Election Brief: 2022 primary season concludes with fiery Republican face-offs in battleground New Hampshire

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ELECTION DAY WATCH

LAST DAY — Tuesday marks the season finale of the 2022 primary season as New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Delaware hold nominating contests. New Hampshire, a small but crucial general election battleground state, is host to the final high-profile Republican Senate and House of Representatives primaries, which throughout the past six months have pitted conservative candidates supported by mainstream Republicans against contenders often aligned with former President Trump and his MAGA loyalists. Read more from Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser:2022 primary season concludes with fiery Republican face-offs in battleground New Hampshire

TRUMP ON THE SIDELINES — As the New Hampshire primaries approached, former President Donald Trump remained neutral in the last competitive and high-profile GOP Senate nomination race to determine who will challenge incumbent Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan. But on Thursday, Republican Gov. Chris Sununu jumped into the primary, backing one of the front-runners in the showdown — New Hampshire state Senate President Chuck Morse, who is one of the front-runners in the crowded field of contenders, but trails retired Army Gen. Don Bolduc by double digits in recent polls. Read more from Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser:Trump still neutral, but Gov. Sununu endorses in New Hampshire GOP Senate primary

FIERY FINAL PRIMARY — Matt Mowers claims to be “the only one” in a crowded field of Republican candidates who can defeat two-term Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas in November’s midterm elections in New Hampshire’s First Congressional District. “Everyone sees we need a tested conservative winner and that’s exactly what we are. It’s exactly what I’ll do. Every poll shows that I’ll beat Chris Pappas,” Mowers told Fox News on Monday, on the eve of New Hampshire’s primary. Read more from Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser: MAGA faceoff in a high-profile GOP primary in key battleground district divides Republicans

KEY RACES

New Hampshire GOP Senate primaryNew Hampshire GOP First Congressional District primary

POLLS BEGIN TO CLOSE:

New Hampshire @ 7 p.m., though some towns keep polls open laterRhode Island @ 8 p.m.

TOP STORIES

DEMOCRATS’ DISTANCING DANCE — An increasing trend among top Democrats running for re-election in November’s midterms has candidates pitting themselves against their own party, as well as President Biden. But their voting records tell a different story. Read more from Fox News’ Brandon Gillespie: Top Democrats try to distance themselves from their party and Biden, but voting records tell a different story

DEBATE DODGE — Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman is facing more criticism from the press for not setting any debates with Mehmet Oz, the Republican candidate, ahead of the general election. Fetterman says he is still recovering from the stroke he suffered in May, but Oz says if he’s not up for a debate, he might not be capable of serving the state in the Senate. But Fetterman did attend a rally Sunday with Planned Parenthood: Read more from Fox News’ Aubrie Spady: John Fetterman spoke to thousands at abortion rally on 9/11, but still hasn’t agreed to debate schedule

… The Washington Post Editorial Board also called out Fetterman for not agreeing to debate before Pennsylvania voters begin sending in absentee ballots on Sept. 19. Read more from Fox News’ Alexander Hall: Washington Post Editorial Board calls out Fetterman campaign, demands he attend debate

FINAL COUNTDOWN — With eight weeks to go until November’s midterm elections, the top non-partisan political handicappers point to a toss-up between the Democrats and Republicans in the battle for the Senate majority. The Republicans are defending 21 of the 35 seats up for grabs in November, including five seats held by retiring Republicans. And three of those open seats are in the general election battlegrounds of Pennsylvania and North Carolina and the competitive state of Ohio. Read more from Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser: 11 Senate races will determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the chamber after midterm elections

MAKE AMERICA MAKE THINGS AGAIN? — President Biden visited Ohio — home to a crucial Senate showdown — lat week to showcase the groundbreaking of a semiconductor plant that he says is evidence his administration’s economic policies are working to bring manufacturing and jobs back to the heartland. “Made in Ohio and made in America is not just a slogan. It’s happening,” Biden said at the event. But he avoided his recent rhetoric about “MAGA Republicans” during the speech, where he appeared alongside Senate candidate Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio. Read more from Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser: A bipartisan Biden drops recent ‘MAGA’ rhetoric during groundbreaking stop in Ohio

(NOT) PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN: Pennsylvania Senate Democratic nominee John Fetterman’s campaign press secretary said she was “mortified to be an American” after the 2016 presidential election and shared potentially insensitive remarks about Africans and Indians in past posts shared to social media, most of which stem from her time in college. Read more from Fox News’ Kyle Morris: Fetterman’s press secretary tweeted she was ‘mortified’ to be American, made insensitive remarks on minorities

CAMPAIGN TRAIL UPDATES

BIDEN WELCOME ANY TIME — Sen. Hassan says President Biden is “always welcome” in N.H., despite her campaigning on differences with the administration. Read more: Democratic Sen. Hassan spotlights differences with Biden but says president is ‘always welcome’ in NH

HE’S BACK — Former President Obama is returning to the campaign trail. The former president will headline a fundraiser in New York City Thursday for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is the Senate Democrats’ re-election arm. Next week, Obama heads to the West Coast for a fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, House Democrats’ re-election arm. However, the former president will be doing more than fundraising. Read more from Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser: Former President Obama to hit midterms campaign trail on behalf of fellow Democrats

NEW POLITICS — A nonpartisan campaign group called New Politics is seeking to bring a new perspective to the political landscape of Washington, D.C., and local governments by electing military, AmeriCorps and Peace Corps veterans to be “service-oriented” leaders. In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, founder Emily Cherniack stressed the importance of New Politics’ mission to elect leaders intent on upholding values of service, and she explained that she was motivated by what she saw as a broken system of government. Read more from Fox News’ Brandon Gillespie: Nonpartisan campaign group seeks to bring a new perspective to politics with ‘service-oriented’ leaders

LOBBYIST LANDLORD — Fox News Digital has learned that Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., recently moved into a Lansing, Michigan, condo owned by a lobbyist, who also happens to be one of her campaign donors, in order to run for re-election in a new congressional district. Slotkin, who currently represents Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, opted to move to Lansing from her family farm in northern Oakland County, just outside of Detroit, in order to run in the newly drawn 7th Congressional District in a year when new congressional maps were drawn following the 2020 census. Read more from Fox News’ Brandon Gillespie: Democrat Elissa Slotkin moved into home of lobbyist, campaign donor to run in new district

TAX AGENT DEFENDERS — Several House Democrats facing tough re-election bids, as well as one congressional hopeful, are defending their party’s expansion of the Internal Revenue Service that was included in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, which does little to immediately address inflation in America. The billions of dollars for the IRS from the measure will go toward filling 87,000 IRS positions. Read more from Fox News’ Kyle Morris: House Democrat candidates defend Inflation Reduction Act, expansion of IRS

STOLEN ELECTION ALERT — Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, who’s running for re-election to Congress in the midterm elections, claimed during an event attended by House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., that a June special election in Texas was stolen by Rep. Mayra Flores, R-Texas, and her supporters. The remarks from Gonzalez came during a “vote blue” event at Shotz bar in Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday. “Our democracy is at stake,” Gonzalez claimed. “There’s millions and millions of dollars from outside our region and outside our state that are coming here to try to steal our elections and take away your value and take away the process that we rely on, which is elections. Read more from Fox News’ Kyle Morris: Democratic candidate Vicente Gonzalez claims Mayra Flores, supporters ‘stole’ Texas special election

POLLS & PREDICTIONS

STILL CLOSE — The Senate race in Georgia may be shifting back in the GOP’s favor, according to a new poll that shows Herschel Walker as the favorite in the midterm election over incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga. poll released Thursday suggests Walker has taken the lead in the Georgia race, one of the most closely watched Senate races in the nation, with the football legend receiving 47% support from voters in the Peach State over Warnock’s 44% support. Read more from Fox News’ Aubrie Spady:Herschel Walker closes gap with Sen. Warnock, now leads by 3 points in Georgia Senate poll

DON’T RUN, HILLARY — Several former advisers to Hillary Clinton supported the former secretary of State’s recent announcement that she will not run for president again, with one suggesting that she would not be a viable candidate due to her low approval rating with voters. Read more from Fox News’ Kyle Morris: Former Hillary Clinton advisers, supporters agree that she should not run for president

ELECTION SPOTLIGHT

FLORIDA SENATE RACE — Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., answered Fox News’ questions about the most important issues facing Florida and the nation. Democratic nominee Rep. Val Demings did not respond to requests to participate in the questionnaire from Fox News: Read more from Fox News’ Aubrie Spady: Sen. Marco Rubio on opponent Val Demings, student loan handout, Biden MAGA comments

EIGHT WEEKS TO GO…

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