2022 midterm elections live updates: Final campaign pushes

Candidates are making last-ditch efforts to sway undecided voters in the last few days before the Nov. 8 election, with the current and former presidents lending their voices to campaign rallies.

Democratic President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama, along with former Republican President Donald Trump were all in Pennsylvania on Saturday, backing their candidate in the U.S. Senate race there.

On Sunday, Biden heads to Westchester County, N.Y., where he’ll campaign with Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. She is in a tightening race against Republican challenger Lee Zeldin.

A handful of races will determine which party controls both congressional chambers. While Republicans are expected to take over the House of Representatives, the Senate is a toss-up.

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While the issues of the economy, inflation and abortion rights have been driving voters to the polls across both parties, inflation could cost the Democrats the midterms – including losing both the House and Senate to the GOP.

Top Senate races to watch

Tuesday’s election will determine control of the Senate and eight races are particularly contentious, as each party controls 50 seats in the Senate.Ties are broken by Vice President Kamala Harris.

While 34 Senate seats are up for election in 2022, a handful are critical for both parties. Which races are key? Look to Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona. Also key: Ohio, Georgia, New Hampshire. 

— Sarah Elbeshbishi, Ken Tran

Iowa Poll: Voters prefer GOP candidates in House races

Iowa’s likely voters and those who already have cast ballots prefer Republican candidates in all four of the state’s congressional districts, a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll found. 

Republicans hold a significant advantage among voters in the newly drawn 1st and 4th districts. They hold a slight edge in the 2nd and 3rd districts. 

The Iowa Poll, conducted by Selzer & Co. from Oct. 31 to Nov. 3, asked 801 likely voters or those who have already cast ballots whether they favor the Democratic or Republican candidate for the U.S. House.

– Katie Akin, Des Moines Register

Biden, Trump, Obama try to boost Fetterman, Oz

Three men who have been in the White House fanned out across Pennsylvania on Saturday to give a push to Senate candidates in one of the nation’s hottest races.

President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama appeared in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to campaign for fellow Democrat John Fetterman, while former President Donald Trump held a rally to boost Republican Mehmet Oz in Latrobe. 

Trump told the crowd they need to elect Oz as part of a “giant red wave” on Election Day.

The Oz-Fetterman race could decide whether Republicans or Democrats control the U.S. Senate; Pennsylvania will also go a long way toward determining the presidential winner in 2024, just as it fueled the victories of Obama, Trump, and Biden.

– David Jackson, Francesca Chambers, Kim Strong

How to vote and what’s on the ballot

What are the midterms, anyway? The midterms are halfway through a president’s four-year term. Although the presidency is not on the ballot, control of the House and Senate will determine if President Joe Biden will be effective in progressing his agenda during the remaining two years.

Looking for answers on how to vote or the top issues in the midterm elections for 2022? Here are some resources: 

Questions on voting?:Last-minute voting guide for Nov. 8: How to vote and what’s on the ballot

– Sarah Day Owen Wiskirchen

Claims of a hacked or stolen election worry security officials

Despite an unprecedented U.S. focus on preventing hackers from targeting the midterm elections Tuesday, there are still concerns that malicious cyber operatives could disrupt or influence the vote by penetrating polling stations, voter registration rolls, ballot-counting efforts and even the news reports that tell Americans who’s winning state, local and federal elections.

But here’s what really concerns public and private sector security analysts: malicious cyber actors who claim that the election was hacked or stolen, even when nothing of the sort occurred. Such false claims, building on years of bogus election fraud narratives that began well before the 2020 presidential election, they say, could plunge the country into an unprecedented environment of political chaos and violence even worse than that which spawned the Jan. 6, 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol.

Read more about it:Here’s why security officials are concerned about claims of a hacked (or stolen) election

– Josh Meyer

Last week’s debates: Here’s what you may have missed

In the week before the Nov. 8 midterm election, candidates in battleground states faced off in their final debates and, possibly, their final opportunities to sway undecided voters.

Key issues including abortion and inflation took center stage. And despite efforts by moderators and citizen questioners to get candidates to explain their positions in detail or elaborate on under-the-radar issues, Republicans and Democrats largely stuck to their well-rehearsed talking points.

Georgia gubernatorial candidates Gov. Brian Kemp and Stacey Abrams and New Hampshire Senate candidates Sen. Maggie Hassan and Don Bolduc were among the candidate that faced off a final time before Election Day.