Sunday, October 25, 2026 · Morning Edition

Today

By StaffNews Desk

Good morning. The Trump administration is trying to cancel an election result before a single vote is counted. In Alaska, attorneys for Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola and Senate Democrats [filed a motion Friday urging a federal judge to dismiss the administration's lawsuit, which seeks to block the results of the upcoming election if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/democrats-ask-judge-dismiss-trump-administrations-challenge-alaska-sen-rcna605472); a voters' rights group has joined the challenge to the preemptive bid to block a Democratic win. It is the same playbook on a second front: in California, less than two weeks out, federal prosecutors are pushing staff to quickly verify 20,000 ballots, a directive that could disenfranchise citizens — all while Trump urges Republicans to vote by mail even as his administration files lawsuits over voting in California and Alaska. The administration would rather litigate against the outcome than win it.

The strategy funnels Trump's agenda into the courts. The administration is petitioning the Supreme Court to take up 13 additional cases on top of those the justices are already weighing this term — and, unlike the lower courts, the justices choose which fights they hear.

The deportation machine runs through local police. In Ingram, Texas, a town cop signed on to help ICE deport his neighbors, tearing the town apart. In Doral, Florida — home to the largest Venezuelan population of any city in the country — some voters now say the administration's policies have left them discouraged.

The backlash is reaching the campaigns. In Ohio, businesses have begun canceling on Vivek Ramaswamy's bus tour after his attack ad featuring Democrat Amy Acton's estranged mother drew bipartisan outrage; a top Ohio Republican said people don't want him there. Acton rallied in Cleveland with Barack Obama and said Trump and Vance should look at the facts, while Obama pinned inflation and high prices on Trump and pushed Democrats to the polls. Republicans are spending millions playing defense even in Arkansas, one of the most conservative states in the country; in Texas Ken Paxton and James Talarico have put religion at the center of their Senate race. And public health officials warn a census deliberately counting fewer people will leave the nation ill-prepared for future outbreaks and pandemics.