Trump heads to Iowa, Kansas for rallies before midterms

(Updates with Dan S. Sullivan comments, see paragraphs 6-10) By ​Andrew Goudsward, David Morgan and Nathan Frandino

WASHINGTON/ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Nov 1 (Reuters) - P resident Donald Trump returns ‌to ​the campaign trail on Sunday with rallies in Iowa and Kansas, Republican-leaning Farm Belt states where his party is fighting to hold US Senate seats, two days before midterm elections that will decide control of Congress. Trump, who spent Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida after weeks of campaigning across multiple states, won Iowa by double digits in 2024. But polls show Democrats tied with or leading Republicans in many of ‌the state’s races, and Trump’s approval among rural Americans fell to a new low of 45% in October, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. Kansas, which last elected a Democratic senator in 1932, is also facing an unexpectedly close race.

Thirty-five Senate seats and all 435 House seats are on the ballot on Tuesday. Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority and a narrow edge in the House. Losing either chamber would let Democrats block Trump’s agenda for his final two years in office and launch investigations of an administration that has so far faced largely compliant Republican majorities. More than 52 million Americans ‌have already voted in person or by mail, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab, a record for a midterm and up from nearly 46 million who voted before Election Day in 2022.

LEGAL FIGHTS Senate control could come down to a handful of states, including ‌Alaska, where polls show incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan, a Republican, in a tight race with Democrat Mary Peltola.

Sullivan on Sunday said he would accept the results of Tuesday's election even as the Trump administration presses a criminal investigation into the presence of another challenger named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. on the ballot. The US Justice Department has asked a federal court to prevent the certification of Alaska's vote if the incumbent senator loses narrowly. Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, has suggested he may not certify a victory by Peltola after the New York Times reported her campaign was involved in recruiting Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. into the race.

Although the senator said he would accept the election result, ⁠he declined to say ​whether he would support efforts to refuse certifying it if he lost. ⁠But he joined his party colleagues in accusing the other Sullivan of trying to confuse voters with his similar name. "They got the decoy guy on the ballot," Senator Dan S. Sullivan told CNN's "State of the Union" program. "I'm sure I'm going to lose a lot of votes to that trickery. So what I say to Alaskans is, don't let ⁠them get away with the tricks."

Peltola and the campaign committee have denied involvement, and Sullivan Jr. has denied coordinating with Peltola’s campaign. Voters who spoke to Reuters on Saturday in Anchorage, Alaska, had mixed views on the investigation and legal fights.

“I am concerned that the longer it takes for those votes to be counted, ​the more shenanigans will happen, especially with our current president making comments about wanting to invalidate the current election and the current votes that are coming in," said Ames Tonneson, 24. Art Paul, 52, took the potential upheaval in stride.

"In this case, ⁠if there’s a close race or investigation, I understand. … It’s part of the process," Paul said. "And you gotta be patient. So I’d like it to be faster, but I understand why it’s not." Separately, the Trump administration signaled it would likely ask the US Supreme Court to take up its legal battle with California over alleged noncitizen voting.

A federal judge earlier this ⁠week ​rejected the Justice Department’s request to block California from counting mail ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters it alleges are likely noncitizens. A federal appeals court has twice rejected the DOJ's arguments. California has said the state's safeguards against noncitizen voting, which is illegal, are robust. MICHIGAN RIFT

In Michigan, where Democrat Abdul El-Sayed faces Republican Mike Rogers in another closely watched Senate race, it was unclear whether US Representative Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat and the rival El-Sayed beat in the primary, would attend a Detroit event with him on Sunday that had been billed as ⁠a show of party unity. El-Sayed has previously accused Stevens of "relitigating" the Democratic primary. On Saturday, he again alluded to the outcome of the primary.

“I understand that some folks are upset about that,” El-Sayed told reporters at a rally in Sterling Heights, Michigan, that took place ⁠on his 42nd birthday. “But I'm here trying to beat Mike Rogers.” El-Sayed’s campaign asked ⁠Stevens to skip his events through election day so as “not to distract from the central issues of the campaign,” a person familiar with the matter said. Stevens has demanded he condemn an outside group’s ad that she says blames Israel for high grocery prices.

“It’s certainly unhelpful to the El-Sayed campaign to have continued visible division within the party just before election day,” said Matt Grossmann, a political scientist at Michigan State ‌University. Polls show El-Sayed has largely consolidated Democratic support.