One month out from Election Day, and the battle lines of each Senate race have been clearly drawn as candidates attack each other on everything from domestic abuse allegations to health problems.
Races from Arizona to Pennsylvania have reached fever pitch, with control of the Senate hanging in the balance. In a 50-50 Senate, any single swing state could determine which party holds a majority in the upper chamber next year.
As candidates race toward Nov. 8, here are the top five stumbling blocks they’re facing in the midterm homestretch.
Scandals
In Georgia, a bombshell report from the Daily Beast alleged on Monday that Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker payed for his former girlfriend’s abortion despite him running on an anti-abortion platform. Walker denies the claims.
This is the latest controversy for his campaign after it was revealed that he has several unacknowledged children from different women despite being a voice against fatherless households. Walker has also faced accusations of violent behavior toward his ex-wife Cindy Grossman and other women.
The allegations against Walker prompted his son Christian Walker, a conservative influencer, to denounce his father’s campaign publicly.
“I did one event last year when we were told he was going to get ahead of his past and hold himself accountable,” Christian Walker said in a video after the Daily Beast story was published. “None of that happened. Everything’s been a lie. Don’t lie about your life at the expense of me, my mom, and all of the people that you’ve affected throughout your life. You don’t get to pretend you’re some moral family guy.”
Walker’s opponent, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), has his own political baggage: His ex-wife, Ouleye Ndoye, accused him of running over her foot with a car following a 2020 dispute outside her home. The GOP has seized on the allegation, which Warnock denies, to paint him as abusive.
The allegations against Walker prompted his son Christian Walker, a conservative influencer, to denounce his father’s campaign publicly.
“I did one event last year when we were told he was going to get ahead of his past and hold himself accountable,” Christian Walker said in a video after the Daily Beast story was published. “None of that happened. Everything’s been a lie. Don’t lie about your life at the expense of me, my mom, and all of the people that you’ve affected throughout your life. You don’t get to pretend you’re some moral family guy.”
Walker’s opponent, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), has his own political baggage: His ex-wife, Ouleye Ndoye, accused him of running over her foot with a car following a 2020 dispute outside her home. The GOP has seized on the allegation, which Warnock denies, to paint him as abusive.
In Iowa, Democrat Mike Franken was accused of assault by a former staffer, who said the Senate candidate forcibly kissed her. The issue came up at the debate between Franken and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) on Thursday. Police said there wasn’t enough evidence to pursue an investigation, and Franked denies the allegations. During the debate, Franken tried to make the issue about Grassley not supporting abortion rights.
“What he’s doing is weaponizing women’s rights,” Franken said. “This is a guy who’s made it his career to ban abortion, to support unequal pay, to do nothing for paid family leave, too. Many times, he voted against the Violence Against Women Act. I don’t have a problem with this issue. He has a problem with women.”
Grassley retorted to Franken that he’s not the one accused of disrespecting a woman.
Joe Biden
A number of vulnerable Democrats have sought to dissociate themselves from President Joe Biden due to his low approval ratings.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), running for a full Senate term in Arizona, has distanced himself from Biden, saying in a debate Thursday night that the president has been “dumb” on border policy.
Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) won’t campaign with Biden. While his Republican challenger J.D. Vance happily rallies with former President Donald Trump, Ryan recently said that he does not want the current president to join him on the campaign trail, likely hoping to avoid the pitfalls of associating too closely with him. He also emphasized his opposition to some of Biden’s policies earlier this week.
“I’ve disagreed with Biden on the student loans. I’ve disagreed with Biden on a lot of other issues, Title 42 and these other issues, [I’ve] been very clear,” he said.
Cheri Beasley, the Democratic Senate nominee in North Carolina, said “we’ll have to see” when asked at a debate on Friday night if she would appear with Biden were he to visit the state. “It’s wrong to align me with anybody unless I say what my positions are,” she said.
Election denialism
Republican Don Bolduc in New Hampshire will have to overcome conspiratorial claims he made about the 2020 election if he hopes to unseat Sen. Maggie Hassan (D) in November. He’s walked back his comments about the election being stolen from Trump since winning the primary, saying, “We live and learn, right?”
“I’ve done a lot of research on this, spent the last couple of weeks talking to Granite Staters all over the state from every party,” Bolduc said on America’s Newsroom on Fox News last month. “And I have come to the conclusion that — and I want to be definitive on this — the election was not stolen. Was there fraud? Yes.”
Bolduc subsequently said he wasn’t sure if the election was stolen.
“I can’t say that it was stolen or not. I don’t have enough information,” he said at a town hall Monday. “But what I can say is that we have irregularity.”
Democrats have faced backlash for meddling in Republican primaries, Bolduc’s included, to boost candidates who support the unfounded claim that the election was stolen, betting that those Republicans would be easier to beat in the general election.
Health problems
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s health problems continue to interfere with his campaign for the state’s Senate seat. He suffered a stroke right before the primary and slowly made his way back to the campaign trail amid lingering auditory processing issues. He is expected to appear at a debate later this month, where his ability to remain under scrutiny for an extended period of time will be tested.
Gaffes
In Pennsylvania, Fetterman’s Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, is navigating attacks that he is out of touch with ordinary Pennsylvanians. The celebrity doctor added fuel to that fire in a viral video about inflation recorded at the regional supermarket Wegmans after he mispronounced the store’s name and referred to a vegetable platter as “crudites.”
Fetterman’s campaign frequently attacks Oz for the decades he lived in New Jersey, though he went to school in Pennsylvania.
