Third-party 'spoiler' candidates become a top midterm storyline in Alaska, Ohio and other battlegrounds

Democrats and Republicans alike have long stealthily tried to help little-known names on the ballot who might siphon votes from the opposing party's nominees. The issue has suddenly become a top midterm storyline because of remarkable drama in Alaska, where Democrats carried out a plan to place a second Dan Sullivan on the ballot alongside a Republican senator with the same name.

Alaska's Republican senator Dan Sullivan is himself in a tight race. Speaking with reporters in frigid temperatures after voting at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage on Tuesday, he kept his closing message focused on the revelations that aides of his Democratic opponent, Mary Peltola, were involved in recruiting a second Dan Sullivan onto the ballot. 'We are witnessing the biggest election cheating scandal in the history of the state of Alaska,' Sullivan said.

In Ohio, Republicans have spent more than $2.2 million to promote a socialist candidate in the state's vital Senate race, aiming to pull votes from the Democratic nominee, former Senator Sherrod Brown. Ohio Democrats, in turn, have sent mail promoting their own spoiler candidate, Bill Redpath, a Libertarian, as 'a proud supporter of gun rights' in an apparent attempt to appeal to Republican voters.

In Virginia, a Republican group has sent mailers highlighting the Democratic-leaning positions of a self-described 'radical centrist' running as an independent in a competitive House race.

In Nebraska, both major parties are jockeying to help minor candidates peel votes away from Senator Pete Ricketts, a Republican, and his Democratic-backed challenger, the independent Dan Osborn.

With modern elections often decided by extremely thin margins and billions of dollars sloshing through campaigns, both parties have ample incentives and opportunities to gain an edge through mischief involving third parties.

On Tuesday, control of Congress was hanging in the balance as millions of voters flocked to the polls, preparing to deliver a nationwide verdict on an unpopular president who has implored people to vote as if he were on the ballot.

Democratic campaigns have blamed President Trump, and the war he started this year in Iran, for the economic hardships that have driven a current of frustration across the nation, turning even reliable red states into hard-fought battlegrounds. Republicans have attempted to change the subject from the economy by portraying the election as a choice between their party and Democratic opponents they have sought to cast as radical, far-left activists, playing on voters' fears about immigration and issues like transgender children playing in school sports.

Results will not be known until well into Tuesday evening — and maybe not for days or longer, particularly if many races are close — but voters were clearly eager to cast their ballots: early voting surpassed recent midterm totals. In each of the major Senate battlegrounds, including Texas, North Carolina and Michigan, early turnout exceeded that of the last midterm cycle, and in several states the share of registered Democrats increased in the early vote.

A handful of polling places across the country, including in Westchester County, New York, reported voting problems on Tuesday, although there was no evidence of major issues as of midday. In Florida, flooding forced more than 20 polling stations across eight counties to be relocated. In North Carolina, technical problems at several precincts caused minor delays, and state election officials said they would delay the release of election results to at least 8:15 p.m. from 7:30 p.m. An office of Senator Susan Collins, the Maine Republican, was vandalized with fake blood overnight, according to a spokeswoman for the senator.

Democrats are hoping they are on the precipice of major gains that will stymie Mr Trump's second-term agenda. Polls show they are widely favored to win control of the House, although it is not clear how deep into Republican terrain their victories might extend. Surveys also indicate that Democrats are on track to increase their numbers in the Senate, and party leaders are hopeful about winning a majority, but doing so will require them to flip four Republican-held seats and defend all of their own.

The Ohio Senate race will also be watched for what it says about the power of the crypto industry. The main crypto super PAC, Fairshake, spent about $46 million to try to defeat the Democrat in the race, Sherrod Brown. That worked in 2024, when the industry spent tens of millions of dollars against Brown, but there is skepticism even among some of Fairshake's supporters about whether it will work a second time in a much better environment for Democrats.

Money has also cascaded into the campaign. This is the most expensive midterm election, as measured in spending on political advertising, since at least 2018, according to data from AdImpact. Elon Musk, the world's richest person, alone contributed $474 million to Republican groups, candidates and their allies, more than any donor has ever spent in a single election cycle.

There were court developments on Tuesday as well. A federal judge turned down a request by Democratic lawmakers and party organizations to prohibit the Trump administration from coercing states into screening incoming ballots. And the Supreme Court issued what appeared to be an extraordinary rebuke to Mr Trump, signaling that it was not interested in assisting his efforts to interfere with how states administer elections.

The first polls close at 6 p.m. Eastern, in parts of Indiana and Kentucky, and the final ones seven hours later, at 1 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, in Alaska. Control of the Senate will hinge on the outcomes in the battleground states of Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas.