High power bills and more news from the states

Welcome back, readers. After a dramatic year marked by a U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down voter protections, unprecedented mid-decade redistricting, myriad legal challenges over voter rolls and more, voters are casting their ballots in the 2026 midterm elections tomorrow. 

When the polls close, this election cycle will go down as one of history’s most expensive and extraordinarily ugly midterms — galvanizing record-breaking early turnout among a deeply divided electorate. Voters on Saturday crossed the high-water mark of 52.7 million early votes cast, surpassing the midterm record set in 2022, though analysts were reluctant to translate it into a Democratic wave on the way, States Newsroom’s D.C. Bureau reports.

Meanwhile, during the final weekend of his monthlong midterm campaign tour, President Donald Trump stopped in Iowa and Kansas to rally for Republican candidates and to tell voters that Democratic majorities would reverse work done by his administration to lower costs and would usher in “socialism.”

States Newsroom is your hub for election coverage. Visit our website tomorrow for live updates from across the country, and follow States Newsroom on Bluesky and Instagram for more.

Alaska: A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration that sought to block the state from declaring a winner in the U.S. Senate election. U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason said the federal government failed to explain how it has the authority to bring its lawsuit.

Michigan: Key Democrats said they would not let Congresswoman Haley Stevens’ endorsement of Republican nominee Mike Rogers in the U.S. Senate race divide the party ahead of Tuesday’s election. Stevens was all but formally exorcized by her party after she publicly endorsed Rogers over Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed.

Colorado: Attorneys representing state education officials and two Catholic preschools will face off at the U.S. Supreme Court to determine whether the state’s universal preschool program can require religious educational institutions to include LGBTQ+ children and parents.

Minnesota: A federal judge has ordered the federal government to immediately return Kenis Lopez Gonzalez to the U.S. from the Central African Republic, where he has been detained since August despite having no ties to the country. 

Kentucky: There are more than 20 active lawsuits in which Pennyrile Regional Energy Agency has sued landowners, citing the state’s eminent domain laws, for easements as part of a proposed 53-mile gas pipeline project across Christian, Todd, Trigg, Caldwell and Lyon counties.

Ohio: In the wake of a controversial attack ad, Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton said her opponent, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, is a “danger to my state.” Ramaswamy is no longer airing the ad, which featured Acton’s estranged mother calling her daughter a liar.  

See the rest of the news of the day from all 50 states, plus our D.C. Bureau and Stateline, on News From The States.

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. And it’s brought even more attention to high prices in races for both governors and utility regulators.

Utility prices played a major role in 2025 Democratic gubernatorial wins in New Jersey and Virginia. And in Georgia, Democrats last year flipped two seats on the board that regulates public utilities — the first time Democrats won statewide constitutional office there in nearly two decades.

Utilities have requested billions of dollars in upcoming rate increases across the country.

This winter, U.S. households are projected to spend an average of $1,030 to heat their homes, an increase of $82 over last year, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. That organization, which represents state employees administering federal energy assistance programs, said this winter’s predicted 8.7% increase is more than 2.5 times the rate of inflation. 

A nearly forgotten part of Maryland’s Revolutionary War history is now permanently enshrined on the grounds of the Maryland State House, Maryland Matters reports.

A new monument, called “Black Patriots, The Pursuit of Transcendent Liberty,” commemorates the roughly 150 Black Marylanders — some free, some enslaved — who fought against the British during the Revolutionary War.

The bronze-and-granite memorial features Thomas Carney, a free Black Marylander, who was born on the Eastern Shore in 1752 or 1754 and enlisted in 1777. He served in the state’s 5th Regiment Army and later the 7th Regiment. He fought in battles including the Battle of Germantown and the Siege of Ninety-six in South Carolina, where legend credits him with carrying a wounded Maj. Gen. Perry Benson off the battlefield and saving his life, according to the American Battlefield Trust.

The memorial also honors Black women who served in the war, many of them as cooks, nurses, seamstresses, and washerwomen. Sculptor Branly Cadet’s work, Democratic Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller said, ensures “a more complete story of our nation’s founding.”

In all, more than 5,000 Black soldiers served across the 13 colonies.