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Pope Leo makes history in US election with move confirmed by Vatican

American-born Pope Leo XIV has become the first pope ever to vote in a U.S. election. The Holy See Press Office confirmed to Fox News Digital on Friday that Leo, born Robert Francis Prevost and the first American-born pope in the Catholic Church’s more than 2,000-year history, submitted a mail-in ballot in Illinois. “Pope Leo XIV has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so,” the Holy See Press Office said. “The Holy See Press Office confirms that in keeping with this long-standing practice of civic participation, he has submitted his mail-in ballot in Chicago.” “The Holy Father has also confirmed that, during his years of residence in Peru he exercised his right to vote whenever he was eligible to do so,” the press office added. “The Holy Father expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes.” CHICAGO’S 12-LANGUAGE BALLOTS MAKE ELECTIONS ‘HARDER TO MONITOR,’ ILLINOIS GOP CHAIR WARNS The Will County clerk’s office told the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday that Leo requested a mail-in ballot on Oct. 3, while the Vatican separately confirmed that the pontiff had submitted his ballot. “Robert Francis Prevost is on the list of individuals who requested a vote by mail ballot for the upcoming election,” Kim Fladhammer, Will County clerk’s office chief of staff, told the Chicago Sun-Times. Among the races on Illinois’ ballot is the contest for governor, where incumbent Democrat J.B. Pritzker is seeking a third term against Republican Darren Bailey and independent candidate Collin Corbett. The Will County clerk’s office and Pritzker’s campaign each did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment. POPE LEO XIV SEEN FOR FIRST TIME SINCE LUNG CANCER SURGERY AMID MAJOR RECOVERY MILESTONE “There is no such thing as an absentee ballot in Illinois law anymore. So anyone can vote by mail if they so choose. There is also a law called UOCAVA, The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act that is mostly for the military, but it’s also for U.S. citizens who are overseas,” Illinois State Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich told the Chicago Sun-Times. “… Any Illinois registered voter can vote by mail.” “Until 2010, it was considered absentee, and you had to have an excuse,” Dietrich added. “But that’s all gone away. So that’s obviously what he’s doing.” The Vatican announced on Oct. 13 that Leo underwent a procedure at Agostino Gemelli University Hospital in Rome to remove a small tumor on his right lung. Leo’s doctors later confirmed on Oct. 21 that no further cancer treatment is necessary after the pontiff’s lung tumor was removed.

Dem operative admits Ilhan Omar case has legs as liberal firewall begins to crack: ‘I’m not stupid’

A prominent Minnesota Democrat who served in the state’s House of Representatives revealed on Thursday he believes the federal probe into Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., has legitimacy. It’s the latest signal that the political dam may be breaking as scandals and investigations into the congresswoman continue to pile up. “Democrats should understand that the allegation is almost certainly true—whatever conclusion they draw from that point could vary—and her denials calling it a right-wing, Islamophobic or racist conspiracy are almost certainly not,” Joe Radinovich posted on X in reference to the claims that Omar married her brother as part of an alleged fraudulent immigration scheme. Radinovich, who served as a Minnesota state representative from 2013 to 2015 as a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), added to his post that, in addition to the probe into her immigration status, the investigation into her finances could also be problematic. OBAMA ADMIN FIRST LAUNCHED THE INVESTIGATION INTO ILHAN OMAR’S ALLEGED BROTHER MARRIAGE “And then I’d be very, very careful about how I qualified on allegations around her finances—where her defense looks similar and where no meaningful questions have been answered publicly, and where any objective look at the evidence doesn’t look…great,” the former state representative said. Radinovich, a well-connected DFL operative with ties to the party’s state, federal and Minneapolis political establishments, managed Democrat Rick Nolan’s 2016 congressional campaign, ran Jacob Frey’s successful 2017 campaign for Minneapolis mayor and later served as Frey’s chief of staff. He also won the DFL nomination for Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District in 2018 before losing to Republican Pete Stauber. Briana Rose Lee, a Minneapolis DFL activist who served as an operations director for Omar’s campaign operation, responded to the post calling it a “witch hunt.” “Joe. You aren’t stupid,” she wrote. “You know this is a baseless and manufactured witch hunt. I’m actually surprised to see this from you. It’s a new low.” NEARLY 40 HOUSE DEMS SKIP EFFORT TO END ILHAN OMAR IMMIGRATION PROBE Radinovich stood by his comments. “You’re right,” Radinovich wrote. “I’m not stupid. I believe the Trump DOJ has next to no credibility and that it’s unclear to me the timing of the raid was appropriate—though it’s notable a DC judge signed off on it—but I’m pretty confident this specific allegation is true.” Notably, Radinovich had a hand in two Democratic primary challenges against Omar, working with candidate Don Samuels in 2022 and 2024. Samuels lost both bids. Radinovich’s post is the latest example of the scrutiny surrounding Omar’s legal issues not being confined to conservative media or the MAGA base. Outlets including the New York Times, MSNBC, NBC News and The Associated Press have reported on evidence suggesting Omar’s marriage and citizenship may have been fraudulent, although no criminal charges have been filed against the Minnesota congresswoman. Omar’s Washington, D.C., home was raided by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on Oct. 12, 2026. HSI is the chief investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Her passport, phone and computer were seized during the early-morning operation. Fox News later reported that investigators are in possession of Omar’s DNA. Omar’s sister, Sahra Noor, voluntarily submitted to questioning shortly after the raid, skipping out on her book tour for a “family emergency.” Sources confirmed to Fox News Digital that the raid stemmed from an investigation into whether Omar or her late father, Nur Mohamed, fraudulently filled out her citizenship paperwork decades ago. The investigation, the sources noted, could lead to the congresswoman’s denaturalization. But questions about whether Omar allegedly married her brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, in a fraudulent immigration scheme have also arisen. Omar has been plagued by the accusation for a decade, since she first ran for Minnesota state representative in 2016. Court filings from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia referred to Omar as “Ilhan Omar Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Omar,” suggesting that she shares a surname with the man she married in 2009. Ahmed Nur Said Elmi is a British citizen. Sources later told Fox News Digital that Ilhan Omar is not the Somali-born congresswoman’s “real name.” Omar’s office has consistently denied the immigration fraud allegation, characterizing it as a right-wing smear. Most recently, she has said that the renewed scrutiny is the product of a political “vendetta” by President Donald Trump. But Thursday, Fox News Digital confirmed that former President Barack Obama’s administration opened a probe into the allegedly fraudulent marriage in 2016. One source told Fox News Digital that the investigation remained open until 2021, when it was closed by the Biden administration. The Times reported that investigators believed the statute of limitations on a potential crime had passed. Omar’s campaign attacked Radinovich in a Friday morning comment to Fox News Digital. “Joe is a deeply troubled individual whose demons have sadly manifested as an irrational obsession with Congresswoman Omar after managing two losing campaigns against her,” the campaign said. “His claims are false, biased, and without any evidence. While he was once seen as a rising star within the party, Joe is now widely recognized as a shill for Republican and Corporate money.”

Texas’ red wall facing its biggest threat in decades as Republicans scramble to defend it

DALLAS — Democrats see a rare opening in Texas, and James Talarico is giving them their clearest shot in years at turning the state blue. If he pulls off the upset, the former teacher and Presbyterian seminarian could knock the first brick loose in Texas’ red wall. The polling and fundraising figures help explain why Democrats see that possibility. To put it in perspective, Talarico’s polling leads are wider than those recorded against Ted Cruz in 2018, when Beto O’Rourke came closer than any Democrat in decades to winning a Texas Senate race. And the enthusiasm on the ground from those who spoke with Fox News Digital backs up the numbers. DEEP IN TRUMP COUNTRY, A NEW GENERATION REVEALS THE DIVIDE BEHIND TEXAS’ TIGHT SENATE RACE What’s more, Talarico’s campaign raised $64 million from July through September, more than three times Trump-backed candidate Ken Paxton’s $18 million haul over the same period. Since launching his campaign, Talarico has raised more than $146 million. But Paxton, currently the state’s attorney general, has enjoyed Republican outside groups pouring more than $200 million into Texas to support him, nearly all of it bankrolled by Elon Musk, the world’s richest man. Additionally, MAGA Inc., President Donald Trump’s principal super PAC, has spent another $33.7 million on ads backing Paxton, according to AdImpact. At his Dallas rally on Thursday, Talarico underscored that divide by casting the race as a David and Goliath fight, telling supporters they were his weapon against powerful interests. “David wasn’t as big or as strong as Goliath. He didn’t have as many weapons, but he had hope. He had faith, and he had a slingshot,” he said. “Dallas, you are my slingshot. The people of Texas are my slingshot.” Talarico’s momentum has also shown up on the campaign trail. Earlier this week, Talarico hopscotched across Texas, stopping in El Paso before holding events in Midland and Amarillo and drawing a larger-than-expected crowd in deep-red Lubbock on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Trump campaigned with Paxton about four miles away that same night, shifting his rally time so it overlapped with Talarico’s event. The dueling rallies put the race’s divide on display. Talarico’s campaign said more than 4,000 people signed up for his Lubbock rally, prompting a move to a larger venue. “I know that we’re not the only show in town tonight, and I appreciate all 4,000 of you that showed up here this evening,” Talarico said at the Fiesta Center in Lubbock on Oct. 27. “That’s a lot of Talafreakos in one room.” The Democratic candidate and his supporters have embraced the moniker “Talafreako,” a nickname first given to him as a derogatory dig by Republicans and President Trump. Voters at Talarico’s rallies in Lubbock told Fox News Digital that Trump’s repeated Texas visits signaled Republican anxiety, while Paxton backers remained confident the state would stay red after a costly and contentious primary that saw Republicans divided over Paxton and sitting Sen. John Cornyn, who was ultimately ousted in the May runoff. “Trump’s in Lubbock? Trump’s in Lubbock, Texas? He’s scared, he is scared,” one supporter told Fox News Digital. Natalie, from Friona, called Trump’s same-day rally a sign Republicans were “nervous.” “I think it’s performative, like to come the exact same day as he is here,” she said. Jenny, from Brownsville, told Fox News Digital outside Trump and Paxton’s rally that the race was “not close” and she predicted that “Paxton will wipe the floor” with Talarico. DUELING RALLIES THRUST DEEP-RED LONE STAR TOWN INTO THE CENTER OF THE POLITICAL UNIVERSE Beyond the rally crowds, some Talarico supporters in Dallas and Lubbock said Paxton’s past legal controversies and impeachment by the Texas House shaped their views of the Republican nominee. “We’re here in support of honesty, decency and integrity,” Lori, a Dallas voter who has voted Republican in the past, told Fox News Digital. “That’s what we like to see in a candidate, and we think Talarico is all that in one.” George, a lifelong Texan at the Dallas rally, said years of watching Texas politics had become “heartbreaking” and called Talarico “a breath of fresh air.” In Lubbock, Georgia cited several of Talarico’s policies and called him “authentic.” She also said his lack of an indictment was a plus, contrasting him with Paxton. MEET THE VOTERS WHO COULD BREAK THE GOP’S DECADES-LONG GRIP ON A REPUBLICAN STRONGHOLD Elias, a nurse from Lubbock, described Paxton as a weak leader. “He had a chance to kind of redeem himself despite his ugly past, but he’s not a man, he can’t stand up for himself. He needs daddy Trump to come and support him.” With Election Day on Nov. 3, the question is whether Talarico can turn rally crowds and a polling lead into a historic win. A victory would crack the GOP’s decades-long grip on Texas. A loss would leave Democrats still searching for a path to turn the state blue.

Unhinged judge who called Latino attorney a ‘White savior’ ordered to undergo psychiatric examination

A Trump-appointed judge was ordered to undergo a psychiatric examination as part of an ongoing judicial misconduct investigation after she called a Latino attorney a “White savior” who was intimidated by “Black excellence” due to his “White mediocrity” during a hearing. U.S. District Judge Ada Brown of the Northern District of Texas, who is Black and Native American, was temporarily removed from her docket by the Fifth Circuit Judicial Council earlier this month, following a May judicial-conduct complaint filed by attorney Ezra Young, whose permission to practice before Brown had previously been revoked. The complaint centered on Brown’s rhetoric toward Young during his appearance for a show-case hearing, in which he was facing sanctions over allegations from Brown that he shared sealed court filings online. Young represented a Black law professor who sued Southern Methodist University, alleging she was denied tenure because of discrimination. He joined the case in 2022 and appeared before Brown before the judge barred him from practicing in her courtroom. OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE TORCHES TRUMP ADMIN IN LATEST COURTROOM SHOWDOWN, REFERS ATTORNEY FOR BAR REVIEW During the April hearing, Brown railed against Young, accusing him of “bullying” the Black attorneys on the case. “You’re the White savior, come to save all the stupid Black lawyers in Texas who need your help from New York,” Brown later said, according to the transcript obtained by Bloomberg. Brown repeatedly brought attention to Young’s skin color, calling him “White presenting” and “fair-skinned” after Brown told her that he was a Latino. “I think what’s happening here, quite candidly, is you are very intimidated for some reason, Mr. Young, with Black excellence, in light of your White mediocrity. Yeah. Right?” Brown said. “You should write that down. I mean, you — I’m — you look like a White man, right?” She also called Young a “Chad” which she said is the male version of “Karen.” “It’s someone who calls the manager when they don’t get their way. They stomp their foot when the rules are supposed to apply to them, right?” Brown said. OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE WITH TIES TO ANTI-TRUMP CONSPIRACY THEORY HIT WITH MISCONDUCT COMPLAINT Brown also accused Young of sensationalizing the case after reading a news article that quoted his brief and referenced another law professor’s comparison of the Black professor’s treatment in the tenure dispute to a “lynching.” “And so when I read a headline — a sensationalized, very racialized headline that says, ‘it’s like I’ve been lynched,’ and it’s literally got no connection to this case, I have to ask you, Mr. Social Media, Main Character Chad, White Hero, Savior, Loves to Help Black People Be An Ally, where the lynching in this case came from?” Brown said. The release of the April court hearing transcripts comes as Brown shared with lawyers, judges and several media outlets via email of Young’s complaint and her response. Meanwhile, in a July 28 filing responding to Young’s complaint, Brown stood by her conduct. “I do not believe my demeanor was inappropriate at any time, especially during the candid conversations about race,” Brown wrote. “I take to heart the lessons I have learned from this experience and I ask the Chief Judge to weigh this candor, as well as my commitment to being mentored by senior judges with more experience in such situations when determining an appropriate disposition,” Brown wrote. “I realize the importance of public confidence in the judiciary and take to heart my role in fostering the public’s faith in it.” President Donald Trump appointed Brown to the federal court in Texas in March 2019. She is the first Black woman to serve in that court.

Peltola insists ‘I knew nothing’ about alleged ‘Decoy Dan’ scheme as Sullivan alleges she is ‘still lying’

Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola insisted she “knew nothing” about an alleged scheme to recruit people with the same name as her opponent to run in the election, while incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan told Fox News she is “still lying.” “I just want to clear the air,” Peltola began in a speech to supporters on Thursday in Juneau. “I knew nothing about any other candidates on the ballot except for me and the incumbent. That is all I have ever known about. I am not interested in tricking voters. I know I can beat Dan Sullivan.” In an interview with Fox News, Sullivan, a Republican, said Peltola’s campaign “demonstrated the most corrupt action you could take.” “Most candidates, when they run for office, I’ve run for office, and this is my third election. You sit down at the beginning of your election with your advisers to think about ‘What’s my record? I’m going to run on a strong record. What’s my vision? What do I want to get done?’ Peltola sat down with her advisers, Democrats from D.C. and Alaska, and their first order of business was ‘how do we cheat? How do we make sure Alaskans throw away their votes?’” Sullivan said. “This was a secret project that they had. And then they worked on it for over a year. And then she consistently lied about it. What’s amazing to me is how consistently and casually everyone involved in this, from Kirsten Gillibrand and Schumer down to Peltola and her advisors, and everybody in between lied about this directly to the Alaskan people,” Sullivan continued. “Heck, Peltola is still lying about it, right?” SEN DAN SULLIVAN BRANDS PELTOLA’S ALLEGED BALLOT SCHEME A ‘SCANDAL AT THE HIGHEST ORDER’ The New York Times reported Wednesday that Peltola’s campaign, as well as senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, carried out the alleged election scheme in hopes that voters would be confused by two Dan Sullivans and therefore draw support from the incumbent Republican senator. The Justice Department is moving to delay certification of Alaska’s U.S. Senate election results since two individuals by the name of Dan Sullivan appear alongside each other on the ballot. The state’s incumbent U.S. senator is listed on the ballot as “Sullivan, Dan S.,” while the other Dan Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher, is listed as “Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr.” The latter is known to his critics as “Decoy Dan.” PELTOLA CAMPAIGN’S ALLEGED DAN SULLIVAN SPOILER PLOT TAKES NEW TURN AS DOJ FACES MAJOR LEGAL HURDLE Sen. Sullivan told Fox News correspondent Matt Finn that what he is hearing on the campaign trail is “the disdain that this shows that Peltola has for the Alaskan people.” “Think about it. Her first big move as a candidate, she hadn’t announced her candidacy yet, was to rig the system and work together to cheat and to recruit a candidate whose sole purpose, we all know now, was to confuse Alaskans to rig the vote for her. It is a shocker. It’s the biggest scandal in Alaskan electoral history by far,” Sullivan said. “Mary Peltola and her campaign and the Democrats in D.C. and Alaska think the Alaskan people are dumb. We’re not dumb,” Sullivan added. “And this is going to have a huge impact on the election. We’re going to win.” Fox News Digital’s Nora Moriarty contributed to this report.

RNC rejects narrative of spoiler candidates ‘on both sides,’ calls Alaska scheme ‘fraudulent’

The Republican National Committee rejected the narrative that both parties engage in similar tactics after a New York Times report exposed Democrat-linked efforts to recruit a second “Dan Sullivan” onto Alaska’s Senate ballot, saying Republicans are focused solely on securing elections while Democrats are “trying to be fraudulent.” “No, both sides of the aisle don’t do this,” RNC election integrity communications director Ally Triolo told Fox News Digital on Thursday. “Our entire effort here at the RNC is securing elections, making them fair and free and honest.” “We are doing the exact opposite of what Democrats are trying to do. Democrats have voted time and time again against the Save America Act. They have voted against common sense safeguards. DEM STRATEGIST SHRUGS OFF ALASKA BALLOT SCANDAL ON MS NOW, INSISTS ‘THIS STUFF HAPPENS ALL THE TIME’ “We couldn’t be more different from Republicans versus Democrats, and I honestly hope people see this straight in the eye with what’s happened out of Alaska, that Democrats are completely disingenuous. They have ill intentions. They’re trying to disenfranchise voters, and, of course, trying to be fraudulent. “This is fraudulent behavior, and they need to be held accountable to the fullest extent.” The Times reported Wednesday that Senate nominee Mary Peltola’s campaign, aides from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and others worked to place a retired teacher named Dan J. Sullivan on the ballot. JASON CHAFFETZ: DEMOCRATS TRIED TO TRICK ALASKA VOTERS. PELTOLA MUST ANSWER “Republicans, we tried to fight this months ago and draw attention to this Democrat scheme,” Triolo said. “And look, no wonder Democrats are against election integrity because they don’t want to be held accountable for trying to disenfranchise voters and cheat the system.” “It has been abundantly clear from the get-go that this was a ploy to try to sway voters, confuse voters, take votes away from the real Sen. Dan Sullivan,” she added. “And that is exactly why you saw the DOJ intervene just last week to make sure there were protections in place before the election could be certified to make sure everything was above board. And now we have this bombshell report coming out exposing exactly what we have been saying, and I think this points to the larger issue of Democrats continually fighting election integrity, because again, they have admitted that they cannot win fair and square when safeguards are in place.” TRUMP SAYS ‘WE ARE LOOKING INTO’ OTHER DAN SULLIVAN ON ALASKA BALLOT, WARNS ABOUT GOVERNOR’S RACE The RNC election integrity unit has a major on-the-ground operation in Alaska, she said, including an in-state director, attorneys, observers and poll workers, and that President Donald Trump and the Justice Department have already moved to address the issue. The DOJ last week sued to block certification of a potential Peltola win if votes for the second Sullivan could have changed the outcome, and a senior DOJ official told Fox News on Thursday that the criminal investigation has intensified, with officials examining possible civil-rights violations under 18 U.S.C. §§ 241 and 242. Vice President JD Vance said authorities should “certainly look into whether [Peltola] committed election fraud,” describing the effort as an attempt to “steal a Senate seat.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune called it a “coordinated effort” and “totally dirty pool.” SEN DAN SULLIVAN BRANDS PELTOLA’S ALLEGED BALLOT SCHEME A ‘SCANDAL AT THE HIGHEST ORDER’ There is an “aggressive criminal investigation” into Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. appearing on the ballot, sources told Fox News. That investigation has only intensified since the Times’ reporting but has been underway for several months. This investigation, being run by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alaska, is expected to go beyond Tuesday’s Election Day, and there will not be any sort of indictment or heavy grand jury activity before then. ‘DECOY DAN’ SULLIVAN CASE LEADS TOP SENATOR TO BREAK FOUR-YEAR X SILENCE: ‘PATTERN OF LIES’ The DOJ thus far has declined to comment on the matter. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has also ordered a state investigation. Peltola’s campaign and DSCC officials have denied involvement in recruiting the second Sullivan to confuse voters, issuing warnings that “both sides” put up spoiler candidates in elections. The Alaska Supreme Court previously ruled the second Dan Sullivan could remain on the ballot under state law. “The RNC is heavily invested in protecting the vote in Alaska since this scheme came out,” Triolo said. “We’ve been fighting it, drawing attention to it, doing everything we can to educate voters. DEM BUCKS PARTY OVER ALLEGED ALASKA VOTE-SIPHONING EFFORT: ‘NEITHER PARTY SHOULD BE DOING IT’ “We are heavily invested in securing Alaska and obviously this scheme is an absolute fraud. You saw President Trump come forward and say that Mary Peltola, the fake Dan Sullivan, all of these individuals should be held accountable not only for lying about their affiliation with the scheme, but also just for trying to deceive voters. “We are seeing this play out in real time. Even The New York Times, the left-wing media, has no choice but to hold them accountable for their schemes. “So I think what we need to stay focused on, as Republicans, is that we need to keep the majority. This is why this midterm election feels like a presidential, because so much is at stake.” Fox News’ David Spunt, William Mears and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

Trump-backed Alaska candidate blasts ‘so-called Republican’ Murkowski for endorsing Dem

Alaska Republican gubernatorial candidate Bernadette Wilson said she was not surprised Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, crossed party lines to endorse her Democratic opponent in the governor’s race. Wilson told Fox News Digital that Murkowski endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins on Tuesday because the two share similar views on taxation and Alaska’s oil industry. “It should not surprise anyone. They’re two peas in a pod, and I can tell you that as governor,” Wilson told Fox News Digital. FORMER STATE REP TOPS RANKED-CHOICE SLUGFEST AS ALASKA ADVANCES NOMINEES FOR GOVERNOR “It doesn’t surprise me that she is supporting the just keep taxing JKT,” Wilson continued. “You know the guy that supports an increase in income tax, the guy that wants to double the fuel tax here in Alaska, the guy that has said ‘Hey I’m gonna come after the oil companies,’ the guy that does not support paying out a full permanent fund dividend.” In August, during a candidate forum hosted by the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, Kreiss-Tomkins said he believes “broad-based tax and revenues of that nature are likely going to be necessary to balance our budget.” DEM SENATE HOPEFUL VOWS TO UNLEASH ALASKA OIL — BUT HER RECORD TELLS A DIFFERENT STORY Wilson argued that Kreiss-Tomkins’ economic policies align with Murkowski’s, accusing both politicians of supporting what she described as “socialist policies.” The Republican candidate said she has been “sounding the alarm since 2010 about the fact that she was [subscribing] to extreme liberal socialist policies,” referring to Murkowski. Wilson also said she would not “assign motive” to Murkowski’s decision to endorse Kreiss-Tomkins, though she did not rule out the possibility that the endorsement was intended as a rebuke of President Donald Trump. Trump endorsed Wilson on Oct. 13, days before Murkowski announced her support for Kreiss-Tomkins. Murkowski has opposed several legislative priorities backed by Trump during the 119th Congress, including the SAVE America Act, which would impose additional proof-of-citizenship requirements for voter registration. In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal in July, Murkowski wrote that “as written, the SAVE America Act isn’t a simple fix to safeguard elections, as proponents claim. It would impose costly new barriers and prevent some, perhaps many, from voting, while also creating chaos before the November elections.” JOHNSON’S STRATEGY TO BYPASS DEMOCRATS’ SAVE ACT BLOCKADE SURVIVES KEY VOTE, HANDING GOP BIG WIN In January, Murkowski joined Senate Democrats in voting in favor of the War Powers Resolution, which failed but could have limited Trump’s ability to take military action against Iran. The president then took to Truth Social to state that Murkowski “should never be elected to office again.” If elected governor, Wilson pledged in her video interview that she would continue to “sound the alarm” about Murkowski, whom she described as a “so-called Republican senator.” The candidate also characterized Murkowski’s political positions as “absolutely terrible.” Murkowski and Kreiss-Tomkins did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

Resurfaced Peltola ‘criminal offense’ quote comes back to haunt her after explosive report: ‘Turn yourself in’

Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola is facing an onslaught of social media criticism over a resurfaced quote that critics say reeks of hypocrisy, following an explosive New York Times report this week. “It should be a criminal offense to lie or mislead the electorate,” Peltola says in the clip from August posted by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) on Wednesday, shortly after The New York Times reported that her campaign was actively involved in a scheme to peel votes away from incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan by recruiting namesake and spoiler candidates. Conservatives on social media quickly shared the post and suggested that Peltola should be investigated based on her own words. “Your terms are acceptable,” Townhall columnist Dustin Grage posted on X. MARY PELTOLA’S CAMPAIGN, DEMS BACKED COVERT SCHEME TO FIELD SPOILER CANDIDATES IN ALASKA SENATE RACE: REPORT “Turn yourself in, Mary Peltola,” conservative radio host Jason Rantz posted on X. “Amen, Mary! ” former Trump campaign national press secretary Hogan Gidley posted on X. “Well, that’s ironic… ,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., posted on X. “Agree!!! ” Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen posted on X. ALASKA’S GOVERNOR ORDERS INVESTIGATION AFTER NYT REPORT ON ALLEGED DEM-LINKED SENATE ELECTION SCHEME The New York Times report rocked the Alaska Senate race, which could determine the balance of power in the Senate, as questions now swirl over the legality of the campaign’s alleged actions. The Department of Justice and the state of Alaska are both investigating the genesis of the alleged scheme to recruit Dan J. Sullivan into the race against incumbent Dan S. Sullivan. Fox News learned Wednesday that federal prosecutors are conducting an “aggressive criminal investigation” into how the second Sullivan secured a spot on Alaska’s ballot, according to two sources familiar with the probe. Investigators are preparing grand jury subpoenas and examining potential violations of voters’ rights, with the investigation expected to continue beyond Election Day. The DOJ declined to comment. Alaska’s Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced that he was ordering a probe into the matter. “Today’s New York Times reporting reveals disturbing new evidence of an organized effort to manipulate Alaska’s elections by recruiting candidates — including one with the same name as an incumbent U.S. Senator — to deliberately confuse voters and misdirect their votes. The Alaska Division of Elections investigated these very concerns in June of this year. The new reporting substantially supports the Division’s findings,” Dunleavy noted in a post on X. “I am therefore directing the Department of Public Safety to investigate whether this scheme violated Alaska’s laws and whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted. The evidence will determine what happens next,” the GOP governor continued. The DOJ has issued dozens of subpoenas in the past 24 hours, reportedly looking into whether the campaign violated federal law by conspiring against the rights of voters. Others have argued the alleged actions are not illegal, and simply a “dirty trick” that is sometimes utilized in campaigns. Fox News Digital reached out to Peltola’s campaign for comment. Peltola has dismissed reports of the alleged election scheme as “just another distraction,” arguing that The New York Times’ report was solely purposed to “sell newspapers.” Her campaign also continues to assert innocence, previously telling Fox News in part that the Alaskans for Mary campaign “has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign.”

A ghost story in the nation’s Capitol

They always ask if I felt something. “Across your foot? Your shin?” My shin? “Yeah. Your ankle. Did you feel it?” Not really. But before I respond, they ask again. What was it like?” they inquired. “Or did you just fall?” Then they speculated I might be clumsy. Hmmph. Clumsy. I truly don’t think so. REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: CONGRESS BRACES FOR POST-ELECTION GAME OF MUSICAL CHAIRS AS LEADERSHIP BATTLES LOOM Oh. I fall like everyone else. I work out daily. I’ve taken a couple of tumbles on predawn runs in Alexandria, Virginia. You never know when one of those sidewalk snakes will slither up from the asphalt and nip you on the ankle. I used to snow ski. I studied martial arts for years and hold a second degree black belt. Clumsy? Nah. “But, what do you think it was?” they follow up. Well, I have my theories. I was a little tired that day. I noted the lip on the small staircase near the Memorial Door of the U.S. Capitol where I may have caught the edge of my brown loafers. I remember my shoes. Rubber soles. Slight scuff on the toes. Perfectly matched with my crisp tan summer suit. Not quite an “Obama” tan suit. But appropriate for summer. And I thought at least reasonably dapper for traipsing around the U.S. Capitol and covering Congress on a sweltering July day. Was it the shoes? My fatigue? Or how about my haste to “get the story.” I spotted then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his small coterie of aides and a security detail descending a spiral staircase after a meeting with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. D-Calif. I would try to ask Trudeau a question. No. This really doesn’t have anything to do with Trudeau. Or the fact that I recalled that there was a picture of him, aged about 14 or 15, at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, rooting for the Expos. He’s there with his father — the most storied of all Canadian prime ministers — the late Pierre Trudeau. Of course, the Expos no longer play in Montreal. They don’t play at all. They moved to Washington in 2005 and are now the Nationals. And this was before the tariff wars. Montreal has been bereft of Major League Baseball ever since. What would Youppi! Say? Look him up, kids. No, there wasn’t something across my shin or ankle. I didn’t feel anything. I was there, on those steps, in the U.S. Capitol, because I’m a baseball fan. And I found out that Justin Trudeau watched those old Montreal Expos teams in the 1980s. Stocked with Andre Dawson, Warren Cromartie and Steve Rogers. And even though Trudeau was there to discuss affairs of state with Pelosi and others, I was there to ask him about the national pastime. Ironic, I know, to pose such an interrogative to a Canadian. However, the reason was that there was a report that the Tampa Bay Rays might consider splitting their season each year between Florida and Montreal. Big league baseball would return to Quebec. It would be international news if Trudeau commented. It would appear on Fox. FS1. ESPN. TSN in Canada. And Montreal — famously robbed of perhaps winning the World Series in 1994 with the best team in the game that year because of the player’s strike — might have a shot again at baseball glory. But journalism is like baseball. A game of failure. You sometimes swing and miss. You’re doing great if you’re successful three out of ten times. THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO WHY REMOVING ILHAN OMAR FROM CONGRESS COULD BE HARDER THAN TRUMP EXPECTS And sometimes, in journalism, the question is never asked. That was this day. On those steps. Questions about the Rays and Montreal were muted. All because of whatever got me. Absolutely got me. I stepped toward Trudeau, mumbled something about Tampa Bay and bought it. I fell on those steps. Directly in front of the Canadian Prime Minister. On the hard Capitol marble. I quickly realized I was about to fall. With a microphone in one hand, I couldn’t catch myself. I was confident I’d break a wrist or a hand if I tried to catch myself. So, I just went with it and fell. And because I studied martial arts for all of those years from Master Kim and Master Yang back at the Tae Kwon Do dojang, I knew how to fall without hurting myself. I rolled onto my right shoulder toward Trudeau. My feeling flew up absurdly high in the air. “Oh Chad! Oh Chad! Oh Chad!” hollered my photographer, Robert Fetzer. “Chad!” Trudeau stopped briefly. But I leaped to my feet after the roll, hoping he might say something about baseball. I struck out. And Trudeau departed. “But what tripped you?” they ask. “Were you all right?” Physically, I was fine. Mentally, kind of garbled. I’ve worked daily at the U.S. Capitol for decades. I had a sneaking suspicion of what got me. Or better yet, who? In the latter years of the 19th Century, Rep. William Taulbee, D-Ky., did not get along with reporter Charles Kincaid. Taulbee thought Kincaid wasn’t an honest broker, writing screeds about his personal affairs. Taulbee was tall, towering over the diminutive Kincaid. Taulbee was known to sometimes physically pummel Kincaid. Taulbee was out of federal office. But Kincaid knew Taulbee would be at the Capitol. Kincaid packed a pistol with him. And on Feb. 28, 1890, the reporter shot the Bluegrass Congressman square in the eye. Taulbee leaked blood all the way down the House’s “Y” staircase, the plasma blending with marble. Through a miracle of chemistry, the splotches are still visible today. The Kentucky Democrat succumbed to his injuries 11 days later. It probably goes without saying that Taulbee does not like the congressional press corps. And, so, his phantasm is known to lurk around the Capitol. Sometimes low bridging reporters on ornate staircases. “What tripped you?” they ask. And before I

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