Politics

Early voting begins in California, Texas, 5 other states

Published

2 years ago

October 7, 2024

Early voting begins in California, Texas, 5 other states

The country’s two most populous states, California and Texas, begin early voting on Monday along with Montana, Georgia, Nebraska, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Here is everything you need to know about the voter registration and early voting plans for each state.

Georgia is one of the most competitive states this cycle, and Montana offers a hotly contested Senate race

Georgia has voted Republican in all but two elections in the last four decades. The first was former President Clinton’s landslide win in 1992, and the second was 2020, when President Biden brought the state back to the Democrats by 11,779 votes.

A win for either candidate here would make their path to victory easier. The Peach State has 16 electoral votes on offer, and with recent polls showing a tight race, it’s ranked Toss Up on the Fox News Power Rankings.

Democrats do well in metro Atlanta, home to more than half the state’s population, and particularly its densest counties, Fulton and DeKalb. There is a higher concentration of Black and college voters there. The surrounding suburban areas also help Democrats run up the vote.

Republicans win big with rural voters, who can be found just about everywhere else. The GOP won all but 30 counties in the last election, with many of the largest victories in the sparse northwest and southeast regions.

Over in the northwest of the country, Montana is a Republican stronghold at the presidential level, but it also hosts one of the most competitive Senate races in the country this cycle. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester faces Republican Tim Sheehy in a race where Trump’s popularity and Sheehy’s discipline gives the GOP an edge. It’s Lean R on the rankings.

Finally, absentee in-person voting begins today in Nebraska, where absentee voting is already underway. The state is home to three competitive races.

Key downballot races in today’s early voting states

Voting also begins today in nine House districts ranked Lean or Toss Up on the Fox News Power Rankings. For a full list of competitive races, see the latest Senate and House rankings.

California’s 13th district: Incumbent GOP Rep. John Duarte is a freshman in this San Joaquin Valley district. He won the race by 564 votes in the midterms. Biden won the same area by more than 25,000 votes two years prior; a 10.9 point victory (Dave’s Redistricting). That’s what makes this such a competitive race this year. Duarte faces Democratic state assemblyman Adam Gray in this Lean D race.
California’s 22nd district: It’s the same story in the 22nd district, home to east Bakersfield. Rep. David Valadao, one of two Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in 2021, kept this district on a three-point margin in the midterms, but Biden won it by 13 points in the last presidential election. Valadao’s strong centrist brand keeps this race, against former assemblyman Rudy Salas, at Toss Up this cycle.
California’s 27th district: The 27th is another GOP-held, Biden-won district. Incumbent GOP Rep. Mike Garcia won here by more than six points in the midterms; Biden won the same area by more than 12 points two years prior. The 27th is north of Los Angeles and includes some parts of that county, including Santa Clarita. Garcia faces Democrat George Whitesides, the former CEO of Virgin Galactic, in this Lean D race.

Early voting begins in a smattering of states across the country. (REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz)

California’s 41st district: The Golden State’s 41st district is represented by Republican Ken Calvert, who has served in the House since 1993. He won his most recent race by under five points, and this year, he’ll face the same competitor: former federal prosecutor and Democrat Will Rollins. This race is a Toss Up.
California’s 45th district: President Biden won this southern California district by six points last cycle; its heavy and right-leaning Asian American population makes it highly competitive. Incumbent Rep. Michelle Steel faces Democratic lawyer Derek Tran in this district, which includes parts of Los Angeles. It moved to Toss Up last month.
California’s 47th district: Democratic Rep. Katie Porter ran unsuccessfully for the Democrats’ Senate nomination this cycle, leaving the 47th district wide open. This race will now feature Democratic state senator Dave Min and Republican former state assemblyman Scott Baugh. The district includes Orange County, which has leaned towards the Democrats in the Trump era. It’s a Power Rankings Toss Up.
Montana’s 1st district: Montana’s 1st district is the less Republican of the two; incumbent GOP Rep. Ryan Zinke took it by a slim three-point margin in the midterms. He has an edge in this western district established just two years ago following redistricting, and will compete against the same Democrat he faced two years prior: Olympic rower Monica Tranel. It’s a Lean R race.
Texas’ 28th district: Longtime 28th district Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar is seeking his tenth term this year. He won his last race by 13 points in the midterms; Biden won the area by seven in the last presidential election. In May, the Department of Justice indicted him on money laundering, conspiracy, and bribery charges. The embattled incumbent goes up against Republican former Navy commander Jay Furman. This race is Lean D.
Texas’ 34th district: Down to southeast Texas, where incumbent Democrat Vicente Gonzalez is seeking a fifth term in congress. He won by eight and a half points in the midterms. He is facing Republican former congresswoman Mayra Flores, who briefly represented the district in 2022. This Gulf Coast district is ranked Lean D.

How to vote in California

This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for California.

Voting by mail

California began absentee voting on Monday, and the state will proactively send absentee ballots to actively registered voters. That ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Early in-person voting

California offers early in-person voting, but the dates vary by location. Check the state’s website for more information.

Voter registration

California residents can register to vote online or by mail through Oct. 21. They can register in-person during early voting from Oct. 7 through election day.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE 2024 ELECTION

How to vote in Montana

Voting by mail

Montana began absentee voting on Monday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse in order to receive a ballot. State officials must receive a ballot request by Nov. 4, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Early in-person voting

Montana offers early in-person voting beginning Oct. 7 and running through Nov. 4.

Voter registration

Montana residents can register to vote by mail through Oct. 7. They can register in-person during early voting from Oct. 7 through election day.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN THE HARRIS-TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Former President Trump and Vice President Harris remain in a neck and neck race. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

How to vote in Georgia

Voting by mail

Georgia began absentee voting on Monday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse in order to receive a ballot. State officials must receive a ballot request by Oct. 25, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Early in-person voting

Georgia offers early in-person voting beginning Oct. 15 and running through Nov. 1.

Voter registration

Georgia residents must have registered to vote by Oct. 7.

IN BID FOR DISGRUNTLED REPUBLICANS, HARRIS TEAMS UP WITH CHENEY IN GOP BIRTHPLACE

How to vote in Nebraska

Voting by mail

Nebraska began absentee voting last month. Applicants do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. The state must receive a ballot application by Oct. 25, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Early in-person voting

Nebraska began early in-person voting on Oct. 7, and it will run through Nov. 4.

Voter registration

Nebraska residents can register to vote online or by mail through Oct. 18. They can register in-person through Oct. 25.

Early voting has begun in most states across the country. (Christopher Mark Juhn/Anadolu via Getty Images)

How to vote in New Hampshire

Voting by mail

New Hampshire began absentee voting on Monday. Applicants will need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. The state must receive a ballot application by Nov. 4, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Early in-person voting

New Hampshire does not offer early in-person voting.

Voter registration

New Hampshire does not offer voter registration by mail or online. Residents can register to vote in-person on election day. Check the state’s website for more information.

How to vote in South Carolina

Voting by mail

South Carolina began absentee voting on Monday. Applicants will need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. The state must receive a ballot application by Oct. 25, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Early in-person voting

South Carolina will begin early in-person voting on Oct. 21, and it will run through Nov. 2.

Voter registration

South Carolina residents can register to vote online, in-person and by mail by Oct. 14.

Trump and Harris continue to battle over a handful of swing states. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

How to vote in Texas

Voting by mail

Texas began absentee voting on Monday. Applicants will need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. The state must receive a ballot application by Oct. 25, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Early in-person voting

Texas will begin early in-person voting on Oct. 21, and it will run through Nov. 1.

Voter registration

Texas residents must have registered to vote by mail or in-person prior to Oct. 7. By-mail requests must be postmarked by Oct. 7.

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.

Politics

Video: Jan. 6 Rioter Hired by Pentagon

Published

4 hours ago

June 4, 2026

Press Room

new video loaded: Jan. 6 Rioter Hired by Pentagon

transcript

Jan. 6 Rioter Hired by Pentagon

Elias Irizarry, who pleaded guilty to climbing through a broken window at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, now works for an office responsible for uncovering and defending against terrorism plots at the Pentagon.

: “Full pardon or commutation?” “Full pardon.”
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Elias Irizarry, who pleaded guilty to climbing through a broken window at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, now works for an office responsible for uncovering and defending against terrorism plots at the Pentagon.

By Alisa Shodiyev Kaff

June 4, 2026

Politics

Democrats split over Tlaib’s Lebanon measure as Republicans seize on Hezbollah omission

Published

5 hours ago

June 4, 2026

Press Room

Democrats split over Tlaib’s Lebanon measure as Republicans seize on Hezbollah omission

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Democrats splintered over a resolution seeking to block the U.S. from assisting Israel’s war against Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group, on Thursday.

The measure, offered by progressive Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., would require President Donald Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from Lebanon. For months, Israel and Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist group and Iranian proxy, have been at war in southern Lebanon, but the United States has not joined the conflict.

A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., rejected the measure. Critics argued the resolution could aid Hezbollah and potentially hamstring U.S. military operations in the country.

Tlaib’s resolution failed 92-324, with more than half of House Democrats joining nearly all Republicans to vote it down.

The Lebanon war powers resolution divided Democrats, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., joining Republicans in rejecting the measure. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg)

REP RASHIDA TLAIB MOVES TO BLOCK US OPERATIONS IN LEBANON BUT IGNORES HEZBOLLAH

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., an Israel critic, was the lone Republican to support Tlaib’s measure. Meanwhile, Reps. Derek Tran, D-Calif., and Betty McCollum, D-Minn., voted present.

House Democratic leaders said shortly before the vote they would oppose Tlaib’s resolution and work with the progressive lawmaker on a narrower measure exempting some U.S. military operations in the country. Their statement also denounced Hezbollah as a “violent terrorist organization” and a “sworn enemy of the United States.”

Tlaib, who has accused Israel of committing “ethnic cleansing” in Lebanon, did not mention Hezbollah in her resolution. She and other proponents of the measure also avoided discussing the Iranian proxy force during heated floor debate over the measure.

Republicans highlighted the omission and accused the legislation’s supporters of serving as “proxies for Hezbollah.”

“Apparently they don’t want to see Israel killing Hezbollah, even though it’s Hezbollah that is killing Israeli children, Israeli adults, Israeli elders,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., said Wednesday, referring to his Democratic colleagues.

Tlaib asserted that her resolution would only affect U.S. forces actively engaged in hostilities. Republicans, however, disputed that claim and suggested it would hurt U.S. efforts to counter Hezbollah.

“It doesn’t say anything about [whether] you can keep the Marines that are in the embassy,” Mast said, referring to the U.S. embassy in Beirut. “That’s a pretty big oversight. It doesn’t say anything about whether we can keep United States armed forces that are training missions with the LAF [Lebanese Armed Forces]. Again, pretty big oversight.”

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan, attempted to bar U.S. forces from joining Israel’s war in Lebanon. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg)

RASHIDA TLAIB HIT WITH HOUSE CENSURE THREAT, ACCUSED OF ‘CELEBRATING TERRORISM’ IN PRO-PALESTINIAN SPEECH

The debate turned personal when Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, linked Tlaib to Hezbollah.

“Hezbollah is a terrorist organization … and its members are butchers that you like to hang out with to a certain extent,” the Ohio lawmaker said, referring to Tlaib.

A shouting match between the two then broke out, with Tlaib demanding that Miller’s remarks be stricken from the record.

The presiding chair ultimately complied with her request, but Miller doubled down on his remarks.

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“Yes, I said it. I own it, and I stand by it,” Mast said on behalf of Miller on the floor.

Tlaib’s failed war powers resolution comes as Iran has sought to tie Israel’s invasion of Lebanon to its ceasefire negotiations with the United States.

Hezbollah, which has long helped Iran project power in the region, rejected a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon’s government Thursday.

Politics

Senate rejects an initial attempt to ban Trump’s $1.8-billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

Published

5 hours ago

June 4, 2026

Press Room

Senate rejects an initial attempt to ban Trump’s .8-billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

WASHINGTON — Initial efforts in the Senate failed Thursday to block the $1.8-billion fund that the Trump administration has sought to establish to pay people who claim the government wronged them, though further attempts were likely to come Thursday afternoon.

Republicans narrowly voted down a Democratic amendment to ban the payout fund and then Democrats killed a Republican amendment, which would have prohibited the use of federal money for the fund but would have sent $1.7 billion to the Justice Department’s fraud division.

It was the second effort in Congress to rebuke President Trump in two days, following the House vote Wednesday to rein in Trump’s war powers in Iran.

The dueling amendments were proposed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). They were attached to the reconciliation bill that would fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, a high priority for Republicans.

The votes came as the Senate began a “vote-a-rama,” during which lawmakers were expected to propose a stream of amendments to the immigration bill on various topics.

The Trump administration’s plan for the payment fund — widely seen as a way for Trump to compensate his political allies, including those who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol — set off particular ire from some GOP lawmakers.

The plan has fueled growing unrest within parts of Trump’s party over his governance, compounded by the president’s endorsement of primary challengers to Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), as well as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), which angered some Republican senators.

Cassidy, who lost his primary and has since voiced strong opposition to Trump’s $1.8-billion fund, became a key player in the Thursday votes, voting down Schumer’s amendment but supporting Tillis’.

On Wednesday, Cassidy joined with Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) to argue in a court filing that the $1.8-billion fund circumvents Congress’ authority and violates the Constitution’s spending and appropriations clauses.

“It is an unconstitutional attempt to spend the People’s money without Congressional approval,” Cassidy and Booker wrote in an amicus brief filed in the federal court case challenging the fund.

The fund was created by the Justice Department to settle a lawsuit brought by Trump against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. Trump and his sons agreed to drop their personal lawsuit against the government in exchange for the creation of the $1.776-billion fund. Critics immediately questioned the plan, and it drew a rare backlash from Republicans.

In late May, GOP senators derailed plans to vote on the immigration bill over their displeasure with the payout fund and with Trump’s desire to use taxpayer funds for his planned White House ballroom. Senate Republicans removed the ballroom funding from the immigration package Wednesday, another setback for Trump.

The Trump administration sought to back away from its plans for the fund this week, following bipartisan outcry and a federal court ruling that temporarily blocked any payouts from the fund. Acting Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche said Tuesday the administration would end its plans to move ahead with the concept.

But Trump on Wednesday told reporters he didn’t know whether the fund was dead, calling it “a beautiful thing.”

After Schumer proposed the first amendment to ban the fund Thursday morning, the Senate came to a standstill as three key Republican senators deliberated. Schumer framed his effort to ban the fund Thursday as a way to force a referendum on Trump’s plan.

The amendment “offers Republicans a choice: Do you support Donald Trump’s $2 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund, or do you want to protect the American people and their paychecks?” Schumer said on the Senate floor before the vote.

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) urged Republicans to reject the amendment, saying Democrats were planning to “play so many games” on Thursday during the marathon session.

“We are going to fund immigration enforcement and border patrol, and I urge my Republican colleagues to stay united on that singular mission,” Moreno said.

The amendment failed after Cassidy voted against it. Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Jon Husted of Ohio and Dan Sullivan of Alaska voted in favor.

Schumer’s amendment was uniformly supported by Democrats, including California Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla.

Tillis, who also voted against Schumer’s amendment, immediately proposed his amendment. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) urged Democrats to oppose it, saying that the proposal would create “a new slush fund” by giving the money to the Justice Department.

“We heard over the last 48 hours that the acting attorney general said that this fund’s not moving forward. All this amendment does is codify what I believe the policy of the DOJ is,” Tillis said on the floor before voting began on his amendment. “This [fund] is unpopular, this administration has said they’re not moving forward with it; this is an opportunity for us to put it to bed.”

Responded Merkley: “Taking one slush fund and eliminating it and then creating a new slush fund still under control of the attorney general is not the way to go. The way to go is to get rid of these slush funds altogether.”

Trump has faced a recent string of failures, including the House vote Wednesday, a court ruling to remove his name from the Kennedy Center and a record-low approval rating among Americans as concern rises about economic issues, gas prices and Trump’s war with Iran.

On Wednesday, Trump lashed out against the four Republicans who backed the House war powers resolution, calling it “an unpatriotic thing” to do and calling the vote “meaningless.”

“They’re GRANDSTANDERS! They should be ashamed of themselves. MAGA!!! President DJT,” Trump wrote.

Times staff writer Ana Ceballos, in Washington, contributed to this report.