LIVE UPDATES
Midterm campaign live 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.
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.
![Power Trip](https://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/PowerTrip_1920x1080_FF_Now_1664207247948_hpEmbed_16x9_608.jpg)
Here is the latest from the campaign trail:
- Republican Rep. Liz Cheney endorses Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Tim Ryan
- Biden to travel San Diego on Thursday for endangered House Democrat Rep. Mike Levin
- Arizona Libertarian Senate candidate drops out of race, throws support to GOP nominee Blake Masters
- Fetterman gives first interview after post-stroke debate
- Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman cuts ad for Sen. Mike Lee
- Obama backs PA Senate candidate John Fetterman in new ads
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.
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.
Read more here.
-- ABC News' Lalee Ibssa
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."
Read more here.
-- ABC News' Libby Cathey
Midterm surrogate season brings celebrities and 2024 buzz: The Note
It's time for the famous and famous-for-Washington .
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.
Read more here.
-- ABC News' Rick Klein
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.
Barnes is in a tight race to defeat incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican.
Polling shows that Evers is in a toss-up race, too, 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."
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."
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."
-- ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett and Paulina Tam
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman cuts ad for Sen. Mike Lee
The conservative Club for Growth is putting out a new ad looking to boost Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, as he faces a tougher-than-anticipated challenge from independent Evan McMullin.
The video, backed by an $800,000 reservation, will begin airing statewide Wednesday through Election Day. The 30-second clip features former Gov. Jon Huntsman, who served one term and was later the U.S. ambassador to Russia during the Trump administration.
"There's a lot of noise out there right now, so let me tell you what I know about Mike Lee. I've worked with Mike since I was governor, and I know his heart. He has the unshakeable integrity that's all too scarce in politics. You might not always agree with Mike. I don't. But we can all agree that principled leadership and fidelity to the Constitution are paramount in difficult times. Let's send Mike Lee back to the Senate," Huntsman says in the ad.
The late buy suggests 11th-hour handwringing by some of Lee's allies over McMullin's bid.
Lee recently went on Fox News to plead with Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, for his endorsement, and the FiveThirtyEight polling average only has Lee up by about 8 points after he won reelection in 2016 by more than 40.
McMullin has centered his challenge around Lee's communications discussing methods to challenge the 2020 election results after the race was over, accusing Lee of shedding his label as a "constitutional conservative." Lee notes he did not ultimately reject to certifying the Electoral College results.
He and his allies have accused McMullin -- who previously worked as a Republican congressional aide and then ran for president in 2016 as an independent -- of now being a closet Democrat, noting that the state Democratic Party endorsed him and did not run a candidate of its own. McMullin, though, has said he wouldn't caucus with either party in the Senate.
-- ABC News' Tal Axelrod