2022 Midterm Election news and updates as Democrats, Republicans vie for control of Congress
Live updates from the 2022 Midterm Election campaign trail as Republicans and Democrats begin the final weeks of campaigning before election day in November. Stay up-to-date the events and latest news surrounding the 2022 midterms from Fox News!
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J.R. Majewski is the Republican nominee running in Ohio's 13th Congressional District, against longtime representative Marcy Kaptur. (Majewski for Congress)
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is scrapping $1 million in scheduled TV ads for GOP congressional candidate J.R. Majewski after military records reportedly revealed he was never stationed in Afghanistan, despite claiming to have served there after the 9/11 terrorist attack.
Majewski, the candidate running against Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in Ohio's 9th Congressional District, has been called an Afghanistan veteran for his Air Force service, but military records obtained by the Associated Press reveal that he was never actually stationed there. Following the reports, the NRCC canceled their plans to run ads for Majewski just weeks before the midterm elections.
According to an Associated Press report, military records show that he was in Kadena Air Base in Japan and was later deployed to Qatar, where he spent six months loading and unloading planes at an air base.
Read more from Fox News' Aubrie Spady here.
On Thursday, Cook Political Report announced that it has moved the heated Arizona senate race between incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Trump-backed challenger Blake Masters from a ‘toss-up’ to ‘lean democrat.’
The new rating change is the third leftward shift in Arizona predictions from the Cook Report in the past two days. On Wednesday, the newsletter moved the Arizona’s First Congressional District race from ‘lean republican’ to a ‘toss-up’ and the race in Arizona’s Second Congressional District from ‘likely republican’ to ‘lean republican.’
Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters speaks at a 'Save America' rally hosted by former President Donald Trump in support of Arizona GOP candidates on July 22, 2022 in Prescott Valley, Arizona. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
A new poll released Thursday shows Arizona Republicans trailing their Democratic opponents in the state's key Senate and gubernatorial races less than 7 weeks before the November general election.
According to an AARP poll of likely Arizona voters, incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly leads Republican nominee Blake Masters 50%-42% in the race for the Senate, while Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs has a slight lead over Republican nominee Kari Lake 49%-48% in the gubernatorial race.
A bright spot for Republicans in the poll shows them leading a generic congressional ballot by just one point over Democrats, 48%-47%, while a small percentage of voters in each race remains undecided.
Read more from Fox News' Brandon Gillespie here.
Mehmet Oz, Republican Senate candidate for Pennsylvania, and Democratic nominee, current Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg | Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Voters in a rural Pennsylvania county were split when it came to the heated battle for U.S. Senate brewing in the state between Democratic nominee Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Republican nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz, a political newcomer.
Fox News Digital spoke to a number of residents in Indiana County, which overwhelmingly supported former President Donald Trump in 2020, ahead of a scheduled Fetterman rally there, and asked them who they preferred in the race, as well as what issues mattered most to them as they head to the polls this November.
Resident Stephen Smith felt Fetterman was a good fit to represent Pennsylvania regardless of the office he was seeking, and said that he could see himself voting for him "in just about any race." He admitted, however, that he would have preferred him to run for governor rather than the Senate.
Read more from Fox News' Brandon Gillespie here.
A new report revealed Thursday that interest in abortion has fallen in Google searches with Americans appearing to be more interested in information about crime and immigration.
According to the Axios midterms dashboard, Google searches and interactions involving crime and immigration stories have officially surpassed searches on abortion and even the FBI raid on former President Donald Trump.
Abortion was ranked a top issue among Democratic voters in August. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
Using a chart composed by weekly data from Google Trends and NewsWhip, the report found that abortion, which previously reached the number two spot of most-searched topics in the U.S. in June, fell to number 11 behind the border and immigration.
"With elections seven weeks away, some topics more likely to favor Democrats have been losing ground to those that may favor Republicans," Axios reported.
Despite several Democratic candidates focusing on abortion as a midterm election topic, the report explained that overall interest in abortion has waned since the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in June. However, search interests in abortion remained high in specific states such as Indiana after passing its recent abortion restrictions.
Although registered Democrats listed abortion as the top midterm election issue in August, Axios suggested that this recent trend on searches may paint a different picture for September.
Read more: Abortion ‘losing ground’ to issues that ‘favor Republicans’ in Google searches, Axios reports
A poll released Thursday indicates that a majority of Texas residents and more than 40% of Hispanic and Latino voters in the state support efforts from leaders in the state to bus illegal migrants to other areas of the country.
The poll also shows incumbent GOP Gov. Greg Abbott maintaining a lead with all voters over his Democratic challenger, Beto O'Rourke.
Migrants from Venezuela, who boarded a bus in Del Rio, Texas, disembark within view of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on August 2, 2022. (STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
The statewide poll from Spectrum News and Siena College — which surveyed 651 likely Texas voters — revealed that 41% of Hispanics in the state favor efforts by the state to transport illegal migrants to cities like New York and Chicago, while 44% of Hispanics oppose the process.
Overall, 52% of Texas voters said they favor the practice. Seventy percent of Democrats said they disagree with the bussing of migrants to other cities, compared to 16% of the party's voters who said they favor it. As for Republicans, 87% said they favor the process and 10% stated they disagree with it.
The results from the survey come after Abbott and other leaders in the state orchestrated efforts this year to send numerous buses loaded with illegal migrants from Texas to other parts of the country in spite of President Biden's handling of the crisis along the southern border. The move has sparked backlash among city leaders who have dealt with the incoming migrants, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Read more: Majority of Texans, 40 percent of Hispanics and Latinos support migrant bussing: poll
EXCLUSIVE: Pennsylvania Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro is stressing the need for safety in the commonwealth and insists abortion will play a factor in the state's upcoming midterm election.
Pennsylvania Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro said Wednesday that abortion is "on people's minds" ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Speaking to Fox News Digital in an interview on Wednesday, Shapiro, the current attorney general in Pennsylvania, outlined the motives behind his campaign and said that his travels throughout the state have taught him that voters are concerned about safety, the economy and their child's education.
"I travel all across Pennsylvania, rural, urban, suburban districts," Shapiro said. "I hear about folks wanting to make sure their kids get a good quality education, their communities are safe, that we can actually grow our economy and cut costs, and that we can protect our fundamental freedoms, whether it's the right to vote or the right to be able to make decisions over your own body."
In response to statistics from Pennsylvania’s Uniform Crime Reporting System that revealed murder and non-negligent homicide increased nearly 38% in Pennsylvania from 2017 to 2021, Shapiro said that if he is elected he will hire thousands of police officers to safeguard communities in the state because a lot of areas in the state "don't have adequate policing."
"First and foremost, the good people of Pennsylvania have a right to both be safe in their communities and also to feel safe in their communities," Shapiro said. "We have a number of ways we're going to do that. First, as governor, I am going to hire more than 2,000 police officers for the Commonwealth. We have too many areas that don't have adequate policing," he said.
Wisconsin Democratic Senate nominee Mandela Barnes received the endorsement of a climate group that promotes the Green New Deal and has taken aim at President Biden and members of the Democratic Party over their refusal to rapidly pass legislation that would be providing funding for the environment without GOP input.
Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes who is running to become the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate greets guests during a campaign event at The Wicked Hop on Aug. 07, 2022 in Milwaukee. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The Sunrise Movement, a youth climate organization with a self-described mission to "stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process," offered its endorsement of Barnes last week, concluding that he is a candidate who will "fight like hell" for Wisconsin residents.
"Each year it is more clear just how broken our political system is, and how much we need committed members of the community like Mandela Barnes leading the way to rebuild a system that works for all of us," the group said in its endorsement of Barnes. "As a community organizer, a proven climate advocate, and the son of a union family, Mandela knows the struggles that young and working people are facing, and will fight like hell for us."
"Meanwhile Senator Ron Johnson opposes same-sex marriage and aided the January 6th insurrection," the group added. "The stakes are too high to sit this out. We are calling on young people everywhere to fight for Mandela Barnes, a climate and anti-corruption leader."
Read more: Mandela Barnes endorsed by leftist environmental group that popularized Green New Deal
In a tweet Thursday, North Carolina Senate candidate Cheri Beasley claimed her GOP opponent Rep. Ted Budd is “an election denier, plain and simple,” referencing Budd’s questioning of the 2020 election and his support for January 6 rioters.
“Here’s a really simple question, will you accept the results of this election?” Beasley stated in a clip alongside the tweet, “When my opponent Ted Budd was asked this question, by many media outlets, he refused to give a straight answer,” claiming that he voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
Budd’s team appeared unfazed by the video and considered it a stunt to distract the public from issues that North Carolina voters truly care about.
“Cheri Beasley is a desperate politician who wants to talk about anything other than why she supported the Joe Biden policies that created the high inflation that is crushing family budgets across NC,” Samantha Cotten, communications director for Budd, told Fox News Digital, “NC voters aren’t talking about 2020 elections, they’re talking about how they are having to pay an extra $7800 this year to cover the costs of inflation caused by Biden/Beasley economic policies.”
Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, said he needs to "suck up" to Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., if he's going to be his "future boss" come November.
"Senator Schumer's here and I wanna make sure he's my future boss, so I gotta suck up a little bit here," Ryan said while speaking at the U.S. Legislative Conference in April.
Ryan, who currently represents the state's 13th Congressional District, is competing against Trump-backed GOP opponent J.D. Vance in the race for Ohio's open Senate.
Rep Val Demings (Reuters)
Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., will not take part in President Biden's speech at a Democratic National Committee rally in Florida next week, her campaign told Fox News.
"Chief Demings will be in Washington DC" at the time of the rally, scheduled for Sept. 27, Christian Slater, Demings Senate campaign communications director, told Fox News Digital.
Biden plans to travel to the rally in Orlando -- where Demings formerly served as chief of police.
The trip will be Biden's latest campaign stop ahead of the midterms. He previously held events in Maryland, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, among other states.
Republicans are currently ahead in the polls in Florida, with incumbent Republican Sen. Marco Rubio leading Demings in the Senate race and Gov. Ron DeSantis leading Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist in the gubernatorial race.
Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, after voting on primary day in New Hampshire, in Newfields, N.H. on Sept. 13, 2022 (Fox News)
With less than seven weeks to go until November’s midterm elections, a new public opinion poll in the key swing state of New Hampshire indicates former governor and first-term Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan has an upper single-digit lead over her Republican challenger, former Army Gen. Don Bolduc.
Bolduc, who’s making his second straight bid for the Senate and who last week narrowly won the GOP nomination in a crowded and combustible primary showdown, is challenging Hassan in a race that is one of a handful across the country that will likely determine if Republicans win back the chamber’s majority in November.
According to Granite State Poll released Thursday by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, Hassan stands at 49% support among likely voters, with Bolduc at 41%. Five percent questioned said they’d vote for Libertarian candidate Jeremy Kauffman and an equal amount were undecided. The poll was conducted Sept. 15-19, entirely after the Sept. 13 primary in New Hampshire.
For more on the results, click here read our entire Fox News story
Michael Bennet 'Women with Bennet' bag. (Shop Micheal Bennet Webstore)
Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., who is seeking re-election in the midterms this fall, would not provide a definition for the word "woman" while selling tote bags made for women on his campaign website store.
Bennet has an entire line of merchandise, including t-shirts, mugs and posters that he is selling in an effort to promote and fund his midterm campaign. Also available for purchase are tote bags specifically designed for his female supporters that read, "Women with Bennet."
Fox News Digital reached out to Bennet Tuesday, referencing these bags and raising the question of how he defines a woman, but Bennet did not respond.
Read more from Fox News' Aubrie Spady here.
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams and Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg | Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
A new poll released Thursday shows Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp with a slight lead over Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams in the state's gubernatorial race.
According to the Monmouth University poll of registered voters, 49% will either "definitely" or "probably" support Kemp, while 45% will either "definitely" or "probably" support Abrams.
Kemp also has the edge when it comes to the percentage of voters who say they will "definitely not" support each candidate, with just 37% saying they wouldn't support him while 46% said they wouldn't support Abrams.
The poll also showed that 54% of voters have a favorable view of Kemp compared to 42% unfavorable.
Abrams' favorability ratings were split, with 48% viewing her favorably and 48% unfavorably.
Fox News' Power Rankings has rated the race as "lean Republican."
The Senate GOP's campaign committee launched Thursday accuses Democratic Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes releasing dangerous criminals and making the streets less safe.
"Reducing prison populations is now sexy," said Barnes, who is running for Senate against Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, in the National Republican Senatorial Committee ad.
The statement was part of a 2018 forum where Barnes went on to say that a decade ago, politicians shunned the topic of reducing prison populations for fear of being seen as soft on crime.
The NRSC's 30-second spot says that under Barnes, the state has released 884 prisoners -- including more than 200 who were convicted of murder and 44 convicted of child rape.
The ad also shows a tweet of Barnes saying Wisconsin should "cut prison populations by half. It concludes with the narrator calling Barnes "just plain dangerous."
The NRSC says the high six-figure ad buy will put the spot on TVs for one week.
Kayleigh McEnany told Fox News Digital Democrats campaigning on abortion "is at their own peril."
Several top political analysts, including veteran strategist James Carville, back the Democratic Party's midterm focus on abortion, despite recent polls indicating independent voters are most concerned about inflation and the economy.
While abortion has salience with Democrats, it hasn't become the top issue for the majority of voters in most polls. To Carville, the longtime advisor to former President Bill Clinton, the GOP message on the economy simply isn't as clear as the Democrats' message on abortion.
"Americans don’t see a distinction between the Republican plan and the Democrat plan on inflation because there isn't one," Carville told Fox News Digital. "Republicans don't have a plan to reduce inflation that I know of. However, they do see a distinction between Republicans and Democrats on abortion and the distinction is the Republicans are trying to restrict abortion," said Carville, who is famously known for coining the phrase "it's the economy stupid" while working on Clinton's campaign in the 1990s.
Read more from Fox News' Aubrie Spady here.
Rep. Karen Bass speaks as developer Rick Caruso, not pictured, listens, during the Los Angeles mayoral debate at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
During Wednesday night's Los Angeles mayoral debate, Rep. Karen Bass insisted that guns stolen from her home in a burglary were properly kept, and accused opponent Rick Caruso of ‘desperation’ for asking about it.
The two weapons were reported to be the only items stolen in the home invasion earlier this month, prompting City Councilman Joe Buscaino to call on authorities with questions about the circumstances. During the debate, Caruso continued the questioning.
"We didn’t hear much about these guns, which I think the congresswoman should answer some questions about what kind of guns were they, how were they stored, was it in compliance with city law," Caruso said, adding that "the city has a very, very detailed law."
Bass said she was "disheartened" by Caruso's questioning and insisted everything was proper.
"My home was burglarized, I called the police, and later they arrested two suspects," she said. "And the storage and registration were 100% legal."
Read more: LA mayoral candidate Karen Bass insists gun storage, registration '100% legal' in debate
Pennsylvania GOP Senate nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz is taking further aim at his Democratic challenger over his refusal to participate in additional debates, claiming John Fetterman is "dodging debates" ahead of the election in a new ad.
Pennsylvania GOP Senate nominee Mehmet Oz and Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg | Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
"Why is radical John Fetterman dodging debates," the narrator questions in the ad. "Because he can't defend freeing convicted murderers even over Josh Shapiro's objection."
"And phony Fetterman backed massive middle class tax hikes, but didn't pay his own taxes 67 times."
Fetterman has agreed to an October 25 debate with Oz, but has declined to participate in other debates scheduled for earlier in the year.
"What a fraud," Oz said in the ad. "Fetterman dodges debates and taxes, but demands that you pay more. I'll cut your taxes and I won't take a penny of them, either."
An invitation to the 15th annual Kaufmann Family Harvest Dinner, which will be held next Thursday, Sept. 29, in Wilton, Iowa. (Kaufmann Family Harvest Dinner)
FIRST ON FOX: Former Vice President Mike Pence will head back to Iowa next week, as he’ll be the featured speaker at a prominent Republican family’s annual gathering.
Pence’s trip to Iowa will mark his second visit in a month to the state that for a half century has kicked off the presidential nominating calendar, another potential signal that the former vice president is moving towards launching a 2024 White House campaign.
Pence will headline the 15th annual Kaufmann Family Harvest Dinner, which will be held Thursday, Sept. 29, in Wilton, a small town in eastern Iowa. Word of his visit was shared first nationally with Fox News on Thursday.
The gathering was launched by longtime Republican Part of Iowa chairman Jeff Kaufmann during his years as a state lawmaker. The dinner is now hosted by his son, state Rep. Bobby Kaufmann. Money raised at the event — which will attract other Republican state legislative leaders and candidates — will go towards the younger Kaufmann’s 2022 re-election fund.
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