Welcome to The Hill's Campaign newsletter{beacon} Campaign Report Campaign Report   The Big Story  How the GOP learned to stop worrying and love the early voteToday is “Vote Early Day,” and with one week until Election Day, more than 50 million ballots have been cast across 47 states and D.C. © AP Republicans, led by former President Trump, were once opposed to early voting, but the stats show they are now embracing it and cutting deep into what was once a key to Democratic wins across the country.   “The thing to appreciate about early voting is it has been a Democratic stronghold going back all the way to 2008,” said John Couvillon, a nonpartisan pollster out of Republican-led Louisiana where early voting has been embraced. "Democrats learned how to take advantage of it."   "Democrats have been dominating in early voting forever,” he added.  But now that’s shifting.   The University of Florida's early vote tracker shows that 39.5 percent of the early voters are registered Democrats, while 36.1 percent are Republicans, and 24.4 percent are independents.  Couvillon noted that Republicans have been hesitant to embrace the practice in the past, which pumped up their Election Day numbers as compared to what people would see from early voting figures.  Early votes in most states may show the party affiliation of a voter but not how they voted, so it’s not a reliable indicator of election outcomes, experts stress.   But early voting has its benefits on both sides, and especially because it helps campaigns: Bank a vote early and spend your resources on courting undecided voters closer to Election Day.   The early voting numbers have already exceeded those from 2016. In general, 2020 is considered an outlier because of accommodation efforts made during the COVID-19 pandemic to social distance and keep vulnerable populations out of contact with the general public.   Anyone who has listened to Trump for the past decade knows that the former president has opposed any voting opportunities outside of in-person Election Day ballots. But Trump, who says he has taken part in early voting himself, has softened his views as stats show that Republicans are turning out in droves.     "It used to be one day – now it's, you know, two months," Trump said during a June event, but he later called on his supporters to embrace the idea of early voting. "Do it early. Do it. Just do it. You've got to vote. And watch your vote, guard your vote, and follow your vote."  Hans Noel, a political science professor at Georgetown University, surmised that early voting helps people prepare for the unexpected — they don’t have to worry about not making it to their election precinct on Election Day if something happens.  "It's not surprising to me at all that more people are embracing it,” he said. "We've seen it across the board: The numbers of people early voting have increased rapidly in red states, blue states, rural areas and urban areas."  "The demand is there, and people are going to be eager to embrace it,” he added.   But he noted that Democrats are lagging in early voting, which is a rare phenomenon.   "I see that as a sign of lagging enthusiasm,” he said. "I think the Republicans realized out of necessity that they had to take this seriously."   Early voting hasn't met the record highs of four years ago, when the COVID-19 pandemic raged and encouraged alternatives. But it’s quickly catching up to the 2016 election figures, which pundits say is a more appropriate comparison.   The Hill/Decision Desk HQ polling tracker shows the razor-thin race for the White House statistically tied nationally with Vice President Harris at 48.6 percent to Trump’s 47.8 percent. The two have been jockeying for support in key swing states as they try to map out a path to the 270 electoral votes needed to win.     Trump is a slight favorite based on current forecasts, but the race remains a toss-up as polling in swing states Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin remains within the margins of error, according to DDHQ polling analysts.  Bryce Bennett, executive director of the nonpartisan Vote Early Day advocacy group said he's not surprised by the trend toward early voting acceptance.  "We're seeing more and more people embrace early voting," he said. "I think that everybody is discovering that early voting is going to be a benefit to our democracy in general."    "The demand is there, and people are going to be eager to embrace it," he added of the growth among some of the officials who have been hesitant in the past.    Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, I'm Liz Crisp. Each week we track the key stories you need to know to stay ahead of the 2024 election and who will set the agenda in Washington.   Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.   Essential Reads  Key election stories and other recent campaign coverage:  Early, mail-in votes raise questions about possible election resultsThe first votes of the 2024 presidential election are rolling in, raising questions about what can be gleaned from the data in forecasting the possible outcome of the race.  Almost all states and Washington, D.C., have begun some mail-in or early in-person voting and releasing information on the number of ballots returned, the first actual data from the race itself. The states release how many ballots they have received, …  Full Story  Biden offers cryptic comment about taking Tony Hinchcliffe ‘for a swim’President Biden on Tuesday offered a cryptic comment seemingly referring to a comedian’s recent racist comments about Puerto Rico at a Trump rally over the weekend. “For years I’ve been saying it’s not enough just to rebuild America, we have to build it back better and stronger than before,” Biden said in Baltimore, where he promoted efforts by his administration to lower inflation, fight against climate change effects and …  Full Story  Early voting tops 50M More than 51 million voters have already cast their ballots, according to a tracker from the University of Florida, with just a week to go until Election Day.  More than 24 million mail ballots have been returned, and nearly 27 million early votes have been cast in person as of around 4 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, the UF Election Lab’s data showed. The latest totals are nearly a third of the 2020 vote count, when more than …  Full Story   The Countdown Upcoming news themes and events we're watching:One week until the 2024 general election83 days until the 2025 Inauguration  On Our Watch Harris and Trump make final pitches © AP Photo/Carlos Osorio/Mike Stewart Vice President Harris is scheduled to address thousands of supporters at the Ellipse between the White House and the National Mall. It's also the site where former President Trump gave his infamous Jan. 6, 2021, speech that led to his supporters storming the Capitol to stop the certification of the 2020 election outcome.  Harris's location for her campaign closer address wasn't a coincidence.   The Hill reports: “Harris’s speech a week before Election Day is expected to be a further plea to voters to turn the page on Trump and highlight his role in the events of that day.”  Here are five things to know ahead of the address, which you can watch via The Hill.  Meanwhile, Trump is stumping in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania with an event in Allentown.    In Other News Branch out with a different read from The Hill: Trump urges voters to oust Republican who voted to impeach him Former President Trump on Tuesday urged voters to oust Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach the former president after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump cited Newhouse’s impeachment vote as reason to vote against him, saying, his challenger, Republican Jerrod Sessler, “is running against a Weak and Pathetic RINO named Newhouse, who … Full Story   Jennifer Lopez to give star-studded boost to Harris campaign rally in Las VegasJennifer Lopez is getting loud for Vice President Harris’s White House bid, appearing at a campaign rally in battleground state Nevada this week. The singer and “Unstoppable” star will speak at the Las Vegas “When We Vote We Win” event on Thursday, the Harris campaign announced Tuesday. Mexican music group Maná will also perform. The 55-year-old singer is expected to deliver remarks focused on … Full Story   Around the Nation Local and state headlines regarding campaigns and elections: Campaign ads in this new majority-Black district in Georgia are being called racist (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)  2022 election-sign stealing incident was an indicator for violence, Phoenix police told (Arizona Republic)  Some Pennsylvania evangelicals, motivated by Christian teachings, voice support for Harris (The Patriot-News)   Inside the Fight for Voters in the Battleground City of a Battleground State (Wall Street Journal)   What We're Reading Election news we've flagged from other outlets:Why This Woman Took a Harris-Walz Sign to Trump’s MSG Rally (The Daily Beast)  Parenthood — and the choice to be childfree — is at stake this election. 3 Americans explain how it's impacting their vote. (Business Insider) Trump identifies a scapegoat in case he loses (Axios) Democrats launch ads in nail salons, malls in final swing-state sprint (CNBC)  The Improbable Rise of J. D. Vance (The New Yorker)   Elsewhere Today Key stories on The Hill right now: Live updates: Harris to pledge ‘common ground’ in Ellipse speech; Trump stumps in Pennsylvania Vice President Harris is delivering a closing argument to voters in Washington D.C. while former President Trump is minimizing damage from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s Puerto Rico remarks, and his campaign is seeking to distance him from the comment. Read more The Memo: Trump campaign struggles to contain Puerto Rico October surprise The Trump campaign is struggling to contain an October surprise of its own making, just one week from Election Day. A racist remark by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, one of many warm-up speakers for former President Trump at a Sunday rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden, is reverberating hard. Vice President Harris and other Democrats … Read more  What People Think Opinions related to campaigns and elections submitted to The Hill: I worked for Kamala Harris. Here’s what I learned about her. How Donald Trump ruined his prom queen moment at Madison Square GardenRaising the minimum wage is the key to the White House for Kamala Harris    You're all caught up. See you next time! Check out The Hill's Campaign page for the latest coverage. Like this newsletter? Take a moment to view our other topical products here 📩 Close Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the Campaign and Election News newsletter Subscribe