| | | | |  | | By Bethany Irvine | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
The final day of the election has arrived, as millions of Americans line up at the polls to cast their votes in one of the most contentious presidential races in U.S. history. | Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO | PATIENCE AND CONFIDENCE — While we have yet to enter those anxious hours between when polls close and statewide calls are officially made, VP KAMALA HARRIS’ campaign is stressing patience. “We felt very good as we closed out this election,” Harris campaign chair JEN O’MALLEY DILLON said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe .” “We’re going to be patient. … We’re going to be very focused on what’s happening in the early part of the night. But we know some of our bigger battleground states are not going to be fully tallied until later in the night or early in the morning.” IMPATIENCE AND CONFIDENCE — After casting his vote this morning in Palm Beach, Florida, DONALD TRUMP told reporters he is “very confident” he will win back the White House, adding “I hear we are doing well everywhere,” CNN’s Michelle Shen reports. Trump also signaled frustration at how long it will take to call the race. “It won’t even be close,” Trump said. “But it’s gonna take a long time to certify.” RELATIVE QUIET — President JOE BIDEN is spending Election Day quietly working from the White House, watching results come in this evening alongside longtime aides and senior staff, NBC News’ Mike Memoli reports. AND WHATEVER THIS IS — RUDY GIULIANI showed “up to Trump’s polling station in the Mercedes convertible he was ordered to surrender to Georgia poll workers for defaming them,” reports FT’s Alex Rogers. SWING STATE SNAPSHOTS — The final day of the election has arrived, as millions of Americans line up at the polls to cast their votes in one of the most contentious presidential races in U.S. history. Here’s a snapshot of where we are at at this moment in some of the biggest battleground states:
- Georgia: The early turnout in Georgia “has been so robust — over 4 million voters — that a top official in the secretary of state’s office said the big day could look like a ‘ghost town’ at the polls,” per the AP. … Even so, “Fulton County officials have requested to keep two polling locations open for about an extra 30 minutes tonight,” citing “five noncredible bomb threats, which led to the temporary evacuation of two polling locations,” per the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Katherine Landergan. “Secretary of State BRAD RAFFENSPERGER said the threats originated in Russia but did not elaborate.”
- Pennsylvania: In Philly, “[l]aw enforcement authorities said they had received reports of ‘aggressive’ behavior at the polls but so far had made no arrests,” writes the Inquirer’s Andrew Seidman, citing “a couple reports of people physically blocking the entrance to a polling location.” City Commissioner SETH BLUESTEIN, a Republican and one of three members of Philly’s Board of Elections, “is optimistic the bulk of mail ballots in Philadelphia will be counted by Wednesday afternoon,” per the Inquirer’s Rob Tornoe. … In Cambria County, home of Johnstown, voting has been extended until 10 p.m. “after problems with scanning machines Tuesday morning,” per WTAE, with any ballots cast after 8 p.m. counting as provisional, per WPXI.
- Nevada: “As of Monday morning, about 1.1 million Nevadans cast a ballot in the general election, either through mail ballots or in-person voting, bringing the total voter turnout to 53 percent,” writes the Nevada Independent’s Tabitha Mueller.
- Wisconsin: “The Republican National Committee conceded in court Tuesday no elections observers were being restricted at Milwaukee's polling places, walking back claims it made in a lawsuit filed a day earlier on the eve of the 2024 General Election,” reports the Journal Sentinel’s Chris Ramirez.
Good Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@politico.com.
| | | | A message from the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association: Elections come and go — but one thing never changes: Big Pharma wants to increase their profits at the expense of everyone else.
That’s why Big Pharma’s top priority for Congress is a self-serving agenda called “delinking,” which would hand big drug companies a massive $32 billion windfall in higher profits, all while protecting their otherwise limitless pricing power and increasing health care costs for employers, patients and taxpayers.
Stop Big Pharma’s “delinking” agenda. | | | More Election Day reads …
- Against the conventional wisdom: “The Harris campaign and the Democratic Party have poured immense amounts of resources into economic messaging — to the tune of well over $200 million, according to figures provided to me by AdImpact, which tracks political advertising,” writes TNR’s Greg Sargent. “Harris and the Democrats have actually outspent Trump and Republicans on ads about the economy by around $70 million, according to the firm.”
DOWN THE BALLOT — While the battle of control over the House is neck and neck, DCCC Chair Rep. SUZAN DelBENE (D-Wash.) says Dems are “in a very strong position” to win the majority despite the odds, WaPo’s Paul Kane reports: ‘You’re going to see Republicans crossing over voting for Democrats because of the extremism,’ predicted DelBene.” As a reminder, Democrats need to flip 4 seats to win control of the chamber, but many races right now are too close to call, with Cook Political Report listing 22 races as “toss-ups” as Friday. What Senate Dems banked on … “Democratic TV ad spending on abortion far outpaced any other issue in Senate races this year,” by Ally Mutnick: "That investment reflects a party that is banking on abortion rights to save its Senate majority and win races across the map — from the manufacturing towns of Ohio to the suburbs of Arizona to the ranches of Montana."
| | 3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | | 
Elon Musk shared a pro-Trump video on X this morning that appeared to include references to the extremist QAnon conspiracy theory. | Alex Brandon/AP | 1. MUSK READS: ELON MUSK shared a pro-Trump video on X this morning that appeared to include references to the extremist QAnon conspiracy theory and footage from the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol: “The one-minute video, a mashup of campaign footage and archival video set to audio of Donald Trump speaking, features the letters ‘PATRIQTS’ flickering on-screen and phrases used online by QAnon devotees,” WaPo’s Leo Sands reports. The video comes as fears swirl around the possible onslaught of conspiracy claims and disinformation expected today and in the coming weeks, including baseless allegations of election fraud and hoaxes. Social media giants — including Meta, X and TikTok — are reportedly shoring up their policies to fight against the misinformation and election threats, WaPo’s Will Oremus and Naomi Nix report. Related reads: “A torrent of Election Day disinformation is coming. Here’s how to avoid falling for it,” by John Sakellariadis … “FBI 'aware' of fake news clip urging people not to vote.” per ABC News 2. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: “For Biden Officials, Lebanon May Be a Problem Too Big to Solve,” by NYT’s Michael Crowley: “For more than a year, officials have said that it is Israel’s conflict with the Lebanon-based militia Hezbollah, not its war with Hamas in Gaza, that poses the greatest risk to the United States. … So far, however, U.S. diplomacy has failed to stabilize the situation, which a top aide recently warned had ‘escalated out of control.’” 3. SCARY STUFF: “White supremacist planned to blow up electricity station using drone laden with explosives, U.S says,” by NBC News’ Patrick Smith: “SKYLER PHILIPPI , 24, of Columbia, Tennessee, was arrested after an FBI investigation found that he planned to attach a bomb to a drone and fly it into the energy facility in Nashville as part of his extremist agenda … In messages to FBI sources, Philippi espoused accelerationist views, a theory popular among far-right extremists that is predicated on large shocks causing chaos and forcing society to change its racial make-up.”
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IN MEMORIAM — “Bernard Marcus, cofounder of The Home Depot and billionaire Republican megadonor, has died,” by CNN’s Jordan Valinsky: “Marcus, who had a net worth of about $7.4 billion … gained his fortune from establishing The Home Depot with Arthur Blank in 1978. … An outspoken Republican, Marcus has donated millions of dollars to the campaigns of right-wing politicians, including the late John McCain, current Florida governor Ron DeSantis and Trump.”
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