WASHINGTON (AP) — Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday to confirm he won’t send U.S. troops to polling places during November’s midterm elections, as Democrats have raised concerns that the Trump administration could use the military to interfere with the vote.
“I’d ask you to confirm a simple statement: the Department of Defense will not send Federal troops to the polls or to seize election materials of any kind,” Slotkin wrote to Hegseth and to Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in letters Tuesday.
The Pentagon said in an email that it will respond directly to Slotkin, as it does with all congressional correspondence. The Joint Chiefs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Slotkin told The Associated Press that Trump has been laying the groundwork to claim the midterms were stolen. She noted that Trump contemplated using the military to seize voting machines after his loss in 2020 and has deployed the National Guard to cities against the wishes of Democratic leaders. He also deployed active duty Marines to Los Angeles during his immigration crackdown in 2025.
“He’s very clearly laying the breadcrumbs to be able to say the day after the election that he didn’t really lose the House or he didn’t really lose the Senate,” Slotkin said.
Slotkin asked Hegseth during an April congressional hearing if he would follow orders to seize ballots. Hegseth called the question a “gotcha hypothetical,” but said, “I’ve never been ordered to do anything illegal, and I won’t.”
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles denied in a Vanity Fair interview last year that Trump would use the military to suppress voting in the midterms.
“I say it is categorically false, will not happen. It’s just wrongheaded,” she said.
Federal law prohibits the deployment of armed federal forces to election locations unless “necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States.” If any element of the military were to get involved, it would likely be the National Guard under state control.
In 2020, Gen. Mark Milley, then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, responded to a similar letter from Slotkin, then a congresswoman.
“I believe deeply in the principle of an apolitical U.S. military,” Milley wrote. “In the event of a dispute over some aspect of the elections, by law U.S. courts and the U.S. Congress are required to resolve any disputes, not the U.S. military."
FILE - Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., speaks during a hearing at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska voters are choosing candidates for November’s general election in a series of primary contests Tuesday, including a U.S. Senate race that will be among the most closely watched in the nation this fall.
The campaign featured over a dozen contenders in each of the top races — for Senate, U.S. House and governor. Under Alaska’s open primary system, all candidates appear on the same ballot, and the four who receive the most votes qualify for the ranked vote general election.
Tuesday's ballot also included state legislative candidates and a statewide initiative that would reimpose campaign contribution limits in state and local elections.
The highest-profile candidates in a field of 16 were two-term Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola.
The race, which could help determine control of the Senate, has drawn significant attention from outside groups, with Republican and Democratic campaign organizations identifying it as a top target. Peltola shook up her campaign leadership days before the primary, letting her campaign manager go and elevating a deputy to that role. In a statement, the campaign described the changes as “staffing updates as we transition into the general election.”
Sullivan, a veteran and ally of President Donald Trump, has campaigned on supporting the military, opening more land for oil and gas extraction, and voting for Trump's signature tax and spending law. He accused Peltola of being aligned with Lower 48 “liberals.”
Peltola leaned into the “fish, family, freedom” slogan that first got her elected in 2022, and criticized a political system she said is rigged by special interests and allows politicians to enrich themselves.
But it was a third candidate, a Republican also named Dan Sullivan, who garnered much of the attention.
Dan J. Sullivan won a legal fight to appear on the ballot despite claims by the senator and GOP allies that he was a sham candidate running at the behest of Democrats with the intent of causing confusion. Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from the island community of Petersburg, denied that and said frustration with the incumbent prompted him to run.
He appeared on the ballot as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation — a decision that a state elections official said was intended to minimize possible confusion. Meanwhile, the senator was listed as Dan S. Sullivan, Republican and incumbent. No other candidate seeking reelection has the “incumbent” label.
The drama involving the dueling Dan Sullivans caught the attention of Trump. In a social media post endorsing the senator days before the primary, he called the other's candidacy an attempt to trick voters and urged his followers to vote for “SULLIVAN, DAN S.”
In the race for Alaska's only U.S. House seat, the most prominent candidates were Republican Rep. Nick Begich, seeking a second term, and independent Bill Hill, a fisherman and former educator from a small southwestern village.
Progressive Democrat Matt Schultz suspended his campaign last month but remained on the ballot. His campaign said Schultz would withdraw as a general election candidate if he makes the primary's top four.
Schultz urged support for Hill, who leaned into concerns about affordability. Begich, who was endorsed by Trump, cast himself as hardworking and effective in his role. House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared at a rally for Begich in a conservative part of the state this month, though the event was closed to news media.
The campaign for the state’s top executive office was an open race this year because Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy was barred by term limits from seeking a third consecutive stint.
Two Democrats hoped to emerge from a crowded, largely Republican field: former state lawmakers Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and Tom Begich, who is Nick Begich's uncle. If either wins in November, he would become Alaska's first Democratic governor since Tony Knowles left office in 2002.
Republicans in the race included Bernadette Wilson, a businessperson and conservative activist; Click Bishop, a former state labor commissioner and lawmaker; Dave Bronson, former mayor of Anchorage; and Adam Crum and Treg Taylor, two former members of Dunleavy's Cabinet.
Former Gov. Bill Walker, an independent, also was on the ballot.
The lone ballot measure in the primary asked voters to reimpose campaign contribution limits, five years after a divided federal appeals court struck down a number of caps.
The measure proposes a $2,000 limit on how much individuals can give to candidates in state and local elections and a $5,000 cap on what they can give to political parties. It also would limit spending by groups other than political parties, and limit what individuals and groups can give to joint campaigns for governor and lieutenant governor.
Supporters say such limits are needed to prevent outsize influence by special interests and wealthy donors. Opponents say the measure would favor candidates with name recognition and restrict the free expression rights of contributors.
Political spending by wealthy people has become a flashpoint in races in Alaska and elsewhere. In 2025 in Wisconsin, billionaires Elon Musk and George Soros helped push spending in a state Supreme Court campaign past $100 million, the most ever for a court race in the U.S.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks at a get out the vote event held at farm in Palmer, Alaska, on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
FILE - Alaska Republican U.S. Rep. Nick Begich walks down a corridor in the state Capitol before giving a speech to Alaska lawmakers, March 10, 2026, in Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)
FILE - Alaska U.S. House candidate Bill Hill, an independent, speaks with people at a campaign fundraising event in Juneau, Alaska, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)
FILE - Dan Sullivan, a candidate in Alaska's U.S. Senate race who shares his name with the incumbent seeking reelection, talks with a reporter, July 3, 2026, in Petersburg, Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)
FILE - Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, June 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
FILE - Alaska U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola, a Democrat, speaks during a campaign rally on May 14, 2026, in Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, file)
