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.
"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.
Georgia outpacing presidential election levels in early midterms voting
With less than three weeks until the midterm elections, Georgians are already casting their ballots at a fast pace -- with vote counts on Tuesday surpassing 2020 presidential election records for day two of early voting, surging to nearly twice the early vote totals of 2018 at the same point.
The outcome of Georgia's Senate race could be critical in deciding the balance of power in Washington.
People use voting machines to fill out and cast their ballots as early voting begins for the midterm elections at the Citizens Service Center in Columbus, Ga., Oct. 17, 2022.
Cheney Orr/Reuters
As Georgia entered its third day of early in-person voting on Wednesday, over 291,700 people have voted -- 268,050 in person and 23,690 absentee. In 2020, the early vote numbers after the second day were 266,403, and in 2018 they were 147,289, according to the secretary of state's office.
"We're extremely pleased that so many Georgians are able to cast their votes, in record numbers and without any reports of substantial delays," said Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. "This is a testament to the hard work of Georgia's election workers, the professionals who keep our elections convenient and secure."
Georgia's second day of early voting totals marks a 75.3% increase from that same point in 2018 early midterm voting and an "astounding" 3.3% increase in the second day of early voting in the 2020 presidential election, the state's top elections official said.
Tulsi Gabbard campaigns for election-denier Kari Lake in Arizona
Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who ran for president in 2020 as a Democrat and endorsed Joe Biden after her exit from the race, on Tuesday campaigned in Arizona for the state's Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, a fervent election-denier and Donald Trump loyalist.
The move follows Gabbard's dramatic public departure from the Democratic Party, denouncing it a week ago as an "elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness." In Chandler, Arizona, Gabbard warned against those that "deny the existence of truth" before remarking with glowing support her endorsement of Lake, one of the most outspoken election-deniers.
"I feel like a rockstar up here, Tulsi," Lake said in front of at least 250 people. "You are a rockstar, Kari," Gabbard responded.
At the campaign event, less than three weeks ahead of the midterm elections, Gabbard acknowledged that some have told her it was "odd" that she would be campaigning for Lake in Arizona as a former Democrat -- but she dismissed those concerns.
"It's only odd if you're focused on the wrong things," Gabbard said of her endorsement. "If you're paying attention, you recognize that what we share in common, Kari and I and every one of you, is that pride, and it is the courage ... It is clear-eyed to recognize the threats to our safety, to our borders, to our communities, to our families and our kids that are coming from today's so-called woke radical Democrat Party."
Midterm surrogate season brings celebrities and 2024 buzz: The Note
On the GOP side, Sens. Tim Scott and Tom Cotton hit Ohio on Wednesday, ahead of Sen. Ted Cruz's trip on Friday, for Senate candidate J.D. Vance -- all following a succession of colleagues helping Republican Senate hopeful Herschel Walker in Georgia.
Also Wednesday, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin campaigns for Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, a day behind former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard -- the onetime Democratic presidential candidate who is now backing far-right candidates -- in campaigning for the Republican ticket there.
For Democrats, President Joe Biden follows first lady Jill Biden onto the trail on Thursday in Pennsylvania, while Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg leads the Biden Cabinet in making official visits with a side of politics. Sens. Cory Booker and Jon Ossoff spent campaign time in North Carolina over the weekend, and former President Barack Obama makes a three-state battleground swing next week.
Warren heading to Wisconsin for early voting rally with Evers
Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is expected to campaign on Oct. 26 for Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and state Attorney General Josh Kaul in what is the latest appearance by a prominent Democrat to rally voters weeks before the high-stakes midterms.
The events with Warren, first reported by ABC News, will also feature Wisconsin's Democratic senator, Tammy Baldwin.
Baldwin, Evers, Kaul and Warren will host an early voting event focused on young people near the campus of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, according to the Wisconsin Democratic Party.
Baldwin and Kaul are expected to walk with a group of students to an early voting location to cast their ballots.
Polling shows that Evers is in a toss-up race against Republican challenger Tim Michels, with the latest FiveThirtyEight average showing Evers with less than 1% lead.
In a statement to ABC News, the Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler said: "This election is deadlocked, and no one can sit this out. If Wisconsin students turn out to show the GOP they won’t let them trample on their rights, Democrats will win up and down the ballot. Senator Warren is an electrifying voice who will bring her incomparable energy and vision to mobilize Wisconsin students at exactly the moment it’s needed most."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren questions bank CEOs as they testify during a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Hearing on the Annual Oversight of the Nation's Largest Banks, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Sept. 22, 2022.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
In her own statement, Warren said, "Voters in Wisconsin know what is at stake in this election. Wisconsinites have the opportunity to vote for [Senate nominee] Mandela Barnes, Tony Evers, and Democrats all the way down the ballot who will fight to restore a woman’s right to choose, to bring down costs, to build an economy that works for all of us, and to attack the climate crisis head on. I’m proud to join them in this critical fight."
Barnes, too, is in a tight race to defeat incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican.
Warren joins a growing list of big-name Democrats -- including former President Barack Obama -- to hit the trail in various battleground states before Election Day.
They hope to counter the history of rough midterm elections for the party in power, plus major headwinds like high inflation, in part by focusing on Republican-backed restrictions on abortion and the extremism of some of the GOP nominees.
When asked by reporters after a gubernatorial debate on Friday whether former President Donald Trump planned to stump for the Republican ticket in Wisconsin, Brian Fraley, a communications specialist for the Michels campaign, said they would notify the press if such an event was scheduled.
Fraley said then that Obama coming to Milwaukee was a "sign" that the Evers campaign was "in trouble" because "they're calling in all the big dogs."
