Hillyard Technical Center has grown from a school district
vo-tech school to something much more important to the economic growth of the
community.

St. Joseph School Superintendent Gabe Edgar says Hillyard has
been attracting more and more students.

“A think a lot of that is due to some of the philosophical shifts
that we’ve had in the school system itself,” Edgar says during his visit to the
KFEQ Hotline. “Hillyard was one of those things when I first got here that was way,
way underutilized. So, we’ve kind of changed the branding and changed the
marketing strategy toward that population.”

Edgar says the Hillyard Advisory Board has members of the St.
Joseph manufacturing community on it, directing instruction more toward the
workforce needs of the greater St. Joseph area.

Edgar says Hillyard aims now to address the workforce needs of
the St. Joseph region.

“Before we were just training students to train students,”
Edgar says. “We weren’t training students to go to the workforce or go to Gray
Manufacturing or Altec or wherever that may be. We’ve become more specific and
we’re really trying to engage that student population at a young age.”

Edgar adds that Hillyard will work effortlessly with the new
Convergent Technology Alliance Center on the Missouri Western State University campus.
CTAC will work with local manufacturers to train students for the high skill
manufacturing jobs in demand today. It is a joint venture between Missouri
Western and North Central Missouri College of Trenton.

“So, a student can go to Hillyard, they can get their
apprenticeship and they can go into the workforce,” Edgar explains. “Then there’s
the next step. You can go to Hillyard, you can get your certificate, then you
go to North Central for two years and you go into the workforce. And then we
have a path also where you go to Hillyard, you go to North Central, finish your
four-year degree at Missouri Western. So, it’s all seamless and it works
together.” 

You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.

By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostHillyard Technical Center has grown from a school district
vo-tech school to something much more important to the economic growth of the
community.St. Joseph School Superintendent Gabe Edgar says Hillyard has
been attracting more and more students.“A think a lot of that is due to some of the philosophical shifts
that we’ve had in the school system itself,” Edgar says during his visit to the
KFEQ Hotline. “Hillyard was one of those things when I first got here that was way,
way underutilized. So, we’ve kind of changed the branding and changed the
marketing strategy toward that population.”Edgar says the Hillyard Advisory Board has members of the St.
Joseph manufacturing community on it, directing instruction more toward the
workforce needs of the greater St. Joseph area.Edgar says Hillyard aims now to address the workforce needs of
the St. Joseph region.“Before we were just training students to train students,”
Edgar says. “We weren’t training students to go to the workforce or go to Gray
Manufacturing or Altec or wherever that may be. We’ve become more specific and
we’re really trying to engage that student population at a young age.”Edgar adds that Hillyard will work effortlessly with the new
Convergent Technology Alliance Center on the Missouri Western State University campus.
CTAC will work with local manufacturers to train students for the high skill
manufacturing jobs in demand today. It is a joint venture between Missouri
Western and North Central Missouri College of Trenton.“So, a student can go to Hillyard, they can get their
apprenticeship and they can go into the workforce,” Edgar explains. “Then there’s
the next step. You can go to Hillyard, you can get your certificate, then you
go to North Central for two years and you go into the workforce. And then we
have a path also where you go to Hillyard, you go to North Central, finish your
four-year degree at Missouri Western. So, it’s all seamless and it works
together.” The new CTAC will open soon.You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.

Hillyard grows from vo-tech school to vital link to greater St. Joseph economy

Election Day and perhaps the most striking part of this
Election Day for our area is the lack of contested races, on both sides of the
river.

St. Joseph state Rep. Bill Falkner, a Republican, is being
challenged by Democrat Andrew Gibson. St. Joseph state Rep. Brenda Shields, a
Republican, is running unopposed. State Rep. Dean Van Schoiack of Savannah, a
Republican, is running unopposed.

Buchanan County voters in the Western District will decide
whether to re-elect Democrat Ron Hook, who has been the Western District
Commissioner since 2009, or whether to choose Republican challenger, Everett Goddard,
Jr. Some Buchanan County residents will choose between incumbent Republican
state Rep. Sean Pouche or Democrat Andrea Denning for the Missouri House 13th
District, which includes much of Platte County as well as southern and eastern
Buchanan County.

In Kansas, Republican Craig Bowser of Holton is unopposed
after winning a three-candidate race in the primary, which included incumbent Sen.
Dennis Pyle. Republican Allen Reavis of Atchison is unopposed in the 63rd
Kansas House race.

Northern Missouri Congressman Sam Graves, the dean of the Missouri Congressional delegation, is running for re-election, opposed by Democrat Pam May. Libertarian Andy Maidment and Green Party candidate Mike Diel are also in the race.

Voters in the 2nd Congressional District of Kansas will be choosing new representation. Congressman Jake LaTurner decided against running for a third term. Republican Derek Schmidt of Independence, the former Kansas Attorney General, and Democrat Nancy Boyda of Baldwin City, who formerly held the seat, are running to replace LaTurner. Libertarian John Hauer of Topeka is also on the ballot.

Missouri voters face six issues on the ballot.

Perhaps the two constitutional amendments getting the most
attention are Amendment #2, legalizing sports betting in Missouri and Amendment
#3, legalizing abortion.

Amendment #5 would allow a gambling boat at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Amendment #6 would reinstate a court fee to help finance
sheriff and prosecutor pensions.

Amendment #7 would ban ranked choice voting in Missouri.

Proposition A would raise the state minimum age and require
businesses to provide sick leave.

Polls close at 7 o’clock this evening. KFEQ will broadcast
election results along with Fox News and the Missourinet, beginning at 7pm. We
will be updating St. Joseph Post throughout the night.

This article has been updated since first published.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730821779773.jpeg" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostElection Day and perhaps the most striking part of this
Election Day for our area is the lack of contested races, on both sides of the
river.St. Joseph state Rep. Bill Falkner, a Republican, is being
challenged by Democrat Andrew Gibson. St. Joseph state Rep. Brenda Shields, a
Republican, is running unopposed. State Rep. Dean Van Schoiack of Savannah, a
Republican, is running unopposed.Buchanan County voters in the Western District will decide
whether to re-elect Democrat Ron Hook, who has been the Western District
Commissioner since 2009, or whether to choose Republican challenger, Everett Goddard,
Jr. Some Buchanan County residents will choose between incumbent Republican
state Rep. Sean Pouche or Democrat Andrea Denning for the Missouri House 13th
District, which includes much of Platte County as well as southern and eastern
Buchanan County.In Kansas, Republican Craig Bowser of Holton is unopposed
after winning a three-candidate race in the primary, which included incumbent Sen.
Dennis Pyle. Republican Allen Reavis of Atchison is unopposed in the 63rd
Kansas House race.Northern Missouri Congressman Sam Graves, the dean of the Missouri Congressional delegation, is running for re-election, opposed by Democrat Pam May. Libertarian Andy Maidment and Green Party candidate Mike Diel are also in the race.Voters in the 2nd Congressional District of Kansas will be choosing new representation. Congressman Jake LaTurner decided against running for a third term. Republican Derek Schmidt of Independence, the former Kansas Attorney General, and Democrat Nancy Boyda of Baldwin City, who formerly held the seat, are running to replace LaTurner. Libertarian John Hauer of Topeka is also on the ballot.Missouri voters face six issues on the ballot.Perhaps the two constitutional amendments getting the most
attention are Amendment #2, legalizing sports betting in Missouri and Amendment
#3, legalizing abortion.Amendment #5 would allow a gambling boat at the Lake of the Ozarks.Amendment #6 would reinstate a court fee to help finance
sheriff and prosecutor pensions.Amendment #7 would ban ranked choice voting in Missouri.Proposition A would raise the state minimum age and require
businesses to provide sick leave.Polls close at 7 o’clock this evening. KFEQ will broadcast
election results along with Fox News and the Missourinet, beginning at 7pm. We
will be updating St. Joseph Post throughout the night.This article has been updated since first published.You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.

Election Day and few contested races in St. Joseph region

(Radio Iowa) - Voters in 59 counties are deciding bond referendums in this year's election. 

Iowa Western Community College president Daniel Kinney says his school is presenting voters with a 55 million dollar plan that does not raise taxes, but maintains a current property tax levy. The plan would expand Iowa Western's dual enrollment program, so more students could earn college credits while they're still in high school. It also would double student slots in key transportation-related programs on the Council Bluffs campus and expand other training options. 

Thirty-one public school districts have bond issues on this year's General Election ballot. A 165-million dollar plan would consolidate Waterloo's two high schools. Residents in five counties and nine cities will also decide bonding for local projects, including a new fire station in Fort Madison, a recreation complex in Boone, and a new county jail in Sac County.

(Radio Iowa) - Voters in 59 counties are deciding bond referendums in this year's election. Iowa Western Community College president Daniel Kinney says his school is presenting voters with a 55 million dollar plan that does not raise taxes, but maintains a current property tax levy. The plan would expand Iowa Western's dual enrollment program, so more students could earn college credits while they're still in high school. It also would double student slots in key transportation-related programs on the Council Bluffs campus and expand other training options. Thirty-one public school districts have bond issues on this year's General Election ballot. A 165-million dollar plan would consolidate Waterloo's two high schools. Residents in five counties and nine cities will also decide bonding for local projects, including a new fire station in Fort Madison, a recreation complex in Boone, and a new county jail in Sac County.

Iowans voting on dozens of bond issues in today's election

(Radio Iowa) - Precincts around the state are open from 7 a.m. 'til 8 p.m. and Iowa law requires voters to show a photo I-D, like a driver's license, in order to cast a ballot.

 Iowans who've moved will have to provide proof of their new residence with a utility bill or some other document that shows their new address. There's curbside voting for Iowans with mobility issues. Two poll workers, one from each political party, will deliver voting materials outside so the person can mark their ballot while sitting inside their vehicle. 

Voters are allowed to take selfies with their ballot, with the emphasis on the word selfie. Including someone else in the picture or having someone take a picture of you with your ballot is not permitted.

(Radio Iowa) - Precincts around the state are open from 7 a.m. 'til 8 p.m. and Iowa law requires voters to show a photo I-D, like a driver's license, in order to cast a ballot. Iowans who've moved will have to provide proof of their new residence with a utility bill or some other document that shows their new address. There's curbside voting for Iowans with mobility issues. Two poll workers, one from each political party, will deliver voting materials outside so the person can mark their ballot while sitting inside their vehicle. Voters are allowed to take selfies with their ballot, with the emphasis on the word selfie. Including someone else in the picture or having someone take a picture of you with your ballot is not permitted.

Curbside voting, selfies with ballots allowed if it's truly a selfie

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/sterlingsewell/">STERLING SEWELL</a>

If the 2020 presidential election is an indicator, determining who the next president will be may not be clear on election night.

Local election officials as well as Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said that voters should be assured that elections in Missouri are secure even if vote counting takes time.

“I trust our elections,” Ashcroft said. “I was on the ballot in August, I lost, and sadly I trust that I lost.”

It could take days after polls close before the final results become clear. The same is true for control of the U.S. House and Senate and other close contests.

According to Ashcroft’s office, there were just under 4.4 million registered voters in the state who could potentially cast ballots in this election. Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon said 134,000 voters are registered in the county.

In addition to counting this volume of votes, legal challenges, audits and recounts can also extend the period needed to determine the outcome.

Election officials, like Lennon, caution Americans to be patient. What might look like delays are part of the normal process and not a sign of something nefarious.

“We do also remind people that Election Day results are still considered unofficial because there is still a certification process that has to happen,” Lennon said.

Lennon said this certification process includes things like confirming provisional ballots and counting military and overseas ballots that must arrive by 12 p.m. Friday, as allowed under state law.

Even when enough votes have been counted to allow media outlets to project a winner, those results are not final or official. They still need to be certified by election officials, a process that usually occurs over several weeks following Election Day.

The official certification deadline for presidential electors in Missouri is Nov. 20, and Dec. 10 — the second Tuesday of the month — for other federal offices.

These dates, as well as the rules and procedures for how elections are conducted, vary by state. To Lennon, this is a strength of the system.

“It is part of the way that we are decentralized in elections in this country. Overall, I feel that it makes us stronger because we have so many local election officials that are conducting the election in their own communities,“ Lennon said.

Ballots cast by voters on Election Day are tabulated relatively quickly, usually by machine, but even those results need to be double-checked. In Missouri, counties must recount by hand votes from 5% of polling locations as a check that counting by machines was correct.

There are 60 polling places in Boone County for this election, Lennon said. Three polling places will be selected at random and recounted to meet the 5% requirement.

Mailed absentee ballots can take longer to count. Each ballot must be reviewed for accuracy and to ensure that it comes from a legitimate voter. The process of removing the ballot from the envelope, confirming its validity and preparing it to be counted, either by hand or machine, takes time.

Some states prohibit officials from beginning this process before Election Day, all but guaranteeing that the count will be extended. In Missouri, absentee ballots are prepared and placed in a secure ballot box beginning five days before the election. They are not counted until the polls close at 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Two battleground states, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, prohibit the opening, preparing and counting of ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day. Results from these states may take more time than other presidential battleground states as a result.

There are other factors that could lead to a longer wait for final results.

Most states, including Missouri, require mailed ballots to be received by the close of polls on Election Day. However, a few states, such as Nevada, California and Maryland, allow ballots to arrive several days after Election Day, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.

Some states give voters a few days to “cure” or fix errors on their mail ballots so they can be counted. This is not the case in Missouri, but for national races outside the state, this can make a difference.

Close races can also trigger automatic or candidate-requested recounts or attract legal challenges that can drag the contest out even further.

This complicated and extended counting process can lead to false claims of election fraud or interference, as was the case in 2020. In that election, it took four days for The Associated Press to unofficially declare Joe Biden president. The votes were not officially certified until weeks later, as is normal procedure.

Despite this, former president Donald Trump demanded that the counting be stopped hours after the polls closed, and declared himself the winner, falsely accusing Democrats of finding ballots to manipulate the outcome.

“We don’t want them to find any ballots at 4 o’clock in the morning and add them to the list,” Trump said. ”As far as I’m concerned, we already have won it.”

But what Trump and his allies were denouncing was the normal vote-counting process.

Officials had warned repeatedly that the count would take time, especially with the expanded use of mail balloting by Democrats during the pandemic. That created what became known as a “red mirage” favoring Trump on Election Day, something that disappeared once all the votes were tallied.

As secretary of state, Ashcroft is the man in charge of securing and certifying the results of the election.

“Missouri leads the nation in making sure we have accessibility, security and credibility,” Ashcroft said. “It’s easy to vote, it’s hard to cheat, and if you do we’ll come after you so that when all is said and done we can all understand the results are what the people of the state desire.”

This story originally appeared in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/elections/officials-say-missouri-elections-take-time-but-remain-secure/article_e8f1b2f2-9643-11ef-bf8a-b7d09f28fda0.html#tncms-source=Top%20Story" target="_blank">Columbia Missourian</a>. It can be republished in print or online.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730819673594.png" alt="A polling location in Jefferson City (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption>A polling location in Jefferson City (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/sterlingsewell/">STERLING SEWELL</a>If the 2020 presidential election is an indicator, determining who the next president will be may not be clear on election night.Local election officials as well as Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said that voters should be assured that elections in Missouri are secure even if vote counting takes time.“I trust our elections,” Ashcroft said. “I was on the ballot in August, I lost, and sadly I trust that I lost.”It could take days after polls close before the final results become clear. The same is true for control of the U.S. House and Senate and other close contests.The reasons are largely procedural.Accurate vote counting takes time.According to Ashcroft’s office, there were just under 4.4 million registered voters in the state who could potentially cast ballots in this election. Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon said 134,000 voters are registered in the county.In addition to counting this volume of votes, legal challenges, audits and recounts can also extend the period needed to determine the outcome.Election officials, like Lennon, caution Americans to be patient. What might look like delays are part of the normal process and not a sign of something nefarious.“We do also remind people that Election Day results are still considered unofficial because there is still a certification process that has to happen,” Lennon said.Lennon said this certification process includes things like confirming provisional ballots and counting military and overseas ballots that must arrive by 12 p.m. Friday, as allowed under state law.Even when enough votes have been counted to allow media outlets to project a winner, those results are not final or official. They still need to be certified by election officials, a process that usually occurs over several weeks following Election Day.The official certification deadline for presidential electors in Missouri is Nov. 20, and Dec. 10 — the second Tuesday of the month — for other federal offices.These dates, as well as the rules and procedures for how elections are conducted, vary by state. To Lennon, this is a strength of the system.“It is part of the way that we are decentralized in elections in this country. Overall, I feel that it makes us stronger because we have so many local election officials that are conducting the election in their own communities,“ Lennon said.Ballots cast by voters on Election Day are tabulated relatively quickly, usually by machine, but even those results need to be double-checked. In Missouri, counties must recount by hand votes from 5% of polling locations as a check that counting by machines was correct.There are 60 polling places in Boone County for this election, Lennon said. Three polling places will be selected at random and recounted to meet the 5% requirement.Mailed absentee ballots can take longer to count. Each ballot must be reviewed for accuracy and to ensure that it comes from a legitimate voter. The process of removing the ballot from the envelope, confirming its validity and preparing it to be counted, either by hand or machine, takes time.Some states prohibit officials from beginning this process before Election Day, all but guaranteeing that the count will be extended. In Missouri, absentee ballots are prepared and placed in a secure ballot box beginning five days before the election. They are not counted until the polls close at 7 p.m. on Election Day.Two battleground states, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, prohibit the opening, preparing and counting of ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day. Results from these states may take more time than other presidential battleground states as a result.There are other factors that could lead to a longer wait for final results.Most states, including Missouri, require mailed ballots to be received by the close of polls on Election Day. However, a few states, such as Nevada, California and Maryland, allow ballots to arrive several days after Election Day, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.Some states give voters a few days to “cure” or fix errors on their mail ballots so they can be counted. This is not the case in Missouri, but for national races outside the state, this can make a difference.Close races can also trigger automatic or candidate-requested recounts or attract legal challenges that can drag the contest out even further.This complicated and extended counting process can lead to false claims of election fraud or interference, as was the case in 2020. In that election, it took four days for The Associated Press to unofficially declare Joe Biden president. The votes were not officially certified until weeks later, as is normal procedure.Despite this, former president Donald Trump demanded that the counting be stopped hours after the polls closed, and declared himself the winner, falsely accusing Democrats of finding ballots to manipulate the outcome.“We don’t want them to find any ballots at 4 o’clock in the morning and add them to the list,” Trump said. ”As far as I’m concerned, we already have won it.”But what Trump and his allies were denouncing was the normal vote-counting process.Officials had warned repeatedly that the count would take time, especially with the expanded use of mail balloting by Democrats during the pandemic. That created what became known as a “red mirage” favoring Trump on Election Day, something that disappeared once all the votes were tallied.As secretary of state, Ashcroft is the man in charge of securing and certifying the results of the election.“Missouri leads the nation in making sure we have accessibility, security and credibility,” Ashcroft said. “It’s easy to vote, it’s hard to cheat, and if you do we’ll come after you so that when all is said and done we can all understand the results are what the people of the state desire.”This story originally appeared in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/elections/officials-say-missouri-elections-take-time-but-remain-secure/article_e8f1b2f2-9643-11ef-bf8a-b7d09f28fda0.html#tncms-source=Top%20Story" target="_blank">Columbia Missourian</a>. It can be republished in print or online.&nbsp;

Officials say Missouri elections take time, but remain secure

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ariana-figueroa/">ARIANA FIGUEROA</a>

WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on Monday hopscotched across swing states and prepared for what could be an exceedingly tense election night watch as the 2024 presidential election sped to a close.

So far, more than 80.6 million Americans have voted, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://election.lab.ufl.edu/early-vote/2024-early-voting/" target="_blank">the University of Florida’s Election Lab.</a>

In a presidential contest that pollsters say is virtually a toss-up, seven battleground states likely will determine the outcome of the election. The results could take days, election officials repeatedly&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/article/final-results-may-lag-deadlocked-presidential-contest-anxious-election-officials-warn">have warned</a>&nbsp;and stressed again Monday. The 2020 presidential race was called for President Joe Biden the Saturday following Election Day.

“Election Day is not results day,” said&nbsp;Quentin Turner, the Common Cause Michigan executive director, during a Monday webinar.

Jen O’Malley Dillon, chair of the Harris-Walz campaign, made similar remarks during a Monday call with reporters, but still issued predictions as to when the campaign expects to know some results from key states.

She said the campaign understands that results could take a while based on each state’s law. Some states begin counting votes after the polls close, some as they come in.

O’Malley Dillon said because of that, the campaign expects on election night to have “near complete results” for North Carolina, Michigan and Georgia, “and then partial results from Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Arizona.”

She said the campaign expects by Wednesday morning to have most of the “results in from Wisconsin and additional results from Pennsylvania and potentially Michigan.”

“And then on Wednesday and beyond, we expect additional results from Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada,” she said. “So we think some of this stuff will trickle in, but keep in mind that some ballots will continue to be counted for many days.”

Democracy groups like Common Cause said during the webinar that they are prepared for high voter turnout on Election Day.

Bob Phillips, the Common Cause North Carolina executive director, said he expects about 1 to 1.5 million voters in his state on Election Day.

“For the most part, we’ve seen a lot of voter enthusiasm,” he said.

He added that there have been more calls on the voter help hotline than in the previous elections.

“There is definitely higher tension, more emotion, particularly among the electioneering that goes on outside the precincts, as well as some issues since this is our first major election where we’ve had the voter ID requirements,”&nbsp;Phillips said.

Harris is closing out her campaign in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, which offers the most electoral votes of the swing states at 19.

O’Malley Dillon said the campaign will have get-out-the-vote rallies late Monday night in the seven swing states with Harris and surrogates.&nbsp;

“We’ve believed all along this race is going to be incredibly close, and so it’s really going to come down to mobilization, and that’s why an event like tonight matters so much,” she said.

Harris will head to Scranton and then to Allentown, a city with a large Puerto Rican population that Democrats have courted following racist remarks by a comedian at a Trump rally that referred to the island of Puerto Rico as “garbage.” She’ll then rally in Philadelphia with musical performances from The Roots and Lady Gaga among others.

Trump will make four stops in three states — starting in Raleigh, North Carolina, stopping twice in Pennsylvania at&nbsp;Reading and Pittsburgh and finishing in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

<a href="https://ncnewsline.com/2024/11/04/trump-in-final-nc-rally-looks-for-a-third-straight-win-harris-barnstorms-pennsylvania/" target="_blank">While at his first campaign stop in North Carolina</a>&nbsp;on Monday, he told supporters that if he wins another term he will levy a 25% tariff on Mexico if migrants continue to head from that country to the U.S.-Mexico border.

“You’re the first I’ve told this to,” Trump told the crowd. “And if that doesn’t work, we’ll go up to 50. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll go to 75.”

Trump will hold his election night watch party at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. Harris will have hers at her alma mater at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Polls published over the weekend still showed a tight race, but one in Iowa&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/article/harris-takes-slim-lead-over-trump-final-iowa-poll-2024-election">rattled the Trump campaign</a>, showing that Harris had a lead in a state that the former president easily won in 2016 and 2020.

The highly regarded pollster — somewhat of a Midwestern oracle — showed that independent and women voters were breaking for Harris.

Both candidates are within the margin of error in all seven swing states meaning any of the states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin — could tip to either one.

Over the weekend, Harris appeared on NBC’s live sketch comedy show, “Saturday Night Live.”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/nbc-donald-trump-campaign-free-ad-time-nascar-race-kamala-harris-snl-sketch-1236052709/" target="_blank">Trump also appeared</a>&nbsp;on a free commercial during NBC’s broadcast of a Sunday NASCAR race in compliance with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/political_programming_fact_sheet.pdf" target="_blank">FCC’s Equal Time rule.</a>

<a href="https://michiganadvance.com/2024/11/04/harris-vows-to-end-war-in-gaza-during-final-michigan-rally-at-msu/" target="_blank">On Sunday, while at Michigan State University,</a>&nbsp;Harris pledged that she would do “everything in her power” to end the war in Gaza if she were to win the White House. Michigan has a high Arab American population that has been critical of Democrats’ handling of the Israel-Hamas war, where&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker" target="_blank">more than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed.</a>

<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/article/harris-takes-slim-lead-over-trump-final-iowa-poll-2024-election">During a Sunday rally</a>&nbsp;in Pennsylvania, Trump told supporters that he shouldn’t have left the White House after losing the 2020 presidential race and then he joked about not minding if journalists were shot while covering his campaign event.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730773867298.png" alt="Vice President Harris knocked on doors in Pennsylvania Monday night-image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Vice President Harris knocked on doors in Pennsylvania Monday night-image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ariana-figueroa/">ARIANA FIGUEROA</a>WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on Monday hopscotched across swing states and prepared for what could be an exceedingly tense election night watch as the 2024 presidential election sped to a close.So far, more than 80.6 million Americans have voted, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://election.lab.ufl.edu/early-vote/2024-early-voting/" target="_blank">the University of Florida’s Election Lab.</a><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730814909704.png" alt="Former President Donald Trump with his family on stage late Monday in Michigan. Image courtesy Margo Martin Deputy Director of Communications" />
 <figcaption>Former President Donald Trump with his family on stage late Monday in Michigan. Image courtesy Margo Martin Deputy Director of Communications</figcaption>
 </figure>In a presidential contest that pollsters say is virtually a toss-up, seven battleground states likely will determine the outcome of the election. The results could take days, election officials repeatedly&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/article/final-results-may-lag-deadlocked-presidential-contest-anxious-election-officials-warn">have warned</a>&nbsp;and stressed again Monday. The 2020 presidential race was called for President Joe Biden the Saturday following Election Day.“Election Day is not results day,” said&nbsp;Quentin Turner, the Common Cause Michigan executive director, during a Monday webinar.Jen O’Malley Dillon, chair of the Harris-Walz campaign, made similar remarks during a Monday call with reporters, but still issued predictions as to when the campaign expects to know some results from key states.She said the campaign understands that results could take a while based on each state’s law. Some states begin counting votes after the polls close, some as they come in.O’Malley Dillon said because of that, the campaign expects on election night to have “near complete results” for North Carolina, Michigan and Georgia, “and then partial results from Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Arizona.”She said the campaign expects by Wednesday morning to have most of the “results in from Wisconsin and additional results from Pennsylvania and potentially Michigan.”“And then on Wednesday and beyond, we expect additional results from Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada,” she said. “So we think some of this stuff will trickle in, but keep in mind that some ballots will continue to be counted for many days.”Democracy groups like Common Cause said during the webinar that they are prepared for high voter turnout on Election Day.Bob Phillips, the Common Cause North Carolina executive director, said he expects about 1 to 1.5 million voters in his state on Election Day.“For the most part, we’ve seen a lot of voter enthusiasm,” he said.He added that there have been more calls on the voter help hotline than in the previous elections.“There is definitely higher tension, more emotion, particularly among the electioneering that goes on outside the precincts, as well as some issues since this is our first major election where we’ve had the voter ID requirements,”&nbsp;Phillips said.<h2>It’s all about Pennsylvania (almost)</h2>Harris is closing out her campaign in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, which offers the most electoral votes of the swing states at 19.O’Malley Dillon said the campaign will have get-out-the-vote rallies late Monday night in the seven swing states with Harris and surrogates.&nbsp;“We’ve believed all along this race is going to be incredibly close, and so it’s really going to come down to mobilization, and that’s why an event like tonight matters so much,” she said.Harris will head to Scranton and then to Allentown, a city with a large Puerto Rican population that Democrats have courted following racist remarks by a comedian at a Trump rally that referred to the island of Puerto Rico as “garbage.” She’ll then rally in Philadelphia with musical performances from The Roots and Lady Gaga among others.Trump will make four stops in three states — starting in Raleigh, North Carolina, stopping twice in Pennsylvania at&nbsp;Reading and Pittsburgh and finishing in Grand Rapids, Michigan.<a href="https://ncnewsline.com/2024/11/04/trump-in-final-nc-rally-looks-for-a-third-straight-win-harris-barnstorms-pennsylvania/" target="_blank">While at his first campaign stop in North Carolina</a>&nbsp;on Monday, he told supporters that if he wins another term he will levy a 25% tariff on Mexico if migrants continue to head from that country to the U.S.-Mexico border.“You’re the first I’ve told this to,” Trump told the crowd. “And if that doesn’t work, we’ll go up to 50. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll go to 75.”Trump will hold his election night watch party at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. Harris will have hers at her alma mater at Howard University in Washington, D.C.<h2>Polling puzzles</h2>Polls published over the weekend still showed a tight race, but one in Iowa&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/article/harris-takes-slim-lead-over-trump-final-iowa-poll-2024-election">rattled the Trump campaign</a>, showing that Harris had a lead in a state that the former president easily won in 2016 and 2020.The highly regarded pollster — somewhat of a Midwestern oracle — showed that independent and women voters were breaking for Harris.Both candidates are within the margin of error in all seven swing states meaning any of the states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin — could tip to either one.Over the weekend, Harris appeared on NBC’s live sketch comedy show, “Saturday Night Live.”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/nbc-donald-trump-campaign-free-ad-time-nascar-race-kamala-harris-snl-sketch-1236052709/" target="_blank">Trump also appeared</a>&nbsp;on a free commercial during NBC’s broadcast of a Sunday NASCAR race in compliance with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/political_programming_fact_sheet.pdf" target="_blank">FCC’s Equal Time rule.</a><a href="https://michiganadvance.com/2024/11/04/harris-vows-to-end-war-in-gaza-during-final-michigan-rally-at-msu/" target="_blank">On Sunday, while at Michigan State University,</a>&nbsp;Harris pledged that she would do “everything in her power” to end the war in Gaza if she were to win the White House. Michigan has a high Arab American population that has been critical of Democrats’ handling of the Israel-Hamas war, where&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker" target="_blank">more than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed.</a><a href="https://kansasreflector.com/article/harris-takes-slim-lead-over-trump-final-iowa-poll-2024-election">During a Sunday rally</a>&nbsp;in Pennsylvania, Trump told supporters that he shouldn’t have left the White House after losing the 2020 presidential race and then he joked about not minding if journalists were shot while covering his campaign event.&nbsp;

‘Election Day is not results day’: Get ready for a wait to find out who’s president

The FBI, in conjunction with key partners, is operating a 24/7 national election command post (NECP) from the Strategic Information and Operations Center (SIOC) at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., during the 2024 national election, according to a media release from the agency.

Numerous FBI Headquarters divisions are represented in the NECP, as well as federal partners from a variety of agencies,&nbsp;including the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Capitol Police, Department of Homeland Security, Election Assistance Commission, and Federal Communications Commission.&nbsp;

The NECP's purpose is to ensure the FBI is well-positioned to respond to any election security issue that may arise, including federal election crimes, threats to election workers, foreign malign influence operations, cyber threats, and acts of domestic terrorism. The NECP will track significant complaints from all 55 FBI field offices through their respective command posts.

“The purpose of the command post is to ensure the FBI is well positioned to respond to threats that would come in or information that would come in that would affect our election security,” said James Barnacle, deputy assistant director of the Bureau’s Criminal Investigative Division. “Those threats include criminal threats such as threats to election workers, foreign malign influence, cyber threats and acts of domestic violence.”

About 80 personnel from the FBI and about a dozen partner agencies are staffing the command post in the FBI’s Strategic Information Operations Center. The command post opened on November 1 and will run through at least November 9.

“We feel like we're well positioned to handle and triage information that comes in,” Barnacle said. “We have the people in place. We've identified the right people at the different agencies. We've developed those partnerships over the last few years. We're going to take the information that comes in, and we're going to take it through our process, and we're going to share that information.”

Barnacle said that each of the FBI’s 55 field offices is also staffing a command post that is closely connected with their partner agencies and election officials. That way information or complaints that are fielded at the local level or though the FBI’s tip line,<a href="http://%20tips.fbi.gov/" target="_blank">&nbsp;tips.fbi.gov</a>, get to the people who can triage and best determine a response.

“We look at that threat information,” Barnacle said. “We run it through our indices. We engage with our partners. There's a lot of partner agencies here at the command post. So we triage that information. We also work with Department of Justice to ensure that we are staying within policy and taking the information and then sending it back out to the field or to state or local election officials.”

In the days leading up to Election Day, SIOC’s National Crisis Coordination Center (NC3) was humming with activity. The space hosts command posts for other high-profile events, such as presidential inaugurations and State of the Union speeches. Created in 1989, SIOC began with just seven employees and 3,000 square feet of space. Today, its footprint has grown to 40,000 square feet.

The FBI is mandated by National Security Presidential Memorandum 32 to provide timely information about national security incidents so leaders have the information to manage a crisis and support national security decision-making. SIOC is part of the FBI’s information flow under the NSPM-32 process.

Partner agencies in the election security command post include the United States Postal Inspection Service, the United States Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Capitol Police, the Election Assistance Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and multiple components of the Department of Justice, including the Public Integrity Section.

“What all of these folks are doing is triaging information,” Barnacle said. “We've had information coming in to the FBI in the last few days. Some of it has been maybe state or local matters, and we're just making sure it gets to state and local officials.”

“When information is threatening and it rises to the violation of federal laws,” Barnacle added, “then we look to take action.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730748693468.png" alt="Photo FBI" />
 <figcaption>Photo FBI</figcaption>
 </figure>The FBI, in conjunction with key partners, is operating a 24/7 national election command post (NECP) from the Strategic Information and Operations Center (SIOC) at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., during the 2024 national election, according to a media release from the agency.Numerous FBI Headquarters divisions are represented in the NECP, as well as federal partners from a variety of agencies,&nbsp;including the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Capitol Police, Department of Homeland Security, Election Assistance Commission, and Federal Communications Commission.&nbsp;The NECP's purpose is to ensure the FBI is well-positioned to respond to any election security issue that may arise, including federal election crimes, threats to election workers, foreign malign influence operations, cyber threats, and acts of domestic terrorism. The NECP will track significant complaints from all 55 FBI field offices through their respective command posts.“The purpose of the command post is to ensure the FBI is well positioned to respond to threats that would come in or information that would come in that would affect our election security,” said James Barnacle, deputy assistant director of the Bureau’s Criminal Investigative Division. “Those threats include criminal threats such as threats to election workers, foreign malign influence, cyber threats and acts of domestic violence.”About 80 personnel from the FBI and about a dozen partner agencies are staffing the command post in the FBI’s Strategic Information Operations Center. The command post opened on November 1 and will run through at least November 9.“We feel like we're well positioned to handle and triage information that comes in,” Barnacle said. “We have the people in place. We've identified the right people at the different agencies. We've developed those partnerships over the last few years. We're going to take the information that comes in, and we're going to take it through our process, and we're going to share that information.”Barnacle said that each of the FBI’s 55 field offices is also staffing a command post that is closely connected with their partner agencies and election officials. That way information or complaints that are fielded at the local level or though the FBI’s tip line,<a href="http://%20tips.fbi.gov/" target="_blank">&nbsp;tips.fbi.gov</a>, get to the people who can triage and best determine a response.“We look at that threat information,” Barnacle said. “We run it through our indices. We engage with our partners. There's a lot of partner agencies here at the command post. So we triage that information. We also work with Department of Justice to ensure that we are staying within policy and taking the information and then sending it back out to the field or to state or local election officials.”In the days leading up to Election Day, SIOC’s National Crisis Coordination Center (NC3) was humming with activity. The space hosts command posts for other high-profile events, such as presidential inaugurations and State of the Union speeches. Created in 1989, SIOC began with just seven employees and 3,000 square feet of space. Today, its footprint has grown to 40,000 square feet.The FBI is mandated by National Security Presidential Memorandum 32 to provide timely information about national security incidents so leaders have the information to manage a crisis and support national security decision-making. SIOC is part of the FBI’s information flow under the NSPM-32 process.Partner agencies in the election security command post include the United States Postal Inspection Service, the United States Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Capitol Police, the Election Assistance Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and multiple components of the Department of Justice, including the Public Integrity Section.“What all of these folks are doing is triaging information,” Barnacle said. “We've had information coming in to the FBI in the last few days. Some of it has been maybe state or local matters, and we're just making sure it gets to state and local officials.”“When information is threatening and it rises to the violation of federal laws,” Barnacle added, “then we look to take action.”

FBI national command post monitoring election security threats

(Radio Iowa) - Iowa State University is restructuring a campus LGBTQ center to comply with a state law that will go into effect next summer that prohibits state universities from funding Diversity Equity and Inclusion offices and programs. 

A report released last week detailing D-E-I university changes says the center will be open to all students. Erin O’Brien is a part of I-S-U Students Against S-F 24-35 and says the change is redundant. The center has always been available to all students, according to O'Brien. Other changes include changing the job description of two staff members. The center also cannot host its own events anymore and student groups can reserve the space for events. O’Brien, a junior at I-S-U, says the changes show that the L-G-B-T-Q community in Ames is "expendable." 

Republicans in the legislature say the offices pursued what they consider a woke agenda and were designed to indoctrinate students into a partisan ideology.

(Radio Iowa) - Iowa State University is restructuring a campus LGBTQ center to comply with a state law that will go into effect next summer that prohibits state universities from funding Diversity Equity and Inclusion offices and programs. A report released last week detailing D-E-I university changes says the center will be open to all students. Erin O’Brien is a part of I-S-U Students Against S-F 24-35 and says the change is redundant. The center has always been available to all students, according to O'Brien. Other changes include changing the job description of two staff members. The center also cannot host its own events anymore and student groups can reserve the space for events. O’Brien, a junior at I-S-U, says the changes show that the L-G-B-T-Q community in Ames is "expendable." Republicans in the legislature say the offices pursued what they consider a woke agenda and were designed to indoctrinate students into a partisan ideology.

ISU facility for LGBTQ students faces changes due to DEI backlash

<a href="https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024-11-4-DOJ-Poll-Monitor-Complaint.pdf">Click. here </a>to read the lawsuit

<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">🚨BREAKING: I filed suit against the Biden-Harris DOJ for sending unauthorized poll monitors to Missouri polling locations. The law is clear that <a href="https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KamalaHarris</a> can’t just send unvetted individuals into our polling places. It’s illegal and undermines trust in our elections.&mdash; Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) <a href="https://twitter.com/AGAndrewBailey/status/1853454846088659431?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 4, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><a href="https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024-11-4-DOJ-Poll-Monitor-Complaint.pdf">Click. here </a>to read the lawsuit

Mo. AG refuses to let Justice Dept. monitors into Mo. polling places

New representation in Congress will be decided by voters in
Kansas’ Second Congressional District on Tuesday.

Incumbent Republican Jake LaTurner decided not to run for a
third term.

The decision surprised Republican Derek Schmidt of
Independence, the former state Attorney General, and motivated him to get in
the race.

“He made the unexpected decision not to seek re-election and
that presented really a choice,” Schmidt tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “I think
our country has some serious challenges. We need serious people who want to get
in and try to fix some things.”

Schmidt says he wants to address inflation, illegal
immigration, and intrusion of big government if elected to Congress.

As for Democrat Nancy Boyda of rural Baldwin City, she decided
to run for the office she once held, because, as she puts it, she couldn’t sit
by and watch what is going on in the country.

“Like health care, like immigration, like the price of
housing. All of that can be addressed by a Congress,” Boyda tells KFEQ/St.
Joseph Post. “The lack of being able to even function in Congress that has
brought our country to this place that we are today.”

Boyda won the second district seat in 2006 and served for one
term. Boyda also served in the Pentagon.

Illegal immigration is a big topic this election, especially
in the race for the White House. It is big in the Second Congressional District
of Kansas race as well.

Boyda says Congress has failed to address illegal immigration,
which she says could have been resolved 16 years ago, when Congress considered bipartisan
immigration legislation.

“The Democrats didn’t want to do this bill to start off,
because they thought it would look like anti-immigrant. And the Republicans said
it’ll look like an amnesty bill,” according to Boyda. “So, both sides dug their
heels in and we’ve done nothing.”

Schmidt says the issue has grown much worse over the years.

“But in the last three-and-a-half years, there have been
nearly three times as many illegal aliens enter the United States as there are
people total in the state of Kansas; three times our state’s population,”
Schmidt asserts. “This is not just more of the same. Something’s different
today.”

Schmidt says he has talked to LaTurner about the office.

“So, he’s been very encouraging in this race,” Schmidt says. “I’m
very optimistic about the outcome, but we’re working hard all the way through Tuesday.”

Boyda feels confident about her chances, though the district
is heavily Republican.

“We’ve actually engaged the voters in a real conversation about
our democracy, instead of just throwing stones at each other,” Boyda says. “And
I think it will make a difference.”

The Second Congressional District of Kansas includes northeast
Kansas. It runs from the Nebraska border to the Oklahoma border with a carve
out for the greater Kansas City area.

By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostNew representation in Congress will be decided by voters in
Kansas’ Second Congressional District on Tuesday.Incumbent Republican Jake LaTurner decided not to run for a
third term.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730744041031.jpeg" alt="Derek Schmidt/Photo courtesy of the Schmidt campaign" />
 <figcaption>Derek Schmidt/Photo courtesy of the Schmidt campaign</figcaption>
 </figure>The decision surprised Republican Derek Schmidt of
Independence, the former state Attorney General, and motivated him to get in
the race.“He made the unexpected decision not to seek re-election and
that presented really a choice,” Schmidt tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “I think
our country has some serious challenges. We need serious people who want to get
in and try to fix some things.”Schmidt says he wants to address inflation, illegal
immigration, and intrusion of big government if elected to Congress.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730744100696.jpeg" alt="Nancy Boyda/Photo courtesy of the Boyda campaign" />
 <figcaption>Nancy Boyda/Photo courtesy of the Boyda campaign</figcaption>
 </figure>As for Democrat Nancy Boyda of rural Baldwin City, she decided
to run for the office she once held, because, as she puts it, she couldn’t sit
by and watch what is going on in the country.“Like health care, like immigration, like the price of
housing. All of that can be addressed by a Congress,” Boyda tells KFEQ/St.
Joseph Post. “The lack of being able to even function in Congress that has
brought our country to this place that we are today.”Boyda won the second district seat in 2006 and served for one
term. Boyda also served in the Pentagon.Illegal immigration is a big topic this election, especially
in the race for the White House. It is big in the Second Congressional District
of Kansas race as well.Boyda says Congress has failed to address illegal immigration,
which she says could have been resolved 16 years ago, when Congress considered bipartisan
immigration legislation.“The Democrats didn’t want to do this bill to start off,
because they thought it would look like anti-immigrant. And the Republicans said
it’ll look like an amnesty bill,” according to Boyda. “So, both sides dug their
heels in and we’ve done nothing.”Schmidt says the issue has grown much worse over the years.“But in the last three-and-a-half years, there have been
nearly three times as many illegal aliens enter the United States as there are
people total in the state of Kansas; three times our state’s population,”
Schmidt asserts. “This is not just more of the same. Something’s different
today.”Schmidt says he has talked to LaTurner about the office.“So, he’s been very encouraging in this race,” Schmidt says. “I’m
very optimistic about the outcome, but we’re working hard all the way through Tuesday.”Boyda feels confident about her chances, though the district
is heavily Republican.“We’ve actually engaged the voters in a real conversation about
our democracy, instead of just throwing stones at each other,” Boyda says. “And
I think it will make a difference.”The Second Congressional District of Kansas includes northeast
Kansas. It runs from the Nebraska border to the Oklahoma border with a carve
out for the greater Kansas City area.You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.

2nd Congressional District of Kansas set to choose new representation

Farmers are taking out loans at a rate and scale not seen in years as weakened crop prices weigh on the agricultural sector, according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The volume of new operating loans increased at its fastest pace since 2017, the report said, with commercial banks issuing 40% more of these loans to farmers over last year. Farmers are not only taking out more loans, but also borrowing higher amounts. 

Farmers are taking out loans at a rate and scale not seen in years as weakened crop prices weigh on the agricultural sector, according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The volume of new operating loans increased at its fastest pace since 2017, the report said, with commercial banks issuing 40% more of these loans to farmers over last year. Farmers are not only taking out more loans, but also borrowing higher amounts.

Farm loans soar as ag economy deteriorates

The University of Missouri Extension is set to host free tax workshops in December aimed at assisting farmers, ranchers, and landowners in enhancing their collaboration with tax professionals. The workshops will be led by MU Extension specialists, who will discuss significant updates in tax legislation, including the implications of the Corporate Transparency Act.

The University of Missouri Extension is set to host free tax workshops in December aimed at assisting farmers, ranchers, and landowners in enhancing their collaboration with tax professionals. The workshops will be led by MU Extension specialists, who will discuss significant updates in tax legislation, including the implications of the Corporate Transparency Act.

University of Missouri Extension offering free tax classes

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a>

WASHINGTON — Voters are determining whether the next president enters office with a friendly Congress or a hostile one set on blocking their policies and nominees — and as the election roars into its last moments it’s still very unclear what the makeup of the House and Senate might be.

Most House races are not competitive. But House leaders are closely watching about two dozen toss-up contests to see whether Democrats or Republicans end up with the magic 218 lawmakers needed to control the speaker’s gavel, the agenda and the floor schedule.

The GOP’s razor-thin majority during the last two years created significant obstacles for leadership’s legislative goals and ended Kevin McCarthy’s speakership.

Neither political party is expected to gain a large House majority during the next Congress, set to begin in January. There’s even a possibility the majority party has less wiggle room than the 220-212 split that currently exists, along with three vacancies. Experts warn it may not be known on election night or for some time who’s won the House.

Senate leaders have been equally focused on hard-fought and close campaigns in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Any one of them could deliver control of the upper chamber.

Republicans are favored to turn over the West Virginia seat occupied by Joe Manchin III, potentially pushing them past the 50-member benchmark if they hold onto seats occupied by incumbents Ted Cruz in Texas, Deb Fischer in Nebraska and Rick Scott in Florida.

If Democrats keep 50 seats, that would mean whichever party holds the vice presidency controls the Senate, making even just one pickup in either direction a priority for both political parties.

The outcome in both the House and Senate will have sweeping implications for the country’s future, including whether the GOP overhauls Obamacare, how lawmakers address core aspects of Republicans’ 2017 tax law set to expire in the coming months and whether the country defaults on its debts for the first time in history.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/senate-race-ratings" target="_blank">rates</a>&nbsp;four Senate races as toss-ups, meaning there’s a relatively even chance for Democrats or Republicans to win.

While the campaigns have shifted around a bit during the last few months, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are all considered neck and neck heading into Election Day.

Arizona and Nevada are categorized as leaning toward Democrats and Montana is expected to lean toward a Republican pickup, potentially giving the GOP its 51st seat and a narrow majority.

It’s also possible there could be upsets in Republican-held states traditionally considered safer, like Florida, Nebraska and Texas.That could alter the math for both Democrats and Republicans, depending on how things shake out after all the votes are counted, recounts finalized and lawsuits settled in the days and weeks following Nov. 5.

Jessica Taylor, editor for U.S. Senate and Governors at the Cook Political Report, said in a statement released Friday the “battle for the Senate fundamentally ends where the cycle began — with an overwhelmingly favorable map that very likely portends a GOP majority.”

Her projections show the GOP picking up two to five seats, giving the party a majority between 51 and 54 members.

A narrower majority, Taylor said, would allow “moderates like Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Maine Sen. Susan Collins to wield outsized influence in the next Congress.”

Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said during an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?539651-1/sen-gary-peters-discusses-senate-races" target="_blank">interview</a>&nbsp;with Washington Post Live in late October that he expects voters in Montana and Ohio will split their tickets.

He acknowledged getting voters to support Democratic Sens. Jon Tester in Montana and Sherrod Brown in Ohio, while also voting for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, will be much more challenging than in the past.

“Certainly, it’s not easy if there’s a lot of political gravity,” Peters said. “I’m not going to sugarcoat that in any way.”

But, he said, both Tester and Brown have been consistently polling within the margin of error against their GOP challengers.

“It’s about who’s going to get their voters out and do the kind of ground campaign necessary to win,” Peters said. “We’re doing that in Montana. We’re doing that in Ohio as well.”

The Senate is more important to the next president than the House, since the upper chamber is responsible for vetting and confirming the next commander-in-chief’s selections for their Cabinet as well as judicial nominees.

A GOP Senate would be a gift for Trump but likely tough for Vice President Kamala Harris.

The opposite could also be true — a Democratic majority in the Senate could put the brakes on many of Trump’s plans for a second term, while it would aid Harris in setting up her administration and potentially confirming a Supreme Court justice or two.

The Senate is the more bipartisan of the two chambers, thanks to the legislative filibuster — the rule requiring at least 60 senators agree to advance legislation toward final passage.

Without bipartisan support, bills and some nominees will be stuck in limbo, regardless of which party runs the Senate or controls the White House.

Philip Wallach, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank, said a Harris administration and a Republican Senate would need to work out an agreement quickly “or risk going into some kind of protracted standoff over executive branch nominations.”

Both Trump and President Joe Biden had the luxury of same-party Senate control during their full terms and former President Barack Obama had a Democratic Senate during his first six years in office. Harris possibly having to work with the opposing party to establish her Cabinet would be especially challenging, Wallach said in an interview.

“I would expect Republicans to try to come up with some pretty concrete asks as a conference: To say, ‘If we’re going to put any of your nominees up for a vote, here’s what we want in return, and here’s what kind of nominees we will accept.’ And, you know, I expect that would play out as a fairly heated public confrontation,” he said.

Trump and a Republican Senate would likely agree on some nominees and policy goals, though there would be significant differences over issues like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-vows-levy-horrible-tariffs-imports-rejecting-fears-inflation-spike" target="_blank">tariffs</a>.

“I think there are a lot of Republican senators who want to see some real limits to that, who still think of themselves as basically in favor of free trade and making sure that American businesses don’t find themselves on the wrong end of a trade war,” Wallach said. “Especially in the Senate, I just don’t think they’re that eager to just march to Trump’s tune.”

A Trump administration, he said, could also disagree with GOP lawmakers on the specific details of how to address tax policy.

“I think it’s a very live possibility that there could be a much more confrontational kind of dynamic this time around, in part, because Trump and some of the people right around him have this idea that playing nicely in 2017 was a big mistake,” Wallach said.

Control of the 435-member House is more uncertain than the Senate, with 22 races&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings" target="_blank">rated as toss-ups</a>&nbsp;by the Cook Political Report.

Twelve of those are held by Republicans, while 10 are occupied by Democratic lawmakers. At the moment, 205 House seats are at least leaning toward a Democratic win, with 208 districts at least leaning toward Republicans.

The Cook Political Report’s final projections range from Republicans adding five seats to their majority to Democrats picking up 10 seats and taking over the majority again.

“The race for control of the U.S. House remains as close as it’s ever been,”

Erin Covey, editor for the House at CPR, said in a written statement.

“The battleground is confined to a few dozen seats, with neither party having a clear advantage in a majority of seats,” Covey added. “And with several competitive races in West Coast states that take longer to count their ballots, it’s highly possible we won’t know which party has control on election night.”

The House is essential to turning bills into law, though it doesn’t have any role in confirming presidential nominees. And unlike the Senate, there’s no legislative filibuster, which means the majority party can approve any bills it wants without buy-in from the minority party, as long as the leaders in the majority have the votes from their own members.

Republican control of at least one chamber of Congress and a Harris victory would force significant bipartisan compromise on must-pass legislation, like the dozen annual government funding bills and the defense policy bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act.

It could also lead to the types of bipartisan legislation that Biden made a hallmark of his term in office, including the bipartisan infrastructure law.

That type of divided government is unlikely to produce the sweeping changes to home ownership, prescription drug prices, price gouging and reproductive rights that Harris has highlighted throughout her campaign.

But it could lead Republicans and Democrats to resurrect&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/bipartisan-border-bill-loses-support-fails-procedural-vote-us-senate" target="_blank">the bipartisan immigration and border security bill</a>&nbsp;that Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford, Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy and Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema agreed to earlier this year.

Trump in the White House and Democrats holding onto at least one chamber in Congress could also force bipartisan compromise, though likely with a far different tone and approach than under a Harris-Republican Congress scenario.

Trump regaining the presidency along with GOP control of Congress would give the party at least two chances to use the complex budget reconciliation process to pass certain legislation.

The party would likely use one of those opportunities to address provisions in the 2017 Republican tax law that have expired or are about to.

The budget reconciliation process, which has considerable rules and restrictions, is how Republicans passed the tax bill during Trump’s first term in office.

It doesn’t require at least 60 senators to advance the bill. But it does include something known as a vote-a-rama, where the Senate holds dozens of votes on amendments to the bill. The process typically lasts throughout the night and gives the party not in power a chance to force their colleagues across the aisle to vote on tough issues.

Budget reconciliation is the process Republicans used to try to repeal and replace the 2010 health care law that’s often referred to as the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, during Trump’s first term in office.

Speaker Mike Jonson, R-La., said in late October on Fox Business that some of his<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/speaker-johnson-criticizes-obamacare-promises-massive-reform-trump-win-rcna177853" target="_blank">&nbsp;prior comments</a>&nbsp;about overhauling the ACA were taken out of context and that he wants to make changes to the program, but not entirely end it.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/7/1720316487639.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a>WASHINGTON — Voters are determining whether the next president enters office with a friendly Congress or a hostile one set on blocking their policies and nominees — and as the election roars into its last moments it’s still very unclear what the makeup of the House and Senate might be.Most House races are not competitive. But House leaders are closely watching about two dozen toss-up contests to see whether Democrats or Republicans end up with the magic 218 lawmakers needed to control the speaker’s gavel, the agenda and the floor schedule.The GOP’s razor-thin majority during the last two years created significant obstacles for leadership’s legislative goals and ended Kevin McCarthy’s speakership.Neither political party is expected to gain a large House majority during the next Congress, set to begin in January. There’s even a possibility the majority party has less wiggle room than the 220-212 split that currently exists, along with three vacancies. Experts warn it may not be known on election night or for some time who’s won the House.Senate leaders have been equally focused on hard-fought and close campaigns in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Any one of them could deliver control of the upper chamber.Republicans are favored to turn over the West Virginia seat occupied by Joe Manchin III, potentially pushing them past the 50-member benchmark if they hold onto seats occupied by incumbents Ted Cruz in Texas, Deb Fischer in Nebraska and Rick Scott in Florida.If Democrats keep 50 seats, that would mean whichever party holds the vice presidency controls the Senate, making even just one pickup in either direction a priority for both political parties.The outcome in both the House and Senate will have sweeping implications for the country’s future, including whether the GOP overhauls Obamacare, how lawmakers address core aspects of Republicans’ 2017 tax law set to expire in the coming months and whether the country defaults on its debts for the first time in history.<h2>Four tense toss-ups in the Senate</h2>The nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/senate-race-ratings" target="_blank">rates</a>&nbsp;four Senate races as toss-ups, meaning there’s a relatively even chance for Democrats or Republicans to win.While the campaigns have shifted around a bit during the last few months, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are all considered neck and neck heading into Election Day.Arizona and Nevada are categorized as leaning toward Democrats and Montana is expected to lean toward a Republican pickup, potentially giving the GOP its 51st seat and a narrow majority.It’s also possible there could be upsets in Republican-held states traditionally considered safer, like Florida, Nebraska and Texas.That could alter the math for both Democrats and Republicans, depending on how things shake out after all the votes are counted, recounts finalized and lawsuits settled in the days and weeks following Nov. 5.Jessica Taylor, editor for U.S. Senate and Governors at the Cook Political Report, said in a statement released Friday the “battle for the Senate fundamentally ends where the cycle began — with an overwhelmingly favorable map that very likely portends a GOP majority.”Her projections show the GOP picking up two to five seats, giving the party a majority between 51 and 54 members.A narrower majority, Taylor said, would allow “moderates like Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Maine Sen. Susan Collins to wield outsized influence in the next Congress.”<h2>Will some voters split their tickets?</h2>Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said during an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?539651-1/sen-gary-peters-discusses-senate-races" target="_blank">interview</a>&nbsp;with Washington Post Live in late October that he expects voters in Montana and Ohio will split their tickets.He acknowledged getting voters to support Democratic Sens. Jon Tester in Montana and Sherrod Brown in Ohio, while also voting for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, will be much more challenging than in the past.“Certainly, it’s not easy if there’s a lot of political gravity,” Peters said. “I’m not going to sugarcoat that in any way.”But, he said, both Tester and Brown have been consistently polling within the margin of error against their GOP challengers.“It’s about who’s going to get their voters out and do the kind of ground campaign necessary to win,” Peters said. “We’re doing that in Montana. We’re doing that in Ohio as well.”The Senate is more important to the next president than the House, since the upper chamber is responsible for vetting and confirming the next commander-in-chief’s selections for their Cabinet as well as judicial nominees.A GOP Senate would be a gift for Trump but likely tough for Vice President Kamala Harris.The opposite could also be true — a Democratic majority in the Senate could put the brakes on many of Trump’s plans for a second term, while it would aid Harris in setting up her administration and potentially confirming a Supreme Court justice or two.The Senate is the more bipartisan of the two chambers, thanks to the legislative filibuster — the rule requiring at least 60 senators agree to advance legislation toward final passage.Without bipartisan support, bills and some nominees will be stuck in limbo, regardless of which party runs the Senate or controls the White House.<h2>Possible standoff</h2>Philip Wallach, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank, said a Harris administration and a Republican Senate would need to work out an agreement quickly “or risk going into some kind of protracted standoff over executive branch nominations.”Both Trump and President Joe Biden had the luxury of same-party Senate control during their full terms and former President Barack Obama had a Democratic Senate during his first six years in office. Harris possibly having to work with the opposing party to establish her Cabinet would be especially challenging, Wallach said in an interview.“I would expect Republicans to try to come up with some pretty concrete asks as a conference: To say, ‘If we’re going to put any of your nominees up for a vote, here’s what we want in return, and here’s what kind of nominees we will accept.’ And, you know, I expect that would play out as a fairly heated public confrontation,” he said.Trump and a Republican Senate would likely agree on some nominees and policy goals, though there would be significant differences over issues like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-vows-levy-horrible-tariffs-imports-rejecting-fears-inflation-spike" target="_blank">tariffs</a>.“I think there are a lot of Republican senators who want to see some real limits to that, who still think of themselves as basically in favor of free trade and making sure that American businesses don’t find themselves on the wrong end of a trade war,” Wallach said. “Especially in the Senate, I just don’t think they’re that eager to just march to Trump’s tune.”A Trump administration, he said, could also disagree with GOP lawmakers on the specific details of how to address tax policy.“I think it’s a very live possibility that there could be a much more confrontational kind of dynamic this time around, in part, because Trump and some of the people right around him have this idea that playing nicely in 2017 was a big mistake,” Wallach said.<h2>House ‘as close as it’s ever been’</h2>Control of the 435-member House is more uncertain than the Senate, with 22 races&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings" target="_blank">rated as toss-ups</a>&nbsp;by the Cook Political Report.Twelve of those are held by Republicans, while 10 are occupied by Democratic lawmakers. At the moment, 205 House seats are at least leaning toward a Democratic win, with 208 districts at least leaning toward Republicans.The Cook Political Report’s final projections range from Republicans adding five seats to their majority to Democrats picking up 10 seats and taking over the majority again.“The race for control of the U.S. House remains as close as it’s ever been,”Erin Covey, editor for the House at CPR, said in a written statement.“The battleground is confined to a few dozen seats, with neither party having a clear advantage in a majority of seats,” Covey added. “And with several competitive races in West Coast states that take longer to count their ballots, it’s highly possible we won’t know which party has control on election night.”The House is essential to turning bills into law, though it doesn’t have any role in confirming presidential nominees. And unlike the Senate, there’s no legislative filibuster, which means the majority party can approve any bills it wants without buy-in from the minority party, as long as the leaders in the majority have the votes from their own members.Republican control of at least one chamber of Congress and a Harris victory would force significant bipartisan compromise on must-pass legislation, like the dozen annual government funding bills and the defense policy bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act.It could also lead to the types of bipartisan legislation that Biden made a hallmark of his term in office, including the bipartisan infrastructure law.That type of divided government is unlikely to produce the sweeping changes to home ownership, prescription drug prices, price gouging and reproductive rights that Harris has highlighted throughout her campaign.But it could lead Republicans and Democrats to resurrect&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/bipartisan-border-bill-loses-support-fails-procedural-vote-us-senate" target="_blank">the bipartisan immigration and border security bill</a>&nbsp;that Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford, Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy and Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema agreed to earlier this year.Trump in the White House and Democrats holding onto at least one chamber in Congress could also force bipartisan compromise, though likely with a far different tone and approach than under a Harris-Republican Congress scenario.<h2>GOP trifecta?</h2>Trump regaining the presidency along with GOP control of Congress would give the party at least two chances to use the complex budget reconciliation process to pass certain legislation.The party would likely use one of those opportunities to address provisions in the 2017 Republican tax law that have expired or are about to.The budget reconciliation process, which has considerable rules and restrictions, is how Republicans passed the tax bill during Trump’s first term in office.It doesn’t require at least 60 senators to advance the bill. But it does include something known as a vote-a-rama, where the Senate holds dozens of votes on amendments to the bill. The process typically lasts throughout the night and gives the party not in power a chance to force their colleagues across the aisle to vote on tough issues.Budget reconciliation is the process Republicans used to try to repeal and replace the 2010 health care law that’s often referred to as the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, during Trump’s first term in office.Speaker Mike Jonson, R-La., said in late October on Fox Business that some of his<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/speaker-johnson-criticizes-obamacare-promises-massive-reform-trump-win-rcna177853" target="_blank">&nbsp;prior comments</a>&nbsp;about overhauling the ACA were taken out of context and that he wants to make changes to the program, but not entirely end it.“I said the ACA, unfortunately, is deeply ingrained in our health care system now,” he said. “Do we need further improvements? Absolutely. We need to expand quality of care, access to care and obviously lower the cost of health care.”Johnson said during the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRGW9IVOaP4" target="_blank">interview</a>&nbsp;that he was “convinced” Republicans would gain unified control of government following the election and that he had compiled a “two-hour slide show presentation” detailing what the GOP would do with that power.“We will secure the border on day one with a President Trump executive order and then legislation to follow, and we will turn immediately to the economy,” Johnson said. “Energy policy will be the center of that as well.”Deeply conservative House bills might not garner the support needed to overcome the Senate’s legislative filibuster.Unified Republican control of Congress and the White House would challenge the GOP to address the nation’s debt limit mostly on its own during the first half of next year after&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-sends-biden-debt-limit-legislation-ahead-monday-default-deadline" target="_blank">the current law</a>&nbsp;expires.A default on the nation’s debt is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-hit-debt-limit-much-sooner-expected-thrusting-congress-showdown" target="_blank">vastly different from a partial government shutdown</a>, which takes place when Congress doesn’t pass an appropriations package on time.Failing to either raise or suspend the nation’s debt limit, before what’s known as extraordinary measures runs out, would likely cause a global financial crisis.The GOP has been extremely vocal about cutting government spending, but that is separate from addressing the nation’s debt limit, which gives the Treasury Department the borrowing authority to ensure all of the country’s bills are paid in full and on time.

Kbct