Obama and Trump rally voters as US midterms near
The gist
Obama rallied Democrats in Ohio and Michigan while Trump cast an early ballot in Florida.
Democrats need a net four seats to win each chamber of Congress.
How it unfolded
- Oct 12, 2026A record $3.8 billion had been spent on political advertisements aired so far, with top spending in battleground Senate races in Texas, Ohio and Michigan, according to AdImpact.
- Oct 19, 2026Early voting had been underway for weeks ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
- Oct 23, 2026An LSE blog post reported 39 percent of citizens predict Democrats will win both houses of Congress, a 12-percentage point increase over the previous year.