Candidates make closing arguments to voters as control of Congress hangs in balance

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• Judy Woodruff:

  It is Election Day eve, and some 41 million Americans have already voted ahead of tomorrow.

  Lisa Desjardins begins our extensive coverage of the 2022 midterm elections.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Across the country, close, dramatic elections and big closing issues, including in key state Georgia.

• Holly Portier, Georgia Resident:

  Top of my mind, especially being in Georgia, is women's rights. And, of course, the economy is a concern as well, but top concern for me, women's rights.

• Liz Wynacht, Georgia Resident:

  I already voted, and economy, security, national security, those types of things.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  And as far as closing messages, Peachtree State Governor Brian Kemp stuck to that, Republicans' number one theme, the economy.

• Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA):

  We have had a great team in Georgia for a while, and that's our state is doing so well, despite Joe Biden's 40-year high inflation, a disaster at the gas pump, a disaster at the border in Washington, D.C.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Polls indicate Kemp has an edge over voting rights activist Stacey Abrams. Even more eyes, though, are on Georgia's U.S. Senate race, a must-win for Democrats.

  Incumbent Raphael Warnock is now in a dead heat with Republican challenger and former NFL star Herschel Walker. Their final plays? Words about high stakes.

  Herschel Walker (R), Georgia Senatorial Candidate: I am that warrior for God that is sick and tired of them trying to destroy this country.

• SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA):

  I think competence matters. You should ask yourself if the person you are voting for has actually demonstrated any interest in the subject matter.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  But no where are there more messages and more politicians than Pennsylvania, with its toss-up Senate race.

  Republican TV doctor Mehmet Oz's closing plan is to send messages to very different groups. He sat down with moderate U.S. Senator Susan Collins in swing Bucks County and separately appeared with President Trump in Latrobe.

  Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman brought in a president himself and one of Democrats' most popular figures, former President Barack Obama, as his Senate race closer.

  Barack Obama, Former President of the United States: Fundamental rights are on the ballot.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Current President Joe Biden finds himself with low approval ratings and his Democrats on the back foot in even some deep blue places like New York state, where he campaigned for Governor Kathy Hochul this weekend on a message about democracy.

  Joe Biden, President of the United States: Look, this election isn't a referendum. It's a choice. It's a choice between two fundamentally different visions of America.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Hochul faces a strong challenge from Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin in a state that hasn't elected a GOP governor in two decades. It is not just message, but also audience.

  Among former President Trump's other stops was this one yesterday in Miami, part of a key GOP demographic strategy this year.

  Donald Trump, Former President of the United States: The socialist, communist and Marxist direction of the radical Democrat Party is one of the biggest reasons that Hispanic Americans are joining our movement by the millions and millions and millions.

  (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

• Lisa Desjardins:

  The weekend battle of the president's also raged in Nevada, where former President Bill Clinton campaigned for vulnerable Senator Catherine Cortez Masto with a closing message of moderation.

  Bill Clinton, Former President of the United States: She doesn't go around demonizing Republicans. She just gets up and does what she thinks is right.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  But some newcomers have dominated headlines by throwing fire, like Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, one of the GOP's most high-profile election deniers, who pounds away about the border.

  Kari Lake (R), Arizona Gubernatorial Candidate: I no longer want Arizona to be overrun with drugs and have the cartels controlling this border. This is our border. And we will build that wall. We will build the wall. And they're going have to stop us from building the wall.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Aiming to stop Lake from winning is Arizona Secretary of State and Democratic candidate for governor Katie Hobbs, whose closing push is a plea for democracy.

  Katie Hobbs (D), Arizona Gubernatorial Candidate: It is a choice between sanity and chaos. It is going to be close. Every single poll has us tied. And that means we need every single person in this room to vote.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Thirty-six governor's races, as well as 35 Senate seats, and all 435 House seats are up for grabs in tomorrow's ballot.

• Judy Woodruff:

  And Lisa joins me now, along with White House correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez, to share with us what they are watching for during these final hours.

  Hello to both of you.

  And, Laura, I'm going to start with you.

  When you put it all together, what do you see as the party's closing messages, in particular from the president and others?

• Laura Barrón-López :

  So, for President Biden, as well as Democrats, it really comes down to three main things, the economy, democracy and abortion.

  And we have seen in these closing weeks that the president, as well as former President Obama, have, on the economy, focused on not just what President Biden passed, trying to show that things like the Inflation Reduction Act, specifically prescription drug reform, could eventually help people and their pocketbooks, but also Social Security and Medicare.

  And so what they're looking at specifically there and what they have seized on is proposals by Republicans to cut spending for these safety net programs. And we heard Obama, as well as President Biden, talk about this a lot when they were traveling the country in the last few weeks.

  And then, on democracy, President Biden really feels this very closely. It's part of why he ran for president when he saw threats in Charlottesville in 2017 with neo-Nazis rallying, and what the historians that talk to the president say that he really feels a need, as the president, to interject and say that he sees it as a big, defining issue this election cycle that there are a number of Republican candidates who say that they may very well not accept the election results if they lose.

• Judy Woodruff:

  And, Laura, what about the issue of abortion? It was something that the Democrats had put a lot of stock in making a difference for them. Where has it ended up?

• Laura Barrón-López :

  So, Democrats have clearly wanted abortion five months away from the Supreme Court decision to stay front of mind for voters.

  We have seen ads like one from Senator Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada really trying to strike this contrast with her opponent, Adam Laxalt, on the issue of abortion, as well as Democratic candidate for governor in Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, focusing specifically, saying that it isn't freedom to say — to tell women what they can and can't do with their bodies.

  But two quick anecdotes for you, Judy. When I was in Michigan, every Democratic voter that I talked to named abortion or democracy as the issues that were defining who they were going to vote for at the ballot box. I also recently spoke to a Pennsylvania voter, an older woman who says that she's voting for Democrats based on abortion because of the fact that she has a 16-year-old granddaughter.

  She voted for Trump in 2016, voted for Biden in 2020. And she also told me that she knows at least a dozen women who are going to vote for Democrats based on abortion and not tell their spouses or not tell their family. So, I think that there could potentially be an element there of a silent abortion voter this year.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Really, really interesting.

  So, Lisa, that's the Democrats. What about the Republicans, their closing messages?

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Well, I think, to Democrats' three points, Republican certainly have three points as well.

  And I think our viewers won't be surprised what's at the top of their message, the message they have had this entire election, inflation and the economy. They are driving that home still. But, to that, I think we're seeing them ramp up especially on crime and the idea that crime, especially in cities where there are many Democratic voters, that they would like to stay home, and suburban women outside those cities who they are hoping to bring into the Republican fold.

  Those are messages we see a lot from Republicans right now, and one more. We're seeing some Republicans, to all of these negative ads, throw in something more human. For example, Senator Ron Johnson in Wisconsin has an ad now where he's raking leaves, very — in contrast to sort of the tone we have seen for most of this campaign.

  So one of these ads that displays this is something I have been looking at it from Lee Zeldin, the Republican gubernatorial candidate in New York hoping to regain the governor's mansion there. Look at this ad. He's showing his children. first of all. That's him as a human. And then this had pivots from his children to crime.

  Now, there was a shooting in front of his house in the last month. And he's trying to make that connection while using his family to make that point.

  One other thing Republicans are running on, Judy, the answer to the democracy question for Republicans — for Democrats. They're talking about nationalism. They're trying to say that the kind of fabric of the country is at stake.

• Judy Woodruff:

  And so, Lisa, we are seeing in a number of the polls moving in the Republicans' direction. You have been talking to them. What do they think their chances are?

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Very good.

  And I think if you talk to Republicans and Democrats alike, they would all tell you and they have told me that momentum has been swinging Republicans' way in these last crucial few weeks.

  Now, when you talk about the House, first of all, Republicans need to pick up five seats in the House, as many of our viewers now. Some Republicans think they will do much better than that. And, in fact, I have spoken to Democrats who believe they could even lose 40 or more seats in this election. Is that likely? They will say no. But is it possible? Yes.

  Now to the Senate. Republicans just need to pick up one seat. And it does seem like it is a toss-up, very close, many close races, don't know how they will go. But it's interesting that some of the seats Republicans that were way out of reach like New Hampshire, where Maggie Hassan is up against Don Bolduc, suddenly is more competitive.

  So the timing here of tomorrow's vote and the vote that had been accumulated last couple of weeks really matters.

• Judy Woodruff:

  And, Lisa, one other thing, at least one other thing you have been following, and that is the number of candidates who are election deniers, the 2020 election.

  What are you seeing there?

• Lisa Desjardins:

  This is so important. This is something Laura and I have been talking about a lot and looking at.

  We have carefully looked at all of the Republican candidates for governor and secretary of state, looked at what they have said, analyzed, what are their positions on the 2020 election? Because it may tell us something important about future elections if they win.

  I want to show you the map of the secretary of state Republican nominees. In dark purple, those are Republican nominees who have flatly denied the 2020 election results. You see many of them are in states where they are likely to win, like South Dakota.

  However, some are in states that have competitive races like Arizona, where we will be watching. And I want to point out, talk about two candidates in particular, Mark Finchem, who's the secretary of state nominee in Arizona. He is a self-proclaimed member of the Oath Keepers, and, in addition, Kristina Karamo, who is the secretary of state.

  That's Mark Finchem right there. He has said he will not concede if he loses. Kristina Karamo in Michigan similarly has not said if she will concede. In fact, just today, in the last few hours, Judy, she lost a lawsuit in Detroit where she was trying to get tens of thousands of ballots thrown out. That lawsuit has been lost.

  But it may be an impetus for her say, if she loses, that she's not going to concede. All very meaningful and important to watch.

• Judy Woodruff:

  No question about it, and so glad you are continuing to do that.

  And finally, Laura, in connection with all that, these claims that the election may be — there may be rampant fraud in parts of this election, what effect is that having on the people who work around these elections?

• Laura Barrón-López :

  It's having a significant effect. And I spoke to an election official today who told me that what's keeping them up at night is the post-election period.

  So, these lies about election fraud, which, of course, there was no widespread fraud in 2020, a lot of these election officials expect this election to go off smoothly from an administrative level.

  But they're very worried that, once the polls close, and that period between polls closing and when the results are actually certified, that's what they're most concerned about.

  I also spoke to Katherine Keneally, who's with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. She tracks extremism. And she said that, already, they have seen an increase in the number of legitimate threats released across social media platforms like Gab, Facebook, threats that are being directed towards election officials, and that there has been an increase in that, and that these are very specific threats.

• Judy Woodruff:

  And I know these are all things we're going to be following very, very carefully tomorrow and tomorrow night.

  Laura Barrón-López , Lisa Desjardins, thank you both.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Thank you.

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