Midterms 2026: Trump votes early as Obama rallies in Ohio, Michigan

What to know

- President Donald Trump voted early in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday. Asked whether he voted the party line, he said "very much so," according to The Associated Press. - At a rally in Perry, Georgia, Trump announced that Audi will build its first U.S. factory in the state. Audi puts the investment at about $4 billion and says it will create roughly 4,500 jobs. - Barack Obama held his first rally of the midterm season in Cleveland for Amy Acton and Sherrod Brown, then campaigned in Detroit for Abdul El-Sayed and Jocelyn Benson. - Obama called Trump an agent of "chaos and cruelty" and mocked the White House renovations. He also criticized Vivek Ramaswamy's ad featuring Acton's estranged mother. - Ramaswamy's campaign has switched to a 30-second version of that ad, NBC News reported. Trump has defended the ad. - Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting is open in many states this weekend.

Election Day is now just over a week away, and both parties spent Saturday pitching their closing message in the states they see as must-wins. President Donald Trump voted in Florida and then went to central Georgia. Former President Barack Obama, campaigning in person for the first time this cycle, held back-to-back rallies in Ohio and Michigan. The two men offered sharply different accounts of the country's direction, and the stops they picked show where each party thinks the House, the Senate and several governorships could be won or lost on Nov. 3.

Where did Trump vote, and what did he say?

The president and first lady Melania Trump voted at the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections office in West Palm Beach, according to an Associated Press report published by NBC News. He told reporters he had voted for Republicans. Asked whether he voted a straight party line, he replied, "Very much so."

He voted in person during Florida's early-voting period. Florida also has competitive statewide races on the ballot: Republican Rep. Byron Donalds faces Democrat David Jolly for governor, and Sen. Ashley Moody faces Democrat Angie Nixon, according to the AP report.

At the polling site, reporters asked about the most talked-about ad of the campaign: a spot from Ohio Republican Vivek Ramaswamy featuring Democrat Amy Acton's estranged mother. Trump defended it again. He also defended the legal fight over certifying Alaska's Senate race, a dispute that grew out of two candidates named Dan Sullivan appearing on the ballot. NewsCubby explained that case on Oct. 23.

Asked about the war with Iran, Trump said, "I may have to finish it off," according to the AP. The conflict and its effect on prices have become a central Democratic argument this fall.

What happened at Trump's Georgia rally?

That evening Trump spoke at Guardian Centers in Perry, south of Macon. Georgia has competitive races for both U.S. Senate and governor. The rally's main announcement came from a carmaker. Audi said it plans to build its first U.S. production site at the Middle Georgia Mega Site, a plant designed to build up to 200,000 vehicles a year. In its press release, Audi put the investment at about $4 billion and said it would create roughly 4,500 jobs. It said construction is scheduled to begin in 2027, with production in the early 2030s. At the rally, Trump put the figure at $4.2 billion, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. NewsCubby uses Audi's own number.

Audi CEO Gernot Döllner joined Trump at the event and called the plant "a long-term investment," CNBC reported. Citing Reuters, CNBC said a U.S. official expects the plant to build the Q7, Q8 and Q9 SUVs. CNBC also noted that tariffs cost Audi about 1.2 billion euros (about $1.4 billion) last year. Supporters argue the plant shows tariffs bringing factories home. Critics have said tariffs raised car prices and delayed some investments.

Trump also campaigned for the Republican ticket. According to the New York Post, he called Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff "a far-left extremist." Ossoff's Republican challenger is Rep. Mike Collins. In the governor's race, Republican Rick Jackson faces Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms. The paper also reported that Trump repeated his promise of $5,000 payments if Republicans keep control of Congress. And it said Gov. Brian Kemp, at a separate event, extended the suspension of Georgia's gas tax through Nov. 30.

The AJC framed the day as Republicans trying to wake up their base, because early voting has been lagging in rural strongholds. Democrats were out in Georgia too: Ossoff rallied canvassers in Atlanta on Saturday with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, according to the New York Post.

What did Obama say in Cleveland?

Obama's first rally of the midterm season was at Cleveland's Public Auditorium. NBC News reported that the venue holds more than 10,000 people and was nearly full. He was there for Acton, the Democratic nominee for governor, and for former Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is trying to win back a Senate seat from Republican Sen. Jon Husted. NBC said polls show both Ohio races are toss-ups. Separately, the Cook Political Report this week moved the governor's race to Lean Democrat.

He called the election an "inflection point" and a chance for a "course correction," according to NBC News. He described the past two years as a stretch of "chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence" and blamed tariffs and the war with Iran for higher prices. NBC reported that the speech ran about 35 minutes.

The line that spread fastest was a joke about the White House. Obama said Trump seemed more focused on renovations than on prices, joked that he "should be on HGTV," and said the gold accents left the White House "looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory," as quoted by NBC News and Mediaite. Obama's office says he has helped raise more than $15 million for Democrats this cycle, NBC reported.

Obama also went after Ramaswamy's ad. "There's no line he won't cross," he said, according to The Washington Post. Acton told the crowd that her opponent had chosen to exploit her childhood, NBC News reported.

Both Republican campaigns pushed back in statements to NBC News: Connie Luck spoke for Ramaswamy, and Amy Natoce spoke for Husted. Each portrayed the Democrats' rally with Obama as out of step with Ohio voters.

What's going on with the Ramaswamy ad?

The original one-minute ad drew bipartisan criticism this week because it features Acton's estranged mother criticizing her. Acton has spoken publicly about abuse she says she suffered as a child. On Saturday, NBC News reported that Ramaswamy's campaign is switching to a 30-second version of the ad, according to a person close to the campaign. NBC noted that campaigns often run 60- and 30-second cuts of the same spot.

Trump has backed the ad more than once. On Friday he described it to reporters as a mother speaking badly about Acton, according to ABC News. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine called the ad "deeply, deeply troubling," and Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa said the campaign should take it down, ABC reported. Ramaswamy's campaign has said it plans to spend about $4 million to keep the ad on the air, according to NBC News.

NewsCubby has covered how the ad affected the Ohio race and its ratings: Ohio race shifts toward Acton as Ramaswamy ad divides Republicans. We are not repeating personal details about Acton's family beyond what is needed to explain the political dispute.

Why did Obama go to Detroit?

Obama's second stop Saturday was Cass Technical High School in Detroit. He campaigned for Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee, and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, the nominee for governor. El-Sayed faces Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in one of the races most likely to decide Senate control.

"It feels like change is in the air," Obama told the crowd, according to MLive. NBC News reported that the visit was aimed partly at shoring up El-Sayed's support among Detroit's Black voters. MLive reported that the Senate race is already the most expensive in Michigan history and on track to top $300 million.

The timing mattered. Saturday was the first day of Michigan's statewide early-voting period, which runs through Nov. 1, according to the state's published calendar.

Who else is on the trail?

The Guardian reported that former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned in New Hampshire on Saturday with Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas, who is running for Senate. According to NBC News, Trump returns to Ohio next week for an event in Chillicothe, and Obama is scheduled to campaign in Atlanta with Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic nominee for governor. On Sunday, Trump is scheduled to speak at 3 p.m. ET at McMorran Place Arena in Port Huron, Michigan, Fox News reported. According to the city of Port Huron, it will be the first presidential visit to the city, FOX 2 Detroit reported.

What it means for the final stretch

The weekend showed both parties' closing strategies. - **Republicans:** Trump is selling factory investment and promising direct payments, betting that voters will reward economic announcements and tariff policy. - **Democrats:** they are leaning on Obama to turn out their base, especially Black voters in Detroit and Atlanta, and making prices, the Iran war and conduct, including the Ohio ad, the issues.

Neither side's crowds or claims tell us how voters will decide. Turnout will. NewsCubby will publish updated early-vote figures at 1 p.m. ET today. For hours and rules in key states this weekend, see our guide: Early-voting weekend: what is open Sunday and what expires today.

How to check your own voting options

- Find your state election office and early-voting locations at vote.gov. - Check your registration status and your early-voting site before you go. Some states assign a specific early-voting site, and hours vary by county. - If you vote by mail, check your state's return deadline. Several states require mail ballots to arrive by Election Day.

*Credit: reporting by The Associated Press (via NBC News), NBC News, ABC News, The Washington Post, CNBC (citing Reuters), The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the New York Post, MLive, The Guardian and Mediaite, plus Audi's media release. NewsCubby articles are AI-assisted and reviewed by people.*

- Obama: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:President_Barack_Obama.jpg (public domain; official White House photo by Pete Souza, 2012; checked on Commons at 11:25 p.m. ET Oct 24) - Trump: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Official_Presidential_Portrait_of_President_Donald_J._Trump_(2025).jpg (public domain; official White House portrait by Daniel Torok; checked on Commons at 11:25 p.m. ET Oct 24)