With control of the US Senate hanging in the balance, corruption has emerged as a defining election issue. Now, independent voters will decide whether allegations of misconduct, political favoritism, and insider dealing cost candidates their seats.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski endorsed a Democrat for Alaska governor one week before Election Day, a strategic move under Alaska's ranked choice voting system that has Trump pushing to repeal the election rules.
Colorado's independent voters are returning early ballots at higher rates than Democrats or Republicans, reflecting their majority status in the state and highlighting the limits of traditional partisan turnout models.
With control of the US Senate potentially hanging in the balance, critics are blaming ranked choice voting for Alaska's notoriously slow results. But former state election officials say the real explanation lies in laws and procedures that predate the reform.
FairVote's analysis of 7,500 elections over 25 years found recounts changed the outcome just three times. Experts say recounts rarely help trailing candidates and often widen the margin in favor of the winner.
With Election Day approaching, Paul Rieckhoff takes aim at the attacks against independent voters, the billionaire money fueling the two-party system, and the political controversies exposing the dysfunction in Washington.
From California's Central Valley to Alaska, the fight for control of Congress is unfolding in districts where neither major party can afford to ignore voters outside its base.
Early voters in South Dakota show support for independent Senate candidate Brian Bengs, while former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg endorses an independent over a Democrat in Montana.
With Election Day two weeks away, seven independent campaigns for Senate and House seats are at critical moments. From Nebraska to Alaska to Montana, races are tightening or showing surprises in the final stretch.
In Los Angeles's District 3, business owner Tim Gaspar and labor-backed Barri Worth Girvan compete in a Democrat-versus-Democrat runoff where independent and Republican voters could decide the outcome.
