Young girls skip school with their parents to attend Valkyries' early WNBA Finals watch party

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Sika Lopez took 11-year-old daughter Kendra out of school Thursday to be part of the early morning watch party outside Chase Center cheering for the Golden State Valkyries.

Lopez grew up in Los Angeles watching Lisa Leslie and the Sparks, and believes being present can impact Kendra chasing her own dreams — so they joined several thousand fans gathering on the plaza at Thrive City outside Chase Center to support Golden State in Game 6 of the WNBA Finals at Atlanta.

“This is such a monumental moment. The Valkyries have worked so hard. When I was her age this wasn’t even possible,” Sika said between clapping along with the others.

“Lisa Leslie growing up, she was larger than life.”

The Valkyries lost 80-69 as Atlanta forced a winner-take-all Game 7 back in the Bay Area on Saturday. It will be the first seventh game in WNBA Finals history, and one team will capture its first championship.

The loss hardly kept Golden State fans from celebrating what this means for women's basketball in the Bay Area and far beyond. Wendy Franklin-Willis and longtime friend Liz Shaw couldn't wait for one more.

“She played hooky for this,” Shaw said of Franklin-Willis, a middle school teacher in the East Bay suburb of Castro Valley. “I love the community and we're behind the Valkyries. No matter what happens.”

Added Franklin-Willis: “They've already won by getting here, a second-year expansion team, no real superstar, such the way the game should be played, and here they are, a game away.”

“This is incredible,” Franklin-Willis said. “You have two teams, Atlanta's been to the final but has never won, you have two teams with young players. You have the misfit, poised Valkyries against Atlanta, yeah, amazing." Earlier, hundreds of hands raised when energetic in-arena host Ari Waller asked if fans had taken a day off work or school to attend the violet-clad watch party, where fans received rally towels upon entry and Violet the beloved raven “bestie” — no, she's not a mascot — danced and posed for photos.

Kendra Lopez missed a day of sixth grade in the East Bay to root on the Valkyries and her favorite player, Kayla Thornton.

“It makes a big difference because the Valkyries are such a young team and to be able to support them so early means something to me,” Kendra said.

Joshua Padilla from Santa Clara felt the same way, bringing his two daughters to San Francisco — 15-year-old high school sophomore Mariah and 10-year-old Malia, who is in fifth grade.

Both girls told their teachers they had doctor appointments, along the lines of what point guard Veronica Burton had suggested when she noted after Game 5, “Call in sick, I recommend it.”

“It's just really special. I'm happy to be here with my sister and my dad, we never really get the quality time,” Mariah said. “I think this is a great way, something we all connect with and we love the Valkyries.”

Despite the early hour and some frustrated supporters about the scrutinized early tipoff time at 9:30 a.m. PDT, “Ballhalla” braved commuter traffic to be in place for this event and watch the game on the big screen, which is 74 feet wide and 42 feet high. Though the Valkyries trailed 46-26 at halftime, being part of this memorable scene meant far more than the score in a game that finished before lunch time on the West Coast.

For Padilla, he knows how important it is to expose his daughters to powerful, athletic women not to mention all of the diversity in the Valkyries' fan base. They considered it a great day no matter who won.

“That's exactly why I wanted to have them come out here, women's sports is thriving right now and it's becoming bigger,” he said. “I actually have four daughters, so being able to come with two of them and support the women and women's sports it just shows them that it's up and coming and there's something to strive for later on down the road.”

See AP’s full WNBA coverage here

Golden State Valkyries fan Cynthia Cheak cheers over breakfast at Splash restaurant at Chase Center's Thrive City plaza, Thursday morning, Oct. 29, 2026, in San Francisco, as fans gather to watch a broadcast of Game 6 of the WNBA basketball finals against the Atlanta Dream. (AP Photo/Janie McCauley) Photo taken with a smartphone.

Kendra Lopez, 11, center, cheers during the Golden State Valkyries’ watch party at Chase Center’s Thrive City plaza, Thursday morning, Oct. 29, 2026, in San Francisco, to watch a broadcast of Game 6 of the WNBA basketball finals against the Atlanta Dream. (AP Photo/Janie McCauley) Photo taken with a smartphone.

Golden State Valkyries guard Tiffany Hayes (15) moves the ball while defended by Atlanta Dream guard Jordin Canada (3) during the first half in Game 6 of the WNBA basketball finals, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026, in Atlanta. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Fans attend the Golden State Valkyries’ watch party at Chase Center’s Thrive City plaza, Thursday morning, Oct. 29, 2026, in San Francisco, to watch a broadcast of Game 6 of the WNBA basketball finals against the Atlanta Dream. (AP Photo/Janie McCauley) Photo taken with a smartphone.

Joshua Padilla and daughters Malia, 10, and Mariah, 15, came from Santa Clara to attend the Golden State Valkyries’ watch party at Chase Center’s Thrive City plaza, Thursday morning, Oct. 29, 2026, in San Francisco, to watch a broadcast of Game 6 of the WNBA basketball finals against the Atlanta Dream. (AP Photo/Janie McCauley) Photo taken with a smartphone.

Sika Lopez and her daughter Kendra, 11, missed work and school as they attend the Golden State Valkyries’ watch party at Chase Center’s Thrive City plaza, Thursday morning, Oct. 29, 2026, in San Francisco, to watch a broadcast of Game 6 of the WNBA basketball finals against the Atlanta Dream. (AP Photo/Janie McCauley) Photo taken with a smartphone.

The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday issued subpoenas to California officials in an escalation of its scrutiny of local election administration. The subpoenas were being issued by all four U.S. attorneys in California, according to a person familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The move follows a federal judge’s appointment of a special master earlier Thursday to evaluate claims by the Trump administration that California has about 20,000 noncitizens on its voter rolls, less than 24 hours after he rejected the Justice Department’s demand that California sequester the ballots until citizenship can be verified.

The Justice Department also is escalating a criminal investigation over an Alaska Senate candidate who shares a name with the Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan, issuing a raft of new grand jury subpoenas, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday. The subpoenas were issued after The New York Times reported that Democratic candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan Jr. as part of an alleged effort to confuse voters in the hotly contested race.

Trump, meanwhile, campaigned in South Carolina for the second time this month to rally Republican support for Darline Graham as she spends the final days of the midterm election trying to fend off a robust challenge from Democrat Annie Andrews for a critical U.S. Senate seat. Andrews has mounted an unexpectedly competitive race against Graham.

With a handful of campaign stops left on Trump’s schedule, the president converted a planned event in Kansas into a virtual tele-rally. Trump plans to hold more than 20 tele-rallies before Tuesday’s Election Day, according to the White House.

The Latest:

After casting her own ballot in Lexington, South Carolina, Sen. Darline Graham told reporters Thursday that the campaign to write in her GOP runoff opponent’s name — rather than vote for her as the party’s nominee — only serves to help her Democratic foe.

Acknowledging that “elections are hard on families” — something she said she knew from years at the side of her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham — the interim Republican senator said that either sitting out the general election entirely or writing in Norman’s name is “essentially a vote for Annie Andrews.”

Norman has said that he would personally support Graham but not campaign for her. Norman’s son wrote in an op-ed last week that he would be voting for Andrews, saying the race lacked a “true conservative.”

Trump campaigned for Graham in South Carolina earlier Thursday, his second trip there in two weeks.

Vivek Ramaswamy says his gubernatorial campaign’s controversial attack ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Dr. Amy Acton, is off the air.

The Republican said during a campaign appearance in Vandalia, Ohio, Thursday that the ad’s planned run was over.

The divisive spot had provoked backlash in Ohio and among politicians of both parties across the nation. It featured Donna Arthur calling her daughter a lifelong liar. That was despite the two having not seen each other for nearly 50 years

Arthur lost custody of her children in 1978 after her husband, their stepfather, was indicted for raping Acton when she was 12.

Ramaswamy had defended the ad — though a later version trimmed some portions out — and Trump and Vance did too. Ohio governors past and present, alumni of Ramaswamy’s Catholic high school in Cincinnati and others had urged him to pull it down.

Acton’s campaign said the ad was “despicable” and should never have run, and that Ramaswamy should have apologized.

The Justice Department on Thursday issued subpoenas to California officials in an escalation of its scrutiny of local election administration.

The subpoenas were being issued by all four U.S. attorneys in California, according to a person familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

Dean Logan, the Los Angeles County registrar, said, “threats and intimidated have no place in elections.”

The Associated Press obtained copies of two subpoenas sent to employees of the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder to appear in court on Nov. 4, the day after the election.

This follows a federal judge’s appointment of a special master earlier Thursday to evaluate claims by the Trump administration that California has about 20,000 noncitizens on its voter rolls, less than 24 hours after he rejected the Justice Department’s demand that California sequester the ballots until citizenship can be verified.

— Safiyah Riddle and Eric Tucker

Robert White is expected to easily win his D.C. Delegate’s race to replace legend Eleanor Holmes Norton on Tuesday.

On the campaign trail he has promised to take on the Trump administration and Republicans who dabbled in D.C. affairs.

But his fight to become delegate-elect turned into a disagreement with D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb. White said the two disagree on when he must give up his council seat if he wins.

The phrase in the law — “date of his election” — is the culprit. The result is White plans to resign November 2.

The Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The former vice president and 2024 presidential nominee told hundreds of Atlanta University Center students to use their votes to tell Trump and others “not on my watch.”

Harris appeared with Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff before a crowd from Morehouse College, Spelman College and Clark-Atlanta University.

Harris, a Howard University graduate, noted Gen Z is the most populous U.S. generation.

She said it’s natural for young people to think, “I can’t do anything.” But she implored, “This is the moment where we turn that anger into action.”

Ossoff, she said, can be a key senator in holding Trump accountable if Democrats win a Senate majority. She also urged students to back Keisha Lance Bottoms, another HBCU alumna, in her bid for Georgia governor.

Harris is spending two days in Georgia to close her midterm campaign travel ahead of deciding whether she will run for president again in 2028.

Hours after the White House scrapped a planned weekend rally for Kansas, Trump took offense when asked by a reporter whether the cancellation was because he’s sick.

Trump, who has been on a weekslong campaign push for fellow Republicans, noted he still plans to travel to Florida on Friday to campaign and that he would do telephonic rallies for several candidates, including Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall.

“You’ve been following me for two weeks. I feel perfect,” Trump snapped at the reporter. “You are disgusting. Put yourself in shape. You look like hell.”

Trump, however, noted earlier on Thursday at a rally in South Carolina that his campaign barnstorming has left him a bit hoarse.

Asked about the cancellation of a Saturday campaign rally in Kansas and whether it was tied to an illness, Trump on Thursday denied being sick.

“I’m not going to Kansas because he’s doing very well,” Trump said, apparently referring to Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, who is locked in a competitive race.

“I feel perfect,” said Trump, who spoke with a rasp at a Thursday campaign stop in South Carolina.

“I don’t feel I have to go to Kansas,” Trump said, adding that he will hold a tele-rally instead and keep plans to travel to Florida on Friday.

The president will participate in tele-rallies Thursday night for candidates in Colorado and Montana, as part of a plan to have him hold nearly two dozen tele-rallies before Election Day, according to a person familiar with the operation who spoke on condition of anonymity to share internal plans and strategy.

Decisions about Trump’s schedule for the days coming days may change as data comes in to his team, according to the person. But Trump’s team is feeling more optimistic about Republican prospects, feels the contests are tightening in the final days and feel bullish in particular about Kansas, where Trump’s planned in-person event for Saturday is being converted into a tele-rally.

The decision to convert Kansas to a tele-rally and add many more to the president’s calendar in the final days is an attempt hit as many areas as possible in limited time, the person said.

Maine’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who ran an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate after being endorsed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, said Thursday she has voted for Troy Jackson.

Mills is termed out as governor and initially emerged as the establishment favorite to run against Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a race Democrats believe is key to taking back the chamber. But her campaign stalled and she suspended it before she lost a June primary to Graham Platner.

Platner then dropped out in July after a sexual assault allegation that he has denied. Democrats called a special nominating convention that month.

Jackson won, while Mills did not seek the nomination.

Mills has not endorsed a candidate in the race. She said via X on Thursday that she voted for Jackson and encourages Mainers to “vote for Democrats up and down the ballot who will stand up for our values and stand up to Trump.”

The Justice Department is escalating a criminal investigation over an Alaska Senate candidate who shares a name with the Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan, issuing a raft of new grand jury subpoenas, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The subpoenas seeking grand jury testimony or documents, along with records preservation demands, were issued after The New York Times reported that Democratic candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan Jr. as part an alleged effort to confuse voters in the hotly contested race.

More subpoenas were expected to be sent on Thursday, according to a person briefed on the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the ongoing probe. Neither the recipients of the subpoenas nor the number of them was immediately clear.

The Justice Department for months has been looking into allegations that Dan J. Sullivan Jr. entered the race to siphon votes from the incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan.

The new subpoenas were confirmed by a person briefed on the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the ongoing probe.

By Meg Kinnard and Alanna Durkin Richer

Rob Sand, the Democrat running to be Iowa’s next governor, asked a few dozen voters in Clive, Iowa, to make sure they aren’t reflecting back next Wednesday thinking they wish they had done more to get him and other candidates elected. Sand asked loyal Democrats to knock doors and make phone calls to help turn out the vote.

The message reflects years of day-after disappointment for Iowa Democrats who have seen Republicans take control of state government and the entire federal delegation. Sand, who is state auditor, is currently the only Democrat elected to statewide office.

Sand emphasizes the benefits of divided government, saying he’d likely be working as governor with a Republican-controlled state Legislature.

“That means that the people on the far left and on the far right will both be a little bit disappointed,” Sand said, “but the vast majority of us who find ourselves somewhere in the middle can actually be satisfied with the direction of things for our state.”

“So go out, vote as soon as possible,” Trump said as he wrapped up. “Vote on Election Day. Just get out. You got to vote.”

Trump will head back to Washington to help his wife, first lady Melania Trump, hand out candy at an early Halloween trick-or-treating event at the White House.

About half of registered voters say the economy, healthcare and the situation in Iran are each “extremely important” to their vote for Congress this year, according to a new Gallup poll.

The poll — conducted earlier this month — found the share of voters saying the economy is “extremely important” to their vote is roughly in line with Gallup’s measurement from 2022, as Americans worried about high inflation.

Democratic voters are more likely than Republican voters to say many issues are highly important to their vote, including the economy, healthcare and the situation in Iran. That heightened concern is typical for the party that’s out of power.

Pivoting to yet another marquee Senate contest as he rallied in South Carolina, Trump said Thursday that he feels Democratic Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola “actually should be removed from the ballot and prosecuted.”

Trump has called for the criminal prosecution of Peltola and her staff after revelations that her campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting another candidate with the same name as Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan.

Overnight, Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered an investigation into Peltola. Earlier Thursday, Trump cast doubt on whether Peltola would be seated in the Senate even if she won.

After he talked at length about North Carolina’s open Senate contest, Trump veered off the South Carolina campaign trail to comment on tight races in Michigan and Texas.

Saying Abdul El-Sayed is “definitely” part of the Muslim Brotherhood, Trump also said any Black or Jewish voters who supported the Democratic nominee were “crazy.” There is no evidence that El-Sayed, who is Muslim, has any affiliation with the group, an Islamic movement with branches that the U.S. government has designated as terrorist organizations.

And of Democratic Texas Senate nominee James Talarico, Trump said he “doesn’t want meat, oil or guns.”

Ultimately getting back to the state where he was rallying, Trump called South Carolina’s Democrat Annie Andrews “too crazy, too radical and too dangerous” to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Two minutes into his Rock Hill rally on Thursday, Trump pivoted to a neighboring state, delivering five minutes’ worth of comments on the North Carolina Senate race.

Trump in that contest has endorsed Republican Michael Whatley, who helmed the Republican National Committee during his 2024 campaign.

Most of Trump’s comments focused on his criticism of “terrible governor” Roy Cooper, now the Democratic Senate nominee.

Trump and Vice President JD Vance have stumped with Whatley multiple times during the general election campaign. Trump’s appearance in Rock Hill is just south of the border between the two Carolinas.

“I’m really here to talk about Darline,” Trump said, before talking more about Cooper.

The president’s planned campaign stop in Salina has been converted into a virtual tele-rally, according to a person familiar with the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The White House said in a statement that the president is going to hold more than 20 tele-rallies before Tuesday’s Election Day.

“These events give him the opportunity to highlight his accomplishments and expand his reach across the country,” the statement said.

—By Michelle Price

The cancellation of Saturday’s event was confirmed Thursday by Danedri Herbert, the chair of the Kansas Republican Party.

The rally had been planned as an effort to help GOP Sen. Roger Marshall, who’s in an extraordinarily competitive race for reelection against Democrat and Methodist megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton.

Herbert did not immediately give a reason, but the director of the Salina Airport Authority told KSNW-TV that as saying it resulted from a scheduling issue. The rally was to have been held at 10:30 a.m. in a hangar at the airport in Salina, about 100 miles (177 kilometers) west of Topeka.

Trump had a rally for Marshall on Oct. 19 in Wichita, and his plans for a second rally had been seen as a sign of deep concern about Marshall’s chances of winning. JD Vance also headlined rallies for Marshall in the Kansas City area in September and in Topeka on Monday.

Speaking ahead of Trump at his second rally in South Carolina in two weeks, the interim GOP senator commended the president for having “delivered what Washington promised for decades” on law enforcement and border security.

But Democratic nominee Annie Andrews, Graham said, “would just throw it all away.”

Invoking occasional profanities in a style of speech that sounded reminiscent of her late brother, Lindsey Graham, Darline Graham decried “the liberals and socialists” she said were trying to turn her deeply conservative home state more purple.

She also called Andrews “crazy” and said her opponent was running “deceptive ads trying to hide her radical past and rewrite her record.”

Trump urged Graham to seek her late brother’s seat and has doubled down on his support of her as the race has appeared to tighten in the closing days.

He also rallied for her last week.

As the president made his way to a rally in South Carolina, he was asked whether Democratic nominee Mary Peltola would be seated to represent Alaska in the Senate if she wins.

“Well, you’re going to have to see what happens,” Trump responded. “It’s hard to believe that she could even be allowed to run.”

Republicans have made similar moves before. House Speaker Mike Johnson delayed swearing in Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona after she won a special election in 2025, preventing her from supplying the last signature needed to force a House vote on releasing the Epstein files.

Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Adam Hamilton hugs a supporter of his campaign for the U.S. Senate against Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., after speaking at Washburn University, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, in Topeka, Kan. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

FILE - Mary Peltola, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate seat in Alaska, addresses supporters at an election watch party on Aug. 18, 2026, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

FILE - This combination photo shows Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, left, in Palmer, Alaska, Aug. 17, 2026, and a candidate in Alaska's Senate race, Dan Sullivan, right, in Petersburg, Alaska, July 3, 2026. (AP Photos/Mark Thiessen/Becky Bohrer, File)

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, center, joined by former President Barack Obama and Democratic candidate Sen. Jon Ossoff, walk off stage after a rally ahead of the Georgia Primary Election on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, Morrow, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Shoemaker Center at Ohio University Chillicothe in Chillicothe, Ohio, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)