Midterms chaos as voting machines break in New York, while longstanding Maine senator’s office is damaged with red paint and crude ‘blood on her hands’ message: Live election updates

Jewish voters in Detroit, Michigan tell the Daily Mail that they are changing their usual liberal voting habits and opting for Republican Mike Rogers over Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.

Voter Shlomi Bennett said Tuesday morning that he is voting for Rogers because he holds ‘serious concerns about El-Sayed’s response to antisemitism.’

‘I’m particularly troubled by what I see as his failure to clearly condemn ads that Jewish voters have called antisemitic, and his associations with controversial figures such as Hasan Piker and Tucker Carlson,’ Bennett said.

He said he voted for Haley Stevens in the primary over El-Sayed, and he said Stevens’ endorsement of Rogers was indicative of ‘a serious divide’ in American politics.

Rabbi Asher Lopatin also said he found Stevens’ decision to cross party lines ‘courageous’.

‘Whether or not you agree with Rep Haley Stevens endorsement of Mike Rogers, everyone should respect the courage that it took for her to defy her party and take what she feels is a principled stand,’ he said.

‘Such courage – at great cost to her political career – is all too rare in today’s political world. I general, I hope we learn to respect each other’s decisions without demonizing those positions we disagree with.’

In the closing days of the 2026 midterms, I am not mincing words with my Republican clients. Put simply, angry voters tend to punish whoever is in charge – and right now that negative sentiment falls on the shoulders of the party in control of the White House and Congress.

Voters who believe that the country is on the wrong track plan to vote for the Democratic party by 61 points, according to Cygnal polling. Back in 2024, when President Donald Trump roared to victory in an electoral landslide over Vice President Kamala Harris, those voters backed Republicans by 45 points.

Another warning sign: Independents, who make up about a fifth of all midterm voters, lean Democratic by 14 points in our survey this week. That is half the 28-point gap we found in early October, but it is still more than triple the amount that Independents leaned Democratic in 2024.

The office of Maine Senator Susan Collins was vandalized overnight as protesters sprayed fake blood outside her campaign HQ.

Graffiti reading ‘BLOOD ON HER HANDS’ was written in the fake blood outside Collins’s office overnight Monday.

Collins is fighting for re-election against Democrat Troy Jackson in Tuesday’s midterms, and the Republican told Fox News that her staff were ‘undeterred’ by the graffiti.

Republican nominee for Senate in Michigan Mike Rogers stressed that his race is ‘the most important’ of the midterms as he awaits results on election day.

Speaking to reporters after casting his vote on Tuesday, Rogers said he ‘feels really good’ about the race that could decide control of the US Senate.

‘This has been a vigorous campaign for sure,’ Rogers said, as he thanked Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens for her surprise endorsement of him on Monday.

He praised Stevens for putting ‘country over party’ as she rescinded her endorsement of his Democratic rival, Abdul El-Sayed.

An Alaska voter says he was ‘so disgusted’ by allegations that Alaska Democrats recruited a decoy candidate to confuse the electorate that he changed his vote to Republican.

The voter said he was ‘all set’ to vote for Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola in Alaska, until reports alleged her campaign was behind a scheme to splinter her rival’s vote share.

A New York Times investigation alleged that Peltola’s campaign recruited a man with the same name as her GOP rival Dan Sullivan to appear on the ballot. Peltola has denied the allegations.

Speaking on Tuesday, the Alaska voter said he believed the decoy scheme was ‘sketchy from the get-go.’

‘When the New York Times article came out, I was so disgusted and I thought it was so sleazy,’ he said.

‘Compounding that, I think Mary Peltola is lying about not knowing, how could she not know right?’

Two Michigan Democrats said they voted against their usual party and opted for the Republicans over their concerns about Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

One voter told CNN that she voted for Haley Stevens in the primary over El-Sayed, and agreed it was a ‘big message’ to vote for Republican Mike Rogers on Tuesday.

Another voter said he had ‘never’ voted for a Republican before Tuesday’s midterms.

Asked why he ‘could not vote for El-Sayed’, the voter responded: ‘Because I’m against hate.’

Election officials in Fulton County, Georgia, have warned voters to ignore scam texts telling them polling places have been moved on election day.

The county’s X account said Tuesday that the text messages ‘were not sent my Fulton County’, and urged voters to verify their polling location online.

Fulton County is the most populous in Georgia, and is where President Trump was indicted on election fraud charges related to the 2020 presidential election results.

With the Michigan Senate race expected to come down to the wire, some voters tell the Daily Mail that their votes be decided by Abdul El-Sayed’s appearance.

The Democratic nominee and doctor has won over Michigan voter Tracy Grasy, 60, who told the Daily Mail she previously voted for his opponent Mike Rogers.

‘I mean, he’s not a bad-looking man. He really isn’t! He just isn’t!’ Grasy said of El-Sayed.

‘He’s easy on the eyes, and he’s educated. That’s even better!’

First-time voter Meilyn Rodriguez, 18, said she was also voting for El-Sayed because he ‘just seems right for the people.’

The teenager said she and her friends had seen TikTok videos about El-Sayed’s looks, and said she had seen people say they were ‘voting for him because he’s hot.’

‘Like mostly just because he’s hot,’ she said.

‘But, I’m not really doing that. Like I would just rather not vote for the other guy.’

Forget the lovable NASCAR Dads and feisty Soccer Moms of yesteryear – even Mama Bears are too quaint for 2026.

The critical voting bloc this campaign season matches the unhinged vitriol and anguish of the times: Behold the ‘Double Haters.’

They are the angriest swing voters in a generation, now massing in numbers never previously recorded in a US election, and just in time for what may be shaping up to be one of the dirtiest midterms in recent memory.

The White House remains ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the midterms result on Tuesday despite polls suggesting Republicans will struggle, insiders say.

An advisor who spoke to President Trump on Monday night told CNN that he was ‘in great spirits’ ahead of the legacy-defining results.

‘He’s an eternal optimist,’ the advisor said.

NASA astronaut Anil Menon urged Americans to get out to vote on Tuesday as he shared a video explaining how he can cast his ballot from space.

Menon said he filled out an electronic voting form from his computer on board the space station, to vote in Harris County, Texas.

‘Yes, you can even vote from space!’ Menon wrote on X.

‘All three US crew members had the privilege of voting from space station. We filled out an electronic ballot and sent it securely to the election officials.’

Images show the ‘secure orange bags’ that election officials in Westchester County, New York have been forced to use after a voting machine issue upended election day.

Officials said an issue with the ‘thickness’ of the ballots were causing malfunctions with the voting machines across the county.

Voters were told to use paper ballots while the issues were fixed, which were to be held in the orange bags until they could be counted when polls close.