Americans vote Tuesday in midterm elections that could give Democrats control of Congress, constrain President Donald Trump's agenda and reshape the final two years of his presidency as frustration over high prices and the war against Iran weighs on Republicans.
Democrats enter Election Day favored to capture the House of Representatives and increasingly competitive in a Senate contest that has expanded into traditionally Republican states. But close polling, a late party rupture in Michigan and disputes over the election in Alaska have added uncertainty to the campaign's final hours.
Trump and Democratic candidates made their closing appeals Monday after a weekend of rallies, sharp personal attacks and legal maneuvering. About 54 million Americans have already cast early ballots, a record, following a campaign that has drawn roughly $11 billion in advertising spending.
For Democrats, the opportunity to break unified Republican control in Washington comes with caution after years of Trump outperforming expectations.
"Nauseously optimistic," Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock told CNN when asked to describe the party's mood.
Winning either chamber would give Democrats substantial power to challenge Trump's administration. A House majority would allow them to block legislation, influence federal spending negotiations and take control of committees with authority to investigate the president and his administration.
Potential investigations include allegations of corruption, the handling of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Trump's ties to him.
Winning the Senate would give Democrats an additional means of constraining the president: control over the confirmation process for federal judges, including any Supreme Court nominees.
Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority. Democrats would need a net gain of four seats to secure an outright majority in a chamber where roughly one-third of the 100 seats are being contested.
The Senate map initially offered Democrats relatively few promising opportunities. Strong challenges in states such as Texas and Kansas, however, have broadened the contest and forced Republicans to defend seats they ordinarily would expect to hold.
The final New York Times/Siena poll released Sunday showed Democratic candidates ahead in all seven races it identified as the most competitive. Five of those leads remained within the margin of error, leaving the outcome uncertain.
Democratic Senate candidates James Talarico in Texas and Adam Hamilton in Kansas were among those planning final get-out-the-vote rallies Monday. Trump campaigned Sunday in Iowa and Kansas, underscoring Republican concerns in states usually considered favorable territory.
The election will test voters' judgment of Trump's second term, with high prices and the eight-month war against Iran prominent in the campaign.
An NBC News poll released Sunday found that 60% of Americans disapproved of Trump's performance, with dissatisfaction particularly pronounced over prices that have been exacerbated by the conflict.
The administration's sweeping tariffs and expansion of presidential power have also shaped the political backdrop. Trump has pursued controversial changes to Washington, including demolishing part of the White House to build a ballroom, while threatening to invade or annex places including Canada and Greenland.
For his final major appeal Monday, Trump chose a speech at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, linking his closing campaign appearance to the capital he has sought to remake.
He has insisted Republicans will prevail and promised $5,000 payments to everyone in the country if his party wins.
"We're going to win," Trump told supporters in Iowa Sunday.
He described Democrats as "extreme and dangerous radicals" who would "steal your wealth" and allow migrants to "ransack, rape and plunder."
A Republican loss in either chamber would complicate Trump's ability to advance his agenda and intensify scrutiny of his administration. A substantial Democratic victory could also accelerate political maneuvering ahead of the 2028 presidential election.
One of the campaign's most consequential late developments came in Michigan, where Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens endorsed Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers over her party's nominee, Abdul el-Sayed.
Stevens, who lost a bitter Democratic primary to el-Sayed in August, appeared with Rogers at a Detroit church. Her decision threatened to deepen divisions in a state central to Democratic hopes of winning the Senate.
The endorsement came on the day Stevens had been scheduled to appear with el-Sayed in a display of party unity. That event unraveled after she demanded that he condemn an outside group's advertisement that she said blamed Israel for high grocery prices.
"That ad was very painful," Stevens told CNN on Sunday night. "There are so many Democrats who want to vote for our Democratic nominee, and they're just being told, 'Hey, this is a party you don't belong in, or this is a campaign you don't belong in.'"
In a social media video, she said: "I don't belong in Abdul's campaign."
A person familiar with the matter said el-Sayed's campaign had asked Stevens to stay away from his events through Election Day so as "not to distract from the central issues of the campaign."
Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell called the endorsement a "distraction," while Trump praised Stevens for her "bravery."
"Haley said what few people are willing to say," he wrote on Truth Social.
Rogers also sought to capitalize on the dispute.
"When you see a party, and at least a sliver of the party, veering off into the virulent hate that they have been spewing toward a group of people, it gets dangerous," he said.
El-Sayed, an Egyptian American Muslim born in Michigan, has faced repeated attacks from Trump and other Republicans questioning his loyalty to the United States and baselessly portraying him as a terrorist sympathizer whose election would invite attacks on Americans.
El-Sayed has called questions about his loyalty "shameful."
Stevens' mother, Maria Marcotte, told Reuters that her daughter was concerned about what she viewed as dangerous rhetoric from el-Sayed, citing in part his appearances with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, who has faced criticism over comments about Israel and American Jews.
The endorsement also generated a backlash. Several members of Stevens' congressional staff resigned, according to CNN and The Hill.
El-Sayed's campaign said it raised $1.2 million in the four hours after the endorsement, making it the campaign's second-best fundraising day since the August primary.
A New York Times/Siena poll released Sunday and conducted partly that day showed el-Sayed leading Rogers 53% to 42%.
In Alaska, a federal judge Sunday dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to prevent certification of the Senate result if Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan narrowly loses.
The department argued that voters could be confused by the presence of another candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., on the ballot.
The dispute intensified after The New York Times reported that Democratic candidate Mary Peltola's campaign had been involved in recruiting Sullivan Jr. as a potential spoiler.
Peltola has denied involvement, and Sullivan Jr. has denied coordinating with her campaign.
The Trump administration is pursuing a criminal investigation into the matter. The incumbent senator nevertheless said Sunday that he would accept Tuesday's election results.
The case has heightened concerns about whether Republicans would accept losses elsewhere, against the backdrop of Trump's efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.
The final push comes after an advertising campaign financed in substantial part by wealthy individual donors.
Elon Musk, a close Trump ally who led the government-cutting initiative known as DOGE, has contributed nearly half a billion dollars to help elect Republicans.
With millions of votes already cast, both parties are concentrating on mobilizing their remaining supporters. Democrats are seeking to turn dissatisfaction with Trump into congressional majorities, while Republicans are trying to preserve their control of Washington.
The House offers Democrats their clearest path to power. The Senate's closely contested races will determine whether Tuesday produces divided control of Congress or a broader shift that gives the opposition authority over legislation, investigations and presidential nominations.
