As a nationwide wave of Democratic midterm victories delivers a decisive rebuke to the MAGA movement, Jon is joined by Sarah Longwell, publisher of The Bulwark, author of “How to Eat an Elephant,” and host of “The Focus Group” podcast. Together, they discuss what she’s learned from conducting hundreds of focus groups with voters, why Trump’s politics failed this cycle, and how to build on the momentum to cement a lasting pro-democracy coalition. Plus, Jon answers listeners’ questions about Schumer’s future, Elon’s ROI, and to hang or not to hang!

A blue tsunami of epic proportions swept through Texas Tuesday night, decimating the largest, most influential red state and ending the longest statewide shutout of any political party in the country. Democrats up and down the ticket, buoyed by national anger toward President Donald Trump, won seats they haven’t been viable contenders for in decades despite historic spending from their opponents.

Gov. Greg Abbott, the most powerful and well-resourced governor in modern Texas history, was unseated by Gina Hinojosa. Attorney General Ken Paxton, who in past elections cast off impeachment, indictment and infidelities, fell to James Talarico in his bid for the U.S. Senate. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the iron-fisted ruler of the Texas Senate, went down to a little known state representative. Republicans lost the attorney general’s office, one of the most influential conservative legal positions in the country. The new congressional map Republicans drew yielded them no gains — in fact, they lost one seat overall.

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A demand for action came after Meta apologized for temporarily suspending the No Kings Instagram account and disabling access for four hours at the peak of an early voting push from the group. In a post on X, Meta’s Andy Stone said the account had been using a Claude AI tool in a way that made it appear to be a bot. But even though automated review detected the error within an hour, Stone acknowledged that additional hurdles kept admins locked out. State and federal lawmakers—as well as a coalition of 14 attorneys general—have asked Meta to further explain its actions.

In a letter to No Kings, Meta offered to arrange a meeting with a technical expert who could better explain the mistake. But No Kings rejected the response, saying it failed to address any of the group’s ongoing concerns and requesting a meeting with Meta senior leadership instead. The group stressed that the issue goes beyond its Instagram account, saying that Americans who rely on Meta’s platforms need assurance that voting content won’t be suppressed ahead of or on election day. Among eight questions, the coalition asked Meta to publicly disclose any communications with the Trump administration about the No Kings account or the historic early voting day event.

In a Nov. 2 letter, ‌Sherill said Congress banned Russian energy imports under the "Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act" in 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Importing Russian diesel ​violates that law and could expose businesses and ​individuals using New Jersey ports to "harsh" civil and criminal ⁠penalties, she added.

The letter follows President Donald Trump's decision ​to grant Russia a license to supply more than 300,000 ​metric tons, or about 2.25 million barrels, of diesel to U.S. and global markets amid tight global diesel inventories and near-record U.S. prices ahead of the ​Nov. 3 midterm election.

Since the license was granted, Russia has ​dispatched multiple diesel tankers to the United States, including at least one ‌that ⁠may be headed for the New Jersey coast, Sherill said.

Sherill said the Russian Oil Act does not allow blanket sanctions waivers unless Russia withdraws its forces from Ukraine, which has ​not occurred. "New ​Jersey will not ⁠stand by while Donald Trump supports Vladimir Putin at the expense of Americans," Sherill said ​on X.

"Instead of lowering costs, these imports ​help finance ⁠Putin’s war against Ukraine and a campaign of violence and terror that endangers our U.S. service members abroad."

According to GasBuddy, ⁠diesel ​prices on Tuesday's midterm election day ​reached a record high $6.28 per gallon, the highest ever for any election day.

Immigrants who have been granted release from detention after winning habeas corpus petitions in court are being re-arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The Guardian has identified at least 20 cases nationwide relating to people who were detained after being released on habeas corpus petition in the last year, according to court records, attorneys and media reports.

Increasing arrests and detentions have led to immigrants filing more than 91,000 habeas petitions as they seek to challenge their detentions, according to research by ProPublica. More petitions have been filed since 25 January than during the past three presidential administrations, including Trump’s first term, combined, the outlet found.

But he said some voters arrived early, couldn't wait, and left without voting.

Scott said he urged them to return to their assigned polling place before polls close at 7 p.m. Scott said it’s not clear how many people chose to leave.

About 45,000 people have voted in Broward as of Tuesday morning, Scott said.

Scott also announced two polling site locations because of flooding. Precinct T18, which was assigned to vote at Paradise Village Clubhouse at 12850 W. State Rd 84 has been switched to Treetops Park at 3900 SW 100th Ave. in Davie.

Raytheon was awarded the massive deal just a month after officials determined it wouldn’t be suspended for its past actions, the Daily Beast’s sister Substack, PunchUp, reported.

The Missile Defense Agency has handed the subsidiary of major arms manufacturer RTX a two-year no-compete extension worth up to $394 million to maintain government radars, with $112.3 million already obligated, the Pentagon announced last week.

The decision came just a month after RTX said the Navy had decided Raytheon would remain eligible for government contracts, despite the company admitting in 2024 that it inflated the price of a radar maintenance deal with the Air Force by $11.1 million in 2017 and 2018.

A federal judge on Sunday threw out the Justice Department’s lawsuit seeking to segregate ballots and delay certification of Alaska’s Senate race, the latest legal rebuke to a rash of Trump administration attempts to meddle in the 2026 midterms.

US District Judge Sharon Gleason said the federal government doesn’t have the standing to force Alaska to segregate ballots and that such a move would violate the right of voters to cast a secret ballot. Regardless, she added, it’s too late for the courts to force such a major change on the eve of an election.

The Trump administration in its suit argued the presence of a spoiler candidate with the same name as the GOP incumbent warranted a court-ordered investigation into the results if Sen. Dan S. Sullivan lost.

Senate Democrat Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign says it has raised $1.2 million in the four hours and counting after former primary rival Rep. Haley Stevens backed Republican Mike Rogers in the final messy days of the Michigan Senate race.

That marks his second-best fundraising day since winning the nomination in August.

Jon Stewart's interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmodf-lNGEE

Some polling places in Miami-Dade County are temporarily changing for Election Day on Tuesday. The Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections office said the 19 precinct locations are being moved because of site availability.

Here are the affected precincts and where you will need to vote on Election Day:

Precinct 002: Vote at Gateway Park, 151 Sunny Isles Blvd.

Precincts 127, 183, and 184: Vote at the Hazel Crawford Neighborhood Resource, 1528 NE 152nd Ter.

Precinct 227: Vote at Dr. Lester B. Brown Park, 19405 NW 32nd Ave.

Precinct 300: Vote at Norman and Jean Reach Park, 7895 NW 176th St.

Precincts 305 and 372: Vote at Miami Lakes United Methodist Church, 14800 Ludlam Rd.

Precincts 404 and 424: Vote at West Miami Middle School, 7525 SW 24th St.

Precinct 523: Vote at St. Paul Institutional AME Church, 1892 NW 51st Ter.

Precincts 548 and 670: Vote at Miami Senior High School, at 2450 SW First St.

Precinct 705: Vote at the Reception Palace Ballrooms, 14375 SW 42nd St.

Precincts 801 and 805: Vote at Glendale Baptist Church, located at 14580 SW 117th Ave.

Precincts 825 and 836: Vote at the South Dade Government Center, 10710 SW 211th St.

Precinct 857: Vote at the Country Walk Park Recreation Center, 14601 Country Walk Dr.

Note: I tried to go to their voting page and couldn't find the link to the new sites for voting. Feel free to update in the comments if you can find on the official voting site a link to the new sites. https://www.votemiamidade.gov/elections/index.page

Department late Friday, blocking the department from threatening to prosecute state and local election officials who do not comply with the department’s directives on handling ballots.

The ruling by Judge Trina L. Thompson of the U.S. District Court for Northern California could deprive the department of some of its most important levers in extracting concessions from local officials — the specter of prosecution and threat of subpoenas.

The temporary restraining order was just the latest in a succession of court losses for the department in the attempt to intervene in state-administered elections to prevent illegal voting by immigrants, which is exceedingly rare.

Judge Thompson ordered the department not to “threaten, intimidate or coerce state or local elections officials or workers to demand that they halt processing the ballots” based on the government’s suspicion the voter might be a noncitizen. Her order is set to expire after Tuesday’s election. She scheduled a hearing for Monday.

The actual number of ballots in dispute is likely much smaller than 20,000, since county election officials have found that many of the people on DOJ's list did not have active voter registrations and were not mailed ballots.

The Justice Department's appeal to the Supreme Court comes as it has been escalating its feud with California election officials.

In recent weeks, DOJ officials have warned local election officials they could be criminally prosecuted if they do not cooperate with federal demands to segregate ballots. Last week, the Justice Department sent grand jury subpoenas to employees at the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder's office.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry lost reelection to his seat on the board of directors for the massive planned power and data center company he co-founded called Fermi, according to a transcript of the vote from an annual meeting Friday obtained by The Texas Tribune.

Fermi, which has ambitions to become the largest data center and power generation campus in the U.S., has had a tumultuous first couple years – from quickly garnering massive industry hype and going public within six months, to a turbulent ownership battle and struggle to find a major tenant that has sent company stocks toppling by more than 90% from its peak price.

Perry, who formerly served as energy secretary during President Donald Trump’s first term, co-founded the company after former CEO and co-founder Toby Neugebauer approached him.

Ohio governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy's controversial attack ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Dr. Amy Acton, is off the air after the Republican spent about a quarter of what his campaign initially said it would invest to run it.

Ramaswamy said during a campaign appearance in Vandalia, Ohio, on Thursday that the ad’s planned run was over. His campaign originally said it would spend $4 million to air the ad, but data from the ad-tracking firm AdImpact showed it spent roughly $1 million.

The Harris County District Attorney's office says Mario Alberto Morales was behind the wheel of an unmarked black vehicle on Oct. 10 when it struck Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, who was running away. Parra Hernandez was later placed in custody with a broken leg.

ICE released a photo of another man, Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, and said he was the target of the operation that day and was seen entering a vehicle with Parra Hernandez. Family members of Parra Hernandez said they had never heard of him. FIEL, an immigrant rights group in Houston, said Mendoza-Cervantes' daughter told them her father has been dead since 2017. She also said his real name is Jose Hector Jimenez.

Teare's office has also said its investigation has not found that Parra Hernandez and the man ICE identified as Mendoza-Cervantes were in a vehicle together, contrary to ICE's statement.

Naval top brass under Pete Hegseth’s hardline Pentagon leadership punished a teenage airman after he survived a harrowing 67-foot leap into the ocean.

Navy Airman Nicholas McKelvey, 19, was formally discharged on Thursday, with leadership branding his desperate mental health crisis aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln as “malingering” and accusing him of faking distress to escape a grueling combat deployment as the ship headed for the Middle East.

The gaffe came after Hegseth abruptly removed Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia, the Pentagon’s top military planner, from his influential role on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The three-star general, a combat veteran who served for 32 years, was accused of misconduct for allegedly leaking classified information related to the Iran war and the Russia-Ukraine war.

An official also told CBS News that Sylvia had failed three polygraph tests about sharing classified information with the press; however, two other Pentagon sources disputed those accusations, raising questions about the circumstances surrounding his removal.

Alicia Jackson endorsed a key FDA policy change on hormone replacement therapies while holding at least $115,000 in stock in a company providing access to menopause treatments. Ethics experts called her endorsement an “obvious conflict of interest.”

Anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy has unilaterally passed a rule that will allow specialty pharmacies to sell six specific peptide drugs, overruling scientists at the Food and Drug Administration.

The peptides are popular among members of Kennedy’s Make America Health Again movement, and many prominent MAHA figures and Kennedy allies sell them. Kennedy said he uses some of the peptides and called himself a “big fan.” But FDA scientists continue to say there is insufficient evidence to show if they’re effective, and they are potentially dangerous. In 2023, the safety concerns led the FDA to remove the six peptides from a list of drugs that can be made by specialty pharmacies called compounding pharmacies—which make customized formulations of drugs for patients, or, in cases such as this, specialty drugs in bulk.

Kennedy’s new rule sidesteps the need to formally undo that FDA action. The rule is titled “Enforcement Discretion Policy Regarding 503A Compounding Using Certain Peptide Bulk Drug Substances” and was made available Wednesday on the Federal Register, with the final publication date set for October 30. The rule does not change the regulatory status of the peptide; instead, it states the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will no longer take enforcement action against compounding pharmacies for making the peptides, essentially giving them a green light to freely produce and sell them. Kennedy had quietly proposed this rule earlier this month.

Jensen Huang, the CEO of the world’s most valuable company—and a close ally of Donald Trump—is now reportedly at the center of a federal investigation into an alleged spy plot and the smuggling of American AI chips into China.

According to the New York Times, the classified investigation previously found evidence that an executive of Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center company, was an intelligence asset working on behalf of the Chinese government. Not much is publicly known about the executive, whose name is Alice Huang, or Huang Le. She was briefly listed as Megaspeed’s managing director after the company was launched in 2023, but her name was later removed from that role in corporate paperwork, according to the Times.

The consumer price index, a separate measure of inflation released by the Department of Labor that was released earlier in October, had also shown inflation rising in September, with the annualized inflation rate going from 3.4% in August to 3.7% in September.

Despite the rise in prices, the US central bank on Wednesday left its benchmark interest rate in the 3.75%-4% range while acknowledging that inflation “remains elevated”.

Increasing interest rates can slow inflation, at the risk of slackening economic activity and the jobs market. Because inflation is still hot, economists expect the Fed to raise rates in December. The Fed chairman, Kevin Warsh, told reporters “economic activity is expanding ‌at a strong pace,” noting that “while uncertainty remains, owing in part to geopolitical developments, domestic spending has been resilient.”

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who announced the charges at a news conference, accused the pair of entering polling places during state primary election voting on Aug. 11 and identifying themselves using names of registered voters in those precincts without those voters’ knowledge or permission.

“Both men stopped short of signing the oath we all sign before receiving our ballot,” she said. “But Minnesota law states clearly that no individual shall intentionally misrepresent their identity in applying for a ballot.”

The pair of influencers disguised themselves and recorded themselves going undercover using hidden cameras at the polling places. They posted videos capturing their interactions on social media in August. O’Keefe said in a post on X that they dressed in “Muslim garb” — including, for one of them, a full-face veil known as a niqab — and their goal was to “expose the sheer lunacy of Minnesota’s ‘vouching’ system.”