WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was a dominant force in the 2018 midterm elections as attitudes toward the polarizing leader influenced the decisions of more than 6 in 10 voters. Nearly 40 percent of voters cast their ballots to express opposition to the president, according to AP VoteCast, a national...
Trump Views Midterms Through Presidency-Defining Lens
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump knows he's on the line. The president spent Election Day calling allies, tweeting endorsements and following news coverage, after concluding a six-day rally blitz in Missouri late Monday. Trump packed his closing argument with hardline immigration rhetoric and harsh attacks on Democrats as he...
GOP Aims to Keep Senate Control, Aided by Trump-Friendly Map
WASHINGTON — Republicans aimed to retain Senate control in Tuesday's voting and renew their role as guardians of President Donald Trump's conservative agenda, banking on a lopsided electoral map that imperiled far more Democratic seats to offset Trump's deeply divisive effect on voters. Democrats' longshot prospects for capturing a Senate...
Top 10 California Results To Watch For Tonight
Tonight’s California returns will be watched nationally for their potential impact on the makeup of Congress, but there are major statewide decisions being made as well—the outcome of the race to succeed Gov. Jerry Brown, how U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein fares in her run for a fifth term, and what becomes of Proposition 6,...
Election Pits Trump’s Incendiary Politics vs Dem Resistance
WASHINGTON — A turbulent election season that tested President Donald Trump's slash-and-burn political style against the strength of the Democratic resistance comes to a close as Americans cast ballots in the first national election of the Trump era. With voters going to the polls Tuesday, nothing is certain. Weather could...
Enthusiasm Bump Not Reflected in Early California Voting
SACRAMENTO — The enthusiasm both parties say exists in the electorate hasn't yet translated into early voting in California, where the percentage of people who have voted so far is similar to this time four years ago. Voters who are Republican, white and older are sending in their ballots early at...
Survival Bigger Than Politics in Poverty-Riddled West Side Town
HURON — A rooster signals the start of the day as workers wearing sombreros and ball caps emerge from the shadows and shuffle past boarded-up businesses in this tiny farm town. They converge on a dimly lit dirt lot outside Panaderia de Dios, a bakery sweetening the air with the...
Trump Praises Montana Congressman Who Body-Slammed Reporter
MISSOULA, Mont. — President Donald Trump on Thursday praised a Republican congressman for body-slamming a reporter last year, calling him a "tough cookie" and saying he thinks it might have helped him win election in Montana. At a campaign rally in Missoula, Trump lauded Rep. Greg Gianforte, who pleaded guilty...
Trump Tells AP He Won’t Accept Blame If GOP Loses House
WASHINGTON — Facing the prospect of bruising electoral defeat in congressional elections, President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he won't accept the blame if his party loses control of the House in November, arguing his campaigning and endorsements have helped Republican candidates. In a wide-ranging interview three weeks before Election...
Fox News Cutting Back on Trump Rally Coverage
NEW YORK — Fox News Channel has recently pulled back from airing President Donald Trump's campaign-style rallies during prime time, a move that could put a crimp in Republican efforts to reach voters in the weeks before midterm elections. During much of the late summer, Fox would pre-empt its lucrative...