Trump admin sues to block Alaska Senate race if Sullivan loses

A week and a half away, but the Trump administration has already filed a lawsuit blocking certification of the vote in Alaska if the Democratic candidate for Senate there wins. Republican Senate candidate Dan Sullivan is facing Democrat Mary Peltola. There's also a candidate on the ballot named Daniel J. Sullivan, who is not affiliated with any political party. The Trump administration Justice Department argues that this is confusing voters and that he is actually a Democratic plant trying to siphon off Republican votes. Political analysts say control of the U.S. Senate could come down to the Alaska race and several other tight Senate races. Early voting is soaring, participation in it that is, compared to the last midterm election, especially in states where results could flip Republican-led Senate seats. A new AP analysis found that early voting is up 74% in Texas compared to 2022. In Kansas, it has more than doubled. Maine, North Carolina, and Ohio also have increases of more than 30% in early in-person voting and mail-in voting compared to two years ago. The Trump administration escalating a lawsuit against California to stop tens of thousands of ballots from being counted in the midterms. The administration alleging about 20,000 ballots in the state are cast by non-citizens, a claim that has not been backed by any evidence. The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal yesterday after it first filed its lawsuit about a week ago and looked for emergency relief within four days. No ruling was issued by the deadline, though. California's Attorney General moving to dismiss that lawsuit now. Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Tao's corruption trial continues in Oakland today. An FBI agent testified yesterday about some phone calls between Tao and her alleged co-conspirators. The agent says the FBI seized multiple devices from Tao, as well as from David and Andy Duong, along with phone records. The agent testified that Tao had activated a disappearing message function that permanently erased her chat messages after seven days on the app's Signal and WhatsApp. Messages between Andy Zhuang and Mario Juarez were released referring to a meeting with Tao saying she would buy 100 units of modular housing from his company if she was elected. More testimony is expected today.