Race For President Tightens

Don’t look now, but the polls suddenly show a tighter presidential race than they have for weeks.

With less than two weeks to go before Election Day, new surveys show Democrat Hillary Clinton’s national polling edge narrowing and Republican Donald Trump performing more strongly in swing states like Florida and New Hampshire.

Trump still faces a steep uphill climb, and the Electoral College map is extremely challenging for him. But the movement in the poll numbers gives his campaign hope after perhaps the worst phase of his campaign.

Meanwhile, the unconventional GOP candidate spent Wednesday in an unconventional way, swinging through Washington, D.C. to cut the ribbon on the lavish new luxury hotel that bears his name.

It’s part of a pattern by Trump of mixing business and campaigning.

Trump was aware that the event might appear unseemly this close to the election and used his speech to weave in themes that have long been the hallmarks of his campaign.

He used the hotel launch to draw a parallel to his own presidential run, saying he would restore the nation in the same way he turned the Old Post Office building — formerly a decaying government building erected out of granite in 1899 — into a five-star hotel.

Clinton, meanwhile, made two appearances in Florida and hammered Trump over the opening, accusing him of using undocumented workers to build the hotel.

Check back at The Hill all night and into the morning as we cover all the breaking news around the frantic final 13 days before Election Days.

STILL WAITING: The Hill’s Julian Hattem reports: The State Department is months behind on a request that it explain how a former IT aide’s emails appeared to have disappeared, and Republicans are crying foul.

CHAMPAGNE ON ICE: The Hill’s Jessie Hellmann reports: Hillary Clinton will spend election night in Manhattan, according to an email her campaign sent to offices on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

OMINOUS: The Hill’s Mallory Shelbourne reports: House Republicans are preparing for “years” of investigations into the record of a possible future President Hillary Clinton, a top GOP official said this week.

RISING: The Hill’s Peter Schroeder reports: Elizabeth Warren’s near-constant presence on the campaign trail is solidifying her status as one of the Democratic Party’s most influential figures — and a force to be reckoned with in the Senate.

NARROWING: The Hill’s Harper Neidig reports: Hillary Clinton’s lead over Donald Trump in battleground New Hampshire has narrowed to just 4 points, according to a Monmouth University poll released Wednesday. And a poll of Florida shows the candidates only separated by 3 points.

MILLENNIALS: The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports: Hillary Clinton has a 28-point lead over Donald Trump among millennial voters — outpacing Barack Obama’s margin in 2012 — during the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign, a new poll says.

MEGYN KELLY VS. GINGRICH: The Hill’s Jessie Hellmann reports: Donald Trump praised Newt Gingrich on Wednesday following his contentious interview with Megyn Kelly, in which Gingrich accused the Fox News anchor of being “fascinated with sex.” Bill Clinton’s accusers piled on, slamming Kelly for the confrontation.

COOKING WITH FIRE: The Hill’s Mallory Shelbourne reports: Hours after Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump touted the opening of his new luxury hotel in Washington, D.C., a chef he sued for pulling out of a deal to put a restaurant there slammed him over his views of immigrants.

WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Radio host Howard Stern says there is nothing new or shocking about Donald Trump making lewd remarks about women.

— Donald Trump, complaining that Hillary Clinton gets a pass on time away from the campaign trail while he has to answer for opening a new hotel.

ON EDGE: The Hill’s Mike Lillis and Scott Wong report: Two weeks ahead of the Nov. 8 elections, a handful of hardened House Republicans find themselves in a rare position: They’re fighting for their political lives.

OPPORTUNITY: The Hill’s Sarah Ferris reports: A sharp jump in ObamaCare premiums has created a political opportunity for Republican candidates just two weeks before Election Day.

TAR HEEL MUDSLINGING: The Hill’s Jordain Carney reports: Democratic Senate candidate Deborah Ross is trading fire with Republicans over a 1990s sexual assault case and the state sex offender registry, as the race for a North Carolina seat heads into the final stretch.

SKIN IN THE GAME: The Hill’s Mallory Shellbourne reports: Donald Trump says he will spend more than $100 million on his presidential bid, despite reports that he’s spent barely half of that so far.

Donald Trump will hold a rally in Kinston, N.C. at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. He will rally voters in Ohio on Thursday, first in Springfield at 1 p.m., then in Toledo at 4 p.m. and finally in Geneva at 7 p.m.

Hillary Clinton will hold a rally with First Lady Michelle Obama at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. at 2 p.m. on Thursday.

Mike Pence will rally supporters in Colorado Springs, Colo., for an event at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. On Thursday, he’ll have a rally in Omaha, Neb., at 11:30 a.m., and in Fort Dodge, Iowa, at 2:30 p.m.

Tim Kaine will hold events in Cleveland at 12;30 p.m. and Columbus, Ohio, at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.) will square off in a Florida Senate debate at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Broward College in Davie.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Gov. Maggie Hassan will have a New Hampshire Senate debate at 8 p.m. on Thursday.

Chelsea Clinton will rally supporters at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C. at 12:15 p.m. on Thursday.

One of many expressions of sympathy over the death of Mike Pence’s 13-year-old dog.

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