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Control of US Senate hinges on Alaska and Michigan races
Published : Tuesday, 3 November, 2026 at 12:17 PM
Observer Online Report
Collected Photo
Crucial US Senate races in Michigan and Alaska have emerged as pivotal battlegrounds that could determine control of the upper chamber of Congress, as political tension reached a crescendo on the eve of Tuesday's (November 3) midterm elections.
Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan in Alaska face high-stakes contests that could dictate whether Democrats recapture the Senate majority or Republicans retain legislative control.
In Michigan, physician and former public health official Abdul El-Sayed is bidding to become the first Muslim elected to the US Senate.
El-Sayed's campaign was disrupted over the weekend when representative Haley Stevens, who lost to El-Sayed in the Democratic primary, publicly endorsed Republican candidate Mike Rogers; however, El-Sayed's campaign responded by raising a single-day record of 2.4 million USD, predominantly from small donors.
Former President Donald Trump and Republican leaders have repeatedly questioned El-Sayed's national loyalty, while Rogers labeled him an "extreme candidate" during an appearance on Fox News; El-Sayed rejected the personal attacks as "shameful" while delivering a call for political unity at a Monday rally.
Concurrently, a legal dispute unfolded in Alaska after a federal judge dismissed a US Department of Justice lawsuit seeking to halt the certification of election results should Republican Senator Dan Sullivan lose by a narrow margin.
The Justice Department alleged potential voter confusion arising from another candidate on the ballot named Daniel J Sullivan Jr, though Senator Sullivan confirmed on Sunday that he would accept Tuesday's election outcome.
On the national front, a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday showed Democrats maintaining an 8 percentage point lead among registered voters, with 46 per cent supporting Democratic congressional candidates against 38 per cent for Republicans.
Early voting figures crossed historical records ahead of Election Day, with 57 million mail-in and in-person ballots cast by Monday afternoon, surpassing the 45 million total recorded throughout the entire 2022 midterm elections.
Legal disputes extended to California on Monday, where the US Supreme Court rejected a Trump administration petition aimed at blocking the counting of over 20,000 mail-in ballots from registered voters suspected by federal officials of non-citizenship.
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Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
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Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Advertisement: 41053012; 01793317829, 01550707291, 01550707296
E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]. [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], Online-email: [email protected]
