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Today's top stories
Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens stunned the political landscape by endorsing GOP Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers for Michigan's open Senate seat, breaking with her party less than 48 hours before Election Day. The surprise defection followed weeks of deteriorating relations with her former primary opponent, Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed. In her endorsement of Rogers, Stevens cited El-Sayed's ties to political streamer Hasan Piker, whose remarks concerning Jewish people and Israel sparked backlash in August. El-Sayed sought to distance himself from the controversy, but Stevens has criticized him for not doing enough to reassure Black and Jewish voters who backed her in the primary.
- 🎧 NPR's Sam Gringlas tells Up First that he has met Democrats who didn't support El-Sayed in the primary and are struggling with their votes this fall. The latest drama may not sway late deciders, but it's not the discussion the El-Sayed campaign wanted. Many Democrats are angry and now rallying behind El-Sayed. Stevens' longtime chief of staff and many other staff members have quit, and the Michigan Democratic Party chair announced that Stevens is no longer a member. This turmoil exposes deepening fault lines within the party, not just over Israel but also regarding its future identity, Gringlas says. Even if Democrats reclaim one or both chambers of Congress on Tuesday, questions about the party's future are expected to linger, especially as they prepare to choose a presidential nominee in 2028.
- 🎧 Voters are unhappy, NPR's Tamara Keith says, which has shifted a favorable election landscape for Republicans into a challenging position for President Trump and his party. Democrats are urging voters to give them a chance to drive change. Meanwhile, the GOP — as summed up by House Speaker Mike Johnson — has framed the midterms as a "contrast election between common sense and crazy." Keith says midterms typically serve as a referendum on the sitting president and his party, rather than a contrast.
- ➡️ Here are six things to watch for on election night to see who will end up controlling Congress. NPR has a guide on when polls close and where to watch the results come in.
- ➡️ Ahead of Election Day, NPR political correspondents answer listeners' biggest questions about the midterms' potential outcomes and what it's like to cover the excitement of politics.
- ➡️ In every election, a key group of voters influences which candidates prevail. NPR's Politics team shares five insights from a year of engaging with voters who supported former President Joe Biden in 2020 and then switched to Trump in 2024.
- ➡️ The NPR App has all of NPR's election coverage in one place — from the biggest stories across the country to the issues that matter close to home. Browse headlines, playlists, podcast episodes, videos and more, all on the 2026 Election tab.
After tomorrow's elections, Trump may choose to bomb Iran again — an option he has discussed with Israel. The U.S.' partners in the Gulf are on edge and bracing for potential conflict. Qatar has been actively leading negotiations with Iran over the past 72 hours to prevent further fighting.
- 🎧 Qatar has been tight-lipped about the negotiations, but Iran says there's a two-day plan to stop attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks with the U.S., depending on the U.S. response. Trump said that the U.S. has neutralized key components of Iran's military but has a couple of targets left, according to NPR's Aya Batrawy. Gulf states worry that further attacks will destabilize the region and disrupt global energy supplies.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments tomorrow in a case between the Catholic Church and Colorado's taxpayer-funded pre-K programs. The case questions whether religious schools can refuse admission to children of gay and trans parents, which would violate a state law against discrimination. For decades, the Supreme Court upheld the separation of church and state. But in the past 10 years, the court's conservative majority has increasingly shifted focus to the First Amendment's protection of religious freedom. This shift complicates Colorado's inclusive pre-K initiative aimed at ensuring that virtually all 4-year-olds in the state get a pre-K education. To meet its goal, the state included religious schools in its program, as long as they comply with state laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity.
Your turn
"Your Turn" is a special series from NPR's Allison Aubrey, exploring how to navigate your way through midlife.
Burnout can be a challenge during midlife. As work and home obligations take up more of your focus, burnout can slowly sap your sense of joy and wonder in everyday life. Psychiatrist Judith Joseph says there's a term for this: anhedonia. It's the inability or reduced capacity to experience pleasure from things that are normally enjoyable. Joseph says it can accompany what she calls "high-functioning depression," and she describes it as depression's "silent sister." Here's what the research shows about high-functioning depression:
- ➡️ Research published in the journal Cureus confirmed the hypothesis that people with high-functioning depression have increased levels of anhedonia and trauma. Parents and caregivers had the highest high-functioning depression scores.
- ➡️ High-functioning depression is not an official diagnosis in the DSM-5. People who keep functioning may not recognize their symptoms or seek treatment until they're burned out.
- ➡️ Joseph has developed an anhedonia quiz. While it's not a diagnostic tool, it can be helpful to take stock of the obstacles preventing you from living a more joyful life.
- ➡️ Joseph also developed a framework to combat anhedonia, called the Five V's: Validation, Venting, Values, Vision and Vitals.
Want to know more? Read more about the Five V's, sign up for the Your Turn newsletter and listen to the Your Turn podcast for tools and inspiring stories that blend science and wisdom to help you move forward to what's next.
Behind the story
by Tamara Keith, senior political correspondent
At this stage in the midterms, all that's left is the voting and the waiting. On election night, I'll be in Studio 31 at NPR headquarters with browser tabs full of spreadsheets, watching the results roll in and sharing context with NPR listeners.
One of those spreadsheets lists all the congressional districts that have been redrawn since 2024 as part of a mid-decade redistricting push by President Trump. Facing down the historical precedent that the president's party usually loses seats in the midterms, the president pressured Republican-led states to create more sure-thing GOP districts.
But headed into voting, the results in two-thirds of those districts are very much up in the air. In some cases, Democrats are favored. These are places Trump would have won by 10 points just two years ago.
Last month, I saw that the president had a campaign rally scheduled in Greenville, N.C. But national Republicans essentially stopped running ads for Michael Whatley — Trump's handpicked nominee — and diverted resources to states with more competitive races. So, why was the president holding another rally? I reached out to a few sources in the state.
What I learned is that the real reason for the president's trip was almost certainly to help the Republican candidate in eastern North Carolina's first congressional district. It is now one of the most hotly contested and expensive House races in the country, despite new district lines that should have made it an easy Republican pick-up.
Two days of driving through this very large district, one Trump rally, two bags of gummy candy and a lot of coffee later, I was back in the office digging into my spreadsheet of congressional districts. NC-01 isn't an isolated case. A majority of districts redrawn to be a firewall for a Republican majority have turned out to be far more competitive than expected.
So, Tuesday night (and beyond), I'll be filling in the wins and losses to see how this gambit turned out. In the meantime, read more from me about how Trump is spending his final days on the campaign trail. And, you can listen to everything you need to know about the midterms on Up First: The Sunday Story.
3 things to know before you go
- Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., 53, has been hospitalized after experiencing a stroke. His office reports that he is expected to make a full recovery.
- Hackers stole more than $6 billion from Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. The FBI concluded that North Korea carried out the attack.
- Oil companies reported huge profits in the quarter that just ended. Together, ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron earned more than $36 billion as the war in Iran drives up gas prices.
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
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