Key Midterm Races to Watch as Battleground Map Expands

Kristen Welker, moderator of Meet the Press, says the midterm fight for power has spread to more states as the campaign approaches its end. She made the case on Sunday TODAY on Oct. 25, 2026, speaking with Willie Geist about which contests deserve the closest attention with nine days left before election day, according to NBC News.

Michigan and Ohio are among the races she highlighted for viewers. Beyond those two states, she said the competitive terrain now includes Alaska and Kansas, and said those contests are being watched too. Welker summed up the shift this way: "The battleground map has really expanded in the final days." Her point was that the list of competitive states keeps growing late in the race.

The segment runs two minutes and 21 seconds and offers a rundown of the contests that could matter most as the campaign closes. Separately, NBC News also carried a video in which Abdul El-Sayed responds to Mike Rogers' claims of terrorist ties.

Summarized by PolitiKool from NBC News’s reporting. Read the full story at NBC News →