Iowa Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne was not physically present at the nation's Capitol last month for a vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, but voted by proxy as she vacationed with her family in Europe.
At the time of the vote, which took place on Aug. 12, Axne, who currently represents Iowa's Third Congressional District, was allegedly in France, according to an image shared to Instagram by her son. The photo was apparently removed from Instagram after Fox News Digital inquired about the trip.
The photograph, shared to Instagram Aug. 11 from her son's account, was captioned "France Pt. 1" and shows Axne standing alongside her husband and son.
Read more from Fox News' Kyle Morris here.
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.
For more, read our entire Fox News report here
A Quinnipiac University poll surveying registered voters in Connecticut found that inflation is the most important issue to 32% of voters in the state, with taxes being of top concern to 20% of respondents.
Among likely Democratic voters, 20% view inflation as the most concerning issue currently facing Connecticut, while 14% think it is climate change, and only 12% abortion.
According to the poll, 48% of Republicans and 33% of Independents in Connecticut view inflation as the issue of top concern. Taxes ranked as the second most important issue to both the likely GOP and Independent voters.
The poll found that voters in the state are split 48% to 48% in approval for President Joe Biden.
Democratic incumbent Gov. Ned Lamont is leading the gubernatorial race in the Constitution State, with 57% support over GOP opponent Bob Stefanowski who received 40% support.
Democrats are also leading in the state's Senate race, with 57% of respondents choosing incumbent Sen. Richard Blumenthal as their midterm pick and 40% hoping to see Republican Leora Levy take his seat this fall.
The survey was conducted from September 15-19, 2022 with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
{{#rendered}}A Trump-endorsed congressional candidate in Ohio has been called an Afghanistan veteran for his Air Force service, but military record obtained by the Associated Press show that he was never stationed there.
J.R. Majewski, who is running against longtime Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, served in Qatar for six months, but never was stationed in Afghanistan, the AP reports.
A House Republican campaign committee recently touted that Majewski's "squadron was one of the first on the ground in Afghanistan after 9/11," and he has mentioned serving in Afghanistan, the AP reports.
"I don't like talking about my military experience," Majewski said in a 2021 interview on the One American Podcast, after stating that he did a tour of duty in Afghanistan. "It was a tough time in life. You know, the military wasn't easy."
Majewski's military records, obtained by the AP through a public records request, show that he was Kadena Air Base in Japan for much of his service, and deployed to Qatar for six months in May 2002, loading and unloading planes and working as a "passenger operations specialist."
"I am proud to have served my country," Majewski said in a statement to the AP. "My accomplishments and record are under attack, meanwhile, career politician Marcy Kaptur has a forty-year record of failure for my Toledo community, which is why I'm running for Congress."
Democratic Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly launched a TV ad Wednesday where she says "of course" men should not play women's sports -- but her Republican opponent and the GOP say her record in office tells a different story.
"You may have seen my opponents' attacks, so let me just say it: of course men should not play girls sports. Ok, we all agree there," Kelly says in the ad, before saying the GOP nominee in the race, Derek Schmidt, has pushed for cutting funding for public schools.
Schmidt, however, pointed out that Kelly twice vetoed bills from the state legislature that would have prohibited biological males from participating in women's sports teams at schools as transgender athletes.
"She's been with Biden on this for years, now at reelection time she lies," Schmidt said in a tweet. "Kansans know it, and will vote her out."
The Republican Governors Association put together clips of Kelly stating that the legislation banning biological men from women's sports was "regressive."
Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman failed to preside over 33% of the state's Senate legislative sessions as lieutenant governor, but holds a perfect attendance record as chairman of the state's Board of Pardons.
Since taking office in 2019, Fetterman has presided over the state Senate 131 days out of the 196 days the legislature was in session from Jan. 15, 2019, to July 8, 2022, according to a review of Senate session journals and video feeds. State Senate journals are currently unavailable for April 13 to July 8, 2022, but the Senate Republican Policy Development & Research Office reviewed video recordings of the sessions showing Fetterman's absences.
Some of Fetterman's absences from his duties as lieutenant governor came during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, when he showed up for only 50% of the sessions. In 2021, he missed nearly 30% of the meetings, and in 2022 has only attended 44%.
In May, Fetterman suffered from a stroke and had to undergo surgery to have a pacemaker implanted, which may account for many absences this year.
During his tenure as lieutenant governor, Fetterman has not had to use his constitutional prerogative to cast a tie-breaking vote in the state Senate.
Joe Calvello, a spokesman for Fetterman's campaign, told Fox News Digital that the Senate nominee "takes his constitutional duty serving as president of the Pennsylvania Senate incredibly seriously" and that he is "proud of his record as mayor of Braddock," insisting that his absence from Senate sessions in the spring of 2020 were out of his control due to efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19.
{{#rendered}}A new Marist poll released Wednesday shows a dead heat between Republican nominee J.D. Vance and Rep. Tim Ryan, the Democratic nominee, in this year's closely watched Ohio Senate race.
According to the poll of registered voters, Vance holds a slight lead with 46% to Ryan's 45% while 9% of voters remain undecided less than 7 weeks before election day.
The margins stayed the same when respondents were asked if they would definitely vote in the November general election, with Vance still holding a lead at 48% to Ryan's 47%, and just 5% remaining undecided.
Ryan holds an advantage over Vance when it comes to independent registered voters with 42% support to Vance's 40%, however, support by gender was split between the two, with 53% of male registered voters favoring Vance and 50% of female registered voters favoring Ryan.
Read more from Fox News' Brandon Gillespie here.
Republican Senate nominee J.D. Vance and incumbent Republican Gov. Mike DeWine have declined to participate in any debates sponsored by the Ohio Debate Commission (ODC).
Both candidates informed the commission on Tuesday that they would not be participating.
The news comes amid questions over the ODC's ability to be "nonpartisan," considering a Fox News Digital investigation found its executive director, Jill Miller Zimon, was a Democratic activist and frequent Republican critic.
“We’re obviously disappointed," ODC Board President Dan Moulthrop said in a . "(T)his election year has been plagued with candidates from both parties who prize their campaign consultants' input over voters' information needs. When 84% of Ohioans are saying they want debates and campaigns refuse a good faith offer from a statewide organization, democracy is paying the price."
The ODC has said it will not hold events with just one candidate participating.
Fox News' Power Rankings has rated the Ohio Senate race as "lean Republican," and the gubernatorial race as "likely Republican."
A new public opinion poll in the crucial general election battleground state of Georgia indicates that Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock is viewed more favorably by registered voters than his Republican challenger Herschel Walker.
But the survey from Monmouth University, which was released on Wednesday, suggests that poor opinions of the Democratic Party in the Peach State are keeping the race between Warnock and Walker close.
The Senate election in Georgia is one of a handful across the country that will likely determine if the GOP wins back the Senate majority in November’s midterms.
Read more from Fox News' Paul Steinhauser here.
{{#rendered}}Threats to democracy rose as the top midterm concern for Democratic voters in Wisconsin, a new poll in the state shows.
A Spectrum News/Sienna College poll of likely Wisconsin voters found that when deciding which candidate to vote for this fall, threats to the democracy was the first or second choice to 40% of likely Democratic voters in the state, and 30% listed it as their top issue.
The topic has shown up in several recent polls, after President Biden said that "MAGA Republicans" are "threats to the democracy."
Read more from Fox News' Aubrie Spady here.
The Cook Report updated its midterm election House ratings, changing the game for several midterm candidates less than seven weeks until Nov. 8.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas., was given the upper hand in his race against Republican opponent Cassy Garcia in Texas’ 28th Congressional District, after the rating was adjusted from a “toss-up” to “lean Democrat."
Rep. Schweikert, R-Ariz., lost some momentum in his battle to keep Arizona’s 1st Congressional District red this fall, after his race shifted from “lean Republican” to a “toss-up.”
Democrat Rep. Tom O’Halleran, D-Ariz., remains in a vulnerable position in the race against GOP nominee Eli Crane in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District, but gained some traction after his race changed from “likely Republican to “lean Republican.”
A new USA Today/Suffolk University poll found that in Florida’s gubernatorial race, Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., is the midterm pick for 48% of respondents, giving him a lead over his Democratic opponent Charlie Crist who received 41% support.
Republicans are also ahead in Florida’s Senate race according to the poll, with Sen. Marco Rubio leading over his Democratic opponent Rep. Val Demings, 45% to 41%.According to the poll, inflation and the economy are the most important issues to 33% of registered Florida voters, ranking over threats to the democracy (12%) and abortion (11%).
Among likely Democratic voters, abortion was the most important to 21% of voters, followed by threats to the democracy, which was of top concern to 18%. Inflation and the economy were the most concerning issues to 51% of likely Republican and 36% of likely Independent voters.
President Biden received a job approval rating of 42% and a disapproval rating of 56% among likely voters in the Sunshine State.
The USA Today/Suffolk University poll was conducted Sept. 15-18, 2022 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
{{#rendered}}Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., has received a key endorsement from the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association (MPPOA) in her bid for re-election in Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District.
The MPPOA's endorsement of the embattled Democrat is a sharp turn from the 2020 election cycle when the organization endorsed her Republican opponent, Tyler Kistner, who she is once again facing in the general election this year.
“Rep. Craig has supported and helped pass many pieces of bipartisan legislation to support law enforcement agencies, police officers, and their families,” MPPOA Executive Director Brian Peters said in a statement. “She has worked to support law enforcement, and we are proud to support her re-election to the U.S. Congress.”
In her own statement, Craig touted her relationship with law enforcement and stressed the importance of public safety in her district.
“My most important job as an elected official is to ensure public safety, and that is a responsibility I take very seriously. I am grateful for the strong relationships I have built with law enforcement officers across the Second District during my time in Congress, and I am committed to doing everything I can to promote public safety in Minnesota,” she said.
“I am honored to have earned the endorsement of the MPPOA, and I will continue to work with the men and women in uniform who do critical work to keep our communities safe," she added.
Fox News' Power Rankings has rated the race between Craig and Kistner as a "tossup."
Republican nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz's latest ad goes after Democratic opponent John Fetterman for avoiding debates in the heated Pennsylvania Senate race.
After a narrator states that Fetterman is "dodging debates" because "he can't defend freeing convicted murderers," the Oz ad shows Fetterman saying he missed some tax deadlines because they "fell through the cracks."
"What a fraud," Oz says to close out 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," he says.
Absent from Oz's ad is any mention of Fetterman's recovery from a May stroke, which the Democrat's campaign has said is the reason for not agreeing to a debate in early September.
Oz has attacked Fetterman for either misleading voters about his health, or being afraid to defend his policy positions on the debate stage.
The pair have agreed to take part in one debate, scheduled for Oct. 25, two weeks before election day on Nov. 8.
Georgia's Senate and gubernatorial midterm races are tightening, as a new poll found the majority of voters in the state hope to see Republicans pick up control of Congress in November.
A new Atlanta Journal Constitution poll found that if the election were today, 51% of registered Georgian voters would like to see Republicans in control of Congress, giving them a strong eight-point edge over the 43% who would hope Democrats hold onto their majority this fall.
With less than 50 days until the midterms, Democrats appear to be facing a tough election in Georgia, after President Joe Biden received a job approval rating of 37% among voters in the Peach State, with a total disapproval rating of 58%.
{{#rendered}}Adam Laxalt, the Republican nominee in Nevada's Senate race, released a new campaign ad coming after Democratic opponent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto for making abortion a focal point of her midterm campaign, despite abortion laws in the state remaining unchanged.
"Over the last two years, Democrat politicians have done incredible damage to America, ruining our economy, causing chaos at our border, increasing crime in our cities. They changed our lives. But one thing hasn't changed: abortion in Nevada," the ad narrator stated.
"Abortion will still be legal. Abortion rights are protected under current state law," the clip shows news reporters talking about abortion laws in Nevada. "Why do Democrats like Catherine Cortez Masto only talk about something that hasn't changed? Because they can't defend everything that has."
After the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade case and returned the power to the states to place limitations on abortion, Nevada's abortion laws did not change. Laxalt highlights this in his ad, claiming that even though the laws remain the same and abortion remains legal, Cortez Masto is using the topic to drive her campaign because she "can't defend what has changed."
FIRST ON FOX: The Republican National Committee out raised the rival Democratic National Committee in August, as the two major party organizations raced to bring in campaign cash to spend during the final weeks of the 2022 midterm election cycle.
The RNC brought in $17.2 million last month, according to figures shared first with Fox News on Tuesday. The RNC’s haul outpaced the DNC, which a couple of hours earlier reported raising $15.5 million in August.
The RNC says its August figures bring to $273.6 million the amount they’ve raised during the entire 2022 election cycle.Republicans are aiming to win back majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate in November, as well as potentially make gains in the battle for governorships and state legislatures.
For much more, check out our full Fox News report here
The Republican National Committee out raised the rival Democratic National Committee in August, as the two major party organizations raced to bring in campaign cash to spend during the final weeks of the 2022 midterm election cycle.
The RNC brought in $17.2 million last month, according to figures shared first with Fox News on Tuesday. The RNC’s haul outpaced the DNC, which a couple of hours earlier reported raising $15.5 million in August. The RNC says its August figures bring to $273.6 million the amount they’ve raised during the entire 2022 election cycle.
Republicans are aiming to win back majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate in November, as well as potentially make gains in the battle for governorships and state legislatures.
National party fundraising is a key barometer of donor and voter enthusiasm ahead of the midterms, and the money raised can be used — among other things — for party staffing in key battlegrounds, grassroots and other get-out-the-vote efforts, campaign ads, and can be transferred to the party's House and Senate re-election committees.
{{#rendered}}A super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is pulling $9.6 million away from ad buys Arizona Senate race, Fox News has confirmed, where GOP candidate Blake Masters is challenging Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly.
The money will be allocated toward other races, like Georgia, New Hampshire and Nevada, while Masters will get some more support from other outside groups.
"This allows us to pursue offensive opportunities, maximize our investment in existing commitments, and concentrate our efforts to win the Senate majority," said Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) president Steven Law.
Though SLF is pulling away from supporting Masters, McConnell will host a second fundraiser for Master this week.
Around $7.5 million in funding has been made up from other outside GOP groups, SLF told Fox News.
"We’re glad to see Republican outside forces showing up in a big way in Arizona, with millions in new spending pledged to take down Mark Kelly in the final stretch," Law said.
The former mayor of Palm Beach County, Florida, endorsed GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis at an event -- and took a dig at Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Charlie Crist in the process.
"I am very proud that you felt my endorsement was worthy of acceptance," Mayor Dave Kerner said at an event Tuesday, where he said DeSantis would get his vote on Nov. 8.
Kerner was apparently referring to Crist's comment after winning the Democratic nomination that he did not want the support of those who backed DeSantis.
"Those who support the governor should stay with him and vote for him. And I don't want your vote. If you have that hate in your heart, keep it there," Crist said during his first press conference in St. Petersburg as Florida's Democratic gubernatorial nominee.
Kerner, who is currently a Palm Beach County commissioner and former mayor, as well as a former state representative, has a reputation for being a conservative Democrat.
"This was not a difficult choice fore me. This was not the proverbial lesser of two evils. Governor DeSantis has demonstrated himself beyond worthy of the humbling duties of this office," Kerner said in his endorsement of DeSantis.
GOFFSTOWN, N.H. – Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of “lying” to Americans regarding security at the U.S.-Mexico border.
"The border is secure, but we also have a broken immigration system, in particular, over the last four years before we came in, and it needs to be fixed,” the vice president said in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” a week and a half ago.
The comments from Harris quickly received plenty of push back from Republicans who spotlighted the surge in border crossings into the U.S. over the past year and a half during President Biden’s administration.
Pompeo, in an address at the “Politics and Eggs” speaking series at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics and in an ensuing question and answer session with reporters on Tuesday, took aim at the vice president.
“When Vice President Harris tells you they’re not walking across the border, every one of you, every one of you, should say ‘maam, here’s the picture of them coming across. You are lying to the American people.’ And not let her gaslight. It’s not about her. It’s not about people. It’s about the ideas that matter to our country and to lie to the American people about what’s actually taking place there is indecent.”
Related: Pompeo, preparing for potential 2024 run, walks fine line between defending, criticizing Trump
{{#rendered}}Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mandela Barnes' campaign is blaming a "clerical error" for listing a La Crosse County Sheriff's Department captain as one of nine endorsements from law enforcement officers when the officer did not, in fact, back Barnes.
Barnes' campaign on Thursday released the list of nine endorsements from current and former law enforcement officers. One of them was John Siegel, who was listed as a police captain for the city of La Crosse. On Monday, the conservative website Wisconsin Right Now reported an interview with Seigel in which he said he never endorsed Barnes.
Barnes spokesperson Maddy McDaniel told Wisconsin Public Radio on Monday that it was a mistake "due to a clerical error," which was corrected on the campaign website Saturday.
Read more here.
Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., running in a tight re-election race against GOP nominee Joe O'Dea, has launched a webstore featuring nostalgic designs inspired by political advertisements from the '60s and '70s.
"I am amazed by campaign posters from the 1970s that are really works of art and wanted to capture that same creative spirit in these designs," Bennet said in a statement on the store website. "I approached my campaign team about creating images that capture this work and my words. We used excerpts from my book, The Land of Flickering Lights: Restoring America in an Age of Broken Politics, and created graphics inspired conversations I've had with Coloradans during my time in office about building a nation that words everyone. Together, we created these items that I'm really thrilled to share with you," Bennet said.
The new merchandise includes sweatshirts, t-shirts, mugs, posters, and even a Michael Bennet onesie fit for a child.
Another section of the store also includes photos of Bennet holding a fish, which he claims to have caught taken the ad campaign he filmed on a 24 hour fishing license.
Michigan congressional candidate Hillary Scholten hinted in an ad that her family is turning off the air conditioning and forgoing buying new shoes for their kids in a tightening economy, despite making well into the six figures.
The latest campaign ad from Scholten's campaign features the U.S. House candidate's family and emphasizes their family's economic belt-tightening.
"Times are tough, and like most Michigan families, we're making due with less and making things last longer," Scholten says in the ad. "Democrats should stop the spending, and Republicans need to focus on people, not power."
The ad shows video of Scholten at a family table with her husband and children. Footage shows an air conditioning unit turned off and a child's worn-out sandals repaired with duct tape.
Scholten earned more than $200,000 in 2021 as a Grand Rapids-area immigration attorney, according to the Free Beacon, which reviewed the candidate's financial disclosure forms.
Click here to read more from Fox News' Timothy H.J. Nerozzi.
{{#rendered}}Democrats are spending heavily on messaging related to abortion ahead of the upcoming midterm elections in America, pouring $124 million into into television advertising that references abortion.
The total spending, according to a report from The Associated Press, is more than twice as much money as the Democrats’ next top issue this year, “character,” and almost 20 times more than Democrats spent on abortion-related ads in the 2018 midterms.
The estimated spending figures, based on an Associated Press analysis of data provided by the nonpartisan research firm AdImpact, reveal the extent to which Democrats are betting their majorities in Congress and key governorships on one issue. That’s even as large majorities of Americans think the country is heading in the wrong direction and the economy is in poor condition.
Since the high court’s decision in June to eliminate the constitutional right to abortion, roughly 1 in 3 television advertising dollars spent by Democrats and their allies have focused on abortion. Much of the spending is designed to attack Republicans on the ballot this fall who have long opposed abortion rights and are currently engaged in a state-by-state push to restrict abortion rights or outlaw the practice altogether.
The Democrats’ unprecedented investment in abortion messaging on TV this year through Sept. 18 is larger than the Republican Party’s combined national investment in ads relating to the economy, crime and immigration.
The Associated Press contributed to this update.
GOFFSTOWN, N.H. – Mike Pompeo says it’s no surprise he’s back in New Hampshire.
"I’m here. It’s not random," the former secretary of state told Fox News on Tuesday when asked about his latest visit to the state, which for a century has held the first primary in the race for the White House.
Pompeo, taking questions from reporters after headlining "Politics and Eggs" at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, explained that he and his wife Susan are "thinking about what’s the right place for us to continue the fight that I spoke about today. I believe deeply that this country is worth fighting for."
"Whether we’ll decide to get in the race and run for president, I can’t answer. But we are doing the things that one would do to be ready to make such an announcement and then to engage with the American people on the ideas that we believe matter," Pompeo emphasized.
When asked about his timetable regarding a decision on launching a presidential campaign, Pompeo told Fox News that "it will be a handful of months from now before Susan and I are actually able to sort through and figure out what we’re going to do."
Click here to read more from our Fox News report from the campaign trail in New Hampshire
The "nonpartisan" Ohio Debate Commission, formed in 2018 to ensure "fair and substantive debates" between candidates in the state, is being run by a Democrat with a long history of anti-Republican rhetoric and activism.
An investigation by Fox News Digital found that the commission's executive director, Jill Miller Zimon, in addition to unsuccessfully running as a Democrat in multiple state House elections, frequently attacked Republicans over pro-life policies and engaged in activism targeting the late-conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, as well as in support of Democratic candidates, since at least 2009.
Zimon's partisan history elicited strong reaction from the campaign of Ohio Republican Senate nominee J.D. Vance, who is locked in a tight race against Rep. Tim Ryan, the Democratic nominee for Senate.
Read more from Fox News' Brandon Gillespie here.
{{#rendered}}Vulnerable Democrats running in tight midterm races will not say if they oppose amnesty for migrants who entered the U.S. illegally through the southern border.
Fox News Digital reached out to over two dozen Democratic members, asking if they would oppose efforts to provide a pathway to citizenship for all the illegal migrants currently residing in the United States.
More than 200,000 migrants came through the border in August alone, and border officials encountered over 2 million people crossing into the U.S. this fiscal year. After the record number of crossings, none of the Democrats answered whether they believe millions of migrants in the U.S. should be granted amnesty.
One of the few law enforcement officers Wisconsin Democratic Senate nominee Mandela Barnes says endorsed his candidacy is saying he actually never endorsed anybody.
According to Wisconsin Right Now, La Crosse County Sheriff’s Capt. John Siegel, a Democrat, said he never endorsed Barnes and doesn't plan to endorse anyone in the race.
“I do not,” Siegel told the outlet. “I have not endorsed anybody. I spent most of my day Friday trying to get a hold of people asking how did this happen.”
Barnes made the claim about Siegel's endorsement on Sep. 15, when his campaign released a list of nine law enforcement officers it said had endorsed him in his race against incumbent Republican Sen. Ron Johnson.
“I am not on the list. I was mistakenly added…” Siegel told the outlet. “…I found out on Friday that I was on his endorsement list, and I was not supposed to be on his endorsement list. I talked with one of his staffers and agreed to talk with them when they were in town sometime, which I’ve done with everybody. They said there was a mistake within the clerical part of things. Somehow I got added to the list.”
Siegel added that the campaign agreed to remove his name from the list of endorsements.
Fox News' Power Rankings rates the Wisconsin Senate race as "lean Republican."
A former U.S. soldier, who helped thwart a terrorist attack on a Paris-bound train in 2015 and is now running for Congress in Oregon, says voters are "sick" of the economic woes and rising crime plaguing the state and country.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Alek Skarlatos, the Republican nominee in Oregon's 4th Congressional District, laid out how his military experience had prepared him to represent Oregonians across all political spectrums, especially those tired of the decades-long representation and rule by Democrats in the state. Additionally, he argued he was the better choice over his Democratic opponent to take the country off the unsustainable path it has been on.
"I think people have had enough of this one party leadership that's obviously taken us down the wrong path," Skarlatos said when asked about his chances in the seat slightly favored by Democrats in the November midterm elections.
"I'm appealing to everyone in the district, [including] Democrats who've had enough of the one party rule in this state for 40 years. Things have not improved under that 40 year tenure of the Democrat Party running the state," he later added. "I'm appealing to unaffiliated voters, which I think are going to swing our way in this election regardless. And hopefully the Republicans show up to vote for me as well."
Read more from Fox News' Brandon Gillespie here.
{{#rendered}}GOP congressional candidate Lisa Scheller released a five-figure digital ad buy against Democratic opponent Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., highlighting a 1996 court case where Wild represented a doctor who performed genital exams on nearly 60 sixth grade girls, claiming it was "without their consent."
"It was horrible. It hurt physically, but it really mentally hurt knowing someone was doing this to me when I didn't want them to do it. The girls were crying and screaming," a narrator spoke over photos of young women in the ad.
"Susan Wild chose to represent a doctor who performed genital exams on nearly 60 young girls without their consent. Wild called the doctors exams 'non-invasive.' With Susan Wild in Congress, is your daughter safe?"
Wild was the attorney in the case, defending Dr. Ramlah Vahanvaty who performed the physical exams on 59 sixth graders at their middle school. The trial concluded that the young girls had not consented to the genital exams and Vahanvaty settled with the families.
Scheller won the Republican primary race in May and is running to oust Wild in the race for Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District this fall.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, running against incumbent Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp for a second time, explained that she refused to concede her 2018 election loss because it was "flawed," not because she was trying to change the outcome.
“The issues that I raised in 2018 were not grounded in making me the governor,” Abrams said at a Monday event with The 19th, a progressive news outlet. “Not a single lawsuit filed would have reversed or changed the outcome of the election. My point was that the access to the election was flawed, and I refuse to concede a system that permits citizens to be denied access. That is very different than someone claiming fraudulent outcome.”
Following Abrams' 2018 loss, she claimed Kemp and the Republicans had actively suppressed turnout, a charge Kemp and others dismissed. In the years since, Abrams has become a touchstone of voting reform laws.
Abrams told The 19th that her refusal to concede the election in 2018 was far different than Trump's election rhetoric because she didn't try to change the outcome.
“I will never ever say that it is OK to claim fraudulent outcomes as a way to give yourself power,” Abrams said Monday. “That is wrong. I reject it and will never engage in it. But I do believe that it is imperative, especially those who have the platform and the microphone, to talk about the access."
FIRST ON FOX: Former South Carolina governor and ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is headed to New Hampshire this week to support the top two Republicans on the ballot this November in the key general election battleground state.
Haley on Tuesday endorsed GOP Gov. Chris Sununu, who’s running for a fourth two-year term steering the Granite State.
And she also supported former Army Gen. Don Bolduc, who a week ago narrowly captured the Republican nomination for Senate. Bolduc will challenge former governor and first-term Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan in the midterm elections in a race that’s among a handful across the country that will likely determine if the GOP wins back the majority in the chamber.
Haley will team up with Sununu on the campaign trail in New Hampshire on Thursday evening, and she’ll join Bolduc for events on Friday. News of the endorsements and Haley’s trip to New Hampshire were shared first with Fox News on Tuesday.
{{#rendered}}A new ad released Tuesday by the Michigan Freedom Fund is blasting the state's incumbent Democratic Attorney General, Dana Nessel, for saying saying that "every school" needs a "drag queen."
The ad, titled "Drag Queens," shows clips of Nessel during a speech on education calling for the presence of drag queens in schools and notes falling test scores among Michigan students.
"I say this: A drag queen for every school," Nessel says during one of the ad's video clips. "That is what would be fun for kids."
"You know what's not a problem for kids who are seeking a good education? Drag queens. Okay? Let me say this: Drag queens-- Not only are they not hurting our kids, drag queens make everything better," she later says in another clip featured in the ad.
The ad also highlighted Nessel's past "bad decisions," noting one instance in which she consumed alcohol to the point of being sick at a Michigan vs. Michigan State college football game.
“Michigan kids don't need drunk history with Dana Nessel and her drag queens, they need real solutions to improve the record low math and reading levels that came as a result of Gretchen Whitmer's school shutdowns,” said Tori Sachs, executive director of the Michigan Freedom Fund, in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital.
Nessel will face off against Republican nominee Matthew DePerno in the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Coverage for this event has ended.