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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
Donald Trump Jr., Tudor Dixon joke about kidnapping plot against Michigan's Democratic governor
The former president's eldest son and the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Michigan each joked about the 2020 kidnapping plot against Democratic incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
"The sad thing is that Gretchen will tie your hands, put a gun to your head and ask if you're ready to talk," Dixon said at a rally Friday in Troy. Trump Jr., stumping for Dixon and the rest of the state's Republican ticket, called the plot a "PR stunt."
When asked by ABC News at a gaggle after the rally wrapped whether the jokes were a step too far, Dixon said that "we have to have a little levity still in life." Trump Jr.'s response: "Oh, I think we also have to hold those accountable" as he accused the FBI of staging the plot.
Two men were convicted in August for conspiring to kidnap Whitmer and attempting to use weapons of mass destruction. The governor was not harmed.
The Democratic Governors Association called Dixon's comments "dangerous" and an "insult to law enforcement."
-ABC News' Paulina Tam
Ted Budd says what's happening at the border is a 'humanitarian crisis'
Taking the stage ahead of Donald Trump at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ted Budd went after President Joe Biden on several policy issues.
Budd specifically hit at the administration over high inflation being felt in North Carolina and across the country, telling the crowd he'll work to "make your life better."
The GOP candidate also touched on border issues amid an influx of apprehensions, calling it a "humanitarian crisis." Budd, however, did not mention Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis flying migrants to Martha's Vineyard as he blamed Biden for the immigration challenges.
-ABC News' Hannah Demissie
Stacey Abrams on GMA3: 'We are behind, but only by a couple of points'
Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, speaking Friday on ABC's "GMA 3," acknowledged polls showed she was running behind incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.
With only about a month and a half left before the midterm elections, Abrams said the polls were not "paying attention" to growing momentum among young voters.
A Monmouth University poll published Thursday found that Abrams' path to victory is narrower than Kemp's as more Georgia voters have ruled out voting for Abrams (46%) than Kemp (37%).
"We are behind, but only by a couple of points. And we know that these are polls that are not paying attention necessarily to the growing energy among women and young people," she said.
Abrams noted that victory may hinge on the issue of abortion, which has been moving party bases in even red states over the past primary season, along with issues like gun control, following mass shootings earlier this summer.
"Georgia is, unfortunately, one of the states with a six-week abortion ban, and that ban is animating voters. We have seen record number of women asking for absentee ballots early in the process, and we know that we're seeing the same energy on the ground," she said.
"We also know that we're a state that is number nine in gun violence and that guns are the number one killer of our children."
See more here.
Biden fires back at McCarthy's 'Commitment to America' agenda
President Joe Biden on Friday criticized House Republicans over their newly released agenda should they regain control of Congress this midterm cycle.
Speaking at a Democratic National Committee event in Washington, Biden hit the "Commitment to America" plan rolled out by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as a "thin series of policy goals with little to no detail."
McCarthy and 30 other House Republicans were in Pennsylvania earlier Friday to release the four-part agenda, which focuses heavily on the economy, immigration and crime.
"In the course of nearly an hour, here's a few of the things we didn't hear: We didn't hear him mention the right to choose, we didn't hear him mention Medicare, we didn't hear him mention Social Security," Biden countered.
Biden then mocked McCarthy for saying Republicans want to "preserve constitutional freedom" while they've celebrated the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade and GOP leaders around the country pass laws to restrict abortion. If Republicans were to win back Congress and passed a national abortion ban, Biden said Friday he would veto it -- which prompted applause from the crowd gathered at the National Education Association.
Biden again framed the November elections, which are now just 46 days away, as an inflection point for the nation between Democrats, independents and mainstream Republicans versus extreme "MAGA Republicans."
"This November you have to choose to be a nation of hope, unity and optimism or a nation of fear, division and darkness. I believe America will move forward to the future," he said.
New Trump-backed super PAC injects nearly $4 million in ad spending into key races
A new super PAC backed by former President is injecting money into key 2022 races, investing $4 million in a new round of ad spending in battleground states, according to new financial data.
The series of seven- to eight-figure ad placements from super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. on Wednesday in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia and Nevada is a last-minute boost from Trump's team ahead of the . It follows months of criticism from Trump skeptics within the GOP that the former president is not spending enough to support 2022 GOP candidates, despite his massive fundraising power.
Wednesday's placements are the second round of ad spending by the new PAC, which was launched in late September and kicked off its first round of placements in the same Senate races earlier this month.
According to ad tracking firm Ad Impact, Make America Great Again Inc.'s biggest investment in the latest ad placement was a $1 million ad buy in the race between Democrat Tim Ryan and Trump-endorsed J.D. Vance in the Ohio Senate race, followed by $770,000 in spending on the rivalry between Democrat John Fetterman and Trump-endorsed Dr. Mehmet Oz in the Pennsylvania Senate race.
Read more here.
–ABC News’ Soo Rin Kim