Despite hopes for a blue wave, Democratic candidates in Minnesota, Maine and Michigan are facing local political headwinds and have struggled to open up clear daylight in the polls.

© Jenn Ackerman for The New York Times; Nick Hagen for The New York Times; Ryan David Brown for The New York Times

After years of investigation, the Justice Department appears to be intensifying a criminal inquiry into the immigration history of Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, and her family.

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