Harris, Trump in MI, GA; Latest polls

Only eight days until election day.

In the final stretch of the 2024 presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are focusing on two key battlegrounds that could decide the race for the White House: Michigan and Georgia.

Harris is hosting a rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Monday alongside her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Meanwhile, Trump is holding his own rally in Atlanta, Georgia, and his vice presidential candidate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, will meet with voters in Wausau, Wisconsin.

Trump's campaign stops come after his much-hyped rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday stirred controversy with a series of swipes at Democrats and a warm-up performance by a comedian, causing political upheaval among a key constituency of voters Trump hopes to win over his bid for a second term in the White House.

At the start of the rally, comedian Tony Hinchliffe, who performs under the stage name Kill Tony, mocked Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage” and also said Latinos have too many children.

While Trump's campaign later tried to distance itself from the joke, it had already drawn criticism from Republicans, major celebrities and others.

Stay on top of the campaign trail with USA TODAY Network's live coverage.

New polls show Republicans narrowly ahead in Senate races in Nebraska and Texas

New New York Times/Siena College polls conducted between October 23 and 26 show close Senate races in both Nebraska and Texas.

In Texas, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, a Trump-backed two-term incumbent, leads his Democratic opponent, Rep. Colin Allred, 50% to 46% among 1,180 Texas voters, according to the poll. Democrats are eyeing the seat as one they could potentially flip to retain control of the Senate and have poured millions of dollars into the race.

In Nebraska, Republican Sen. Deb Fischer leads her independent opponent Dan Osborn 48% to 46% among 1,194 Nebraska voters. Five percent of likely voters said they were undecided or had no answer.

– Sudiksha Kochi

Court rejects Mississippi's five-day grace period for mail-in ballots – but 2024 policy is uncertain

A federal appeals court has reinstated a Republican lawsuit challenging Mississippi's grace period, which requires mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if they arrive up to five days after Election Day.

But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not block the state law that provided the grace period. Instead, the appeals court remanded the case to U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola for further consideration.

Guirola in July rejected the lawsuit filed by the state and national Republican parties challenging the grace period granted during the COVID pandemic. “The result: These laws require that all congressional and presidential elections be held on a single day throughout the Union,” Justice Andrew Oldham wrote for the three-judge appeals panel.

If the case were appealed to the Supreme Court, it could have potential consequences, as more than a dozen states have grace periods to allow mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to arrive up to 10 days later.

−Bart Jansen

Court refuses to revive Virginia's policy of purging suspected non-citizens from voter rolls

A federal appeals court on Sunday dismissed a Republican case from Virginia that sought to reinstate the removal of suspected non-citizens from voter rolls.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles on Friday halted the state program that had removed about 1,500 names since Aug. 7 because federal law prohibits removing names from voter rolls within 90 days of an election. She also ordered the restoration of the registration of the deportees.

The state appealed, but the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Giles' ruling.

“For the second time in three days, a federal court ruled that the purge of eligible citizens in Virginia is unlawful,” said Ryan Snow, an attorney with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “We urge the Supreme Court to stop this madness. “Make it clear that preventing eligible citizens from voting is unacceptable.”

−Bart Jansen

New polls show Harris and Trump in a dead heat in a key state

A new USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll found Trump and Harris nearly tied in Wisconsin, 48% to 47%, among 500 likely voters. The results are within the survey's margin of error of 4.4 percentage points. The survey was conducted October 20-23.

Harris has a slight lead in Door County, Wisconsin, which is a major factor in the state. Harris leads Trump in that area 50% to 47%, the poll of 300 likely Door County voters showed. The results are still within the margin of error of 5.7 percentage points.

Wisconsin, which has 10 electoral votes, is among several key swing states that both Trump and Harris are eyeing to catapult them to the presidency.

− Rebecca Morin and Sudiksha Kochi

Will Puerto Rico participate in the 2024 presidential election?

No, Puerto Rican residents cannot vote for president.

However, they can help select each party's candidate for president. Political parties have the opportunity to include them in the primary election process.

Trump won Puerto Rico's 2024 GOP primary, capturing 23 of the territory's Republican delegates.

− Sudiksha Kochi

Trump faces backlash from Bad Bunny and Puerto Ricans in fight for Latino vote

Puerto Ricans, including Grammy-winning artists Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin, widely condemned Trump after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who goes by the stage name Kill Tony, mocked the island as a “floating trash island” at the former president's campaign rally in Madison had square garden.

The backlash comes as Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris are in a tight race — and counting on Latino voters to help them get to the White House. Puerto Rican voters living in the United States represent the second largest Latino group in the country, including in key battleground states like Pennsylvania.

Amid the growing furore, senior Trump adviser Danielle Alvarez issued a statement Sunday evening addressing Hinchcliffe's role. “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” she said.

− Rebecca Morin and Sudiksha Kochi

Where do Trump and Harris stand in the polls?

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are tied in national polls. The Real Clear Politics average of national polls has Trump leading Harris by 0.1 percentage points, well within the margin of error of every poll included.

It's also a close race in battleground states across the country. For example, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average in Michigan, Trump is ahead by just 0.2 percentage points.

– Marina Pitofsky

Where is Trump campaigning on Monday?

Trump is hosting a rally in Atlanta, Georgia on Monday at 6 p.m. Georgia could easily determine the 2024 race, a crucial Southern swing state that Trump won in 2016 but lost to President Joe Biden in 2020.

– Marina Pitofsky

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Where is Harris campaigning on Monday?

Kamala Harris will hold an event in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Monday alongside her vice presidential candidate Tim Walz and singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers, her campaign said Friday.

Harris has been spending a lot of time lately in Michigan, a key battleground state: She held three events earlier this month before campaigning with rapper Lizzo in southeastern Michigan. Last week she was in Oakland County with Republican former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney and on Saturday she campaigned with former first lady Michelle Obama.

– Todd Spangler