Twice a week, Carol Reid dresses up as the Statue of Liberty and gathers with her fellow Republicans along a thoroughfare in suburban Detroit. The retired administrative assistant believes the government is controlling the weather by spraying chemicals into the air, that people are being monitored through vaccinations for COVID-19 and, like millions of other election naysayers, that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. “We need leaders who are awake, not awake,” Ms. Reed, 75, said on a warm fall afternoon as passing transport trucks honked their horns in approval of her group’s campaign signs. “Once you wake up, you can’t go back to sleep.” A few years ago, such an outlandish conspiracy theorist would have been relegated to the fringes of US politics. But they are front and center in Tuesday’s midterms, which will decide control of Congress and several key state governments. More than 300 suffragettes are running for office across the country. Hot-button cultural issues jostle with more immediate economic concerns for voters’ attention. And former President Donald Trump is reportedly ready to launch a comeback effort in 2024 if the results favor his endorsed candidates. Polls show Republicans poised for big gains as Democrats frantically try to protect their narrow majority in Congress. On the campaign trail, President Joe Biden is warning that “super MAGA” candidates will use the levers of power to overturn future elections and set the country on the road to totalitarianism. “What’s at stake is not just the politics of the moment, but the institutions that have held us together,” Mr. Biden said in a speech near Capitol Hill. “American democracy is under attack.” Also at stake for the President is his ability to continue his agenda. A Republican-controlled Congress would certainly block his plans to enact paid parental leave and free community college, and could also seek military aid to Ukraine. In nearly every competitive Senate race – North Carolina, Ohio, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Arizona and New Hampshire – the Republican nominee is declining the election. It’s a similar story in the constituency polls. This dynamic, ironically, was partly fueled by Democratic campaign groups. Figuring it would be easier to defeat more extreme candidates, Democratic Super PACs spent money this year to help far-right candidates eliminate more moderate Republican candidates in the primaries. This strategy may now fail. There is also the prospect that the results of close races will not be known for days as mail-in ballots are counted. That could open the door to some candidates questioning the results, following Mr. Trump’s playbook for 2020. In Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Republicans are already suing to overturn some absentees. Fears of election-related violence are also high, particularly after last month’s home invasion of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. David de Pape, the 42-year-old Canadian accused in that case of beating Ms. Pelosi’s husband with a hammer, had filled a blog with campaign denial. When it comes to attacks, Republicans lean heavily on Trump-wedge issues to excite their base. Among other things, they pledge to crack down on undocumented immigrants and ban the discussion of LGBTQ issues in schools. “These teachers bring their personal values to the children. Go back to teaching kids the basics,” said Pansy Harper, a 66-year-old Republican voter from Ypsilanti, Mich., who also cited the U.S.-Mexico border and voter fraud as top issues. Talking about politics has become increasingly rife in her family, she said, a sign of the country’s deepening divisions. “There is no longer an agreement. Nobody listens to each other. You can’t have a conversation without someone interrupting you.” Mr Trump has been rallying in swing states ahead of the election. In leaks to US media, his circle said he is ready to announce his 2024 campaign this month, even as he faces criminal investigations for his role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. “Let’s talk about prosecuting Donald Trump and the Republican Party,” he said at a rally, referring to people arrested in connection with the uprising as “political prisoners.” Democrats, meanwhile, are hoping progressive voters will be spurred to the polls by the Supreme Court’s overturning of abortion protections in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization this summer. Mr. Biden is promising legislation legalizing abortion nationwide if his party retains control of Congress, while several states have measures either banning or keeping the procedure on the ballot. Most polls, however, have shown bread-and-butter issues, including the highest inflation in decades, to be at the top of voters’ minds, even though they were secondary to much of the campaign. At an early polling station near Atlanta, Republican supporters blamed Mr. Biden’s big spending bills for overheating the economy. “I’m sick of inflation. You see it when you go to get gas. It kills everyone. The daily cost of living has gone through the roof,” said Paul Daegling, a 64-year-old master plumber. For Roni Monteith, a Democratic constituent in Orlando, Florida, the culture war in schools is a distraction from more tangible concerns, such as the nation’s unaffordable health care. “It’s terrible, people want to control other people’s lives. Some politicians are using it to distract from the real issues,” said Ms. Monteith, 63, a nonprofit director. For her neighbor, Marc Hustad, the country’s founding principles seem at stake. Florida Gov. Ron DeSandis is running for re-election on his record of rejecting stay-at-home orders and mask orders during the pandemic. His campaign signs read, “Keep Florida Free.” He has also been one of the leading Republican culture warriors, banning classroom conversations about race and LGBTQ issues. “It’s a bit hypocritical to talk about freedom,” said Mr. Hustad, a 50-year-old engineer, “but then not allow some thoughts to be said or discussed.”
