Michigan voters showed the swinginess of their state in conversations with Fox News the day before the midterm elections, with one former Democrat firmly backing GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers and a lifelong Republican holding his nose to vote for Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat.

After casting a ballot for Rogers, voter Marjorie Mehney said she was a Democrat “years ago” and would be “embarrassed to be one today” with candidates like El-Sayed representing the party.

However, she pointed out that El-Sayed has won over many voters in her hometown of Petoskey, located in Emmet County, where President Donald Trump took more than 55% of the vote in 2024.

“The majority are Republican. However, there’s a great deal of signage for Abdul. So it’s very mixed. We’ve never seen anything like the support that’s going on with signs in front yards,” Mehney told Fox News in downtown Rochester.

ROGERS WARNS MICHIGAN VOTERS AGAINST EL-SAYED’S ‘EXTREME’ AGENDA AHEAD OF ELECTION

When asked if she knew why there had been a shift toward El-Sayed, she said she had “no idea” and called the momentum he is experiencing in her community “a bit shocking.”

“They are people I’ve known and never knew that they felt this way that Abdul does,” she said. “It’s a little concerning.”

Mehney predicted that El-Sayed will prevail over Rogers on Tuesday, but warned that Michigan voters will come to regret sending him to the Senate.

I’M DR ABDUL EL-SAYED. THIS IS WHY I WANT MICHIGAN’S VOTE FOR SENATE

Another voter, Tom Wright, told Fox News that he voted for El-Sayed despite disagreeing with him on “60% to 70% of his policy positions.”

“I cannot bring myself to vote for a Trump minion under any circumstances,” Wright said, referring to Rogers.

Rogers left Congress before Trump launched his first presidential campaign, representing Michigan’s 8th District from 2001 to 2015, meaning he has no congressional voting record on Trump’s legislative agenda across either of his two terms.

Rogers has made his position clear on a series of Trump policies. For instance, he backed the Iran war in its early stages and has supported giving presidents broad authority to impose reciprocal tariffs, as Trump did.

TRUMP DOMINATES EL-SAYED’S ATTACKS AGAINST ROGERS, BUT GOP RIVAL OFFERS UNEXPECTED POLICY SPLIT

However, as the Senate campaign entered its final stretch, Rogers has distanced himself with Trump on both issues. In late September, he released an ad calling for a quick end to the Iran war, and in early October, another ad of his demanded an end to the “tariff war” with Canada.

Wright, who described himself as “a lifelong Republican,” said Rogers’ shifts on those issues were not enough to win his support.

Wright argued that the GOP is “too far toward Trump” and that “Mike Rogers won’t stop it.”

“The litmus test is, are people willing to hold their nose and vote for Abdul because they are so appalled by Trump? Not that they like Abdul or are a progressive,” Wright said.

EL-SAYED, ROGERS CLASH OVER MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, TRUMP AND GUNS: 5 FIERY DEBATE MOMENTS

When asked about his reservations about El-Sayed, Wright said he doesn’t like his stance on Israel and Palestinians.

“I don’t think he has sufficiently disavowed elements that I consider divisive. A man is judged by the company he keeps and he keeps some pretty bad company,” Wright said. “Nonetheless, he is one senator out of 100. I don’t care what he says he’s going to do. He can’t do a damn thing. And if some sanity returns to the Republican Party in six years, I can vote for the opposition.”

A third Michigan voter, Gerald, said he was planning to split his ticket, telling Fox News he would vote for Rogers for Senate and Democrat Jocelyn Benson for governor.

Gerald wasn’t comfortable voting for El-Sayed because he heard he is a “communist.”

As in past midterm elections, Michigan could play a pivotal role in determining control of Congress. Polls are open across the state Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., with voters still able to cast a ballot as long as they are in line by the time polls close.

The Biddeford, Maine, office of Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, was vandalized Monday night for the second time in a month, Collins’ chief of staff told Fox News.

After vandals previously spray-painted the building’s door in September, saboteurs on Monday dumped a bucket of red paint in front of the location while writing in crimson — “BLOOD on her HANDS” — on the sidewalk in front of the building.

“This is another incident in a series and the second attempt at our Biddeford office to intimidate the Senator and her staff. These tactics are disturbing, but not effective. Our staff is undeterred and on the job,” Collins’ chief of staff Katie Brown told Fox News’ Alexis McAdams.

TRUMP REAFFIRMS ICE ARREST POLICY AFTER CONFUSING GUIDANCE SPARKS ALARM AMONG AGENTS

The Biddeford office is near the scene of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer-involved shooting in which a law enforcement officer shot and killed 26-year-old Colombian national Johan Sebastián Guerrero in July.

Days after the shooting, protesters barged into the Biddeford office’s front door, chanting “vote her out.”

PERSONAL JABS, BILLIONAIRE DONORS AND PARTY LOYALTY FUEL HEATED MAINE SENATE DEBATE

In September, the “Trump whore” epithet was spray-painted in red on her office door.

Collins’ challenger for her U.S. Senate seat, former Democratic state Senator Troy Jackson, condemned the vandalism in a statement shared with Fox News Digital. 

“There’s no place for this in Maine. Vandalism and intimidation are wrong, full stop. Senator Collins and her staff should be able to do their jobs without anyone defacing their office, and I condemn whoever did this,” Jackson said.

Jackson had also condemned the September incident in another statement to Fox News Digital.

COLLINS INSISTS SOCIALIST RIVAL WON’T BEAT HER AS MAINE’S MONEY MACHINE: ‘YOU’LL LOSE BIG TIME’

“Senator Collins and her staff should be able to do their jobs without anyone defacing their office, and I condemn whoever did this,” Jackson said.

Biddeford police are investigating the incident, according to Collins’ campaign.

Troy Jackson’s campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for further comment.

As the Senate race in Alaska makes headlines over an alleged Democrat-linked election scheme, Fox News spoke with voters heading to the polls on Monday, including one man who said he is voting for incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, despite having previously considered voting for the Democratic Senate candidate, former Rep. Mary Peltola.

The Senate race, which is a ranked-choice voting contest, has been the subject of significant national attention due to the inclusion of a candidate with nearly the same name as the incumbent GOP lawmaker.

The male voter, who did not provide his name, explained that he “thought it was sketchy from the get-go.”

A New York Times report published last week detailed the alleged scam that involved Democrats seeking to recruit Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. to run in the race against the incumbent Sen. Daniel S. Sullivan.

“When The New York Times article came out, and I found out how that transpired, I was disgusted by the whole thing, so sleazy,” the voter noted.

ELECTION DAY 2026: VOTERS CAST BALLOTS WITH CONTROL OF CONGRESS ON THE LINE

A woman who was with the man in Alaska noted that he had “thought about voting for Mary Peltola.”

“I switched,” he said.

The woman said she believes it is “unethical, and I don’t think [Peltola] should be elected.”

The man agreed.

They both confirmed they would be voting for Sen. Dan S. Sullivan.

DOJ FACES ‘HEAVY LIFT’ IN ALASKA ELECTION APPEAL AS SEPARATE CRIMINAL PROBE CONTINUES

The Peltola campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s comment request on Tuesday.

In a rally speech last week, Peltola denied being involved in the alleged scheme.

“I knew nothing about any other candidates on the ballot except for me and the incumbent. That is all I have ever known about,” Peltola said. “I am not interested in tricking voters. I know I can beat Dan Sullivan.”

Sen. Sullivan said during a speech on Monday, “We all knew that the decoy Dan guy was fake, but the extent of the corruption, the extent of the cheating.”

DEMS’ DIRE WARNINGS ABOUT THREATS TO DEMOCRACY FACE AN UNCOMFORTABLE RECKONING AFTER ALASKA ELECTION REPORT

President Donald Trump is backing the senator in the race.

“Senator Dan S. Sullivan, the Best Senator in the History of Alaska, and one of the Best in the Country, should be running his Senatorial Race in Alaska, ‘UNDER PROTEST,’ for the FRAUD that has been committed against him in putting another Dan Sullivan on the Ballot. Dan Sullivan against Dan Sullivan — How ridiculous is that? Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump posted to Truth Social on Monday night.

This post appeared first on https://www.foxnews.com

Voting machines in Westchester County, New York, the state’s seventh most populous county, are not accepting paper ballots at polling locations throughout the county, the Westchester County Board of Elections said in a statement Tuesday morning.

“The Westchester County Board of Elections (BOE) is aware of an issue involving the paper ballots that is preventing some voting machines from accepting ballots at polling locations throughout the County,” the statement read.

The board, in a separate statement issued later in the day, said the issue stemmed from an update to the county’s election programming that occurred after initial testing of equipment.

“A change affecting a contest in one municipality required updated election programming, which was subsequently tested and deployed for early voting and for Election Day machines in that municipality,” the statement read.

“However, Election Day machines elsewhere in the county continued to use the original programming and therefore could not recognize and accept the ballots being used for Election Day,” the statement continued. 

WATCHDOG, GOP LAWMAKER WARN NY VOTER REGISTRATION SYSTEMS LACKS KEY SAFEGUARDS

Rep. Mike Lawler, R,-N.Y., whose district contains a large swath of Westchester County, said the specific issue was that the paper ballots are too thick for the machines to read.

“There was an issue with the thickness of the ballot and the formatting of the machines. And so none of the machines were accepting the ballot across the entire county,” Lawler told CNN.

Lawler first alerted voters to the apparent ballot scanner problem in the county in a Tuesday morning post on X.

OUTGOING HOUSE DEMOCRAT BACKS INCUMBENT REPUBLICAN LAWMAKER FOR RE-ELECTION

“There is a problem with every ballot scanner in Westchester County. We do not yet know the exact cause of the issue, whether it is the ballot or the machine. The Board of Elections is working with their vendors to resolve it,” Lawler wrote.

“However, every ballot will be counted. Stay on line and vote. Do not leave the polling place without voting,” Lawler’s post concluded.

Multiple voters in Westchester County told Fox News Digital that their paper ballots were taken and placed into red or orange bags. Lawler confirmed the procedure of using the bags to store ballots.

“As is often the case, when there’s an emergency, they take the ballot, and they put it in an emergency voting bag. Every ballot will be counted. And everybody should be rest assured that their vote will count. They should wait on line. I know the lines may be impacted a little bit. With some delays, but do not leave the line. Make sure you vote. Your vote will be counted. The machines are being fixed,” he said.

The county’s board of elections reiterated Lawler’s insistence that all ballots will be counted. 

“Voters should continue to complete their paper ballots as instructed by poll workers. Ballots that cannot be processed by voting machines will be placed in designated orange emergency ballot bags, which will remain secure and monitored. These ballots will subsequently be counted,” the BOE said.

In a statement, Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins said, “My office is fully aware of the ongoing problems with ballots and voting scanners across Westchester County, and I want to be absolutely clear: this situation is unacceptable.

“Voters should remain in line and exercise their right to vote. Every eligible voter will have the opportunity to cast their ballot, and every vote must be counted. I have directed County officials, including representatives from our Law Department, to monitor the voting process and ensure that voters can cast their ballots without interference and that every vote is properly and accurately counted.

“Once these issues are resolved, I will convene a bipartisan team to conduct a thorough review of the decisions and failures that led to this debacle, determine where accountability lies and ensure that this never happens again.

“Westchester County voters deserve a fair, secure and seamless election process. Today, we have fallen short of that standard. The voters deserve better, and I intend to make sure they get it,” Jenkins said.

The board also apologized to voters and to poll workers for the inconvenience.

“Let us be absolutely clear: Every eligible vote will be counted. No voter should be discouraged from participating in this election because of this issue. Your voice matters. Your vote matters. Please stay in line and vote,” the board’s statement said.

Voter Patrick Reagan, who has been voting in Westchester County for the last 40 years, spoke to Fox News outside a polling place in Yonkers.

“I hope all the votes are going to be corrected properly and accounted for. And, you know, it’s a big year for everybody just voting. You know, we need to keep the country safe and good. And I hope, it’s going to turn out the way I wanted to,” Reagan said.

Voter Linda Giaimo, a woman who took her friend to vote, said she would be calling the Board of Elections about what was happening on Election Day.

“It’s all through Westchester County, that all these machines are down. So now we’ve got to put our vote in a bag and believe that that bag is going to be delivered. I got a problem with this,” Giaimo said.

INSIDE HOUSE GOP’S UNPRECEDENTED PUSH TO MONITOR MIDTERM ELECTIONS AND PREPARE FOR LEGAL FIGHTS

New York’s Democratic Attorney General Letitia James also weighed in.

“My office is monitoring this issue with scanners in Westchester and is in touch with the state and local Boards of Elections as they work on a solution. Westchester voters can still safely fill out and turn in their ballots at their polling locations. Your votes will count,” she wrote in a Tuesday morning post on X.

James also reminded state residents that New York has a dedicated Election Protection Hotline — (866) 390-2992 — to assist New Yorkers experiencing issues at the polls.

“Today is your opportunity to make your voice heard, and every eligible New Yorker deserves to cast their ballot without fear or intimidation,” James said in a statement. “My office is here to help New Yorkers navigate any problems they encounter at the polls and ensure their voices are heard. If you experience an issue while voting today, call our Election Protection Hotline. We are ready to help,” she continued.

New York’s polls opened at 6 a.m. and will close at 9 p.m.

Fox News Digital contacted Rep. Mike Lawler for further comment.