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Missouri sports betting ballot measure highlights national debate about tax rates

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The ads promoting a November ballot measure to legalize sports betting in Missouri tout the potential for millions of new tax dollars devoted to schools. If voters approve the measure, it’s a good bet they will see even more ads offering special promotions for bettors. 

Many of those promotional costs — in which sportsbooks provide cash-like credits for customers to place bets — will be exempt from state taxes, effectively limiting the new revenue for education. 

The Missouri ballot measure highlights an emerging debate among policymakers over how to tax the rapidly growing industry, which has spread from one state — Nevada — to 38 states and Washington, D.C., since the U.S. Supreme Court opened the door to legalized sports wagering in 2018. 

“It’s a fledging industry,” said Brent Evans, an assistant finance professor at Georgia College & State University who has taught classes on gambling. “So nobody really knows what is a reasonable tax.” 

Since authorizing sports betting, Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee and Washington, D.C., all have already raised or restructured their tax rates. And Colorado and Virginia have pared back the tax deductions they originally allowed. 

Tax rates range from a low of 6.75% in states such Iowa to 51% in states such as New York. That tax gap is even wider, because Iowa allows promotional bets to be deducted from taxable revenue while New York does not. 

About half the states allow tax deductions for promotional costs. It’s a common way of enticing people to start — or continue — making bets. But in the short-term, it also can decrease the tax revenue available for governments and schools. 

Missouri’s proposed 10% tax rate on sports betting revenue is below the national average of 19% that sportsbooks paid to states last year. Because of deductions for “free play,” there could be some months in which sportsbooks owe nothing to the state. Missouri’s proposed constitutional amendment acknowledges that possibility, stating that negative balances can be carried over from one month to the next until revenue rises enough to owe taxes. 

Unlike in some states, Missouri’s amendment caps the amount of promotional credits that can be deducted from taxable revenue, at 25% of all wagers. But it appears unlikely that cap would come into play. An analysis conducted by consultant Eilers & Krejcik Gaming for amendment supporters projects promotional bets will comprise around 8% of total wagers in Missouri’s first year of sports betting, declining after that. 

The Missouri proposal “is very much in line with what has worked and been effective in other states,” said Jack Cardetti, a spokesman for Winning for Missouri Education, the group backing the measure. 

After voters narrowly approved it, Colorado launched sports betting in 2020 with a 10% tax rate and full deductions for promotional bets. It logged $2.7 billion of total bets during its first full fiscal year, yielding $8.1 million in taxes, just slightly below legislative projections. But Colorado changed its law starting in 2023 to cap promotional tax deductions at 2.5% of total bets, gradually declining to 1 .75% by July 2026. 

Colorado’s sports betting tax revenue has since risen to over $30 million in its most recent fiscal year. That growth led lawmakers to place a proposal on the November ballot seeking permission for the state to keep more than the original $29 million limit on sports betting tax revenue. 

Capping tax deductions for promotional bets is a good step, said Richard Auxier, a principal policy associate at the nonprofit Tax Policy Center. But he questions why some states exempt them from taxes in the first place. 

“We don’t give out free samples of cannabis when a state legalizes cannabis,” Auxier said. “Is this something you want to be subsidizing through your state tax policy — to encourage people to gamble?” 

The Missouri amendment was placed on the November ballot by initiative petition after legislation to legalize sports betting repeatedly stalled in the state Senate. The $43 million campaign — a record for a Missouri ballot measure — has been been funded entirely by DraftKings and FanDuel, which dominate the nationwide sports betting marketplace. If the measure passes, the companies could apply for two statewide licenses to conduct online sports betting. The amendment authorizes additional sports betting licenses for Missouri casinos and professional sports teams. 

The $14 million opposition campaign has been funded entirely by Caesars Entertainment, which operates three of Missouri’s 13 casinos. Although Caesars generally supports sports betting, it opposes “the way this measure is written,” said Brooke Foster, a spokesperson for the opposition group Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment. 

In some other states, sports betting is run through casinos. Though research is limited, a study of seven states released last year found that casino gambling revenue declined as online sports betting increased. 

“There will definitely be a shift from placing bets in a physical space with a Missouri incorporated casino versus hopping on an app in your living room,” Foster said. 

The effect of different tax rates can be seen in Illinois and New Jersey, which spearheaded the court challenge leading to widespread legal sports betting. People in each state placed between $11.5 billion and $12 billion of sports bets last year, resulting in $1 billion of revenue for sportsbooks after winnings were paid to customers, according to figures from the American Gaming Association. 

New Jersey took in $129 million in tax revenue, based on a 14.25% tax rate for online sports bets and a 9.75% tax rate with some promotional deductions for sports bets at casinos and racetracks. Illinois took in $162 million of tax revenue — one-quarter more than New Jersey — with a 15% tax rate in most places and no promotional deductions. 

But Illinois officials weren’t satisfied with those results. Beginning in July, Illinois imposed a progressive tax scale, starting with a 20% tax on sports betting revenue of less than $30 million and rising to a 40% rate on revenue exceeding $200 million. 

Some sportsbooks representatives had raised the possibility of leaving Illinois if tax rates rose. But that hasn’t happened. 

There’s also not much evidence that sportsbooks worsen the odds for wagers in states where they pay higher taxes, said Joe Weinert, executive vice president of Spectrum Gaming Group, a consulting firm. 

“The sports betting operators compete vigorously for bettors,” he said, “and how you compete vigorously is to offer attractive odds and good promotions.” 
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Trump headlines New York rally after allies’ racist remarks; Harris rallies in Philadelphia

NEW YORK/PHILADELPHIA — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump headlined a rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday that began with a series of vulgar and racist remarks by allies of the former president. 

Trump, a New York celebrity for decades, hoped to use the event at the iconic venue known for Knicks basketball games and Billy Joel concerts to deliver his closing argument against Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, even though the state last backed a Republican presidential candidate in 1984. 

“I’d like to begin by asking a very simple question. Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” Trump said at the start of his speech. The crowd shouted: “No.” 

He went on to promise that he would stop an “invasion of criminals coming into our country” if he wins the Nov. 5 election and called Harris a “very low IQ individual.” 

The list of at least 20 opening speakers varied widely from former pro wrestler Hulk Hogan to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to Trump’s sons Eric and Don Jr. 

Some of Trump’s introductory speakers used racist and misogynistic language in warming up a capacity crowd. 

Rudy Giuliani, the one-time New York City mayor and a former personal lawyer to Trump, falsely claimed that Harris was “on the side of the terrorists” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and wanted to bring Palestinians to the United States. 

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe used crass language in joking that Latinos “love making babies” and called the Caribbean U.S. territory of Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” 

Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin posted a clip of the comments on his Instagram and wrote, in Spanish, “This is what they think of us.” 

Harris earlier on Sunday visited a Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia in the must-win state of Pennsylvania to encourage people to vote. She posted a video on social media promising to “invest in Puerto Rico’s future” as president.  

While Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, those living on the island cannot vote in U.S. general elections. However, millions of Puerto Ricans who have moved to the mainland United States can fully participate in elections, and many have taken up residence in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. 

Harris’s campaign in an email said the Madison Square Garden rally was “mirroring the same dangerously divisive and demeaning message” as Trump. 

Trump’s 2016 presidential opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, has accused him of “re-enacting” a pro-Nazi rally that was held at Madison Square Garden in 1939 on the eve of World War Two. 

Trump’s critics have long accused him of empowering white supremacists with dehumanizing and racist rhetoric. 

Trump rejected the comparison to the 1930s. “This is called Make America Great Again, that’s all this is,” he said on Friday. 

“Today, this is Donald Trump’s house,” said the wrestler Hulk Hogan in a speech at the New York event on Sunday, later rejecting accusations that Trump is a fascist: “I don’t see any Nazis in here.” 

U.S. billionaire Elon Musk, who is supporting Trump’s reelection bid with his X social media platform, enormous wealth and cash giveaways that have raised legal questions, was greeted to the stage with chants of “Elon.” 

“This is the kind of positive energy that America is all about,” Musk said. 

Musk, who Trump has said he would tap to lead a new government efficiency commission, said the federal budget could be reduced by “at least” $2 trillion. Federal outlays topped $6.75 trillion in fiscal 2024, which ended Sept. 30. 

Trump got cheers inside the arena for his tough-on-migrants rhetoric. He vowed to ban sanctuary cities and invoke the 1798 Alien Enemies Act law to deport immigrants with criminal records. 

Polls show the rival candidates are neck and neck in the battleground states that will decide the next president with just over a week until Election Day. More than 38 million votes have already been cast in early and mail-in voting. 

Trump has been seeking to tie Harris to the Biden administration’s handling of immigration and the economy. Last week, Trump debuted a new attack line: “She broke it, and I promise you I will fix it.” 

The U.S. economy has outperformed the rest of the developed world since the COVID crisis, and stock markets hit record highs this year. But high prices of food, utilities and housing have roiled voters, who believe the economy is headed in the wrong direction. 

Harris, who held a rally with Bruce Springsteen in Atlanta on Thursday and Beyonce in Houston on Friday, will hold another high-profile event with a speech on Tuesday on the National Mall in Washington, where she will highlight contrasts between herself and Trump. 

“He is full of grievance. He is full of dark language that is about retribution and revenge,” Harris said of Trump in Philadelphia on Sunday. 

Trump, who held a rally in Long Island, New York, in September, has said he is making a play for the state. Ronald Reagan’s reelection was the last time New York backed a Republican for president; Democrat Joe Biden won the state in 2020 by 23 percentage points. 

‘Show of strength’ 

By staging the attention-grabbing event in the world’s biggest media market, Trump could help boost Republican candidates in New York congressional races. The state has seven competitive seats that could help determine whether the party holds onto the U.S. House of Representatives next year. 

It could also give Trump a boost in nearby northeastern Pennsylvania, a battleground state that has increasingly become home for New York commuters. 

Trump’s campaign said the event at the 19,500-seat arena, which can cost upwards of $1 million to rent, was sold out. Tickets are free and on a first-come-first-served basis, as was the case with Harris’ Houston rally. 

A crowd of some 30,000 people attended Harris’ rally with Beyonce on Friday night in Houston, and about 20,000 attended the Atlanta rally. 

“My internal polling is my instinct,” Harris said to reporters in Philadelphia when asked how the campaign is faring in its internal election projections. 

“The momentum is with us,” she said. 

After Sunday’s neighborhood Philadelphia stops, Harris plans to visit every battleground state in coming days, including a Madison, Wisconsin, rally and concert with folk rock band Mumford & Sons and a Las Vegas event with Mexican pop band Mana. 
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Harris, Trump look to sway the last undecided voters

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are headed into the final full week of campaigning ahead of the November 5 presidential election. Both are looking for any small advantage they can gain to woo the sliver of voters who have not made up their minds in what could be one of the country’s closest votes in decades.

Harris, the Democratic candidate, on Sunday visited Philadelphia, the country’s sixth biggest city and a Democratic stronghold where she needs to pile up her vote count in the political battleground state of Pennsylvania.

It is one of seven tightly contested states both she and Trump, her Republican challenger, have frequently visited and plan to head to in the last days of the campaign for a new four-year term in the White House starting in January.

Harris attended a church service in the morning, while planning to also stop at a barber shop, eat at a Puerto Rican restaurant and visit a youth basketball gym.

Meanwhile, Trump is staging a major rally at Madison Square Garden, self-described as “the world’s most famous arena,” in his native New York City. Poll show Trump has almost no chance of winning the vote in New York state, where he received less than 40% in 2020.  

But he wanted to hold a rally at the 19,000-seat arena and some supporters started lining up Saturday morning to get in more than 24 hours later. Hundreds of major political addresses, pop star concerts and basketball and hockey matches have been held there for decades.

“It’s MSG, it’s Madison Square Garden,” Trump told an interviewer during a recent radio show. “Guys like you and I, that means a lot, those words. Madison Square Garden, right? Don’t you think so? … It’s a very big stop.”

Harris is planning to make what her campaign is calling its “closing argument” to voters on Tuesday with an address on the Ellipse in Washington, not far from the White House. She is hoping to draw a pronounced contrast with Trump by speaking at the site, the spot where Trump exhorted his supporters on January 6, 2021, to go to the Capitol and “fight like hell” to try to block Congress from certifying that Democrat Joe Biden had defeated him in the 2020 election.

More than 1,500 protesters were arrested in the ensuing riot at the American seat of government and 140 law enforcement personnel injured. The demonstrators caused $2.9 million in property damage to the Capitol as they smashed windows and doors and rampaged through congressional offices.

More than 1,000 rioters have been convicted of an array of offenses, with some of the most serious offenders sentenced to years of imprisonment. Trump says if he wins the election, he might pardon them.

The University of Florida’s Election Lab reports that more than 41 million people have already voted either in person at polling stations or by mail, a number that could prove to be about one-quarter of the total vote. Early voting and mail balloting are continuing throughout much of the country this week.

In 2020, more than 155 million votes were eventually cast, with about one-third of them at polling sites on the official Election Day and the remainder ahead of time or by mail.

Political surveys show the 2024 election is very close, leaving supporters of both candidates able to cherry-pick which surveys to look at if they want to say their candidate is in front. The country’s two most prominent newspapers, The New York Times and The Washington Post, both say Harris narrowly leads in four of the seven battleground states, enough of an edge that would hand her the presidency if she holds on.

But ABC News gives Trump the edge in its analysis, as does the Realclearpolitics.com aggregation of polling.

U.S. presidential elections are not decided by the national popular vote but rather through the Electoral College vote, which turns the election into 50 state-by-state contests, with 48 of the 50 states awarding all their electoral votes to the winner in their states, either Harris or Trump, while Nebraska and Maine allocate theirs by both state and congressional district vote counts.  

The number of electoral votes in each state is based on population, so the biggest states hold the most sway in determining the overall national outcome, with the winner needing 270 of the 538 electoral votes to claim the presidency.  

Polls show either Harris or Trump hold substantial or somewhat comfortable leads in 43 of the states, enough for each to get to 200 electoral votes. Barring an upset in one of those states, that leaves the outcome to the remaining seven states – a northern tier of three states (Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin), two states in the Southeast (Georgia and North Carolina) and two in the Southwest (Arizona and Nevada).  

Polling in the seven states is easily within the margins of statistical error, leaving the outcome in doubt in all seven.
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Unpacking America’s urban-rural divide

The divide between urban and rural voters is a key indicator in U.S. electoral politics. Cities favoring Democrats and rural areas favoring Republicans isn’t new. But since 2000, the gap has grown dramatically. What is behind this trend, and why is it so important? The answer is partly economic — but there are also complex cultural factors involved. Produced by Yass Monem and Nicky Woolf.
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Migrant families separated under Trump still feel fallout, fear his return

Washington — Billy’s friends don’t know he was one of thousands of children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border under then-President Donald Trump’s zero tolerance immigration policy. 

At their rural high school in the South, where Billy plays football and soccer, the 16-year-old doesn’t talk about what he went through — that his father was told six years ago that Billy was being given up for adoption and feared he would never see his son again. 

With the United States on the verge of an election that could put Trump back in office, Billy wants people to know that what happened to him and several thousand other children reverberates still. Some families have not been reunited, and many of those together in the U.S. have temporary status and fear a victorious Trump carrying out promised mass deportations. 

“It was a very painful thing that happened to us,” said Billy, who was 9 at the time. He did not want his full name or the state he lives in to be identified for fear of endangering his family’s asylum application. 

Trump has made his immigration views central to his campaign, accusing the Biden administration and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, of failing to secure the southern border. Harris has not made immigration a campaign focus but has raised Trump’s zero tolerance policy, one of his most contentious immigration actions as president. 

The Trump administration aimed to criminally prosecute all adults coming across the border illegally. Parents were separated from their children, who were transferred to shelters nationwide. 

Trump and his campaign did not say specifically whether he would revive the practice if he wins on Nov. 5, though he has previously defended it. 

“President Trump will restore his effective immigration policies, implement brand new crackdowns that will send shockwaves to all the world’s criminal smugglers, and marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers, and human traffickers in American history,” Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s press secretary, said. 

The Harris campaign held an event this month featuring children who were separated from their families, aiming to draw attention to Trump’s policies. 

Billy, who spoke at the event, is part of a group of children who are sharing their stories in short social media videos to highlight the policy. Billy and his father also visited lawmakers in Washington. 

Billy told The Associated Press that even though he doesn’t usually talk about his experiences, he and the others are “making sure that we raise our voices and that we share our stories” so something like this never happens again. 

Most of the families who were separated years ago are in legal limbo, their immigration status in doubt. Under a settlement announced last year between families and the Biden administration, the families have two years to apply for asylum under a more favorable process. 

As the election nears, advocates say they have heard from families who were separated expressing fears about Trump, if elected, making good on promises to deport millions of people. 

A 2023 settlement bars future administrations from using family separation as a widespread policy until 2031. But advocates have concerns. 

Christie Turner-Herbas, senior adviser with Kids in Need of Defense, said she worries about exceptions to the policy being exploited and says there has to be political will to enforce the settlement. 

The Trump administration’s policy deviated from the general practice of keeping families with children together when they come to the southern border. 

The goal was to dissuade people by criminally prosecuting everyone who crossed the border. For families, parents were prosecuted. Kids, who cannot be held in custody, were treated as unaccompanied minors and transferred to shelters. 

After an outcry, Trump said on June 20, 2018, that he was ending the policy. Six days later, a judge ordered the government to reunite the families, thousands of whom had been separated. Agencies kept poor records, making it difficult to reunite families. Many parents were deported, complicating things even more. 

When Democrat Joe Biden became president, he created a task force to reunite families. Building on efforts by groups that had sued the Trump administration, the task force identified about 5,000 children were separated, and about 1,400 aren’t confirmed to be reunited with their families. 

Some are in the process. Others are believed to have reunited in the U.S. but aren’t coming forward, possibly fearing government interaction. For others, no valid contact information exists, so the search continues. 

The American Civil Liberties Union, which brought a lawsuit against the Trump administration that helped end family separation, puts the number of separated children closer to 5,500. 

Lee Gelernt, lead counsel in that lawsuit, said the ACLU estimates that as many as 1,000 families are still apart. 

Families and separated children have struggled with the fallout. 

For 22-year-old Efrain, there was guilt. Efrain said his father didn’t want to bring him to the U.S. in 2018, but he pushed for it. When they were eventually separated, Efrain wondered whether it would have been better if his father had been alone. 

His father was sent back to Guatemala. Efrain, who didn’t want his full name used because he fears the repercussions, was placed in a shelter for unaccompanied children for roughly five months. 

Three years later, they reunited at the Atlanta airport. Ever since, Efrain says he’s been trying to make up for lost time. He says he struggles with anxiety and loneliness, echoing the isolation he felt after being separated from his father. 
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Vietnamese Americans in California turn to politics to address local, national concerns

The Little Saigon district in California’s Orange County is home to a large concentration of Vietnamese people. In hopes of engaging these voters, candidates for public office are putting up signs and holding events. VOA’s Long Nguyen reports, Elizabeth Cherneff narrates. Camera: Vu Nguyen.
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New Americans expected make impact in 2024 election

Nearly 3.5 million voting-age adults have become U.S. citizens since the 2020 election, according to the National Partnership for New Americans. Some experts say this growing group could prove pivotal in shaping the election results. VOA’s immigration reporter Aline Barros reports. Camera and contributor: Jeff Swicord.
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Chinese hackers breach parts of US telecom system, target Trump, Harris campaigns

washington — Hackers linked to the Chinese government have broken into parts of the U.S. telecommunications system in a breach that might be connected to an attempt to access data from the presidential campaigns of Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.  

The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency late Friday said they were investigating “unauthorized access” to commercial telecommunications infrastructure, attributing the attack to Chinese-affiliated actors.

The agencies said they immediately notified affected companies once the breach was detected and had offered assistance, though there might be additional victims.

“The investigation is ongoing, and we encourage any organization that believes it might be a victim to engage its local FBI field office or CISA,” the statement said.

“Agencies across the U.S. government are collaborating to aggressively mitigate this threat and are coordinating with our industry partners to strengthen cyber defenses across the commercial communications sector,” it added.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington dismissed the U.S. hacking allegations as disinformation, calling the U.S. “the origin and the biggest perpetrator of cyberattacks.”

“For some time, the U.S. has compiled and spread all kinds of disinformation about the so-called Chinese hacking threats,” said embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu in an email to VOA.

“China’s position is consistent and clear,” he said. “China firmly opposes and combats cyberattacks and cyber theft in all forms.”

Word of the breach linked to China followed a report by The New York Times on Friday that Chinese hackers are thought to have broken into telecommunications networks to target the Trump campaign.

People familiar with the investigation told the Times that the Chinese hackers specifically looked to access data from phones used by Trump and his running mate, Republican Senator JD Vance.

Separately, a person familiar with the investigation told VOA that people affiliated with the campaign of Vice President Harris were also targeted. 

Investigators are still trying to determine what data the hackers were able to get, if any, and whether the hackers could listen in on conversations in real time.  

The FBI declined to comment on the Trump and Harris campaign breaches.

In a statement shared with VOA, the Trump campaign acknowledged the breach and blamed Harris for letting it happen.

“This is the continuation of election interference by Kamala Harris and Democrats who will stop at nothing, including emboldening China and Iran attacking critical American infrastructure, to prevent President Trump from returning to the White House,” said Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign communications director.

“Their dangerous and violent rhetoric has given permission to those who wish to harm President Trump,” Cheung added.

The Trump campaign did not respond to questions asking for more details on how Harris or her campaign enabled the Chinese hack.

The Harris campaign has yet to respond to VOA’s request for comment.

U.S. intelligence agencies have warned for months that foreign adversaries have been using a combination of cyberattacks and influence operations to meddle with the November 5 U.S. presidential election.

According to a declassified intelligence assessment issued this week, “foreign actors — particularly Russia, Iran and China — remain intent on fanning divisive narratives to divide Americans and undermine Americans’ confidence in the U.S. democratic system consistent with what they perceive to be in their interests.”

It further warned that Russia and Iran were formulating plans to spark election-related violence.

In addition, reports issued this week by private cybersecurity firms likewise indicated a significant uptick in activity by actors linked to Russia, China and Iran.

All three nations have repeatedly denied accusations of election meddling.

And while U.S. intelligence officials assess there is little agreement among the three countries on the desired outcomes of the presidential election — Russia is said to want a Trump win, Iran is said to be rooting for Harris, and China sees both as equally bad — the Trump campaign has become a frequent target of attacks.

Last month, the U.S. Justice Department charged three Iranian hackers tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in connection with a hack-and-leak operation seeking to undermine Trump’s reelection bid.

U.S. intelligence officials have also accused Iran of trying to ensnare the campaign of current U.S. President Joe Biden before he stepped down in favor of Harris.

But U.S. security officials have been even more leery of China.

U.S. agencies, led by CISA and the FBI, have been warning that China-linked hackers have burrowed into U.S. computer systems and networks, in some case hiding for years.

The China-linked group, known as Volt Typhoon, has been “positioning itself to launch destructive cyberattacks that would jeopardize the physical safety of Americans,” according to an advisory issued in February.

“What we’ve found to date is likely the tip of the iceberg,” CISA Director Jen Easterly said in a statement at the time.
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Can either Trump or Harris end the wars?

Vice President Kamala Harris says she believes the U.S. should lead by building alliances to manage conflict. Former President Donald Trump says his projection of strength, and unpredictability, can stop wars before they begin. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara spoke to experts on which foreign policy approach would be better at reducing conflict, amid wars in the Middle East and Europe.
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Can a ‘Nebraska nice’ politician win over rural America?

Tim Walz was elected to two terms as governor of the Midwestern state of Minnesota before he became Kamala Harris’ pick for vice president. On the campaign trail, he speaks about his days in Nebraska and how they shaped the person he has become. VOA’s Natasha Mozgovaya reports.
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Republican candidate for VP credits his grandmother, Kentucky roots

U.S. Republican Vice Presidential Nominee JD Vance grew up in Appalachia, attended an Ivy League school, and could become one of the youngest vice presidents in U.S. history. Carolyn Presutti takes us back to his roots. Camera: Henry Hernandez, Saqib Ul Islam. Contributor: Lynn Davis.
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Handful of races across US to decide control of Senate

When U.S. voters head to the polls to choose a president on November 5, they will also be choosing who controls Congress. The winners will be key to the new president’s enactment of a legislative agenda. VOA Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson looks at key races around the country.
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