With less than a week to go before the November 3 midterm elections, both President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama have taken prominent roles on the campaign trail, even though neither is on the ballot.
Thirty-five of the 100 Senate seats and all 435 seats in the House of Representatives are being contested. Nonpartisan analysts generally favor Democrats' chances of capturing a majority in the House, while the contest for the Senate is seen as very close.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted October 22–26 shows Democrats ahead of Republicans by nine points nationally. According to the survey, 47 percent of voters support Democrats compared with 36 percent who support Republicans. When undecided voters' leanings are factored in, Democrats lead with 50 percent against Republicans' 41 percent.
Trump's approval rating stands at 32 percent, up one percentage point, while 73 percent of US adults say the cost of living is moving in the wrong direction.
Trump held two campaign rallies in Texas on Tuesday in support of Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, before heading to Ohio on Wednesday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined Trump for a rare campaign-trail appearance in Texas. Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris are campaigning in Georgia for the Democratic Party.
In Texas, where Democrats have not won a Senate election since 1988, Paxton and Democratic challenger James Talarico are virtually tied in the polls. Trump has made four visits to the state in seven weeks, twice as many as at the comparable point before the 2024 election. Local analysis suggests more Republicans have voted early than Democrats, but Talarico has also been courting Republicans dissatisfied with Trump.
At a rally in Corpus Christi, Trump pointed to a tanker he said was carrying one million barrels of Venezuelan oil and called it a win for his administration. He also floated the idea of making Venezuela the 51st US state. The Trump administration has signed an oil deal with Venezuela's interim leader, Delcy Rodriguez, following a military operation in January in which socialist President Nicolas Maduro was abducted. Trump also announced plans to roll back Biden-era restrictions on methane emissions from oil and gas production, saying the move would help lower energy prices.
Fuel prices have become a major election issue as the US-Israel war on Iran continues.
In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers are competing in another closely contested Senate race. "I was a Republican forever, but I became an independent in the last two elections," said Michael Alexander, a Native American voter backing El-Sayed. "I don't really vote for a party any more. I vote for who I think will do the best job."
Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1932, but Republican incumbent Roger Marshall now faces a tight contest against Democrat Adam Hamilton. The race has drawn visits from both Trump and Vice President JD Vance. Both parties and their allied groups have committed approximately $71 million to campaign advertising in Kansas, making it the most expensive Senate race in the state's history.
