选期间曾遭受仇视伊斯兰教的攻击。

密歇根州民主党主席批评了史蒂文斯。柯蒂斯·赫特尔在接受CNN采访时表示：“她不能代表更广泛的群体发言。”

参议院民主党领袖查克·舒默猛烈抨击史蒂文斯支持共和党候选人。

“这是史蒂文斯议员卑鄙的背叛，”他在 X 上发帖说。

“参议院民主党人团结一致支持阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德，因为我们知道他会为密歇根州工薪家庭的经济利益而战，不像迈克·罗杰斯，他是唐纳德·特朗普和亿万富翁捐助者的工具。”

与此同时，倡导团体“密歇根州犹太人争取民主”支持埃尔-赛义德。

“海莉·史蒂文斯不能代表密歇根州的犹太社区发言，”该组织在一份声明中表示，并驳斥了她在选举前两天“试图分裂我们社区”的企图。

尽管民主党人对史蒂文斯的举动感到愤怒，但特朗普却对她的决定表示赞赏。

周日晚些时候，美国总统在爱荷华州的一次集会上表示，如果史蒂文斯加入共和党，他将“非常高兴”。特朗普补充说：“黑莉说出了很少有人愿意说的话。这叫做勇气。”

现在的问题是，史蒂文斯的支持能否说服她的一些支持者转而支持罗杰斯，还是会让他们完全放弃投票。

路透社报道称，民调显示埃尔-赛义德已基本巩固了民主党的支持。

法官驳回特朗普在阿拉斯加州的选举诉讼

与此同时，一名联邦法官驳回了特朗普政府的一项诉讼，该诉讼旨在阻止阿拉斯加州确认共和党参议员丹·沙利文的败选结果。特朗普政府辩称，选票上另一位同名候选人可能会改变选举结果。

几天前，美国司法部提起诉讼，要求如果沙利文败选，就取消参议院选举结果的认证。沙利文承诺接受选举结果。

“我将接受选举结果，”特朗普的盟友沙利文周日告诉 CNN。

阿拉斯加州的参议员竞选是七场关键的势均力敌的竞选之一，这些竞选的结果很可能决定共和党能否继续保持在美国国会上议院的多数席位。

已经有多少美国人投票了？

根据佛罗里达大学的分析，今年约有2.1亿注册选民，截至周日美国东部时间上午10点（格林尼治标准时间15:00），已有5450万人提前投票。这其中包括3000万张现场投票和2400万张邮寄选票。

2022年中期选举中，有4600万人提前投票。

根据该大学的分析，今年民主党人的提前投票热情更高，已有超过 1100 万注册民主党人提前投票，而注册共和党人提前投票人数约为 800 万。

德克萨斯州作为关键的摇摆州，提前投票人数尤其激增，已有超过 770 万人提前投票。

据美联社民调分析显示，在2024年特朗普以近18个百分点优势获胜的南卡罗来纳州，提前投票率比2022年同期激增了83%。该州今年将举行州长和联邦参议员的竞选。

堪萨斯州、密歇根州和缅因州的提前投票人数也激增。

然而，早期投票率数据并不能显示选民选择了哪些候选人，也不能显示最终结果会是什么。