President Donald Trump addresses a campaign rally ahead of the US midterm elections (Image: Getty)
The Democrats have lurched ahead of the Republicans in almost all of the battleground states of the United States midterm elections, in what could be an embarrassing night for President Donald Trump. New bombshell numbers set the stage for a potential ‘blue tsunami’ that will give the Democrats power over Congress.
A final set of polls before voters head to make their choices tomorrow (Tuesday, November 3) have revealed that Democrats hold significant leads in the historically Republican strongholds that will decide which party controls the United States Senate.
That includes Texas, which has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988, and Kansas, which has not elected a Democrat since 1932, the New York Times reports.
In the dramatic results, Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico has a seven point lead over Republican Ken Paxton in Texas, the heart of Trump country.
And in Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has opened up an 11-point lead over Trump-backed Republican Mike Rogers.
Prospective senator Abdul El-Sayed holding campaign event in Detroit (Image: Getty)
To win a Senate majority, Democrats must defend all the seats they currently hold – and win four seats currently held by the Republicans, the party of President Donald Trump.
Many of these seats are traditional Republican bases.
But the new polling, carried out by the New York Times and Siena University, discovered that Democratic candidates are ahead in five states that currently have Republican senators – and the two parties are effectively tied in a sixth.
The Democrats have leads in Kansas, Maine, Ohio, and Texas, with a narrow edge in Alaska, and a tie in Iowa.
Republicans are nervously watching reports of a huge early turnout in Texas, with many young Hispanic voters who did not vote in 2024 now coming out in droves.
The New York Times has reported that these polls indicate a huge frustration with President Trump’s management of a flagging US economy.
Likely voters said they believed the Democrats would do a better job at handling the skyrocketing cost-of-living and foreign wars, as well as doing what’s best for regular Americans.
And after diesel prices climbed following the Iran war, plus the administration’s decision to drop import tariffs on foreign beef, farmers in typically red states like Kansas appear to have turned their backs on President Trump.
In every state but Maine, the Democratic Senate candidate was viewed more favorably than the Republican candidate, the New York Times report continues.
It came at the end of a day of high drama in Michigan, where Haley Stevens, a ‘moderate’ Democrat defeated by El-Sayed to represent the party in the Senate race, announced she would be voting for MAGA Republican Mike Rogers.
The unexpected twist came after a row between the candidates over Israel and an ad by a third party group which some, including Stevens, said crossed the line into antisemitism, the Mirror reports.
Despite settling their differences, Ms Stevens fiancee, Jason Turkish, gave interviews over the weekend attacking El Sayed and endorsing Rogers. It emerged that El-Sayed had told Stevens she was no longer welcome at his campaign events.
And after telling allies on Saturday night that she would not be switching sides, Stevens appeared at a church photo op with Rogers on Sunday morning.
Standing next to Rogers at a chaotic press conference outside the church, Stevens said: “Abdul made very clear that I was not welcome in his campaign, that he didn’t need me there, that he didn’t want me there.
“I did endorse the Democratic nominee, and he chose to close this campaign by saying I wasn’t welcome. I’ve never been invited to a campaign event. That’s fine. You know, he’s busy. He’s running all around.”
Later, after a car crash CNN interview, where Stevens struggled to defend her decision, fellow Michigan congresswoman Debbie Dingell said: “That was one of the most painful interviews I have ever watched.
“I have been worried about her all last week. She’s a human being. I have had multiple conversations with her. I’m far from being the only one that has.”
Ms Stevens entire staff resigned following her announcement. The Michigan Democratic Party are understood to have expelled Ms Stevens.
Asked if she was surprised by Stevens’ move, Ms Dingell said: “I was stunned since she had told me she wasn’t doing that last night at midnight.”
