Race for crucial midterms attracting vast sums of money on both sides | First Thing

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg is spending $80m to help Democratic candidates, while Trump has promised Republicans $400m. Plus a vital investigation into justice in Louisiana Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up here Good morning. Vast sums of money are being plou

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg is spending $80m to help Democratic candidates, while Trump has promised Republicans $400m. Plus a vital investigation into justice in Louisiana Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up here Good morning.

Vast sums of money are being ploughed into November’s midterms , with the billionaire Michael Bloomberg spending $80m to help Democratic candidates, and Donald Trump announcing he intends to spend $400m to aid Republican candidates, with $300m already disbursed. Bloomberg made the contributions in September and October, particularly focused on Democrats running to flip the US House of Representatives. Democrats believe they are favored to take back the House, though they’ve acknowledged trailing Republicans in fundraising.

Republicans are also being aided by the president’s ally Elon Musk, who has spent $366m so far. What are the main issues for voters in the midterms? In this explainer , Robert Tait looks at six key issues swaying how people might vote – the economy, Iran, immigration, Trump’s use of power, AI and datacenters and the state of democracy and voter rights in the US.

What is happening between the DoJ and California over voter rolls? The justice department’s list of suspected noncitizens in California includes a “high percentage” of people born in the US, Los Angeles election officials said . The statement, made in court papers, raises further questions about the reliability of the list of 20,000 people the DoJ is demanding be investigated.

What was strange about how the ADL reminded people about an antisemitic slur? The Anti-Defamation League ADL has denounced the use of the term “shylock” as antisemitic, without explaining that the slur had been used a day earlier by Trump in a speech in Kansas. Continue reading...