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2026 Midterm Election Ballot Measures: What Races We’re Watching

✇NYT > Top Stories
By: Maia Spoto and Leo Dominguez
More than 140 statewide ballot measures will go before voters during the midterms. Here are the races we’re watching.

© John Tully for The New York Times

Voters casting their ballots in Franconia, N.H., in the state’s primary earlier this year.
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Four Scenarios for How the Midterms Could Go

✇NYT > Top Stories
By: Nate Cohn
Expectations are cresting for Democrats, and some kind of wave seems likely, but so much will depend on a few close Senate races.

© The New York Times

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U.S. GDP Increased 3.4% in Third Quarter

✇NYT > Top Stories
By: Ben Casselman
The economy grew 3.4 percent in the third quarter, the fastest pace in a year. Strong spending and growth contrast with the poor marks many voters are giving the economy.

© The New York Times

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How Netanyahu Used Fear, Again, to Win More Votes Than Anyone Else

✇NYT > Top Stories
By: David M. Halbfinger
Despite years of political baggage, the Israeli prime minister outperformed expectations, and his rivals, by playing on Jewish voters’ fears of Arab political power and potential security threats.

© Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacts to exit polls during a speech at his party headquarters in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
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The Fed Risks Falling Behind in its Inflation Fight

✇NYT > Top Stories
By: Colby Smith
Federal Reserve officials are expected to restart rate increases in December, but the cadence of additional moves will depend on the data.

© Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Associated Press

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Kevin Warsh speaking on Wednesday.
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Nvidia Chief, Jensen Huang, Is Seen as Target of Chinese Spy Plot

✇NYT > Top Stories
By: Jonathan Swan · Maggie Haberman · Ana Swanson · Paul Mozur · Tripp Mickle and Julian E. Barnes
A Chinese businesswoman who had a close relationship with Jensen Huang was found to be passing intelligence to Beijing. President Trump was briefed and took no action.

© Manuel Orbegozo for The New York Times

Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, is influential at the White House on technology policy and has developed a close relationship with President Trump.
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The Red States That Could Decide the Senate

✇NYT > Top Stories
By: Evan Reynolds · Laura Bult · June Kim · Sutton Raphael and Thomas Vollkommer
Democrats need to flip four Republican-held Senate seats to regain the majority, but some of their targets are in states President Trump won by double digits in 2024. Our election data reporter Evan Reynolds explains just how difficult that might be.
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Ilhan Omar Investigation Involves New Scrutiny of Long-Disputed Marriage

✇NYT > Top Stories
By: Ernesto Londoño
Several current and former law enforcement officials said an Obama-era investigation found some evidence that Ms. Omar had entered into a sham marriage with a man suspected of being her brother.

© Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

Representative Ilhan Omar at the Capitol in Washington earlier this year.
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Judge Rejects Trump Officials’ Bid to Set Aside California Ballots

✇NYT > Top Stories
By: Shawn Hubler
The judge ruled that no immediate action was necessary, dealing another setback to the administration as it moves to target voting by noncitizens.

© Mike Blake/Reuters

Election workers process mail-in ballots in San Diego.
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Vance Proposes Restarting Peace Talks in Outreach to Iranian Official

✇NYT > Top Stories
By: Farnaz Fassihi and Tyler Pager
In his letter, the vice president suggested an immediate resumption of comprehensive talks, including about Iran’s nuclear program.

© Tierney L. Cross for The New York Times

Vice President JD Vance is said to have made the outreach in a letter sent last week via Qatari meditators and delivered Sunday to an Iranian official, Gen. Mohsen Rezaei.
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As Trump Faces Down the Midterms, a Grim Mood Takes Over the White House

✇NYT > Top Stories
By: Katie Rogers
The White House has been rocked by turnover and anxiety over the midterms. The president, who is tightening his inner circle, has lashed out at critics, held meandering rallies and feasted on a diet of news clips and “A.I. slop,” as one aide put it.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times

President Trump after a campaign rally in Mississippi on Monday.
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CNN, MS Now and Politico Update Lawsuit Against Trump Over White House Access

✇NYT > Top Stories
By: Erik Wemple
The news outlets argued in an updated lawsuit that they should be granted access to the White House reporting pools.

© Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Betsy Klein, a CNN reporter, in the White House in September.
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What Does the Cheesecake Factory’s Designer Think of Obama and Trump’s Jabs at His Décor?

✇NYT > Top Stories
By: Kim Severson
Long before its baroque décor and class identity became midterm talking points, this durable restaurant chain survived some withering critiques.

© Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images for The Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory has defined the term “upscale casual dining,” and closely read the psyche and the appetite of the American diner.
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Linda McMahon Spends $43,000 on Furniture as She Looks to Close Education Department

✇NYT > Top Stories
By: Michael C. Bender
The education secretary says her old furniture “cannot be configurationally or aesthetically integrated” into new office space.

© Erin Schaff/The New York Times

Education Secretary Linda McMahon in her old office in Washington last year.
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Inside Democrats’ Secret Effort to Stack Alaska’s Midterm Ballot With Another Dan Sullivan

✇NYT > Top Stories
By: Kellen Browning
Operatives aligned with Mary Peltola, the Democratic nominee for Senate, spent months recruiting candidates to peel votes from Senator Dan Sullivan, the Republican.

© Haven Daley/Associated Press

A sample ballot showing candidates for next week’s U.S. Senate race in Alaska lists two Dan Sullivans (highlight added here to both), along with Mary Peltola, the Democrat, and a fourth candidate named Gerald Heikes.
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Flávio Bolsonaro Lands in Miami After Fleeing Brazil

✇NYT > Top Stories
By: Ana Ionova · Edward Wong · Alice Maciel and Lucía Cholakian Herrera
Mr. Bolsonaro, who lost Sunday’s presidential election, fled Brazil for the United States via Argentina after the police canceled his passport in relation to an investigation.

© Eva Marie Uzcategui/Reuters

Flávio Bolsonaro arriving at Miami Opa-Locka Airport on Wednesday.
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The Federal Reserve Will Release Its Interest Rate Decision Today. Here’s What to Watch.

✇NYT > Top Stories
By: Colby Smith
The central bank is widely expected to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday, just days before the midterm elections.

© Al Drago for The New York Times

The Federal Reserve is expected to press pause on raising interest rates after delivering a rate increase last month for the first time since 2023.
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The Senate Race in Heavily Republican South Carolina is a Tossup, Poll Finds

✇NYT > Top Stories
By: Patricia Mazzei and Ruth Igielnik
Senator Darline Graham, the South Carolina Republican, is struggling to replicate her late brother’s success. Republicans lead in the Florida Senate race and Democrats are up in Minnesota.

© Jillian Vordick/The New York Times

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Trump Administration Backs Down on an Opioid Ban After Kratom Industry Lobbying

✇NYT > Top Stories
By: Christina Jewett
Health officials will now allow some levels of a powerful substance to remain in products marketed as natural. The change could help a G.O.P. donor facing wrongful death lawsuits.

© Nick Oxford for The New York Times

Banners promoting the sale of kratom products outside a smoke shop in Tulsa, Okla., earlier this year.
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