2022 Midterm Election news and updates as Democrats, Republicans fight 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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California Gov. Gavin Newsom is traveling Saturday to Texas, where he will deliver a speech at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, Texas.
The speech, according to event agenda shared to the Tribune's website, will be about "what the nation’s most populous state can teach the other 49 -- including [Texas]."
alifornia Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at the Clinton Global Initiative, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Newsom is expected to easily obtain a second term as governor later this year and has started spreading his message in several GOP-led states ahead of the midterm elections.
With little pressure at home, Newsom has been looking elsewhere to spend some of the $23 million he has in his campaign account. So far, he has bought TV ads in Florida urging people to move to California, newspaper ads in Texas decrying the state’s lax gun laws, and billboards in seven conservative states — including Texas — urging women to come to California if they need an abortion.
Newsom’s actions come after he blamed his own political party for being too soft, urging them to stand up more firmly in light of recent conservative victories at the U.S. Supreme Court that overturned federal abortion protections and loosened restrictions on guns.
“Our donors are asking for more of that,” Newsom told reporters last week when asked if his attention on other states signaled he wasn’t taking his reelection campaign seriously. “The people in the state of California are asking for more leadership in this space.”
The Associated Press contributed to this update.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., outlined the GOP's "Commitment to America" plan in a speech on Friday. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
House Democrats facing tough re-elections in the upcoming midterm elections are refusing to say whether there are portions of the GOP's newly released "Commitment to America" package that they would support.
The agenda places focus on efforts that are routinely touted within the Republican Party, including policies to combat inflation and illegal immigration, but it also features initiatives that Democrats have largely championed over the last decade, including the safety and strengthening of Social Security and Medicare, as well as the "production of reliable, cleaner, American-made energy."
The outline of commitments, announced formally in a speech on Friday by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, represent how Republicans would govern should they retake the majority in the House or Senate in the November midterm elections. The general policy recommendations from the agenda are categorized into four broad categories titled "An Economy That's Strong," "A Nation That's Safe," "A Future That's Built on Freedom," and "A Government That's Accountable."
Read more from Fox News' Kyle Morris here.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi extended proxy voting in the House — which allows members to vote without being present in the chamber — due to the ongoing "public health emergency" of COVID-19.
Days after President Biden said that "the pandemic is over," Pelosi declared Friday that Congress is still keeping some public health measures in place, including one that allows members to be absent for floor votes.
The extension will run through Nov. 10, according to Pelosi's announcement, days after the midterm elections where Democrats are facing historical headwinds in trying to keep the majority.
During an interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" last weekend, a reporter asked Biden if the pandemic was over. "The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with COVID. We're still doing a lot of work on it," Biden responded.
Incumbent Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, left, and Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon, right. (Erin Kirkland/Bloomberg, Nic Antaya/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Incumbent Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer holds a significant lead over Tudor Dixon, her GOP challenger, in a new poll just over 6 weeks ahead of the upcoming gubernatorial election in Michigan.
Results from the poll, which surveyed 600 likely Michigan voters and was published by the Lansing-based research firm EPIC-MRA, shows Whitmer with a 16-point advantage over Dixon and revealed that a large amount of Michigan residents have a negative view on how President Biden has performed in the White House.
Asked who they would vote for if the gubernatorial race were held today, 39% of respondents said they would vote for Dixon or lean toward voting for Dixon, and 55% said they would vote for Whitmer or lean toward voting for her.
A total of 52% of those surveyed said they hold a favorable view of Whitmer, compared to 24% who said the same for Dixon. Sixteen percent of respondents stated they did not recognize Dixon's name during the survey.
Read more: Gretchen Whitmer leads Tudor Dixon by double digits in Michigan gubernatorial race: poll
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks about Republicans' "Commitment to America" agenda at DMI Companies in Monongahela, Pa., Friday, Sept. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)
Democrats are blasting the new "Commitment to America" agenda that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy rolled out this week, calling it a "political stunt," and accusing Republicans of trying to distract voters just weeks before the November midterm elections.
"Republicans are mistaken if they think their political stunt less than 7 weeks before the election will be enough to distract voters from their toxic record," Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) spokesperson Chris Taylor said in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital.
"While Democrats deliver critical investments, bring jobs back home from China, and fight to lower costs, Republicans stoke fear for power, obstruct popular legislation that will help everyday families, defend MAGA extremism, and push to ban abortion nationwide," he added.
The DCCC also took to social media to blast Republicans' agenda, tweeting "Kevin McCarthy's ‘Commitment to America’ at best –" above an image of a Ben and Jerry's ice cream container with the words "half baked" written on the side.
Read more from Fox News' Brandon Gillespie here.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during the National Education Association's annual meeting and representative assembly event in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, July 2, 2021. (Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
America's largest labor union where President Biden spoke Friday has donated almost exclusively to Democrats, including the president, showering the party with a lopsided portion of its total political contributions, according to campaign finance data.
According to Open Secrets, the National Educators Association (NEA), which represents public school teachers and staff and advocates for the education of America's children, has given more than 98% of its total political contributions for the current 2022 midterm elections cycle to Democratic congressional candidates, compared to less than 2% to Republicans.
The amounts given during the 2020 elections reflected a similar advantage towards Democratic congressional candidates, with nearly 95% of all the NEA's contributions going to the party, and just 2.5% going to Republicans.
Each of the amounts was made up of contributions from individuals associated with the NEA, as well as its associated political action committee (PAC).
Read more from Fox News' Brandon Gillespie here.
In a tweet Friday, Democratic Senate candidate Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., accused her GOP opponent Adam Laxalt of being “the proud face of the Big Lie in Nevada,” quoting a 2021 Nevada Current article.
“Adam Laxalt, the proud face of the ‘Big Lie’ in Nevada. Repeatedly pushing conspiracy theories without any real evidence,” a narrator stated in the ad, claiming Laxalt questioned the 2020 election results and supported Jan 6 protestors. “Now Laxalt says he’ll try to overturn this years’ election if he doesn’t like the results. Adam Laxalt, always looking out for himself.”
Laxalt’s team told Fox Digital that the tweet is just an attempt to distract voters from the real issues at stake in the midterms.
“Cortez Masto is talking about anything except the record gas prices and runaway inflation she caused by being a rubber stamp in the Senate for whatever terrible policy Joe Biden wants,” Brian Freimuth, press secretary for Laxalt, told Fox News Digital Friday. “She pushed conspiracy theories about Russia hacking the 2016 election, and she just took $80,000 from Clinton fixer Terry McAuliffe, who claims the 2000 and 2004 elections were stolen, said he saw voting machines switching votes, and voiced concerns the 2020 election could be rigged.”
“These false attacks are failing and Adam Laxalt is leading in the polls because Nevadans are seeing that Cortez Masto isn’t fighting for them, she’s only fighting for herself,” Freimuth said.
Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Tim Ryan is facing criticism over his ties to a teachers' union that created badges for public school employees in an Ohio school district to wear, which included a QR code linking to websites promoting information and graphic descriptions of sexual practices.
Earlier this week, local reports revealed that the National Education Association (NEA), the largest teachers' union in America, were providing educators in the Hilliard City Schools District with "LGBTQ+ Ally" badges. The badges, which feature a QR code linking to content many parents in the district consider explicit and unsuitable for young children, are supported by the NEA and the Hilliard Education Association (HEA), according to a photo obtained by Fox News Digital.
Tim Ryan, US Democrat Senate candidate for Ohio, during a campaign event in Cincinnati, Ohio, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022. (Megan Jelinger/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The badges read "Safe Person Safe Space" and the QR codes featured on one side of them leads inquiring minds to the "NEA LGBTQ+ Caucus" website that contains numerous links to sources like Sex, Etc., Gender Spectrum, Scarleteen, Teen Health Source, and The Trevor Project.
One of the linked resources from Teen Health Source, titled "Queering Sexual Education," includes a how-to guide with explicit language for sex practices including "anal sex," "bondage," "sexting," "rimming," "domination," "sadomasochism," "muffing," and "fisting."
Lisa Chaffee, a parent in the Hilliard City Schools District who also serves as director of Ohio Parents Rights in Education, insisted Ryan has "empowered" the NEA to insert the "toxic material" into the school district's classrooms.
"We are fighting tirelessly to get this toxic material out of our children’s classrooms, but the teachers’ unions we’re up against have been unrelenting in their efforts to indoctrinate our kids," Chaffee said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. "At the end of the day, it’s the Democrat politicians like Tim Ryan who empower these teachers’ unions."
Oz and Fetterman (Getty)
Heart surgeon, celebrity physician and GOP Senate candidate in Pennsylvania Mehmet Oz released a letter from a doctor Friday, describing the Republican as in "excellent health" as Democratic opponent John Fetterman continues recovering from a near-fatal stroke.
In a letter to the Associated Press, Dr. Rebecca Kurth of New York City said that she found Oz to be in “excellent health” during a checkup.
Kurth's letter said Oz had a “borderline elevated” cholesterol level, but had normal heart function according to an electrocardiogram, and no medication was needed.
“Your examination is healthy, and the blood tests are favorable,” wrote Kurth.
In a statement, Oz said that “voters should have full transparency when it comes to the health status of candidates running for office.”
Oz has criticized Fetterman, the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, for not being open about his health following stroke he suffered in May, days before the Democratic primary which he easily won.
Fetterman was mostly absent from the campaign trail over the summer, but returned to holding rallies and giving short speeches in the past months.
Fetterman backed out of debates that were tentatively scheduled for the first week of September, citing his continued recovery from the stroke and an underlying heart issue.
The Democratic Senate candidate in Wisconsin, Mandela Barnes, has taken multiple hits from his GOP opponent on crime, policing and prison reform policies, and is fighting back in a new ad.
In Barnes' latest ad, a retired police officer from Racine, Wisconsin, champions Barnes as a pro-police politician.
"I worked on the force for 30years. I've seen many politicians, but Mandela, he's the real deal," says the retired police officer, identified as Rick.
"Mandela doesn't want to defund the police, he's very supportive of law enforcement and I know his objective is to make every community in the state of Wisconsin better," Rick says.
"I trust him to get the resources we need to keep people safe and reduce crime in the first place. As a retired cop, I want someone like Mandela. Mandela is the right guy for the job."
Incumbent Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, who faces Barnes in the Nov. 8 general election,. has launched multiple attacks against Barnes, accusing him of making the state less safe during his time as lieutenant governor with soft-on-crime policies.
An ad this week from the National Republican Senatorial Committee used clips of Barnes from several years ago where he said reducing prison populations was a "sexy" movement.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, who is seeking re-election this fall, attempted to backtrack on her recent campaign ad where she said she does not support men participating in women's sports.
"Of course men should not compete in girls' sports," Kelly said in her most recent advertisement, after vetoing the "Fairness in Women's Sports Act" twice, a legislation that would have banned transgender students from being allowed to participate in women's sport.
Following the release of her new ad, Kelly sought to clarify her position, telling the Kansas City Star that her ad was referring to males over the age of 18 in girls sports. She said the issue should be handled on a case by case basis.
“We already have a structure in place, the NCAA has a structure in place to deal with issues like this on a one by one basis and I don’t think there’s any other way that you can really deal with this,” Kelly told The Star responding to the ad.
Derek Schmidt, Kelly's GOP midterm opponent, bashed her new ad and rhetoric shift after shutting down the law she now claims to support would have prevented men would participate in women's sports. "She’s being dishonest about her position," Schmidt shared to Twitter, also noting that he has been "clear from day one - I will sign it into law because our female athletes deserve better."
Kelly has not only received backlash on the ad from her GOP opponent and Republican organizations, but also from LGBTQ+ groups and individuals who considered her phrasing in the ad to be hurtful to trans people.
Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., participates in the press conference following the House GOP leadership elections in the Longworth House Office Building on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, on Friday stressed the importance that Republicans' "Commitment to America" agenda would have on the party's chances of winning a majority in the House of Representatives in the November midterm elections.
Speaking with Fox News Digital, Emmer said the planned agenda was "crucial" to House Republicans' hopes of winning control of Congress, and that it set the party apart from Democrats' failures as the majority party over the last few years.
"The Commitment to America is a crucial piece of our electoral strategy. These policies equip our candidates with a positive value proposition and provide a stark contrast to Democrats’ failed one-party rule," Emmer said.
Read more from Fox News' Brandon Gillespie here.
Republican Senate nominee JD Vance speaks at a campaign rally in Youngstown, Ohio., Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar)
After a summer where he was out raised and outspent, Republican Senate nominee JD Vance of Ohio says he's in a "good spot" with less than seven weeks to go until November's midterm election.
"We're going to win the race," the first-time candidate, former hedge fund executive and best-selling author predicted in a Fox News interview, as he faces off against longtime Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan in the battle to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Rob Portman. The race in the Buckeye State is one of a handful across the country that will likely determine if Republicans win back the Senate majority.
After winning a crowded and combustible Republican Senate primary in May, thanks in part to the endorsement and on-the-ground support from former President Donald Trump — who remains the most popular and influential politician in the GOP — Vance faced a summer of negative headlines and complaints from many Republicans over the state of his general election campaign.
"I don't think we ever lost the momentum," Vance argued when asked about the criticism. "I've heard these stories. I don't think they ever had much to them."
Some of former President Trump’s leading political advisers are launching a new Super PAC known as MAGA Inc. that is expected to spend heavily over the next six weeks to support Trump-endorsed candidates running in November’s midterm elections.
Nearly two years after his 2020 election defeat, the former president remains the most ferocious fundraiser in the GOP, as he hauls in both grassroots and top dollar contributions, and his Save America political action committee is sitting on nearly $100 million cash on hand in its coffers.
However, Trump has transferred little of his fundraising to fellow Republicans running in the midterm elections or to committees or outside groups backing GOP candidates. That has led to grumbling from some Republicans that Trump is hoarding his money at the expense of the party and its candidates that are underfunded in the midterms.
Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich, a veteran of the Trump 2020 campaign, will oversee the new committee. The news was first reported Friday morning by Politico and confirmed by Fox News.
"President Trump is committed to saving America, and Make America Great Again, Inc. will ensure that is achieved at the ballot box in November and beyond," Budowich said in statement.
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