Midterm elections: Polls put Democrats in lead to take House as Trump defends 'racist' ad at Ohio rally
Donald Trump was making his last plea to the American people on Monday, attending three rallies in Ohio, Indiana and Missouri just hours ahead of polls opening in crucial midterm elections.
With control of Congress at stake, former President Barack Obama was also out at an event in Fairfax, Virginia, to try and give the Democrats a boost.
Voters will go to the polls on Tuesday with all 435 seats of the House of Representatives up for re-election as well as 35 Senate seats, hundreds of state legislature, local mayoral races, and special ballot provisions.
Republicans currently control both the houses of the US congress, although Mr Trump has warned about what a change would mean or his agenda.
“It's all fragile. Everything I told you about, it can be undone and changed by the Democrats if they get in,” Mr Trump told supporters in a conference call.
He has also admitted Republicans could lose control of the lower House, but has not shown anything but his characteristic bombastic confidence at his numerous political rallies.
Some of the key races are also the most expensive in what is the most expensive overall election in US history, clocking at $5bn plus in spending.
In Texas, Democrat Beto O'Rourke and Republican incumbent Ted Cruz face off for a US Senate seat. In Florida there are two races of note: Republican Governor Rick Scott vies for a US Senate seat against Democrat Bill Nelson and Democratic Mayor of Tallahassee Andrew Gillum looks to become the state's first African-American governor against Republican Ron DeSantis.
In Georgia, Democrat Stacey Abrams looks to become the country's first African-American female governor as she runs against Republican Brian Kemp. Mr Kemp has been called to resign from his state government post of secretary of state since his office is tasked with monitoring elections, particularly should neither of them garner 50 per cent of the vote and a runoff occurs. Mr Kemp has been accused of voter suppression and is also investing Democrats over a possible cybersecurity vulnerability of the state's voter registration page they reported to his office.
Republican Mike DeWine was joined by the president in Ohio as he runs against a former director in Barack Obama's administration, Richard Cordray.
There are numerous tight House races across the Midwest as well. Democrats will need to pick up 24 more seats in order to "flip" control to them.
You can see how the events of the last day of campaigning before the midterms unfolded in our live blog below
Hello and welcome to the latest updates on the final day before the US midterm elections.
On Tuesday, voters will decide between Donald Trump's politics and the Democratic Party's campaign to end the GOP's monopoly in Washington and in statehouses across the nation.
All 435 seats in the US House are up for re-election, 35 Senate seats are in play, as are almost 40 governorships and the balance of power in virtually every state legislature.
While he is not on the ballot, President Trump himself has acknowledged that the 2018 midterms, above all, represent a referendum on his presidency.
A meteorologist has warned that the tornadoes which are expected to batter the southeastern US on Monday evening could "play a big role" in the midterm elections on Tuesday.
Donald Trump headlined an election rally in Macon, Georgia on Sunday afternoon, and appeared later in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in support of Republican Brian Kemp, who is running for Georgia governor, and Rep Marsha Blackburn, who is seeking an open Senate seat in Tennessee.
President Trump praised Mr Kemp as a "strong man" and "strong personality" and said he would become a great governor for Georgia.
The president assailed Mr Kemp's Democratic opponent, Stacey Abrams, as "one of the most extreme far-left politicians in the entire country."
On Sunday, New York's former mayor, Michael Bloomberg, said he was pumping another $5m in national advertising into the final days before the midterm elections, urging voters to support Democrats because of his concern about "the direction of our nation".
Mr Bloomberg, the billionaire independent who is considering a 2020 presidential campaign as a Democrat, appears in a 2-minute ad which aired on Sunday during CBS's "60 Minutes". It will also air Monday on cable and broadcast networks.
In the ad Mr Bloomberg says the nation needs to support Democrats to "send a signal to Republicans in Washington that they have failed to lead, failed to find solutions, and failed to bring us together".
The White House has pushed back against claims that Donald Trump's recent steps to secure the US's southern border were motivated by the upcoming election.
Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, said in an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday that the president's moves had nothing to do with electoral politics.
"I've been involved in scores of conversations about stopping illegal immigration from Mexico and never once has there been a discussion of the political impact in US domestic politics," Mr Pompeo said.
"It has always been about securing the safety of the American people and securing our southern border."
President Trump is sending up to 15,000 US troops to the border to stave off a caravan of migrants slowly making its way through southern Mexico, hundreds of miles from the border.
He has also announced plans to try to end the constitutionally protected right of birthright citizenship for all children born in the US.
The Georgia governor race has been plagued with accusations voter suppression and now Republican candidate and current Georgia secretary of state Brian Kemp has launched an investigation after Democrats alerted his government office to a possible hacking of the state's election system and breach of cybersecurity.
Essentially, Mr Kemp is monitoring his own election despite objections.
"it's a witch hunt created by someone who is abusing his power," his opponent Democrat Stacey Abrams shot back.
Read more about how voter identification rules have led to voter suppression in the estimation of several experts:
Until recently former President Barack Obama had been reluctant to openly criticise Donald Trump, but not any more.
Mr Obama has been holding his own campaign rallies for Democrats running in Georgia, Florida, and Illinois and accused his successor of "fear-mongering" .
A new poll conducted by research firm SSRS for CNN finds Democrats still hold a 55 per cent to 42 per cent lead over Republicans on the eve of the election.
Part of the reason: voters who identify as women favour Democrats 62 per cent to 35 per cent.
The president's approval numbers in the latest survey are even worse:
With less than 24 hours until polls open, at least 31,299,060 votes have been cast early or by mail nationwide, according to data collected by research firm Catalist, which has partnered with CNN.
Early voting in Texas has surpassed total votes cast in the last midterms election in 2014. In that election overall voter turnout was an abysmal 36.4%, but experts have said this year will show a dramatic increase.
One of the most expensive races in US election history is taking place in Florida.
Our own Clark Mindock followed current governor and Republican candidate Rick Scott and Democrat Bill Nelson as they square off the for the latter's seat in the US Senate.
Overall, spending on the 2018 midterms is supposed to eclipse the $5bn mark.
The nuances of election law - from redrawing district lines to imposing ID requirements - have routinely been used as a political tool and now in North Dakota a judge has allowed a rule to be enforced making it practically impossible for Native Americans to vote tomorrow.
Many in the Native American community in the state helped put Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp in office six years ago but now will require an ID with a current street address - not just a Post Office Box number - to vote, something those living on public lands set aside as reservations do not have.
While the majority of the focus as been on individual campaigns and races, there are various ballot measures in every state on which Americans will vote.
Some are local ordinance changes, but some hold the weight of possibly changing the US Constitution.
In Massachusetts for example one of the questions on the ballot pertains to the 2010 US Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case which basically allowed for unlimited spending by corporations, non profits, and labour unions, and associations on "communications".
It is in part what has led to election spending eclipsing $5bn this year.
Massachusetts voters are being asked to establish a special commission to overturn that decision and amend the Constitution to put a cap on that type of spending.
Presidents have not always played such prominent roles in midterms elections, which are often referendums on the current leaders two years in office - and certainly not when a president's approval rating is under 35 per cent as it is for Donald Trump.
However, 2018 is historic for another reason: the very public differences in national vision put forth by Mr Trump's "Make America Great Again" rallies where he says a "vote for [X candidate] is a vote for me and Barack Obama, who has tried to bring back some of his own fire and charm for fellow Democrats from his popular 2008 and 2012 campaigns.
If you were ever wondering what is actually like at a "Make America Great Again" rally, red hats and all, our own Lucy Gray travelled to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to bring you an insider look.
