A new anti-trans ballot initiative ... for 2027 ... and more news from the states

Good evening. Tonight we begin in Maine, where advocates were already at work Monday on a ballot measure for 2027, again targeting the state’s transgender-inclusive policies. 

On the eve of this election, congressional candidates and their supporters were out in force on the campaign trail, with control of Capitol Hill up for grabs on Election Day. Across the country, American democracy faces one of its biggest stress tests of the modern era on Tuesday, as President Donald Trump continued to pursue power over state election administration in the final hours of the campaign cycle. 

Visit States Newsroom’s Election 2026 page for links to state voter guides and our latest coverage. We’ll have live updates all day tomorrow and into Wednesday morning.

After falling short of this year’s deadline, the group aiming to limit what sports and school facilities transgender students in Maine can access submitted more than 4,000 new signatures to the Secretary of State’s office on Monday to put the question on the 2027 ballot, Maine Morning Star reports. 

On the eve of this election, congressional candidates and their supporters were out in force on the campaign trail, with control of Capitol Hill up for grabs on Election Day. Across the country, American democracy faces one of its biggest stress tests of the modern era on Tuesday, as President Donald Trump sows doubt in state election administration. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, mere hours before Election Day in the midterms that will determine control of Congress, denied the Trump administration’s final attempt to force California to set aside the ballots of 20,000 people it suspects are noncitizens.

The two actions mark a renewed, coordinated push to roll back Maine’s protections for trans students. Maine has been in the national spotlight since President Donald Trump returned to office in 2025 because of its inclusive policies, which protect students from discrimination on the basis of gender identity.

Key Democrats in Michigan said they would not let U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens’ endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers divide the party ahead of Tuesday’s election, Michigan Advance reports. 

Stevens was all but formally exorcized by her party after she publicly endorsed Rogers over Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, whom she had previously endorsed and pledged to support through the general election, despite lingering tensions from their August primary.

The race is a toss-up between the major party candidates and could help decide control of the U.S. Senate for the final two years of Donald Trump’s presidency.

More U.S. Senate race coverage: 

Colorado’s top election official hired a former U.S. Justice Department official to lead contingency planning to respond to any attempts to interfere with the state’s elections, Colorado Newsline reports.

Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold said state voters should not be afraid to cast their ballot and that so far the Nov. 3 election has proceeded as usual. “We have been working with the attorney general’s office, the governor’s office, the county clerks association, to make sure that we are as prepared as possible for any of the situations that could arise,” Griswold said. 

Her office has “a wide array of contingencies prepared” in the event that any election observers attempt to interfere with voters, she said. The former Justice Department official she hired has led a small team working for almost two years to prepare for any scenario. Her office declined to identify the former official by name or share details of the work the person has led.

Minnesota: Of the $47 million that outside groups have spent on the general election as of Oct. 19, the vast majority has gone to ads attacking opposing candidates rather than touting preferred ones.

Indiana: Lawyers asked the governor to halt an execution this week and order a review of the pharmacy that provided the lethal injection drug, saying the company is on probation and facing a possible license suspension.

Alabama: Three authors and a free-speech organization filed a federal civil lawsuit against the state board overseeing libraries, alleging a rule that limits minors’ access to books with transgender-related content violates the First Amendment.

South Carolina: The state’s abortion ban has clear issues, potentially making it unconstitutional, a federal judge said at the end of a three-day trial.

West Virginia: Officials are asking the state Supreme Court to wait until next spring to consider a lawsuit that alleges inadequate public school funding, saying that lawmakers may rework school funding formulas early next year. 

Rhode Island: The state will launch a subsidy program for some residents who enroll in the state health exchange during the 2027 open enrollment period, which began Sunday and runs through Jan. 31.

Ohio: The American Medical Association says the Trump administration has unlawfully imposed a rule that could threaten health coverage for at least 140,000 state Medicaid recipients. 

Oregon: Voters in a quarter of the state’s 36 counties will vote on whether to raise local property taxes to fund struggling fire districts and departments trying to keep up with rising costs and record wildfires. 

Kentucky: A newly formed energy agency has sued more than 20 landowners, citing the state’s eminent domain laws, for easements as part of a proposed 53-mile gas pipeline project.

Flyers hang on the GEO Group sign at the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, on Nov. 1, in remembrance of people who have died in ICE custody or whose deaths were connected to immigration enforcement. (Photo by Erick Díaz Veliz/Michigan Advance)

An offering of flower petals, bread, drinks and candles reflected El Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. 

Organized by several immigrant rights advocacy groups, about 100 people from across the state gathered outside North Lake, the largest ICE detention center in the Midwest. 

Since the beginning of Donald Trump’s second administration, at least 57 people have died in ICE custody, including Nenko Gantchev, a Bulgarian citizen and Chicago resident, at North Lake, along with at least 11 fatal shootings involving federal agents. 

Read more from Michigan Advance.

American democracy faces one of its biggest stress tests of the modern era, as President Donald Trump’s sprawling campaign for power over elections encounters a firewall of judges, state election workers and voting rights leaders heading into Election Day, States Newsroom’s D.C. Bureau reports. 

Democrats, voting rights groups and even some former Trump administration officials have said they are braced for a range of possible disruptions and interference, especially as the president stares down the prospect of a blue wave that could wash away Republican control of Congress. Elections forecasters have said Democrats are on track to win control of the U.S. House and possibly the Senate, amid voter unhappiness with rising consumer costs.

Late Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the administration's final attempt to require California to set aside the ballots of 20,000 people it characterized as suspected noncitizens, the D.C. Bureau reports. The decision marked a significant blow to Trump’s bid to control voting in the country’s most populous state and capped a whirlwind three weeks of legal war between the U.S. Department of Justice and California officials. 

More from the D.C. Bureau: Explosive spending, ugly ads and courtroom battles set stage for tense midterm elections

As broad affordability concerns define elections across the country, voters in several states on Tuesday will have a say on their future utility bills, Stateline reports. 

State utility regulators, who are facing heightened levels of attention and scrutiny amid high prices, are on the ballot in nine states: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

Most Americans are served by utilities overseen by state regulators, who approve or deny rate increase requests from providers. Public outcry over rising utility prices has pushed state regulators and lawmakers to consider rate freezes, additional energy assistance funds or new rates targeting large energy users such as data centers.

More from Stateline: 

Nebraska’s capital city is preparing for an unprecedented spectacle Saturday, Nebraska Examiner reports. 

One of Lincoln’s two prestigious National Historic Landmarks — the 125-year-old Fairview mansion built for political heavyweight William Jennings Bryan and his wife, Mary — will be relocated to a different corner of the hospital campus that grew around it.

That’s 2.3 million pounds of brick house, moving at one mile per hour atop 34 specialized remote-controlled dollies, each with eight semi-truck-size tires. Crews will be laying out a temporary path of gravel, rock and steel plates between the mansion’s current and future sites.

For a few days at the start of this week, roughly 500 tons of rock is to be hauled daily into a lot on the medical center campus lot, with a truck arriving every 15 or so minutes with the material to create the makeshift roadway.

It’s expected to take about 10 hours for the home to travel about a third of a mile from the south side of Bryan East Campus to its northeast corner.

Bryan Health officials are inviting the public to watch from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and participate in related “fun zone” activities including food and information booths. They’ve put safety and traffic measures in place and said ongoing construction should not disrupt voting Tuesday at a campus polling place.