Election Week: Senate Battlegrounds, Trump and Voter Challenges

What is up everybody? Good evening from Los Angeles. I'm Jacob Soberoff and for Chris Hayes. This is it. This is the last Tuesday before the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, also known as Election Day. Also known as the day I like to walk backwards down the voting line talking to so many of you. And with just one week left to go, early voters continue to set midterm records for turnout. And Republicans, well, they continue to sweat. Democrats are maintaining a big lead among voters on the generic ballot. They got a nine point advantage over Republicans in 50 plus ones polling average today. That could translate to a landslide in Congress. Check out this chart. 50 plus one ran 40,000 different election simulations based on the polls today. And they concluded that the Democrats had a 99% chance of getting a house majority, 99%. And in the Senate, where Democratic control seemed like a pipe dream just a year ago, the 50 plus one model now gives Democrats a 72% chance of taking the upper chamber from Republicans. But I have said it once and I will say it again, polls are not people. And those are just projections that are based on polls. Voters have to keep turning out to vote. But the numbers so far, they have Republicans running scared. Today, Donald Trump campaigned in Texas for the third time this month. The president tried to put a positive spin on the trip. But even Donald Trump seems to realize that Ken Paxton that candidate that he endorsed for Senate there is deeply, deeply unliked and in deep trouble at the ballot box. We're going to have a great trip. The crowds are overwhelming. They've been out for three days and they're overwhelming. So they like somebody. I hope it's, I hope it's Ken. But Ken Paxton deserves to be the next Senator. I think he's going to do very well. You never know. It's politics, but you never know. But I think he's going to do very well. There have been 18 major polls of the Texas Senate race this month, according to the New York Times. Ken Paxton led, let me check one of them by how much? Let me check. One percentage point. The margin of error was more than three times that. Ken Paxton trails his Democratic challenger, James Tallerico, by 3% in 50 plus ones polling average. That is tight enough that a presidential visit, or three, might make a difference, but probably not in the way that Donald Trump hopes if he keeps answering affordability concerns with soundbites like this. Let them eat $5,000 hamburgers. And then there's another race, the race in Michigan. It is tight where Republican microaggers trails as Democratic opponent Abdul Al-Sayed by three points, according to 50 plus one and desperate Republicans are responding by pushing hateful Islamophobic lies about the Democratic challenger. Here was Trump spreading those lies at a rally in Port Huron on Sunday. That is a malicious garbage lie, but it's the campaign pitch that Republicans have in Michigan. That's it, and it smacks, it stinks, it reeks of desperation. Donald Trump is deploying a different last ditch tactic in another battleground state. That's Maine, where long time Republican incumbent Susan Collins in the Senate is facing the toughest race of her career. She currently trails Democratic former state Senator Troy Jackson by three points in 50 plus ones, poll of polls. And as an October surprise, there Donald Trump announced he was going to relax some of his trade war tariffs on Canadian goods in the hope that mayors will be grateful to Susan Collins. You know what, we're going to be hearing later in the show from her Democratic opponent, Troy Jackson, but it is clear that Republicans are freaked out about how this election is unfolding. And they are, of course, looking for ways, as they always do, to cheat, to interfere with the vote and throw out results that they do not like. Trump's Department of Justice has already tried to have thousands of ballots set aside right here in California, and hundreds more in Washington state. They are setting the groundwork to challenge the certification of the Senate election in Alaska if and only if the Republican loses. Those efforts are just the tip of the iceberg. But despite all of those efforts, or maybe even because of them, voters are already turning out in record numbers across the country, especially Democrats and Independents. A lot can happen in a week, but ahead of these midterms, there is a real sense right now among the Democrats that they just might be able to pull off an electoral victory that is too big to deny. Ali Velshi is the host of the 11th hour, as well as MSNOW's chief data reporter. He joins me now where else at the big board for a look at where things stand. Mr. Velshi, it is good to see you. The house seems to be in great shape. If I'm reading this correctly for the Democrats at the moment, but everyone is looking on the tight Senate battleground raises. What are you looking at right there? Yes. If you look at the house, by the way, if the most conservative prognosticators will say that the Democrats are set to win about eight seats, they need a net gain of three or four, depending on how you count it, because there is one vacancy in there. That is the most conservative way of looking at it. Some say it might be as many as thirty seats. The Senate is a different story altogether. This is how we rate the Senate right now. The red ones are the ones that we think are going to go to the Republicans, the dark blue ones, are the ones going to Democrats. The light blue are the ones that we think are leaning Democratic. This sort of lighter red color is leaning Republican. I'm sorry, this pinkish color is leaning Republican. Let's take a look at some of these. The Democrats have to hold everything they've got and have a net gain of four seats. Of the ones they've got, we're looking at Georgia leaning Democrat. That's John Asuf. Michigan, however, we have as a toss up. You just talked about that race with Abdul Sayed. The other states that are in play here are Maine, Ohio, Texas, Alaska, and North Carolina. We've got North Carolina leaning Democrat. The Republican party seems to think so too, because they've stopped spending money there to back Michael Wattley, the former head of the RNC against Roy Cooper. These other ones, you're going to be talking to Troy Jackson shortly. The Democrats have to take some four of Maine, Michigan, Ohio, Texas, and Alaska. That's where this becomes a little tricky. And to another point that I think you're going to make this evening, they've got to hold the ones that they've got. So they've got to hang on to Michigan and they've got to hang on to Minnesota, which you're going to be talking about momentarily. Well, let me ask you about that, actually, Ali, because we spend so much time looking at the red seats that are in play. But there is, there are a couple, as you mentioned, blue seats that Republicans could actually be close to flipping. And in Minnesota, that is one of them. What's happening in Minnesota right now? This is a very interesting race. Peggy Flanagan is a lieutenant governor. And I guess her biggest advantage right now is that Minnesota, as you well know, has literally been ground zero for all the stuff that people don't like about what the Trump administration has been up to, particularly as it relates to immigration and ICE. So Peggy Flanagan's got that wind behind her, you know, wind at her back. However, she is part of the outgoing administration as a lieutenant governor. And as you know, Donald Trump accused the administration of being involved in this fraud that was being perpetrated. A number of people have been arrested and prosecuted on the basis of that. And Peggy Flanagan's opponent is trying to hang that on her. Either she knew about that was involved or if she didn't know about it, how involved was she as a lieutenant governor. Michelle Tavoia has a reputation as an NFL sideline reporter. She is popular. People know her. They know her name. They know her face. And she's trying to run on that. But this is the, this is the, this is a tighter race than we were thinking it would be a little while ago where we're not putting this into a category that says it's a toss up, but it has gone from likely Democrat to lean Democrat. I think, Ali, part of this is that, and I don't know if this is reflected in the data, but as you said, this was ground zero of the Trump administration's most controversial policies. You and I both, you know, have seen this so up close. But you know, on a day where Alex Prede's mother and father spoke out for the first time, are there any indications that this race, the gap in this race is widening, is staying the same. How does, you know, how is it trending at this point? It really is, depends on what sort of advertising is undertake. And the Tavoia campaign has backed advertising that really points to what they say are Peggy Flanagan's weaknesses because of her attachment to the, to the old administration, the Walls administration. This is a tricky road for Peggy Flanagan because she does have a lot of reasons to pin the anger of what's going on in Minnesota to the Trump administration, but she keeps getting asked this particular question. How much did she know about this fraud and, you know, she didn't know about it. What does that say about her role as Lieutenant Governor? She didn't know about it. How tight, how closely tied is she to it? Again, it kind of depends on where you are and where you get your news from. The bottom line is the race has tightened, as far as we can see, has tightened a little bit. Democrats are not yet in danger, but it is a lean Democrat state at this point. All right, Alli, Valshi MSNAS Chief Data Reporter. He's got a big week ahead of him. Thank you, Alli. Thanks, buddy. All right, let's talk more about that center race in Minnesota because it is one that Donald Trump seems especially focused on as we approach election day. On Monday, he posted this, quote, "Let's all get behind Michelle Tafoy and Minnesota. She's running a great race. Don't allow them to play with the votes after the race is over. The federal government will be watching closely. The only way she can lose is if they cheap by playing games with the ballots as they come in." Sounds familiar. Donald Trump has also spent a huge amount of time lately fixating exactly like Alli said on Minnesota's Somali immigrant community, leveling racist accusations at them, calling them all corrupt. He's especially targeted Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, whose Washington residence was rated by the Department of Homeland Security and their investigators earlier this month. And of course, Minnesota has literally been ground zero for the brutal and the lawless anti-immigration raids and all of those armed and mass federal agents that carried out the indescribable on Donald Trump's orders. During that offensive, agents shot and killed two Americans on the streets of Minneapolis. Alex Freddie and Renanical Good. In a press conference today, the parents of Alex Freddie said that in the nine months since their son was shot, no one, no one in the federal government has reached out to them. Instead, the Justice Department seems to be stonewalling the investigation. - Minnesota said no to this injustice. American said no to this injustice. And today we are here begging for the Department of Justice to do what is right to hold the men who murdered our son accountable for what they did. - Alex Freddie's younger sister, Michaela, is also speaking out. She posted on Instagram last week writing this. To everyone around the country that sent our family letters after Alex was murdered, a majority of them said, please let us know how we can honor Alex or we will do everything to fight for Alex. And to that, I say, please, please go out and vote. Vote for Alex. Vote for a step closer to justice for my family. Vote for all of the victims of ICE. Vote for your community and your neighbors. Alex stood up for his community. So now it is time we stand up and we fight back. Peggy Flanagan has served as the lieutenant governor of Minnesota since 2019. She's the Democratic candidate for Senator this year and she joins me now. It's good to see you. Thanks for being here. - Thanks so much for having me. - You just heard Alex Freddie's parents on the investigation into his death as well as what his sister had to say. What's your reaction to all that? - I mean, these parents are incredibly brave. And my heart just breaks for them. And I just join Michael and Susan and Makayla in demanding that this evidence be released and shared with state investigators. The fact that they just continue to stonewall this investigation, you see, I mean, you can tell in their voices and their demeanor, just how heartbreaking all of this is. No parents should have to stand up there and ask for the federal government to simply do their job. They're just asking for accountability for justice for their son who was killed and we all saw it happen, right, with our own eyes. What we have been through is incredibly traumatic here and to see how his family is carrying this and being incredibly brave in this moment and calling out for justice for their son. I'm just, I'm with them and I know that there are so many people in this state who stand with Alex Freddie and his family. - I have to ask you more about it because we all watched the ice raids in Minnesota together. We all saw regular people who came out to protest and protect their neighbors and offer mutual aid. Sometimes in super sub-zero temperatures. After all of that, I think there are some people who wonder how is this race? How is your race so close? - I mean, I just say this. I think that Minnesotaans understand there is just a very clear choice in this race. You know, Donald Trump, who you mentioned earlier and endorsed my opponent, he has in fact endorsed Michelle Tafoya multiple times in the last two weeks and that's because she's completely aligned with him on so many issues, but when it comes to Operation Metro Surge, she literally used footage of Operation Metro Surge and ice in her campaign rollout video days after Renee Good was killed. And in fact, she went on a podcast the day Renee was killed and said that Renee Good was responsible for her own death. She has now tried to change her tune a bit, but I think we know that Donald Trump doesn't give out his endorsement, you know, willy-nilly. You have to earn it. And Michelle Tafoya has earned it with, you know, flying colors from, you know, her support for the tariffs, the trade war. She platformed January 6 insurrectionists on her podcast and called them really good people and her brothers. She said ice should be called nice and that they've treated children really, really well. We all know what happened to Liam Coneco-Ramos, right? The 6,200 children who have been detained by ice. That is the choice in this race. And I think Minnesotans deserve someone who will be beholden to them and not do the bidding of Donald Trump. - It is deranged. I mean, it was deranged on the ground. It was deranged to hear someone who could have possibly seen that like I did with my own eyes and think it was anything other than deliberate cruelty on the streets of Minneapolis and, you know, throughout the Twin Cities. There's the other huge issue here, which is Trump is obviously laying the groundwork to challenge your election across the country if you win. There's also been so much speculation about the other ways that he could interfere with the vote on the ground there. The Justice Department just notified two Minnesota counties to be prepared for federal election observers. What are you doing? How are you prepared for this possible incursion or election interference? At the same time, you got to motivate all of your supporters to go get out of the polls. - So I'd say a couple things. Number one, Minnesota has one of the best election systems in the entire country. Our Secretary of State, Steve Simon, is incredible. The governor's office, the Attorney General's office, as well as the Secretary of State's office are working together to make sure that people can vote. I would also just say this that we've got a lot of folks who are on the ground who will also be observers making sure that so many of the folks who are mobilized around Operation Metro Surge and standing up for their neighbors also are motivating people to get out to vote to also make sure that people can vote safely and free from interference. But what I would also say is that we have seen tremendous early vote numbers here in Minnesota. That I think is really encouraging. And if folks are feeling a little nervous about the election, I would just encourage them to vote early. And that's something that's available to people up until election day. And that is really the movement that we are seeing so many folks who are turning out to vote early. And I feel confident that we will have low drama in these elections under the leadership of our Secretary of State, Steve Simon. And we've got some of the best election judges in the entire country who are gonna make sure that people are following the rules, doing what they need to do. But as you said, Donald Trump is starting to already so doubt around the election results here in Minnesota, calling into question, potentially what will happen in Alaska as well? That's outrageous. And it is clearly a distraction. They know that their policies are not popular. A $5,000 hamburger is similar to what Michele Tafoya said about skipping a stock trip to Starbucks and keeping a stiff upper lip if you're concerned about gas prices. But the bottom line here I think is what we've seen this already. We saw this during January 6th, right? When he riled up his supporters and frankly, that should have been enough to stop Donald Trump from being elected for a second time. He has said that Minnesota voted for him three times and that he's ready to win a fourth time. I would just say this. We know who won the election in our state and we will ensure that Donald Trump is defeated a fourth time on November 3rd. And if folks want to make sure that the state that demonstrated we are not powerless in the face of Donald Trump. In fact, we are quite powerful if you felt inspired. Be part of this campaign. Help us to make sure that we are sending someone who will be a check on Donald Trump, not a loyal soldier and visit us at PeggyFlandigan.com if people want to help support to ensure that this election goes the right way. All right, Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan. Thanks so much for being here. - Thank you for having me. - Stay with us everybody because one week out from right now is Election Day and there is new reporting for you. from Barton Galman on the state officials defending the midterms from President Trump. You're not going to want to miss it. It's coming up next. It was six years ago that my next guest was reporting on the loud alarms being raised over Donald Trump's plans in the event that he lost the 2020 election in a harrowing Atlantic article that was called the election that could break America. It was published six weeks before the 2020 presidential Barton Galman warned this, "If Trump sheds all restraint and if this Republican allies play the parts he assigns them, he could obstruct the emergence of a legally unambiguous victory for Joe Biden in the electoral college and then in Congress. He could prevent the formation of consensus about whether there is any outcome at all. He could seize on that uncertainty to hold on to power." Wow. The warning was well-founded, obviously, as we saw in that nightmare scenario on January 6th. And while Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election obviously failed, his threat to democracy never ever went away. And now here we are, again, six years later. How do you intend to work with Democrats if they have control of the House or-- Don't figure it away. Look, I have strong veto. I hope that won't be the case. And you'll respect the results, whatever happens. I will if they're honest elections. Once again, Barton Galman is out with a brand new piece on Donald Trump's threats against the election process. This is new reporting for the New Yorker. It's called The State Officials Defending the Midterms From the President. And in it, Galman highlights the amazing state election officers who are resisting Donald Trump's efforts to take over the voting in the midterms. One of those officials standing in Donald Trump's way is Deedra Henderson. The Republican lieutenant governor of Utah, who said this recently, "It sure looks like they're trying to take over control of the elections to make sure only people they want to vote are voting. To me, as an American and as a Republican, it is offensive." Joining me now is the author of that New Yorker piece, Barton Galman, Senior Advisor for the Brennan Center for Justice. Thanks for having me. It is amazing to look back at that piece that you wrote six years ago about the President's desire to divert the will of the people and the election. Is your concern at the same level right now about Donald Trump and what the Republicans might do if the Democrats win the House of the Senate? A short direct answer, no, it's not. When I wrote that piece six years ago, I thought that people were underestimating Trump's willingness and ability to obstruct the election to try to overturn the results if he lost. And I thought we weren't ready for it. And we just about barely squeaked by. This time, Trump is using his presidential powers in advance of the election to try to tip the planning field, but this time, we are ready. This time, we know what he's doing and he is being blocked at every turn by judges, by state election officials, by voting rights organizations, but I do especially want to highlight the fact that state election officials, Democrat and Republican, who the Constitution puts in charge of the operation of elections, are simply doing their duty and they are not bowing to threats. Yeah, and that is so incredibly hardening to see, tell me more about some of these officials that you report on in your piece, particularly the Republican Utah, Lieutenant Governor, Deeter Henderson. Henderson, excuse me, who's the star of the story, basically, anybody will see as soon as they read it, what is she doing in particular to stand in the way of the president and what about some of these other officials that you're talking about? So what happened was that in 2025, the Justice Department went to the election officers of every state and said, please give us a full electronic, unredacted copy of your voter roles, your voter registration lists. And then gradually emerged that the reason they wanted it was they were going to review the lists, go over all the names, and then send back a list of all the people on the list that, as far as the Justice Department is concerned, aren't allowed to vote. They wanted to purge the voting lists of the states. And at least 30 election officers, plus the one in the District of Columbia, said no. The Justice Department sued them, and one of the people they sued was Deeter Henderson, the Lieutenant Governor of Utah. In some states, in most states, the Secretary of State is the chief election officer in Utah and a couple of other places, it's the Lieutenant Governor. And they brought her to court in civil court. And so far out of those 30 cases, 27 have been ruled on by the trial judge. And the win loss right now is zero for 27. That is to say, the Justice Department has lost every single case, more than two dozen in a row, which I can't say this definitively, but it may be an all-time record for consecutive losses by the United States Department of Justice. Getting skunked, I think is what they call it. By the way, since we're talking about January 6, I do want to ask you about the news today that a federal grand jury rejected DOJ's attempt to indict Cassidy Hutchinson, the former White House aide. She gave this account to lawmakers of the President's actions during January 6th, that was someone who had faced an immense amount of scrutiny and a target payment on her back because she testified against the President for his efforts to overturn the election. She became a part of his revenge tour as a result of this. What's your reaction to that? Well, we have seen that the President is going out of his way to wield his coercive hours to harm his political enemies and people he has grudges against. And yesterday's news about the third attempt to prosecute James Comey is of a peace with us and it's the flip side of what he has done in the election area as well because it's the inverse of the complete and comprehensive partens he gave to all the January 6 convicted criminals. Yes. So, I mean, he is sending a really an unmistakable message that if you break the law on his behalf, he will see that you're not punished. And if you don't break the law on his behalf, he will threaten to prosecute you. So he threatened to prosecute Chris Krebs, who ran in his first term, ran the cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency and was responsible for helping secure the 2020 elections. And when Chris Krebs said it was the most secure election in American history at the time that the President was saying it was filled with fraud. Exactly. Exactly. Trump finally fired him then but has asked the Justice Department to prosecute him now and the crime for which he wants to prosecute him is contradicting Donald Trump all the security of the elections. So, it's all he, forgive me for interrupting you, but it's all he does. And I'm in California where, as part of this, he's continuing to do it and I had Dean Logan, the Registrar Recorder in County Clerk. It's in red states and in blue states of Los Angeles County. I might show this weekend to talk about this bizarre request he got from Trump's Department of Justice or face prosecution. Let me just show you what he said because I would love to see what you think. This was a hand-delivered letter with this flash drive and a password handwritten on a sticky note. The letter didn't specify how many records were on the flash drive. It just said that it's a list. It didn't provide any methodology for how the list was created. It just simply said it was a list of likely non-citizens that they had identified. And then they gave you 48 hours or face legal consequences or else. Did you take that seriously? We did take that seriously and we had a response ready and it was transmitted within that 48-hour period. And minutes from the time that we sent that email response to the Department of Justice, they filed their lawsuits. If you're ready to prosecute first, it seems to be the common thread. Find the evidence, perhaps, later on successfully. Is that fair to say? Well, the Justice Department is using both its civil and its criminal authority to try to strong-arm state governments to hand over their constitutional responsibility to run the elections. I mean, it's Article 1 of the Constitution, as it's the states that decide the time place and manner of federal elections and that Congress may change the rules by statute, it does not get any power at all to the President, but the President issued two broad executive orders claiming it. that authority. He told Dan Bungino in a podcast that his intent was to put it over the elections. Barton Galman, thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it very much. Thank you. Still ahead with election day in the United States one week away from today, we're going to take you live to Israel where the future of the government there is still up in the air as well. That's next. Today was election day in Israel voters will determine whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far right coalition remain in power or not, polls closed hours ago, exit polls are now suggesting a review of Netanyahu, but there are not yet enough results in to name a clear winner. There could be weeks of jockeying to form a governing coalition and to name a new Prime Minister in Israel. Turnout was high for what was the country's first election since the attacks on October 7th and the three years of war that have followed, including Israel's total raising of Gaza despite the growing global outcry and the ongoing conflict with Iran. Many Israelis who live in the United States actually flew home to cast their ballots today. Joining us now from the Lecude Party's election night event in Jerusalem is Josh Ainiger, a senior reporter for MSNOW. Josh, what's going on there tonight? What's the latest? Well, Jacob, there's a, I don't know how best to describe it. I think a victory party is how they were describing here at Lecude Headquarters in Jerusalem. The music is very loud and we've been told in the next few minutes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will come out to address the crowd. The opposition figure, Gadi Azikot has actually already declared victory and it is likely Netanyahu will as well, even though neither of them has won. They are very, very close together in terms of a number of seats each person's, each candidate's coalition has been able to win tonight after a day of record, not record, but the most turnout in a generation across Israel thanks to all those expatriates, tens of thousands of whom came home, returned home from all around the world, including the United States. We were at Honduran Airport and met several of them when they arrived and I believe we can show you some of that sound down. Josh, I'm not sure we haven't, but let me ask you about that because there was an initiative to get some of these Americans to come back and to vote in this election. And as you said, it was a particularly contentious election between Gadi Azikot, the former military chief and Netanyahu, and now there it seems that with these two Arab parties that, according to some reports, have gained seats that this coalition building is going to be contentious, if not prolonged. What is, what are the next few days and weeks hold in the counting of the votes here? So now begins a very complicated process, Jacob involving the president, Isaac Herzog, who now has to sort of broker this effort as the two sides work to try to build a coalition. And as you point out, it's a very delicate situation because of the Arab parties that did do pretty well over the course of today. Azikot has pledged he will not build a government involving Arab parties. And Netanyahu, almost certainly, of course, is in the same vote as well. So there are some people here in this Likut party headquarters who are saying, perhaps this is a sign that there might be some sort of unity government that is formed between Netanyahu and Isaacot, but that also seems very unlikely because the two generally detest each other. So it's unclear right now where things stand. Herzog, the president of Israel, told me a couple days ago that he will use his discretion and just select the person he believes has the best likelihood of building a government that can succeed at some point. But right now, it's really anyone's guess who that person would be. Right now, they are waiting for the prime minister to come out. A lot of signs involving President Trump. This hat going making the rounds make Israel great again, leaned incredibly deeply into the President Trump endorsement a couple of days ago. And I guess we will find out in the coming days if that made a difference in what the results have been today. But the big takeaway is that there has been no winner. This country is right now without a future prime minister. And it'll be at least several weeks if not more than a month before there's any clarity here in terms of who will lead this government. Jacob. Okay, Josh Eininger in Jerusalem. Thank you so much for that report. Appreciate it. Still to come, Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson on the billionaires backing his opponent in Maine. He'll join me next. The pathway to Democrats retaking the Senate starts in Maine. And this year, November feels like the best opportunity in years to unseat Susan Collins in a left trending state. But just one week out, basically everybody agrees it is a super, super close race there. The 50 plus one polling average has Democrat Troy Jackson up by about three points. But Susan Collins has a history of overperforming the polls. And Donald Trump's billionaire buddies, they're spending a lot of money. They're spending a lot of money to try to keep her seat. According to some incredible reporting by the Bangor Daily News, MAGA, the MAGA oligarchs, Elon Musk, Miriam Adelson, hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, they're dumping tens of millions of dollars into the race against Troy Jackson. But in this environment, with a deeply unpopular Republican president, Susan Collins forced to contend with and deny some very serious allegations of corruption, the Democrats are hoping that all that billionaire dark money will not be enough to stop this seat from flipping. Troy Jackson is the Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine. He joins me now. It's good to see you again. Yeah, thanks for having me. I really appreciate it. You got it. What is your view of the state of the race one week out? Well, I mean, look, I'm excited. I mean, I'm not over a conference like that. But all weekend, people knocked on doors or they knocked on 50,000 doors. I mean, that's twice as many as they did all last cycle. People are coming out to events like crazy. They know that this government is totally fundamentally broken and they want change. And they know that Susan Collins is voting with Donald Trump 96% of the time. And when he wants something for her, it's from her. It's not good for us. And they want that to change. And so, I mean, to be part of this is really exciting. I'm honored. I've been waiting for this for a long time. And I am. I'm very excited. I know it's probably close. But look, we've got a real shot here and changed government in a way I've been waiting for a long time. For people that don't follow what goes on in Maine, particularly closely six years ago, a surrogate in the Democrat outrage, Susan Collins. But that did not work. What does that tell you about about about money being enough to win a Senate race there in Maine? Well, I mean, I think it tells me everything I need to know about where we are right now. I mean, I'm not going to outspend Susan Collins and Neil on Musk. But what we do have is an incredible ground game. And that right now is, I think, what's going to carry us the victory six years ago. I mean, timing is everything. You know, six years ago, we didn't have, you know, rovers' weight overturned. Now we do. People know that Susan Collins was a deciding vote. After many, many people here in Maine asked her not to vote for Brett Kavanaugh. We have the big bogus bill that's, you know, taking up to five billion dollars out of a healthcare system, the Iron War, which is making heating oil prices, diesel prices, you know, insane, the tariffs. I mean, it just goes on and on. And so, you know, I feel very fortunate to be in a position now that is totally different than Speaker Gideon because she was a great candidate. But look, they just went too far. I mean, you know, they, they're, they're only concerned about a handful of people in this country, the billionaire class. And, you know, everybody else can fend for themselves and people know that. And that's what's happening in Maine. There's an energy like I've never seen. And we're going to win this race because not because we have more money is because we have more people that know that government needs to work for them, should work for them. And they know that I'm the one to do it for them. I told, I've told you this before when we talked, but when I was there at the end of the summer, the mini walk off the airplane at the airport in Portland, there's people out there protesting with signs. And I'm talking about, you know, in late August, you know, right after you secured the nomination. And I have seen it too, only sort of increase in its, in its intensity. And I saw that you just had an event, get out the vote event for students in Portland with, with AOC. What'd you hear from young voters when she was there? Well, I mean, I think young voters know that, you know, their path to having a decent living right now in this country is, you know, blocked by so many different things, you know, be it child care, be it health care, student debt, and they too. I mean, they're coming out and drove, you know, demanding a better government environmental concerns, artificial intelligence concerns. I mean, you know, the list just goes on and on, young people, like I've never seen before. Look, I mean, I was 29 years old before I got involved. You're she and young people know. now that know the same thing, the government's not working, that Susan Collins is supposedly the most powerful US Senator and she's doing everything she can to help the billionaire class and they want a state in the country that they can live in, that they can own a home that they can not be crushed by student debt their whole life, that they can have health insurance, that they can have a child when they want to have a child and when they have that child that they can afford, you know, health care and child care. And, you know, we don't have that right now and young people understand it just as well as anyone, older people understand it too. I mean, you know, the fact that nursing homes are closing across the state and it's going to get worse in home care. I mean, there's just so many things that are hurting everyday manners right now and I'm sure everyday Americans and it's time for change and we can do that. It's right here in front of us. I saw you go out with Mark Kelly who's a moderate and then the last time you and I talked to your campaigning with Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts and obviously a progressive. I think it's fair to say you maybe lean closer to Warren's side of the party but I don't know, you know, feel free to differ. Does your campaign also feel like it's winning over the kind of conservative Democrats and independents who have sort of historically gone with, with Susan Collins, we got about 30 seconds before we get a run? Well, look, I mean, I think what it is, you know, I won in the second CD way up North of County, all three times that Trump is on the ballot. I mean, the race that he won by 17 points, I won by five, you know, people in Maine know that I'm fighting for them. I fight for economic issues. I think if you're Republican or Democrat, that's what you want. You want somebody to stand up for you and fight for your family to be able to do better. And that's what I've always done. And that's what I'll do is new as Senate. And I'm going to work with anyone that feels the same way. That's why AOC Warren, Bernie, Mark Kelly, we've got Senator Cantwell coming this weekend. So I'm excited about that. But people know that I fight for Maynors. And that's what I'm going to deliver whenever I get to the U.S. Senate. All right. We'll be watching this weekend. Pop by the show if you want. Troy Jackson is good to see you. Thank you. Thank you. Jackson remain calm. Stay tuned, everybody. And just a few minutes, Jen Sock is going to be speaking with the Texas candidate for governor Gina Enahosa. We'll be right back. That is all in on this Tuesday night. I will be back here on MS now, bright and early on Saturday from a show connect 10 a.m. Eastern 70 in Pacific.