Democrats in key swing states, including Arizona and Michigan, have refused to face opponents who that the 2020 race was stolen from former President .

These Democratic politicians say they want to avoid combative spectacles with people who are system without evidence -- suggesting their rivals are too far outside the mainstream to be worth engaging.

But that choice is not without criticism as some outside experts note it has strategic value, too.

"Candidates who are ahead in the polls and believe that they will be able to win without debates are advantaged by not debating. They will find a reason to justify their decision -- and in this case, what you're seeing is a reason to justify a decision among candidates who believe they're going to be able to win without debating," Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a political scientist at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, told ABC News.

Some major Republicans, like Nevada Senate hopeful Adam Laxalt, have so far also opted against debates.

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–ABC News’ Libby Cathey, Paulina Tam and Will McDuffie

What Herschel Walker has survived as a Senate candidate has already been remarkable.

What Walker has to fend off and explain away from here will be another level entirely.

A Daily Beast report alleging that the GOP Senate candidate in Georgia paid the cost of a woman's abortion brought a swift denial from Walker Monday night, as well as a threat of a lawsuit. Then came a tweet thread from his adult son -- a well-known conservative personality in his own right -- bringing new allegations and pronouncing himself "done" with his father's campaign.

"Every family member of Herschel Walker asked him not to run for office, because we all knew (some of) his past," tweeted Christian Walker, who has often used his voice to praise Republican politicians, though seldom his father.

The candidate's Fox News appearance late Monday is unlikely to calm GOP jitters about his campaign. He called the Daily Beast's claim a "flat-out lie," and explained a bank deposit receipt with an image of a $700 check that appeared to be signed by Walker by saying, "I send money to a lot of people."

The latest report came after torrents of other revelations -- about questionable business ventures, fathering other children he didn't previously acknowledge and -- that have concerned his fellow Republicans since before he won his primary.

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–ABC News’ Rick Klein

Herschel Walker, a Georgia football icon and U.S. Senate hopeful, has denied a report in the Daily Beast that an ex-girlfriend claimed he paid the cost of her abortion more than 10 years ago, a claim that would seem to contradict his anti-abortion posture on the campaign trail.

Walker, a Republican, immediately denied the claim and promised to file a defamation lawsuit against the Daily Beast, which published the story, on Tuesday morning. Walker later appeared on Fox News Channel's "Hannity," where he issued additional denials.

"I can tell you right now, I never asked anyone to get an abortion," Walker told Sean Hannity. "I never paid for an abortion -- it's a lie."

The Daily Beast reported Monday that an unidentified woman who claimed to be Walker's ex-girlfriend said she sought a medical abortion after the couple conceived in 2009. The woman shared documentation with the news outlet: a receipt from an abortion clinic, a bank deposit receipt with an image of a $700 check that appeared to be signed by Walker sent within a week of the abortion and a "get well" card that appeared to be signed by Walker.

Read more here.

–ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa

The story of the midterms has yet to be written. But with barely a month to go before Election Day, a striking array of narratives are competing for attention -- any or all of which could wind up being of outsized consequence.

There could be an October surprise in the form of a foreign-policy crisis – with a cornered Russian President Vladimir Putin challenging the world community and threatening further disruptions as a bad play on Ukraine turns worse.

A jolt could also come domestically -- with another round of inflation data looming and Republicans getting traction with messaging around crime and immigration, both of which could easily begin resonating more.

And the Supreme Court might not be done making headlines. A new term starts Monday with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on the bench, but with an ascendant conservative majority in a stronger place than ever in recent history as cases impacting affirmative action, gay rights, environmental protections and state legislative powers come up for argument.

Read more here.

–ABC News’ Rick Klein

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday continued his ongoing duel with red state governors, championing liberal policies on abortion and immigration in the face of some Republican leaders' moves on those issues.

Newsom, who is speculated to be a potential 2024 presidential contender (which he has played down), used his gubernatorial reelection campaign funds to place advertisements in six states with limited abortion rights after the Supreme Court’s June decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade.

All of the Newsom-funded billboards advertise that California is ready to help residents who are seeking an abortion.

“You do not need to be a California resident to receive abortion services,” one billboard said.

In a tweet on Thursday, Newsom announced that he would be responding to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott having transported immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts and to Washington, D.C. -- which DeSantis and Abbott say is in protest of Democratic border policies -- by requesting the Department of Justice investigate their efforts.

“I’m formally requesting the DOJ begin an immediate investigation into these inhumane efforts to use kids as political pawns,” Newsom wrote in a tweet, accompanied by the his request, addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Newsom has shot proverbial arrows at DeSantis before -- in August sending money across the country to help Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Charlie Crist defeat DeSantis this November.

-- ABC News' Isabella Murray