DENVER (AP) — After months of extraordinary steps to ensure his party maintain control President Donald Trump, who is seeking a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in next year’s midterm elections, is turning his attention to next week’s voting process.
This axis has raised alarm among Democrats, who have warned that Trump is experimenting with strategies the administration could use to interfere in elections in 2026 and beyond.
Late last week, President Trump’s Justice Department election observer To observe voting in a county in New Jersey. gubernatorial election President Trump is deeply invested in five California counties promoted by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Voting measures counter the president’s own efforts to Recalibrate Congressional Map To elect more Republicans.
Following this announcement, President Trump pre-emptively attacked the legitimacy of California’s election. A post on his own social media platform caused a stir. baseless claims he made about it 2020 Presidential Election before he and his allies attempt to overthrow his loss In a campaign that reached its climax in January 6, 2021, Attack at the U.S. Capitol.
“Look at how completely dishonest California’s voting votes are!” Trump wrote for Truth Social over the weekend, referring to Prop. 50, the only issue on the state’s special election ballot. “Millions of ballots are being ‘shipped out’.”
The combination prompted reactions from several prominent Democrats who were already preparing for Mr. Trump to use his presidential powers to tilt next year’s midterm elections to his side.
“This is a bridge that our government is trying to build a foothold across the country for next November’s election,” Newsom said in the video, adding that he expected his administration to send masked immigration officials to polling places next week.
So far during early voting, there has been no sign of military or federal agents near polling places or drop boxes in any state. Despite warnings from some Democrats, millions of voters have already cast their votes early, either in-person or by mail, and the process has not presented any major problems.
Voting expected to be ‘safe and secure’
President Trump has long accused the Biden administration of trying to interfere in last year’s presidential election following a Justice Department complaint. federal charges against him It relates to his attempts to overturn the 2020 results and his retention of classified documents after leaving office.
In a statement Wednesday, White House press secretary Abigail Jackson said, using a derogatory nickname for the president’s favorite California governor, “Mr. Newscam needs to stop using fear-mongering to score political points with the radical left of the Democratic Party he is courting ahead of a doomed presidential election.”
Tuesday’s election will be held purely on a state basis, with no federal positions included on the ballot. Experts say Trump has no ability to change the outcome in any way.
“Voters who go to vote in the 2025 election will find a very safe and secure process,” said David Becker, a former Justice Department voting rights attorney who now runs the Center for Election Innovation and Research. “For example, I’m 100% confident that whoever wins the statewide elections in Virginia and New Jersey will become president, no matter what the president says.”
Some Ballot Questions Will Have Big Impact in 2026
The highlights of the relatively low-profile year-end elections are gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia, redistricting issues in California, and mayoral election in New York City.
Two states that have already begun voting are considering measures that would have a major impact on next year’s midterm elections.
In Pennsylvania, voters will decide whether three Democratic justices retain their seats on the state Supreme Court. If they are removed, the court could become ideologically split 2-2 and unable to resolve disputes over next year’s voting and election procedures in critical battleground states.
In California, voters will decide whether to temporarily override the independent redistricting process and allow the Democratic-controlled Legislature to redraw the state’s House districts. If voters pass the measure, it could create five new seats for Democrats to counter President Trump’s push. Texas and other Republican-led states The idea is to redraw electoral districts and increase the number of House seats available to Republicans.
“These are not normal times.”
That is one reason why the administration’s decision to send monitors attracted so much attention. It is not uncommon for the federal government to send monitors to monitor voting and vote counting in specific areas, but this is usually done in consultation with local jurisdictions. That didn’t happen this time.
Instead, the Trump administration announced the monitors only in response to requests from local Republicans.
Becker, who served as an observer and provided training, said federal observers are only allowed to observe and are not allowed to even talk to voters or poll workers and cannot influence vote counting.
“I don’t think voters will ever notice or see these people,” he said.
Still, Democratic attorneys general in California and New Jersey sounded the alarm, with New Jersey’s Matt Platkin calling it “highly inappropriate” and California’s Rob Bonta saying the move was especially troubling given Trump’s record.
“These are not normal times,” Bonta said on a call with reporters this week. “We have to look at the broader context of what the Trump administration is saying and doing here.”
The action follows a months-long campaign by Mr. Trump to use the power of the presidency to boost his party’s political prospects ahead of midterm elections, in which the incumbent party traditionally loses seats in Congress. The president said that for states where Republicans are leading the redistricting process, redraw the boundaries This is to create more conservative-leaning seats. He also directed the government to investigate Democratic Party politician, Fundraising activitiesand the donor.
Is President Trump taking a stance toward the midterm elections?
Mr. Newsom and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker warned of President Trump’s efforts to: dispatch the US military The deployments to Los Angeles and Chicago, the state’s most populous cities, are a prelude to deploying military and federal agents to polling places in Democratic-leaning cities next year.
They and other Democrats have also alluded to how some Trump allies used fabricated claims of election fraud in 2020 to propose the use of military. occupy voting machines.
At the same time, the Department of Justice requires: Detailed voter data At the request of each state, Trump issued an executive order, Restructure how elections are conductedso far Most were blocked by the courts That’s because the Constitution gives that power to the states and, in some cases, to Congress. It specifies that the president has no role in setting election rules.
Until recently, President Trump remained relatively silent on the issue. 2025 electionhas taken steps other presidents have taken in election years, primarily by supporting party candidates in major races.
Hannah Fried, executive director of the voting rights group All Voting is Local, said the Nov. 4 election will provide “a series of important data points” on issues that could come up in future elections, especially next year’s.
“That’s the big dog,” Fried said of the midterm elections. “Everyone will vote in 2026. This is about control of Congress. As a country, we all have a stake in it.”
