Midterm elections 2022 highlights: Biden launches final campaign swing with control of Congress at stake

Oprah Winfrey on Thursday snubbed onetime protege Mehmet Oz by endorsing his rival for a Pennsylvania Senate seat, Democrat John Fetterman.

"I will tell you all this: If I lived in Pennsylvania I would have already cast my votes for John Fetterman for many reasons," Winfrey said in a "virtual voting conversation," telling voters to be discerning as they cast their ballots.

Fetterman said in a statement that it was “an honor and privilege to have Oprah’s support in this race."

“She is a leader on so many issues — fighting for our democracy, passing common-sense gun reform, and ensuring racial justice," he added. "I’m grateful for Oprah’s support and trust on the issues that matter to people across the country and Pennsylvania as we close out this campaign.”

Oz, a doctor, appeared for several years as a medical expert on Winfrey’s eponymous show and later launched his own program with her assistance.

In a statement first shared with NBC News, the Oz campaign responded: “Doctor Oz loves Oprah and respects the fact that they have different politics. He believes we need more balance and less extremism in Washington.”

Winfrey said Thursday that, among others on the ballot this month, she also supports Democrats Cheri Beasley of North Carolina and Rep. Val Demings of Florida, who are running for Senate seats. She also backed Mandela Barnes in his bid to unseat GOP Sen. Ron Johnson in Wisconsin.

The midterms are everywhere — even the World Series.

John Fetterman, the Democratic Senate nominee in ultracompetitive Pennsylvania, ran an ad ripping GOP rival Mehmet Oz and asking for cash during Game 5 on Thursday between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Houston Astros.

In one image, Oz, a doctor known for his television program, is pictured on his hands and knees leaning down to a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

“Hey, Doc Hollywood, save your money,” the ad says in print letters across the photo. “Pennsylvania’s not for sale.” Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor, has portrayed Oz, a longtime New Jersey resident, as a carpetbagger who is trying to buy the seat with his own money and that of GOP interest groups.

With less than a week left until Election Day, the race is neck and neck, and groups aligned with both parties are spending heavily on a contest that could help determine which party controls the Senate.

The ad, which ran nationally, according to Fetterman adviser Rebecca Katz, asks viewers to follow a link to a Fetterman donation page.

GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said Thursday that he might not accept the results of next week's election, making him the highest-ranking elected official to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the midterms.

Asked whether he would commit to accepting the results, Johnson told reporters in Kronenwetter, Wisconsin, “I sure hope I can, but I can’t predict what the Democrats might have planned.”

Johnson said he "can't predict what they may try and do to cheat.” He also pointed to the firing of Kimberly Zapata, the deputy director of Milwaukee’s election commission, this week. Zapata was fired after she fraudulently requested that military absentee ballots be sent to a state representative, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said Thursday.

Johnson, who is seeking a third Senate term, also pointed to a judge’s siding with the Republican National Committee in its lawsuit against Green Bay election officials Wednesday to increase access for poll observers during the absentee ballot certification process.

“How deep does that corruption, how much, how deep, does that fraud go?” Johnson asked.

Johnson drew attention this year over the so-called fake elector scheme that involved Republicans’ signing bogus paperwork claiming to be state electors backing then-President Donald Trump in an alleged plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot revealed this year that a top aide to Johnson had contacted an aide to then-Vice President Mike Pence about delivering documents from alternate electors in Wisconsin and Michigan. The Pence aide shut down the request.

PITTSBURGH — Josh Shapiro is in as good a position as any Democrat running in a critical swing-state race. But he is not leaving anything up to chance.

Shapiro, the Democratic nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, enjoys a substantial and widening lead in the polls over his GOP opponent, Doug Mastriano. Still, Shapiro is spending the last week of the campaign on a barnstorming six-day, 25-stop bus tour of the state, where he is warning voters about how much is on the line in his battle against the “uniquely dangerous” Mastriano, a state senator who was outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, wants to overhaul Pennsylvania elections and has been accused of elevating antisemitism.

NBC News joined Shapiro for the first leg of his statewide bus tour Tuesday, during which he delivered four campaign speeches across western Pennsylvania. Zeroing in on his opponent, Shapiro said Mastriano’s rhetoric is making Pennsylvanians “less safe.”

Mastriano “is by far the most extreme and dangerous person to ever run for public office in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro told a small group of reporters aboard his bus. “And I think he poses a clear and present danger to democracy, our freedom and our safety.”

Read the full story here.

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said Thursday she will continue to fulfill her duties overseeing elections even as some have called for her to step aside while she seeks higher statewide office.

Hobbs, the Democratic nominee for governor, told NBC News after a campaign stop in Phoenix that she will not recuse herself from election-related duties because she “took an oath of office to do the job that voters elected me to do."

In statewide elections, Arizona’s counties conduct local elections and Hobbs’ office is responsible for aggregating them to determine results across the state.

Two former Arizona secretaries of state — one Democratic, one Republican — have suggested that Hobbs should remove herself from oversight of the election.

As a point of comparison, Georgia's then-secretary of state, Brian Kemp, did not recuse himself from similar duties during his successful bid for governor in 2018. He instead resigned after Election Day, before the final vote count was certified.

Hobbs said Thursday that she is confident she will emerge victorious in her race against Kari Lake, citing Republicans who she said are turning away from Lake because of her history of denying the 2020 election results.

“I don’t know if there is a single issue, but I will say that most of the Republicans who are publicly crossing the aisle are doing so because of this election denialism,” Hobbs said.

President Joe Biden sought to make the case to voters in New Mexico that his administration has helped strengthen the economy and reduce costs, even though polls show the majority of Americans disapprove of his handling of the economy.

At a rally in Albuquerque to help re-elect Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Biden highlighted the decline in the unemployment rate, the drop in gas prices since the summer, the increase in manufacturing jobs, student debt relief and reductions in the prices of prescription drugs as examples of how he has helped improve the economy since he took office.

"The economy is up, price inflation is down, real incomes are up, gas prices are down and need to come down more. Exports are also up, which means a simple thing: We're making a lot of money in America. Because of that, guess what? We're exporting products we made, rather than jobs," Biden told the crowd.

In a state heavily dependent on oil production, Biden blamed high gas prices on oil companies, citing higher profits and disputing accusations by Republicans that he has stifled domestic oil production.

"These outrageous profits are the windfalls of war," Biden said. "Earlier this week, I've made clear that the industry has a choice: either invest in America or pay higher taxes for excess profits and face restrictions."

A top Wisconsin election official was fired after she fraudulently requested that military absentee ballots be sent to a state representative, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said Thursday.

In postings on Facebook and Twitter, Johnson said he had removed the deputy director of the Milwaukee Election Commission after he learned about the allegations. In remarks to reporters, Claire Woodall-Vogg, the executive director of the commission, identified the woman as Kimberly Zapata.

“I will not accept, I will not tolerate, and I certainly will not defend any misrepresentation by a city official involved in elections," Johnson said.

In a news release Monday, state Rep. Janel Brandtjen wrote that she was surprised to find three military ballots sent to her home last month from clerks in Menomonee Falls, South Milwaukee and Shorewood.

"I believe someone was trying to point out how easy it is to get military ballots in Wisconsin. Registration for military ballots is not requested, so a fictitious name and birthdate is all that is required to obtain a military ballot online," Brandtjen said.

The Milwaukee County district attorney's office said in a statement that it is reviewing election fraud allegations and that charges are expected in the coming days.

NBC News asked Zapata and the Milwaukee Election Commission for comment.