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Midterm campaign updates: GOP's Cheney endorses Ohio Democrat Tim Ryan for Senate

ABC News is reporting on campaign developments in key states across the U.S.

Last Updated: November 1, 2022, 4:26 PM EDT

The 2022 campaign is shaping up to be a historic, decisive moment in American politics.

From our reporters across the country, ABC News brings you all the latest on what the candidates are saying and doing -- and what voters want to happen in November's midterm elections.

For more from ABC News' team of reporters embedded in battleground states, watch "Power Trip: Those Seeking Power and Those Who Chase Them" on Hulu, with new episodes on Sunday.

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Power Trip

"Power Trip: Those Seeking Power and Those Who Chase Them" follows 7 young reporters as they chase down candidates in the lead up to the midterms with George Stephanopoulos guiding them along the way.

Sep 17, 2022, 3:24 PM EDT

Ron Johnson, Mandela Barnes agree to a televised debate

Democratic Senate nominee Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes has announced he's accepted an invitation from NBC-affiliate TMJ4 to debate his Republican opponent Sen. Ron Johnson on Oct. 13 in Milwaukee. Barnes also challenges Johnson to attend a forum in Oshkosh, with further details to be announced.

Barnes' campaign manager Kory Kozloski released the following statement: "Ron Johnson has spent over a decade in Washington selling out working families and calling to put Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block. Mandela looks forward to holding him accountable for his record of putting himself and his wealthy donors first on the debate stage in Milwaukee, and then in his own backyard in Oshkosh."

Sen. Ron Johnson speaks to journalists while walking to the Senate Floor during a vote on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 8, 2022.
Tom Brenner/Reuters

Johnson had accused Barnes of "hiding" from him and said he was open to having three debates before the Nov. 8 election, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

ABC News has tracked which candidates are debating in key midterm races.

-ABC News' Paulina Tam.

Sep 16, 2022, 5:10 PM EDT

Sanders announces she’s "cancer-free" after thyroid surgery

Arkansas GOP gubernatorial nominee and former Trump White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared in a statement on Friday that she'd been diagnosed with thyroid cancer earlier this month but is now "cancer-free" following a surgery in Arkansas on Friday.

"This experience has been a reminder that whatever battle you may be facing, don't lose heart. As governor, I will never quit fighting for the people of our great state," the daughter to former Arkansas GOP Gov. Mike Huckabee said in a statement.

The surgery removed her thyroid and surrounding lymph nodes, she said. Her surgeon, John R. Sims, noted in a statement released by her campaign that he didn't anticipate this health scare slowing Sanders down ahead of the November general election.

"I expect her to be back on her feet even within the next 24 hours. This is a Stage I papillary thyroid carcinoma which is the most common type of thyroid cancer and has an excellent prognosis," he said.

Sep 16, 2022, 4:44 PM EDT

DeSantis, White House trade fire over migrant drop-offs

Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed Friday that the undocumented migrants flown to Martha's Vineyard came from Texas -- not Florida.

He defended his actions, noting that he transported the migrants -- who he said had plans to come to Florida -- with a portion of $12 million allocated in the state's budget to relocate undocumented migrants out of the state.

Venezuelan migrants stand outside St. Andrew's Church after arriving in Martha's Vineyard from Florida in Edgartown, Mass., Sept. 14, 2022.
Ray Ewing/Vineyard Gazette via Reuters

"They went from Texas to Florida to Martha's Vineyard," DeSantis told reporters in Daytona Beach. "I have 12 million for us to use, and so we are going to use it and you're gonna see more and more. I'm going to make sure that we exhaust all those funds."

DeSantis also took a swipe at President Joe Biden -- suggesting he has lured people out of their countries with the "false promise" that the borders were open, then leaving them "high and dry."

The White House on Friday lashed back, arguing that the Florida governor and Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott -- who routinely transports undocumented immigrants to blue states -- engage in the practice as "cruel" political theater.

"These were children. They were moms. They were fleeing communism. And what did Governor DeSantis and Governor Abbott do to them? They use them as political pawns, treated them like chattel in a cruel, premeditated political stunt," White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre said.

DeSantis ended his presser by responding to Gov. Newsom's request for the DOJ to investigate Florida and Texas' moves.

"The governor of California sent a letter to the Department of Justice saying, 'you need to prosecute the Texas and Florida governors' and all I can say is: I think his hair gel is interfering with his brain," DeSantis said.

–ABC News' Miles Cohen

Sep 16, 2022, 1:22 PM EDT

GOP leaders seek base-driving narratives: The Note

If the point was to make a point, the mission has already been accomplished.

That's not the same as saying the midterms look any different than they did before a few prominent Republican figures made major political moves that sure look like stunts, even if they carry significant messaging and human impact.

It is to say that they are trying to establish a new set of narratives. This week was marked by efforts from several Republicans -- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham -- aiming to put their party on offense.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to supporters at a campaign stop in Geneva, Fla., Aug. 4, 2022.
LightRocket via Getty Images, FILE

For Graham, it was a bill banning almost all abortions after 15 weeks nationwide, a move that drew praise for its clarity from anti-abortion groups and former Vice President Mike Pence, among others. But pushback also came from inside Graham’s party -- from lawmakers and candidates who want abortion rights figured out state by state and would rather be talking about high inflation anyway -- and also well outside of it.

Read more here.

-- ABC News' Rick Klein