US midterm elections: 10 under-the-radar races worth watching

Though Democrats have a strong edge heading into the midterms, some races have openings for Republicans

While marquee races from Maine to Michigan get all the attention, and draw in a ton of money, a significant batch of lower-profile contests across the US could result in upsets.

Democrats have a strong edge heading into November’s US midterm elections, polls show. In recent days, election prognosticators have shifted even more races in favor of Democrats. Continue reading...


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/13/midterm-elections-kansas-minnesota-florida-congressional-district?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Republican US senator facing re-election settles six-year bakery debt

Roger Marshall says he has ‘no idea how this happened’ and repaid bill double for 2020 election watch party treats

The Republican US senator Roger Marshall says he has finally paid off a bakery debt – after six years and repeated collection attempts reported by a Kansas business that had supplied a large order of treats for a 2020 election watch party.

“We have absolutely no idea how this happened”, the Kansas senator wrote in a social media post containing a screenshot of the payment on a $678.75 invoice from Holly’s Sweet Treats as well as his $1,300 payment. “And we have repaid the bill … double.” Continue reading...


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/12/roger-marshall-republican-senator-pays-off-bakery-bill-six-years?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Abdul El-Sayed: Democrats must ‘win by massive numbers’ to fend off Trump election denial

Democratic Senate candidate’s remarks come as Trump has long baselessly claimed his 2020 election loss was stolen

Democrats must “win by massive numbers” during November’s federal midterm elections because Donald Trump and his Republican allies are bound to try to sow doubt about the integrity of the results, Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan said on Sunday.

El-Sayed’s comments on NBC’s Meet the Press came with the Democrats favored to win control of the House of Representatives during the 3 November midterms – and polls show that the party could also win Senate seats in states that traditionally elect Republicans and gain a majority there, too. Continue reading...


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/11/abdul-el-sayed-democrats-must-win-by-massive-numbers?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

‘When you look at the numbers, we win’: the prophetic Texas pastor poised to take Jasmine Crockett’s House seat

Rev Dr Frederick Douglass Haynes III is reclaiming a faith-based politics to counter Trump-allied white evangelicals

It was that point in the evening: dinner plates were cleared; speeches had run long; people were chatting, milling or eyeing the exit. But then the Rev Dr Frederick Douglass Haynes III took the stage. Bald, bearded, bespectacled and dressed in black, he delivered a mix of fiery sermon and performance poetry. Soon the guests were back in their seats – rapt, listening, clapping and whooping.

Haynes’s rolling cadence was evocative of the pulpit but the political message was far from kumbaya. Aiming to succeed Democratic star Jasmine Crockett in Texas’s 30th congressional district, he danced like a butterfly with references to the boxer Muhammad Ali and rapper Tupac Shakur. But he also stung like a bee, branding Donald Trump as “President Pickpocket” and Republicans as the authors of racist gerrymandering and voter suppression. Continue reading...


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/11/rev-dr-frederick-douglass-haynes-iii-texas-house?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger