GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."

On this Election Day eve, candidates spent the day making their final pitches to voters following a weekend of last-minute rallies and a high-profile Democratic defection in Michigan.

AMNA NAWAZ: President Trump delivered his closing message here in Washington, D.C., today at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after days of campaigning in mostly red states.

Lisa Desjardins has our report.

(APPLAUSE) LISA DESJARDINS: Today, President Trump's closing message from a place off the trail, but close to the White House.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: The Democrat Party has nominated the most extreme and dangerous slate of candidates in American history.

LISA DESJARDINS: The president chose the location to tout the newly reopened Lincoln Reflecting Pool.

DONALD TRUMP: Despite all that we went through, the Reflecting Pool right now looks better than it ever looked, and it is better.

LISA DESJARDINS: But Trump's effort there has mostly made headlines for problems, peeling paint and algae blooms after spending millions on repairs, a symbol of a polarizing president who is off the ballot, but heavily on voters' minds this election, as in New Hampshire this morning.

ROB FREMEAU, New Hampshire Voter: I will stick with our Republican governor, Kelly Ayotte, and every other office I'm going to vote Democratic to counter Trump.

LISA DESJARDINS: And Kansas, which has become an unexpected Senate battleground.

JULIE BEES, Kansas Voter: I'm a registered Republican, but I voted Democrat in the Senate race because I wasn't happy with the way our Republican senators have just been bowing to the wishes of Donald Trump.

LISA DESJARDINS: Across the country, early voting is surging.

This center in Wichita saw long lines today.

Some in other states waited hours over the weekend.

Time is running out for candidates making their final pitches, including in Texas.

KEN PAXTON (R), Texas Senatorial Candidate: I'm not exaggerating when I say, if we lose Texas, we lose America.

STATE REP.

JAMES TALARICO (D-TX), Senatorial Candidate: This election is about whether you want a senator who puts money in your pocket or who puts money in their own.

LISA DESJARDINS: And Maine... TROY JACKSON (D), Maine Senatorial Candidate: And you're a unicorn?

LISA DESJARDINS: ... where Democratic Senate candidate and former logger Troy Jackson dressed as a cord of wood for Halloween.

TROY JACKSON: People are coming out in droves because they know this government is broke and it has to change.

LISA DESJARDINS: The costume served as a rebuttal to an attack ad from his opponent Republican Susan Collins' campaign.

BILL GREEN, Former Maine Sportscaster: But we're not talking about buying a cord of wood here.

We're sending someone to the U.S.

Senate, and Troy doesn't have the tools he needs to be effective.

LISA DESJARDINS: Meanwhile, in Michigan, a striking reversal that ignited a political firestorm.

REP.

HALEY STEVENS (D-MI): I'm a proud Democrat.

And I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States.

LISA DESJARDINS: Democratic Representative Haley Stevens announced Sunday she's backing the Republican in her state's Senate race.

For weeks, Stevens has supported her progressive primary opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, after narrowly losing to him.

But tensions rose, including over his outspoken criticism of Israel.

She demanded specific statements from him and then was disinvited from an event with him.

REP.

HALEY STEVENS: I'm a really proud Democrat.

LISA DESJARDINS: Something she referenced in an interview last night.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN Host: People change their mind.

I'm just wondering, what changed?

REP.

HALEY STEVENS: Nothing with me changed, Anderson.

This is -- look, this is about Abdul getting angry and angrier and saying, I don't want these people in my campaign.

LISA DESJARDINS: Stevens has been a fierce critic of President Trump, but yesterday he praised her decision alongside House Speaker Mike Johnson.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: It's a smart thing to do because El-Sayed would destroy our country.

So I thought that was fantastic.

REP.

MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): I have spoken to her, encouraged her to stay safe and keep speaking the truth.

And I think she's doing that very well.

LISA DESJARDINS: For his part, El-Sayed said he's more focused on the issues.

ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), Michigan Senatorial Candidate: At the end of the day, I actually don't think about Haley Stevens.

I'm just less interested in the politics of it all than I am in the policy of it all.

LISA DESJARDINS: A final New York Times/Siena poll taken before Stevens' announcement shows El-Sayed leading Rogers by a whopping 11 points.

That poll has Democrats in the lead or virtually tied in all seven of the battleground states that will determine control of the Senate, including Texas, Maine, Ohio, Kansas, Iowa, and Alaska.

And regarding Alaska, a federal judge over the weekend rejected a Trump administration lawsuit aiming to block the results if Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan loses.

Also today, the DOJ announced charges for 63 individuals in connection with election-related crimes.

It's part of the administration's monthslong effort to crack down on voter fraud, which multiple studies and audits have shown to be extremely rare.

A major election with high turnout and high drama to the end.

AMNA NAWAZ: And in another legal development, late today, the U.S.

Supreme Court declined to block California from counting 20,000 ballots that the Trump administration alleges were cast by potential noncitizens.