With early voting underway in 39 states and the District of Columbia, and voters set to go to the polls on November 3, campaigns across the country are running their final advertisements and making their closing arguments on the campaign trail. Here are four quick takeaways as we head into the final week of campaign season:

• Democrats remain poised to capture a solid majority in the House of Representatives. The generic Congressional ballot—a standard polling question that asks voters if they would prefer a Democrat or Republican to represent them in Congress—currently favors Democrats by 8.1 percentage points, according to Decision Desk HQ, an election data and analytics firm. Combined with individual race polling results, President Donald Trump's low approval rating, high gas prices, and other factors, a double-digit margin for the Democrats in the House seems increasingly likely. That result wouldn't be unusual—historically, midterms are terrible for the president's party, which has gained seats in the House just three times in midterm elections dating back to 1906.
• The Senate remains a toss-up, but Democrats have a real shot at the majority. Democrats need to net four seats to win the majority. Nine Senate races (two currently held by Democrats, seven by Republicans) are currently polling within the margin of error—a sign that these races could absolutely go either way. But Republicans are playing defense in more states than Democrats. It's going to be close—and we may not know the outcome on November 4.
• Department of Justice pre-emptively sues over Senate race in Alaska. On October 22, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Alaska over its closely watched race that could help determine control of the Senate. The DOJ is arguing that voters could confuse Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, the incumbent who is running for re-election, with another candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan, who is also on the ballot. If the incumbent Sullivan loses, the DOJ wants Alaska to delay certification and determine whether votes from confused Alaskans may have changed the outcome. A judge will now decide whether to order Alaska to delay certification under those circumstances. The move likely previews what could be drawn-out litigation over the election outcome in multiple states, particularly if the battle for the Senate majority is close.
• Iowa may be the bellwether state for this election. Iowa has a competitive governor's race, a competitive Senate race, and three competitive House races. All five are currently held by Republicans, but polling indicates that Democrats could take several of these races. Iowa farmers have been particularly hard hit by tariffs, high diesel prices, and the president's decision to allow foreign beef imports. Democrat success—or failure—in these key races may indicate whether it's a big night for Democrats across the country.

The October 14 announcement from the Social Security Administration (SSA) represents the largest cost-of-living adjustment since 2023. The amount is calculated using the average consumer price index (CPI) for July, August, and September, as compared to the year before. The SSA also announced that for 2027, the payroll tax will be applied to the first $192,300 in income, up from $184,500 in 2026.

A growing number of large public companies are opting out of having tokenized versions of their shares traded on OKXICE, a planned tokenized stock-trading platform backed by OKX and Intercontinental Exchange.

OKXICE revealed earlier this month that 16 companies have now objected, including Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Alphabet, McDonald's, and UnitedHealth. A Reuters news report indicated that the list had grown to 22 companies by October 23, including Wells Fargo. The firms have not publicly shared their reasoning, but some issuers have raised concerns about potential effects on stock liquidity and volatility. Some are also worried that investors might mistake third-party tokenization for an issuer-endorsed offering. The objections came in response to the Securities and Exchange Commission's new innovation exemption for tokenized stock trading, announced in September. Under the new framework, companies have the right to opt out of having their shares traded in tokenized form.

Nineteen out of the 22 Democrats on the committee issued a letter last week backing Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) as chair of the committee if Democrats win the House majority in November.

The committee has been roiled by recent reports that Reps. Sean Casten (D-IL), 54, and Bill Foster (D-IL), 71, are exploring challenging the 88-year-old Waters for the chairmanship as Democrats wrestle with the advanced ages of some of the party's leaders. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus also issued a letter of support for Waters to return to the chair role. Waters served as chair from 2019 to 2023 when Democrats had the House majority. Waters is trying to fend off the potential challenges to her leadership before they gain momentum, and there's a good chance she has done so with these endorsements.

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