2022 Midterm Election updates while Democrats, GOP fight to win House of Representatives, Senate
Live updates from the 2022 Midterm Election campaign trail as Republicans and Democrats battle it out with just a weeks of campaigning left before election day in November. Stay up-to-date on events and latest news surrounding the 2022 midterms from Fox News!
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Three weeks from the midterm elections, Senate races in four states — Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Nevada — are becoming increasingly heated as Democrats defend their control of Congress from Republicans who are hammering them on a number of issues, including inflation, crime and immigration.
From left to right: Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz, Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Raphael Warnock, and Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg, Mark Makela, Elijah Nouvelage, Megan Varner via Getty Images)
Political insiders from both sides of the aisle provided Fox News Digital with their analysis on the four Senate races as residents in those states, both Republican and Democrat, attempt to determine who they believe will best serve their interests in Congress.
In those four states, Democratic candidates John Fetterman (Pennsylvania), Mandela Barnes (Wisconsin), incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock (Georgia), and incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada) will face off in the November 8 midterm elections against Republican candidates Mehmet Oz (Pennsylvania), incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson (Wisconsin), Herschel Walker (Georgia), and Adam Laxalt (Nevada).
From abortion to crime, prominent issues noted in the analysis from those who are closely monitoring the races revealed that both parties are eager to win the four seats in the Senate and see different opportunities to appeal to voters.
Read more: Three weeks out: Political insiders reveal what’s on the line in the top Senate races of the cycle
The issue of crime is topping inflation among Republicans, Democrats and independents in New York, and Republican Lee Zeldin has surged to within four points of his opponent, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday.
A Siena College poll released earlier Tuesday showed Zeldin having closed to within 11 points of Hochul.
In the Quinniqiac poll of 1,617 likely New York voters, crime topped the list of most pressing issues heading into Election Day among Republicans and independents. Democrats listed protecting democracy as their top issue, followed by crime, then inflation. The poll has a margin of error of 2.4 percentage points.
A small group of protesters disrupted a press conference being held by Republican Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker on Tuesday, with one allegedly referring to him as a "house n-----."
A number of witnesses at the event said they heard the racial slur, including a media photographer, a number of Walker campaign staff members and multiple bystanders.
"This is all a stunt. He's nothing but a house n-----," the protester, who identified himself as Maceo Fletcher, yelled at Walker following the press conference according to a photographer covering the event for Zuma Press who wished to remain anonymous.
Abortion rights activist rally at the Washington Monument before a march to the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, May 14, 2022. (Photo by JOSE LUIS MAGANA/AFP via Getty Images)
Democratic strategists and pollsters told Politico that any momentum they had has likely faded and that Democrats "peaked" too early as the midterm elections are just a few weeks away.
"I’m wishing the election were in August," Matt Bennett, a co-founder of the liberal group Third Way, told Politico. "I think we peaked a little early."
A progressive ad maker who worked on Bernie Sanders' 2016 campaign said it was clear Republicans had "seized the upper hand."
"I don’t think anyone is that bullish that Democrats will have a great night, but the question should be how bad it could have been," Democratic pollster Molly Murphy told Politico.
Read more from Fox News' Hanna Panreck here: Democratic strategists admit midterm momentum faded for their party: 'I'm wishing the election were in August'
Joe O’Dea was finishing up his bachelor’s degree. He only needed to complete a few more classes — not even a full-time semester’s worth.
A star student, O’Dea made dean’s list his first semester and was awarded a scholarship that paid for part of his education for the rest of his time studying construction management at Colorado State University.
Ultimately, he decided the final semester wasn’t worth the price.
"I dropped out because I didn't want to pay for another semester of tuition," O’Dea said. "I needed to get to work."
By then, he and his wife, Celeste, were married. Together, they started a construction company out of their basement.
Now, more than 30 years later, O’Dea has a realistic chance of unseating Michael Bennet, Colorado’s senior U.S. senator who’s served for 13 years. The Republican challenger trails in the polls, but is within striking distance. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich compared O’Dea to a truck driver who unseated New Jersey’s state Senate president last year.
Read more from Fox News' Ethan Barton: Colorado Senate nominee O'Dea dropped out of college to start working. Can he beat a 13-year incumbent?
Fox News Power Rankings
The Republicans are inching their way to victory in the House by making gains on the West Coast, even as pathways remain for the Democrats to stay in power. It is all about the lower chamber in this edition of the Fox News Power Rankings, as two highly competitive districts in California and Oregon move toward the GOP.
House: GOP expected to win a 15-seat majority, and "best case" scenario grows by 2 seats
The latest forecast shows Republicans winning 232 seats, or a 15-seat majority. Democrats would take the remaining 203 seats. That is a small shift in favor of the GOP since the previous forecast. Notably, if Republicans have a good night in November (in other words, if they win all the most competitive House races), the party would win 248 seats, or a 31-seat majority.
That is "red wave" territory. Democratic Party supporters are still in this fight though. The forecast sees pathways for the Democrats to retain a majority, with their "best case" scenario totaling 220 seats, or 2 more than they need to stay in power
Read more: Fox News Power Rankings: GOP looks west for decisive House majority
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