WASHINGTON — If it’s Thursday ... President Joe Biden delivers remarks on updated Covid vaccines. ... Secretary of State Antony Blinken makes another visit to Ukraine. … Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer promises a vote on a same-sex marriage bill “in the coming weeks.” ... Fetterman says he’ll debate Oz in Pennsylvania Senate, while Warnock agrees to debate Walker in Georgia Senate. ... And Trump endorses Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine.
But first: The debate over debates happens every election cycle. But in Arizona, the stakes of this debate may be even higher as Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs has refused to face her GOP rival, former local TV anchor Kari Lake.
“There is nothing I would like more than a substantive debate on the issues” Hobbs told Meet the Press NOW during a Wednesday visit to the state.
“And we are still talking to the debate organizers about how to make that work. But Kari Lake is a spectacle, and she made a spectacle during the GOP primary debate and they, so far, haven’t proposed a format that’s gonna change that.”
Lake might be a “spectacle” to Hobbs, but she’s another thing too: The Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee. GOP voters elevated Lake when they chose her in the primary, and whether Hobbs likes it or not, one of the two women will be the next governor.
With no debate agreement in sight, last night’s Arizona Chamber of Commerce forum could be one of the few times Hobbs and Lake speak at the same event. NBC News’ Vaughn Hillyard reports that Hobbs framed the race as “sanity versus chaos,” while Lake drew some applause as she once again called for a debate.
Hobbs might not want to give Lake a platform to repeat her false claims that the 2020 election was stolen (remember that Hobbs oversaw that election as secretary of state). But that doesn’t stop Lake from making those claims.
Without a debate, the two will keep campaigning in parallel, and the voters won’t have a real chance to see how the two candidates match up side-by-side on the issues. If Hobbs believes Lake’s positions are unclear or dangerous, then what better place to force that contrast than on the debate stage? That’s one of the only forums where she has the control to press Lake herself.
Debating is a risk. But refusing to debate can be one too.
Tweet of the day
Data Download: The number of the day is … 3
That’s how many times Secretary of State Antony Blinken has visited Ukraine since the war with Russia began. American officials revealed Thursday morning that he is currently in the country, meeting with officials and victims of the war.
The meeting comes as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced another $675 million defensive aid package for the country, and as America plans to make another $2 billion in investment available for Ukraine and 18 other neighboring countries to counter Russian aggression.
Other numbers to know
56%: The portion of Americans who say recent price increases are causing moderate to severe financial hardship to their household, per a new Gallup poll, up 11 points since November.
61%: The share of Americans who believe former President Trump either did “something illegal” or something “unethical but not illegal” by storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home, per a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll.
5: The number of days until Alaska Democratic Rep.-elect Mary Peltola is sworn into Congress.
7: The number of people on a nine-person FDA advisory panel that convened to approve a controversial drug for ALS, a reversal from a decision earlier this year (the final decision rests with the agency itself and is expected to come by the end of the month).
Midterm roundup: The buzz in the Beehive State
The Senate race in Utah is heating up, with independent Evan McMullin making his case against GOP Sen. Mike Lee at a rally Wednesday by tying Lee to former President Donald Trump.
Lee “quickly became a loyal sycophant for the aspiring authoritarian, trading away his oath to the Constitution to serve the unconstitutional ambitions of that one man,” McMullin said at the event, per the Salt Lake Tribune. The rally featured former Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams and former RNC Chairman Michael Steele.
McMullin is betting that Utahans will reject Trumpism, even though Trump carried the state in 2016 and 2020.
“People assume that if you vote for Trump, that means you were a supporter of everything he said or did,” McMullin recently told NBC LX’s Noah Pransky. “And it’s just not the case, especially here in Utah.”
Both McMullin and Lee have also launched new ads this week. McMullin’s spot focuses on inflation, but he also says, “Unlike Mike Lee, I won’t be a puppet for Trump or Biden or either party.” Lee, meanwhile, launched an ad where a narrator says Lee “often stands alone because he’s standing with us back home.”
Elsewhere on the campaign trail:
Arizona Senate: The Huffington Post obtained emails Arizona Republican Senate nominee Blake Masters sent to his college co-op that include one from 2006 where he said the narrative about 9/11 “may indeed be correct, but blindly accepting it would be an error.”
Georgia Senate: Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock agreed to debate Republican Herschel Walker at Walker’s preferred event, but on the condition that Walker accepts a second debate where the candidates do not know the topics in advance, per the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Ohio Senate: Ohio Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan is up with new ads that criticize Republican nominee J.D. Vance’s commitment to fighting the opioid crisis. Vance’s campaign called the ads a “bottom of the gutter political hit job.” And the Columbus Dispatch reports that Ryan’s policy proposals on electric cars differ now from what he called for on the presidential campaign trail.
Wisconsin Senate: After initially signaling he could support a bill codifying same-sex marriage protections, GOP Sen. Ron Johnson said recently that he won’t support it after all, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Johnson also said the Supreme Court’s decision legalizing same-sex marriage was “wrongly decided.”
Maine Governor: Virginia GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin traveled to Maine Wednesday to campaign with former GOP Gov. Paul LePage.
Ohio Governor: Trump endorsed Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted Wednesday, after declining to back the governor ahead of his May primary. DeWine was one of the first GOP governors to call Biden the president-elect in 2020.
Ad watch: Outside group targets Jamie McLeod-Skinner
The conservative Congressional Leadership Fund is out with a new ad attacking Democrat Jamie McLeod-Skinner in Oregon’s 5th District.
A narrator in the ad alleges that McLeod-Skinner would, “vote like San Francisco’s Nancy Pelosi,” if elected and that “she’s endorsed by defund-the-police extremists.”
McLeod-Skinner is running against Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer in a race that the GOP believes is a prime pickup opportunity. The Cook Political Report rates it a Toss Up.
The seat became more enticing for Republicans after McLeod-Skinner beat Rep. Kurt Schrader for the Democratic nomination by running to Schrader’s left, muting the power of Democratic incumbency there.
ICYMI: What else is happening in the world
A judge struck down Michigan’s 1932 anti-abortion law for violating the state’s constitution.
Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama returned to the White House Wednesday for the unveiling of their official portraits.
The Washington Post spoke to Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., about the rise in threats against lawmakers, including the night an armed man showed up at her home.
