12 days until the midterm elections: Where things stand

David Knowles

·Editor

October 25, 2018 at 1:01 PM

Tom Brezinski with service dog Suzie — Tom Brezinski, right, votes while his service dog Suzie waits patiently, Norwalk, Calif., Oct. 23. (Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)

(Countdown above in EDT)

Key races checkup:

Tuesday’s gubernatorial debate in Georgia between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp comes as polls shows the race deadlocked. While Abrams pushed for the expansion of Medicaid, Kemp painted his rival’s policies as something voters should fear. (Read more)

Party loyalty among Democrats may be the key factor in helping Bob Menendez, D-N.J., keep his seat in the U.S. Senate despite being “severely admonished” by the Senate Ethics Committee following an indictment for accepting illegal gifts. (Read more)

Democratic House candidate Gil Cisneros, a former Republican who won $266 million in the lottery and decided to take on incumbent Republican Young Kim in California’s 39th District, could help add to what is expected to be a blue wave in the Golden State. (Read more)

Must-reads:

A White House official blames “Democratic loopholes” in the law for encouraging the caravan of Central American migrants approaching the U.S. border. The official cited the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, which was supported by both parties and signed by President George W. Bush. (Read more)

GOP support for legalizing marijuana continues to rise, according to a newly released Gallup poll, which shows that 53 percent of Republicans now think weed should be legal, compared to 75 percent of Democrats and 71 percent of Independents. (Read more)