Both parties are battling for control of Congress and in key governor’s races. NBC News Exit Polls show an electorate that disapproves of the job Congress and the president are doing. Updated November 03, 2026, 9:00 PM EST What to know on Election DaySENATE FLIP: Democrats have flipped the first Senate seat of the night in North Carolina, the NBC News Decision Desk projects. The party has also notched wins in two other battlegrounds, Georgia and New Hampshire. A fourth Senate battleground race, in Ohio, leans toward Democrat Sherrod Brown.POLLS CLOSE: Polls have now closed in more than half the country and results are rolling in. Recent polling suggests Democrats are in a strong position to retake the House, while the Senate majority could come down to competitive races in traditionally red states.NBC NEWS EXIT POLLS: Early results from the NBC News Exit Polls show a dissatisfied electorate, with President Donald Trump’s disapproval rating at a dismal 62% and more than three-quarters of voters saying they disapprove of the job Congress is doing, as well. Nearly half of voters say they view the election as an opportunity to rebuke Trump.KORNACKI: In his latest Data Dive newsletter, Steve looks at the handful of races that could set the tone for the long night ahead. He is live at the Big Board.ELECTION RESULTS: Follow along this evening for results, detailed election data, analysis and on-the-ground reporting from correspondents across the country. NBC News primetime coverage will be going all night. Democrat Phil Weiser has defeated Republican Victor Marx in the Colorado governor race, NBC News projects. Democrat Ben Ray Lujan has defeated Republican Larry Marker to win another term in the New Mexico Senate race, NBC News projects. Republican Harriet Hageman has defeated Democrat James Byrd in the Wyoming Senate race, NBC News projects. Democrat Ned Lamont has defeated Republican Ryan Fazio to win another term in the Connecticut governor race, NBC News projects. Republican Lance Russell has defeated in the South Dakota attorney general race, NBC News projects. Republican Eric Barlow has defeated Democrat Kenneth Casner in the Wyoming governor race, NBC News projects. Democrat Kathy Hochul has defeated Republican Bruce Blakeman to win another term in the New York governor race, NBC News projects. Democrat John Hickenlooper has defeated Republican Mark Baisley to win another term in the Colorado Senate race, NBC News projects. Democrat Charity Clark has defeated Republican Edwin Kemon to win another term in the Vermont attorney general race, NBC News projects. Polls in more than a dozen states closed at 9 p.m. ET, including in states with battleground Senate races. These are the states where polls just closed: LouisianaMichiganMinnesotaNebraskaNew MexicoNew YorkNorth DakotaSouth DakotaTexasWisconsin Wyoming The next polls will close at 10 p.m. ET, in Montana Nevada and Utah. Iowa Democratic Senate nominee Josh Turek, who has branded himself as a moderate, voted this morning in Council Bluffs, Iowa and told reporters afterwards that he voted for multiple Republicans, including a candidate for the county board of supervisors. Turek is locked in a tight race against Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson with Democrats eyeing Iowa as a potential flip opportunity. Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst is not seeking re-election, making it a race for an open seat. Trump traveled to Iowa twice in the last month to rally GOP voters in a state he won in 2024 by 13 percentage points. Democrat Kimberly Ahern has defeated Republican Alan Gordon in the Rhode Island attorney general race, NBC News projects. Democrat Sabina Matos has defeated Republican John Loughlin to win another term in the Rhode Island lieutenant governor race, NBC News projects. Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., edged out Democrat Angie Nixon with strong support from conservatives and white voters in the state, according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll. In addition to receiving solid backing from 93% of Republican voters, Moody also won 91% of conservatives and 60% of white voters in Florida. A majority of Latinos cast their votes for Nixon (56%). But among Latinos there was a sharp divide: 58% of Cubans supported Moody, while 68% of Puerto Ricans supported Nixon. Other groups backing Moody include 62% of residents who have lived in the state for 1 to 6 years, 62% of voters in small towns and rural areas, 57% of voters age 45 and older and 55% with no college degree. Nixon did especially well with voters under age 45 (66%), moderates (62%), independents (58%) and voters in urban areas (55%). I know it’s early, but if we can make the word of the night “dummymandering,” I would like to vote for that. Some of the districts that were drawn in Florida for Republicans have actually been won by Democrats and it does appear, at least in House races so far, that there is a trend line emerging. In general, states do not mess with their districts except for in a 10-year window after a census, where they get a sense of how many people live where, and they draw their districts accordingly. This mid-decade redistricting was a super controversial move that came after Trump went to governors in red states and said to them, essentially, “Draw me more districts that are Republican-friendly than they are Democratic-friendly.” But there’s only a finite amount of voters. You can only move them around so much, and you have to pull those voters out of other districts to put them here. It is backfiring big time in Florida. If the trend holds in other states that were supposed to go for the GOP, this would be a massive error by Republicans. In New Hampshire, Senate candidate Chris Pappas, a Democrat, stopped former Sen. John E. Sununu from reclaiming his old seat, NBC News projects. Pappas, the first openly gay man to represent New Hampshire in Congress, won 91% of the LGBTQ vote, according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll. He also claimed roughly two-thirds of voters under age 30 and women under age 45, and 59% of independents. As vote tallies roll in, stock futures are falling sharply. Markets are particularly watching states such as Georgia and Texas, key states for AI data centers. S&P 500 futures tumbled 1% and Nasdaq 100 futures slid more than 2%. The Nasdaq 100 tracks the 100 largest tech companies at the Nasdaq stock exchange.  In Georgia, NBC News projected that Democratic Sen. John Ossoff will win re-election. In Texas, NBC News has not yet made a projection in the race between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico. With data centers facing intense push back from voters nationwide, investors are worried that Democratic wins in key states for the facilities could lead to a major slowdown in building data centers, or outright bans. A slowdown in the industry could cause major problems for companies that have hundreds of billions of dollars of investments and projects in the works. Trump and Republicans have largely allowed the industry to regulate itself so far. Democrat Jamie Ager has defeated Republican Jennifer Balkcom to win North Carolina's 11th Congressional District, NBC News projects. With the first substantial chunk of votes coming in to Oakland County, Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is claiming an early lead over his GOP opponent, Mike Rogers. Oakland County, which is the home base of Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens, who issued a shocking endorsement to Rogers over the weekend, seems to be backing El-Sayed with just under 40% of its votes counted. Of course, there are still many votes to go, but El-Sayed's advantage here indicates that he may avoid a major hit from the endorsement. The county has voted for Democrats in the past, with former Vice President Kamala Harris winning Oakland with a little bit more than 10 points in 2024, which was a disappointing number for Democrats here to win statewide in Michigan. They want to usually get this number more up into the mid-teens, and I think this area is a real interesting bellwether for El-Sayed. There's combination of the fact that this is Stevens' backyard, the fact that there’s been so much attention to the politics of the Middle East in this race, and that there’s a substantial Jewish population in Oakland County, probably the largest population of any county in Michigan. It tends to be a very Democratic vote, and one of the questions coming into this was if that Democratic vote, especially the Jewish Democratic vote in Oakland County, was going to stay away from El-Sayed. Now this is not definitive, although we’re up to about 40% of the vote in Oakland County and the El-Sayed advantage here is much more in line with what Democrats in any given election want to be seeing out of Oakland County. For 18-year-old Texas resident Daniel Johnson-Baker, voting in his first election was about more than casting a ballot. It was about making sure his voice was heard, especially after his university removed polling locations from campus, making it harder for students to vote. “If they’re doing that, then I gotta vote,” he said. “I felt good knowing that I can finally make an impact.” Johnson-Baker said voting also carries a personal meaning for his family. His great-grandmother wasn’t able to vote, and his father reminded him that generations before him fought for that right. “Use your right that you got, you earned as a Black man,” he recalled his father telling him. In Tarrant County, 19-year-old Tremaine Smith said casting his first ballot felt “different” and “kind of refreshing.” Before he was old enough to vote, he said, he could share his opinions online, but felt that didn’t always make much of a difference. “But even just voting here feels like I have a lot more power than before,” he said. And for 21-year-old Texan Quentin Bradfield, the motivation came down to wanting change in his community, starting with the cost of housing. “I can’t even afford a decent apartment,” he said. He also sees voting as a responsibility to the generations coming up behind him, saying he wants to help make change “not just for myself, but also the younger generation, kind of carrying the torch of the older ones left for us.” West Virginia voters have approved Amendment 1: Require citizenship to vote, NBC News projects. The president's family members are not with him this evening as he follows the election from the White House, a senior administration official tells NBC News. Trump is watching the returns with Cabinet officials and staff. First lady Melania Trump's team had already told NBC News that she would not be there tonight and is fully focused on Russia and Ukraine talks. Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper flipped a Senate seat for Democrats by improving on Trump's 2024 performance in the state among key groups, according to NBC News projections and the NBC News Exit Poll. Trump carried North Carolina in the three previous presidential elections. Cooper made major gains among the state’s youngest voters (garnering 80% support among those age 18-24), far better than Trump’s 2024 performance among this age group (50%). Cooper also ran stronger among Latino voters (at 67% support) than Trump did (50%). And Cooper outperformed Trump’s 2024 numbers among independents and parents with children under 18. North Carolina’s Senate seat opened up after two-term Republican Sen. Thom Tillis dropped his re-election bid following a public disagreement with Trump. Republican Shelley Moore Capito has defeated Democrat Rachel Fetty Anderson to win another term in the West Virginia Senate race, NBC News projects. The former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, appearing on Fox News as an on-air analyst, said she spoke to Trump tonight and characterized the president’s midterms outlook as “cautiously optimistic.” “It is still very early in the night. I’ve just talked to the president. He remains cautiously optimistic. One thing he said is, he left it all on the field, and that’s certainly true,” Leavitt said, highlighting Trump’s recent campaign blitz. "Look, the reality of the night -- while the president and the team at the White House remain cautiously optimistic — is that history is not on his side," Leavitt added. "President Trump has been pretty pragmatic about that throughout the course of this campaign." Democrat Helena Foulkes has defeated independent Kenneth Block in the Rhode Island governor race, NBC News projects. Florida Republican Sen. Ashley Moody defeated Democrat Angie Nixon in the special election for Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s old Senate seat, NBC News projects. Sen. Ashley Moody wins Florida Senate race, NBC News projects Moody was considered the overwhelming favorite headed into the general election against Nixon, a Democratic Socialists of America-aligned candidate who scored an upset victory in the Democratic primary but faced a cash disadvantage throughout the general election. Republican Tim Griffin has defeated his opponent to win another term in the Arkansas attorney general race, NBC News projects. Polls close at 8:30 p.m. ET in Arkansas. At 9 p.m. ET, polls are set to close in 15 states. Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is taking a lead by 9 points in Denton County, which is essentially a mirror image of the state of Texas. Denton County has more than a million people, and it's the perfect bellwether county. I think Talarico needs to win here if he's going to have a chance tonight against GOP candidate Ken Paxton. Talarico leads in key Texas counties as polls close Now, while the early vote tends to favor Democrats across the country, that's not necessarily the case in Texas, as typically there has not been a big shift between early votes and Election Day votes. That doesn't mean there won't be a big difference tonight, but anything remotely like this out of Denton for Talarico when you get to 100% of the vote is what Democrats have been wishing to see from a place like this for decades now. During a speech thanking his family and supporters in New Hampshire, Republican Senate nominee John Sununu conceded the race to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. "This has been an incredible campaign, but it is not our night," Sununu told supporters. "I called Chris to congratulate him a few minutes ago. He ran a good race. More importantly, we ran a good race." NBC News has projected Pappas as the winner of the Granite State Senate race. The congressman is in the middle of his fourth term in the House. Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., speaks to supporters and media outside of the Webster Elementary School. Joseph Prezioso / Getty Images Democrat Pia Dandiya has won the toss-up House race in Florida's 22nd Congressional District, NBC News projects. Dandiya, who has worked in education, defeated Republican Casey Askar. Trump won the district by more than 10 percentage points in 2024. Republicans redrew the seat, which covers Coral Springs and Alligator Alley. It's currently represented by Democrat Lois Frankel, who decided to run in the neighboring 23rd District. In South Carolina, where Trump won 58% of the vote in 2024, Republican Sen. Darline Graham is running 10 points or more behind Trump’s numbers in all but one county that has at least 70% of its expected vote reported. That’s a serious danger sign for Graham, the appointed senator who is facing Democrat Annie Andrews for the seat once held by Graham’s late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham. Speaking to supporters in Maine, GOP Sen. Susan Collins thanked her family and supporters before she suggested it could be a long night waiting for results in her competitive re-election race against Democrat Troy Jackson. “The results are going to take awhile to come in," Collins told supporters. "We are going to keep watching and I’ll be back throughout the evening.” She also acknowledged the millions of dollars spent on TV ads in the Senate race as she thanked her husband for his support. "Now that the campaign is finally over, he can watch television without throwing the remote control at it or switching to the Canadian network,” Collins joked. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, speaks during a midterm election night watch party in Bangor, Maine. Joe Raedle / Getty Democrat Roy Cooper projected to win North Carolina Senate race Former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has defeated former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley in the contest for North Carolina’s open Senate seat, NBC News projects. Cooper’s victory secures a crucial flip for Democrats as the party tries to take control of the Senate. The party must gain a net of four seats to clinch a majority. The result also marks the first time a Democrat has won a Senate seat in North Carolina since 2008. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, coasted to re-election over GOP challenger Stacy Garrity. Shapiro’s victory was propelled by support from several key Democratic-leaning groups, according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll. Shapiro won 89% of the Black vote, 83% of Jewish voters, 79% of voters who listed no religion, 71% of voters under age 30 and 65% of Latinos. One major challenge that arose during Shapiro’s administration was a deadly measles outbreak. Pennsylvania voters approved of how Shapiro handled the outbreak by a more than 20-point margin, 61% to 38%. Rural Wisconsin resident Jaime Mercado got on a trusted 1 horsepower ride to do his civic duty and beat the high price of fuel. “I live more than 3 miles away from the polling station [Village Hall], and it took me about 50 minutes on horseback to get there. The lines were long,” he told NBC News about his chosen transportation to the polls in Racine County. “The price of gas also doesn’t help, but I mainly chose getting there by horse to create excitement and call attention to voting.” Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas has won New Hampshire’s Senate race, NBC News projects, defeating Republican John Sununu’s bid to return to the chamber after two decades. The result means the seat will stay in Democratic hands, with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen retiring at the end of this term after holding it for 18 years. She was first elected in 2008, defeating Sununu as the Republican competed for a second term. Boots Abrams never misses an election. For the last 64 years, she has worked at the polls in Genesee County, Michigan, a record-setting streak. Today, at 96, she was joined at her local precinct by her daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter, shown below — four generations of Abrams women helping neighbors vote. The Michigan secretary of state’s office noted Boots’ record-setting election worker streak on its Facebook page today. Genesee County is home to about 400,000 people, making it the fifth most populous county in Michigan. Boots Abrams, joined at her local precinct by her daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter.  Courtesy of Michigan Secretary of State Latino voters nationally are breaking more for Democrats than they did two years ago. Latino voters leaning more for Democrats in contrast to 2024 election Remember, this is a demographic that typically votes more Democratic. Trump swung a lot of those voters his way in 2024, which is part of what propelled him to victory. With about 1 in 5 midterm voters in Maryland identifying as Republicans, Wes Moore, a Democrat, was easily re-elected to a second term as governor. In addition to 91% of Democrats, more than half of independents (57%) voted for Moore, according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll. The vast majority of Black voters in the state, 90%, backed Moore, while white voters split their votes between Moore (49%) and Republican Dan Cox (48%). The Ohio Senate race leans toward Democrat Sherrod Brown. That indicates NBC News is at least 75% confident in the outcome of this race. Democrat Jared Moskowitz wins re-election in Florida's 25th Congressional District Democrat Rep. Jared Moskowitz has defeated Republican Scott Singer to win another term in Florida's 25th Congressional District, NBC News projects. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., the chair of the center-left New Democrat Coalition, told NBC News this evening that he’s confident Democrats will win the House with a strong majority. “The way things are going tonight, I’m looking forward to Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker, and having a governing majority to make a real difference in people’s lives,” Schneider said by phone. Asked what lesson he’s taking from tonight, Schneider said: “If we’re going to serve our our voters, if we’re going to earn their respect, gain their trust, and have the chance to to continue continue to govern long term. We have to address the issues they care about, and we can’t do it from a purely partisan ideological standpoint.” “We have to be willing to work across what is going to be a very diverse Democratic caucus and try to bring in some Republican colleagues where there’s common ground,” he added. In conversations, White House officials are trying to lower expectations about the GOP's performance nationwide tonight. Trump officials tell me the president is bracing for the idea that this might be really bad night for his party. Voters expressed deep dissatisfaction with the state of the country — and gloom about how life will be for the next generation, according to preliminary results from the NBC News Exit Poll. Three in 4 voters said they were unhappy with how things are going in the U.S., and 38% were angry about the state of the country. More than half of voters (57%) said life for the next generation of Americans would be worse than today; just 22% said it would be better. Behind voters’ pessimism lie deep economic and financial concerns. Voters overwhelmingly said the U.S. economy is in bad shape, with 75% rating it as either “not good” or “poor.” About 2 in 3 voters (69%) agreed that the U.S. economic system favors the wealthy, rather than being fair to most Americans. Coming in for criticism in this bleak environment: Congress. Voters gave the nation’s legislature just a 24% approval rating, and most voters (71%) said Congress was failing at its constitutional role to provide checks and balances on the presidency. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said on NBC News tonight that Trump chose the "weaker candidate" in the state's Senate race. "He chose the weaker candidate when South Carolinians knew there was a stronger candidate. And I think what you’re seeing is the response to that," Haley said, reflecting on incoming votes in the Senate race between Democrat Annie Andrews and Republican Sen. Darline Graham, sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. Nikki Haley on how Trump's choice of Sen. Darline Graham weighs on the S.C. Senate race Haley, a Republican who served in the first Trump administration, endorsed Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., when he ran in the GOP primary after Lindsey Graham died. Trump, meanwhile, pushed Darline Graham to run for the full six-year term after the state's GOP governor appointed her to serve the rest of the year. "I think it just upset a lot of South Carolinians," Haley said. "And so you have some who are not going to vote for Annie Andrews, but they just can’t get themselves to vote for Darline." Haley suggested that the current numbers are leaning in Andrews' direction. "I’m looking at these numbers and realizing that that is where it’s leaning, and it’s frustrating to me, because Annie Andrews is not someone that represents South Carolina," she said. Democrat Chris Coons has defeated Republican Mike Katz to win another term in the Delaware Senate race, NBC News projects. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has clinched a third term in office, gliding past Republican Darren Bailey in a rematch of the 2022 election, NBC News projects. Securing re-election gives Pritzker a public perch from which he can potentially launch a 2028 presidential bid. Democrat Juliana Stratton has defeated Republican Don Tracy in the Illinois Senate race, NBC News projects. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, sailed to a re-election victory today, NBC News projects. Moore, who defeated former Republican state lawmaker Dan Cox in a rematch of the 2022 race, made history four years ago when he became Maryland’s first Black governor. Democrat Maura Healey has defeated Republican Michael Minogue to win another term in the Massachusetts governor's race, NBC News projects. Democrat Cory Booker has defeated Republican Justin Murphy to win another term in the New Jersey Senate race, NBC News projects. Democrat Jack Reed has defeated Republican Raymond McKay to win another term in the Rhode Island Senate race, NBC News projects. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro easily defeated Republican state Treasurer Stacy Garrity in his re-election bid, NBC News projects. Shapiro, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, did not face much competition from Garrity, who trailed by double digits in polls in the run-up to Election Day and was vastly outpaced in fundraising. Democrat Gregg Amore has defeated to win another term in the Rhode Island secretary of state race, NBC News projects. Democrat Ed Markey has defeated Republican John Deaton to win another term in the Massachusetts Senate race, NBC News projects. The New Hampshire Senate race leans toward Democrat Chris Pappas. This indicates NBC News is at least 75% confident in the outcome of this race. Polls closed at 8 p.m. ET in more than a dozen states, including Senate battleground Maine, plus the District of Columbia. Here are the states where polls closed at the top of the hour: IllinoisMarylandMassachusettsMississippiMissouriNew HampshireNew JerseyOklahomaPennsylvaniaRhode IslandTennesseeand Washington, D.C. The next polls to close will be in Arkansas, at 8:30 p.m. ET. In Ohio, Mahoning County is at the heart of what used to be blue-collar, working class Democratic party voters. This county embodies the shift that has made Ohio a very red, very pro-Trump state. Critical Ohio county shows Democratic candidate leading in early votes Back in 2024, Trump carried the county by 10 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won there by three points, and in 2012, former President Barack Obama won it by nearly 30 points. That's the kind of change that's taken place in Mahoning County, and that is the kind of change that's taken place all through this giant swath of Ohio, where there's been major shifts from Democrats to Republicans in heavily working-class areas. Now, with the early vote starting to come in, Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown is showing a 33-point lead. The first time Brown got elected to the Senate, which is in 2006, he won this county by 50 points. By the time he got defeated in 2024, it was basically a tie for him in Mahoning County. So tonight, he's leading by 33 with the early vote. If he's winning this county at the end of tonight, you know by about 10 points or so, I think that would be a good target for him to be feeling he's having a good night. Virginia voters have approved Question 1: Right to abortion, NBC News projects. Texas hasn’t elected a Democratic senator in 38 years or a Democratic governor in 36 years. But souring views of Trump among key groups are giving Democrats a potential opening in this year’s Senate and governor’s races, according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll. Less than half of Texas voters (42%) approve of Trump’s performance as president, well below the 56% of the vote he won in the state in 2024. The drop is far steeper among groups that helped power his victory. Trump won 55% of Texas Latinos in 2024; today, just 31% approve of his job performance. He won 49% of independents in 2024, but only 32% approve of him now. Still, Democrats face steep odds. Trump carried Texas by nearly 14 points in 2024, and more than 4 in 10 voters continue to approve of his performance. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., defeated Republican challenger Mike Collins, propelled by support from key Democratic voting groups, according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll. Ossoff won 92% of Black voters, 83% of young voters, 71% of moderates and 62% of college graduates. Ossoff also won 71% of women under 45, 65% of Latinos and 63% of independents. NBC News projects Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor will win her re-election race in Florida's 14th District, defeating Republican Mike Beltran. Her path to victory was made tougher after Florida’s GOP lawmakers redrew the district this year. Trump won the district in 2024 under the redrawn lines with 55% of the vote. In a phone interview with CBS News this evening, Trump said he thinks his midterm rallies “got the word out” and “got the enthusiasm out” ahead of tonight’s election. From Oct. 1 to Election Day, Trump held 28 midterm rallies in states with competitive races, according to an NBC News analysis. He also held 18 telerallies in behalf of Republican candidates. "I think the tour made a big difference," Trump said in the phone interview. "They were all massive rallies; they were big rallies. No one has ever done anything like it. And I think we got the word out. I think we got the enthusiasm out, too.” He added that Republicans have a “good chance” of winning. "We have a good chance. But we’re not going to be embarrassed,” he said. The fluctuations in votes flowing in tonight reflect the trend of Democrats' favoring the early vote and much of the Election Day vote coming from Republicans. For example, in Florida, Democratic Senate candidate Angie Nixon's lead in Palm Beach County has already dropped from 20 points to 12 against GOP Sen. Ashley Moody. I asked voters across Wayne County today whether they were reconsidering their vote in Michigan’s Senate race after Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens’ surprise endorsement of the Republican nominee, former Rep. Mike Rogers. Nobody said they were — suggesting that voters’ views of Rogers and the Democratic nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, may have been baked into the cake before Stevens announced she was backing Rogers. The expectation coming into today was that Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff would do well in his matchup against Republican Rep. Mike Collins. Republicans seemed to feel that way, too. That's why it's not necessarily a surprise that Ossoff has won a second term, NBC News projects. In interviews today, many Georgia voters expressed frustration with high gas and grocery prices, as well as what they view as corruption in Washington. Just over half of voters said support for transgender rights in society has gone too far, according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll. Twenty-five percent said support has not gone far enough, and 22% said it has been about right. That is broadly consistent with voters' views in 2024, when the Associated Press VoteCast found 55% saying support for transgender rights in government and society had gone too far. Asked which party is better able to handle policies related to transgender people, voters gave Democrats a narrow 9-point advantage (44% to 35%), with 21% saying neither party is better. Views differed by gender, with women favoring Democrats on policies related to transgender people, while men were split. Voters who said they didn't identify as male or female almost all backed either the Democratic Party (61%) or neither party (32%) on the issue. Democratic Senate candidate Angie Nixon has picked up a significant amount of the early vote in Florida so far, as we've seen more than half the vote at this point. Nixon holds a 3-point advantage over her GOP opponent, Ashley Moody, statewide. Looking at Miami-Dade County, a massive piece of political real estate, Nixon is carrying a 10-point advantage at this point. Trump won in that county, which is a 70% Hispanic county, by 11 points in 2024. Democrat Angie Nixon in the lead as early Florida votes counted Remember, Florida is a state that Trump won by 13 points, so Democrats in any given county want to have a shift above 13 points. So far, we're seeing that they’re landing that in a lot of these early voting numbers. While we still have a considerable number of votes to go, Republicans can't like what they are seeing in this Senate race at this point. Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff has won re-election against Republican Rep. Mike Collins, NBC News projects, prevailing in Georgia after a nationally watched race that was defined, at times, by heated personal attacks. Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff projected to win re-election in Georgia Ossoff’s win is a major hold for Democrats in one of the most closely divided battleground states in the country — and one that both sides saw as critical for control of the Senate earlier this election cycle. Ossoff grabbed an early advantage in the race and held on, with a massive money advantage and a sizable lead in most public polling. In the pivotal state of Ohio, a sampling of voters who cast ballots for Democrats told NBC News that pocketbook issues were first and foremost on their minds when they went to the polls. "Cost of inflation, cost of just everyday, you know, goods, groceries, things like that," said Dominic Papa, who voted for Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown. "They're too high." Papa said he considered voting for Republican Sen. Jon Husted but was turned off by his strong support for building AI data centers. "I’m paying roughly 40% more now for electric, and that’s because of what he did with the data centers in Ohio," Papa said. Voter Heather Wagner said that affordability was also a big issue for her and that that's why she "went straight Democrat." Wagner said that when she looked at what the Republicans were campaigning on, there was "nothing with the Republicans I liked." Another Ohio voter, Karen Lynch, said she, too, supports Brown and also cast her vote for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton. Like Papa and Wagner, Lynch said she has had it with high prices. But she also said she was voting "against the corruption and the problem with the immigration policies." Asked whether she thinks Ohio could turn blue, she replied: "I think we have a shot. Yes, I do." Anna Forchione said she, too, voted for Brown and Acton. She said the Democrats have been campaigning on issues that matter most to Ohioans. "I just like where their priorities lie," Forchione said. "I think that that’s something that is misconstrued currently. So just kind of prioritizing the right things and focusing less on things that don’t matter as much." The West Virginia Senate race leans toward Republican Shelley Moore Capito. This indicates NBC News is at least 75% confident in the outcome of this race. As he prepared to cast his ballot in Des Moines, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand said he might vote for some Republicans himself, underscoring his cross-party appeal in a state that has shifted sharply toward the GOP. Asked by reporters at his polling location whether he planned to support any Republicans, Sand said he was “actually not sure yet,” but he noted that he has previously supported Republican-registered candidates in local, nonpartisan races. Sand, Iowa’s only statewide elected Democrat, faces Republican Zach Lahn in a closely watched governor’s race in a state Trump carried by 13 points in 2024. Asked what a victory would mean for Iowa’s political direction, Sand resisted drawing broader conclusions. “That’ll be something that people can debate,” Sand said. “It’ll just mean that I’ve been elected governor.” Sand pointed to support from Republicans and independents who typically vote Republican, saying many want to see “a little bit of balance” restored to state government. He also said connecting with voters through hunting had helped change some people’s perceptions of Democrats. “I’m not here to be a governor for a party,” Sand said. “Like our yard signs say, I want to be the governor for all.” With rain moving through central Iowa on Election Day, Sand brushed off concerns that the weather could dampen turnout. “If your supporters are people who are a little bit less excited and the rain turns them away, then that’s a problem for you as a candidate,” he said. Baleigh Epps, 18, and Jaí Jack, 19, said they needed three tries and 3½ hours before they were able to cast their first ballots today in South Carolina. The two friends said they registered together months ago at their high school but were turned away when they showed up to vote at 3 p.m. in Goose Creek, about 17 miles north of Charleston. They said they were told that their names weren’t on the voter rolls. “All they said was that, since our names weren’t registered, we couldn’t vote,” Epps, 18, said in a phone interview. Once they were outside the precinct, they bumped into a local politician, Democratic state Rep. JA Moore, who urged them to go back inside and request provisional ballots. Those are ballots that are used if there are questions about voters’ eligibility. They said they went inside a second time — and were turned away again. So they left. Finally, after urging from Moore, they said, they went back a third time and asked to vote. Epps said that, eventually, poll workers found her name on the rolls and she was able to cast a regular ballot at about 6:30 p.m., though she said she didn’t get an explanation for why her registration had been so difficult to find. Jack said she voted by provisional ballot after poll workers still couldn’t find her name on the rolls. “I don’t understand why I wasn’t registered when we registered at the same time and place,” she said. Election officials in Berkeley County, which includes Goose Creek, did not respond to requests for comment. Moore praised the young voters’ persistence and criticized the barriers to voting, especially for the state’s Black community. He said a third friend was with Epps and Jack earlier in the day and was also turned away but couldn't return a third time because of work obligations. A voter leaves after casting his ballot at Monument of Faith Church in Durham, N.C., today. Matt Ramey / AP The next batch of poll closures are scheduled for 8 p.m. ET, in 16 states and the District of Columbia. The steady erosion of Democrats’ advantage among Latino voters came to a halt this year, according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll. After it narrowed from 33 points in 2018 to 10 points in 2024, Democrats’ edge over Republicans with Latino voters now stands at 16 points. Forty-three percent of Latino voters said they identify as Democrats, up from 39% in 2024 but well below the 54% who did so in 2018. Meanwhile, 27% said they now identify as Republicans, down slightly from 2024 but still up from 21% in 2018. Latino voters were a key part of the coalition that helped Trump win in 2024, and both parties have competed for their support this year. The Georgia Senate race leans toward Democrat Jon Ossoff. That indicates NBC News is at least 75% confident in the outcome. The official Coconino County, Arizona, X account posted today that horses were headed to prepare for voters at the Havasupai Community Center in Supai Village, a Native American reservation within the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Melissa Randazzo, a spokesperson for Coconino County, told NBC News, “The Coconino County Elections Department hires wranglers, mules and horses from the Havasupai Tribe’s tourism office to carry elections supplies and equipment down to Supai Village.” Some of the items carried by the mules on the 8-mile trek one way include poll books and ballots, a Starlink internet router and accessible voting machines. Randazzo said two election representatives, one from each party, also accompany the group to ensure bipartisan supervision. Coconino County Elections Department Members of the Navajo Nation have gone to great lengths to ensure neighbors could vote, giving voters rides to polling locations through muddy, flood-affected streets. “We had people risking their personal vehicles to go out and pick them up,” said J.J. Dawes, the chief poll judge at a polling location in Rock Point, Arizona. Flooding from a weekend storm washed out roads in several communities in the nation, leaving some impassable. Calli Jones, the communications director for the Arizona secretary of state’s office, said that access to polling locations was limited in certain areas of the Navajo Nation but that communities had organized a "ride to the polls” efforts and recruited people with 4x4 vehicles to make sure people could vote. “Our office continues to work with Navajo DOJ [Department of Justice] and voter advocacy groups in this area and others around the state to do what we can to help voters overcome the challenges created by the storm and flooding,” Jones said. Trump criticized Fox News on Truth Social as the first set of polls closed tonight, saying the conservative-leaning network's ratings "are way down" because "because they’re spending too much time covering the Trump Deranged Dumocrats!" Trump claimed his numbers are "better than they have ever been," which is false — his approval rating has decreased. An NBC News Exit Poll tonight found that 38% of voters approve of his performance, compared with 62% who disapprove. "Why is Fox Corp. spending so much money donating to the Worst of the Worst, including Hakeem Jeffries, Jamie Raskin, Ted Lieu, Pete Aguilar, the California Dumocratic Party, the Dumocratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Dumocratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, the CHC Bold PAC, and the New Dumocrat Coalition Action Fund, among others," Trump wrote. He continued: "No wonder FoxNews Ratings are collapsing, and they’re going to go down a lot further. They’re way down, not because of me, but because they are AGAINST me! This happened once before, and Fox almost collapsed. It’s happening again!" Trump wrote other Truth Social posts this evening voicing outrage at Fox. Voters narrowly said the Democratic Party is better able to handle the economy than the Republican Party, by a 5-point margin, according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll. That's a reversal from 2024, when voters favored Trump over Kamala Harris to handle the economy by a 7-point margin. Democrats’ largest advantage was on healthcare; voters favored the Democratic Party on that issue by 19 percentage points. The GOP’s strongest issue was immigration; the Republican Party was narrowly favored over the Democratic Party (44% versus 40%). FBI officials have refuted social media posts claiming the agency “uncovered fraudulent ballots” in a Houston warehouse “raid.” “That information is false and no election-related operation occurred,” an FBI spokesperson said in a statement. The posts were spread across social media by accounts supporting Trump and the Republican Party, racking up thousands of shares. One of the posts claimed the ballots were filled out with votes for Democratic candidates. Among the first to spread the false information was Jonathan Gregory, an online influencer posting a slew of other unsubstantiated news items targeting Democrats. Copies of the false FBI post spread on Instagram, X and local Facebook groups, where some people took it as fact. Gregory did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The rumor is just the latest in a series of false and conspiratorial claims alleging voter fraud, partially spurred by genuine malfunctions in equipment and complications brought on by severe weather. I spoke earlier about the importance of Osceola County, Florida, where we now have early voting data in. It was a very significant development when Trump won the county in 2024. Now, with most of the early voting data in, the Democratic nominee for governor, David Jolly, is leading by more than 20 points. In the Senate race, Democratic nominee Angie Nixon is leading the county by 20 points. The question is: Will these Democratic advantages here hold after Election Day voting data is reported? Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who died in July, was elected to four terms in the Senate, illustrating the state's deep-red makeup. That's partly why it's extraordinary that the race for his open Senate seat is competitive at all. Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham, his sister, to fill his seat. She is running for a full term against Democratic nominee Annie Andrews, a physician who has sought to position herself as a moderate. More than 1.9 million South Carolinians have cast ballots so far, representing 56% of the state's registered voters, breaking two gubernatorial election records, according to the South Carolina Election Commission. The number represents "the highest levels of participation recorded over the past 30 years for both the total number of votes cast and the percentage of registered voters participating," the Election Commission said. People line up to vote in Columbia, S.C., today. Allison Joyce / Getty The previous record for a gubernatorial election was set in 2002, at 54.6% turnout, and the previous record for total votes cast in a gubernatorial election was set in 2018, with 1,726,527 voters participating. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., coasted to re-election for his fourth term over GOP challenger Bert Mizusawa. Warner’s success was built on locking down support from core Democratic voting blocs, according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll. Warner won 95% of the Black vote, 70% of women under age 45 and 70% of college graduates. Warner also enjoyed strong support from young voters overall (68%) and independents (65%). There was no evidence that Warner improved upon his 2020 re-election performance in terms of support among white voters who did not graduate from college (41% in 2020 versus 40% in 2026) or rural and small-city voters (48% in 2020 versus 42% in 2026). Democrat Mark Warner has defeated Republican Bert Mizusawa to win another term in the Virginia Senate race, NBC News projects. Polls closed at 7 p.m. ET in six states: These are the first states to finish voting. The next batch of poll closures will take place at 7:30 p.m. ET, in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia. One of the first places we got votes in Florida in 2024 was Osceola County. It's one of the places that, when we got votes in that year, I knew Trump was going to win. It’s a heavily Latino county and used to be reliably Democratic. Joe Biden won there in 2020, but Trump won the county in 2024. Part of Osceola is in Florida's 9th District, which features a competitive race between Democratic Rep. Darren Soto and GOP nominee Dan Green. This will be a really interesting one for me when it comes in after polls close there at 7 p.m. For Soto to have a good night, he wants to be leading with a vote share in the high-50s when data from early voting is reported. Like in other places, the early voting data that comes in in Florida tends to be more Democratic than the vote from Election Day. ICE posted six news releases on Election Day touting recent arrests of noncitizens' illegally voting, but all of the arrests happened last week. ICE pushed announcements of arrests on social media alleging “misleading voting,” but it’s unclear when those arrests happened. The social media posts, which accumulated thousands of reposts, used photos of the suspects and all-capital letters while withholding the dates when the arrests took place. The announcements were made alongside a post Election Day morning that said: “If you vote illegally, we will find you. We will track you down, arrest you, and prosecute you. There will be no escape.” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin echoed the sentiment this morning on social media, saying anyone voting illegally will be hunted down. Although Mullin previously said ICE agents would not be at polling locations, researchers have warned the social media messaging could be designed to heighten anxiety about their potential presence, possibly seeking to suppress votes. Cases of illegal voting are rare in the U.S., which has had just a couple of hundred cases against the millions of votes cast. An analysis last week of noncitizen voting cases by NBC News found that 75% of the cases involved people who were lawfully in the U.S. In response to one of the ICE posts, California Gov. Gavin Newsom warned agents against breaking the law. “If YOU show up to the polls illegally, we will find you,” he posted. “We will track you down, arrest you, and prosecute you. There will be no escape.” A DHS spokesperson said: “ICE is not planning operations targeting polling locations. ICE conducts intelligence-driven targeted enforcement, and if an active public safety threat endangered a polling location, they may be arrested as a result of that targeted enforcement action.” They did not clarify why announcements of the arrests were made on Election Day. Turnout appears high here in Arlington, where many voters told us that the price of gas was the key issue driving them to the polls. People arrive to vote in Arlington, Texas, today. Ricardo Arduengo / AFP via Getty Energy costs have been on the rise nationwide since the start of the U.S. war with Iran. Shortly after the conflict began, the regime in Tehran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil flowed before the war. National regular gas prices were $4.17 per gallon yesterday, according to data from AAA. A year ago, the national average was $3.03. Amid national concerns about rising prices — particularly gas and diesel costs — voters said they had negative views of the U.S. conflict with Iran, according to preliminary results from the NBC News Exit Poll. Sixty-two percent of voters said the U.S. made the wrong decision in taking military action against Iran, including a large majority of voters who backed Democrats in the House. In contrast, voters who backed Republican candidates were far more supportive of the war: 77% said it was the right decision, while 22% said it was the wrong decision. The Iran war was important to voters of both parties, but a far higher share of those who supported Democratic candidates for the House said it was crucial to their votes (45%), compared with 21% of voters who supported Republican candidates. The Service Employees International Union has asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for a “full court en banc review” of the 9th Circuit’s decision in the case over threats to election officials — which means asking all 29 judges on the court to weigh in. It's a legal maneuver that's rarely made. The ruling earlier today allowed the Trump administration to continue threatening election officials with legal action if they don’t comply with the demands set out in those “noncitizen registered voter” letters. Attorney Stacey Leyton wrote on behalf of the SEIU that the principles embedded in the Constitution "require correction of this erroneous decision by the full Court.” Leyton wrote that the union believes the intention of the Trump administration’s threats “is to force election officials to stop processing ballots in compliance with state law before, during, and after Election Day. The concern continues after Election Day, as votes are tabulated and certified in the coming weeks prior to the deadlines for certification of the election.” “The purpose and effect of these threats is to coerce election officials across the country to alter or disregard their own duly enacted procedures, segregate ballots, and disenfranchise voters.” Voters largely said they were confident that the midterm election was conducted fairly and accurately both in their states and across the country, according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll. Seventy-one percent said they were confident about the fairness and accuracy of the election in their states. That dropped slightly to 59% confidence when it came to the fairness and accuracy of the election across the country, with 41% saying they were not too confident. Only a small minority of voters were deeply skeptical about the accuracy of national results (13%) or state results (11%). Voters also expressed confidence that people who were eligible to vote would be allowed to vote (81%) and that those who were not eligible would be barred (64%), though some voters disagreed. Three-quarters of voters said they disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job, while nearly 6 in 10 said they disapprove of the performance of the Supreme Court and ICE, according to preliminary results from the NBC News Exit Poll. By significant margins, Republicans were far likelier than Democrats to approve of how Congress, the Supreme Court and ICE are handling their jobs. Most Republicans (81%) said they approve of ICE's work, compared with only 5% of Democrats. Three-quarters of Republicans also approved of the conduct of the Supreme Court, versus only 15% of Democrats. Rating the job performance of Congress, a majority of Republicans disapproved (54%), but 46% approved, compared with only 9% approval from Democrats. It's a tale of two Trump presidencies. Back in 2018, as Americans voted in the midterms during Trump's first term, 68% said the condition of the U.S. economy was excellent or good in exit polls. Now that has flipped, with just 25% calling the economy excellent or good and 75% calling it not so good or poor in NBC News' Exit Polls today. NBC News exit polls compare voters' thoughts on Trump's economy in 2018 and 2026 Voters are also feeling worse about their own finances. In 2018, 85% said their family's financial situation was better or about the same as it was two years previously. Now, 82% said their family's financial situation is actually worse or about the same as it was two years ago. Consumer prices have soared faster than paychecks — with 3.7% inflation over the last year compared with 3% wage growth. And families spent $1,988 more on food and housing alone in 2025 than in 2024. Many are struggling to keep up — never mind get ahead. Now, more than 6 in 10 voters blame Trump's policies for higher-than-usual prices. And nearly two-thirds of voters said tariffs — a hallmark of Trump's economic policy — have hurt the national economy. A similar share said tariffs have hurt their local economies. It all tells the story of American consumers under stress and thinking about their wallets at the ballot box. NBC News spoke with four Texas voters at Klein Multipurpose Center in Harris County, including one who recently became a citizen and voted for the first time. Cindy Bonilla Candanedo, a nurse practitioner, became a citizen last year and cast her ballot early in person. She voted for Democratic state Sen. James Talarico, the party’s U.S. Senate nominee, and Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, the party’s nominee for governor, though she is not registered with any party. She said she has seen fewer Latino people coming to the hospital where she works because of immigration issues during the second Trump administration and identified public school funding and better healthcare as her top issues. Another woman, Beth Burgess, declined to say whom she voted for, but she said she has gone “pretty much red” in the past. Today, however, she said she voted for both Republicans and Democrats on her ballot. She said she could not remember voting for a mix of candidates from different parties since “probably early 2000s.” Her biggest concern was better funding for public schools, and she also said she’d like to see “Washington actually do something instead of fighting with each other and continuously promising and not delivering.” Charlie Beal voted for Democratic candidates and expressed concern about high costs and how they would affect his grandchildren’s future. He, like many others, highlighted the need for change in Texas, saying it has been “the same old dirty political tricks.” He also emphasized his concern about Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and the administration’s handling of immigration. “I don’t like how they got ICE out here, you know, beating and killing people,” he said. Curtis Lorn wouldn’t say whom he voted for, but said he voted “mostly Republican,” adding, “You can’t put a label on people, but I just believe that most of the bad ones here lately have been Democrats.” He voted for Trump in 2024. When I asked him how he felt Trump had done in office, he said, “No comment.” Asked how long he’d give prices to go down, he said four years. “In another year,” he added, “it needs to be straight.” I said earlier that Democrats need a commanding lead in early voting in Hamilton County if they want to have a chance of flipping Indiana's 5th District. We just got our first vote dump from the county, which puts Democratic nominee J.D. Ford at 63.6% and GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz at 36.4% — a 27-point lead for Ford. It's a big number: I've never seen a Hamilton County early vote number that looks like this. Indiana early voting shows substantial lead for Democrats As a point of comparison, the early point dump from the county in 2024 showed then-Vice President Kamala Harris leading by just one point. Now, we can't draw too many conclusions from early voting. It's possible that Democratic voters shifted in larger numbers than GOP voters to early voting this year and that votes cast today will shift the race in Spartz' favor. But this is so far a good sign for Democrats in a bellwether county. Alaska has broken the state record with 105,423 early vote and absentee ballots received as of 5:45 p.m. ET, according to the state Elections Division. That breaks the record of 100,877 ballots received in 2022, officials said. The marquee matchup is the hotly contested battle for the Senate pitting Democrat Mary Peltola against Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan and independent Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. Negative views of the Republican Party have risen since the 2022 midterms, from 52% to 59% of voters, according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll. By contrast, views of the Democratic Party have been more stable. Voters were divided over their views of economic and political philosophies. A majority (57%) of voters expressed favorable views of capitalism, compared with 32% who expressed favorable opinions of socialism. In both cases, at least 12% of voters said they did not know enough to answer. Voters under age 30 were likelier to have favorable views of socialism than capitalism (47% for socialism versus 37% for capitalism). Among voters ages 30 and older, support for capitalism was far higher than support for socialism. In Hamtramck, voters casting ballots for Abdul El-Sayed said the economy and values were behind their decisions to pick El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate. Abdul El-Sayed visits a polling precinct on the campus of the University of Michigan today. Salwan Georges / Getty “It shouldn’t be this hard,” said Aimon Islam, 24. “Gas prices are expensive. We’re spending billions of dollars, which is something that overseas that we shouldn’t be fighting. You know, schools, infrastructures down. I mean, this is what we need. We need money out of politics, money in your pockets.” Islam said his biggest issue is affordability. “We are supposed to be a superpower in the world,” he said. “We’re supposed to be the best country in the world, and people can’t afford groceries.” Voter Carol Lee echoed similar thoughts about the issues and said that while she is going to be happy not to be getting so many texts after the election is done, she is glad to see Michigan in the spotlight. “The eye is on Michigan right now,” Lee said. “I’m happy to see that.” Adnen Gobas said that the economy is his top issue and that he feels confident of El-Sayed’s chances. Control of the Senate is on the line today following a midterm election cycle with races marked by betrayal, allegations of ballot shenanigans and Trump’s incessant swooning over the backside of one Republican candidate. Close races are expected in several traditional battlegrounds — including Georgia, Michigan and North Carolina — but also in states that have become more reliably red since Trump’s rise in politics, such as Ohio and Iowa. There are two House seats that could be competitive tonight with poll closings in the 6 p.m. ET hour that we'll be watching. The first is Indiana's 5th District, where GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz is running for re-election. The district includes Hamilton County, which historically has gone for Republicans. But in recent years Hamilton County, outside of Indianapolis, has been shifting away from the GOP toward Democrats, much like other suburban counties Democrats are eyeing tonight across the country. If Democrats are having an exceptionally good night nationally, this could be the kind of district that could flip early. One note of caution: the tally from people who voted early, which we'll likely see shortly after 6 p.m., is likely to be more Democratic than the full Election Day vote. So if Democrats don't perform well in these first results it doesn't bode well for their full showing. Another district we’re watching after 6 p.m. is Kentucky’s 6th District. It’s open because GOP Rep. Andy Barr is running for Senate. Zach Dembo, the Democratic nominee, needs to pull strong numbers in Lexington to have a good night. It’s a district that on a really, really good night for Democrats, they need to compete in. If GOP nominee Ralph Alvarado is winning by double digits, it’s a good sign for Republicans early in the night. A large share of voters said that they believe artificial intelligence will do more to hurt society than to help, according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll. Voters who cast ballots for Democratic candidates for the House were more likely to say AI would hurt society (65%). GOP voters were more divided, with 47% saying AI would do more to hurt society and 33% saying it would do more to help. Voters under 30 were particularly likely to raise concerns about AI: Nearly 70% said it would do more to hurt society, compared to about 6 in 10 voters ages 30 to 64 and 50% of voters 65 and older. The poll also found that a large majority of voters (76%) oppose the construction of a new data center in their community — and this view held among voters who supported both Democratic and Republican House candidates. Voters were about evenly split on which party is better able to handle the AI, with 43% saying neither party and the remainder divided between the Democratic Party (29%) and the Republican Party (27%). In the final sprint to the midterm elections, Donald Trump has sounded like a president bracing for losses and eager to move on to what interests him more. Americans won’t see much of Trump as the final votes are cast. He’s scheduled to stay inside the White House all day and watch the results Tuesday night at a closed-door reception in the East Room. With him will be Cabinet members, White House staff and some outside advisers, including his pollster, Tony Fabrizio, according to a White House official. President Donald Trump at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Monday. Finn Gomez / Getty Sitting presidents typically see their party lose seats in Congress during the midterms. Though he’s headlined 28 rallies since Oct. 1, Trump hasn’t sounded confident in recent days that Republicans were poised to defy the trend. Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters said this evening that Republicans will "defy history" tonight, but said it will "all come down to turnout." "I think we’re well positioned to defy history," Gruters said in an interview with NBC News Now's "Meet the Press NOW." Asked if there is a path to Republicans maintaining control of the House, Gruters said, "Absolutely, but it all comes down to turnout. So if you’re watching this program right now and you have not voted, make sure you get out there and vote." "We have a couple of hours left. We can still turn the tide," he continued. "You know, we have to fight. There’s no second chances, no do-overs. And if you want to protect freedom and if you want to protect the country, we’ve got to keep on moving forward." The president's party has historically lost ground during midterm elections, which Trump has repeatedly pointed to when he's weighed in on Republicans' prospects. More than half of voters (57%) said Trump’s immigration enforcement actions have gone too far, according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll, while 23% say they have been about right and 21% say they have not gone far enough. The second Trump administration has carried out an intense and highly visible immigration crackdown that has transformed communities. Many voters said they had a negative view of the agency at the center of those efforts: 59% of voters said they disapprove of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), while 41% said they approve. Still, Trump’s approach retains substantial support: more than 4 in 10 voters said his enforcement actions have been about right or have not gone far enough. Most voters also said they held positive views of immigrants. Fifty-nine percent said immigrants do more to help the country than hurt it, including 91% of Democrats, 64% of independents and 23% of Republicans. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., appeared to brush off Rep. Haley Stevens’, D-Mich., surprise endorsement of former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in the Michigan Senate race, telling NBC News’ Kristen Welker that the move “unified” various voting blocs around Abdul El-Sayed, the party’s nominee. When asked by Welker whether Stevens' backing of Rogers could cost the Democrats a Senate seat, Dingell said in part: "It has really unified a number of communities, I think." Dingell went on to say that she believes El-Sayed will prevail, adding, "I think we’ll know tonight." With 30 minutes to the first polls closing, we're live now at the Kornacki cam. We’re going to do it all night. It might be light outside by the time we get done here. I'll be jumping back and forth between my livestream and the NBC network special, which will be available to viewers in all markets starting at 6:30 p.m. Maine Senate candidate Troy Jackson said today that Democrats' first priority in Congress will be to repeal Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill." "We’ll have numbers to do that, but not to override a veto," he added. "But I think I’d like to try and work with some of the Republican senators because it’s gonna affect their states as much as possible." The issue of government corruption was a significant factor influencing voters nationwide, with 90% saying it was a crucial or a major factor in their vote for Congress, according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll. But voters were divided on whether the Democratic or Republican Party is better positioned to fight corruption. More leaned toward the Democratic Party (36%), yet 31% said the Republican Party was better positioned. Notably, another 33% of voters said they didn't believe either party would be better at addressing the issue. Alaska Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan voted today in Anchorage, telling reporters afterward that his Democratic opponent, former Rep. Mary Peltola, is responsible for putting another Senate candidate named Dan J. Sullivan on the ballot to mislead voters. Both Sullivans and Peltola are on the ballot in the general election, in which Alaskans will choose their next senator through ranked choice voting. Peltola has denied any involvement in the candidacy of the second Dan Sullivan. Sen. Dan Sullivan checks in at a polling location in Anchorage today. Charly Triballeau / AFP via Getty “We are witnessing the biggest election cheating scandal in the history of the state of Alaska,” Sullivan told the media. “Maybe one of the biggest in the U.S. Senate’s history.” A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit from the Trump administration on Sunday that would have blocked the certification of Alaska’s Senate race if the incumbent Sullivan lost. Appearing on FOX News today, Attorney General Todd Blanche said the federal judge “dismissed it purely on procedural grounds,” and that she “did not disagree with our underlying lawsuit, which is that this is a fraud on the Alaskan voters.” The DOJ is appealing the judge’s decision, and is still moving forward with an investigation into Daniel J. Sullivan, also known as the “Decoy Dan,” and his campaign. The DOJ has sent several target letters, according to two sources who spoke with NBC News, to alert the recipients that prosecutors aim to question them about potential criminal conduct. Voters across the country shared their Election Day journeys on TikTok, with some walking or riding longboards because of high gas prices, while others waited in the pouring rain to cast their ballots. The videos come amid soaring fuel prices linked to the war in Iran. Prices have soared more than 40% since the U.S. and Israel first attacked Iran. In Saint Paul, Minnesota, a TikTok user named Ary documented her walk to the polls, taking viewers along as she crossed a bridge and made her way through the city’s rain-soaked streets. “Come with me walking to go vote in this election because, look, I am broke and I don’t want to use gas when my poll is less than a mile away from me,” she said. After waiting two hours in the rain to cast her ballot, Ary ended the video with an “I Voted” sticker and a message: “What a privilege it is to vote for those who can’t.” She wasn’t the only voter who decided to leave the car behind. In Detroit, Michigan, another TikTok user shared a video of himself riding a longboard with an “I Voted” sticker on his shirt, saying he had opted not to drive because of gas prices. Beyond the cost of gas, rainy weather also made going to the polls a challenge for some voters. In San Francisco, content creator Emma Jaeger filmed herself walking beneath an umbrella in the rain, encouraging others to vote despite the weather. “Make sure to get out there and vote despite the rain,” she wrote. Another TikTok creator, who goes by Ayelul, echoed that message, “My thing is, if you can stand outside in negative weather for the club, you can stand outside in the rain at the polls.” Other TikTok users shared footage of voters waiting in the rain outside polling locations or walking through downpours to cast their ballots. Trump’s job approval rating among voters is lower than the rating of any sitting president on Election Day in nearly two decades, according to preliminary results from the NBC News Exit Poll. At just 38%, Trump’s approval rating in the exit poll is below that of any president in office since 2008, when voters’ approval of President George W. Bush plummeted to 27% at the end of his two terms in office. Trump’s numbers are substantially lower than in his first midterm election in 2018 (when 45% of voters approved of his performance) as well as in his 2020 election defeat (when 50% approved). The election has emerged as a major referendum on Trump’s performance: Most Americans said they are casting their votes to express support or opposition to his presidency. About 6 in 10 voters said a reason for their Congress vote today was either to express support for or opposition to Trump. This number is slightly lower than the share who said Trump was a factor in their vote in 2018, but it’s substantially higher than in the 2022 midterms, when just half of voters said that President Joe Biden’s performance was a factor in their vote. The polling location at Rockbridge Elementary School in Gwinnett County, Georgia, will remain open for an additional seven minutes, a judge ruled today. The decision comes after voting briefly paused for seven minutes due to a school safety drill, according to a county spokesperson. Voting, which was originally slated to end at 7 p.m., will now be extended until 7:07 p.m. Voters who arrive between 7 p.m. and 7:07 p.m. can vote only via provisional ballots, but anyone already in line by 7 p.m. can cast regular ballots. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said this afternoon that there are likely fewer than 30 Department of Justice election monitors across Polk and Linn counties. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate in Des Moines, Iowa, on May 30. KC McGinnis / Bloomberg via Getty He said they are “totally just observing” and not interfering with the election process, and that the DOJ will submit reports later if they have concerns about election procedures. Pate said his understanding is that things have gone fine so far. Concerns about the cost of gas, groceries and utilities are running high, and most voters are blaming Trump for these problems, according to preliminary results from the NBC News Exit Poll. Among voters, 44% said they were worse off financially than two years ago, when Trump took office. Just 18% said they were better off. These are similar numbers to where things stood in the 2022 midterms when Joe Biden was president, but economic sentiment is much worse than in Trump’s first midterm election in 2018. Driving voters’ financial concerns: the cost of living. Nearly all voters said they were “very” or “somewhat” concerned about the prices of food and groceries, gas and diesel fuel, utilities and healthcare.  All told, 79% of voters said that inflation is causing hardship for their families. Voters pinned the blame on Trump for doing more harm than good on holding down prices. Nearly two thirds said Trump’s policies have made the economy worse; 65% said his tariff policies were hurting the national economy; and 62% said he’s responsible for high prices. A key question in this election is the extent to which these midterms are a referendum on Trump. Early signs in exit polls suggest they are — Trump’s disapproval rating is a dismal 62% in early exits, with his approval at just 38%. A majority of voters (59%) say Trump was a factor in their vote. And a higher share (43%) say one reason for their vote was to express opposition to Trump rather than support (16%). Trump called into Dan Bongino's show, though he did not discuss today's election in depth with the former FBI deputy director. Asked about the final two years of his presidency, Trump said, "We have many, many things in the hopper." At one point in the conversation, Trump also used two different numbers in the same sentence to tout investment in the U.S. "We’re 22 trillion of investment, and think of it: 25, 25 trillion dollars in an increase of the net worth of our country," Trump said. "Nobody’s ever heard of a number like that." Trump has previously repeatedly invoked what he said has been a $21 trillion investment in the country. However, a White House website puts the number at about half of that. The White House has not provided evidence backing up the president's claims about total investments in the U.S. The U.S. midterm election has thus far gone off without any major issues, according to Stephen Richer, a legal scholar at the Cato Institute, a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center, and an NBC News election analyst. "Election officials have spent the past year preparing for the worst," he said in an email. "So far, it hasn’t happened." "Far from it, in fact," he added. "Election Day has been smooth, building on a highly successful early-voting period in which over 55 million Americans voted." That, of course, does not mean that there have not been some local hiccups. "One of the few material voting issues comes from Westchester County, New York, where a programming error has prevented the tabulation of ballots at some voting locations," Richer wrote. "New York uses hand-marked paper ballots. Those ballots unable to be read by the tabulators will be securely stored and tabulated later in the evening when the problem is fixed. It should not prevent any voters from voting." "Broward County, Florida, is also experiencing some technical challenges," he added. "NBC News reported earlier that a software glitch sent some voters home early in the morning. They will need to return to a voting location later today." "Such technical challenges are, of course, undesirable, and their impact on the individual voter should not be ignored," he continued. "But these challenges are also par for the course. There are approximately 100,000 voting locations open across 9,000 voting jurisdictions in the country. Over 50 million Americans will vote today. In a world of imperfect machines and imperfect humans, something happens every general election. Such errors should be clearly communicated so as to dispel any unfounded allegations, and election officials must quickly deploy contingency plans so that every voter can vote." "Various arms of the federal government have sent out unorthodox messages reminding noncitizens that it is unlawful for them to vote in state and federal contests," Richer concluded. "There are no reports of federal interference." Voters in Juneau, Alaska, said they're ready for the election to be over, citing intense national attention on the Senate race between Democrat Mary Peltola and incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola.  Getty A second Dan Sullivan, this one a retired teacher with no political experience, is also running in the general election for the seat, which Alaskans will fill via ranked-choice voting. Republicans and the Trump administration have accused Democrats of recruiting the second Dan Sullivan to run. One of the biggest issues for Juneau voters like Maria Gladziszewsky is corruption, as the latest NBC News polling shows. “The grifting and corruption that’s happening is astonishing to me. I never thought this would happen in this country,” Maria Gladziszewsky, a Democrat and longtime Juneau resident said. “We want the attention to go away. And I mean, we’re happy we’re important for once, I guess, I’d say. But it’s really time to be over,” she added. Eric Olson, a Democrat and longtime Juneau resident, said this election has been “messy” and that he’s received “two Dan Sullivan fancy flyers a day. I’m very ready for it to be over.” Juneau voters are still not deterred or confused by the two Sullivans on the ballot. As Democrat Greg Cook said, “It’s like putting one shoe on your left foot and one shoe on your right foot. It’s not that hard.” Voting has continued at two precincts in Richmond, Virginia, after shooting threats were reported by phone in the early afternoon, according to the city's office of elections. The first threat was reported at roughly 12:42 p.m. ET at Thomas Jefferson High School, and a second threat was reported at approximately 1:43 p.m. ET at Barack Obama Elementary School, the elections office said in a statement. "The Richmond Police Department responded by deploying multiple resources to assess the threats, conduct security checks, and help ensure the safety of voters, election officers, and staff at both locations," the elections office said. "The safety of voters, election officers, and staff remains our highest priority," the office added in part. "These incidents should not deter Richmond residents from exercising their right to vote." Eddie Davalos votes at a Checkers grocery store today in Lawrence, Kansas. Three voting locations in Chester County, Pennsylvania, will have extending voting hours, the county posted in an online notice. Voting will be extended at the three locations for 30 minutes "due to machine set-up issues that briefly delayed the opening of those polling locations this morning," the county website said. Voting at these locations will end at 8:30 p.m., but voting ends at most of the state's polling locations at 8 p.m. The House of Representatives is up for grabs today as Democrats try to wrest control from Republicans, who have enjoyed power in the chamber for the past four years but are facing formidable political headwinds. The outcome will set the tone and sway the direction of the final two years of President Donald Trump’s tenure in the White House, with Democrats vowing to aggressively investigate his administration if they win control of the House. And while Republicans were able to advance signature Trump priorities on party-line votes over the last two years, Democrats would have a say in any major congressional action if the House flips. The House race in California's 34th Congressional District, where a DSA-aligned Democrat is trying to unseat an incumbent Democrat, is one of several today where progressive lawmakers are hoping to expand their bloc. Organizer Angela Gonzales Torres is facing off against more moderate incumbent Rep. Jimmy Gomez, who is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over sexual assault allegations. Gomez has denied the allegations. Gonzales Torres told NBC News she's proud of the campaign she built. “We’ve been ready for leadership that reflects our values as Angelenos, and we really are excited about the prospect of being able to work with this slate as part of a bi-coastal effort to ensure we protect and expand our public housing,” she said, adding another of her priorities was to pass universal healthcare. Other progressive Democrats seeking House seats in today's elections are New Yorkers Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez, and Colorado’s Melat Kiros. A larger progressive block could test the platforms of the Democratic Party. Asked if she would back Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., for Democratic leader, Gonzales Torres did not directly answer, but said she was “really excited and focused on supporting leaders that are not fully funded by corporate super PACs right now.” The candidate also weighed in on the candidacy of Nithya Raman, a DSA-aligned candidate running for Los Angeles mayor against Democratic incumbent Karen Bass. Raman was the subject of a vote by the DSA’s national governing body yesterday, who was weighing whether to revoke their endorsement over Raman’s stances on Israel, which some members said did not go far enough. The body voted to keep their endorsement of Raman by one vote. “Should Nithya Roman be the next mayor, I’m excited to work with her and make sure where there’s room to grow that we do that together,” Gonzales Torres said. “And I know that Angelenos, and particularly DSA LA and DSA National members trust that I would be impeccable with my word with that.” The North Carolina State Board of Elections voted to extend voting hours at a handful of precinct locations following timing issues, including short delays in opening a location. The board held an emergency meeting this afternoon, which it said was “a routine part of Election Day operations and is classified as an emergency meeting only to meet public notice requirements.” Polls close in most precincts at 7:30 p.m. The board voted to extend voting by 45 minutes at the Tabor City Courthouse in Columbus County, as well as shorter extensions at a few polling places in four other counties. The extensions mean that the state will be delayed by 45 minutes in posting statewide election results, the board said in a post to Facebook. A board member explained the polling extension rules at the start of the board meeting this afternoon: “If the polls are delayed in opening for more than 15 minutes, or if they are interrupted for more than 15 minutes after opening, then the state board has the discretion to extend the closing time by an equal number of minutes.” Westchester County ballot tabulators malfunctioned across the county today, alarming voters and fueling a flurry of conspiracy theories online. The issue was discovered early in the morning, after ballot tabulators failed to scan voters’ hand-marked paper ballots in 44 out of 45 of the county’s municipalities. State election officials said in a post on X that the issue was due to a programming error. Maine's Senate race is one of the marquee races of this midterm cycle, and voters who spoke to NBC News at Bangor's lone polling location were split between incumbent Susan Collins, a Republican, and her progressive challenger, Democrat Troy Jackson. Jenny Salim said she voted for Collins, pointing to her moderate brand as a key reason. “I feel like she’s been an important bipartisan voice for us here in Maine, and I want her to keep voting on either side, whichever she thinks is best for us, and I think she’s done that so far,” she said. On the ground in Texas, Michigan and Maine: Voters speak out at polls on key Senate races But another voter, Wendy Dana, accused Collins of being a “turncoat.” “I’m very disappointed in Susan Collins. She always would say one thing but do something else," she said of Maine's longtime senator. “So, it was always just to make people happy, but never to follow through. She’s a turncoat, and I hated that.” Dana said she believes many Mainers are tired of having Collins as their senator and are ready for change. Reg Ruhlin agreed with that sentiment and accused Collins, who has tried to distance herself from Trump during her campaign, of being “complicit” to his political movement. “I wasn’t voting for anyone who was complicit in what’s happening in politics right now, meaning the MAGA world,” he said. Voters wait for the polls to open in Cumberland, Maine. Robert F. Bukaty / AP “Susan Collins has done a great job, and it’s time for a change,” continued Ruhlin. “I voted for Susan Collins. I fully support her vision for the state, and I think Troy Jackson is a dangerous socialist,” saying he made up his mind months ago. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed paid a visit to his alma mater on Election Day, speaking to young voters at the University of Michigan's Ann Arbor campus before polls closed. Speaking to reporters, El-Sayed noted that his campaign has spent months having conversations with young people about "the world that they want to inherit from us." He went on to name issues such as healthcare, affordable housing and the worry of artificial intelligence taking their jobs. Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed visits a polling place at Michigan Union at the University of Michigan. Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP "What young people see and hear from our campaign is a campaign that’s earnestly trying to build an America that’s befitting of them too," he said. Asked about potentially becoming America's first Muslim U.S. senator, El-Sayed said he wasn't trying to be the first anything. "I’m running to be the next senator from Michigan, but I hope what it will say is that America is big enough," he said. Brad Girod holds his 14-month-old daughter, Genevieve, as he votes in Columbus, Ohio. Carolyn Kaster / AP A child peers from under a voting booth today in New Orleans.  Gerald Herbert / AP A boy dressed as Uncle Sam leaves a polling place with his father today in Overland Park, Kansas.  Jim Vondruska / Getty Democratic voting rights attorney Marc Elias has received a target letter sent by the Justice Department in the criminal investigation into the Alaska Senate race, according to a person familiar with the details of the investigation. NBC News reported earlier today that letters were being sent as part of a criminal investigation into the senate race in which sitting Republican senator Daniel S. Sullivan is on the ballot with challenger Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.. The Trump administration has also filed a civil suit in the matter, arguing that supporters of the sitting senator could be misled. Elias, chair of Elias Law Group, wrote in a statement to NBC News that the firm will not be intimidated by a "sham investigation." Attorneys at the firm will continue to support clients, Elias continued, saying the firm was proud to "count themselves among this President’s political enemies." “No one should be surprised that President Trump’s Department of Justice is targeting me and my law firm on Election Day,” Elias, chair of the Elias Law Group, wrote in a statement to NBC News. “This administration has repeatedly weaponized the DOJ against the President’s political enemies despite zero evidence of wrongdoing, and we are the latest targets.” Trump "left everything on the field" ahead of the midterm elections and feels "good" and "not tired," a White House official told NBC News. "At the end of the day, it comes down to votes. We’re keeping track of the early vote numbers and the returns. So, we’re just cautiously optimistic," the official said. “There’s no sense in being doom and gloom before any of the votes are counted. The only thing that matters isn’t the polling, it’s not the prognostication and the analysis, it’s the votes that come in.” Asked about tonight’s viewing event for Trump in the White House East Room, the official said it will include Cabinet members, White House staff and outside advisers, including pollster Tony Fabrizio and James Blair. Addressing criticism that Trump spent most of his final pre-election speech yesterday addressing D.C.-related renovations as opposed to the election, the official said, "Half the speech was about the midterms." Only a small portion was about the election, which he didn't mention until more than 20 minutes into his remarks. "He talked about the economy and law and order. He talked about immigration. He talked about the One Big Beautiful Bill. He talked about the Democratic agenda. So there was a lot of midterm messaging sandwiched into the speech," the official said. A separate, senior White House official echoed that sentiment in defending the speech. When asked why the president had waited more than 20 minutes to start talking about the elections, the official wouldn’t answer directly and instead said that despite the start of the speech, it was “important” that the president included in the speech the “clear contrast” between Republicans and Democrats. Election Day came with a soundtrack for voters at the Mountain Creek Branch Library in southwest Dallas. It was one of the sites livened up by volunteers with DJs at the Polls, a national, nonpartisan get-out-the-vote initiative bringing music to polling locations across 24 states today. Founder Anton Moore says the goal is simple: “We don’t care if you’re a Democrat, Republican. We just want you to come out and exercise your right to vote.” DJs at the Polls in Dallas, Texas. Nicolle Majette / NBC News At Mountain Creek Library, DJ Jazmine Baylor, also known as DJ 4.o, was bringing that energy to voters for her second time participating. “We want to make voting exciting and joyful,” Baylor said. The music was also bringing smiles to people passing through. Rusty Best, who lives in Florida but is currently a caretaker in Texas, was so taken by the DJs that he stopped to show his appreciation, even bringing them goodie bags. “It’s so uplifting. It’s a surprise. It’s a mighty gift, and it’s free to us,” Best said. For DJ 4.o, those spontaneous connections are exactly why she keeps coming back. She recalled another voter stopping to thank her for making the experience more exciting. “He said, ‘Thank you so much for making my vote exciting today.’” Baylor said. “That just truly warmed my heart.” A 35-year-old Sacramento man was charged today with delaying and obstructing the delivery of U.S. mail, including political mail, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of California. The Justice Department said that the defendant, Antoine Rashad Polite, who was a U.S. Postal worker, "improperly withheld and delayed the delivery of hundreds of pieces of political mail intended for residents on his route" between Sept. 23 and Oct. 27. Citing the criminal complaint, the DOJ said "the withheld mail included campaign materials relating to candidates and ballot propositions appearing on the Nov. 3, 2026, California general election ballot. Postal officials ultimately recovered and delivered the vast majority of the mail to their intended recipients." If convicted, Polite faces up to six months in prison for obstruction of mail and one year in prison for delay or destruction of mail. A Trump supporter in suburban Des Moines told NBC News he was frustrated with the president's foreign policy but would still vote for the Republican candidate in Iowa’s closely watched Senate race. Joe Muhs, a Johnston resident who voted for Trump in 2024, argued that the administration has strayed from the “America First” agenda he voted for. “America First was supposed to be what we stood for, what Republicans stood for, and that’s really changed,” Muhs said, citing rising gas prices and calling for Washington to focus on Americans’ everyday needs. But when asked whether those frustrations would push him toward the Democratic Party in the Senate race, Muhs replied, “No. No.” He praised Republican Ashley Hinson and said he believes she would be willing to stand up to Trump when necessary. Under rainy skies at the Johnston polling location, other voters pointed to affordability and frustration with Republican leadership. Jessica Chappelle, who voted for Democrat Josh Turek, said her two millennial daughters are struggling with the cost of living, making the prospect of starting families increasingly difficult. Lincoln Grimes also questioned Republicans’ messaging on affordability, saying Americans’ purchasing power is weakening. Asked whether the party’s promises to lower costs were resonating, he responded, “Well, I just don’t think it’s true.” Meanwhile, conservative voter Charles Holcomb said affordability was not a major concern for him and that he was motivated by a “conservative agenda.” He also said he was prepared to accept the election’s outcome regardless of who wins. Only halfway through Election Day and voter turnout in America's only Arab-majority city is up, according to the Michigan city's mayor. Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud reported that the voter turnout total exceeded that of the 2022 election, with seven hours still left to go. The early voter turnout in the city saw a roughly 22% increase in comparison to the 2024 presidential elections, Hammoud said in a post on X on Sunday. "Let’s keep this momentum going and finish strong, Dearborn! EVERY VOTE MATTERS!" Hammoud wrote today. The New York State Board of Elections said this afternoon that the issue affecting voting machines in Westchester County today stemmed from "an update to the county’s election programming that occurred after the initial preparation and testing of Election Day voting equipment." In a statement, the board said it was working with the Westchester County Board of Elections to "deploy replacement election media using the updated programming previously tested for early voting, which encompasses all contests throughout the county." "The immediate priority is to restore scanning capability to at least one voting machine at every polling location, with additional machines being brought online as the day progresses," it added. The county is still allowing people to vote under emergency ballot procedures, the statement said. "Completed ballots are securely maintained under bipartisan oversight and will be scanned and counted in accordance with established procedures," it said. Westchester is home to the 17th Congressional District where GOP Rep. Mike Lawler faces a competitive re-election race against Democrat Cait Conley. Mary O’Dell spent about 20 minutes voting in Houston today, relishing the excitement of Election Day. Speaking to NBC News outside of her polling station, O'Dell said she considers herself a moderate but cast her ballot for Democrats James Talarico, who's running against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton for Senate, and Gina Hinojosa, who's challenging Republican Gov. Gregg Abbott. O'Dell said she worries about the current wars and what her children's future will look like. "I just want a better future, like better schools ... better assistance for people that need it, better healthcare for women and children," O'Dell said. "A lot of people are suffering right now, and I see that. So I just I want better for everybody." A father of twins, Kingsley Okafor says he's been looking for a home with more space for his children, but he's battling the high cost of groceries, rising gas prices and high mortgage rates. Okafor said he worries that working-class people lack representation and that's why he says it was important for him to vote for Talarico and Hinojosa. "I want change, I want someone who thinks of people equally," Okafor said. "I want someone who sees the issues that people are having here in Texas, and is thinking also from an infrastructure perspective of, like, how do I make sure that people are OK and hold the office accountable?" A Kansas postal worker was charged in federal court today with stealing thousands of pieces of mail, including several hundred political mailings from Republican candidates, according to the Justice Department. A federal grand jury indicted 59-year-old Kelly R. Cram of Baxter Springs on one count of unlawful secretion, destruction and delay of mail. Prosecutors accuse Cram of allegedly stealing nearly 400 mailers related to GOP candidates or Republican Party political action committees. Agents from the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General found the mailers in Cram's garage. "The agents found no political mail related to candidates of any other political party or any political action committees affiliated with another political party at Cram’s residence," the indictment said. The filing did not identify the specific candidates or PACs whose mailers the defendant stole. If convicted, she could face up to five years in prison. Voters in Fulton County, Georgia, said "it's just important to vote blue." "That's how I voted," said Millie Mince, a Democrat. "I think the current administration is terrible," Mince said. "I’m very dissatisfied with the Republican administration." Skyler Keck also planned to "vote blue." "I think down the, the whole line," Keck said. "It’s kind of important for my values. I’m really protective of the environment, and a lot of Republicans, unfortunately, are bought by data centers. And you know they they want more money." Voters in Atlanta today. Megan Varner / Getty There have been some voting issues in the county. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger acknowledged about 1,000 ballots from early voting last month will have to be rescanned because of a technical glitch. The state has two marquee matchups: Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff is defending his seat against a challenge from Republican Rep. Mike Collins, while former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, is vying with Republican Rick Jackson in the governor's race. Voter, Chris Rouser said he's supporting Ossoff and Bottoms. "I think there’s an opportunity to kind of maybe reset. I think the economy is in disrepair to some extent," he said. "And so I think it’s a time for change. And so my vote was for that." At least three voters registered in Fulton County received text messages telling them to go to the wrong location to cast their ballots today, they told NBC News. Michael Pruden got multiple messages telling him to report to a different polling location than usual, he said. Luckily, the workers at the Metropolitan Library where he arrived were cordial and able to direct him to the right location after scanning his information, Pruden said. "It’s giving misinformation and causing people to go to the wrong zones," Pruden said. "And then they get there and they’re not supposed to be there, so they’re having to go to a whole other place." A nearly identical experience was reported by Lashante Evans, who said she arrived a location that was texted to her only to learn upon arrival that she wasn't supposed to be there. "When I got there, they told me to come here — which, I've been coming here all the time I vote," Evans said. "But I did get a message and go to another location, so I don't know what that was about." Used to an influx odd messages, Ashlee Enis ignored the text she got telling her to go to some other polling location today. "I’m used to scams or phishing type messages ... So I kind of just dismissed it," Enis said. Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Jane Kleeb said that Democrats have been preparing for months for the possibility of Republicans not accepting election results. In an interview with NBC News, she said that "each state party went through a 14-week training" and received funding to ensure state parties have election protection directors running an election protection program. The party also ensured that each state party has access to lawyers for election protection issues. The teams are connected together and have "sample litigation ready to go," she said. Kleeb said that while there are "normal" issues that impact voting, like bad weather, she is the most concerned about things like the possibility of ballots being seized. "Once those ballots are out of the proper chain of custody, it becomes obviously very problematic," she said. "So we’ll be watching for that and doing whatever we can to stop that if we start to see that that is a path that Trump and the FBI, for example, are trying to go down." Asked about her view of the political landscape, Kleeb said that "the early vote numbers are definitely encouraging." The early vote numbers "have matched the momentum that we have felt on the ground for the past several months," she said. Voters at the San Francisco Columbarium & Funeral Home today. The 45-foot atrium is surrounded by balconies and niches containing cremated remains. An apparent election denier has been charged with federal crimes after allegedly sending hundreds of letters to officials ahead of both the 2024 and 2026 election. Robin Patrick Martin was charged in Oklahoma with conveying false or misleading information and hoaxes as well as mailing threatening communications. The case was charged Sunday and appear to have been unsealed today. An attorney for Martin was not listed in the court docket. An FBI affidavit alleges that the initial mailings in 2024 described “perceived issues with the 2020 election, claimed that President Donald Trump won the 2020 election, and voiced concerns regarding some of the same issues recurring in the then-upcoming 2024 election.” Law enforcement officials determined more than 700 mailings appeared to be associated with the same sender, according to the affidavit. “An FBI Questioned Document Unit Examiner (i.e., handwriting analyst) has reviewed the 2026 mailing to the Oklahoma State Election Board and compared it to the initial 2024 mailings and has preliminarily determined through observation that the handwriting on the exterior of the envelopes was consistent with having been written by the same individual,” the affidavit said. Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins condemned the voting machine issues happening in his county and slammed the state's board of elections. “This situation is completely unacceptable,” Jenkins said. “My job is to look out for the voters here in Westchester, and you’re furious, and I am as well.” Voters reported issues of voting machines scanning ballots at polling stations across the county, which is just north of New York City. Jenkins added that his office will "convene a bipartisan team to conduct a thorough review of the decisions and failures that led to the debacle and determine where accountability lies and ensure that this never happens again." Jenkins said the Westchester County Board of Elections is responsible for the election. "Westchester County voters deserve a fair, secure, and seamless election process," he said. "Today, that has fallen short of that standard." Jenkins described the issue as a "glitch" and a "printer-problem," with the caveat that officials “don’t know why that exactly happened." The New York State Board of Elections said in a post on X that it believes that the source of the issue is "update to the county’s election programming that occurred after the initial preparation and testing of Election Day voting equipment." The issues could delay the results of a competitive House race for New York's 17th district, where Republican Rep. Mike Lawler is fending off a challenge from Democratic challenger and political newcomer Cait Conley. Officials emphasized that despite scanning issues, residents in the county can vote and that every vote will be counted properly. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., — who has been floated as a possible 2028 contender — condemned Haley Stevens for switching her endorsement of Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed at the eleventh hour to Republican Mike Rogers. "The reason that people are upset with Rep. Stevens is not her decision of not supporting Abdul," Khanna said in a FOX News interview. "It was that she went and endorsed Mike Rogers, and Mike Rogers has run one of the most Islamophobic campaigns there is." Khanna also reacted to Trump's announcement this morning that the United States would halt $4 billion in aid to Israel — an issue that has sowed tensions between the progressive and moderate wings of the Democratic Party in several races across the country, including in Michigan. "Donald Trump has come around to a position that Thomas Massie, myself, Bernie Sanders, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and others have been saying that we should not be subsidizing Israel, and that $4 billion should be invested in American schools, in American jobs, in American factories," Khanna said. "And Trump realizes that. That’s the same as Abdul’s position." Flash flooding overnight in parts of Florida has resulted in some polling places being moved and consolidated, but voting in the state is "going smoothly," Secretary of State Cord Byrd said at a news conference. Byrd said that the two areas most affected by the flooding were St. Lucie and Brevard counties, and that his office has been working in close coordination with both to make sure all voters can get to the polls before they close tonight. He added that officials in Broward County had been dealing with a "technical glitch" that resulted in workers moving "from electronic poll books to manually checking people in." All the issues so far appear to be manageable, and at this point "nothing we’ve seen will require polls being open past 7 p.m.," Byrd said. A poll security worker is reflected in a puddle as he waits for voters today in Florida City, Fla. Rebecca Blackwell / AP A bomb threat was reported at a polling station set up in an elementary school in Toledo this morning, authorities said, with multiple threats reported in and around the city. The Toledo Police Department said officers responded to a reported bomb threat at a polling station at Beverley Elementary just before 10.30 a.m. local time. A second threat was reported minutes later at around 10:39 a.m. at a location where a teacher’s workday was taking place. Both locations evacuated as a safety precaution, they said. Police said the Northwest Ohio Bomb Squad was notified, and bomb detection K-9s were asked to check both locations. It was not known whether the two threats were connected, the police said. Meanwhile, threats were also reported at two schools in nearby Bowling Green, where the city school district said two schools had received “threatening calls” this morning. Students and staff were evacuated from both facilities, they said, adding that authorities believed the calls were potential swatting incidents — hoax emergency calls made to draw a large police response to a particular location.