The latest on the midterm elections.
Cheney Endorses Virginia Democrat Abigail Spanberger
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) crossed the political aisle again this election year and endorsed a Democrat colleague in a competitive House race, backing former CIA officer Abigail Spanberger on Saturday as she seeks a third term in a newly redrawn district in northern Virginia.Cheney, vice chair of the House committee investigating the Capitol breach and a critic of former President Donald Trump who lost to a Trump-backed challenger in her Wyoming primary in August, said in a statement that Spanberger was focused on finding solutions and “dedicated to serving this country and her constituents and defending our Constitution.”
The GOP nominee in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, which is centered around the Interstate 95 corridor in exurban Washington and rural communities to the east and west, is Yesli Vega, a county official and former police officer recently endorsed by Trump.
In October, Cheney endorsed Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, the first time that Cheney had formally supported a Democrat. She also recently visited Michigan to campaign with Slotkin.
Herschel Walker Fans Rally on Football Game Day
At former football star Herschel Walker’s political rally, the Heisman Trophy winner bartered gridiron fame for political momentum.Around 90 people who straddled the line between “fan” and “supporter” attended the rally, some wearing football jerseys with gameday makeup. Several said they planned to attend the University of Georgia football game after the rally.
“We’re not doing autographs, only photos,” a campaign official reminded the long line of supporters gathering after the event.
Biden Stumps on Job Growth, as Voters Dread Inflation
Under President Joe Biden, 10.3 million jobs were regained. But voters in Tuesday’s midterm elections are far more focused on inflation hovering near 40-year highs.That’s left the president trying to convince the public that the job gains mean better days are ahead, even as fears of a recession build.
Presidents have long trusted that voters would reward them for strong economic growth, but inflation has thrown a monkey wrench into the already difficult probability of Democrats’ retaining control of the House and Senate.
House Democrat in Tossup Virginia Race Doubles-Down on ‘Threat to Democracy’ Ads
When a candidate invests millions in months-long messaging only to discover in a campaign’s waning weeks that it is not resonating with likely voters, the only options are to change gears or to throttle up and double down.Two-term Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) says she is not going to back away from her campaign theme that American democracy itself is on the line in the Nov. 8 midterm elections across the nation, in Virginia, and in her tight reelection bid against Republican challenger state Sen. Jen Kiggans (R-Virginia Beach) in the commonwealth’s Congressional District 2 (CD 2).
While stumping in Virginia Beach a week before Election Day, Luria—who spent 20 years in the Navy, retiring as a commander—told reporters she will go down with the proverbial ship if voters are not alarmed about the “threat to democracy” she says is posed by Republicans, especially those who support former President Donald Trump.
Decisions on Wisconsin Election Integrity Lawsuits Revealed as Election Day Nears
With frequent comments about the topic from gubernatorial and Senate candidates, and multiple legal rulings announced this week, election integrity remains front and center in Wisconsin as the Nov. 8 election day draws closer.Wisconsin Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels drew attention earlier this week when he told a group of supporters at a campaign stop that “Republicans will never lose another election in Wisconsin after I’m elected governor.”
American Bridge 21st Century, a left-leaning political action committee, released an audio clip of Michels making that statement, according to Business Insider.
Biden, Obama, Trump Make Final Midterm Push in Pennsylvania
Swing-state Pennsylvania is the stage for a clash of presidents on Saturday as each party’s biggest stars work to energize voters just days before voting concludes in high-stakes midterm elections across the country.Former President Barack Obama opens the day at a Pittsburgh rally with Democratic Senate hopeful John Fetterman, the Pennsylvania lieutenant governor who represents his party’s best chance to flip a Republican-held Senate seat on Tuesday. Obama and Fetterman will appear alongside President Joe Biden and gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro later in the day in Philadelphia.
Former President Donald Trump, meanwhile, will finish the day courting voters in a working-class region in the southwestern corner of the state with Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz and gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano.
Midterm Voters to Take on Colorado’s Soaring Housing Costs
Bloated housing prices in the past few years have crept into every corner of Colorado. In Rocky Mountain resort towns, wealthy newcomers gobble up the dwindling housing supply. In Denver, tenants owe an estimated $32 million in back rent. And in mobile home parks, the state’s last bastions of affordability, out-of-state investors are buying the land and hiking up lease prices.Fed-up Coloradans have taken the crisis into their own hands and will vote Tuesday on a host of local and statewide ballot measures intended to rein in the soaring cost of housing.
The U.S. Census Bureau found that over half of all Colorado tenants are considered rent burdened, spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent in 2020. Colorado housing prices rank among the nation’s highest when accounting for how much its residents earn. The Denver metropolitan area alone saw home prices shoot up by 35 percent over the past two years, which was a larger increase than those in New York City and San Francisco, according to data from the real estate company Redfin.
DeSantis to Rally Crowd: ‘Florida Is Where Woke Goes to Die’
With just four days until Election Day, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis launched a 13-stop “Don’t Tread on Florida” tour on Nov. 4, plotting a course from top to bottom, and from side to side across the state.Appearing with his wife, Casey, he aimed to connect with voters one last time before Tuesday.
DeSantis appears to lead against his Democrat challenger, former Congressman Charlie Crist, by 11 points, according to a mid-October poll by Florida Atlantic University. The poll suggests DeSantis has an overall approval rating of 53 percent.
But he hasn’t been counting on that.
On Nov. 4, his campaign announced that its well-organized army of volunteers had knocked on the doors of two million homes to reach Florida voters.
Biden Is ‘Not Buying’ That Democrats May Lose in Midterms
President Joe Biden said Friday he was feeling “really good” about Democrats’ chances in the midterm elections, even as he traveled to the Chicago area to support two House members who are facing more competitive reelection battles than expected.“Folks, I’m not buying the notion that we’re in trouble,” he told the crowd at a political reception in a hotel for U.S. Reps. Lauren Underwood and Sean Casten. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super political action committee, or super PAC, aligned with the GOP House leadership, this week announced a $1.8 million ad buy against Casten, who represents an Illinois district that Biden won by about 11 percentage points in 2020.
Nevada Secretary of State Declines to Lift Hand-Count Ban
Nevada’s secretary of state declined Friday to lift a ban on a rural county’s controversial early hand-count of mail-in ballots, saying a modified procedure the county clerk proposed still raises “concerns relating to the integrity of the election.”Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske ordered Nye County last week to halt its hand-counting of ballots until after polls close on Nov. 8. Her order came after the Nevada Supreme Court issued an opinion siding with the American Civil Liberties Union’s objections to the reading of individual votes out loud.
Lifelong NYC Democrat Urges to Vote Republican After Woman Raped Near His Art Gallery
“We urgently and desperately need change.” That was part of a New Yorker’s plea on Twitter regarding how crime is handled in his city.Art dealer Eli Klein’s post was a reaction to the rape of the 43-year-old woman who was jogging along the Hudson River around 5:30 a.m. on Thursday.
“A woman was raped, beaten, and robbed across the street from my NYC art gallery this morning. She was just jogging when she was attacked by a stranger from behind,” Klein posted on Twitter.
Officials Unveil Plan to Help Voters Who Cast Wrong Ballots
Nashville voters who cast ballots in the wrong congressional and state races will be able to submit a provisional ballot on Election Day, officials announced Friday as part of an agreement sparked by a lawsuit earlier that day.The decision comes as election officials have scrambled for days to correct Davidson County’s voting system after The Associated Press reported first that nearly 200 Tennesseans had voted in the incorrect congressional races, while 16 cast votes in a wrong state Senate race and six cast votes in a wrong state House race.
Prominent Georgia Democrat Breaks With Party to Endorse Republican Brian Kemp Over Stacey Abrams
Democrat Kwanza Hall, a former member of the Atlanta City Council who also briefly served in Congress, has broken with his party to endorse two Republican candidates for offices in Georgia in the upcoming midterm election.Hall on Friday endorsed Gov. Brian Kemp, the GOP nominee for reelection, snubbing Democrat gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.
“Over the last four years, I’ve witnessed Governor Kemp make tough decisions—ones that weren’t always popular at the time—in unprecedented circumstances,” Hall said in a statement obtained by The Epoch Times.
“While we don’t agree on every issue, it’s abundantly clear that Brian Kemp is a man of character, a strong leader, and someone who Georgians can trust to put them and their interests first,” he added.
Biden Says Democrats Could ‘Pick up a Seat’ in Senate, ‘Have a Chance’ at House
President Joe Biden predicted on Friday that Democrats will prevail in the Nov. 8 midterm elections and could gain the Senate’s majority while keeping control of the House.“I know you always ask me, ‘how are we doing?’ We’re going to win this time around, I think. I feel really good about our chances,” Biden told reporters in San Diego, California.
“I haven’t been in all the House races, but I think we are going to keep the Senate, pick up a seat,” he said. “I think we have a chance to win in the House. I don’t think—not win—keeping the House.”
The president made the prediction as he left California to attend a Chicago-area fundraiser on Friday evening for two Democratic Illinois House members, Rep. Lauren Underwood and Rep. Sean Casten.
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