A party backstab in Michigan and double-vision ballots in Alaska are just the start. From leaked tapes to brazen dirty tricks, here are 13 election-eve moments when campaigns lost their minds.
By Phenix S Halley
With Michigan Democrats dealing with a stunning political fallout and Alaska’s Senate race caught up in a bizarre name-related controversy, the final stretch before the Nov. 3 midterms is delivering plenty of drama. But American politics has a long history of last-minute scandals, racial manipulation, secret deals and campaign tactics that leave consequences far beyond Election Day. And Black Americans have often paid a particularly high price.
Bet you remember exactly where you were when this news dropped. Former President Joe Biden abandoned his reelection campaign in July 2024 after a concerning debate performance, mounting questions about his age and growing pressure from Democrats. The decision came just months before Election Day, throwing the Democratic Party into an unprecedented scramble. Former Vice President Kamala Harris inherited the campaign, the fundraising machine and the enormous burden of keeping Donald Trump out of the White House in a historic 100-day campaign race.
In the weeks before Colorado Springs’ 2023 mayoral runoff, a burning cross was staged in front of candidate Yemi Mobolade’s campaign sign, which was also defaced with a racial slur, according to KKTV. The shocking incident appeared to suggest a racist attack against the Black candidate. But prosecutors later revealed it was an elaborate hoax designed to influence the election. Two people were convicted in 2025.
Herschel Walker’s Abortion Controversy
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – DECEMBER 06: Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker delivers his concession speech during an election night event at the College Football Hall of Fame on December 6, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. Tonight Walker lost his runoff election to incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA). In 2022, former NFL star and Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker found himself defending against allegations that he paid for a former girlfriend’s abortion in 2009. The controversy was extra explosive considering that Walker had campaigned as an outspoken opponent of abortion rights. As we previously told you, he denied the allegations. Still, the accusations put his political credibility and personal history under an unforgiving spotlight as he challenged Georgia’s Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock.
Michigan’s Last-Minute Democratic Party Fallout
Michigan Democrats entered the final stretch of the 2026 midterms with a political headache nobody needed. After losing the Democratic Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed, Rep. Haley Stevens stunned the party by endorsing Republican Mike Rogers just two days before Election Day. The fallout included furious Democrats, a departing chief of staff and a party scrambling to contain the damage in a crucial Senate race.
On the other hand, El-Sayed told reporters that he won’t let Stevens’ defection slow down his race. He added, “At the end of the day, I actually don’t think about Haley Stevens.”
Presidential Campaigning During COVID
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – JUNE 27: U.S. President Joe Biden and Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump participate in the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. The debate is the first of two scheduled between the two candidates before the November election.
The 2020 presidential race between Biden and Trump unfolded during a deadly pandemic, forcing candidates to confront an uncomfortable question: How do you campaign when gathering crowds could put people’s lives at risk? Trump continued holding large rallies while Biden leaned heavily into virtual events and socially distanced campaigning. The fight over public health, personal responsibility and presidential leadership became another defining battleground.
Jesse Helms, Harvey Gantt and 2 Elections
North Carolina Republican Jesse Helms made racial politics central to his Senate campaigns against Black Democratic challenger Harvey Gantt in 1990 and 1996. Gantt was leading the polls until Helms’ notorious 1990 campaign ad featured a white man’s hands crumpling a job rejection letter while warning about racial preferences. In both races, Helms walked away victorious.
The message tapped into white resentment and demonstrated how racial anxiety could become a powerful weapon at the ballot box. Ultimately,
The Willie Horton Political Ad of 1988
George H.W. Bush’s allies found a powerful political weapon in Willie Horton, a Black man who committed violent crimes after escaping a prison furlough. Their infamous 1988 ad used his mugshot to portray Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis as soft on crime. Black activists and other critics sounded the alarm against what they described as a racist advertisement.
In the end, the commercial helped weaponize racial stereotypes about Black men and crime, leaving a lasting blueprint for fear-based political campaigning.
Alaska’s Dan Sullivans Situation
Alaska’s 2026 Senate race has delivered one of the strangest political controversies in recent memory: two candidates named Dan Sullivan on the same ballot.
Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan is fighting to keep his seat against Democrat Mary Peltola, while a second Republican, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., faces accusations of being a spoiler candidate. According to the Associated Press, Peltola denies involvement, but the Justice Department’s intervention has intensified the election dispute.
Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood Tape
Just one month before the 2016 presidential election, a leaked 2005 recording caught Donald Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women and making vulgar comments about his celebrity status. The fallout was immediate, with Republicans distancing themselves and Democrats demanding accountability. Yet Trump survived the controversy and won the presidency, raising uncomfortable questions about what American voters are willing to overlook.
P.B.S. Pinchback Never Allowed His Seat
Before P.B.S. Pinchback’s 1873 election to the Senate, Louisiana was engulfed in allegations of voter fraud, intimidation of Black voters and competing claims to the governor’s office. Pinchback, a Black Republican and the nation’s first Black governor, was elected to the Senate amid the chaos. According to the Zinn Education Project, his credentials became entangled in the political battle, however, and the Senate ultimately refused to seat him in 1876.
Philadelphia Mayor John Street Discovers Listening Device
In October 2003, Philadelphia Mayor John Street was preparing for reelection when a routine security sweep uncovered a hidden listening device in his City Hall office, CNN reported. The FBI acknowledged the device was connected to a federal corruption investigation, not election spying. Still, its discovery created a political firestorm, particularly in a racially divided city where Street was fighting to retain the mayor’s office.
The Iranian Hostage Crisis and the Alleged Secret Deal
President Jimmy Carter and his Republican challenger, Ronald Reagan, shake hands as they greet one another before their debate on the stage of the Music Hall in Cleveland, Ohio 10/28/1980
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter was struggling to secure the release of Americans held hostage in Iran while also running for reelection. They were finally released on January 20, 1981, moments after Ronald Reagan’s inauguration. Allegations later emerged that Reagan campaign associates secretly negotiated with Iranian officials to delay their release until after Election Day, even though Carter. The so-called October Surprise remains a controversial chapter in presidential history.
Gary Hart and the Monkey Business Yacht
NANTUCKET, MA – SEPTEMBER 1988: Monkey Business, the yacht that ruined the campaign of presidential candidate Gary Hart, is moored on the wharf on Nantucket, MA in September 1988. (Photo by Mikki Ansin/Getty Images.)
In 1987, Democratic presidential frontrunner Gary Hart challenged reporters to follow him around if they doubted his character. They did. Soon, reports surfaced about his relationship with Donna Rice, including photographs of her aboard his yacht, Monkey Business. The scandal destroyed his presidential ambitions and became a defining moment in America’s obsession with candidates’ private lives.
