Morning Headlines - Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 | Recent News

U.S. and World Headlines

The wind is blowing in the direction of Republicans retaking the Senate majority a day before the midterm elections.
The number of paths to a GOP majority has expanded in the past six weeks, putting the party in position to win as many as 54 seats if everything goes their way.
Here’s how the GOP could take back the Senate after two years in the minority.

The Democrats’ path to holding their Senate majority has narrowed in the weeks leading up to Election Day, though it’s still a strong possibility.
High inflation, high gas prices and President Biden’s low approval numbers have taken a toll on his party, which has been forced to play defense in at least a handful of seats held by incumbents.
Democrats have leaned heavily on messaging surrounding the threat to abortion rights in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of the Roe v. Wade decision, but it is unclear if that will be enough to win over voters.
The party has just one clear-cut opportunity for a pickup, with what appear to be a few other longer shots in Wisconsin, North Carolina and Ohio.
To keep the majority, Democrats likely need a win in Pennsylvania and for its incumbents to hold on in a handful of other states.

The 2022 midterm elections this November could be the most consequential in years, possibly defying political history and resetting modern political norms as control of the House and Senate will be decided Tuesday.
Every seat in the House of Representatives is up for grabs, as are 35 U.S. Senate seats and 36 governorships. Several more down-ballot races for secretary of state, attorney general or control of state legislatures could have wide-ranging effects on the management of the 2024 presidential elections, as could hot-button issues like abortion rights, climate change and health care.
In the final week before the election, Republicans were in good position to win a majority of seats in the House to take control, as shown by the CBS News Battleground Tracker. Eight in 10 likely voters describe things in the country as "out of control," and Republicans are winning those who say this by over 20 points.
Currently, Democrats hold small majorities in the House and Senate.

When we launched our midterms forecast on June 30, Republicans had a 53 percent chance of taking over the Senate from Democrats, and an 87 percent chance of taking over the House.
We could almost have turned our servers off and let that forecast stand. Today, in our final forecast of the cycle, Republicans have a 59 percent chance of winning the Senate and an 84 percent chance of winning the House.
Before I dig deeper into this ostensible stability, a few words about the probabilistic nature of our forecast.
First, let’s talk a bit more about that final GOP Senate number, 59 percent.

The highly-anticipated drawing for the record $1.9 billion Powerball jackpot was delayed Monday night, leaving people eagerly anticipating those winning numbers.
Powerball officials released a statement early Tuesday morning saying one participating lottery is still processing its sales and play data and that all 48 participating lotteries are required to submit their data before the winning numbers can be drawn.
The statement said Powerball "has stringent security requirements to protect the integrity of the game and remains committed to holding a drawing that gives all players a fair chance to win."

A Waukesha County judge late Monday declined to issue an injunction that would’ve sequestered military absentee ballots, saying it was a “drastic” remedy that would at least temporarily disenfranchise soldiers.
GOP state Rep. Janel Brandtjen and others filed the lawsuit after a Milwaukee election official used phony names to fraudulently obtain military absentee ballots.
During the hearing, Judge Michael Maxwell asked whether a more appropriate remedy would be to require the Wisconsin Elections Commission to provide an accurate list of military voters to local clerks. They could then check military absentee ballots against the list.
But he ultimately ruled state law requires local clerks, not the commission, to maintain the list. Still, he faulted the commission for not stressing that in the guidance it provided local clerks about military absentee ballots.

As Wisconsin prepares for midterm elections on Tuesday, clerks are reminding voters that full results are likely to take time, especially with so many people expected to vote absentee.
Under Wisconsin law, clerks can’t start processing and counting absentee ballots until polls open at 7 a.m. on Election Day. If volumes are large, the process can be lengthy, said Marie Moe, the president of the Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association.
"People are expecting results as soon as the polls close and that just doesn't happen because the poll workers are busy doing their work, finishing up the election," said Moe, who is also the Portage city clerk.
By the start of the day Thursday, 593,819 absentee ballots had been returned across Wisconsin
At this point before the last gubernatorial election, only 420,015 had been returned.

The race for Wisconsin Governor in 2022 looks like it could be reminiscent of the 2018 race -- with results being extremely close.
In the past week, three polls have depicted three different states of the race, but all show support very evenly divided between Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican challenger Tim Michels.
The most recent Marquette Law School poll shows the candidates tied, each with support from 48% of voters. A Siena College poll shows Evers leading by 2%, and a poll from the Trafalgar Group has Michels ahead by 1.6%.
On Monday, both candidates said they believe polls are tilting in their favor.
"We should all have reason to be optimistic and upbeat," Michels said while campaigning in De Pere. "The polling looks really good. … You're rolling them out it was 47.3 to 47.3, but in the last week or so we're starting to separate."
Michels said he thinks he's going to beat Evers because he believes more people in the Badger State agree with his vision for the future of the state.

The race for Wisconsin's U.S. Senate seat has been razor thin with recent polls fluctuating in the single digits.
In the final hours before Election Day, both incumbent Senator Ron Johnson and challenger Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes drilled down on voter turnout.
Sen. Johnson made his closing arguments at the Waukesha County Expo alongside former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.
"This is a fight for freedom. It's not somebody else's fight. This is our fight. It's a fight that we must absolutely win," Sen. Johnson told the crowd.

Even though voter fraud is rare, in Wisconsin and nationally, many checks exist to prevent and catch it here, whether it be accidental or intentional.
In the 2020 election, approximately 0.003% of the nearly 3.3 million ballots cast in Wisconsin were submitted illegally by felons not yet eligible to vote because they hadn't completed their full sentences
That's the most common type of prohibited voting in Wisconsin, experts say. That number is also about the same amount of illegal votes cast by felons in the 2016 election, the AP noted. Former President Donald Trump won that election by about 23,000 votes.
In the wake of the 2020 election in Wisconsin, voter fraud charges have been filed against at least 24 people in 12 different counties, according to the AP. Of those, 16 were allegedly felons not yet eligible to vote.
President Joe Biden won the state in the 2020 election by about 21,000 votes.