2022 Midterm election updates as Democrats, GOP fight to control Senate, House of Representatives

U.S. Senate Republican candidate JD Vance speaks to the crowd at a rally held by former U.S. president Donald Trump in Youngstown, Ohio, U.S., Sept. 17, 2022. (REUTERS/Gaelen Morse)

EXCLUSIVE: Ask longtime Rep. Tim Ryan if he is eager to have President Biden join him on the campaign trail in Ohio, and he will give you a brutally honest answer.

"No, I'm not, and I'm really not inviting anybody," the longtime congressman from Ohio and his state's Democratic Senate nominee tells Fox News.

Ryan is spotlighting his Ohio roots and his strong support for the working class as he runs a populist style campaign in a high-profile battle against Republican nominee JD Vance to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Rob Portman, one of a handful of races across the country that will likely determine if the Republicans win back the Senate in November's midterm elections. Additionally, Ryan has repeatedly showcased his policy differences with the president on numerous issues, including border security and student debt relief.

Read more from Fox News' Paul Steinhauser here.

Senate candidate, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, D-Pa., once vandalized the sign of a black-owned strip club while he was mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania.

A video clip that resurfaced Monday shows Fetterman changing the letters of a sign in placed front of the nightclub from “Opening Soon Under New Management” to “Closed Not Opening Soon.”

Following the 2010 incident which the nightclub caught on security cameras, Fetterman admitted to vandalizing the nightclub’s sign, suggesting it was a way to put the new nightclub owners “on notice.”

Fetterman also continues to face criticism over a 2013 incident in which the then mayor of Braddock pulled a gun on a black jogger whom he suspected of committing a crime. Fetterman detained the jogger until police arrived on the scene and the jogger was eventually found innocent.

Michigan Governor and Democratic nominee in the state's gubernatorial race, Gretchen Whitmer. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Abortion ranked as the most important issue to voters in Michigan, topping inflation and the cost of living, according to a new poll that revealed Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is dominating the state's gubernatorial race.

A Detroit News/WDIV poll of registered voters in Michigan found that despite the Consumer Price Index (CPI) reporting the year-over-year inflation rate rose to 8.3% in August and national gas prices experiencing another spike, abortion ranked as the most crucial midterm issue to 36% of respondents. 

In June, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, returning the right to limit abortion to the states. Since this landmark decision, Democrats have leaned into abortion as a key issue in their midterm strategy.

Read more from Fox News' Aubrie Spady here.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio has said it is "unequivocally" opposed to a proposed amendment to Ohio's state constitution that would change the bail process for individuals facing criminal charges, a position that sharply clashes with those of the amendment's proponents just weeks ahead of its appearance on the November midterm election ballot.

According to the text of the initiative, officially called Issue 1, or the Determining Bail Amount Based on Public Safety Amendment, it would "require Ohio courts, when setting the amount of bail, to consider public safety, including the seriousness of the offense, as well as a person's criminal record, the likelihood a person will return to court, and any other factor the Ohio General Assembly may prescribe."

The initiative would also remove the requirement for the Ohio Supreme Court to determine the procedures for establishing the amount and conditions of bail.

"We at the ACLU of Ohio oppose Issue 1 unequivocally," Patrick Higgins, the ACLU of Ohio's policy counsel, told Fox News Digital. "We know that cash bail does nothing to keep us safe and extracts wealth from our neighbors who bear the heaviest weight of our criminal legal system. Instead of promoting public safety, reliance on cash bail allows the wealthy to purchase their freedom while other legally innocent people sit in jail before their trial date."

Read more from Fox News' Brandon Gillespie here .

Singer Harry Styles appeared to endorse Democrat Beto O'Rourke for Texas governor during a concert at Moody Center in Austin. (FOX 7)

Singer Harry Styles appeared to endorse Democrat Beto O'Rourke for Texas governor during a concert at Moody Center in Austin.

During the show on Sunday, Styles flashed a "Beto for Texas" sticker on his guitar that the audience was able to see in a close-up on the big screen. Cameras then showed O'Rourke in the crowd clapping with fans of the pop star.

O’Rourke was later seen walking around the arena greeting fans.

The crowd erupted in applause for Styles' apparent endorsement of the Texas Democrat, who is running to unseat incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in November.

Read more from Fox News' Landon Mion here.

With five weeks to go until November’s elections, a new public opinion poll in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania indicates that Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman remains ahead of GOP nominee Mehmet Oz in the race for Senate, with Democratic state Attorney General Josh Shapiro leading Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano by double digits in the gubernatorial showdown.

Fetterman tops Oz, the cardiac surgeon and celebrity doctor, 46%-40% among those likely to vote in the general election, according to a USA TODAY Network/Suffolk University poll conducted Sept. 27-30 and released on Tuesday. An average of all the recent public opinion surveys in the race compiled by Real Clear Politics indicates Fetterman with a 4.3-point advantage over Oz.

The race between the two high-profile candidates to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey is one of a handful across the country that will likely determine if the GOP wins back the Senate majority in November’s midterm elections. 

In the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, Shapiro tops Mastriano 48%-37% among likely voters. The Real Clear Politics average of the most recent polls in the race for governor indicates Shapiro leading Mastriano by 10.4 points.

David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, noted the high percentage of undecided voters in the poll, saying that “any time you have over 10% undecided, it offers candidates the opportunity to either solidify their lead or stage a comeback.”

Oz was dramatically out raised by Fetterman during the second quarter of fundraising, but on Tuesday morning the Oz campaign announced that the GOP nominee hauled in a whopping $17.2 million during the July-September third quarter of 2022 fundraising. But $7 million of that haul was a personal loan from Oz, who until the launch of his Senate campaign late last year was the star of the popular daytime TV program “The Dr. Oz Show.” Fetterman has yet to announce his third quarter figures.

Former Army Gen. Don Bolduc, the GOP Senate nominee in the battleground state of New Hampshire, launches the first TV ad of his campaign

FIRST ON FOX:  Former Army Gen. Don Bolduc says he’s on a "new mission."

And Bolduc, the Republican Senate nominee in the crucial general election battleground state of New Hampshire, says that mission is to take on what he derides as "the career politicians" in the nation’s capital.

Bolduc, who’s challenging former governor and first-term Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan in a race that’s among a handful across the country that will likely determine if the GOP wins back the Senate majority in November’s midterm elections, on Tuesday launched the first TV ad of his entire campaign.

"He served 10 tours in Afghanistan, hunting terrorists on horseback. Now, Don Bolduc is on a new mission," says the narrator at the top of the spot, which was shared first with Fox News.

Read the entire story from Fox News' Paul Steinhauser here

Rick Caruso, a Democratic candidate for Los Angeles mayor, celebrates at his primary-night gathering on June 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

A new poll shows businessman Rick Caruso has significantly cut into Democratic Congresswoman Karen Bass' lead in the race to be the next mayor of Los Angeles.

According to the poll, conducted by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, Bass leads Caruso by just three percentage points among registered voters in the city, 34% to 31%, down from a double-digit lead she held over the Republican-turned-Democrat back in the summer.

Among likely voters, however, Bass still holds a significant advantage over Caruso, leading with 46% to his 31% with just a little over five weeks ahead of Election Day. That margin, however, has also been reduced from a more than 20-point lead just last month.

Read more from Fox News' Brandon Gillespie here.

Kirsten Engel is the Democratic nominee in Arizona's 6th Congressional District. (Kirsten Engel for Congress)

A Democrat running in one of the nation’s most competitive congressional races participated on a panel for a group that recommended increasing driving usage fees, as well as tolls, after she called for taking steps to make "it a pain to drive."

"We're never going to get rid of the car in the driveway, but we can make it a pain to drive," said Kirsten Engel, the Democratic nominee for Arizona’s 6th Congressional District.

Engel made the comments, reported in April 2009 by the Arizona Daily Star, at an event hosted by Arizona Town Hall, a non-profit organization, focused on transportation. 

The panel sought to bring together experts across the transportation industry to identify ways to increase the state’s transportation funding. Engle attended the panel in her capacity as a University of Arizona law professor.

Read more from Fox News' Brandon Gillespie here.

Sen. Raphael Warnock is seeking re-election in the midterms this fall. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

In a press release Monday, Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., announced his campaign raised over $26 million in the third quarter of 2022. In the second quarter this year, from April to June, Warnock raised roughly $17 million.

“There is undeniable momentum in Georgia to re-elect Reverend Warnock to the U.S. Senate and tens of thousands of grassroots donors are helping to propel our campaign across the finish line in November because they see the clear choice they have between Reverend Warnock and Herschel Walker, who’s pattern of lies and disturbing behavior prove he is not ready to represent Georgia,” said Quentin Fulks, campaign manager for Warnock. 

According to the release, the campaign's cash on hand now stands at nearly $14 million.

Warnock is facing Republican nominee Herschel Walker in the highly anticipated midterm elections that are just five weeks away.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis flew two planes of immigrants to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, escalating a tactic by Republican governors to draw attention to what they consider to be the Biden administration's failed border policies. (Ray Ewing/Vineyard Gazette)

The near majority of voters in Florida support Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' decision to relocate illegal migrants to other states like Massachusetts and New York, according to a new poll released after Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claimed Florida farmers want the migrants to stay and "pick the crops."

The Spectrum News/Sienna College poll found that 49% of likely Florida voters support sending illegal migrants to other states, while 44% do not support the action. Almost 90% of Republican and 50% of Independent voters in Florida agree that migrants should be relocated to different cities, a move that only 10% of Democrats support.

In September, DeSantis sent 50 migrants to Martha's Vineyard, a luxury beach town off the coast of Massachusetts, and was blasted by Democrats and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who called it a form of "human trafficking."

Read more from Fox News' Aubrie Spady here.

House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

According to an Axios report, the Congressional Leadership Fund is planning to spend an additional $14 million on ad reservations for the midterm races that are considered the most vulnerable going into the remaining five weeks before election day.

The GOP group is planning to pour a whopping $2 million into the race to re-elect Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., a move that reveals the Republican congresswoman may face a tough election against state Sen. Annette Taddeo, D-Fla.

Nearly another $2 million is being set aside for the midterm race in New York's 19th Congressional District, $1 million to take Senate candidate Rep. Tim Ryan's open seat in Ohio, and another million to take the Democrat held seat in Illinois' 17th Congressional District.

The McCarthy linked group is also reportedly investing over $500,000 apiece on Reps. Don Bacon, R-Na., Yvette Herrell, R- N.M., and Rep. John Katko's, R-N.Y., while also spending $1.25 million for Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa., and $1.1 million for Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa.

"This is not going to be handed to us on a platter. We're going to have to fight and we're going to have to give everything we've got to get us over the finish line," Rep. Don Bacon stressed the importance of fundraising in an interview with Axios in August.

The PAC is also spending big in an effort to unseat several Democratic representatives, giving $2 million to fund the defeat of Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine., and $600,000 against Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn.

Former Cranston, Rhode Island Mayor Allan Fung, the Republican nominee in the state's 2nd Congressional District, speaks with voters in Hope, R.I. on Sept. 18, 2022 (Allan Fung campaign)

It’s been more than 30 years since a Republican’s won a House election in Rhode Island’s Second Congressional District, which covers the western half of the nation’s smallest state.

But Republican congressional nominee Allan Fung is aiming to break the losing streak in November’s midterm elections.

"I’ve proven over 12 years as mayor of our state’s second-largest city… that I can lead, I can win," Fung said in a Fox News interview.

And Fung is one of a handful of GOP congressional nominees across the country who have a good shot at winning long-time Democratic held House seats in solidly blue states.

Read more from Fox News' Paul Steinhauser here .

A new Monmouth University poll found that while over 80 percent of Americans say inflation is a top midterm issue, just 30 percent approve of President Biden’s handling of it, which could spell trouble for Democrats this November.

Americans rated abortion, which Democrats have made the center-piece of their midterm campaign messaging, as the seventh most important issue, behind inflation, crime, elections and voting, jobs, immigration and infrastructure.

“A major problem for Democrats is their base messaging doesn’t hold as much appeal for independents as the GOP issue agenda does. Even though truly persuadable independents are a rather small group these days, this small difference can have a major impact given the expectation that congressional control will hinge on a handful of very close contests,” said Patrick Murray of Monmouth University’s Polling Institute.

The poll also found that by a three-point margin, Americans would prefer Republicans control congress over Democrats, 47 percent to 44 percent.

The Monmouth University survey was conducted among American adults between September 21st and September 25th, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.