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Kyiv asked MIDTERM ELECTIONS

to show it House
is open to vote
negotiation
nearly
White House seeking
to shore up support for
Ukraine as war takes toll
split
POLL IMPLIES STEEP
BY M ISSY R YAN, J OHN HILL FOR DEMOCRATS
H UDSON AND P AUL S ONNE

The Biden administration is GOP has edge on

privately encouraging Ukraine9s economy, voter turnout
leaders to signal an openness to
negotiate with Russia and drop
their public refusal to engage in BY D AN B ALZ,
peace talks unless President S COTT C LEMENT
Vladimir Putin is removed from AND E MILY G USKIN
power, according to people famil-
iar with the discussions. Republicans hold significant
The request by American offi- advantages on the bread-and-but-
cials is not aimed at pushing ter issues of the economy and
Ukraine to the negotiating table, inflation that are central con-
these people said. Rather, they cerns of this fall9s election, and are
called it a calculated attempt to poised to claim a majority in the
ensure the government in Kyiv House in Tuesday9s election, ac-
maintains the support of other cording to a Washington Post-
nations facing constituencies ABC News poll.
CAROLINE GUTMAN FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
wary of fueling a war for many Voters9 intentions for the
years to come. House are split about evenly, with
The discussions illustrate how 49 percent of registered voters
complex the Biden administra- saying they will vote for the Re-
tion9s position on Ukraine has be- publican candidate in their dis-
come, as U.S. officials publicly trict and 48 percent saying they
vow to support Kyiv with massive will vote for the Democrat. Likely
sums of aid <for as long as it takes= voters split 50 percent Republi-
while hoping for a resolution to can and 48 percent Democratic.
the conflict that over the past If recent history is a guide,
eight months has taken a punish- Democrats need a clear lead in
ing toll on the world economy and this measure to hold off Republi-
triggered fears of nuclear war. can gains. Many more Democrat-
While U.S. officials share their ic seats are considered toss-ups,
Ukrainian counterparts9 assess- according political handicappers,
ment that Putin, for now, isn9t putting the party at a disadvan-
serious about negotiations, they tage heading into Tuesday. At this
acknowledge that President Vo- point four years ago, when they
lodymyr Zelensky9s ban on talks swept to power in the House in a
SEE UKRAINE ON A19 rebuke to President Donald
Trump, Democrats held a seven-
Exclusive: Russia works to subvert point advantage on voters9 inten-
Moldova9s government. A21 tions. But when Republicans had
big victories in 2010 and 2014,
they had somewhat bigger pre-
election advantages than the cur-

Ex-boyfriend rent poll shows.

With Republicans needing to
win a net of five seats to take
implicated in control of the House, Democrats
SEE POLL ON A10

killing of 4 49
in Md. home percent of registered voters saying
they will vote for the Republican
candidate in their district
BY J USTIN J OUVENAL
AND T OM J ACKMAN

Darin Mann returned home SHURAN HUANG FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
48
from work Friday afternoon and TOP: President Biden and former president Barack Obama campaign in Philadelphia with Pennsylvania9s Democratic nominee for percent of registered voters saying
made a horrific discovery inside governor, Attorney General Josh Shapiro, left, and nominee for the U.S. Senate, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. ABOVE: Mehmet Oz, the state9s they will vote for the Democratic
his Charles County, Md., home, his Republican nominee for the Senate, speaks at a rally in Latrobe featuring former president Donald Trump. candidate in their district
brother Robin Mann said: five
people dead in a violent rampage,
including his ex-wife and adult
son and daughter.
The Charles County Sheriff9s
Office said Saturday that the scene
As races tighten, Election Day 3 presidents make pitches for Pro-Trump
was a quadruple murder-suicide.
Andre Sales, 28, of La Plata, is
prognosis remains murky their parties in Pennsylvania youth group
suspected of entering the home
and killing four people there,
shooting some and stabbing oth-
This article is by Hannah Knowles,
Liz Goodwin, Marianna Sotomayor,
Republicans need to pick up
just five seats to win back the
C OLBY I TKOWITZ,
BY
I SAAC A RNSDORF
flation. <Unfortunately, we have so
many bad things happening to our
transforms
ers. The victims were his ex-girl-
friend, Sara Mann, 21; her brother,
Joanna Slater
and Gregory S. Schneider
House, but the atmosphere is so
murky that some Democratic
AND Y ASMEEN A BUTALEB country. We can9t celebrate until
we start winning,= said the former
Arizona GOP
Kai Mann, 18; their mother, Som- strategists privately acknowledge philadelphia 4 On one end of president, who has spent much of
maly Mann, 48; and a fourth man, Democrats this weekend are that a loss of 20 seats would be a this state, President Biden and the election season airing griev- BY Y VONNE W INGETT
Jovon Watson, 23, of nearby White bracing for potentially steep loss- good night. The outcome is less former president Barack Obama ances and promoting false claims S ANCHEZ
Plains, who was an acquaintance, es in the House and scrambling to predictable in the Senate, as launched a tag team attack on about the 2020 election. AND I SAAC S TANLEY- B ECKER
the sheriff9s office said. retain control of the Senate and uncertainty hangs over contests Republican candidates, excoriat- The extraordinary convergence
Sales then shot and killed him- governorships around the coun- in Georgia and Nevada, long ing them as extremists posing a of the current president and his phoenix 4 The young conserva-
self with a gun, which authorities try as a midterm election season considered dead heats, and races threat to the country9s founda- two predecessors in Pennsylvania tive activist had a plan, and he
said was recovered. that bore some surprises comes for Democratic-held seats in Ari- tions. <MAGA Republicans,= as on the Saturday before the elec- wanted the veteran Arizona
The motive remains under in- to a close by adhering to conven- zona and New Hampshire and a Biden put it in his first joint cam- tion highlighted the broad politi- House speaker to push it.
vestigation, but the sheriff9s office tion, with the party out of power Republican-held seat in Pennsyl- paign appearance of the midterms cal implications of the state this The two men huddled at a
is examining whether the attack claiming momentum. vania have all tightened in the with Obama. year and beyond. The presidential barbecue joint in January as the
was the result of an ongoing do- Republicans are well- final stretch, boosting GOP hopes On the other, former president split-screen came in a state starkly activist 4 Tyler Bowyer, the chief
mestic dispute. Sales was the fa- positioned to retake the House as to net the one seat required to Donald Trump, who started the reflecting the country9s divisions operating officer of the pro-
ther of Sara Mann9s two young they have moved aggressively gain control of the upper cham- combative movement Biden nod- and it offered a potential glimpse Trump youth group Turning
children, Robin Mann said. And into Democratic territory by tap- ber. Meanwhile, Democrats are ded to and wore his signature red of 2024, with Trump and Biden in Point USA 4 unspooled his de-
authorities said he once lived in ping into voters9 anxiety about suddenly on the defensive in the hat bearing its slogan, took the recent months each signaling an mands: Republican legislators,
the home where the slayings took inflation and crime, and have governor9s race in New York, long stage at a rally for those GOP intention to run again. he insisted, should carve up
place. benefited from disapproval of a stronghold for the party, and in contenders, attacking Democrats <This crowd9s so loud I think booming and fast-diversifying
Maryland court records show President Biden9s leadership. SEE MIDTERMS ON A4 over crime, immigration and in- SEE PENNSYLVANIA ON A12 Maricopa County, diluting the
an unidentified person obtained a power of Democrats in a state

7
restraining order against Sales in Sunday Take: How will Democrats Herschel Walker: Amid scandals, Michigan: GOP candidates finding Connecticut: House seat may flip that had helped deliver Joe Biden
SEE ATTACK ON A11 respond if GOP seizes House? A2 candidate wants <redemption.= A3 that Trumpism goes only so far. A6 to GOP in Biden-voting district. A14 SEE ARIZONA ON A16

ARTS..................................................................E1 CLASSIFIEDS...................................................G10 LOTTERIES.........................................................C3 TRAVEL .............................................................. F1

CONTENT © 2022
BOOK WORLD....................................................B1 COMICS......................................................INSERT OBITUARIES.......................................................C8 WEATHER ........................................................ C12
The Washington Post / Year 145, No. 53296
BUSINESS..........................................................G1 EDITORIALS/LETTERS...................................... A25 STOCKS.............................................................G6 WORLD NEWS..................................................A20
A2 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST . SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022

KLMNO
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has revealed how many
C O R R E C TIO N Americans 4 no matter how
deeply partisan at the polls 4
SHURAN HUANG FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
long for a return to some sense of
l An article in today9s Arts & civility, to a quieter time, to more The U.S. Capitol on Aug. 6. This is the first election since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.
Style section, which was printed effective governance and less
in advance, about the 25th attention to the shouters. My And how prepared are they to and with talk of impeaching Gallup reported last month that focusing on crime, with Fox
anniversary of <The Lion King= colleagues Marc Fisher and address questions about the Biden? Americans <are more likely now News amplifying that message,
incorrectly says that <The Lion Meagan Flynn captured this shape of their own party if Republicans have well-known than at any time over the past helped to stall the Democrats9
King= moved from Broadway9s sentiment in a story last week Republicans have a good night weaknesses, but the midterm five decades to say there is more late summer momentum. This
New Amsterdam Theatre to the from Virginia, but it is on Tuesday? campaigns have also exposed crime in their local area than election, he wrote, will be
Minskoff Theatre to make room widespread. If Republican gains are problems that Democrats will there was a year ago.= Illegal remembered for, among other
for the musical <Aladdin.= The The midterm climate, minimal, say a dozen seats in the have to address no matter the immigration adds to the sense of things, <labeling the Democrats
show moved to the Minskoff to however, has made those hopes House, Democrats will feel they election results. That debate has disorder. as 8pro-crime.9 =
make room for <Mary Poppins.= seem distant. did pretty well. Stocktaking will already started, and the volume In New York, the issue of crime He went on to write: <When
This is the first election since be more difficult. Even if losses will increase after the election. It has put Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) voters in our survey were asked
the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the are in the range of the historical goes to the basic questions of into a tighter-than-expected race what they feared the most if
The Washington Post is committed to Capitol. The pandemic disrupted average for midterms 4 about who the Democrats are, whom against Rep. Lee Zeldin (R). At Democrats win full control of the
correcting errors that appear in the lives, and even though the two dozen seats 4 Democrats they do or should represent, and this late stage of the campaign, government, 56 percent rushed
newspaper. Those interested in number of coronavirus cases has might sidestep an internal whether they are speaking she has been forced to call in to choose 8crime and
contacting the paper for that purpose declined, the return to normalcy debate, choosing instead simply effectively on the issues that Democratic reinforcements, homelessness out of control in
can:
Email: [email protected].
has been elusive. People prefer to bash the GOP 4 under the matter most to voters. including Vice President Harris cities and police coming under
Call: 202-334-6000, and ask to be order to disorder, and right now dominance of former president On the economy, Biden has and former secretary of state attack,9 followed by 43 percent
connected to the desk involved 4 much seems disorderly. Donald Trump 4 as being radical sought, understandably, to Hillary Clinton. If that9s the who chose 8the southern border
National, Foreign, Metro, Style, Sports, Republicans have seized on this and extreme while vowing to highlight any good news, but at reality in a state as deep blue as being open to immigrants.9 Those
Business or any of the weekly sections. to drive their election message resist. the expense of acknowledging New York, imagine the pressure two outpointed voters9 worries
Comments can be directed to The that Democrats should be There are good reasons to more directly the bad news. on candidates in swing districts. about Congress banning
Post9s reader advocate, who can be removed from power in question the state of the Friday9s jobs report, which Democratic strategists point abortion nationally and women
reached at 202-334-7582 or Congress. Democrats, starting Republican Party and its showed the economy adding to the fact that embattled losing 8equal rights.9 =
[email protected]. with the president, have not been readiness to govern seriously. another 261,000 jobs, was a sign candidates haven9t ignored crime One other problem Democrats
able to counter this or effectively Trump9s influence has brought that the country is not in a as an issue. They have been have faced this fall is the absence
change the subject. forward a group of politicians recession (though most addressing it in their campaign of a clear and strong national
This has been an unusual year, who, if elected, will roil the GOP Americans believe it is, according ads with regularity, noting that messenger. Democratic
with some unexpected twists and and the country. Election deniers to some polls). Inflation remains they favor funding, not candidates have needed someone
turns. Early voting is setting are running races as Republicans at a four-decade high and has defunding, the police. to amplify their local-market ads.
records for midterm elections in all over the country; if voted in, been a persistent problem for Republicans have painted with a Biden has not been that person.
some states, and perhaps they could threaten future more than a year. People know broad brush, casting Democrats Biden9s efforts to talk up the
Democrats will spring some elections. that grocery and gas prices are as the party that favors economy have fallen flat. And he
surprises in the end. But the Republicans have not put up, even if gas prices came down defunding law enforcement, even hasn9t been welcome in some of
party, understandably, is braced forward a true governing some over the summer. Voters if people like Biden opposed such the most competitive races by
for trouble. The midterm program. Do they really have an who worry most about the talk from the start. Voters have struggling Democratic
elections of 2006, 2010, 2014 and answer to the current high rate of economy are tilting to the GOP. often trusted Republicans more candidates. As Democrats absorb
2018 saw one or both houses of inflation? Are they really Crime has been a Republican to handle the issue of crime, and the lessons of this election cycle
Congress change hands. Why prepared to scale back U.S. focus all year. National figures that9s the case again this year. and look toward 2024 and the
should 2022 be any different? support for Ukraine? Or will a showed no statistically Democratic pollster Stanley B. expected announcement by
Could Democrats have done Republican-controlled House significant increase in violent Greenberg, writing in the Trump that he will run for
more to deal with the issues that make its mark through crime in 2021 over 2020, but that American Prospect a few days president again, this too will be
are most important to voters? investigations of Hunter Biden isn9t what the public perceives. ago, said Republican ads part of the discussion.

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Feb. 29, 2020 Jan. 2021 Jan. 2022 Nov. 3
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shooting at vehicles with a rifle. No other details were DEATHS East River. Videos posted online
State police said that troopers immediately released. Total 1,068,557 showed people hanging out of
from Bloomsburg found the man 4 Associated Press 7-day average 328 4k apartment windows as
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A Name You Trust
Feb. 29, 2020 Jan. 2021 Jan. 2022 Nov. 3
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floor apartment from a lithium
battery connected to a
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Thirty-eight people were
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6-MONTH CD
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* 4 Associated Press

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022 . THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A3

Politics & the Nation

1 dead, damage widespread as tornadoes hit Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas
BY A DELA S ULIMAN Meanwhile, winds changing moved northeast at 55 mph. It
AND M ATTHEW C APPUCCI direction with height helped in- later hit the west side of Paris,
duce wind shear, which imparted Tex., then continued north and
Authorities in parts of Texas, rotation to the storms. destroyed much of the town of
Oklahoma and Arkansas were November tornado outbreaks Powderly. Two dozen people were
assessing damage early Saturday do not occur as regularly as their injured by the tornado, and a
after tornadoes struck overnight, spring counterparts, but they9re disaster declaration has been is-
killing at least one person, injur- not uncommon. sued for Lamar County.
ing at least two dozen and dam- Another rotating supercell
aging scores of buildings, officials The worst storms paralleled its predecessor about
said. Early Friday afternoon, the Na- 30 to 40 miles to the east. It first
Seventeen tornadoes were re- tional Weather Service Storm dropped a highly photogenic tor-
ported, but the count was likely Prediction Center took the un- nado near Sulphur Springs, Tex.,
to grow Saturday as the scope of usual step of announcing a level 4 about 55 miles east-northeast of
the damage becomes clear. out of 5 <moderate risk= for se- Dallas off Interstate 30.
In McCurtain County in south- vere weather. The red zone cov- An additional tornadic super-
eastern Oklahoma, one death ered extreme northeast Texas, cell, once again about 30 or 40
was confirmed by county emer- southeast Oklahoma and south- miles to the east, passed north of
gency manager Cody McDaniel. west Arkansas, including the cit- Daingerfield and then hit the
<Roads are still blocked, and we ies of Paris, Tyler and Hot town of Naples, Tex. It then
are trying to cut into those plac- Springs. Paris was later hit by a crossed Highway 77 and paral-
es,= McDaniel told the local news tornado, and Tyler and Hot leled 67 northeast as it trucked
outlet Fox 23 on Friday, adding Springs both were at least par- toward New Boston, where it
that there was <one fatality in tially included in tornado warn- leveled structures on the west
McCurtain County tonight.= He ings. side of town. Debris was lofted to
did not provide further informa- It9s only the fourteenth time near 30,000 feet, suggesting a
LM OTERO/ASSOCIATED PRESS
tion on the fatality. since 2002 that a moderate risk high-end EF3 or EF4 tornado
In a statement posted online Logan Johnson, 11, carries a sign that reads <Thankful= on Saturday after he recovered it from his has been issued in November, with winds potentially in the 150
early Saturday, county officials family's destroyed home after a tornado hit in Powderly, Tex., just after 4 p.m. local time Friday. underscoring the relative rarity to 170 mph range.
urged people to <stay away from of such a high-end event in the The storms formed as a result
damaged areas= and fallen power extreme weather, the office of operations, the statement said, reports, stating that at least <four autumn. of a potent mid-level disturbance
lines in areas including Idabel, Sherriff Scott Cass said in a state- adding that Lamar County Judge houses have sustained damage,= Forecaster confidence was ini- 4 a pocket of frigid air, low
Broken Bow and Pickens. Teams ment late Friday. Brandon Bell declared an official but no injuries had been reported tially shaky as to how likely pressure and spin nestled within
of first responders and experts It said the tornado hit the disaster in the area, a procedural late Friday. tornadoes would be. By the early a dip in the jet stream. That
were assessing the damage, going region just after 4 p.m. local time step toward obtaining federal as- The tornadoes formed along a evening, a string of four or five trigger ejected out of New Mexico
<block to block, house to house to Friday and affected areas includ- sistance and funding. His decla- combination cold front/dryline main rotating supercells had be- during the late morning hours
do a thorough assessment,= the ing Beaver Creek, Powderly, ration said that <at least two 4 or the boundary between cool, come established, and as they before passing over the Texas
statement said. The Red Cross set Hopewell and Caviness. No dozen people were injured dry air surging in from the north- tapped into the low-level jet Panhandle. Thunderstorms
up a shelter at a local church for deaths were reported, but 10 around the county,= the local west and encroaching into a stream, they became tornado fac- erupted along and ahead of a
those who were displaced from people were being treated at Par- Paris News publication and the warm, humid Gulf of Mexico air tories. surface cold front, growing into a
their homes, it added. is Regional Medical Center. Two Associated Press reported. mass that was trying to creep One rotating thunderstorm be- dynamic environment favoring
In northeast Texas, at least 50 of them were <critical but stable,= In nearby Hopkins County, north. That clash brewed strong came established just northeast strong tornadoes.
homes were damaged or de- the statement said. home to the Texas city of Sulphur to severe thunderstorms that of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro-
stroyed in Lamar County, close to Teams would be assessing the Springs, officials urged residents towered 40,000 to 50,000 feet plex, strengthening around the Helier Cheung contributed to this
the Oklahoma border, by the damage and helping in cleanup to take shelter amid the tornado tall. time of the evening commute as it report.

Herschel Walker
hopes voters bring
8redemption9
Senate nominee from Georgia remains drowning
in scandals as election nears
BY M ARY J ORDAN there have been so many news
reports about Walker9s past that
pooler, ga. 4 After they had they didn9t know what to believe,
said prayers and sung the final and so decided not to weigh the
<Hallelujah!= on a recent Monday candidate9s moral character as
evening, the Relentless Church they once would have. They said
Bible study group turned to the they have tuned out what they
Georgia Senate race. called the <chatter= and <noise.=
Republican nominee Herschel And yes, many said they know
Walker has faced a number of Walker is <a flawed candidate,=
scandals, including an allegation but they are willing to forgive his
by his ex-wife that he put a gun to past to focus on their future.
her head in 2005 and threatened What mattered most was that he
to kill her, and more recent claims was a Republican who could de-
by two former girlfriends that he liver a ban on abortions and an
pressured them to have abor- end to Democratic control in the
tions. And yet, Walker still has Senate.
such strong support that his race <Especially in these times, we
against Democratic Sen. Raphael all have to learn to muzzle our
G. Warnock is considered a toss- ears because there is so much
up. The contest is one of a handful ying-yang goin9 on,= said Larry
NULL SEAN RAYFORD FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
that could determine which party Ward, 49, a roofer who also joined
controls the Senate after Tues- the Bible discussion. He was tun- Gail Barraza, left, Martha Amos and Ryan Houtz, right, during a Relentless Church Bible study group on Oct. 24 in Pooler, Ga. Those at
day9s midterm elections. ing out the <negative,= he said, the gathering voiced support for Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker despite the controversies surrounding him.
Walker has said he is a new and basing his vote on the <non-
man, <redeemed by the grace of negotiables.= Asked what those Biden. and justice for all. Republican Party, including Sen. bunch of women, threatened to
God.= It9s a message that reso- were, he began by saying, <Are we Trump urged Walker, a long- There is a huge divide among Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and kill us, and had us move over 6
nates with Gail Barraza and other looking for handouts or a work time friend, to run against War- Christians over abortion and oth- Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), have times in 6 months running from
members of her church, who say ethic?= nock and capitalize on his huge er political issues. Warnock is a come to Georgia to campaign your violence.= The two ex-
they are not focused on Walker9s The pastor of Relentless, Kyle name recognition in this football- Baptist preacher who supports with Walker, because his victory girlfriends said he pressured
past, but on his current pledge Garrison, 36, who also attended obsessed state. Trump narrowly abortion rights. During a debate could tip the balance of power in them into having abortions years
that he will be a Republican sena- the Bible session, made it clear he lost Georgia in 2020, winning last month, he said: <A patient9s the Senate. ago, and call him hypocritical for
tor who would support a national will vote for Walker because the 49.3 percent of the vote to Biden9s room is too narrow and small and Democrats are pouring money supporting a strict abortion ban
abortion ban. Republican agenda is <more 49.5 percent. But one group that cramped for a woman, her doctor into the race, too. Former presi- nationwide now.
<We all have done wrong,= Bar- aligned with God9s values.= Garri- came through for Trump was and the U.S. government. . . . I dent Barack Obama flew to Atlan- Not all of those who say they
raza, 64, said when asked about son said that God sometimes uses evangelical Christians 4 89 trust women more than I trust ta last Friday, praising Warnock will vote for him find it easy.
some of Walker9s false state- flawed people to do good things percent voted for him, according politicians.= For much of the race, at a rally that drew thousands. He <It9s a difficult choice,= said
ments, including that he was his and that Walker could help Re- to AP VoteCast. And Walker is he has focused on the issues, also took a shot at Walker, saying Colleen Suddath, 61, a member of
high school9s valedictorian. <Who publicans regain control of the focusing heavily on them, appear- especially lowering prescription voting for a candidate <who car- Relentless and its Bible study.
are we to judge?= Senate 4 a fact blaring on Geor- ing at many evangelical churches drug prices and helping veterans, ries around a phony badge and One Republican noted that
<If you waited for the perfect gia airwaves in the final days of and constantly talking about his but as Walker has gained in the says he9s in law enforcement like there are barely any Walker yard
candidate, you would never vote the campaign. Christian faith and redemption. polls, he has hit back at him. he9s a kid playing cops and rob- signs. Even along U.S. Route 80,
again,= agreed Leah Houz, 29, According to many Republican On the stump, Walker often <This is a man who lies about bers= isn9t the way to address the main road through Pooler,
who hosted the Bible study in her voters, especially those who call responds to criticisms from War- the most basic facts of his life,= concerns over crime. there were clusters of signs for
home in this small, mostly White themselves conservatives, Demo- nock by arguing that he is a <a Warnock said recently about his Obama also raised the GOP Republican candidates 4 includ-
suburb of Savannah, the crats have not done enough to pastor who doesn9t even believe opponent. <If we can9t trust him nominee9s <issues of character= ing many for Rep. Earl L. <Buddy=
majority-Black city where War- address crime, inflation, gasoline in redemption.= In an ad released to tell the truth about his life, how and called Walker a <celebrity Carter, the city9s former mayor
nock grew up. prices and immigration. Garrison shortly after the first woman ac- can we trust him to protect our who wants to be a politician.= who is running for reelection to
Many Walker supporters inter- added that he also believes there cused Walker of paying for her to lives and our families and our Walker9s response was to stay Congress 4 but only one small
viewed here over three days last is an <over-acceptance= of <homo- have an abortion, the candidate children and our jobs and our on his religious messaging. <I9m sign for Walker.
month are willing to forget 4 or sexual rights= and that the coun- says, <I9m Herschel Walker, saved future?= not a celebrity,= he said. <I9m a But Suddath is not happy with
at least not think too much 4 try <needs a new direction.= by grace.= Walker said he graduated from warrior for God.= Biden and thinks Warnock just
about the allegations against him It wasn9t just the moms jug- That messaging works for the University of Georgia in the Even as Walker keeps repeat- follows the Democratic agenda.
because he supports a Republi- gling jobs and kids, or the busy many of the voters he is trying to <top 1 percent,= when in fact he ing <God forgave me,= he is vague She said Walker better represents
can agenda that aligns with their shop owners, or the many active- win over. never graduated, leaving in his on why he needed forgiveness. what her state wants. She blamed
beliefs. duty and retired military mem- According to Pew Research, 63 junior year for the NFL. Walker Sometimes he refers to his 2008 Biden for soaring gas prices. She
Walker, a Georgia football leg- bers living here, who said they percent of Americans identify as has also said he worked in law book 4 in which he talks about also worries that Democrats will
end who was urged by former didn9t really know much about Christian and 40 percent as Prot- enforcement, a claim that has his <dissociative identity,= or mul- try to expand the Supreme Court
president Donald Trump to run Walker9s troubled past. Mainly estant. Pew further found that 24 been debunked. Still, at a debate tiple personality, disorder 4 and to take control of it 4 a scenario
for Senate, has made faith a cen- they knew he was No. 34, a percent of adults consider them- last month, he flashed a sheriff9s says God helped him overcome frequently raised by Republican
tral part of his pitch to evangelical Heisman Trophy winner and one selves born-again or evangelical badge and later released a video his mental illness. He denied ads and one that Warnock has not
voters, a group whose support of the greatest running backs in Protestants. Georgia has one of in which he posed with a sheriff knowing the first woman who declaratively spoken out against.
would be key to his candidacy. He University of Georgia history. the highest numbers of those and insisted that the gold-colored said he paid for her to have an As a mother who home-
has focused on the notion of <I am not sure what the facts Protestants in the country; vari- star was real. abortion, but later acknowledged schooled her two children, she
redemption, especially when con- are,= said Rebecca Benton, the ous surveys estimate that they In 2017, Rep. Tim Murphy that she was the mother of one of also believes that Republicans
fronted about his past behavior, mayor of Pooler, when asked make up 33 to 39 percent of the (R-Pa.) resigned from Congress his children. He also admitted would give parents more control
including accusations of domes- about one of the former girl- state9s voters. after it became public that he that he9d written her a check for of what children are taught in
tic violence and failing to publicly friends who said Walker had paid Many Christians support War- urged his mistress to have an $700, but said he didn9t know that public schools. So she plans to
acknowledge and support his out- for her abortion. nock 4 a pastor at Atlanta9s his- abortion despite his antiabortion it was to pay for an abortion. vote for Walker.
of-wedlock children. What people say they do know torical Ebenezer Baptist Church, stance. GOP leaders urged him to News of that allegation <He has overcome a lot of is-
A spokesman for Walker did is that gas costs too much and where the Rev. Martin Luther quit. But now, the National Re- brought criticism from Walker9s sues,= she said.
not respond to requests for com- there is <runaway crime= 4 there King Jr. preached 4 and say the publican Senatorial Committee is adult son, who posted on Twitter
ment for this story. has been a blitz of GOP ads for Democratic Party cares more pouring tens of millions of dollars that his father was absent and not Scott Clement, Sabrina Rodriguez
The members of the Relentless Walker showing vicious assaults about the virtues Jesus preached, into Walker9s campaign to keep it a Christian family man. The son and Dylan Wells contributed to this
Church Bible study group said and laying blame on President including taking care of the needy alive, and leading figures in the tweeted: <He left us to bang a report.
A4 EZ SU THE WASHINGTON POST . SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022

Midterm Elections

Republican candidates making a run in some blue states

MIDTERMS FROM A1 controlled states of Colorado and
Washington, Republicans have
Oregon. touted their Senate candidates,
<Republicans are turning out,= Joe O9Dea and Tiffany Smiley,
Adam Laxalt, the GOP Senate respectively, as two of their best
nominee in Nevada, said at a recruits.
campaign event Friday night in O9Dea, the owner of a construc-
North Las Vegas. <Democrats . . . tion business, is pro-abortion
what do they have to be motivat- rights and opposes Trump9s run-
ed about? This is our shot.= ning for president again, dispens-
Recent history has dictated ing with two pieces of baggage
that the president9s party loses that could hurt him with inde-
seats in midterm elections, but pendents in the state as he chal-
Democrats thought they might lenges Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D).
defy that trend. Energized by the And in Washington, Tiffany Smi-
end of Roe v. Wade and buoyed by ley, a nurse and first-time candi-
the GOP9s elevation of polarizing, date, is mounting a spirited chal-
often untested candidates loyal to lenge to Sen. Patty Murray (D).
former president Donald Trump, Polls show both Republicans
Democrats sought to frame the trailing the Democratic incum-
midterms as a reckoning with bents, but a big red wave on
Republican extremism rather Tuesday could lift them to sur-
than a referendum on the current prising victories.
president.
<Democrats even having a shot The House
at having a decent night is un- n the House, Republicans only
precedented in the political envi-
ronment we9re living in,= said
Chuck Rocha, a veteran Demo-
I need to net five seats to regain
the majority, a feat that ap-
pears well within reach as wor-
cratic strategist working on many ries over rising prices, crime and
races this year. <The off-year elec- other issues have solidified sup-
tion, the president, redistricting, port for GOP candidates.
inflation 4 my God. How are
Democrats not going to lose ev- The most vulnerable
erything?= Democrats
Now many worry that a strong Thirty-nine Democrats are on
night nationally for Republicans the front lines: They9re defend-
could wallop candidates up and ing the House majority, according
down the ballot who had been to the Democratic Congressional
MELINA MARA/THE WASHINGTON POST
holding their own 4 though some Campaign Committee, and repre-
Democrats say that they long sent true swing districts sprin-
expected key races to narrow and GOP. kled across the country.
that they remain hopeful. The calculus is simple for vot- Most of them are members
<Republicans came home in ers like Patty Fulgenzi of Maple from the majority-making class of
August and September, and Valley, Wash., who said her retire- 2018, in which Democrats flipped
they9re coming home now. ment budget is strained to the 41 GOP seats after promising to
They9ve solidified,= said Celinda point she9s considering going protect health-care access and
Lake, a lead pollster for Biden9s back to work. <The last two years, restore competence in govern-
2020 presidential campaign. things just seem to get worse,= she ment two years into Trump9s pres-
The trend extends to some of said at a recent rally for Matt idency. These front-liners are de-
the most Democratic jurisdic- Larkin, the Republican challeng- fined by their pragmatic ap-
tions, including New York, where ing her congresswoman, Demo- proach that often rebukes the
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is in an crat Kim Schrier. <I9m hoping for extremes, which sets them at
unexpectedly tight reelection change.= odds with their more liberal col-
fight and where Rep. Sean Patrick Below is a look at the battle for leagues.
Maloney, chair of the Democratic control of the Senate and the Republicans and Democrats
Congressional Campaign Com- House, as well as a survey of the have consistently cited the seats
mittee, is at risk of losing in a most-watched governor9s races held by Reps. Cindy Axne (D-
district where Biden once won by coast to coast. Iowa), Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.),
10 points and where Republicans and Elaine Luria (D-Va.) as the
dramatically ramped up their The Senate most reliable flips for the GOP.
spending last month. he race for control of the Many Democratic members,
Confident they will be in the
majority in at least the House
next year, Republicans are al-
T Senate is remarkably close,
and Republicans need a net
gain of just one seat to win the
aides and strategists are tele-
graphing that losses on the East
Coast could set the tone for the
ready planning to launch over- majority. Polling averages put at rest of election night. Besides
sight investigations into the least eight Senate races within Luria, two other Virginia Demo-
DEMETRIUS FREEMAN/THE WASHINGTON POST
Biden administration, from the five percentage points, and while crats, Abigail Spanberger and
Justice Department to the coro- many Republican candidates TOP: Clark County poll workers usher in long lines of voters wanting to vote on the last day of early Jennifer Wexton, are ones to
navirus pandemic response. GOP have made measurable gains in voting in Las Vegas on Friday. The state has tight races for Senate and House seats and governor. watch because if either is defeat-
control of the Senate as well could recent weeks, each side still has a ABOVE: Supporters listen to former president Barack Obama deliver remarks during a rally with Sen. ed 4 especially Wexton, whose
hold up confirmation of Biden9s plausible path to the majority. Raphael G. Warnock (D-Ga.) and gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams in College Park, Ga. district is considered safer 4 it
judicial and executive branch ap- Republicans are challenging could mean Democrats are in for
pointees and strengthen the par- Democratic incumbents in pur- can9t trust him to tell the truth competitive. Republican nominee instead of a tough night.
ty9s hand in potential fights to ple states including Arizona, about his life, how can we trust Johnson, a former plastics an establishment-backed candi-
repeal Biden9s legislative achieve- Georgia, Nevada and New Hamp- him to protect our lives and our manufacturer who had become date, polls showed Hassan com- Democrats in deep-blue
ments from his first two years in shire, where Biden9s approval rat- families and our children and our unpopular in the state, looked fortably ahead. Since then, Bold- districts could be in trouble
office. ings have fallen since he carried jobs and our future?= he asked at deeply imperiled earlier this year. uc reversed his earlier false posi- Republicans believe if they can
Leaders of both parties have those states in 2020 and voters a recent campaign stop. But GOP groups then unleashed a tion that the 2020 election was flip Democratic seats not only in
been traveling to battleground express a dreary view of the econ- Walker has higher unfavorable torrent of attacks on Barnes, us- stolen and has consolidated the front-line districts but also in
states in the final days, trumpet- omy. Republican-held open seats ratings than Warnock, but ing his past statements to portray Republicans around him. Hassan New England, California and Or-
ing their closing messages and in Pennsylvania, Ohio and North Republicans are nevertheless co- him as a radical who is soft on has pointed out Bolduc9s past egon, they could rack up 20 new
trying to boost turnout among Carolina are also friendly terrain alescing around him, illustrating crime. support for abortion restrictions seats or more.
base voters. Democrats are trying for Republicans. But some early the partisan divide in a state that Barnes, who is trying to be- in the very pro-abortion rights New York contains surprise
to hammer home an urgent mes- recruitment failures on the Re- was solidly Republican until two come the first Black senator to state, which has tended to back Republican opportunities: Dem-
sage about heightened threats to publican side combined with years ago, when three Democrats represent the state, has attacked more middle-of-the-road candi- ocratic retirements in Long Is-
the democratic process, with Trump endorsing inexperienced won statewide: Biden, Warnock Johnson for downplaying the Jan. dates. land have put two seats up for
Biden warning this week of a candidates in bruising primaries and Sen. Jon Ossoff. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. The state could provide an grabs, as voters9 concerns about
<path to chaos= as many GOP has complicated the party9s path Democrats hope some Repub- Capitol and attempting to deliver early indicator of how the elec- crime and high prices in New
nominees deny the 2020 election to the majority. lican voters uneasy over Walker9s a slate of false electors from Wis- tions are going, since polls close York City spill over. Maloney has
results and some refuse to say personal issues will leave their consin in the 2020 presidential at 7 p.m. Eastern time. been a GOP target all cycle, and
they will accept this year9s out- The pure toss-ups ballots blank, boosting Warnock. election. his Hudson Valley district is in
comes. Republicans see Nevada as But Senate Majority Leader Where Republicans are more play, frightening Democrats
A majority of GOP nominees their top pickup opportunity: Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) was Where Democrats are vulnerable than they should about their chances in three addi-
for House, Senate and key state- Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D) overheard late last month pri- increasingly vulnerable be tional Upstate New York districts.
wide offices have denied or ques- is locked in a close race with vately telling Biden things were A strong incumbent might be Ohio is competitive despite In California, a possible Re-
tioned the 2020 results, an alarm- former state attorney general going <downhill= for Democrats in trouble: Arizona Sen. Mark leaning Republican in past publican resurgence: Both par-
ing tally in the first election since Adam Laxalt (R), whose father in the state. Kelly, a former astronaut and years: This race has drained con- ties are eyeing six seats in Califor-
a pro-Trump mob attacked the and grandfather were both sena- If neither candidate clears 50 Navy pilot, is struggling to stave siderable resources from Repub- nia. Rep. Julia Brownley9s (D) 4
U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to tors. Privately, national Demo- percent, a runoff election would off a challenge from GOP nomi- lican groups as GOP Senate can- whose district Biden won by 20
disrupt certification of the vote. crats concede this is their tough- occur in December, meaning con- nee Blake Masters, a venture capi- didate J.D. Vance seeks to defend percentage points two years ago
Yet candidates and strategists est race, and they are hoping the trol of the Senate could hang in talist and the protege of Silicon the red state from former Demo- 4 has been moved closer to toss-
acknowledge that for many state9s Democratic turnout ma- the balance for a month. Valley billionaire Peter Thiel. cratic Rep. Tim Ryan9s surprising- up territory, according to The
Americans, immediate problems chine is able to push Cortez Masto The race for Pennsylvania9s Kelly has portrayed himself as ly strong challenge. Cook Political Report. Republi-
such as inflation will trump more over the edge. open Senate seat has been an an independent voice who has Republicans concede Ryan has cans believe they can flip an open
existential concerns about de- Cortez Masto, the first Latina expensive roller coaster ride: confronted his party on border run a solid race by portraying seat as well as those of Reps. Katie
mocracy. elected to the Senate, has ham- GOP celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz security, but Masters has worked Vance, who was born in Ohio and Porter and Mike Levin in South-
<I understand that democracy mered Laxalt over the issue of has gained ground since the sum- to paint him as a rubber stamp for later attended Yale Law School ern California. Democrats, mean-
might not seem like a top priority abortion in the largely pro- mer against Lt. Gov. John Fetter- Biden in a state that has more before moving to San Francisco, while, see a rare opportunity to
right now,= former president Ba- abortion rights state, reminding man (D), who suffered a stroke Republican voters than Demo- as an elite outsider. Ryan9s prodi- flip a district, targeting Rep. Da-
rack Obama conceded last week voters he once called Roe v. Wade earlier this year. It9s the most cratic ones. gious fundraising also allowed vid G. Valadao after redistricting
at a rally in Nevada, one of many a <joke,= and supports a referen- expensive race of the cycle, ac- Masters emerged from the Re- him to flood the airwaves with made his district more favorable
energetic appearances he has dum to ban abortion in Nevada cording to OpenSecrets, attract- publican primary with high unfa- ads separating himself from na- for Democrats.
made in recent days as the Demo- after 13 weeks of pregnancy. ing more than $300 million in vorable ratings, though conserva- tional Democrats. Republicans eye Connecticut:
crats9 biggest star. But Laxalt, who chaired total spending. tives have started coming home Only recently did Democrats start
Democrats have pivoted to Trump9s 2020 Nevada reelection Democrats have attacked Oz to him in recent weeks. He sup- The races further out of reach to fear that they could lose Con-
sharper messaging aimed at peo- effort and pushed his false claims over his authenticity, portraying ports a national abortion ban and North Carolina could stay necticut9s 5th District. By defeat-
ple9s pocketbooks, casting Repub- of voter fraud, is betting the him as a slick TV hustler who is has boosted Trump9s false claims Democrats9 white whale: Polls ing Rep. Jahana Hayes, Republi-
licans as threats to Medicare and economy will be top-of-mind for also an outsider to the state. of voter fraud, which Democrats suggest that the race for an open cans could break a Democratic
Social Security, but some strat- voters. Nevada9s tourism-based Republicans, meanwhile, have have said makes him too extreme seat in North Carolina, which has hold here going back almost two
egists regret not focusing on economy has been hit hard since raised questions about Fetter- for a state that has tended to been out of reach for national decades and tear into the party9s
these issues sooner. covid, and the state also struggles man9s fitness for office as he support senators who buck the Democrats in recent cycles, ap- New England <blue wall.=
<We had a very strong contrast with high gas prices. recovers from his stroke, running party line. pears to be leaning toward Re- And Rhode Island: A similar
on the economy and we should Georgia could once again de- ads featuring footage from the A late Republican surge in publican Rep. Ted Budd over the trend is occurring in Rhode Is-
have been talking about it more,= termine which party controls candidates9 lone debate that show New Hampshire has Democrats Democratic nominee, Cheri Beas- land9s 2nd District, where Repub-
Lake said. <I just hope it9s not too the Senate: Former football star Fetterman struggling with his worried: Don Bolduc has made ley, the former chief justice of the licans nominated a formidable
late.= Herschel Walker, the GOP nomi- words. They also attack Fetter- late gains in the race against state Supreme Court. candidate in Allan Fung, the may-
Republicans are heading into nee, has made gains in his race man relentlessly on crime, por- Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, But recent polls show the race or of Cranston, against Democrat
Election Day with a slight edge in against Democratic Sen. Raphael traying him as too liberal for the who won her seat six years ago, still within a few percentage Seth Magaziner. A win by the
many polls of generic matchups, G. Warnock despite allegations state. beating incumbent Republican points, and Beasley, the first Republicans here would be seis-
and some GOP operatives once from two women that he paid for Wisconsin is trending red but Kelly Ayotte by a little over 1,000 Black woman nominated for the mic and could indicate a blowout
wary of the fallout from overturn- abortions and other allegations still competitive: Sen. Ron John- votes. Senate from North Carolina, has night for the party.
ing Roe say those worries have that he threatened his ex-wife9s son (R) is fighting for a third term Hassan was once considered to tried to separate herself from A progressive could cost Dem-
evaporated. While the abortion life. in what has appeared to be an be one of the Democrats9 toughest national Democratses. ocrats in Oregon: Both parties
issue seemed to sway suburban Warnock, the senior pastor at expensive success story for Re- candidates to defend this cycle, Republicans have strong can- are eyeing three seats in Oregon,
women and other key swing Ebenezer Baptist Church in At- publicans so far, although polls but after Bolduc, a retired Army didates in Colorado and Wash- more than usual for a reliably
groups, some polling shows those lanta, has warned that voters show that Democratic Lt. Gov. brigadier general, emerged from ington, which could flip these blue state. It9s likely at least one
voters shifting back toward the can9t depend on Walker. <If we Mandela Barnes still remains the September primary as the seats red: In the Democratic- flips after Democratic primary
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022 . THE WASHINGTON POST EZ SU A5

Midterm Elections

voters in the 5th District, outside by the Republican-controlled leg-

of Portland and Salem, ousted islature. Michels has said that he
moderate Rep. Kurt Schrader (D) would support legislation to in-
for liberal Jamie McLeod-Skin- clude exceptions for rape and
ner. A victory by the Republican incest.
candidate, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Nevada Republicans are opti-
would be historic, making her the mistic about their chances of
first Latina to serve from a dis- ejecting a Democratic incum-
trict Republicans haven9t repre- bent: Gov. Steve Sisolak, a former
sented since 1997. member of the powerful Clark
County Commission, was elected
But Republicans have their in 2018, the first Democrat to win
own problems the governorship in 20 years. His
There are three House seats Republican opponent in this
where Trump-endorsed candi- year9s election is Clark County
dates appear to be diminishing Sheriff Joe Lombardo. In their
Republicans9 chances for what previous roles, the two men
should have been easy pickups. worked together closely.
In Michigan, election denial- Lombardo has hammered Si-
ism may turn off suburban vot- solak over rising prices and un-
ers: Republican John Gibbs de- employment during the acute
feated Rep. Peter Meijer in Michi- phase of the pandemic, which
gan9s 3rd District Republican pri- devastated Nevada9s tourism-
mary after rebuking Meijer for driven economy. While Lombar-
voting to impeach Trump follow- do was endorsed by Trump, he
ing the Jan. 6 attack. But Gibbs9 has waffled on how closely to
strong Trump bona fides, coupled bind himself to the former presi-
with his writings declaring wom- dent. He has said he does not
en shouldn9t have the right to think the 2020 presidential elec-
vote, are tough for a general tion was stolen. During a debate
electorate in which independents last month, Lombardo was asked
are a key persuadable group. whether he considered Trump a
A Jan. 6 attendee may be a <great= president. Lombardo said
bridge too far for Ohioans: Rep. he would not use that adjective,
Marcy Kaptur (D) was poised to calling Trump a <sound= presi-
lose in Ohio9s 9th District, which dent instead. Hours later, he put
voted solidly for Trump, but her out a statement reversing him-
GOP opponent, J.R. Majewski, self.
may have sunk his own chances Nevada is a state in which
after lying about his military rec- voters are less likely than in some
ord. He has also spread QAnon others to split their ballots be-
conspiracy theories, violated fed- tween two parties, some strat-
eral law for failing to disclose egists say, meaning the governor9s
personal finances, and attended race could mirror the Senate race.
the Jan. 6 rally at the Capitol. In Michigan, Democrats try
Scandal could sink a North to fend off a Trump-backed chal-
Carolina Republican: Sandy lenger: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
Smith raced to victory in the (D) is facing Republican Tudor
primary in North Carolina9s 1st Dixon, a conservative commenta-
District after receiving Trump9s tor and first-time candidate, who
endorsement, but her MAGA has been gaining on Whitmer in
bona fides and domestic abuse the polls, though the Democratic
allegations from her ex-husbands incumbent still leads and has a
have made it more difficult for massive cash advantage.
her to win over independent vot- Michigan has been the scene of
ers. Smith has also pushed one of the most intense battles
Trump9s 2020 election lie and was over abortion in the post-Roe era,
outside the Capitol on Jan. 6. with Whitmer suing to prevent
the state9s 1931 abortion ban from
GOP also could lose some taking effect.
seats thanks to redistricting On Tuesday, Michigan voters
In Ohio, a seven-term incum- will also decide whether to en-
bent might be out: Rep. Steve shrine a right to abortion in the
Chabot (R) is seeking his seventh state constitution, a high-stakes
term in Ohio9s 1st District, but it gambit likely to bring both sup-
has been redrawn to favor Demo- porters and opponents of abor-
crats, making his chances of sur- tion rights to the polls. Only two
vival slim. other states 4 California and
The end of the road for one of Vermont 4 are weighing similar
the few remaining Republicans ballot questions, and neither has
who voted to impeach Trump: a competitive governor9s race.
Valadao (R-Calif.) survived an in- Dixon has attempted to down-
credibly tight primary race in play abortion as a factor in the
California9s 13th District even af- campaign, saying the issue is <off
ter having voted to impeach the table= in the race to select the
Trump following Jan. 6. Redis- next governor. Instead, she has
tricting is also working against PHOTOS BY MELINA MARA/THE WASHINGTON POST attacked Whitmer on rising pric-
him now that the boundaries TOP: Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, the state9s first Democrat in the office in 20 years when he was elected in 2018, is one of several es, pandemic-era restrictions and
have made it a district Biden Democrats locked in a tight battle for reelection in the state. ABOVE: Republican gubernatorial nominee Joe Lombardo, the Clark County education.
would have won by 10 percentage Sheriff, gives candy to children during a parade in Carson City. Polls show the two candidates in a virtual dead heat. Whitmer, who is seen as a
points in 2020. potential presidential candidate,
In New Mexico, a trade-off: Where the choice couldn9t be A long-awaited rematch ord for a sitting governor. Nation- tempting to win reelection in a has been playing up her work
Rep. Yvette Herrell (R-N.M.) starker In Georgia, two foes meet al Democrats, meanwhile, have predominantly Republican state addressing local concerns, such
swung dramatically from run- Arizona voters face a big deci- again: Democrat Stacey Abrams declined to plow significant re- in a year that favors Republicans. as repairing roads and bridges.
ning in a reliably safe seat to a sion: The woman who oversees is trying to avenge her narrow sources into helping Crist, who Kelly9s Republican opponent,
district that Biden would have the state9s elections process, 2018 loss to Republican Gov. Bri- has struggled to gain momentum. state Attorney General Derek Deep blue terrain
carried by 4 percentage points. Democratic Secretary of State Ka- an Kemp. Abrams, who would be If DeSantis performs well with Schmidt, has attempted to make Republicans are eyeing
Republicans tried to shore up tie Hobbs, or a former TV anchor the first Black female governor in key constituencies, such as Lati- the race a referendum on national One of the biggest surprises
a district in Nebraska, but it who embraces Trump9s lie that his U.S. history, has spent the past no voters, it could bolster a possi- politics, linking Kelly to Biden at could be in New York: Once
might not be enough: Rep. Don election was stolen, Republican four years building a national ble run for president. every opportunity. Kelly, by con- considered an easy win for Demo-
Bacon (R) has repeatedly eked Kari Lake. reputation as an advocate for Some experts believe DeSantis trast, has only talked <about Kan- crats, the race for governor has
out reelection in Nebraska9s 2nd The two are vying to replace voter registration and access to could be the first Republican gu- sas from April onward,= said Bob tightened considerably and polls
District, which is often consid- Gov. Doug Ducey (R), who is the ballot, based on her record bernatorial candidate in 20 years Beatty, a political scientist at show a shrinking lead for Hochul,
ered the most vulnerable for the term-limited, in a state Biden registering hundreds of thou- to win Miami-Dade County, the Washburn University in Topeka. a native of the Buffalo area, in her
GOP. Though redistricting has narrowly won two years ago. Polls sands of new voters in Georgia state9s most populous and a She has also reminded Kansans of contest against Rep. Lee Zeldin
made it slightly more favorable show them nearly dead-even, and helping deliver the state for majority-Hispanic jurisdiction the controversial tax-cutting ex- (R-N.Y.), a member of Congress
for Republicans, Bacon now faces though support for Hobbs has Biden in 2020. that has long been a Democratic periment implemented by former from Long Island.
a more moderate Democratic softened in recent weeks and Kemp, meanwhile, developed a stronghold. Republican governor Sam Brown- Zeldin9s campaign has revolved
challenger, rather than the liber- support for Lake has slightly im- reputation of his own for stand- California also could be a back and later reversed by law- around a single issue: crime.
als of years past. proved. ing up to Trump and refusing to prelude to 2024: There is little makers. Hochul, meanwhile, has empha-
The two candidates are as dif- bend to the lie that Biden9s nar- suspense about who will win the To overcome a political atmos- sized Zeldin9s closeness to Trump
If Republicans win big, look ferent in style as they are on row victory in Georgia was <sto- governor9s race in California. The phere that favors the GOP, Kelly and his antiabortion views.
for a diverse freshman class substance. Lake is brash and pol- len.= In the Republican primary only question is what it might has tried to cultivate a brand of Hochul was named governor in
Hispanic voters could propel ished, rallying the base of the earlier this year, Kemp soundly signal about the presidential am- independence. She has received 2021, when her predecessor, An-
three Texas Latinas to Congress: GOP with praise for Trump and defeated former senator David bitions of Gov. Gavin Newsom endorsements from former Re- drew M. Cuomo, resigned in the
One of the biggest trends to dire warnings about election in- Perdue, a Trump-endorsed chal- (D), who is widely expected to publican officeholders in Kansas wake of a sexual harassment
emerge from the 2020 presiden- tegrity as well as illegal immigra- lenger, to win their party9s nomi- cruise to reelection. and one of her ads even included a scandal. She is the first female
tial election was Hispanic voters9 tion. nation. Newsom, a former San Francis- clip of her meeting with Trump. governor of New York and is
gravitation toward the GOP, espe- Hobbs is much more low-key, Kemp has led Abrams by four co mayor and a fixture in Califor- Voters in Kansas surprised hoping to make history as the
cially in South Texas. Voters in the sticking to a campaign script and or five percentage points in most nia politics, is seeking a second pundits earlier this year when first woman elected to the post.
Rio Grande Valley have the warning of Republican attempts polls, a wider margin than his term in a contest against Brian they roundly rejected an antiabor- A loss by Hochul in a state
chance to send three GOP Latinas at voter intimidation. Hobbs re- 1.4-point squeaker of a victory in Dahle, a Republican state senator tion amendment to the state con- where Democratic voters out-
to Congress 4 a historic feat for a fused to debate, saying she 2018. Abrams has countered that and farmer from Northern Cali- stitution. By contrast, few are number Republicans by 2 to 1
region that has been represented doesn9t want to take part in her polling does not capture the fornia. In September 2021, News- making firm predictions about would be a seismic shock. In the
historically by male Democrats. opponent9s <spectacle,= a decision young and newly registered vot- om defeated an effort to recall the governor9s race, which is con- closing days, both national par-
Thirty-three Latino Republi- that has become fodder for at- ers who she believes will support him, a show of strength that all sidered a toss-up. ties are spending money there,
cans are on the ballot elsewhere, tacks from Lake and other Re- her. She will need a huge turnout but eliminated questions about Battleground Wisconsin may and high-profile Democratic sur-
from Florida to Oregon, which publicans. of Black voters to overcome her whether he could win reelection come down to the wire: Demo- rogates are rushing in to help
could help double the representa- In Pennsylvania, election de- deficit in the polls. Early voting, this fall. cratic Gov. Tony Evers, a former Hochul.
tion they have in the conference if nialism has also taken center which traditionally has shown Newsom has cast himself as a state schools superintendent, is Oregon could elect a Republi-
they win. Roughly 30 Black Re- stage: Except in this race, Demo- strong Black turnout, hit a record national leader for liberal causes, seeking reelection in a tight con- can governor for the first time in
publicans are also on the ballot. crat Josh Shapiro, the state attor- this week for a midterm election. eager to take on Republican coun- test against Republican Tim Mi- 40 years: Polls indicate that the
Two of them, John James in Mich- ney general, is running signifi- terparts such as DeSantis. Earlier chels, a construction executive. contest is a toss-up between Re-
igan and Wesley Hunt in Texas, cantly ahead of his Republican Who wins these governor9s this year, Newsom launched tele- Michels has made inroads with publican Christine Drazan, a
are expected to win, which could opponent, Doug Mastriano, an races tells us more about vision ads in Florida urging resi- voters by focusing on concerns state legislator, and Democrat
double the number of Black Re- army veteran and state senator 2024 than 2022 dents to move to California, say- about inflation and public safety, Tina Kotek, the speaker of the
publicans serving in the House who denies the result of the 2020 Florida will be watched as a ing their freedoms were at risk. including the unrest that followed state House of Representatives.
from two to four. And with 13 election and openly embraces prelude to the next presidential He also paid for billboard adver- a police shooting in Kenosha in The closeness of the race in
Asian American Republicans Christian nationalism. campaign: Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) tisements in conservative states 2020. He has also echoed false deep-blue Oregon reflects an un-
running for the House, those Mastriano has shunned the is facing Democrat Charlie Crist, touting access to abortion in Cali- allegations of voter fraud, saying usual confluence of factors. The
ranks could expand as well. mainstream media and come un- himself a former governor, and fornia. Newsom is considered a he was unsure whether the 2020 outgoing governor is Democrat
Regardless of Tuesday9s out- der fire for paying consulting fees polls indicate that DeSantis holds potential presidential candidate, presidential election was stolen. Kate Brown, who is term-limited
come, we are likely to witness the to the far-right social media web- a comfortable lead. In the four especially if Biden does not seek a Michels wants to replace the and unpopular. Kotek has worked
largest number of Republican site Gab. He has also been ac- years since he was narrowly elect- second term, though Newsom state9s bipartisan election com- to distance herself from Brown
women serving in the House9s cused of using anti-Semitic dog ed governor, DeSantis has helped committed in a recent debate to mission with a new body but has and promised to address con-
history. Eighty are on the ballot, whistles to refer to Shapiro, who transform Florida9s politics; reg- serving four more years as gover- provided few details. cerns over a homelessness crisis
27 of them incumbents. is Jewish. istered Republicans in the state nor if he won another term. The two candidates have and gun violence in Portland, the
Mastriano attacked Shapiro for outnumber Democrats by clashed over abortion. A total ban state9s largest city. A third candi-
The governors sending his children to a private 300,000. Where Democrats won four on the procedure dating back to date, Betsy Johnson, a
overnors will be elected Jewish school that he called <ex- DeSantis has proved a prodi- years ago, Republicans see 1849 came into effect in Wiscon- Democrat-turned-independent

G Tuesday in 36 states, with

20 held by Republicans and
16 by Democrats.
clusive [and] elite= and said it was
a sign of Shapiro9s <disdain for
people like us.=
gious fundraiser. His political op-
eration has raised more than
$200 million in this election,
opportunity
Democrats hope to capture
lightning twice in deep-red Kan-
sin after the Supreme Court
struck down Roe v. Wade. Evers
tried to initiate a state referen-
who is well funded, is winning up
to 10 percent of the vote, accord-
ing to recent polls, which compli-
according to OpenSecrets, a rec- sas: Gov. Laura Kelly (D) is at- dum on the ban but was blocked cates Kotek9s path to victory.
A6 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST . SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022

Fears of widespread election fraud ahead of midterms are wildly overblown

The 2022 midterm stuffing, illegal voting and other fraudulent votes 4 such as a in 2020 of data collected by three discovered in one county that Senate president who
elections are types of behavior that would woman suspected of sending in a vote-by-mail states with help helped to narrowly tip the commissioned the vote review.
underway, with directly affect the outcome at the ballot for her dead mother 4 but from the nonprofit Electronic election to the Republican. Beyond ground-level claims
many Americans, ballot box and have become the Biden still won the state by more Registration Information Center Suspicions rose after 61 percent about dead voters and absentee
in particular obsession of many election than 10,000 votes. (ERIC) found that officials of the vote-by-mail ballots in the ballot fraud, Trump and his allies
Republicans, deniers. In the 1960 race between identified just 372 possible cases county were cast for the have also sought to bolster their
The Fact increasingly Indeed, false claims about the Republican Richard M. Nixon of double voting or voting on Republican candidate, despite case by citing statistical
Checker fearful that the prevalence of voter fraud are and Democrat John F. Kennedy, behalf of deceased people out of the fact that only 16 percent of anomalies that they say show the
GLENN outcome will be nothing new. 10 states were decided by fewer about 14.6 million votes cast by them were registered election was stolen. For instance,
KESSLER affected or even Long before Trump sought to than 10,000 votes. Republicans mail in the 2016 and 2018 general Republicans. they have pointed to suspiciously
determined by undercut the legitimacy of the charged that Kennedy won elections, or 0.0025 percent. The most prominent case of a high turnout in Democratic
election fraud. 2020 election, Republican Illinois because of voter fraud Five states 4 Colorado, major race possibly being decided strongholds, and the failure of
Thousands of poll watchers officials at both the state and committed by the Democratic Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and by election fraud took place 75 Biden to win <bellwether
have been dispatched. Drop federal levels often made dubious Party in the state. But academic Washington 4 hold elections years ago. In 1948, Lyndon B. counties= 4 counties that
boxes are under surveillance. claims of election fraud to justify research later found election almost entirely by mail and have Johnson, then a member of supposedly vote in alignment
Many GOP candidates in key new and potentially burdensome irregularities would not have reported virtually no fraud, Congress, won a Democratic U.S. with the final result.
battleground states refuse to say rules such as Voter ID laws. When changed enough votes to alter the according to a Brookings Senate primary runoff against In a report for the Proceedings
they will accept the results if they Trump won the presidency in outcome. Institution analysis of the former governor Coke Stevenson of the National Academy of
receive fewer votes than their 2016 but lost the popular vote by The conservative Heritage Heritage database. by just 87 votes. Historian Robert Sciences (PNAS), a peer-reviewed
opponents. more than 3 million votes, he Foundation maintains a Voter impersonation is also A. Caro documented in 1990 that journal of the National Academy
A Fox News poll conducted in embraced false claims that the database, dating back to 1979, very rare, according to the data. Johnson gained hundreds of of Sciences, a trio of political
early October found that margin was the result of that it says includes a <sampling= Writing in The Post in 2014, votes through fraud and scientists in 2021 debunked every
55 percent of registered voters fraudulent votes cast by of election-fraud cases brought by Loyola Law School professor malfeasance 4 a victory that one of these statistical claims.
were extremely or very concerned undocumented immigrants. prosecutors. <The database is up Justin Levitt 4 now a White eventually took Johnson to the <The common logic behind
about voter fraud. Among Trump even assembled a voting to 1,384 proven cases and we are House adviser 4 said he had presidency. these claims is that, if the election
Republicans, nearly three- integrity commission to validate following dozens of other found only 31 credible cases of were fairly conducted, some
quarters said they were that such claims 4 but it was prosecutions that are ongoing,= people voting in the name of 2020 fraud claims were feature of the observed 2020
concerned. disbanded after it uncovered no says Hans von Spakovsky, a someone else between 2000 and debunked election result would be unlikely
These fears have been further evidence of fraudulent votes Heritage senior fellow. That9s an 2014, out of 1 billion votes cast. Since losing the election, or impossible. In each case, we
fanned by the constant refrain by being cast. average of 32 examples per year Some cases of alleged voter Trump has held rallies across the find that the purportedly
former president Donald Trump Let9s unpack the details. that the group has documented. fraud turn out not to be country where he devotes a long anomalous fact is either not a fact
and his allies that Joe Biden Von Spakovsky says the intentional. A Texas man, Hervis section of his speech to repeating or not anomalous,= wrote Justin
triumphed in the 2020 race only Few cases of documented number would be much higher Rogers, waited in line for more debunked claims about the Grimmer of Stanford University9s
because he stole the election 4 a fraud except that local prosecutors are than six hours to vote in 2020, not election. Trump9s technique has Hoover Institution, Andrew C.
lie that has been debunked over Whenever experts and not always interested in pursuing realizing that he was not eligible been to overwhelm his listeners Eggers of the University of
and over. reporters have tried to tally cases election-fraud cases. He cited a under state law because he was with details 4 usually irrelevant Chicago and Haritz Garro of
Here9s the truth: of election fraud, the numbers report from the conservative on parole for a felony. Texas details 4 to leave an impression Stanford.
l By every single metric, remain minuscule. Public Interest Legal Foundation Attorney General Ken Paxton of an election system that is For instance, statistical
election fraud is rare in the Nearly 160 million votes were that found more than 150 ordered his arrest, but a judge highly suspicious and fraudulent. analysis showed that bellwether
United States. cast in the 2020 election. By the referrals of potential criminal dismissed the charges last month. But Trump ignores that at least counties in fact had <no special
l Almost no elections in the popular vote count, Biden beat violations of election law in 2020 86 judges, including Trump prognostic value= and that
past 50 years have been flipped Trump by 7 million votes. But the had been ignored in Florida. Fraud rarely affects the appointees, rejected at least one Biden9s performance was not
because of documented voter presidency goes to the person Still, these numbers 4 the outcome post-election lawsuit filed by much different from the 2016
fraud, with occasional exceptions who wins the most electoral most comprehensive account of In the past half-century, there Trump or his supporters and that Democratic presidential
at the local level. college votes, which are awarded U.S. election-fraud cases in the are only scattered examples in they consistently found there was candidate, Hillary Clinton.
There are logical reasons for to a state9s victor. That can past four decades 4 are just a which election fraud appeared to no substantive evidence to As for claims of high turnout in
this. magnify the importance of votes fraction of the 2 billion votes cast have made a difference in the support claims of fraud and counties where Republicans
The decentralized system of cast in states where the margins in federal elections in that same outcome. They often are in races irregularities. <Calling an election made fraud accusations, it turns
American elections 4 in which are tight. time period, according to a that attract relatively few voters unfair does not make it so,= wrote out the differences were small or
they are run by more than 8,000 But an Associated Press review calculation for The Fact Checker and thus the impact of fraud Trump federal appeals court insignificant. <There is no
local governments and almost of every potential case of voter by the Brennan Center for could be greater. nominee Stephanos Bibas in one evidence that turnout was
90 percent of Americans vote on fraud in six battleground states Justice. In a critical review of the In a 2003 race for the opinion. <Charges require unusually high in the suspicious
paper ballots, according to the found fewer than 475 out of more Heritage numbers, the center Democratic nomination for specific allegations and then counties, let alone that turnout
U.S. Election Assistance than 25 million votes cast in those said the database <confirms that mayor of East Chicago, Ind., for proof. We have neither here.= was inflated in these counties by
Commission 4 make it states 4 Arizona, Georgia, widespread voter fraud does not instance, one candidate eked out Then audit after audit pushed fraud,= they wrote.
impossible to steal a nationwide Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania exist.= a 278-vote victory, out of more by Trump9s supporters in many Another frequent claim was
election through voter fraud. and Wisconsin. The disputed than 8,000 votes cast, mostly on battleground states again have that Biden outperformed
It is true that election results ballots amounted to just 0.15 Fraud involving mailed the strength of absentee ballots. failed to show that fraudulent expectations in counties that
can be manipulated. Politicians, percent of Biden9s victory margin. ballots is rare But a judge determined the votes were cast. used Dominion voting machines,
for instance, might draw election In Pennsylvania, for instance, During the 2020 election, evidence showed <pervasive In Arizona, for instance, a suggesting votes had been
district boundaries to make it all 26 votes were flagged by election many states expanded options for fraud, illegal conduct, and Republican-commissioned switched, as Trump9s legal team
but certain that one political officials as potentially fraudulent voters, such as vote by mail, violations of elections law= in the review of nearly 2.1 million had claimed. Again, that proved
party will win. Trump allies 4 and Biden won there by more because of the coronavirus gathering of those ballots. The ballots in Arizona9s largest county to be false: <Using the most
sought to undermine the 2020 than 80,000 votes. In one case, a pandemic. Trump repeatedly said state Supreme Court ordered a actually added to the margin of rigorous specifications, we find
results with schemes involving man went twice to the polls, those changes would lead to new election. Biden9s narrow victory in the no evidence that Biden
fake electors, an effort to block voting once on his own behalf fraud 4 and some states have More recently, in 2018, North state. Biden gained 99 votes and outperformed expectations in
Congress from affirming the and once for his son. since added new restrictions on Carolina ordered a new Trump lost 261 votes. <Truth is counties where Dominion
outcome. The state with the most cases is mail voting. congressional election after an truth and numbers are numbers,= machines were used,= the authors
But that9s different from ballot Arizona, with 198 potentially But a Washington Post analysis absentee-ballot scheme was said Karen Fann, the Republican wrote.

GOP candidates in Michigan pick and choose from menu of Trump tactics
BY A SHLEY P ARKER the Republicans but horrible with message in the final weeks of the
the independents.= campaign.
LIVONIA, Mich. 4 The slate of Gibbs, the Republican nominee <I9ve really been struck with
MAGA candidates here in Michi- in Michigan9s 3rd Congressional how she9s trying to sound like John
gan paint their vision of an ap- District, received Trump9s pri- Engler rather than Donald
proaching apocalypse should mary endorsement in part be- Trump,= he said, referring to the
Democrats prevail in the mid- cause the former president was practical and policy-minded for-
terms 4 kids exposed to <57 gen- eager to defeat Rep. Peter Meijer, mer Republican governor of Mich-
ders,= <partial birth abortion up to the incumbent who was one of just igan. <It9s a necessary argument.
day of delivery, for any reason= and 10 House Republicans who voted She can9t simply talk about
a veritable smorgasbord of <woke to impeach Trump following the Trumpism when independents
stuff.= Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. will completely abandon her.=
Many of these Republican Gibbs has promoted debunked Other Republican candidates
hopefuls 4 who include Tudor Trumpist 2020 election claims, al- in Michigan, however, have stuck
Dixon for governor, John Gibbs for leging that there were <anoma- to a harder line. DePerno, the at-
a House seat and Matthew DePer- lies= that were <simply mathemat- torney general candidate, said Sat-
no for attorney general 4 rose to ically impossible.= Democrats wa- urday in his <empty chair debate=
prominence on the strength of de- gered that Gibbs would be easier that his Democratic opponent,
bunked claims that the 2020 elec- to beat on Nov. 8 than his rivals in Michigan Attorney General Dana
tion was rigged and an endorse- the Republican primary for the Nessel, <wants to put a drag queen
ment from former president Don- House seat, with the party9s cam- in every school.=
ald Trump. paign arm spending $425,000 DePerno, who is polling dead
Yet in the final days of the cam- during the primary on an ad to even with Nessel, punctuated his
paign, as many of these candidates boost him with the MAGA base, remarks with a laundry list of
trail in the polls, the Republican describing him as <too conserva- Trump-style promises: <There will
roster is increasingly picking and tive for Western Michigan.= NIC ANTAYA FOR THE WASHINGTON POST be no covid-mandated vaccines
choosing the aspects of Trumpism In an <empty chair debate= Sat- Salman Mawri, center, claps at a Republican rally Oct. 30 in Dearborn, Mich. When attorney general for your children. We will elimi-
that best serve them. They are urday night in Grand Rapids 4 a candidate Matthew DePerno criticized the Democratic incumbent, the crowd chanted, <Lock her up!= nate the teaching of radical criti-
mocking their opponents with dis- Trump-style gimmick in which cal race theory across this state.
missive nicknames and sarcastic Gibbs and DePerno <debated= <I, John Gibbs, am on the ballot. So ald Trump Jr. 4 promoting some books in schools, Whitmer asked We will restore parental rights. We
asides, and waging a fierce battle their absent Democratic oppo- I tell people, I9d love to share my hard-line MAGA positions while her, <Do you really think books are will fix our education system. And
over the nation9s culture, but they nents 4 Gibbs attempted some of story, I9d love to have you listen to also seeking to carve out her own more dangerous than guns?= Re- we will bring businesses back to
are also often returning to core Trump9s signature moves such as it, and then vote for me based on image. counting the exchange, Dixon re- this state.=
issues such as the economy 4 nicknames and insults. But his my background, my qualifica- Dixon does not support the called, <And I9m like, 8How about He concluded by warning that
rather than roadshow theatrics 4 delivery was so dry that he came tions.= right to abortion, even in cases of we don9t choose what9s dangerous the Democrats were <radical
that they think will help put them off more as the former software Tom Barrett, an Iraq War com- rape or incest, and has espoused or not? We just fix all the danger- Marxists who want to transform
over the top with the state9s voters. engineer and Department of bat veteran and Republican state various baseless and debunked ous things.9 = our country,= and by conjuring
In short, they are harnessing Housing and Urban Development senator, is facing incumbent Rep. theories, including questioning Later, speaking of her school Trump9s well-honed sense of vic-
some of the devices and hallmarks employee he was than a MAGA Elissa Slotkin (D) in a tight race for the results of the 2020 election. safety plan, which would included timization. <They want to silence
of Trump9s <Make America Great acolyte. Michigan9s newly drawn 7th Con- Responding to a Washington Post armed guards and a single entry you, they want to de-platform you,
Again= brand, while also running At one point, Gibbs offered his gressional District and has tried to survey earlier this year, Dixon also point at schools, Dixon added, to they want de-bank you,= he said.
up against the limits of just how personal <theory= on John Fetter- appeal both to the MAGA base and refused to commit to accepting laughter and applause, <And I <If that doesn9t work, they want to
far Trumpism can carry them in man, the Democratic senatorial more moderate Republicans. the results of her election, instead thought to myself, do you think perpetually investigate you.=
this Midwestern swing state. candidate in Pennsylvania who re- Barrett, for instance, has raised re-upping her unfounded attacks she tells the state police to blow When DePerno reprised the
Trump narrowly flipped Michigan cently debated his Republican op- concerns about the 2020 election, on Jocelyn Benson, Michigan9s bubbles at people that are coming drag queen attack at a Republican
in 2016, only to lose in 2020, and ponent despite lingering difficulty yet he has not appeared at any current Democratic secretary of at her? Or do they get bullets?= rally Oct. 30 in Dearborn, the
the state will probably be crucial in processing spoken words as the events in his state with DePerno, state, over the previous election. In a brief interview, asked about crowd responded with the anti-
for any 2024 presidential nominee result of a stroke. <They put him Trump or Kristina Karamo, the Yet over four campaign events how she plans to appeal to both Hillary Clinton chant Trump pop-
from either party. up there so Biden wouldn9t look so Republican secretary of state can- Oct. 30 in the Detroit suburbs, the MAGA base and more moder- ularized in 2016: <Lock her up!
Richard Czuba, an independent bad,= Gibbs quipped, referring to didate who has pushed baseless Dixon did not focus on the past ate voters in the final days, Dixon Lock her up!=
pollster based in Michigan, said President Biden. <Think about theories about the 2020 election. election or her abortion stance. said her focus was on parents and A smattering of voters arrived
the state9s MAGA contenders that for a moment, think about Nor has Trump endorsed him. Rather, she deployed a sharply people struggling in the current at the various Republican events
largely have had to moderate their how hard it has to be to look worse Nonetheless, Rep. Liz Cheney crafted riff on cultural issues and economic climate. sporting MAGA paraphernalia,
pitch in the final weeks of the than Biden.= (R-Wyo.), appeared at an event in parental rights, training most of <I really think that the message but many said they were not inter-
campaign out of political necessi- Gibbs has a history of inflam- Michigan for Slotkin on Tuesday her attacks squarely on her oppo- to parents is effective,= she said. ested in talking about the former
ty. matory statements and tweets 4 4 the first Democrat she has for- nent, Democratic Gov. Gretchen <As you9ve heard, parents across president right now, and that their
<First of all, they have to move including writings dating back to mally endorsed 4 and a Cheney Whitmer, whom she mocked for the state have been crushed by vote hinges on how local candi-
away from that because many of college questioning the right of spokesperson dismissed Barrett <all the different leather jackets= having schools closed and then dates address concerns immedi-
them are losing and they9re losing women to vote, which he later as <an election denier.= Former she wore while announcing covid- not having a plan to get them back ate to their lives.
because Michigan is decided by dismissed as the <over the top & vice president Mike Pence cam- 19 safety measures in 2020. on track. So really appealing to Al Montie, 74, of Trenton, Mich.,
independent voters,= Czuba said. trolling= of a 19-year-old kid. But paigned for Barrett in the state on At times, Dixon came across as parents and then appealing to said he plans to vote Republican
<We9ve done polling on things like in a brief interview last weekend, Friday. the <cool mom= 4 the one making folks about making sure that we <pretty much right on down the
the 2020 election; independent he said that while he appreciated And Dixon, the Republican gu- wry quips on the sidelines of a are no longer in the top 10 states in ticket, from school board,= in large
voters have moved on, and they Trump9s endorsement, he wanted bernatorial candidate, has wel- soccer game or entertaining the the nation for taxes on the middle part because he9s concerned about
don9t want to deal with anyone to be evaluated on his own merits. comed Trump and his cadre to other parents with her sarcastic class.= both <food and fuel= prices and
re-litigating this. And as a result, <What I tell people right now is Michigan, appearing at various asides at back-to-school night. She added: <I9m here to take shortages.
they9re stuck in this position I9m the one on the ballot and he9s points with the former president, During a recent debate with care of everybody in this state.= <As for Trump,= Montie said,
where if you embrace Trump too not on the ballot and other people top Trump adviser Kellyanne Con- Whitmer, after Dixon raised con- Czuba said he has watched with <that9s an issue for another day. It9s
completely, you9ll do great with are not on the ballot,= Gibbs said. way and Trump9s eldest son, Don- cerns about sexually graphic interest as Dixon has tweaked her all about the local issues.=
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022 . THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A7
A8 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST . SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022

An endangered Pennsylvania Democrat thinks her brand can save her seat
bethlehem, pa. Other races here, particularly rugged outsider and state
@PKCapitol 4 In late for Senate and governor, are Attorney General Joshua
PAUL KANE October, Rep. testing whether there is a Shapiro, a polished law-and-
Susan Wild (D) particular type of personal order type who has climbed the
ran into an older identity that best fits the ranks for 25 years from
couple on the streets here, and moment in a key battleground congressional chief of staff to
they instantly began talking 4 the rugged outsider posture county commissioner and now
about her opponent9s or the experienced, steady hand. gubernatorial nominee.
commercials that are, well, less Democratic and Republican Shapiro has assumed a solid
than flattering. advisers alike think that the lead in his race against an
<We9re talking about the one incumbent lawmakers who are underfunded, Trump-loving
that has the really ugly picture in the most danger are those state legislator, while Fetterman
of you,= the older man said, who have pretty generic profiles, is struggling to hang on against
explaining that they actually not having carved out identities celebrity TV doctor Mehmet Oz.
supported her and, now that of their own. That leaves them Pennsylvania, like this
they had met her, she was much most vulnerable to the political district, has long favored the
more attractive than that winds, which are blowing moderate personalities of Sen.
terrible ad made her look. <They against Democrats as inflation Robert P. Casey Jr. (D) and
shouldn9t be allowed to use it,= remains at 40-year highs. former governor Tom Ridge (R).
he told Wild. In Senate races, three Fetterman has placed a bet that
Wild recalled that Democrats with very distinct his anti-establishment posture
conversation in an interview brands have remained is right for this moment, and
inside her campaign competitive: Sens. Mark Kelly Wild has appreciated
headquarters later that day, in (D-Ariz.), an astronaut, and Fetterman9s ability to tap into
part to bemoan today9s politics Raphael G. Warnock (D-Ga.), a some voting blocs where
of dark money groups but, more minister at Atlanta9s most Shapiro could never be warmly
important, to illustrate what she prominent church, along with received.
hopes will be her saving grace in Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), <They9re each so unique, and
this toss-up race: her identity as whose tall frame, bald head and yet that combination is kind of
MARK MAKELA FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
an approachable, accessible and penchant for wearing hoodies really a Pennsylvania thing,=
likable person. give him an outsider image. Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) during an April event in Bangor, Pa. Wild is locked in a toss-up race against Wild said.
Marketers and consultants In past political waves, some multimillionaire Republican Lisa Scheller; outside GOP groups have spent millions on attack ads. Her own disposition more
would call it her <brand,= but it9s lawmakers survived because closely aligns with Shapiro9s,
a general sense of relatability they had built just enough of a U.S. Air Force base in Germany, called <a state of shock.= She has highlighting Scheller9s wealth and while some Democrats have
that she hopes will make the brand. Wild grew up moving around made mental health one of her amid allegations of setting up run away from Biden, Wild
difference, particularly in a race In 2006, as Democrats swept the globe with each new top policy priorities, learning, plants in China without brought first lady Jill Biden to a
against an opponent whose to power, Rep. Chris Shays assignment for her father, a when she talks about it with supporting enough local jobs. rally with nearly 1,000
personal fortune might (Conn.) narrowly won an 11th trying time that taught her how audiences, just how many others This district9s voters have supporters Wednesday.
approach $50 million. term and went on to serve as the to make friends and fit in. struggle. trended toward moderate Wild has become a prolific
<I honestly believe that9s why only House Republican from <I had to reinvent myself <It was entirely personalities even more than fundraiser, hauling in more than
I9ll win,= she said. <The hits New England, and in 2010, as every two years. It was horrible circumstantial because of what moderate ideologies. Sen. $6 million for this campaign,
aren9t sticking, because people Republicans charged back to the as a kid, I will just tell you,= she was going on in my own life and Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.), who is while Scheller donated more
know me too well.= majority, Rep. Gerald E. said. losing my life partner. Little did retiring, first won a House seat than $2 million to her campaign
That remains to be seen; Wild Connolly (D-Va.) survived by less She moved to the Lehigh I know how much that would here in 1998, campaigning as but still took in about
and Republican Lisa Scheller than half a percentage point. Valley 35 years ago, expecting to resonate with people here,= she more of a thoughtful pragmatist $1.5 million less than the
are locked in a toss-up race, Shays had been a moderate stay for a couple of years. But said. than his economic conservative incumbent.
according to every independent whose ideology fit his district she settled in and became a Scheller, the chief executive of background suggested. But those outside groups and
handicapper out there. Outside and had spent decades fighting partner at an Allentown law an aluminum manufacturing That9s why Wild believes her their ads 4 like the one with the
GOP groups have poured political corruption. Connolly firm. After a divorce, she company, came surprisingly identity as someone who <ugly= picture 4 have forced
millions upon millions of dollars had spent 13 years on the reunited with her life partner, close to defeating Wild in 2020 connects with everyday people, Wild to spend even more time
into the district. President Biden Fairfax County Board of Kerry Acker, and became as the more exurban and rural small-business types, can raising money. That means less
won the district, anchored by Supervisors, including five as its politically active, losing a county outer portions of the district overcome the political climate. time at town halls, fewer
old steel towns 60 to 70 miles chairman, becoming a popular commission race and then being surged toward Trump. She <I think you9re effing business walks in Bethlehem,
north of Philadelphia, by six- local official before moving up appointed as Allentown quickly launched a bid for a amazing,= Danielle Mulligan not enough campaign rallies.
tenths of a percentage point in to Congress. solicitor. rematch and has been the Botrus, the owner of the Gem Those things are supposed to
the 2020 election. Sometimes, those narrow She upset a well-known beneficiary of nearly $11 million Shop in this town9s business be Wild9s political bread and
But Wild9s race will be a test wins lead to long-term careers: county prosecutor in 2018 for from outside Republican groups district, told Wild during a butter, activities in which she
case for whether a lawmaker9s Connolly has locked down his the Democratic nomination to running attack ads against Wild. small-business tour. <A lot of hones her brand and builds up
personal brand can help Northern Virginia district. But replace the retiring moderate They have focused times, I feel like Republicans are her defenses. If things go bad
overcome the toughest of Shays lost in 2008 as Barack GOP incumbent, Rep. Charlie relentlessly on Biden and House known to be small-business Tuesday, she fears it will because
political environments. Unlike Obama won the district by more Dent, and reclaimed the seat as Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), advocates. I think that9s a crock she was forced into spending
many competitive House races, than 20 percentage points. part of the rush for Democratic along with high inflation, while of crap. You were there for us less time meeting voters and
this battle is not highly focused Wild, 65, is hoping for a long women in an anti-Trump some ads highlight a complex when covid shut us down, more time raising money.
on abortion rights: Wild prefers tenure like Connolly9s. backlash. legal case that Wild was helping us get grants and <There9s this constant influx
to focus on Scheller9s business A member of the New That joy turned to deep involved in early this century actually taking phone calls.= of dark money, which requires
dealings, and Scheller has not Democrat Coalition, she is a despair Memorial Day weekend regarding abuse allegations at a The top of Pennsylvania9s all of us, not just me, to just
adopted the most extreme mainstream liberal with a 2019, when Acker took his life psychiatric facility. ticket has two very different spend endless amounts of time
antiabortion views. moderate sensibility. Born on a and Wild went into what she Wild has countered by Democrats: Fetterman as the dialing for dollars,= she said.

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A10 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST . SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022

Midterm Elections

Post-ABC poll: House vote nearly split, with partisan and gender divides
Voters trust Republicans more on economy, crime, POLL FROM A1 not confident Biden was legiti- Republicans are more certain they will vote
inûation and Democrats more on abortion and mately elected. That includes
face overwhelming odds to pre- more than 7 in 10 Republicans. Q: How likely are you to vote in the congressional election next week?
climate change vent that from happening. The Days before the final votes are
poll findings cannot predict the cast and counted, the survey high- Already voted Absolutely certain to vote Less likely to vote
Q: Which political party, the Democrats or the Republicans do you trust to do
number of seats that could switch lights reasons that Democrats are No opinion
a better job handling _____?
hands, only the overall direction on the defensive, including that
Democrats Republicans Both equally (Vol.) Neither (Vol.) of voters9 intentions. Nor does the their candidates are burdened by Registered voters 13% 63 23
poll provide a look at the state of Biden9s low approval ratings.
No opinion Senate races or the GOP9s chances Biden9s approval rating stands at Democrats/Democratic-leaning
of winning a majority in what is 41 percent, little changed from 39 14 60 26
independents
|e economy 38% 52 6 now a 50-50 Democratic-con- percent in September, with 53
trolled chamber. percent disapproving. Among Republicans/Republican-
12 68 19
Crime 34 54 6 One other factor in the GOP9s registered voters, his ratings are leaning independents
favor: Republicans continue to be 43 percent positive, 53 percent
more certain about voting, with negative. Note: Totals may not equal 100 due to rounding.
Inûation 38 50 7 80 percent of Republican-leaning Just over 8 in 10 Democratic
Oct. 30-Nov. 2, 2022, Washington Post-ABC News poll of 881 registered voters with an error
voters saying they are certain to voters give Biden positive ratings. margin of +/- 4 percentage points. Error margin larger among subgroups.
vote or have already done so, Meanwhile, 9 in 10 Republican
Immigration 44 46
slightly higher than 74 percent of voters disapprove of the presi- EMILY GUSKIN/THE WASHINGTON POST
Democratic-leaning voters. Cer- dent9s job performance. Among
Education and schools 47 44 tainty to vote among Democrats is independents, 39 percent ap-
eight percentage points lower prove of the way Biden is han- |e economy, abortion, inûation and threats to
than in 2018, while holding steady dling his job and 56 percent dis- democracy rank high as important issues
|reats to democracy 47 43
among Republicans. approve. Voters who approve of
The attention gap is even wid- Biden support Democrats 90 per- Q: How important will ______ be in your vote for Congress this year?
Abortion 50 37 6 er, with 48 percent of Republican- cent to 8 percent, disapprovers
leaning voters following the elec- support Republicans by 83 per- One of the most important Very important Somewhat import.
tion <extremely closely= or <very cent to 12 percent. On balance, Less import. No opinion
Climate change 51 32 10 closely,= compared with 37 per- Democratic candidates are out-
cent of Democratic-leaning vot- performing Biden by five points |e economy 26% 55 16
Source: Oct. 30-Nov. 2, 2022, Washington Post-ABC News poll of 881 registered voters with an ers. In 2018, there was little differ- among registered voters.
error margin of +/- 4 percentage points for economy and abortion and 387-494 for the other ence in the attention Democratic There is a notable imbalance in
questions with an error margin between 5.5-6 points. Abortion 22 40 22 15
and Republican voters paid to the the intensity of those assessments
EMILY GUSKIN/THE WASHINGTON POST election. of Biden, with 44 percent of voters
Voters9 faith in the electoral saying they strongly disapprove Inûation 21 57 18
Congressional vote choice nearly split among likely process reflects doubts sown after of the way the president has han-
voters, with big partisan and gender divides the 2020 election, in which the dled his job compared with 19 |reats to democracy 21 52 17 9
defeated Trump refused to con- percent who say they strongly
Q: Would you vote/lean toward the Democratic candidate or the Republican cede to Joe Biden and made un- approve. Biden9s strong disap-
Education and schools 16 59 20
candidate in your congressional district? (Includes early voters) founded claims of voter fraud be- proval among independent voters
fore his supporters stormed the is close to the overall finding at 42
Democratic candidate Republican candidate Other (vol.) Crime 14 55 23 8
U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. By percent.
Neither (vol.) No opinion more than 2 to 1, Americans say Abortion rights and threats to
they are very or somewhat confi- democracy animate many Demo- Climate change 12 36 21 29
Likely voters 48% 50 dent that votes in the midterm cratic voters in particular, and
elections will be counted accu- those issues are being used in Immigration 9 50 30 11
Democrats 93 6 rately, on par with previous years. final messages to stoke turnout as
That includes more than 8 in 10 a way to offset the GOP9s overall
Note: Totals may not equal 100 due to rounding.
Democrats and more than 6 in 10 advantages. Many Democratic
Republicans 7 93 independents. Among Republi- candidates have highlighted Source: Oct. 30-Nov. 2, 2022, Washington Post-ABC News poll of 795 voters certain to vote,
cans, 55 percent express confi- abortion in their television ads probably will vote or already voted with an error margin of +/- 4.5 percentage points for
economy and abortion and 348-447 for the other questions with an error margin between
Independents 45 53 dence compared with 45 percent and Biden delivered a speech 5.5-6.5 points.
who do not, including 19 percent about threats to democracy on EMILY GUSKIN/THE WASHINGTON POST
Men 36 62 who say they have no confidence Wednesday evening, hoping to
in an accurate count. motivate the party9s base.
Several hundred GOP candi- The partisan lines that define ent likely voters split 53 percent to Among likely voters, there is a
Women 59 40 dates for House, Senate or state- the current state of the electorate 45 percent for the Republicans. In sizable gender gap, with 62 per-
wide offices this year have denied are sharply etched in the new 2018, independent voters backed cent of men saying they plan to
Note: Totals may not equal 100 due to rounding. or questioned the results of the survey. More than 9 in 10 Republi- Democrats over Republicans in vote for the Republican candidate
Source: Oct. 30-Nov. 2, 2022, Washington Post-ABC News poll of 708 likely voters with an error 2020 election. Two years after cans and Democrats say they will House races by 54 percent to 42 in their district and 59 percent of
margin of +/- 4.5 percentage points. Error margin larger among subgroups. that vote, the new poll finds more vote for their party9s candidate for percent, according to network women saying they will back the
EMILY GUSKIN/THE WASHINGTON POST
than 1 in 3 adults who say they are the House. Meanwhile, independ- exit polls. SEE POLL ON A11

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022 . THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A11

Daughter9s ex-boyfriend killed Md. man9s family, authorities say

ATTACK FROM A1 said he had come home from work home improvement business. He two-story brick-and-siding homes
to find five people dead inside. said Kai Mann worked with his on half-acre lots that have neatly
April 2021 that barred him from Detectives are still trying to de- father, and Sara Mann worked in trimmed yards dotted with newer
contacting the individual, or go- termine when they were killed the field of cosmetic surgery. Her trees. Several bouquets of flowers
ing to the person9s home or work- and are creating a timeline of Facebook account also lists her as were left on the front step of the
place. events, but the sheriff9s office said co-owner of the home improve- Manns9 home, which was still dec-
Robin Mann fumbled for words authorities don9t believe the vic- ment business, MSH Signature orated with pumpkins and small
to describe the enormity of the tims had been dead for an extend- Home Improvements, and says Halloween figures.
tragedy that had befallen his fam- ed period of time when they were she worked at a coffee shop. Som- Neighbors said they were
ily. He described his niece and found. maly Mann wrote on her Facebook shocked by the sudden outburst of
nephew as <good kids.= Diane Richardson, a Charles page that she was originally from violence, and none of them heard
<What can you say?= Mann said. County Sheriff9s Office spokesper- Laos. anything unusual Friday after-
<They were full of life.= son, said investigators worked Sales had misdemeanor convic- noon.
The sheriff9s office said that through Friday night at the large tions for assault and theft in Mary- Darin Mann and other people
Sara Mann9s two young children single-family home in the Agrico- land, but no felonies turned up in listed as living at the address
were initially unaccounted for af- pia neighborhood, piecing togeth- state court records. People who an- could not immediately be reached
ter the shooting but that they were er what happened. The house, swered the door at an address list- by phone Saturday. Robin Mann
later found safe at another loca- about 30 miles south of D.C., is on ed for Sales declined to comment, said his brother was reeling from
tion. a residential street. and relatives could not immedi- the tragedy and did not want to
Investigators and forensic <This is obviously something ately be reached for interviews. talk.
teams are still processing evi- that has affected the whole com- Authorities said the incident One resident interviewed Fri-
TOM JACKMAN/THE WASHINGTON POST
dence and interviewing family munity,= Richardson said. <There was <isolated= to the home and day described the street where the
members and friends to establish The Charles County home where five were found dead. A motive was a lot of people in the immedi- there is no threat to the public. shooting occurred as calm, where
a motive, the sheriff9s office said. A remains under investigation, but the sheriff 9s office is examining ate neighborhood who came to- There were a large number of <nothing ever happens.= She said
medical examiner will perform whether the attack was the result of an ongoing domestic dispute. gether to mourn. It was tragic for emergency vehicles at the scene she knew of nobody living in the
autopsies to confirm the cause of the neighborhood, the family and Friday night, but by Saturday home who appeared likely to be
death for each victim. The sheriff9s wounds. La Plata shortly before 4 p.m. Fri- even the officers who responded. morning the block was quiet. Peo- involved in such an incident.
office initially said all five victims The sheriff9s office said depu- day for a report of a shooting. Our hearts are heavy.= ple were seen hugging outside the
had been shot but later clarified ties responded to the home in the Authorities said the homeowner Robin Mann said his brother is home but declined to comment. Monika Mathur contributed to this
that some had suffered stab 3000 block of Wildflower Drive in met them at the front door and a former doctor who now owns a The neighborhood is lined with report.

Post-ABC poll ûnds

indications GOP is
poised to win House
POLL FROM A10 pushed hard by Republicans and
the second highlighted by Demo-
Democratic candidate. crats, neither party enjoys a clear
A similarly big difference advantage, though there are big
shows up based on educational partisan differences on both that
levels, with 57 percent of likely are masked by the overall results.
voters without a college degree The two parties are also about
favoring Republicans and 58 per- even on trust to handle education
cent of those with degrees sup- and schools, again with large par-
porting Democrats. By more than tisan differences.
2 to 1, White voters without col- Republicans have sought to
lege degrees favor Republicans make crime a major issue this
while a majority of White voters year, and their advantage on the
with degrees (55 percent) support issue has increased significantly.
Democrats. In the summer of 2021, the two
Voters9 intentions are little parties were rated equally in
changed from a September poll. terms of which was more trusted
They are less positive for Republi- to handle crime. By last spring,
cans than earlier in the year, be- the GOP edge had jumped to a
fore the Supreme Court over- double-digit advantage, and it has
turned Roe v. Wade and elevated increased slightly since then.
abortion rights as a central issue When asked which of the eight
in the midterm campaigns. issues will be one of the single
One illustration of the divided most important in influencing
U.S. electorate is the narrow split their vote, the economy was cited
on the question of which party by 26 percent of likely voters,
voters trust to cope with the main abortion by 22 percent, inflation MELINA MARA/THE WASHINGTON POST

problems the country faces in and threats to democracy each by A line of Nevada voters on the last day of early voting in Las Vegas on Friday. The Washington Post-ABC News poll found that Republicans
coming years. On this, 42 percent 21 percent. The 26 percent of and Republican-leaning independents are six percentage points more likely to vote than their Democratic counterparts.
say they trust Republicans, 40 voters who ranked the economy
percent the Democrats. as one of the most important
But on specific issues, each par- factors in their vote favor Repub- tant issues compared with 12 per- in Dobbs v. Jackson Women9s the time, the highest in a Post- to say they are certain to vote or
ty9s advantages stand out. Among licans by 44 points. The 22 per- cent of Republicans. Among inde- Health Organization, which ABC poll since 1995, when the already cast a ballot.
registered voters, Republicans cent who listed abortion as one of pendents, 28 percent say the struck down federal protection of question was first asked. The Post-ABC poll was con-
hold a 14-point advantage on the the most important issues back economy is key to their decision, abortion, is opposed by more than But Democrats have yet to uni- ducted by telephone Oct. 30-Nov.
economy, a 12-point advantage on Democrats by 54 points. while 20 percent cite abortion. 6 in 10 adults, including almost 9 fy abortion rights supporters be- 2 among a random national sam-
inflation and rising prices Twice as many Republican like- The impact of inflation is re- in 10 Democrats and more than 6 hind their party, with voters who ple of 1,005 adults with 75 percent
(though that gap has declined ly voters than Democratic voters vealed in another question, which in 10 independents. Just over half back legal abortion favoring reached on cellphone. The overall
since September) and a 20-point cite the economy as one of the asked people to compare their of Republicans support the rul- Democrats for Congress by 67 per- sample along with the subsample
advantage on crime. Democrats single most important issues in family9s financial situation with ing. cent to 29 percent, while Republi- of 881 registered voters have a
have a 13-point advantage on their vote (32 percent vs. 15 per- that of two years ago. More than 4 The percentage of adults who cans receive 88 percent support margin of sampling error of plus
abortion and a 19-point advan- cent). On abortion, the pattern in 10 say it is worse, about 4 in 10 say abortion should be legal in all among voters who say abortion or minus four percentage points.
tage on climate change. was reversed, with 32 percent of say it is the same and not quite 2 or most cases has increased since should be illegal. Turnout is also a The error margin is 4.5 points
On immigration and threats to Democratic likely voters citing it in 10 say it is better. the decision, with 66 percent say- factor, with opponents of legal among the sample of 708 likely
democracy, the first an issue as one of the single most impor- The Supreme Court9s decision ing it should be legal all or most of abortion nine points more likely voters.

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A12 EZ SU THE WASHINGTON POST . SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022

Midterm Elections

Presidents
go to Pa.
for late
rallies
PENNSYLVANIA FROM A1

they can hear us in Latrobe!=

Biden said, referring to the city
where Trump would later speak at
his rally. Trump boasted of his
crowd size and sought to belittle
the Democrats9 rally.
The dueling events also
brought into focus the sharply
contrasting visions of the country
each side is presenting to voters
and the dangers they are associat-
ing with the opposition. The Dem-
ocrats warned of the risks of vot-
ing for election deniers and those
who want to further curtail abor-
tion rights and upend entitle-
ments. Trump described 4 in of-
ten exaggerated terms 4 a country
ravaged on Democrats9 watch by
crime, illegal immigration and
drugs.
The expensive and bruising
Senate race between Mehmet Oz,
a celebrity doctor, and Democratic
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is seen as
key to which party controls the
CAROLINE GUTMAN FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
chamber next year. Polls show a
close competition. Fetterman Supporters pack the venue at a Democratic rally Saturday at Temple University in Philadelphia featuring former president Barack Obama and President Biden. Pennsylvania
spoke at the rally with Obama and voters will decide a pair of high-profile, high-stakes races Tuesday, with Democrats fielding Josh Shapiro in the gubernatorial race and John Fetterman for U.S. Senate.
Biden here in Philadelphia, saying
that unlike his opponent on the hybrid feel to it 4 part pep rally for and cheering loudly. As the lights ers that he needs people such as Oz give up on democracy.= <Look, I lived in Pennsylvania lon-
other side of the state, everyone he Biden and his agenda and part an dimmed, people waved their cell- in office in case the election is Trump narrowly won Pennsyl- ger than Oz has lived in Pennsylva-
stood on stage with was <sedition attempt to motivate voters to sup- phones like lighters at a rock con- challenged in 2024 or Democrats vania in 2016 and Biden defeated nia, and I moved away when I was
free.= port Shapiro and Fetterman. cert. When Obama, Biden, Fetter- try to impeach him again. him there in a competitive race 10 years old!=
The governor9s race includes Biden touted his accomplish- man and Shapiro took the stage During the GOP primary, when four years later. After the election, While Biden hit on many of the
Republican state Sen. Doug Mas- ments and the speakers at the together to deafening applause, Oz was appealing to Trump's base, the state was a focal point of an same themes he has stressed
triano, who appeared at the rally event often tried to strike a hope- they held hands as music blared. he questioned the legitimacy of unsuccessful effort by Trump and throughout the campaign season
in Latrobe. The Republican ful note about the country. Biden Earlier Saturday, Obama head- the 2020 election, but by Septem- his allies to overturn the results. 4 including lowering prescription
helped lead unsuccessful efforts to argued this election is a <choice= lined a rally for Fetterman 4 with- ber said he would have voted to Strategists in both parties expect drug prices, GOP proposals that
overturn the 2020 presidential and not a <referendum= on his out Biden 4 in Pittsburgh, where certify Biden's win. He also has it to be a key 2024 battleground. threaten Social Security and Medi-
election results in Pennsylvania party. Obama framed the election similarly he painted a grim picture said he will accept the results of Biden urged voters to come to- care, blasting oil companies and
and would have significant influ- as bigger than issues such as the of a fractured country on the brink his race if he loses. gether to propel Democrats to vic- ridiculing Republicans who took
ence over future elections. He is economy and crime, which have of losing its democracy. The 44th president said he real- tory. <Two years ago you used that out hundreds of thousands or mil-
running against Democratic At- dominated many races this year. Obama claimed that Trump ized other issues might feel more power to not only make Donald lions of dollars from the pandem-
torney General Josh Shapiro, who <Truth and facts and logic and wants Oz in the Senate to influ- pressing to many voters. <I under- Trump a former president, but you ic-era Paycheck Protection Pro-
is viewed as a rising star in the reason and basic decency are on ence the results if there9s another stand democracy might not seem made him a defeated president!= gram and oppose his student debt
party and who has attacked his the ballot,= Obama said. <Democ- close presidential race in 2024. like a top priority right now when he bellowed to loud cheers. relief policy 4 he was more fiery,
opponent as a dire threat to demo- racy itself is on the ballot. The <Think about that, he9s basically gas prices are high and grocery Biden also invoked one of energetic and focused on Satur-
cratic norms. stakes are high!= saying if I lose again I need him to bills are high,= Obama said. <But Fetterman9s signature attack lines day, seeming to feed off the elec-
The distinctive styles of the The Temple University arena put his thumbs on the scale,= let me tell you something, Penn- against Oz, raising questions tricity of the crowd.
three presidents came into focus where they spoke vibrated. The Obama said. According to a book sylvania, we9ve seen throughout about his longtime New Jersey Just before Biden landed in
as they made their closing pitches. White House said 7,500 people by New York Times reporter Mag- history, we9ve seen around the residency. <And Oz and Pennsylva- Philadelphia, the White House
The Democratic event had a attended. Many were screaming gie Haberman, Trump told advis- world, what happens when you nia?= Biden asked incredulously. sought to smooth over a skirmish

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022 . THE WASHINGTON POST EZ SU A13

Midterm Elections
with Sen. Joe Manchin III came together as a result of Biden
(D-W.Va.), who blasted the presi- advisers requesting that Obama
dent for comments on one of his come for a joint appearance, ac-
last campaign stops suggesting cording to those familiar with the
that coal plants in the United planning, speaking on the condi-
States would be shut down as the tion of anonymity to discuss inter-
country shifts to wind and solar nal dynamics.
power. Advisers to both men said they
<President Biden9s comments are in frequent touch and the
are not only divorced from reality, Obama staff clears its events with
they ignore the severe economic Biden9s so they are in close coordi-
pain the American people are feel- nation.
ing because of rising energy costs,= The current dynamic between
Manchin said in a statement Sat- the two men is in some ways a role
urday. <Comments like these are reversal from when Obama had to
the reason the American people take a back seat during his party9s
are losing trust in President midterms in 2010 after the pas-
Biden.= sage of the Affordable Care Act
At the Trump rally, Mastriano brought down his approval rat-
referenced Biden9s comment. <Did ings. Biden was the sought-after
you see Sleepy Joe wants to close surrogate, as he was in 2018, when
down our coal plants?= he said to Trump was president and Demo-
boos. crats retook control of the House.
The White House suggested Biden9s low approval ratings 4
that Biden9s comments had been hovering at about 43 percent, ac-
taken out of context and miscon- cording to a Washington Post aver-
strued. age of polls 4 have been a drag on
<The President9s remarks yes- many Democratic candidates,
terday have been twisted to sug- who have sought to keep their
gest a meaning that was not in- distance from Biden in their cam-
tended; he regrets it if anyone paigns9 final stretch.
hearing these remarks took of- Pennsylvania has been the ex-
fense,= White House press secre- ception: Biden, a native Pennsyl-
SHURAN HUANG FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
tary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a vanian and longtime senator for
statement. Supporters of former president Donald Trump line up early Saturday for a rally for Pennsylvania Republican candidates in Latrobe, neighboring Delaware, has visited
Biden did not reference the re- outside Pittsburgh. During the rally, Trump boasted about the crowd size and was frequently interrupted by chants of <U.S.A.= the state several times since kick-
mark in his speech, focusing on ing off the campaign season at the
defending his record and touting who9re worried about crime. Their ing aircraft looking for Trump9s very, very short period of time, touting his administration9s pol- end of August, including for a
the Democratic candidates who kids can9t go outside,= Oz said Sat- plane, and the former president you9re going to be so happy,= icies and Democratic-passed bills, speech on the future of democracy
joined him. In contrast to the Sen- urday. Someone shouted back, made a dramatic entrance down Trump said. <I don9t want to do it including student debt relief, the he held on Sept. 1. Biden has also
ate contest, Shapiro has run com- <I9m one of them!= the gangway and walked onto the right not because I9d like to do it, $700 billion Inflation Reduction appeared with Fetterman on a
fortably ahead of Mastriano in the Obama addressed Fetterman9s stage in a MAGA cap. but I want to have the focus to- Act and a domestic semiconduc- handful of occasions, making him
gubernatorial contest, polls show, health Saturday, saying in Pitts- <There9s a big crowd,= he night be on Dr. Oz and Doug Mas- tor manufacturing bill. one of the few Democrats running
as many independents and some burgh: <John9s stroke did not crowed. He later took an inaccu- triano.= The president has also used all on purple terrain willing to appear
Republicans reject Mastriano9s change who he is, it didn9t change rate swipe at the Democrats9 turn- Oz won the GOP primary with of his stops to lambaste Republi- with the president.
far-right extremism and espousal what he cares about, it didn9t out, and baselessly suggested their the help of Trump9s endorsement, cans for proposals that would Biden often refers to his up-
of Christian nationalist views. change his values, his heart, his votes would be fraudulent. <They while Mastriano won Trump9s slash or curb Social Security and bringing in Scranton as evidence
Many GOP leaders have stayed fight. It doesn9t change who he will had a little rally here, nobody support at the end of the primary, Medicare and delivered an un- of his blue-collar roots and points
away from Mastriano9s campaign, represent when he gets to the U.S. showed up for their rally,= he said. as it appeared he was poised for precedented warning to voters to the state being critical to his
often isolating it from much of the Senate.= <And then they9ll say how many victory. Mastriano has been un- that GOP candidates who refuse to 2020 win. If Biden chooses to run
party establishment. Fetterman is recovering from a votes they have.= wavering in his commitment to accept Tuesday9s results could set again in 2024 4 which he has said
The Senate race between Oz stroke that left him with symp- The rowdy crowd frequently in- false claims about fraud in the the nation on a <path to chaos.= he plans to do 4 there is broad
and Fetterman has tightened in toms of an auditory processing terrupted Trump with chants of 2020 election. Oz has run toward But unlike Obama, Biden has agreement across both parties
recent weeks, polls show, as the disorder, according to the Demo- <U.S.A.,= <Let9s go, Brandon= and, the middle in the general, at times largely visited safely Democratic that Pennsylvania would again be
two head into the final days of a crat and his doctor. He has also at referring to Hillary Clinton, <Lock de-emphasizing his relationship states including New Mexico, Cali- key to his path to a second term.
hard-fought campaign that has of- times struggled with his speech. her up!= Trump9s event Saturday with Trump, but in a debate fornia and Illinois, with stops in Biden grew impassioned at the
ten focused more on personal at- His doctors have said he is capable was the second of four rallies for pledged to support him in 2024. New York and an election eve rally end of his speech. <I9ve traveled
tacks than policy ideas. Fetterman of serving in the job of U.S. senator. him in a final swing before Elec- Trump9s super PAC has been in Maryland still planned. Biden this country and seen this great
has spent most of the race trying to For the Republican rally, a tion Day. He last appeared in the running ads in the state attacking also visited Florida, where Repub- nation & we are good people. I
depict Oz as an out-of-touch celeb- crowd that the Secret Service state in September for a rally in Fetterman as aligned with Biden lican statewide candidates hold know this. There9s no quit in John
rity who has lived outside Pennsyl- counted at about 8,000 people Wilkes-Barre. Pennsylvania was and soft on crime. One of the spots comfortable leads. Fetterman. There9s no quit in
vania. Oz has sought to cast Fetter- turned out to a regional airfield in critical to Trump9s electoral path seized on Fetterman9s recovery Some Biden aides had been un- Pennsylvania. There is no quit in
man as soft on crime and has a lush green basin surrounding by in the past two presidential cam- from a stroke in May, saying he easy about the prospect of the America. & We are the United
accused his rival of being insuffi- rolling wooded hills outside Pitts- paigns and would be again in 2024 <just isn9t right.= former and current president ap- States of America!= he said with a
ciently transparent about his burgh. Many attendees wore Mas- as he prepares to formally an- Biden has spent the final week pearing together for fear that raised voice.
health after suffering a stroke in triano T-shirts and bumper stick- nounce his candidacy shortly after before the midterms crisscrossing Obama would overshadow Biden
May. ers reading <TRUMP WON.= The the midterms. the country with campaign rallies and invite unfavorable compari- Arnsdorf reported from Latrobe, Pa.
<I9ve spoken to young families crowd eagerly watched approach- <I promise you, in the next very, and official White House events sons. But the Philadelphia event Abutaleb reported from Washington.

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A14 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST . SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022

Miracle-Ear
Midterm Elections
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Salutes
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JOE BUGLEWICZ FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.) listens to speakers at a rally Oct. 28 in New Britain, Conn. Despite the
to learn more about our exclusive Veteran Discount. state being a Democratic stronghold, Hayes is locked in a tight race with Republican George Logan.

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<The economy is the most im- president in 2016. She has made Democrats, whether it9s over how
" 24-35 Hours of Power With One Charge portant issue,= Steve Griffing, a education one of her central focus- they handled the coronavirus pan-
68-year-old registered independ- es while in Congress and sits on demic or high inflation. He is also
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But in the final days before the <She knows who we are, she talking to voters. His candidacy is
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ground with voters who say the has continued to fight for those sity in the state and across the
economy is their No. 1 priority, things,= Margo Jones, a 34-year- country as Republicans are look-
putting districts previously seen old Black resident of East Hart- ing to make more gains with Lati-
as safe for Democrats 4 like ford, said at a recent Hayes rally in no voters. In Connecticut, Latino
NORTH BETHESDA BETHESDA Hayes9s 4 in play.
<I think Democrats now banked
New Britain.
In an interview with The Wash-
and Black residents made up
about 30 percent of the total popu-
11621 Nebel Street 6931 Arlington Road on Roe v. Wade carrying them in, ington Post, Hayes said she is fo- lation in 2021, an increase of seven
1-888-387-3068 1-888-387-3068 and then just didn9t realize what cused on reminding voters what percentage points from 2010.
SILVER SPRING BOWIE
really bothered all of us,= said Ro- she has accomplished and what9s Logan said if he is elected, he
berto Alves, the chairman of the at stake if Republicans take back wants to pass legislation to lower
32 Vital Way Fairwood Shopping Center Danbury Democratic Town Com- control of the House. taxes, increase domestic oil drill-
301-384-4245 12420F Fairwood Parkway mittee. <It9s not just, 8Oh, gas pric- <We cannot be so shortsighted ing, and stimulate the state9s econ-
1-888-387-3068 es are going down,9 but people are that this becomes an election omy by cutting certain federal reg-
FAIRFAX still making the same amount of about a single issue,= Hayes said, ulations.
10560 Main Street, Suite 207 ROCKVILLE money, and their costs keep going
up.=
referring to voters9 concern over
the economy. <We have to really
<I want to be able to encourage
an atmosphere of growth for busi-
1-888-387-3068 404 King Farm Blvd., Suite 140 Connecticut has been repre- take a step back and look at how all nesses. I want more people work-
1-888-387-3068
SPRINGFIELD
sented entirely by Democrats at of these things impact each other.= ing in the district, more opportu-

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the congressional level since During a recent campaign rally, nities for folks,= Logan said in an
6506 Loisdale Rd., Suite 106 2009, and in 2020, Biden won Hayes criticized her opponent9s interview. <We need a vibrant,
1-888-387-3068 6408-J Seven Corners Place Hayes9s district by 10.7 percentage record in the state Senate, while healthy economy as a nation, but
1-888-387-3068 points. But the district, which in- touting Democrats9 passage of the also here, Connecticut9s 5th Con-
WOODBRIDGE cludes the state9s western border Inflation Reduction Act, which gressional District.=
1455 Old Bridge Rd., Suite 202 STERLING to central areas like New Britain
and Farmington Valley, is also the
would lower drug costs and en-
ergy costs.
Republicans have tried to por-
tray Hayes as out of touch with her
1-888-387-3068 2 Pidgeon Hill Dr. location of Biden9s lowest margin <When he had the opportunity constituents and blamed her and
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FREDERICKSBURG of victory in Connecticut in 2020. to vote for child-care workers, he the Biden administration for the
GAINESVILLE
A recent Cook Political Report voted no. When he had the oppor- high inflation.
Spotsylvania Crossing with an Amy Walter9s ranking list- tunity to vote for anything that <Washington is driving the bus,
3603 Plank Rd. 7430 Heritage Village Plaza, #102 ed the race as a toss-up, increasing would have made your life and and Washington is pushing for the
1-888-387-3068 1-888-387-3068 worries among Democrats that your family9s lives better, he voted left and for the progressive, and
Hayes9s message isn9t resonating. no. So not only do I know you, but they9re following that pattern,=
As the race garners more atten- you know me,= she said. Brenda Hamilton, a retired Dan-
Miracle-EarMini# tion, outside groups and the cam- Logan has pushed back on bury resident, said in an interview.

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HEARING AIDS from AdImpact, a firm that tracks that residents have had to deal Hayes has pushed back on this
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in trouble, I don9t think anybody ways under the one-party Demo- and creating more employment
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by Miracle-Ear. See store for details. she was named national teacher of tory of his own. the community?9 = Julie Milano,
the year in 2016. The award A former state senator, Logan an undecided voter, said in an
Your safety is our top priority, and we continue to take extra opened doors for her to meet Pres- would be the first Afro-Latino to interview. <It is no longer only
precautions to ensure your wellbeing in our stores.
ident Barack Obama, who award- represent Connecticut in Con- talking about what is good in your
ed her a crystal apple statuette, gress. He has positioned himself as eyes as a politician; it is more the
Hearing aids do not restore natural hearing. Individual experiences vary depending on severity of hearing loss, accuracy of evaluation, proper ût and ability to adapt to and allowed her to travel across a moderate Republican, promising community coming up together
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only. These are not medical exams or diagnoses nor are they intended to replace a physician9s care. If you suspect a medical problem, please seek treatment from your

CODE: TQ223077
doctor. **Cleanings and in-ofûce service are always free. Miracle-Ear® lifetime aftercare not included with challenges other communities are crats. But his candidacy has also this and that. What do you offer
hearing aids purchased utilizing some insurance beneûts. See store for details. facing. Before running for office, garnered the endorsement of some us?9 And not the other way
she had no formal political experi- more right-wing Republicans, in- around.=
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022 . THE WASHINGTON POST EZ SU A15

Midterm Elections

This year, Twitter and Facebook

gave GOP election deniers a pass
BY N AOMI N IX,
J EREMY B . M ERRILL
AND H AYDEN G ODFREY

Mark Finchem, the Republican

candidate seeking to oversee Ari-
zona9s election system as that
state9s secretary of state, made a
last-minute fundraising pitch on
Wednesday using one of his favor-
ite talking points: the looming
threat of voter fraud.
Finchem falsely argued on
Facebook and Twitter that his
Democratic opponent, Adrian
Fontes, is a member of the Chinese
Communist Party and a <Cartel
criminal= who has <rigged elec-
tions before.=
JOSHUA LOTT/THE WASHINGTON POST
It wasn9t the first time Finchem
spread unfounded election-rig- Arizona GOP secretary of state nominee Mark Finchem prays at a
ging conspiracy theories on social campaign event at the Foothills Golf Club in Phoenix on Oct. 11.
media. In September, Finchem
misleadingly posted that Fontes voting process. election. <In reality, this is a prob-
was being <bankrolled= by billion- Twitter has acknowledged lem being caused by political
aire George Soros and former New ramping down its enforcement of elites,= said Joshua Tucker, a pro-
York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and its policies barring lies about the fessor at New York University.
they want to <RIG our elections & outcome of an election between The Post9s review showed the
our voter rolls.= March 2021 and August 2022, and problem of misleading informa-
For years, Facebook and Twitter its has said it activates its civic tion is deep. In Michigan, Kristina
have pledged to fight falsehoods integrity policy around 90 days Karamo, the Republican nominee
that could confuse users about out before Election Day. In recent for Michigan secretary of state,
America9s electoral system by tag- days, Twitter has rolled out more has accused the state9s chief elec-
ging questionable posts with accu- widely a labeling tool run by its tion administrator Jocelyn Ben-
rate information about voting and users, not its staff. son on Facebook of refusing to
removing rule-breaking misinfor- But it remains an open question remove thousands of dead voters
mation. But this electoral cycle, at how Elon Musk9s new ownership from Michigan9s voter rolls.
least 26 candidates have posted of Twitter will affect that. Musk Kim Crockett, the Republican
inaccurate election claims since once promised to loosen content nominee for Minnesota9s secre-
April, but the platforms have done moderation practices and rein- tary of state, posted to Facebook
virtually nothing to refute them, state former president Donald and Twitter in September that her
according to a Washington Post Trump9s account and it9s uncertain opponent9s opposition to voter ID
review of the companies9 misin- how the site will police election rules <is that voter fraud has be-
formation labeling practices. rigging claims in the wake of the come part of his electoral strat-
That9s in contrast to the 2020 massive layoff of Twitter person- egy.= (Neither she nor Karamo re-
election cycle, when Facebook and nel that happened Friday. sponded to The Post9s requests for
Twitter collectively added labels to Earlier in the week, Musk comment.)
scores of election-related posts promised civil rights groups and Finchem, for his part, has fo-
from Donald Trump that pointed other activists that Twitter would cused on Arizona9s participation
readers to authoritative informa- continue implementing its cur- in ERIC 4 a voter database meant
tion about the electoral process or rent election integrity practices to remove voters who9ve moved
alerted readers that the informa- until the midterms were over. But out of state. Finchem wrote, <Our
tion was misleading. Facebook la- there are signs that Musk also voter rolls are still corrupted by
beled at least 506 Trump posts might be willing to intervene in the Soros-backed ERIC system= on
between Jan. 1, 2020, and Jan. 6, Twitter9s decisions regarding Twitter in September. (Fact-check-
2021, according to a study from sanctions to individual candi- ers at PolitiFact have said that
the left-leaning Media Matters for dates. there is no link between ERIC and
America, and Twitter also added After The Post asked Twitter Soros.)
labels to Trump9s tweets question- about some of Finchem9s election- In total, The Post9s review found
ing the validity of the election or fraud related tweets, the social 82 posts on Twitter and Facebook
voting process. media giant appeared to have re- from 28 candidates calling atten-
But such labels have been non- stricted his ability to post, accord- tion to granular election adminis-
existent this election cycle, the ing to his comments on Twitter. tration issues. None had a label.
Post review showed, when hun- On Monday evening, Musk re- NYU9s Tucker said he sympa-
dreds of congressional seats as sponded to a Newsmax contribu- thizes with the platforms over the
well as thousands of state and tor9s tweet about the restrictions complexity of their decisions on
local positions are being decided. by saying he was <looking into it.= when to flag a statement. <When
In August, Facebook said it had Later that evening, Finchem was somebody says I9m quite con-
received feedback from users that tweeting again and thanking cerned about the possibility of
its labels promoting reliable infor- Musk <for stopping the commie fraud in this election, that9s not a
mation were so overused that the who suspended me from Twitter a false statement,= Tucker said. <It9s
company had decided if they did week before the election.= hard to say that is something that
use labels it would be in a more It9s unclear why Finchem9s ac- should be taken down. Yet the
<targeted and strategic way.= Late count was restricted or restored. problem is the cumulative effect of
last year, Twitter started experi- Twitter didn9t respond to repeated people saying that again and
menting with newly designed mis- requests for comment. Neither again.=
information labels that the com- Finchem, Smith nor Dixon re- And the denials of the result of
pany says led to decreases in re- sponded to The Post9s requests for the 2020 election remain ram-
plies, retweets and likes of false- comment. pant.
hoods and an increase in people In a statement, Andy Stone, a The Post9s review found 190
clicking through to the debunking spokesman for Facebook9s parent posts on Facebook and Twitter
content. company Meta, did not address from 47 candidates citing Dinesh
Finchem is not the only GOP directly Facebook9s policy of plac- D9Souza9s <2000 Mules= film,
candidate to argue on social media ing labels on posts with mislead- which claims to show so-called
that next week9s midterm elec- ing election information. He said mules turning in absentee ballots
tions are already or could be many of the posts that The Post for nonfamily members in viola-
rigged. Sandy Smith, the GOP asked about were <examples of tion of state rules, implying that
nominee for a competitive U.S. standard political content like this should invalidate Biden9s elec-
House seat in northeastern North candidates promoting their cam- tion. There9s little evidence that
Carolina, responded to a state su- paign websites, posing questions was true, but at the time the film
preme court ruling on election in congressional hearings or re- was released last spring, Twitter
rules with a Facebook post saying acting to court decisions.= He also had stopped enforcing its policies
<Cheaters are going to cheat. If criticized The Post for reviewing against election denial.
lefties aren9t cheating, they ain9t only misinformation communi- Mark Alford, the Republican
trying.= The post did not receive a cated by text. candidate for U.S. Congress in
label. <Experts have identified video Missouri, posted in a Facebook
The Post reviewed thousands of as a prime vector for problematic invitation to a watch party at his
social media posts on Twitter, election content, yet the Washing- campaign office that the film <ex-
Facebook and other, smaller plat- ton Post intentionally excluded poses widespread, coordinated
forms from nearly 300 GOP elect- YouTube and TikTok from its re- voter fraud in the 2020 election,
ed officials and candidates to eval- view,= he said in the statement. sufficient to change the overall
uate how they have been portray- The social media platforms9 outcome,= a claim that is false. No
ing the upcoming vote over the lack of labels on misleading and label was applied.
past six months and the platforms9 questionable assertions this year <Should they be moderating all
reaction to that. The Post9s review emerges amid a longtime battle posts that mention the movie?
relied on a previous Post analysis over how social media platforms That9s a bridge too far,= said Shan-
from October that examined every should referee the political speech non McGregor, a communications
Republican running for House, of world leaders. professor at the University of
Senate or key statewide offices to Under the company9s rules, North Carolina. <But, at least la-
see whether they had challenged Facebook doesn9t prohibit posts beling them would be a step in the
or refused to accept the results of that allege widespread voter right direction.=
the 2020 election. fraud, in contrast to Twitter, which The review also found that the
That review found 17 candi- bans false claims that could <un- phrase <election integrity= has be-
dates claiming that the 2022 elec- dermine public confidence in an come a popular, if vague, buzz-
tion will be rigged or that aspects election= including lies about the word among others, showing up in
of the voting system are rigged, outcome of the 2020 presidential hundreds of posts from at least 80
fraudulent or corrupt. Those election. candidates.
claims were made in 40 posts on Both companies ban distor- For instance, John Moolenaar
Facebook and Twitter. Those posts tions about how, when or where to (R), a Michigan congressman
were left unchallenged by the so- vote 4 which it considers a form of seeking reelection, includes it in a
cial media companies, with no la- voter suppression. Both compa- laundry list of campaign promises
beling from Facebook and Twitter, nies also promote accurate facts alongside <the right to life, the
the review found. about the election in information Second Amendment,= and keep-
The Post9s analysis also found hubs on their social networks. ing taxes low in a July Facebook
that 18 election-denying GOP can- Facebook, for instance, has a vot- post. Burt Jones, the Republican
didates recently claimed the 2020 ing information center that pro- nominee for lieutenant governor
election was rigged or that Presi- motes links to government web- of Georgia, also promised to <re-
dent Biden is illegitimate at least sites instructing users about how store election integrity= alongside
52 times on these platforms. Those to register to vote. Twitter strengthening public safety, im-
posts too went unchallenged by launched hubs promoting real- proving education and eliminat-
the social media companies, the time election information from ing the state9s income tax in a May
review found. state election officials and news post before his primary.
That9s far different from 2020 outlets. McGregor says this is a <marker
and 2021, when the platforms reg- Misinformation experts say, of identity= and it <allows voters
ularly put labels on posts to alert however, there9s only so much the who are primed to think about
readers that the content might be platforms can do with so many election denial to hear what they
misleading or pointing users to Republican candidate pushing want to hear without alienating
accurate information about the misinformation about the last more moderate voters.=
A16 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST . SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022

Midterm Elections

In Arizona, Turning Point network seeks to purge the GOP9s old guard
ARIZONA FROM A1

the presidency.
But the Republican House
speaker, Rusty Bowers, ultimate-
ly balked at redrawing the state9s
map to seize partisan advantage.
As the pair9s political differences
grew, the activist, who was half
the speaker9s age, vowed revenge.
<Rusty, I will be working
toward ensuring you do not win
your election in 2022,= Bowyer
warned in a March text message
obtained by The Washington
Post. <I appreciate your service, I
will do whatever it takes to en-
sure you are retired.=
Soon, the state legislator faced
a rush of ridicule on social media
and in negative ads as Turning
Point9s political arm launched a
campaign to <Replace RINO
Rusty.= The speaker lost his pri-
mary for an open state Senate
seat in August to a Turning Point-
backed Republican who called
the 2020 election a <conspiracy
headed up by the Devil himself.=
The takedown of one of the
most powerful Republicans in the
state illustrates the rise of Turn-
ing Point USA and its network of
affiliates, which have pushed be-
yond their core mission of ener-
gizing college conservatives to
turn Arizona into a laboratory for
a new brand of Republican orga-
nizing. The decade-old nonprofit
organization has helped trans-
form the state GOP, seeking to
elevate acolytes of former presi-
dent Donald Trump and purge
old-guard centrists who led in the
tradition of the late Republican
Sen. John McCain.
The group9s success is reflected
in the Republican midterm elec-
tion slate 4 nearly every state-
CAITLIN O'HARA FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
wide candidate and many of
those farther down the ballot
have embraced Trump9s false
claims that the 2020 election was
rigged. The political career of
Kari Lake, the state9s GOP guber-
natorial nominee, took off at a
Turning Point event last year, and
she has filled her campaign staff
with former Turning Point em-
ployees. Lake has promised, if
elected, to overhaul how votes are
cast and counted in this pivotal
swing state.
<They have a bigger impact
than any other Republican group
I know,= said Jeff DeWit, a former
state treasurer in Arizona who
served as chief operating officer
for both of Trump9s presidential
campaigns. <They9re more power-
ful than the RNC,= he said, refer-
CAITLIN O'HARA FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
ring to the Republican National
Committee. TOP: Tyler Bowyer, a longtime Turning Point USA leader, speaks in
This account of Turning Point9s the ear of Austin Smith, a Turning Point Action employee and GOP
quest to remake the Arizona Re- candidate for the Arizona House, at a canvassing event in Mesa in
publican Party is based on audio October. LEFT: Volunteers at the get-out-the-vote event in Mesa.
recordings of private meetings, ABOVE: A supporter picks up a poster at the rally.
personal messages and inter-
views with more than 80 people, a sweltering July day. Bowyer seat, the secretary of state9s office
including current and former warmed up the crowd ahead of and races down the ballot. Ari-
CAITLIN O'HARA FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
Turning Point employees, public Trump9s 90-minute speech. zona had quickly gone from a
officials and their staffers, politi- In the final months of the conservative stronghold to a true
cal consultants, and state and generations. servative activists this year, Bow- pro-Trump organizing. campaign, Kirk, then 22, took a swing state. Turning Point lead-
local party activists who have Kirk is a prolific fundraiser, yer remarked on his role at Turn- Bowyer, who touts that his leave from Turning Point to travel ers and other conservatives saw it
interacted with the nonprofit9s using his connections in Trump9s ing Point by calling himself <the family has lived in Arizona for the country with Trump9s eldest as confirmation that the state
leaders. Most spoke on the condi- inner circle to fete donors at the guy that basically runs every- seven generations, had long son, Donald Trump Jr., 38 at the party needed a dramatically dif-
tion of anonymity to share sensi- former president9s Mar-a-Lago thing,= according to an audio chafed at the conventional party time. They focused on events ferent strategy.
tive details or avoid professional Club in Florida. But it9s Bowyer, recording obtained by The Post. apparatus and longed for one tailored to students and appeared Bowyer viewed the results as
reprisal. 37, who translates that influence At another point in the conversa- more willing to push boundaries. at a Fox News town hall aimed at affirmation of his long-standing
The Post review found that and those resources into raw tion, he boasted of his enthusi- As a student at Arizona State millennials. philosophy: <If the Republican
Turning Point, which forged an political power in Arizona, a state asm for political confrontation: <I University, he earned the adora- As they campaigned in the Party doesn9t do its job, you know,
early alliance with the pro-Trump increasingly setting the tone for have giant balls.= tion of tea party activists when he Phoenix area, Bowyer recorded a then the Republican Party has to
movement in 2016, devised an the national GOP. ridiculed Gov. Jan Brewer (R) for video of Trump Jr. helping a go,= he said in the private meeting
aggressive strategy to enforce dis- Kirk and Bowyer declined to Forged in the MAGA expanding the state9s Medicaid stranded motorist and pushing a with activists this year, according
cipline and purity in a divided comment for this report. Andrew movement program. car in triple-digit heat. He posted to audio obtained by The Post.
GOP that was struggling to over- Kolvet, a spokesman for Turning It was January 2015, and a In the summer of 2015, Bowyer it on Twitter, writing, <This is why Kolvet, the Turning Point
come Democratic gains in the Point USA and its affiliates, said pivotal presidential election received a call from Trump9s cam- I9m voting Trump!= The message, spokesman, declined to elaborate
state. The group recruited like- that both men effectively channel loomed. paign manager, who was trying to which has been viewed more than on Bowyer9s comments but said,
minded activists into the party conservative interests and that Bowyer had just started to schedule a small gathering in half a million times, made clear to <Turning Point is confident Mr.
ranks and often used provocative the group9s years-long work in work for Turning Point as part of Phoenix but was facing pushback Turning Point leaders the online Bowyer had the best interest of
rhetoric online to pressure old- Arizona is <bearing significant its expansion in Arizona and oth- from Republican state leaders appetite for pro-Trump content. the conservative movement and
guard Republicans and <barrage fruit in 2022.= Kolvet sought to er parts of the West. He was also who had recoiled at Trump9s style Trump went on to win Arizona the organization in mind.=
the left,= as one internal docu- distance Turning Point from elected chair of the Maricopa and uncompromising approach in 2016, and Republicans swept In January 2019, party mem-
ment put it, while creating a new some of Bowyer9s political advo- County GOP, promising to revolu- to immigration, according to a other races. Turning Point and bers gathered in a Phoenix
political action committee to cacy, which he said was undertak- tionize the party by recruiting a person familiar with the call. the Make America Great Again church to pick their next leader.
pour hundreds of thousands of en in Bowyer9s <capacity as a new generation of volunteers at The young activist and others movement fell into a well-defined Bowyer threw his support be-
dollars into statewide and legisla- Republican Party leader.= the lowest levels of the party 4 a helped organize and promote a symbiosis: Kirk and his associ- hind Kelli Ward, a former state
tive campaigns. In a private meeting with con- strategy now at the center of rally that attracted thousands on ates helped amplify Trump9s mes- senator who had unsuccessfully
Nationally, Turning Point so- sages on social media, and the run for U.S. Senate twice and had
lidified its identity in the MAGA group9s fundraising exploded. publicized her disdain for the
era. Like Trump, Turning Point9s In 2018, Kirk relocated his establishment wing of the party.
leaders gravitate toward messag- enterprise from the Chicago sub- She pledged to recruit MAGA
es primed to go viral on social urbs, where he was raised, to a Republicans as foot soldiers and
media, including a recent call for two-story headquarters in a oversee a transformation of the
a <hero= to bail out of jail the man Phoenix office park. The sprawl- state party.
accused of assaulting the hus- ing facility includes a television Bowyer worked the room that
band of House Speaker Nancy studio where several live-stream day with help from Jake Hoff-
Pelosi (D-Calif.). shows are filmed, near a wall man, a Turning Point consultant.
Founder Charlie Kirk, now 29, decorated with a huge American Hoffman ran a marketing firm
was the 10th-biggest <super- flag and pennants from dozens of that worked for a PAC that had
spreader= of misinformation college campuses. supported Ward9s failed Senate
about the 2020 election on Twit- An opening ceremony drew big bids.
ter, according to the Election names from across the Republi- Ward prevailed over a McCain
Integrity Partnership, a consor- can Party9s ideological divide, in- ally, and Hoffman helped her
tium of researchers. Kirk encour- cluding Gov. Doug Ducey. Bow- transition into the role of party
aged his followers to attend the yer, who recently had been pro- chair. When Republicans wanted
Jan. 6, 2021, rally that preceded moted to chief operating officer, to reach Ward, they started with
the assault on the U.S. Capitol, addressed the crowd. Hoffman, whose businesses have
and a website promoting the rally <One thing I hope that you take remained key vendors for the
listed Turning Point Action, the away from today,= he said, <is that state party, according to cam-
group9s political arm, as a backer. you see all of the wonderful paign finance records.
With more than $65 million in things that are happening across As the state9s top Republicans
annual revenue, more than 400 the country in the name of con- kept their distance from Ward,
employees and a massive net- servatism.= Turning Point saw an opportu-
work of conservative influencers, nity. Her title gave Turning Point
Turning Point9s vast network ex- A rival to the GOP credibility.
erts its influence through a dizzy- mainstream Ward, in a statement, called
ing array of mediums, from pod- Within months, Arizona Re- Hoffman and Bowyer <friends
JOSHUA LOTT/THE WASHINGTON POST
casts to social media to concert- publicans were in crisis. Demo- and allies= and <two of the most
like rallies, funded by GOP mega- People pray as they attend a <Freedom Night in America= event with Kirk at Dream City Church in crats had swept the 2018 midterm righteous people I know.=
donors and aimed at younger Phoenix last month. Kirk spoke about abortion and immigration. election, flipping a U.S. Senate Hoffman, a former school
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022 . THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A17

Midterm Elections

board member and town council-

man, was listed on Turning
Point9s staff directory through at
least early 2019. In 2020, The Post
revealed that he was running a
deceptive online operation for
Turning Point9s political arm in
which teenagers peppered the
internet with pro-Trump messag-
ing, some using fake accounts.
Hoffman defended the practice at
the time.
Over the years, Hoffman has
been an administrator for the
Facebook pages of Turning Point,
Kirk and Trump Jr., according to
a person familiar with the setup.
Hoffman did not dispute the de-
tails of his social media work for
Trump Jr. or Turning Point, say-
ing that he was <happy to consult
with the organization.=
That fall, Hoffman won a race
for the Arizona House, giving
Turning Point an ally in the state-
house.
Turning Point was no longer on
the GOP9s fringes. It was at the
party9s center.
8Repercussions could be big9
In 2020, Turning Point told
donors its task was activating
young voters, registering thou-
sands to vote and delivering Ari-
zona and other swing states to
Trump, according to documents
obtained by The Post.
The group aimed to capitalize
on the electorate9s intensifying
distrust of government, media
and political parties, the docu-
ments show. Opportunities to do
so expanded with the onset of the
coronavirus pandemic.
Kirk argued that the <China
Virus= proved the need for
Trump9s promised wall on the
southern border, and text mes- boosted Lake after a bitter pri- ing event at a Mesa park, one of
sages sent by Turning Point Ac- mary that pitted her against the 200 that the group says it has
tion falsely claimed that the gov- party establishment, including hosted nationally this cycle. With
ernment was <sending goons the governor. But the money has the smell of chicken roasting in
DOOR-TO-DOOR to make you also extended to legislative races barbecue pits wafting through
take a covid-19 vaccine.= in which spending is traditionally the air, he listened intently as
When Trump resumed holding restrained. Hundreds of thou- Bowyer spoke of the need to
large campaign events, Turning sands of dollars went to Hoff- <rebrand the conservative move-
Point Action9s Students for Trump man9s firm, records show. ment and the Republican Party as
helped pack Phoenix9s Dream The PAC helped a crew of a hope for a future generation.=
City Church for a June 2020 rally. far-right candidates win primary Fuentes argued that <Demo-
Outside, police in riot gear contests in state races, including crat clubs on college campuses
clashed with protesters. Inside, Steve Montenegro, who helped are not doing this. Liberal, woke,
the megachurch9s cavernous au- coordinate bombastic election- feminist clubs, they9re not out
ditorium offered refuge from denying messaging during the there telling people: 8Let9s go out
mask mandates. review of Maricopa County9s and knock doors. Let9s go out and,
Ahead of the election, Turning 2020 ballots; Liz Harris, who you know, sign up to be a precinct
Point Action touted its <round- routinely spreads election false- [committeeman].9 =
the-clock Digital War-Room to hoods; and Smith, the Turning
promote content we create and Point Action enterprise director Looking to 2024
constantly barrage the left on- who spoke at a D.C. rally the day The midterms will test wheth-
line,= according to a slide deck before the insurrection. er Turning Point can win races or
obtained by The Post. It seized on Turning Point has played a just disrupt them.
culture war issues such as how wide-ranging role in Lake9s cam- After winning the primary,
race is taught in public schools, paign, and former Turning Point Lake quickly made overtures to
the rights of transgender individ- staffers have filled key positions the state9s GOP establishment.
uals and illegal immigration. on her campaign, including a top When Bowyer learned that
But Trump lost Arizona 4 the adviser and a former press secre- Lake was meeting with a former
first time a Republican presiden- tary. This summer, Lake said on state GOP chairman who had
tial candidate had ceded the state Twitter that her daughter was been close to McCain, he erupted
since 1996. Quickly, Turning involved with the group. In fact, at her during a phone call as she
Point became a linchpin of PHOTOS BY CAITLIN O9HARA FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
she9s a full-time Turning Point traveled on a donor9s plane, warn-
Trump9s efforts to deny his defeat TOP: Kari Lake, the Republican gubernatorial nominee in Arizona, and Charlie Kirk, the founder of employee, according to two peo- ing that the base would turn
and reverse his loss. Turning Point USA, at a rally in Chandler on Tuesday. Turning Point has played a wide-ranging role in ple familiar with the matter. against her, according to three
Bowyer, elected that year to the her campaign, with former staffers for the group serving in key positions for the former TV anchor9s <Turning Point has been essen- people who heard about his com-
Republican National Committee, campaign. Her political career took off at a Turning Point Action candidate forum in 2021. tial in turning & enthusiasm into ments.
gathered with Hoffman and Ward ABOVE: Kirk, left, and Trump White House strategist Stephen K. Bannon at the rally in Chandler. a tsunami of activists that natu- Lake was unfazed, these people
at the state party9s headquarters rally flock to candidates like Kari said. Kolvet said Lake and Bow-
on Dec. 14, 2020, the day the with the rally planning. Bowyer the election, and Trump allies who was elected to the state Lake,= Caroline Wren, a senior yer <maintain a great relation-
state9s presidential electors met and Kirk have been interviewed launched a haphazard review of House in 2020, introduced legis- adviser on the Lake campaign, ship.=
to cast their votes for Biden, by the House committee investi- the results, over the objection of lation to make it happen 4 but said in a statement. With a growing number of
according to state party tweets. gating the violent attack on the county officials and election ex- the opposition of legislative lead- Lake9s rise also created new well-placed allies, Turning Point
As part of a seven-state plan, the U.S. Capitol that followed the perts. ership ensured its demise. opportunities for Hoffman, is poised to again push election-
trio signed paperwork falsely de- rally, according to two people A few months later, the speaker whose firm was paid about related legislation favorable to
claring themselves the state9s familiar with the matter. The purge testified before the U.S. House $2.3 million by a pro-Lake super Republicans ahead of 2024. A
electors. That plan is now a focus Austin Smith, a Turning Point The next year, Bowyer tried to committee investigating the Jan. PAC, according to state records. A preview of that came last month
of congressional investigators Action employee, tweeted a photo convince Bowers, the Arizona 6 insurrection. Bowers detailed complaint about the source of the when Lake promoted a legislative
and prosecutors probing Trump9s of himself speaking to <thou- House speaker, that the party Trump9s attempts to overturn the PAC9s funding is under review by proposal from Hoffman to punish
quest to stay in power. sands of patriots= at a rally in needed to intensify its efforts to election and his own decision to the Maricopa County elections media outlets that mistakenly
On Twitter, the state party Washington on Jan. 5. maintain power, Bowers said. resist, intensifying the attacks department. Hoffman said his report election results.
asked followers whether they <Don9t get comfortable,= he With a map in hand, the activ- from Turning Point influencers. company is <routinely contract- The Turning Point strategy,
would be willing to die to keep wrote in a since-deleted tweet. ist zeroed in on sprawling Mari- Turning Point expanded its po- ed= for such work because it is said Kirk Adams, a top Republi-
Trump in the White House. An- <Fight like hell.= copa County, home to Phoenix litical operation this year with a <one of the leading creative agen- can operative in the state and
other post proposed <contempt & Kolvet, the Turning Point and 60 percent of the state9s new PAC under Bowyer9s direc- cies in Arizona.= Gov. Ducey9s former chief of staff,
jail time= for county officials who spokesman, said the group9s in- voters, and called for breaking it tion. The group has unleashed Lake, a former television an- is <all geared toward 2024,= aimed
affirmed Biden9s win. volvement that day was <isolated into four counties, one that would more than $415,000 in Arizona chor, gained MAGA stardom at a at elevating GOP officials at every
The posts alarmed Trey Terry, to the president9s speech at the concentrate most Democrats and since July, according to state rec- Turning Point Action candidate level who could thwart an elec-
35, a conservative who lives near Ellipse.= three that would favor Republi- ords, and has reported more than forum in the summer of 2021, tion outcome unfavorable to the
a Republican county official who In the months that followed, cans. $600,000 in spending to the Fed- when she urged the crowd not to party. <Get a compliant governor,=
had helped oversee the election Maricopa County became a hot- Hoffman, the marketing con- eral Election Commission. About forget about the 2020 election. Adams said, describing the strat-
and was facing death threats as a bed of unsupported claims about sultant close to Turning Point half of its spending in Arizona has When Trump spoke on the same egy. <Get a compliant secretary of
result. Terry urged Bowyer to stage and name-checked Lake, state. Get compliant legislative
help tone down the messaging in the room erupted in applause. He leadership.=
a private exchange over Twitter cocked his head and clapped. Turning Point9s leaders are
that was obtained by The Post. <This could be a big night for looking ahead to 2024. The
<His kids and wife can9t go you,= he said. group9s political arm has hosted
anywhere without being ha- One year later, Lake won the Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R),
rassed as they go in and out of Republican primary and cel- widely seen as a possible presi-
their house,= Terry wrote, describ- ebrated at a victory party at a dential contender, at rallies
ing the county official9s experi- Scottsdale resort. On the lush aimed at high-stakes races in
ence. <That s--- is out of line. So lawn, young women in semifor- Arizona and beyond.
it9s hard for me to ignore.= mal dresses and strappy heels Lake has embraced the title of
Bowyer responded that while lined up for photos. Music blared <DeSantis of the West.= Others
he had sympathy for the county from inside a ballroom as party- view her as a potential vice-pre-
official, elected leaders must ad- goers snapped selfies. The scene, sidential contender. For the mo-
here to the party9s platform and reminiscent of a graduation party ment, she wants to be governor 4
<repercussions could be big for or school dance, highlighted how and if she wins, it will be with
those who aren9t on the same Turning Point has thrust young Turning Point9s help.
page with the party.= people to the center of the state One week before the election, a
Terry accused party leaders of party9s transformation. Kirk aide 4 who also works as
<whipping= up activists <based on One is Carrera Horan, 18, who Lake9s deputy field director 4
zero evidence= of widespread attended the Turning Point sum- kicked off a rally outside a steak-
fraud. Bowyer did not disagree mit that elevated Lake and watch- house in suburban Chandler by
but suggested that his approach es Kirk9s videos on Instagram. praising both of her bosses. Once
is the reason for Turning Point9s <He tells you what you need to be onstage, Kirk and Lake em-
success. hearing rather than just what you braced.
<I didn9t build a 45 million would want to hear,= she said. <Kari9s really special,= Kirk
dollar a year organization,= he Daniel Fuentes, 25, joined his said.
wrote, by <misunderstanding the Christian university9s Turning <Thank you for the compli-
base.= Point chapter, which offered a ment. I9ll take it,= the candidate
Meanwhile, Turning Point Ac- ready-made friend group. He said. <& We have to tune in to
tion arranged for seven buses to tunes in to Kirk9s radio show people like Charlie.=
take 350 activists from several every day on Spotify.
states to D.C. for the Jan. 6, 2021, Fuentes is volunteering for Jacqueline Alemany, Alice Crites,
rally near the White House, ac- People wait to hear Lake, Kirk and Bannon speak at the rally Tuesday. Lake has embraced the title of Lake9s campaign, and he attended Josh Dawsey and Beth Reinhard
cording to three people familiar <DeSantis of the West,= a nod to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), a possible presidential contender. a recent Turning Point canvass- contributed to this report.
A18 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST . SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022

Why daylight saving time is worse

for your body than standard time
BY A ARON S TECKELBERG AND L INDSEY B EVER The concern with adopting a permanent change to daylight saving
At 2 o9clock this morning, 48 states and the District of Columbia re- time, which the Senate has voted to do, is that it may chronically throw
set their clocks and fell back into standard time. From a health stand- our bodies out of sync with the sun and lead to a variety of health prob-
point, most sleep and circadian experts say we should stay here. lems, sleep experts say.
Experts say early-morning sunlight is key to maintaining our circa- <We would be misaligned all year long,= said Beth Malow, professor
dian rhythms, sleep-wake cycles and overall health. Phyllis Zee, a neu- of neurology and pediatrics and the director of Vanderbilt University9s
rologist and chief of sleep medicine at Northwestern University Fein- sleep division.
berg School of Medicine, said that without that sunlight, we can slip in- How is it that one hour can have such a significant impact? Look
to circadian misalignment 4 <when your internal body clocks fall out of through these illustrations to learn more about how your brain and
sync with that of the sun clock and your social clocks.= health are affected by time changes.

Morning sunlight resets our internal clock, but too much light at night can affect sleep

Imagine this is you. It helpss keep time each day, Luckily, the sun steps in |en, aver the sun Similar to how sunlight
Your brain has an makingg sure the right things are to help us by sending sets, the lack of in the morning can pull
internal clock. happen ning at the right moments signals to specialized sunlight allows our our internal clock earlier,
inside oour bodies, such as cardiac receptors in our eyes. bodies to produce light from any source too
functions, metabolic processes, Each morning, sunlight hormones such as late into the evening can
hormon ne ûuctuations and sleep. resets our internal clock melatonin, which do the opposite and <push=
But for most of us, that internal by <pulling= us back into promotes sleep. our internal clock later.
clock ru
uns slightly longer than sync with a 24-hour day. |is can interfere with
24 houurs. our ability to sleep.

We are in sync with the sun in standard time. In daylight saving time, sleep and wake times are misaligned with our body clocks.

With the time change each spring to For most of us, our watches and phone still at the same time as the previous day. asleep at your usual bedtime, which is now
daylight saving time, we abruptly disrupt clocks dictate how we live large parts of Now your daily schedule and solar noon an hour earlier.
this important relationship between our our lives 4 when to wake up, be at work are misaligned. And in the morning, your body wants its
brains and the sun. Here9s why: and go to bed. Unfortunately, the internal clock in old wake time, too. But your alarm clock
Our internal clock evolved to align with Each March, when we switch to day- your brain can9t adjust as fast as your wakes you an hour earlier, so you can get to
the sunrise, sunset and a 24-hour day. light saving time, our daily schedules shift watch. It takes your internal clock at least work on time. Now you9re cutting into your
Likewise, the clocks we developed to by an hour. one day to adjust to one hour in time sleep at both ends.
schedule our days were conceived to align Notice how now we wake up in the dark change. And for some people, it can take This sudden one-hour shift each spring
with the 24-hour solar day. and leave work with more hours of sun- longer than that. has been associated with more heart at-
When we are observing standard time, light left in the day. One of the major problems with chang- tacks and strokes. Automobile and other
noon is when the sun is generally at its But the sun doesn9t move. Solar noon, ing to daylight saving time is that it dis- types of accidents also increase.
highest point. Let9s call it solar noon. which is synced with your internal clock, is rupts sleep. Your body isn9t yet ready to fall

Permanent daylight saving time would mean less morning sun year round, creating long-term circadian misalignment.

There is also a cumulative toll of circadi- posed. Six months later, during the short- This results in circadian misalignment, said Charles Czeisler, chief of the Division
an misalignment. Here9s what would hap- est day of the year, on Dec. 21, you would a mismatch between our schedules that of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at
pen if we stayed in daylight saving time all have a different problem. tell us when to wake, <and what our out- Brigham and Women9s Hospital.
year long. There would be a bit over nine hours of side environment wants us to do, which is But what would happen if we adopted
The summer solstice, around June 21 in sunlight in D.C. during the day. You would to stay in bed and sleep because it9s dark standard time year round? Experts say we
the Northern Hemisphere, is the longest wakeup indarkness,andthesunwouldn9trise outside,= Malow said. would eliminate the short-term health
day of the year. In some locations, such as untilyouwere well awake andalready at work. As a result, staying in daylight saving problems (and frustration) created by ad-
D.C., there may be nearly 15 hours of Because you already would have been time year round could put people at great- justing our clocks twice per year.
daylight. awake for hours before the sun rose, it er risk for seasonal depression in the win- More importantly, our internal clock
That extra hour of sunlight after work would be less capable of <pulling= your ter months, experts say. Experts also say would stay in sync with the solar day. With
may feel nice, but having a later sunset close clock back into alignment. If your internal circadian misalignment can affect the pro- better circadian alignment, we may reduce
to bedtime can delay the onset of those clock doesn9t get <pulled= enough, it can9t duction of important hormones such as the risk for many long-term health issues.
sleep hormones, pushing your internal reset itself. melatonin. Circadian and sleep experts say there is
clock later. So, your internal clock may remain Living chronically out of sync with our a powerful biological case for staying in
Even though you may end up losing slightly longer than 24 hours, causing you internal clock puts us at an increased risk standard time year round. Changing the
some sleep, during the summer you would to drift out of sync with the solar day. for sleep loss, obesity, diabetes, heart dis- clocks doesn9t change the overall duration
still have early-morning sun to <pull= you With each passing day, those extra min- ease, mood disorders and even certain of sunlight in a day. With permanent stan-
back a little bit. utes can accumulate. Over time, your in- types of cancer. dard time, at least you would be getting
But let9s imagine if daylight saving time ternal clock and your real-world clocks Melatonin has oncostatic properties, that light at the right time of day for
becomes permanent, as has been pro- move further apart. meaning it can slow the spread of cancer, optimal health.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022 . THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A19

U.S. privately asks Ukraine to show openness to negotiations fusal to talk to Putin and their vow
to fight to retake all of Ukraine,
U.S. officials say they believe that
point if Ukrainian forces ap-
proach Crimea.
Reports of a Russian withdraw-
Zelensky would probably endorse al from the southern city of Kher-
UKRAINE FROM A1 Ukrainians have responded has stiffened head winds for Presi- to throw their weight behind the negotiations and eventually ac- son have raised the question of
with outrage when foreigners dent Biden and his party ahead of U.S.-led coalition in support of cept concessions, as he suggested whether Ukrainian forces could
with him has generated concern have suggested they yield areas of the Nov. 8 midterms and raised Ukraine, either because of ties he would early in the war. They eventually march on the strategic
in parts of Europe, Africa and their country as part of a peace new questions about the future of with Moscow or reluctance to fall believe that Kyiv is attempting to peninsula, which U.S. and NATO
Latin America, where the war9s deal, as they did last month when U.S. security assistance, which in line behind Washington. lock in as many military gains as it officials believe Putin views dif-
disruptive effects on the availabil- billionaire Elon Musk, who has has amounted to $18.2 billion South Africa abstained from a can before winter sets in, when ferently than other areas of
ity and cost of food and fuel are helped supply Ukraine9s military since the war began. According to recent U.N. vote that condemned there might be a window for di- Ukraine under Russian control,
felt most sharply. with satellite communication de- a poll published Nov. 3 by the Wall Russia9s annexation decrees, say- plomacy. and what a likely all-out fight for
<Ukraine fatigue is a real thing vices, announced a proposal on Street Journal, 48 percent of Re- ing the world must instead focus Zelensky faces the challenge of Crimea would mean for Kyiv9s
for some of our partners,= said one Twitter that could allow Russia to publicans said the United States on facilitating a cease-fire and a appealing both to a domestic con- backers in the West.
U.S. official who, like others inter- cement its control of parts of was doing <too much= to support political resolution. Brazil9s new stituency that has suffered im- Not only has Crimea been un-
viewed for this report, spoke on Ukraine via referendum and give Ukraine, up from 6 percent in president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula mensely at the hands of Russian der direct Russian control for lon-
the condition of anonymity to dis- the Kremlin Crimea. March. da Silva, has said Zelensky is as invaders and a foreign audience ger than areas seized since Febru-
cuss sensitive conversations be- In recent weeks Ukrainian crit- Progressives within the Demo- responsible for the war as Putin. providing his forces with the ary, but it has long been the site of
tween Washington and Kyiv. icism of proposed concessions has cratic Party are calling for diplo- Indian Prime Minister Naren- weapons they need to fight. To a Russian naval base and is home
Serhiy Nikiforov, a spokesman grown more pointed, as officials macy to avoid a protracted war, dra Modi, who has tried to main- motivate Ukrainians domestical- to many retired Russian military
for Zelensky, did not respond to a decry <useful idiots= in the West releasing but later retracting a tain good relations with Moscow ly, Zelensky has promoted victory personnel.
request for comment. whom they9ve accused of serving letter calling on Biden to redouble and Kyiv, offered assistance on rather than settlement and be- In the meantime, Ukrainian
In the United States, polls show Kremlin interests. efforts to seek <a realistic frame- peace talks in a call with Zelensky come a symbol of defiance that leaders continue to telegraph
eroding support among Republi- <If Russia wins, we will get a work= for a halt to the fighting. last month. He was spurned by the has motivated Ukrainian forces their intention to pursue total vic-
cans for continuing to finance period of chaos: flowering of tyr- Speaking in Kyiv, Sullivan said Ukrainian leader. on the battlefield. tory, not only to their beleaguered
Ukraine9s military at current lev- anny, wars, genocides, nuclear the war could end easily. <Russia Zelensky told him Ukraine While members of the Group of citizens but also to Moscow.
els, suggesting the White House races,= presidential adviser chose to start it,= he said. <Russia would not conduct any negotia- Seven industrialized bloc of na- Zelensky told an interviewer on
may face resistance following Mykhailo Podolyak said Friday. could choose to end it by ceasing tions with Putin but said Ukraine tions seemingly threw their Wednesday that the first thing he
Tuesday9s midterm elections as it <Any 8concessions9 to Putin today its attack on Ukraine, ceasing its was <committed to peaceful set- weight behind a Ukrainian vision would do after Ukraine prevails in
seeks to continue a security assis- 4 a deal with the Devil. You won9t occupation of Ukraine, and that9s tlement through dialogue,= ac- of victory last month, endorsing a the war would be to visit a recap-
tance program that has delivered like its price.= precisely what it should do from cording to a statement released by plan for a <just peace= including tured Crimea. <I really want to see
Ukraine the largest such annual Ukrainian officials point out our perspective.= Zelensky9s office. The statement potential Russian reparation pay- the sea,= he said.
sum since the end of the Cold War. that a 2015 peace deal in the coun- The concerns about a longer noted that Russia had deliberate- ments and security guarantees for
In a trip to Kyiv on Friday, try9s eastern Donbas region 4 conflict are particularly salient in ly undermined efforts at dialogue. Ukraine, some of those same Dan Lamothe contributed to this
White House national security ad- where Moscow backed a separat- nations that were already hesitant Despite Ukrainian leaders9 re- countries see a potential turning report.
viser Jake Sullivan said the United ist campaign 4 only provided
States supported a just and last- Russia time before Putin
ing peace for Ukraine and said launched his full-scale invasion
U.S. support would continue re- this year. They question why any
gardless of domestic politics. <We new peace deal would be differ-
fully intend to ensure that the ent, arguing that the only way
resources are there as necessary Russia will be prevented from re-
and that we9ll get votes from both turning for further attacks is van-
sides of the aisle to make that quishing its military on the battle-
happen,= he said during a briefing. field.
Eagerness for a potential reso- Russia, facing a poor position
lution to the war has intensified as on the battlefield, has proposed
Ukrainian forces recapture occu- negotiations but in the past has
pied territory, pushing closer to proved unwilling to accept much
areas prized by Putin. Those begin other than Ukrainian capitula-
with Crimea, which Russia illegal- tion.
ly annexed in 2014, and include <Cynically, Russia and its West-
cities along the Azov Sea that now ern supporters are holding out an
provide him a <land bridge= to the olive branch. Please do not be
Ukrainian peninsula. Zelensky fooled: An aggressor cannot be a
has vowed to fight for every inch peacemaker,= Andriy Yermak,
of Ukrainian territory. head of the Ukrainian presiden-
Veteran diplomat Alexander tial administration, wrote in a
Vershbow, who served as U.S. am- recent op-ed published by The
bassador to Russia and deputy Washington Post.
secretary general of NATO, said Ukrainian officials also ques-
the United States could not afford tion how they can conduct negoti-
to be completely <agnostic= about ations with Russian leaders who
how and when the war is conclud- fundamentally believe in Mos-
ed, given the U.S. interest in en- cow9s right to hegemony over Kyiv.
suring European security and de- Putin has continued to under-
terring further Kremlin aggres- mine the notion of a sovereign
sion beyond Russia9s borders. and independent Ukraine, includ-
<If the conditions become more ing in remarks last month when
propitious for negotiations, I he once again asserted that Rus-
don9t think the administration is sians and Ukrainians were one
going to be passive,= Vershbow people, and argued that Russia
said. <But it is ultimately the could be <the only real and serious
Ukrainians doing the fighting, so guarantor of Ukraine9s statehood,
we9ve got to be careful not to sovereignty and territorial integ-
second-guess them.= rity.=
While Zelensky laid out propos- While Western officials also
als for a negotiated peace in the hold profound skepticism of Rus-
weeks following Putin9s Feb. 24 sia9s aims, they have chafed at
invasion, including Ukrainian Ukraine9s harsh public rebukes as
neutrality and a return of areas Kyiv remains entirely dependent
occupied by Russia since that on Western assistance. Swiping at
date, Ukrainian officials have donors and ruling out talks could
hardened their stance in recent hurt Kyiv in the long run, officials
months. say.
In late September, following The maximalist remarks on
Putin9s annexation of four addi- both sides have increased global
tional Ukrainian regions in the fears of a years-long conflict span-
east and in the south, Zelensky ning the life of Russia9s 70-year-
issued a decree declaring it <im- old leader, whose grip on power
possible= to negotiate with the has only tightened in recent years.
Russian leader. <We will negotiate Already the war has deepened
with the new president,= he said in global economic woes, helping to
a video address. send energy prices soaring for
That shift has been fueled by European consumers and causing
systematic atrocities in areas un- a surge in commodity prices that
der Russian control, including worsened hunger in nations in-
rape and torture, along with regu- cluding Somalia, Yemen and Af-
lar airstrikes on Kyiv and other ghanistan.
cities, and the Kremlin9s annexa- In the United States, rising in-
tion decree. flation partially linked to the war

U.K. police: Attack in Dover

fueled by far-right motive
BY E LLEN F RANCIS southeast England, where an-
Balance.
other migrant center came under
london 4 British police said
Saturday that evidence revealed
<an extreme right wing motiva-
tion= behind an attack last week at
an immigration center on the
fresh scrutiny last week.
A girl9s call for help, tossed
from the overcrowded center at
Manston, became the latest flash
point in the heated debate over
Harmony. The CaseStudy®
Since our first renovation over 60 years ago,
we9ve been a team of visionaries. Our unique
English coast, describing it as <a Britain9s immigration policies.

Beauty.
terrorist incident.= <Please help us,= the letter read. approach to the remodeling process begins
A 66-year-old man threw at In the attack near Dover, a with The CaseStudy®. We guide you through
least two gasoline bombs at the police official had said the suspect
walls of a migrant center on Oct. was <likely to be driven by some every step, using 3D renderings to bring new
30 near the port town of Dover, a form of hate-filled grievance.= possibilities to light. At every phase, we9ll
point of arrival for many who The British advocacy group

4
attempt the perilous journey to Hope Not Hate said it had saved maintain strict attention to time and to
Britain across the English Chan- now-deleted social media posts in budget. All backed by our 5-year warranty.
nel in small boats. The assailant which the assailant espoused vio-
was later found dead. Authorities lent, anti-immigrant sentiments Because you are our highest priority.
identified him as Andrew Leak.
British counterterrorism po-
such as writing that he hoped to
<obliterate them Muslim chil- Are our ultimate pursuits whether
lice said they found evidence indi-
cating the man who arrived alone
dren.=
<Whilst there are strong indica-
you are considering an outdoor oasis,
in a car and hurled <a number of
crude incendiary devices= outside
tions that mental health was like-
ly a factor, I am satisfied that the
a food lover9s kitchen, or an owner9s
was <motivated by a terrorist suspect9s actions were primarily suite. Because during these times, CaseDesign.com
ideology.= While the agency said driven by an extremist ideology,=
the probe continues, it added Tim Jacques, senior national co- home is more important than ever. 844.831.5966
there were no signs he had accom- ordinator for Counter Terrorism
plices. Policing, said Saturday.
Saturday9s statement said in- In July, British intelligence
vestigators spoke to witnesses chief Ken McCallum said that
and recovered items including investigations involving people
digital devices. <Examining these with racist, neo-Nazi or related
items suggests there was an ex- ideological motives represent ® Our commitment to providing a safe, healthy,
treme right wing motivation be- about 20 percent of the terrorism and respectful worksite and experience. MD MHIC #1176 | VA # 2701039723 | DC # 2242
hind the attack,= it said. caseload, adding that many of
Two people suffered minor in- them are young individuals.
juries and around 700 migrants
had to be relocated to Manston in Karla Adam contributed to this report.
A20 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST . SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022

The World
BY C LAIRE P ARKER

kabul 4 After the Taliban took

control of Afghanistan last year,
The Taliban is training female doctors separate rooms from their male
colleagues.
<The problem is you cannot
separate men and women be-
nearly a third of the resident
doctors in Omeida Momand9s
class at a Kabul women9s hospital
fled the country, she said, leaving
in an effort to segregate medical care cause we need to work together,=
said the resident, who spoke on
the condition of anonymity for
fear of retaliation. <That9s why we
the staff stretched thin. stated we cannot be separated.
Momand decided to stay, to Initiative marks a rare instance in highly conservative Afghanistan of promoting women9s education They sent us home and suspend-
finish the last step in her 11 years ed us.=
of training to care for Afghani- More than a year later, she has
stan9s women. By day, she exam- not been allowed to return to her
ines gynecology patients and post.
monitors mothers with high-risk Kobra Safi worked at a teach-
pregnancies in a room some- ing hospital in Kabul as a plastic
times so crowded that patients lie reconstructive surgeon until Au-
on the floor. Night shifts are gust 2021, treating burn patients.
spent performing emergency Several days after Kabul fell,
Caesareans. Taliban officials told her she
Her determination to practice could no longer have contact
medicine in her home country with her mentor, a male surgeon.
has aligned, ironically, with the <That destroyed my dream of
Taliban9s own interests. In the doing plastic surgery,= she said.
highly conservative Islamic soci- Safi got on an evacuation flight
ety the Taliban hopes to create, two months later and spent near-
officials say, women should be ly a year in Abu Dhabi in the
cared for by other women. That United Arab Emirates before re-
means educating more female settling in Canada this Septem-
doctors. ber.
This marks a rare instance of
the Taliban publicly and loudly Counterproductive policies
promoting women9s education Even as the Taliban says it is
and employment. Training fe- looking to expand medical train-
male doctors and nurses is part ing for women, other policies are
of the movement9s effort to prove limiting the ability of women to
it can provide essential services provide health care 4 or access it.
while building a society struc- Fouzia Shafique, senior health
tured on gender segregation. adviser for UNICEF in Afghani-
Muhammad Hassan Ghyasi, stan, said the agency is hearing
acting deputy minister of public more and more reports, especial-
health, said in an interview that ly in the country9s south and east,
his ministry has received <clear of women being told at health
instructions from the top level= facilities that they must arrive
to bring policies in line with the with a male guardian to get
Taliban9s strict interpretation of treatment. Female health work-
sharia, or Islamic law. A new ers, meanwhile, have faced <sig-
policy submitted recently to the nificant issues= traveling to work
Taliban9s supreme leader, Hai- in some areas because they must
batullah Akhundzada, for ap- find a male relative to take them.
proval would formalize a rule Ghyasi, the deputy health min-
already applied in some hospitals PHOTOS BY ELISE BLANCHARD FOR THE WASHINGTON POST ister, said he had <not seen=
that female health workers Third-year resident Asya Pardiz checks on patients after their Caesarean sections at Rabia Balkhi Hospital, one of Kabul9s busiest, on Oct. reports of women being turned
should treat women, while male 24. The proportion of women admitted to several government-run institutes for various health fields is at least 46 percent this semester. away from health facilities,
health workers should treat men. though he added: <We are not
Ghyasi said the policy will denying it, because at the mo-
stipulate that if there is no quali- in a rural province. ment we have some problems.=
fied female doctor available, a <When I was a child, this was The pipeline for future female
female patient can see a male my hope 4 to become a doctor, to doctors is also narrowing.
doctor. But with Afghanistan9s serve my country and my people, Schools in 24 out of Afghanistan9s
health system under strain 4 and especially to serve our poor wom- 34 provinces remain closed to
an economic crisis fueled by en,= she said. girls above sixth grade, U.N. spe-
Western sanctions exacerbating cial rapporteur Richard Bennett
hunger and sickness 4 the need A health system on life told the U.N. Human Rights
for qualified medical profession- support Council in September.
als of both genders is greater The needs in Afghanistan are The Taliban closed the high
than ever. enormous. The maternal mortal- school Wajeha Kazimi, 19, attend-
The Taliban effort to expand ity rate is among the highest in ed just before she finished 12th
medical education for women, the world. Worsening malnutri- grade. She was still able to gradu-
especially in fields traditionally tion has contributed to a rise in ate, and spent more than a year
dominated by men, contrasts premature births and pregnancy studying for the university en-
with the government9s draconian complications, according to trance exam at a test-prep center
restrictions on girls and women. Hamida Hamidi, a doctor at Ra- in Kabul. In September, she sur-
Since taking power, the Taliban bia Balkhi and head of its train- vived a suicide bombing there
has barred many girls from sec- ing programs. that left more than 50 people
ondary school and shut women The health system, heavily reli- dead.
out of most professions. This fall, ant on foreign aid, neared col- Kazimi hopes to go into public
authorities prohibited female lapse in the wake of the Taliban health or pediatrics, and ranked
university aspirants from enroll- takeover. After billions in fund- medicine as her top choice on the
ing in subjects including journal- ing were cut, the ICRC and the university exam.
ism, engineering and economics. United Nations stepped in last <When we were choosing, we
The educational restrictions year to cover tens of thousands of remembered our friends who
seem certain to limit the number health workers9 salaries. Still, were killed who wished to be-
of women in the coming years some hospitals have closed. Sig- come a doctor,= she said. Her
who can train as doctors. Other nificant numbers of doctors have 15-year-old sister, though, re-
Taliban policies, such as require- left the country. And with war mains shut out of formal educa-
ments in some areas that women over, the volume of patients seek- Residents assist during a C-section at Rabia Balkhi Hospital on Oct. 23. The Taliban has pointed to the tion.
only travel with male guardians, ing care is rising. hospital9s residency program as evidence of their commitment to educating female health workers. The Taliban9s curbs on girls9
have hamstrung the efforts of The main hospital in Wardak, education are also costing the
female doctors to practice. a province neighboring Kabul, impossible to implement,= Rah- The Taliban took power, for the vincing, Shayma9s husband and country some of its best male
But at several government-run used to be on the front line of mani said. first time, four years later and brother agreed to let two male doctors. Five of the eight sur-
institutes for nursing, radiology fighting. Since the end of the war, <everything changed,= Hamidi doctors perform the operation geons at the Emergency NGO-
and other health fields, the pro- the number of patients has dou- A dearth of specialists said. Families grew uncomfort- alongside two female midwives. run trauma hospital in Kabul left
portion of women admitted 4 at bled, hospital director Moham- In Afghanistan, as in many able with their daughters enter- If male doctors had been pro- the country after the Taliban
least 46 percent this semester 4 mad Nader Rahmani said. other countries, the essential ing medical fields outside of hibited from operating on wom- takeover 4 some so their daugh-
represents a slight increase com- As in many areas in Afghani- task of caring for mothers and maternal health, and that atti- en, <we would have lost our ters could continue their school-
pared with 2020 figures, accord- stan, families here prefer that babies has long been dominated tude outlasted initial Taliban daughter and my grandson,= said ing, medical coordinator Dimitra
ing to the International Commit- female relatives see women doc- by women. Women make up a rule. Shayma9s mother, Sharifa, who Giannakopoulou said.
tee of the Red Cross, which tors. But while women make up a significantly smaller proportion At the hospital in Wardak and uses only one name. Aid agencies continue to lobby
supports the institutes. majority of patients, they ac- of other medical specialists, Af- others run by international or- While gender segregation has Taliban authorities to reopen sec-
Taliban authorities also point count for only a quarter of the ghan doctors and hospital ad- ganizations, gender segregation not been enforced in the Wardak ondary schools for the sake of
to residency programs like the hospital9s doctors. ministrators say. has not yet been enforced, ad- hospital, at least so far, three public health.
one at Rabia Balkhi Hospital, The hospital, run by the Swed- Six years ago, the World Health ministrators say. The ICRC has current or former female sur- <Girls need to have finished
where Momand works, as evi- ish Committee for Afghanistan, Organization raised the alarm also not observed gender segre- geons at public hospitals in Ka- high school if they9re going to
dence of their commitment to recently hired a female radiolo- about how a lack of female gation at government hospitals it bul said male and female staff enroll in a midwifery course, if
educating female health workers. gist, Rahmani said. But the limit- health-care workers was prevent- supports, according to Lucien have already been forced to work they9re going to be a paramedic
Hospital director Seemin Mish- ed pool of female health workers ing Afghan women from receiv- Christen, ICRC spokesperson for separately. or if they9re going to train as
kin Mohmand said the Taliban has made it difficult to hire more. ing adequate care. Afghanistan. One of the surgeons, a first- vaccinators,= Shafique said. <And
health ministry has been sup- The Taliban9s stated goal of But it wasn9t always this way. On a recent Saturday after- year resident from Wardak, said we now have two years of which
portive of her ambitions to ex- creating a separate but equal When Hamidi was in medical noon, a young woman named she wanted to become a surgeon we have no cohorts graduating
pand the program and offer health system for men and wom- school in the early 1990s, the Shayma who had gone into labor to help the women of her prov- out of high school and therefore
more-advanced training. en remains a distant dream, country had female neurosur- arrived at the hospital in Wardak, ince. But in September 2021, no people to train.=
Momand is set to graduate this hospital administrators and in- geons and urologists, she re- needing an emergency C-section. Taliban officials barred women at
fall at the top of her class, and ternational aid workers said. <In called. When civil war broke out The only doctors available at that her hospital from working night Susannah George and Zahra Nabi in
hopes to open a gynecology clinic the short term, this policy is in 1992, many fled to the West. time were men. After some con- shifts and said they must work in Kabul contributed to this report.

DI GEST

IRAN of the launch of the solid-fueled NORTH KOREA Tongrim County in North government9s operations against taking dozens of the protesters
rocket 4 what it called a Pyongyan Province between the al-Shabab extremists, killing away in buses. No delays to
State TV: New launch Ghaem-100 satellite carrier. The Volley of missiles fired around 11:32 a.m. and 11:59 a.m. some of the group9s fighters. A commercial flights were
of satellite rocket report did not reveal the location, toward the Yellow Sea local time, it said in a statement. statement by the U.S. Africa reported.
which resembled Iran9s The missiles flew about 8o miles Command on Saturday describes
Iran9s paramilitary northeastern Shahroud Desert. North Korea fired four at an apogee of 12 miles with a top the airstrike as being carried out 13 die in nightclub fire started
Revolutionary Guard on The state-run IRNA news short-range ballistic missiles speed of Mach 5. Thursday in <collective by flare gun in Russia: Thirteen
Saturday launched a new agency reported that the carrier toward the Yellow Sea on The action follows the self-defense= and at the request people were killed when a fire
satellite-carrying rocket, state TV would be able to put a satellite Saturday, South Korean officials Wednesday launch of at least 23 of the Somali army near the town tore through a crowded nightclub
reported. weighing 176 pounds into orbit said, adding to a record number missiles, including the first of Cadale. in the Russian city of Kostroma in
Iran says its satellite program, some 310 miles from Earth. of launches this year that have ballistic one to fly over a nautical the early hours of Saturday. The
like its nuclear activities, is aimed Over the past decade, Iran has ratcheted up regional tensions. border with South Korea. Before Environmentalists block private blaze broke out at about 2:30 a.m.
at scientific research and other sent several short-lived satellites The latest test might be used to the latest test, the North had fired jets at Dutch airport: Hundreds after a man shot a flare gun at the
civilian applications. The United into orbit and in 2013 launched a advance leader Kim Jong Un9s off about 60 ballistic missiles so of environmental activists ceiling, the Tass news agency
States and other Western monkey into space. The program pursuit of miniaturized nuclear far this year. wearing white overalls stormed said. A 23-year-old man has been
countries have long been has seen recent troubles, warheads that he could mount on 4 Bloomberg News an area holding private jets at detained in connection with the
suspicious of the program however. There have been five missiles to strike the U.S. allies Amsterdam9s Schiphol Airport on incident, investigators said.
because the same technology can failed launches in a row for the that host the bulk of America9s U.S. airstrike hits al-Shabab Saturday and stopped aircraft Prosecutors also say a number of
be used to develop long-range Simorgh program, another troops in Asia. extremists in Somalia: The U.S. from leaving for hours by sitting the evacuation exits were
missiles. satellite-carrying rocket. South Korea9s Joint Chiefs of military carried out an airstrike in front of their wheels. Military blocked.
Iranian state TV aired footage 4 Associated Press Staff detected the launches from in support of the Somali police moved in and were seen 4 From news services
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022 . THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A21

EXCLUSIVE

Russia works to subvert Moldova9s pro-West government

enclave occupied by Russian
troops that controls the power
Materials obtained by station supplying the remaining
Ukrainian intelligence 70 percent of the country9s elec-
tricity needs, this week com-
illustrate Kremlin efforts pletely cut off those volumes
because of reductions to the
Gazprom gas supply, leaving
BY C ATHERINE B ELTON Moldovan authorities desperate-
ly scrambling to reach agree-
chisinau, moldova 4 When ment with Romania to make up
thousands of protesters first the deficit and implementing
gathered in September outside emergency energy-saving mea-
Moldova9s presidential palace sures. <Every bomb that falls on a
calling for the country9s pro- Ukrainian power plant is a bomb
Western leader to step down, the that falls on the Moldovan elec-
man behind the demonstration tricity supply as well,= said Nicu
4 an opposition party leader in Popescu, Moldova9s foreign min-
exile in Israel 4 soon received ister.
plaudits from Moscow. Officials fear that the Shor-
One senior Russian politician organized protests, though rela-
praised the protest organizer, tively small for now, could esca-
Ilan Shor, as <a worthy long-term late once winter hits and that an
partner= and even offered the energy crunch could be used to
Moldovan region led by Shor9s topple the government.
party a cheap Russian gas deal, Moldova9s new anti-corrup-
according to Shor9s press service. tion prosecutor last month de-
Referred to as <the young one= by tained 24 people, including
Russia9s Federal Security Service members of Shor9s party, in con-
(FSB), the 35-year-old Shor is a nection with the alleged illicit
leading figure in the Kremlin9s financing of the demonstrations,
efforts to subvert this former with the prosecutor saying inves-
Soviet republic, intelligence doc- tigators had seized 20 black bags
uments and interviews with Mol- stuffed with 3.5 million lei (about
dovan, Ukrainian and Western $181,000) in cash. The Shor party
officials show. said the arrests were <pressure=
The documents 4 part of a from the authorities to disrupt
DUMITRU DORU/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK
trove of sensitive materials ob- the anti-government protests.
tained by Ukrainian intelligence Supporters of the Shor political party clash with riot police during a protest in downtown Chisinau, Moldova, on Oct 23. Shor in the interview said the
and reviewed by The Washington Moldovan government was to
Post 4 illustrate how Moscow only intensify if it suffers further blame for the growing economic
continues to try to manipulate losses in Ukraine. <Recently, as crisis because it <is breaking
countries in Eastern Europe Russia faces military setbacks Moldova9s neutral status and
even as its military campaign in and global outrage over its brutal bringing harm to the people of
Ukraine falters. The FSB has actions in Ukraine, Russia9s op- Moldova because today, for nor-
funneled tens of millions of dol- eratives have considered increas- mal people, [good relations with
lars from some of Russia9s big- ingly desperate measures to pre- Moscow] is the basis for getting
gest state companies to cultivate vent further erosion of its influ- normal gas prices.=
a network of Moldovan politi- ence,= Treasury said in its state-
cians and reorient the country ment announcing sanctions 8A real idol9
toward Moscow, the documents against Shor and other individu- The documents provide a rare
and interviews indicate. als. glimpse inside the shadowy
The U.S. Treasury last month Moldova, which along with world of Russia9s influence oper-
imposed sanctions on multiple Ukraine was granted E.U. candi- ations in Moldova and the twin
Russian or Moldovan organiza- dacy status in June, is particular- instruments of natural gas and
tions and individuals including ly vulnerable to Russian pressure illicit financing that the Kremlin
Shor, saying he was <coordinat- because of its near 100 percent wields here.
ing with representatives of other dependence on Russian gas. <The Russians are very good at
oligarchs to create political un- Fivefold increases in gas prices exporting two things: one, en-
rest in Moldova= and had <re- this year have hit its population ergy, and the second, corrup-
ceived Russian support,= as well of 2.5 million hard, and energy tion,= said a senior Moldovan
as working in June <with Mos- bills now amount to more than security official, who like some
cow-based entities to under- 60 percent of an average Moldo- others spoke on the condition of
mine= Moldova9s bid to join the van9s living costs, officials in anonymity to discuss a sensitive
European Union. Chisinau said. matter.
Moscow has long supported a Russian officials <are very em- Since 2016, FSB operations in
breakaway enclave inside Moldo- barrassed about the entire Moldova have been led by Dmit-
va9s borders that is occupied by Ukraine operation, and they ry Milyutin, a general in the
Russian troops, and the frozen need a success somewhere,= Oleg security service who serves as
conflict there has been a brake Serebrian, Moldova9s deputy deputy head of the Department
DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
on Moldova9s efforts to integrate prime minister, said in an inter- of Operational Information, ac-
with Western Europe. Workers in Chisinau erect a campaign billboard on Feb. 13, 2019, showing Moldovan parliamentary view. <My personal fear is that cording to the documents. For
In the first months of the candidate Ilan Shor and reading both in Romanian and Russian, <Ilan Shor [is] for the people.= Moldova is an easier target than most of his time in the post,
Ukraine war, officials said, the Ukraine. So, for a kind of moral officials said, Milyutin worked
Moldovan government feared channels was transferred to a from the Moldovan authorities. the Moldovan government9s pro- rearmament of Russian society, through Igor Chaika, a Russian
Russian tanks would stream over close Shor associate at the end of The Shor party was to be Western tilt for bringing the they could use different tools in businessman who is the son of
its border, especially if the south- September, according to Shor positioned as one <of concrete country close to what he said was Moldova. The first one is the Russia9s former prosecutor gen-
ern Ukrainian port of Odessa, 40 and the head of Moldova9s media action,= populist <in the real <economic collapse.= In a state- economic one.= eral. Chaika is the ambassador to
miles away, fell. That immediate oversight council, providing him sense of the word,= a party that ment issued last month follow- Gazprom, Russia9s state-con- Moldova of a Kremlin-linked
military threat has ebbed, but with a major platform to advance was <changing people9s lives for ing the imposition of U.S. sanc- trolled natural gas monopoly, cut business association, Delovaya
tension is mounting over the use a Moscow-aligned agenda in this the better,= the Russian strat- tions, Shor defiantly dismissed supplies to Moldova by 50 per- Rossiya.
of natural gas 4 as well as the small country sandwiched be- egists wrote in a report to the them as a <victory= that showed cent this month. Russian air- Treasury also imposed sanc-
fallout from Russian airstrikes tween Ukraine and Romania. In FSB, which was among the docu- Moldova9s president had <really strikes targeting Ukraine9s en- tions on Chaika last month, say-
on energy infrastructure in addition, intercepted communi- ments reviewed by The Post. become frightened by the pro- ergy infrastructure are further ing that <in conjunction with
neighboring Ukraine 4 to force a cations show, the FSB sent a In an interview, Shor denied tests, understanding that her increasing the pressure. Ukraine Kremlin press secretary Dmitry
change in political leadership. team of Russian political strat- ever receiving support from Mos- days are numbered and that we had supplied 30 percent of Mol- Peskov,= he had <developed de-
<After Ukraine, Moldova is the egists to advise Shor9s party. And, cow, including from the security will throw her out of her seat.= dova9s electricity, but the bomb- tailed plans to undermine Mol-
one we9re focusing attention on,= according to the documents, the services. <We are an absolutely Moldovan and U.S. officials ing of Ukrainian power stations dovan president Maia Sandu and
said one Western official. FSB oversaw a deal in which a independent party which de- fear the Kremlin9s efforts to sub- means Moldova has had to turn return Moldova to Russia9s
Management control of Mol- Russian oligarch acquired one of fends only the position of Moldo- vert Moldova, part of a campaign to Romania instead. sphere of influence.=
dova9s two main pro-Russian TV Shor9s main assets, to shield it van citizens,= he said. He blamed that dates back decades, could In addition, Transnistria, the SEE RUSSIA ON A23

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A22 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST . SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022

TOP ROW, FROM LEFT:

Mohammad Fawze Masaad, jailed in 2022
Hala Fahmy, jailed in 2022
Safaa Al Korbiji, jailed in 2022
Rabie El-Sheikh, jailed since 2021
Tawûk Ghanem, jailed since 2021
Hamdy Al-Zaeem, jailed since 2021

SECOND ROW, FROM LEFT:

Raouf Ebeid, jailed since 2021
Ahmad Abu Zeid Al-Tannoubi, jailed since 2020
Ahmed Allam, jailed since 2020
Bahaa Ed-Din Ibrahim Neamat Allah, jailed since 2020

THIRD ROW, FROM LEFT:

Mostafa Alkhateeb, jailed since 2020
Alaa Abdel Fattah, jailed since 2019
Mohamed (Ibrahim Radwan) Oxygen, jailed since 2019
Hesham Abdel Aziz Gharib, jailed since 2019

BOTTOM ROW, FROM LEFT:

Mohamed Said Fahmi, jailed since 2018
Alia Awad, jailed since 2017
Badr Mohamed Badr, jailed since 2017
Ismail Alexandrani, jailed since 2015

NOT PICTURED:
Mohamad Abu Maati, jailed since 2021
Egyptian Journalist, jailed since 2019
Mostafa Saad, jailed since 2019
Abdel Rahman Shaheen, jailed since 2014

Egypt is unjustly
holding 22
of its journalists
behind bars
As world leaders and international media
arrive in Egypt for the UN9s 27 th climate
conference, 22 Egyptian journalists remain
behind bars. |at9s the fourth-highest
number of incarcerated reporters in the
Middle East and the eighth highest in
the world.

A free press is critical to holding power

to account. Egypt must end its persecution
of journalists.

rsf.org
P0774 6x21

A public service initiative from |e Washington Post to promote press freedom worldwide. washingtonpost.com/pressfreedom
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022 . THE WASHINGTON POST EZ SU A23

Russia strips climate

advocate of citizenship
Arshak Makichyan is now effectively stateless
BY F RANCESCA E BEL false information to immigration
authorities, despite being just 10
Climate activist Arshak Mak- years old when his father made the
ichyan built a reputation as the citizenship application. The court
Russian answer to Greta Thun- only informed his lawyer of their
berg, staging lonely weekly pro- decision a week later.
tests in central Moscow and often <This is my identity. I have en-
getting arrested. gaged in activism in Russia for
Makichyan, 28, who fled Russia four years. I have lived all my life in
to Berlin in March following the Russia, and despite everything, I
invasion of Ukraine, is still push- see myself in its future, when Rus-
ing for climate action, but as of last sia becomes free,= Makichyan said.
week, the government says he is The court also revoked the citizen-
no longer Russian. In an unusual ship of his father and brother. Like
case, a Moscow court has decided Makichyan, neither his father or
to strip Makichyan 4 along with brother hold any other passport
his father and brother, who both and it is unclear what fate awaits
remain in Russia 4 of their citi- them in Moscow.
zenship, in what appears to be <The court applied the law very
payback for his public antiwar liberally in this case,= Olga
statements. Podoplelova, a lawyer for Mak-
Makichyan, who is Armenian ichyan, told The Post, saying that
by birth, emigrated to Russia as a they plan to appeal the decision.
baby in 1995 and holds only a <Under normal circumstances, we
Russian passport, meaning the de- could easily defend the citizenship
cision has rendered him effective- of Arshak, his father and brother.=
ly stateless. <I am at a loss as what But these are not normal cir-
to do going forward,= Makichyan cumstances. Since the invasion,
told The Washington Post in a Russian authorities have blatantly
phone interview, saying that a and repeatedly disregarded the
refugee passport in Germany law, arresting people simply for
could restrict his climate activism. standing in the vicinity of an anti-
MONIKA SKOLIMOWSKA/PICTURE-ALLIANCE/DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR/ASSOCIATED PRESS
After the February invasion of government protest, and forcing
Ukraine, Makichyan, like many people ineligible for military serv- In an unusual case that appears to be payback for antiwar statements, a Moscow court revoked the Russian citizenship of climate activist
Russian activists, made the diffi- ice to sign up for the army. Ethnic Arshak Makichyan, center. Effectively stateless, Makichyan warns his case could signal a new tool of political repression against critics.
cult decision to flee their country. minorities have also come under
He and his young wife, a fellow fire. derstood that if there are no He also helped inspire other The answer: His citizenship can be case could signal the emergence of
activist, had married the very <Since I was a kid, I felt, well, not changes in Russia, then we would climate protests in cities across annulled. It is much simpler than a new tool of political repression
same day Russian troops poured totally Russian,= Makichyan said. not be able to fight the climate Russia. opening a criminal case,= Schul- against Kremlin critics. <The Ar-
into Ukraine. They both contin- <I felt that I had no right to partici- crisis,= he said. <Russia is part of Makichyan said Russian au- man said. shak case is a very dangerous prec-
ued to speak out against the war pate in political life, because if I the global world and needs a thorities were concerned about Lawyers say there is a practice edent, given the Soviet experience
from Germany. said anything, people would say voice.= any form of youth protest no mat- that precedes the 2022 of depriving dissidents of their
A trial to review his citizenship immediately that I am Armenian To a certain extent, he succeed- ter how small. <It seems to me that amendment of <catching out= citi- citizenship,= Podoplelova said.
began in his absence over the sum- and that I should go back to my ed. He drew media attention to his the main threat was that I stood zens of predominantly former This spring, Russian lawmaker
mer, and a Moscow court decided own country.= weekly protests and was invited to there and simply existed. Now Soviet states with minor adminis- Vyacheslav Volodin called critics
to revoke it last month, accusing <But I continued because I speak at the United Nations Cli- they want to officially say that I do trative faults. There have been of the invasion <traitors= and sug-
Makichyan of having provided somehow felt responsible. I un- mate Change Conference in 2019. not exist at all, at least not on alleged instances of officials gested they be stripped of their
paper,= he said. claiming to have lost such pass- citizenship. He lamented there
The Russian parliament passed ports and forcing the individuals was <no procedure for revoking
a new bill amending citizenship to reapply for citizenship. <This is citizenship and preventing them

Documents show how Russia9s FSB rules this spring. The new law
created what political analyst Eka-
terina Schulman calls an <inequal-
a form of ethnic discrimination,=
Podoplelova said.
<Many migrants believe that
from entering our country.=
Schulman said it is unlikely Ma-
kichyan9s case signals a new wave

has cultivated a network in Moldova ity= between two types of citizen-

ship, enabling authorities to easily
move against citizens who had
Russian citizenship gives them
more rights or protects them. But
this is an illusion,= said Valentina
of repression, highlighting the ri-
gidity of Russia9s legal framework.
<If you are born the Russian citi-
previously held a foreign passport. Chupik, the director of Tong Jaho- zen, if you have the citizenship
RUSSIA FROM A21 damaged reputation= whose re- articles <in extreme circum- <When Makichyan became a ni, a nonprofit organization that from birth, then there is no way, at
moval from the political scene stances,= or to get <control over nuisance, the authorities evident- helps Central Asian migrants in least for now, that the state can
In addition, Treasury said, the should be carried out with <sur- court decisions= if the Shor party ly checked his documents. They Russia. legally divest you of this status,=
Russian government used Chai- gical virtuosity.= instead chose to sue for defama- asked, what can be done with him? Makichyan warned that his said Schulman.
ka9s <companies as a front to The virtuosity came in the tion.
funnel money to the collaborat- form of a golden handshake, the Shor said his party had used
ing political parties in Moldova. documents show. After Dodon the services of a variety of <differ-
Some of these illicit campaign stepped down from the Socialist ent international consultants=
funds were earmarked for bribes
and electoral fraud.=
Party, he was appointed chair-
man of the Moldovan-Russian
but that he was not aware of the
March 2021 visit because he was
Transform your ûreplace space into a work of art
Milyutin communicated with business council, an organiza- not living in Moldova then.
Chaika more than 6,000 times tion established by the Kremlin- Shor also received FSB assis-
between December 2020 and linked Delovaya Rossiya. tance for another part of his
June 2022, according to the
Ukrainian intelligence docu-
Dodon9s monthly salary, paid by
the business council, was
business empire. Amid a conflict
with the Moldovan authorities,
After
ments. $29,016, plus a $14,508 monthly the FSB closely coordinated a
The FSB was <checking with bonus, documents show. 2020 deal in which Shor9s con-
[Chaika] what needed to be done Moscow quickly stepped up its trolling stake in the company
at any moment,= a Ukrainian search for Dodon9s political re- running Chisinau9s strategically
security official said, referring to placement. Shor, who had en- important airport was trans-
the documents. Chaika <is like a tered politics from a background ferred to a powerful Russian
wallet for them.=
The FSB, Milyutin and Chaika
chairing a major Moldovan bank
and a chain of duty-free shops
billionaire, Andrei Goncharen-
ko, the documents show. Gon-
Before
did not respond to requests for along with Moldova9s commer- charenko <has been instructed in
comment. Peskov told The Post cial airport, was viewed by poll- everything,= said a senior FSB
that he <of course= knows Chaika sters working for the FSB as officer in one discussion about
but had never worked on any something of a showman popu- the deal, the documents show. Next Day Installation**
plans with him to restore Rus- list, but manipulable, the docu- Shor said in the interview that **For replacement gas logs. In stock items only.
sian influence in Moldova. <I ments show. He9d won early he9d never owned a stake in the
have nothing to do with Moldo- success in 2015, when he was airport 4 and that he had
va,= he said.
Until recently, the documents
elected mayor of the Moldovan
city of Orhei. But two years later,
stepped down as chairman of its
board in summer 2019, when
Contemporary Fireplaces
show, the FSB9s primary vehicle he was found guilty of looting control of the company was,
in Moldova was the Socialist $1 billion from the Moldovan according to news reports, sold
Party, headed by Igor Dodon, banking system 4 a 2014 heist to Nathaniel Rothschild, a Brit-
who served as Moldova9s pro- that left the Moldovan govern- ish businessman. But the FSB
Moscow president from 2016 to ment with a budget deficit documents discussing the deal
2020. Chaika has never hidden amounting to 8 percent of gross refer to the airport as still being
his close connections with domestic product. <Shor9s asset= in January 2020,
Dodon: He has jointly owned Shor remained mayor while he while senior Moldovan officials
businesses in Russia with appealed the conviction but then also said in interviews that it was
Dodon9s younger brother in real left the country for Israel in 2019, controlled by Shor. A person
estate and waste management denying the bank theft charges, familiar with the deal said Roth-
since 2019, according to official which he described as politically schild had acquired an option to
company registration docu- motivated. He continued to run buy the company but never com-
ments. the party from exile and it came pleted the transaction. A spokes-
The Socialist Party strategy in third in the 2021 parliamenta- person for Rothschild declined
backfired badly, however, in ry elections, with 5.7 percent of to comment. Visit our Showroom/Design Center featuring 84 Live Displays
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A24 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST . SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022

Biden9s 8consequences9 for Saudi Arabia are reaping quiet results

BY K AREN D E Y OUNG of thousands of U.S. troops sta- Rep. Ro Khanna (Calif.) and Sen. lion in April.
tioned in the kingdom and a stop Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) last The Saudis have been actively
Despite its furious reaction to to all arms sales, among other month introduced a bill to halt all supportive of a recent truce in
Saudi Arabia9s decision last month punitive measures. U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia Yemen that the Biden administra-
to cut oil production in the face of But the White House, as it con- until they reconsider the oil pro- tion has championed. And after
global shortages, and threats of siders how to make good on duction cuts. <The Saudis need to years of U.S. effort to persuade the
retaliation, the Biden administra- Biden9s <consequences= pledge come to their senses,= Blumenthal Persian Gulf countries to adopt a
tion is looking for signs that the and despite its ongoing anger, has said in announcing the measure. regional missile defense system
tight, decades-long security rela- become uneasy over the reaction <The only apparent purpose of against Iran, long resisted by the
tionship between Washington and its sharp response has provoked at this cut in oil supplies is to help the Saudis, the administration be-
Riyadh can be salvaged. home. Rather than moving quick- Russians and harm Americans.= A lieves it is finally making headway.
Those ties, and a commitment ly to respond, it is playing for time, separate bill by a trio of Democrat- Secretary of State Antony
to help protect its strategic part- looking for ways to bring the Sau- ic House members, led by Rep. Blinken has indicated that9s not
ners 4 particularly against Iran 4 dis back in line while preserving Tom Malinowski (N.J.), would re- yet enough. Speaking recently to
are an integral part of U.S. defens- strong bilateral security ties. quire the removal of U.S. troops Bloomberg News, he called the
es in the Middle East. When recent <Are we rupturing the relation- from Saudi Arabia and the United U.N. vote and the Ukraine dona-
intelligence reports warned of im- ship? No,= said a senior adminis- Arab Emirates. tion <positive developments,= al-
minent Iranian ballistic missile tration official, speaking on the Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), though <they don9t compensate
and drone attacks on targets in condition of anonymity about the powerful chairman of the Sen- [for] the decision made by OPEC
Saudi Arabia, the U.S. Central what has become a sensitive polit- ate Foreign Relations Committee, Plus on production.=
BANDAR ALGALOUD/SAUDI ROYAL COURT/REUTERS
Command launched warplanes ical and diplomatic situation. <We last month issued a statement say- But the more time that elapses,
based in the Persian Gulf region had a fundamental disagreement President Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ing that <the United States must the more chances Saudi Arabia
toward Iran as part of an overall on the state of the oil market and at Al Salman Palace in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, on July 15. immediately freeze all aspects of will have to make things right and
elevated alert status of U.S. and the global economy, and we are our cooperation with Saudi Ara- temper any U.S. response. One key
Saudi forces. reviewing what transpired.= over the Saudi-led war in Yemen, a 30-day allotted window, there bia,= and vowed he would <not indicator is likely to come next
The scrambling of the jets, dis- <But we have important inter- and the 2018 murder by Saudi has been no public indication that green-light any cooperation with month, when the European Union
patched as an armed show of force ests at stake in this relationship,= agents of journalist and regime the next step in the transaction 4 Riyadh until the kingdom reas- has scheduled a ban on seaborne
and not previously reported, was the official said. critic Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resi- a signed contract with the Defense sesses its position with respect to imports of Russian crude oil 4
the latest illustration of the Oil, and Saudi Arabia9s influ- dent and columnist for The Wash- Department 4 has been taken. the war in Ukraine.= followed by a prohibition against
strength and importance of a part- ence on the global market, is sec- ington Post. The Pentagon has <nothing to an- Most Republicans who have all Russian petroleum products
nership the administration has ond only to U.S. strategic interests There are about 2,500 U.S. forc- nounce at this time= regarding the taken a stand on the issue have two months later 4 and U.S.-pro-
said it is now reevaluating. in the Persian Gulf, where the es now in Saudi Arabia, many of sale, Lt. Col. Cesar Santiago, a said Biden should use the cuts to moted plans to impose a price cap
<There9s going to be some con- kingdom plays a central role, not them involved in high-tech intelli- spokesman, said Friday. increase domestic oil production, on Russian oil.
sequences for what they9ve done,= least in countering Iranian aggres- gence work and training. The In a reflection of the current although the United States is al- Any market shortages those
President Biden said after the Sau- sion. The White House, which con- United States is the supplier of level of congressional ire, Sen. ready pumping roughly 1 million measures may create could be
dis agreed last month, at a meet- firmed a Wall Street Journal re- nearly three-quarters of all weap- Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said last barrels a day more than when made up by increased production
ing of the OPEC Plus energy cartel port on the recent Iranian threat ons systems used by the Saudi month that all weapons sales to Biden took office. by Saudi Arabia, officials believe.
they chair, to cut production by and high-level alert, declined to military, including constantly Saudi Arabia should be stopped, So far, the administration has Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz
2 million barrels a day. comment on the launch of U.S. needed parts, repairs and up- and that any Patriot systems there offered no clues as to what, if any, bin Salma said recently in remarks
The cuts serve only to increase warplanes. grades. should be removed and sent to punitive measures it might con- to an investor conference in Ri-
prices, the White House charged, <Centcom is committed to our Military sales to the kingdom Ukraine. <If Saudi Arabia isn9t sider during its review of the rela- yadh that this was his country9s
and would benefit cartel member long-standing strategic military have been the subject of repeated willing to take the side of Ukraine tionship, and appears in no rush to plan all along.
Russia at the moment the United partnership with Saudi Arabia,= controversy in recent years, as and U.S. over Russia, why should decide. <We don9t need to be in a The Saudis have repeatedly in-
States and its allies were trying to said command spokesman Joe many in Congress have objected to we keep these Patriots in Saudi hurry,= Kirby said Oct. 26. In the sisted that their only interest is in
choke off Moscow9s oil revenue to Buccio. <We will not discuss opera- them. While President Donald Arabia when Ukraine and our meantime, officials have empha- global market stability. Reduced
undercut its war in Ukraine. tional details.= The United States Trump, who boasted of billions in NATO allies need them,= Murphy sized steps they say the Saudis production now, the minister said,
In the angry days that followed, maintains significant air assets in potential U.S. sales to the Saudis, wrote on Twitter. have taken to assuage U.S. anger would create spare capacity to
the Saudis publicly countered that the region, including F-22 fighter vetoed congressional attempts to While two U.S.-controlled Patri- and prove they9re not leaning make up for upcoming sanctions
the administration had asked for jets in Saudi Arabia, although the stop particular transactions, ot systems remain in Saudi Arabia toward Russia. on Russia without creating major
the cuts to be delayed by a month, location from which they were Biden banned the kingdom9s pur- to protect U.S. personnel from <Our displeasure has already global shortfalls. <You need to
indirectly suggesting that Biden scrambled was not clear. chase of offensive U.S. weapons missile attacks from Yemen9s been clearly stated and has al- make sure you build a situation
wanted to avoid increased prices Only about 6 percent of U.S. oil shortly after taking office. Houthi rebels, and presumably ready had an impact,= the senior where if things [get] worse you
at the gas pump before the upcom- imports now come from Saudi Since then, there have been two from Iran, the bulk of the systems official said. <We9ve seen the Sau- have the ability= to respond, he
ing U.S. midterm elections. Na- Arabia. China is the kingdom9s major Saudi purchases, of air-to- in use there were purchased years dis react in ways that are construc- said. <We will be the supplier of
tional Security Council spokes- largest trading partner, and com- air missiles, and replacement mis- ago by the Saudis and belong to tive.= those who want us to supply.=
man John Kirby let loose to report- mercial ties with Russia have siles for Patriot air defense batter- the kingdom. In addition to a Saudi vote in The Saudis, Abdulaziz said, had
ers that the Saudis were trying to broadened. But security and intel- ies. Another order for 300 Patriot Biden has said he wants to con- favor of last month9s U.N. General <decided to be the maturer guys,=
<spin= the U.S. concerns over ligence ties are the linchpin of missiles 4 at more than $3 million sult with lawmakers over the Assembly resolution condemning as opposed to those who were
Ukraine and world energy stabili- U.S.-Saudi relations, and defense per unit 4 was approved by the promised <consequences,= and Russia9s illegal annexation of four <depleting their emergency stocks
ty into a domestic political ploy, officials in Washington are unset- State Department in August, after while strong statements by law- regions of Ukraine, Crown Prince & as a mechanism to manipulate
and to deflect criticism of fence- tled by what the current upheaval a Biden visit to the kingdom, makers buttress his threat, the Mohammed bin Salman, the king- markets.= Biden has withdrawn
sitting on Russia9s war. might mean. where he reportedly believed he current congressional recess also dom9s de facto ruler, called Presi- about a third of the U.S. Strategic
Many lawmakers, some of Major U.S. deployments there cemented an agreement with the gives the administration some dent Volodymyr Zelensky to tell Petroleum Reserve this year, in an
whom have long advocated cut- ended after the 2003 invasion of crown prince not to cut oil produc- breathing room. him Saudi Arabia would contrib- effort to keep gas prices within
ting ties with the Saudis, reacted Iraq, and there have been repeated tion. The strongest objections to ute $400 million in humanitarian reach for Americans already
with even greater umbrage, call- bilateral strains in recent years, Although Congress did not for- business as usual with the king- aid to Ukraine, far more than its struggling with high inflation and
ing for the immediate withdrawal including human rights concerns mally object to the new sale within dom have come from Democrats. only previous donation of $10 mil- interest rates.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022 . THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A25

the opinions essay

The
tragedy
of
John
Roberts
by Ruth Marcus

ILLUSTRATION BY NIGEL BUCHANAN FOR THE WASHINGTON POST BASED ON A PHOTO BY ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES

O
n the final day of oral arguments Roberts wanted to help shore up the court9s And with trust in the court at a record low 4 have ignored his pleas for patience.
last term, the chief justice9s voice institutional standing; instead, he has watched down 20 points in two years to just 47 percent of Roberts has found himself dissenting when
cracked with emotion as he bade it plunge in public esteem, helpless to prevent Americans saying they had a <great deal= or <fair his fellow conservatives refused to block Texas9s
farewell to the retiring Justice the fall. amount= of faith in the institution 4 Roberts abortion law as the case was litigated; when
Stephen G. Breyer. It was a strik- He has been outflanked and marginalized by felt compelled to speak out in its defense, they allowed an Alabama redistricting plan to
ing moment for the normally five conservative justices to his right, even as he engaging in an extraordinary public back-and- take effect despite the fact that, as Roberts said,
buttoned-up John G. Roberts Jr., has been subjected to unsparing criticism by forth with Justice Elena Kagan about the court9s the trial court that found it violated the Voting
and one that seemed to signify more than those to his left. legitimacy. Rights Act <properly applied existing law in an
sorrow at the departure of a longtime colleague. In the last term alone, Roberts witnessed the In short, with the death of liberal Justice extensive opinion with no apparent errors for
It is not far-fetched to imagine that Roberts was unprecedented 4 and, from all appearances, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the arrival of Justice our correction=; and when they enjoined New
mourning the decisive end of his vision of still unsolved 4 leak of a draft opinion, in the Amy Coney Barrett to shore up the conservative York9s pandemic rules even though restrictions
presiding over an institution seen as operating Dobbs abortion case. In the aftermath of that wing, this is the Roberts court in name only. The on religious services had been revised. Dobbs
above the partisan fray. jarring event, his most conservative colleague, chief now finds himself in the unexpected posi- wasn9t an outlier.
<I9ve lost my only friend on the court,= Rob- Clarence Thomas, openly lamented the days tion of being 4 or at least voting 4 to the left of <I don9t think I would want to be Roberts
erts told someone afterward. when <we were a family= 4 and pointedly dated the new swing justice, Brett M. Kavanaugh. right now,= said University of Southern Califor-
As Roberts, 67, begins his 18th term, he is an those to the <fabulous court= before Roberts9s Roberts remains at the top of the pack of nia law professor Lee Epstein, who specializes
at times isolated and even tragic figure. Roberts tenure. justices voting with the majority 4 95 percent of in studying the justices9 voting patterns. <He has
wanted to be at the helm of a court that was When the final Dobbs ruling was released, the time in divided cases last term, tied only by some very aggressive, ambitious colleagues on
more often unanimous than splintered; now it Roberts was a lone voice, his suggested compro- Kavanaugh. But that statistic obscures the reali- his right who want to do a lot very quickly, and
is cleaved, 6-3, along hardened ideological lines. mise unable to attract a single additional vote. ty that time after time, Roberts9s colleagues SEE THE OPINIONS ESSAY ON A26
A26 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST . SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022

the opinions essay

THE OPINIONS ESSAY FROM A25 Supreme Court Justice Brett

M. Kavanaugh and Chief Justice
that9s just so not Roberts. . . . He tries to John G. Roberts Jr. arrive for the
slow things down, but they9re not going to 2020 State of the Union address.
be slowed.=
Tellingly, conservatives and liberals use
the same stark adjective 4 relevant 4 with 82 percent, with the rest of the court
when they describe Roberts9s current hovering between the mid-50s and
predicament. mid-60s.)
<He9s just less relevant now,= said Mike Among that court9s 5-4 rulings, Roberts
Davis, who heads the conservative Article was in the majority in every case but one.
III Project and worked to confirm Presi- He cast an uncharacteristic vote in favor
dent Donald Trump9s judicial nominees. of abortion rights, a decision he said was
With three appointments to the court, he compelled by a precedent from which he
said, <Trump transformed the 5-to-4 John had dissented, and another blocking
Roberts court into the 5-to-4 Clarence Trump9s bid to repeal immigration protec-
Thomas court, meaning it9s more likely the tions for <dreamers.=
court9s just going to follow the law and not Three months later, Ginsburg died.
be concerned about the political fallout.= Once, conservatives had found them-
Harvard Law School professor emeri- selves reduced to griping about what Jus-
tus Laurence H. Tribe, co-author of a book tice Antonin Scalia, in a 2007 campaign
on the Roberts court, made the same point finance case, called Roberts9s <faux judicial
from the opposite ideological perspective. restraint.= With the arrival of Barrett in
<He9s largely irrelevant, except that the late 2020, Roberts9s go-slow admonitions
court has gone so far, so fast that he may proved, for the most part, unpersuasive.
become more relevant depending on Now, the more conservative justices
whether anybody else is chastened,= Tribe show little inclination to heed him 4 a
said. phenomenon on painful display in last
The question now is how Roberts will term9s abortion case. Roberts could sum-
respond to this new reality. He is a chief mon no justices to support his middle-
caught between conflicting imperatives. ground position, to uphold Mississippi9s
If he insists on hewing to the go-slow, 15-week abortion ban but stop short of
decide-no-more-than-necessary ap- overruling Roe v. Wade. Justice Samuel
POOL/GETTY IMAGES
proach that has been the hallmark of his A. Alito Jr.9s majority opinion dismissed
tenure, he risks appearing weak 4 and Roberts in almost sneering tones. <The
losing what little ability he retains to
influence and constrain the conservative
majority. If he votes with that majority, as
The question now is how blame. Roberts had originally been tapped
for the D.C. Circuit by George H.W. Bush in
1992, but the Senate never voted on his
concurrence9s most fundamental defect is
its failure to offer any principled basis for
its approach,= Alito wrote.
might be his underlying inclination in
most cases, he risks contributing to what
he has been laboring to prevent: the de-
Roberts will respond nomination; after George W. Bush renom-
inated him in 2001, the Democratic-
controlled Senate again delayed acting,
It was a dramatic turnabout from Rob-
erts9s ascendant position just a year be-
fore. <This,= said one conservative lawyer,
cline of the institution.

chief justice is little more than the

to this new reality. and Roberts was not confirmed until Re-
publicans regained control in 2003.
Two years later, the younger Bush nom-
<was John9s worst nightmare.=

ajorities can turn out to be fleet-

A first among equals; his vote counts

no more than that of the other eight
justices. His main authority derives from
He is a chief caught between inated Roberts 4 at age 50 4 to replace
Justice Sandra Day O9Connor, who retired
to help care for her ailing husband. But on
M ing, although the current super-
majority appears rather durable.
It9s possible that Kavanaugh will be taken
the power, when he is in the majority, to
assign the authorship of opinions, either
writing himself or giving the job to a
conûicting imperatives. Sept. 3, 2005, just three days before Rob-
erts9s confirmation hearings were to be-
gin, chief justice Rehnquist died of cancer.
aback by the public reaction to the court9s
lurch to the right and show more willing-
ness than he has so far in helping Roberts
colleague. Bush, dealing with the disastrous after- slow things down.
But Roberts, with a careful eye on his- math of Hurricane Katrina, quickly decid- But, although Kavanaugh and Roberts
tory, had a far grander, even audacious, ed to slot Roberts into Rehnquist9s seat, tend to vote together more than any other
mission in mind, one he laid out in an notwithstanding his relative youth (the pairing of justices, in most of the critical
interview with the Atlantic9s Jeffrey Rosen youngest chief justice since John Mar- cases where Roberts has sided with the
in 2006 at the conclusion of his first term. shall) and scant judicial experience. liberals, Kavanaugh has declined to go
<It9s sobering to think of the seventeen That fortuitous timing is important to along. Less likely, but not impossible,
chief justices; certainly a solid majority of understanding Roberts9s performance. Barrett could still surprise; she9s new, and
them have to be characterized as failures,= He has been known to muse about what her record on some issues 4 race, to take
Roberts told Rosen. <The successful ones kind of justice he would have been had he one current example 4 is still unwritten.
are hard to number.= not been invested with the additional That leaves Roberts, as he nears the end
To reread the interview now, with fore- responsibility of safeguarding the institu- of his second decade on the court, a chief
knowledge of the changes to come, is tion. That is not to say that Roberts9s votes without a constituency.
poignant. Roberts talked about the dan- as chief justice have trended liberal 4 Many of his fellow conservatives, in-
ger of polarized politics, and the <high anything but. Roberts is no hardcore orig- cluding some of his own colleagues, view
priority to keep any kind of partisan di- A loss of trust inalist 4 he has said that <I do not have an him with suspicion, if not outright dis-
vide out of the judiciary as well.= He Trust in the judiciary is at 47 percent, its lowest point since Gallup overarching judicial philosophy= 4 but he dain. Roberts, as they see it, has subordi-
wanted his colleagues to <factor in the began polling on the subject in 1972. is unmistakably conservative. nated his simple duty to apply the law in
Court9s institutional role= and elevate con- <He may think the court is moving too the service of somehow protecting the
sensus-building over ideological purity. Percentage who answered a great deal/fair amount of trust fast, but he thinks it9s moving in the right institution 4 and, perhaps not coinciden-
Like his greatest predecessor, Chief Jus- direction,= said University of Chicago law tally, his own reputation.
tice John Marshall, who served from 1801 80% professor Aziz Huq, who serves on the Liberals understand that his seeming
to 1835, Roberts wanted to see the court board of the liberal American Constitu- moderation is only by contrast to his
speak as often as possible with a single tion Society. hot-under-the-collar colleagues, and that
voice, not a cacophony of concurring and 60% On race, which for decades has been an his ultimate goals are deeply at odds with
dissenting opinions. That would produce animating issue for Roberts, he has writ- their own constitutional vision. Roberts
more jurisprudential stability and, conse- ten opinions decimating the Voting Rights might be an occasional accomplice, but he
quently, more public respect for the court. Act and preventing public schools from is not their ally.
It all sounds quaint now. Last term9s
40% 47% using race to achieve diverse classrooms. He faces every temptation to join the
numbers tell the story. According to Ep- On gay rights, he dissented bitterly when conservative majority. That imbues him
stein9s calculations, just 28 percent of the the court found that the Constitution pro- with the power to assign the writing of key
court9s opinions were unanimous in the 20% tects a right to same-sex marriage, warn- opinions to himself, or, alternatively, to
last term 4 far below the 41 percent ing that <stealing this issue from the peo- keep the authorship away from the most
THE ROBERTS COURT
average since Roberts joined the court. ple will for many cast a cloud over same- extreme conservatives. The bottom line
The most common voting pattern wasn9t 0% sex marriage, making a dramatic social might be the same. But the precise lan-
9-0, as is the general rule, but 6-3. And the 1972 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 change that much more difficult to accept.= guage the court uses in deciding a case
vast majority of those (14 of 19), according Source: Gallup On campaign finance, he has demon- matters for those yet to come; it matters
to statistics compiled by Scotusblog, re- strated unrelenting hostility toward ef- whether an opinion9s author is Thomas or
flected the six-justice conservative bloc. forts to reduce the influence of money in Kavanaugh.
Conservative justices ranked by ideology
<Chief Justice Roberts tried to avoid the politics. On government regulation, he As it happens, the court9s highest-
polarization of the court from the begin- Political scientists Lee Epstein, Andrew D. Martin and Kevin Quinn ranked has voted to curtail the power of adminis- profile cases this term 4 on affirmative
ning,= Rosen told me. <The whole point of justices9 decisions on an ideological spectrum. trative agencies, most recently using a action, voting and the right of a Christian
his vision was to avoid the court blowing case limiting the Environmental Protec- business owner to refuse to serve same-
itself up and squandering its legitimacy.= 4 tion Agency9s ability to combat climate sex weddings 4 will all push Roberts in
And that is the tragedy of John Roberts. change to declare a new <major questions= the direction of his fellow conservatives.
The man whose career betrays virtually doctrine that will invite further challeng- <The fact is that the kind of issues that he
no hint of failure appears to be failing at MORE es across the regulatory landscape. cares most about are some of the most
the most monumental task he has con- CONSERVATIVE And yet, Roberts 4 even before con- important cases on the docket this term,=
fronted, one he set for himself. |omas servatives took firm control 4 sometimes said Donald B. Verrilli Jr., who was solici-
3
Roberts is an accidental chief justice, put his foot on the brake. Before he dis- tor general under President Barack
but his arrival at the court was anything mantled Section 5 of the Voting Rights Obama. <I feel like he can and will reassert
but accident. In a city of glittering résu- Alito Act, he gave Congress one last chance to his leadership by playing a dominant role
més, Roberts had compiled one that was fix it, noting that <the importance of the in those cases, and it will seem like, 8Oh,
burnished to perfection by the time he question does not justify our rushing to Roberts is back. He9s regained control.9 =
was nominated to the high court by Presi- 2 decide it.= Most famously, in 2012 he Perhaps, but for how long? Roberts
dent George W. Bush in 2005. switched his initial vote to strike down the might be with the radical majority on race,
Raised in Indiana, the son of a Bethle- Affordable Care Act and, engaging in but will that alliance hold in other areas?
hem Steel executive, Roberts graduated Barrett some interpretive contortions, saved the And would this be Roberts in control 4 or
summa cum laude from Harvard College statute but infuriated his conservative merely the illusion of control? The majori-
after just three years, then headed 1 Gorsuch colleagues. Three years later, he did it ty to his right, to the extent it holds solid,
straight to Harvard Law School, where he LESS Kavanaugh again 4 this time adding insult to con- retains the power to do what it will,
was managing editor of the law review. CONSERVATIVE servative injury because his vote wasn9t whether Roberts signs on or not. It is fully
That was capped by the most presti- Roberts even needed to save the statute. aware it holds that power and is not afraid
gious of clerkships, for appeals court Roberts9s tenure can be divided into to exercise it.
judge Henry Friendly and then-Justice three distinct Roberts courts. The first, Conversely, Roberts might see benefits
William H. Rehnquist, and a subsequent 1991 2000 2010 2021
which lasted from 2005 until Justice An- to being on the losing side. As a nominee,
trip up the ladder of the plummiest jobs thony M. Kennedy9s retirement in 2018, is Roberts famously insisted that judges are
for a conservative young lawyer in the best described as a jump-ball court: Often mere neutral umpires calling balls and
Reagan and George H.W. Bush adminis- Kennedy would lean in a conservative strikes; as chief justice, he publicly repri-
trations: special assistant to the attorney Agreeing to disagree direction, but sometimes 4 in particular, manded Trump for denouncing a jurist as
general, associate White House counsel, In the last term, the Supreme Court had its lowest percentage of unanimous decisions on gay rights 4 he would side with liber- an <Obama judge.= Roberts is the chief
principal deputy solicitor general. of John Roberts's tenure, and the lowest for the court since 1986. als. And sometimes, as in the Obamacare justice of the United States, the head of the
As much as Roberts served as loyal foot case, Roberts himself would surprise and entire judiciary. He might perceive an
soldier in President Ronald Reagan9s legal 60% determine the majority. advantage in demonstrating with his vote
revolution 4 memos from the time show The second chapter was fleeting 4 that the high court 4 and the judiciary
him forcefully urging conservative posi- from Kennedy9s departure until Barrett9s itself 4 is not neatly divided along party
tions 4 he combined that stance with a arrival in October 2020, the span of just lines.
Midwestern geniality, a gift for forging two terms. With five conservatives and And there is another way for Roberts,
across-the-aisle relationships and canny 40% four liberals, Roberts was finally in con- who once aspired to be a history professor,
circumspection about exposing his views trol, his vote determinative. He was both to think about his choice: over the long
to public scrutiny. 28% the chief justice and the median justice, sweep of time. Ineffective now might look
<An ultimate insider in the capital,= the imbued with remarkable influence. <Rob- heroic decades hence. Roberts can be
New York Times wrote after his nomina- erts is not only the most powerful player remembered as the chief justice who went
tion in July 2005. <Judge Roberts is a 20% on the court. He9s also the most powerful along with the conservative crowd and, in
conservative, but he has never been an chief justice since at least 1937,= Epstein so doing, helped bring disrepute on an
ideological crusader,= said The Post9s Edi- told the New York Times9s Adam Liptak in activist, radical court. Or he can be the
torial Board, adding that <nobody really June 2020, as the court was wrapping up conservative who tried to stop, or at least
knows what Judge Roberts believes, be- its work. slow, the tide, lauded for his steadfastness
cause he has been unusually careful about In that term9s divided cases, Roberts even if it proves unavailing.
not discussing his views.= 2005-06 2010-11 2015-16 2021-22 voted with the majority 95 percent of the History seems certain to remember the
If Roberts9s paper trail was thin 4 he time 4 more than any chief justice since at Roberts court in a different way than John
had been on the U.S. Court of Appeals for Source: Analysis by Lee Epstein, University of Southern California; Andrew D. Martin, Washington University least 1953 and more than any of his col- Roberts once imagined, but he retains the
in St. Louis; and Kevin Quinn, University of Michigan, using the Supreme Court Database.
the D.C. Circuit for little more than two leagues. (Kavanaugh was next with ability to shape history9s verdict on his
years 4 Democrats had only themselves to THE WASHINGTON POST 90 percent, and Neil M. Gorsuch followed own performance.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 , 2022 . THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A27

sunday opinion

Postcards from the

LIZETTE ALVAREZ a lot of things are different. The pandemic has eased,
IN FLORIDA thanks to vaccines, she said, and many voters are
turned off by the right9s election conspiracy theories.
The state that Too partisan? Without missing a beat, Davids
added a shout-out for the Kansas secretary of state, a
stopped swinging
permanent campaign
Republican. With him in charge, the election will be
splendid, she is confident.
palmetto bay, fla. 4 In Florida, elections are typically
nail-biters. Voters stay glued to election returns late
into the night. Republicans and Democrats are equal- DANA MILBANK
ly convinced that they will win. Candidate lawn signs IN PENNSYLVANIA
abound.
Not this time. The final run-up to the midterm Post Opinion columnists ûled these The little Trump that couldn9t
elections that spotlights Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republi-
can, vying against former Florida governor Charlie dispatches from four closely watched states manheim, pa. 4 It was a fitting coda to a fraudulent
Crist, a Democrat, smacks of a fait accompli. So does
the other marquee race, Sen. Marco Rubio, a Bible-
in the ûnal days of the midterm elections. candidacy.
Doug Mastriano tried to overthrow the 2020 elec-
quoting Republican against challenger Rep. Val tion results in Pennsylvania and was at the Capitol on
Demings, a tough-talking former Orlando police chief. Jan. 6, and as Pennsylvania9s Republican gubernatori-
For Democrats 4 who make up fewer Florida al nominee this year he colored his campaign with
registered voters than Republicans do 4 any positive Christian nationalism and antisemitism.
vibes come veiled by anticipatory grief. At least in So it was appropriate that he brought in as his
South Florida, few Democrats are talking about the closer Bernie Kerik, the former New York City police
election, and if they do, it9s quietly, as though the Grim commissioner who did three years in prison for tax
Reaper might overhear. fraud and other felonies 4 then later, after receiving
A recent event for Democratic activists in Jackson- a pardon from President Donald Trump, became the
ville 4 Crist showed but Demings didn9t 4 attracted self-described <chief investigator= for Trump9s <big
just 50 to 60 people. You could practically hear the air lie= claims of election fraud.
rushing out of the tires. <People can say all day long 8there was no voter and
In the past two weeks, various surveys show De- election fraud.9 That9s BS and I know it!= the ex-con
Santis and Rubio pulling ahead, into the double told about 400 cheering Mastriano die-hards Satur-
digits, depending on the poll. <It9s over. And it9s going day at an indoor sports complex aptly named Spooky
to be ugly,= Evan Ross, a longtime Democratic consul- Nook. Kerik added, <The only way the Democrats are
tant, told Politico. He was talking about the governor9s going to win this time is cheating.=
race, but it could have applied to most any big race. The whole election spectacle in this swing state has
In my neighborhood, a Miami-Dade town of not been grotesque this year. The crucial open-seat Senate
quite 24,000 residents, people seem much more race is close, as was originally expected, but for
interested in the local races for mayor and council. different reasons: Republican Mehmet Oz, a TV doc-
Republicans act as though they know the deal is tor/huckster, was weak on the campaign trail, and
sealed. Since 2020, Florida has become even more Democrat John Fetterman suffered a severe stroke.
enthralled with the MAGA movement. It9s the byprod- But there is apparent good news. The voters of the
uct of a confluence of factors: an energized and orga- commonwealth appear to be set to reject in large
nized Republican Party, an aggressive and culture- numbers the vulgar Mastriano, with his conspiracy
wars-embracing governor, the arrival of many new