2022 Midterm elections: Democrats and Republicans make final pitch to voters before November 8

NY Gov. Kathy Hochul (Getty Images)

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said there's a crime problem in her state as she faces a tough re-election fight against Republican candidate Lee Zeldin.

"I acknowledge there is a crime issue. It’s not new to me because it’s election time, I’ve been working on this throughout my entire time as governor," Hochul said Wednesday on on NY1 "Mornings On 1."

But she said the Republicans are "master manipulators" on the issue.

"They have this conspiracy going all across America trying to convince people that in Democratic states that they’re not as safe," she said. "Well guess what? They’re also not only election deniers, they’re data deniers."

Hochul went on to say that crime has decreased since she became governor in 2021.

Republican Senate candidate Leora Levy went after Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal over inflation Wednesday during a Connecticut Senate debate.

"This inflation was deliberately inflicted on us by the Biden policies, voted for by my opponent, the trillions of dollars of spending which Larry Summers, a Democrat economist warned would cause record high inflation," Levy said of Blumenthal's support for spending bills. "And that's what we're facing. First thing I would do is to stop the spending."

"I know from my visits around the state how crushing the higher cost of living has been for so many families," Blumenthal responded, defending his record on COVID-19 pandemic spending as bipartisan.

He said Congress needs to take "stronger action" on inflation.

"The government came to the rescue of our small businesses, and I'm proud that we stepped up," Blumenthal said.

The WFSB Channel 3/CT Insider debate was the only one scheduled between the two candidates.

Vulnerable House and Senate Democrats refuse to say whether they support gender reassignment surgery for minors and if the controversial procedure should be allowed without parental consent, despite recent concerns over the issue.

Gender reassignment surgeries for minors have become a hot-button political issue, though vulnerable Democrats have noticeably stayed on the sidelines of the conversation at a time when inflation, crime and border security continue to rank at the top of voters' concerns going into the upcoming midterm elections.

Fox News Digital reached out to several vulnerable House and Senate Democrats, asking if they would support access to gender reassignment surgeries for minors, as well as whether they support surgery without parental consent. None of the Democrats responded.

Facing the possibility of losing their majority in Congress, Democrats have urged their caucus to focus on bread and butter issues, like the economy and Social Security. 

Read more form Fox News' Sophia Slacik and Aubrie Spady here.

A group of anti-abortion protesters crashes the Women's March Action Rally for Reproductive Rights. (David McNew)

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, giving the states the authority to place restrictions on abortion, Democrats went all in on the issue and made it a focal point of midterm messaging, despite other pressing voter concerns.

Under President Biden's leadership, inflation hit a 40-year-high, rising to 8.2% in September, and American families have personally felt the pains of rising gas prices, groceries and struggling to make everyday payments as a result of the current economic climate. 

Well over 2 million migrants have illegally crossed into the U.S. through the southern border this fiscal year, not including an additional 600,000 gotaways. Additionally, crime spiked across the U.S. in the first six months of 2022, with cities specifically seeing an increase in aggravated assault and robberies, according to a recent report from the Major Cities Chiefs Association.

Despite these issues being detrimental to a majority of voters, Democrats spent $320 million campaigning on abortion this election cycle, while neglecting other pressing issues that are of top importance to voters. 

Read more from Fox News' Aubrie Spady here.

U.S. Capitol (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

As Election Day nears and the nation prepares to head to the polls, it's still unclear which party has the best chance to win control of the Senate. But four volatile races in different regions of the country will likely determine the balance of power between Democrats and Republicans.

The Senate races in Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and Pennsylvania are ground zero in the battle for Congress' upper chamber, with polling averages showing no clear advantage for either Republicans or Democrats, and the candidates in each race are clamoring to be the win that brings their respective party over the 50-seat threshold for a majority.

In Georgia, Republican Herschel Walker leads incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock by 1.6%, according to the Real Clear Politics (RCP) average of polls taken in recent weeks, well within the margin of error.

As in many races with a Democratic incumbent in a year predicted to be favorable for Republicans, Walker trailed Warnock by a larger percentage earlier in the summer but has since closed that gap despite attempts by Democrats to paint him as extreme and not a serious candidate.

Read the full story here.

Mandela Barnes (Getty)

The Wisconsin Senate race is essentially a toss-up, with Republican Sen. Ron Johnson edging Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes within the margin of error in a Marquette University Law School poll.

Approximately 50% of likely voters said they support Johnson in the race, compared to 48% for Barnes, according to the Marquette poll of 679 likely voters. The margin of error for the poll's likely voters sample is plus or minus 4.8 percentage points.

Marquette Law School defines "likely voters" as those "who say they are certain to vote or who say they have already voted."