Thursday, October 29, 2026
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Mara Mellits: ‘They need me’
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Like many voters, Addison Smith went to her local polling place to cast a ballot in the upcoming midterm elections.
Unlike most, she had to fly four hours to get there.
A student at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Smith was eager to vote in the competitive Senate race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton and worried she wouldn’t be able to get a mail ballot in time. So her dad offered to pay for a plane ticket to Houston.
“Kinda chic to fly home to vote in the midterms,” she wrote on TikTok, above the caption “They need me.”
“I just made a little quick TikTok about it because I was like, everyone should go vote, and I think that’s important, especially in states where the registration deadline hasn’t passed or early voting is still open,” Smith told MS NOW.
Smith’s TikTok was just the latest sign of the enthusiasm gap between Democrats and Republicans. But history has shown that it’s not necessarily predictive of what will happen on Election Day.
Read Mara Mellits’ analysis here.
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Is recruiting a spoiler candidate wrong?
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Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign sought to find a man with the same name as Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan to run as a spoiler candidate, according to a New York Times report. (Peltola’s campaign has repeatedly denied involvement.)
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Here are some more highlights of the president’s actions over the past seven days:
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- Said that Ohio would be the site of a new U.S. Space Force academy, but only if Republican Sen. Jon Husted wins re-election
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- Said on social media that anyone who reports voter fraud will be paid $1 million “upon the arrest and conviction” of the person involved
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- Said, when asked, that he would respect the results of the midterms “if they’re honest elections”
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The news can feel overwhelming. But each week, we pause to highlight a person, organization or movement sticking up for their principles or their fellow Americans. This week’s challenger is Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson.
This week, a federal judge dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit seeking Utah voters’ sensitive personal information. Henderson, a Republican who serves as the state’s top election official, had refused to hand over the data, which includes voters’ names, birth dates, addresses and partial Social Security numbers. After the ruling, Henderson posted “0-27” on social media, referring to the administration’s losing record in similar cases. Henderson is not an outlier. Republican secretaries of state in Idaho, West Virginia and Georgia also rejected the Department of Justice request, while Utah Gov. Spencer Cox publicly defended Henderson’s decision.
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Everyone loves giving themselves a little treat like a piece of candy. Usually, it gives you this moment of joy (worry about the calories later). But these days, even that’s likely to make you feel sad as candy prices will probably be the scariest thing you’ll see this Halloween. Prices for “candy and chewing gum” are up 7.7% compared to a year ago, more than double the overall rate of inflation. In some instances, candy makers are selling smaller pieces for higher prices. In others, retailers are selling bags at the same price they did a year ago, but with less candy. The main reason is higher cocoa prices. Try explaining that to trick-or-treaters.
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Most national coverage of the 2026 midterms has focused on a handful of U.S. House and Senate races. But there are thousands of federal, state and local elections across the country that will help determine the next phase of our democracy. Beyond the Battlegrounds is a special MS NOW opinion series that showcases some you may have missed.
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Tuesday, join Rachel Maddow and team for all-night midterms results and analysis, with Ali Velshi breaking down the numbers. Special coverage begins Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET on MS NOW.
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