Today in One Sentence. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered an investigation into whether Democrats broke state law by recruiting a second Dan Sullivan to run against the incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan; the Justice Department issued more than 40 grand jury subpoenas and record-preservation notices in its investigation of Alaska’s Senate race; House Oversight Chair James Comer opened an investigation and requested interviews with Peltola’s former campaign manager Elisa Rios and Democratic operative Jerid Kurtz; the Justice Department subpoenaed Los Angeles County election workers to appear before a federal grand jury as part of a criminal investigation into alleged noncitizen voting; the economy grew at a 3.4% annual rate in the third quarter; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the Pentagon’s top military planner over allegations that he leaked classified information to journalists; and hackers leaked a searchable database of more than 41,000 Homeland Security employees and contractors, including undercover ICE agents.

1/ Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered an investigation into whether Democrats broke state law by recruiting a second Dan Sullivan to run against the incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. The Republican governor directed the state Department of Public Safety to determine whether criminal charges or civil action are warranted after reports that aides to Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola and national Democratic operatives helped recruit an independent candidate with the same name to draw votes away from the incumbent. Peltola’s campaign, however, denied involvement with either Sullivan campaign. Dunleavy didn’t identify what state law may have been broken, and the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in June that the independent Sullivan could remain on the ballot regardless of his motives. (Politico / New York Times / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal)

2/ The Justice Department issued more than 40 grand jury subpoenas and record-preservation notices in its investigation of Alaska’s Senate race. The requests follow reports that Democratic candidate Mary Peltola’s aides and national Democratic operatives helped recruit Dan J. Sullivan to run as part of a scheme to draw votes away from incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan. Trump called the alleged scheme “voter fraud at the highest level” and demanded that Peltola and the other Sullivan be prosecuted and removed from the ballot. Asked whether Republicans should refuse to seat Peltola if she wins, Trump replied, “you’re going to have to see what happens,” adding that it was “hard to believe that she could even be allowed to run.” House Oversight Chair James Comer, meanwhile, opened an investigation and requested interviews with Peltola’s former campaign manager Elisa Rios and Democratic operative Jerid Kurtz. (CNN / ABC News / NBC News / Axios / Associated Press / Bloomberg / Politico / Axios)

3/ The Justice Department subpoenaed Los Angeles County election workers to appear before a federal grand jury as part of a criminal investigation into alleged noncitizen voting. The grand jury subpoenas require employees to appear in court the day after the midterms, and seek records and communications about how the county identifies and prevents noncitizen voting. A federal judge, however, rejected the administration’s separate request for California to set aside ballots from roughly 20,000 registered voters it claims are likely noncitizens, saying it could “create chaos for their own political purpose to disrupt the election process.” The judge added that “longstanding constitutional principles” give states the authority to administer their own elections, and “Never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state and local government to abandon their own Constitutional elections procedures and bend to the will of the Executive Branch.” (Associated Press / NBC News / New York Times / CBS News / NPR / Democracy Docket)

4/ The economy grew at a 3.4% annual rate in the third quarter, its fastest pace in a year and up from 2.2% in the spring. Consumer spending rose 3.8% and business investment outside of housing climbed 12.7% as part of the surge in AI spending. Inflation accelerated to 3.6% in September, above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, and while the Fed held interest rates steady this week, investors are expecting an increase in December. (Associated Press / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / CNBC / New York Times / Bloomberg / Axios)

  • U.S. national debt reached 100% of GDP for the first time since 1946. The $32.2 trillion in publicly held debt equaled 100.03% of GDP, up from 99.4% last fiscal year. (Wall Street Journal)

5/ Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the Pentagon’s top military planner over allegations that he leaked classified information to journalists. The Pentagon claimed an internal investigation led to Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia’s removal and referred the case to the Justice Department for potential legal action. Sylvia reportedly admitted to leaking classified information about Ukraine and Iran to two reporters from separate outlets over a year, according to an internal report of the investigation. Sylvia oversaw strategy and long-term planning for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his firing comes as Trump considers renewed military strikes against Iran after the midterm elections. Since taking office, Hegseth has pushed out more than two dozen senior military officers, including Sylvia’s predecessor, who was forced to retire last year. (Washington Post / CNN / CBS News / ABC News / Wall Street Journal / The Atlantic / MS Now / CNBC / The Hill)

6/ Hackers leaked a searchable database of more than 41,000 Homeland Security employees and contractors, including undercover ICE agents. The records include names, work phone numbers, email addresses, supervisors, and internal access groups tied to undercover operations, wiretaps, facial recognition, and surveillance programs. A group calling itself the Department of Peace claimed it obtained the records through DHS’s Okta login system and then provided them to the transparency nonprofit Distributed Denial of Secrets, which published a searchable database called “Icepick.” DHS acknowledged a “potential breach” and reported it was working to protect employees. Okta, however, maintained it had no evidence its systems were compromised. (Wired / The Hill / Politico / Reuters / TechCrunch / NPR)

The 2026 midterms are in 5 days; and the 2028 presidential election is in 740 days.