Two days before the US midterm elections, President Donald Trump's Republicans have secured an unexpected boost in Michigan, with an endorsement from a prominent Democrat, while suffering a setback in Alaska when a federal judge dismissed a legal challenge.
US Representative Haley Stevens, who lost Michigan Democrats' Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed in a bitterly contested race, on Sunday publicly backed Republican candidate Mike Rogers, threatening to exacerbate divisions in a state viewed as crucial to Democratic hopes of retaking the US Senate.
"I don't belong in Abdul's campaign," Stevens said in a video posted on X.
Thirty-five Senate seats and all 435 House of Representatives seats are on the ballot on Tuesday. Republicans hold narrow majorities in both chambers.
Polls show Democrats are favoured to win a majority of the House and locked in a tight battle for control of the Senate with a handful of races likely to determine the outcome.
The Trump administration's attempt to intervene in Alaska's Senate race faltered on Sunday when a federal judge dismissed the US Justice Department's lawsuit seeking to block certification of the results if Republican incumbent Senator Dan S Sullivan narrowly loses.
The Justice Department argued voters may be confused by the presence of a challenger named Daniel J Sullivan Jr on the same ballot.
If Democrats take control of the House or Senate, they could block Trump's legislative agenda for his final two years in office and launch investigations of an administration that has so far faced largely compliant Republican majorities. The White House has been preparing to implement portions of Trump's agenda without the aid of Congress.
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.
In Michigan, Stevens' endorsement of Rogers came on the same day she was supposed to appear with El-Sayed in a show of party unity. But the event unravelled after Stevens called on El-Sayed to condemn an outside group's ad that she said blames Israel for high grocery prices.
"We can't stand with hate," Stevens told reporters on Sunday, standing alongside Rogers after joining him at a Detroit church service.
"This is courage in politics in America today," Rogers said.
"When you see a party, and at least a sliver of the party, veering off into the virulent hate that they have been spewing toward a group of people, it gets dangerous."
Polls indicate that El-Sayed has largely consolidated Democratic support. He holds a nearly four-point lead against Rogers according to the Real Clear Polling estimate.
Meanwhile, in Alaska, a federal judge rejected a Trump administration lawsuit against the state.
The Department of Justice had asked a court to block certification and order an investigation if the outcome indicated that voters may have voted for challenger Daniel J Sullivan Jr when they intended to vote for the incumbent Dan S Sullivan.
The issue has roiled the campaign over the last several days after the New York Times reported Democrat Mary Peltola's campaign was involved in recruiting Daniel J Sullivan Jr into the race as a spoiler.
The senator said he would accept the results of Tuesday's election even as the Trump administration presses a criminal investigation into the issue.
But Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, has suggested he may not certify a victory by Peltola, and the incumbent Sullivan declined to say whether he would support efforts to refuse certification.
Meanwhile, Trump is set to return 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.
with AP
