The Morning Roundup – October 25, 2026

Nine days out from Election Day, the battle for the midterms dominates the morning. On the left, MS NOW and The Bulwark zero in on Democratic hopes in the industrial Midwest, from Abdul El-Sayed’s Senate run in Michigan to the fallout over Vivek Ramaswamy’s attack ad in Ohio, while hitting JD Vance over ICE and his faith. In the center, Politico looks at Nevada’s governor’s race as a working-class test for Democrats and tracks Israel’s election, set for Tuesday, as the military launches a major West Bank operation. On the right, the New York Post leads with the Justice Department’s fight over suspected noncitizen ballots in California. Policing and public safety round out the day, from a false AI facial recognition arrest in Florida to a shooting near Florida A&M’s stadium.

LEFT

Sarah Longwell (The Bulwark) – “How Ohio Trump Voters Reacted to Vivek’s Attack Ad”

Longwell convened a focus group of ten Ohioans who backed Trump in 2024 but have since soured on him, and played them Vivek Ramaswamy’s $4 million ad featuring Democrat Amy Acton’s estranged mother accusing her of lying about her past. The piece notes the ad omits that the mother fled Ohio decades ago after her husband was charged with raping Acton as a child, and asks whether voters will recoil at the attack or believe it.

Zeeshan Aleem (MS NOW) – “How Abdul El-Sayed is trying to pull off the impossible in the Rust Belt”

Aleem follows progressive Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to a town hall in Caro, Michigan, the seat of a county Trump won by more than 40 points, where hundreds lined up to hear him. He reports that El-Sayed, who has never held office, holds a narrow polling lead over former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers by hammering cost-of-living themes like gas, groceries and health care.

Michael Steele (MS NOW) – “JD Vance’s remarks to a Catholic nun unraveled the White House’s claims about religious freedom”

Steele argues that Vice President JD Vance’s response to Sister Nancy Sylvester at a Detroit town hall, where she asked how ICE’s treatment of families squares with the Gospel, exposed a gap between Vance’s professed Catholic faith and his politics. Vance praised ICE agents as patriots, and Steele, a former seminarian, says the exchange shows Vance sets church teaching aside when it collides with administration policy.

Robert Dillon (MS NOW) – “Florida police ruined my life with a false AI match. Now I’m demanding justice.”

Dillon recounts being arrested at his Fort Myers home in August 2024 for allegedly trying to lure a child at a Jacksonville Beach McDonald’s, a town 300 miles away he says he had never visited. He writes that the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office ran security footage through an AI facial recognition system that wrongly flagged him, even though license plate reader data showed his vehicles were never in the county, and he is now seeking accountability.

CENTER

Associated Press (Politico) – “Days before Israeli election, military conducts massive West Bank operation”

The Associated Press reports that Israel’s military launched a large-scale operation in the occupied West Bank just days before Israelis head to the polls on Tuesday. The timing places security policy at the center of the final stretch of Israel’s election campaign.

Liz Crampton (Politico) – “The Governor’s Race That 2028 Democrats Need to Watch”

Crampton profiles Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, who is making his biography and labor record central to his bid for governor. The piece frames the race as a test of whether Democrats can win back skeptical working-class, rank-and-file voters, a question with lessons for the party’s 2028 hopefuls.

Caroline Jaime (NewsNation) – “Police investigating shooting near Florida A&M University stadium”

Police in Tallahassee are investigating a shooting near Florida A&M University’s stadium. According to Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell, six of the victims are children, the youngest just 11 years old.

RIGHT

Patrick Hedlund (New York Post) – “Exclusive | LA's top federal prosecutor says California elections already in jeopardy”

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli told the paper it is “very highly likely” noncitizens have already voted in California as early voting opened across Los Angeles County. The Justice Department is asking the Ninth Circuit to force the state to set aside ballots tied to more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens that state and county officials did not review in DOJ’s requested timeframe, with Essayli warning California may try to run out the clock before oral arguments are heard.

Tina Moore (New York Post) – “Exclusive | Horndog NYPD capt. and jealous cop clique torment female officer after she spurns his advances, lawsuit claims”

NYPD Officer Maria Delacruz has sued Capt. Amanjeet Sandhu, her former commander in Transit District 1 on the Upper West Side, alleging he sexually harassed her in 2023 and declared his love for her. The suit, filed Wednesday in Manhattan, claims that after she rejected him, Sandhu and a group of officers retaliated against her.

John Kass (John Kass News) – “John Kass News: Winding Down”

Veteran Chicago columnist John Kass announces he is winding down his website, writing that five strokes in three years convinced him it was time to step away. He reflects on the toll of his years at the Chicago newspaper he loved and his long fight with what he calls its “jacobin newsroom union.”

Kieran Sullivan, FOX Weather (New York Post) – “Historic 80-ton boulder comes crashing down after more than a century at New Hampshire attraction”

The famed “mysterious hanging boulder” at Polar Caves Park in New Hampshire’s White Mountains fell on Oct. 18, the final day of the attraction’s 2026 season, landing on a walkway used by thousands of visitors each year. No one was hurt, and the park says it will assess the site during the offseason.