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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
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.
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Kevin McCarthy's 'commitment' to voters punts on divisive choices: The Note

Perhaps as telling as is who will be on hand to help unveil it.

Alongside House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in Pittsburgh on Friday morning will be a few dozen Republican House members -- everyone from far-right firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, to New York moderate Rep. John Katko, who is retiring from Congress after voting to impeach former President Donald Trump.

Such unity comes at the expense of specific policy. The outline developed by McCarthy and his team was crowd-sourced through his members and does not include specific bills he would pledge to pass -- avoiding key details on issues including abortion, immigration and border enforcement and respect for election results.

McCarthy is skirting inside-baseball rules disputes, such as a critical one with the House Freedom Caucus that could make it easier for those members to oust a future Republican speaker -- perhaps even McCarthy himself.

Read more here.

–ABC News’ Rick Klein


In heated debate, Arizona secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem reveals he sat for Jan. 6, DOJ interview

PHOENIX -- Arizona Republican secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem revealed during Thursday's debate that he has been interviewed by both the Justice Department and Jan. 6 committee about his alleged involvement in the Capitol attack.

This was the first time Finchem has publicly confirmed speaking on the matter with federal officials.

"They asked me, why was I there? I said, 'Well, I think you already know. I was there to deliver an evidence package to Representative Paul Gosar,'" Finchem, who was subpoenaed by the committee earlier this year, told reporters after the debate.

The four-term, far-right Arizona lawmaker, who continues to espouse the "Big Lie" and is running to be the state's chief election officer, revealed the Jan. 6 interview and Justice Department involvement in a back-and-forth on the debate stage with his opponent, Democrat Adrian Fontes.

"I was interviewed by the DOJ and the J-6 commission as a witness," Finchem said. "So for him to assert that I was part of a criminal uprising is absurd. And frankly, it is a lie."

Read more here.

–ABC News' Libby Cathey


Pelosi declines to get "into the politics" of whether Biden should seek another term

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday declined to directly answer a question about whether President Joe Biden should run for office again in 2024.

At her weekly press conference, the Democratic leader said she was not "going into politics" of whether Biden should run again -- as speculation swirls over whether the party's current standard bearer will do so.

"President Biden is the president of the United States. He did a great service to our country. He defeated Donald Trump. Let's not forget that. If you care about the air we breathe, the water we drink, the education of our children, jobs for their families, pensions for their seniors, any subject you can name," she said.

"I'm not going into politics about whether the president should run or not," she added.

Pelosi's remarks come after Biden's recent comments saying a future bid may depend on "fate."

"Look, my intention, as I said to begin with, is that I would run again. But it's just an intention. But is it a firm decision that I run again? That remains to be seen," Biden told Scott Pelley on the CBS News program "60 Minutes."
On Thursday on ABC's "The View," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeated the standard line from the Biden administration, saying that the president "intends" to seek another term.

"I think he followed up and said that he intends to run," said Jean-Pierre.

"I have said that, he has said that, the vice president has said that he intends to run."

–ABC News' Mariam Khan


Beasley and Demings show how 'unique' swing-state Democrats are embracing law enforcement

During an August campaign event in Durham, North Carolina, former state Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, the Democratic candidate for Senate, proudly proclaimed that she does not support defunding the police.

"It's important that they have the resources to make sure that law enforcement officers stay safe," she said.

As Republicans have hammered President Joe Biden and Democrats, claiming they soft on crime and not supportive enough of law enforcement, Beasley and other Democrats in swing-state races have been pushing back, running advertisements touting their support for police and appearing with local law enforcement officials on the campaign trail.

For Beasley and Florida's Democratic Senate hopeful Val Demings, a state lawmaker and former Orlando police chief running against GOP Sen. Marco Rubio, that also means touting their credentials.

"I've been a judge for over two decades," Beasley said at that Durham event. "I served as a judge and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. And as a judge, I have always worked hard to uphold the rule of law as well as upholding the Constitution."

Read more here.

–ABC News’ Hannah Demissie


Newsom contrasts California's abortion, immigration views with red states

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