Source: The Hill

Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman said Tuesday he won’t participate in a debate against his Republican opponent Mehmet Oz during the first week of September, citing his ongoing recovery from a recent stroke.

Fetterman in his announcement also called out Oz’s campaign over a mocking statement it released earlier that day in which it listed several “concessions” it would make if the Democrat agreed to a debate. Among them was payment for “additional medical personnel [Fetterman] might need to have on standby.”

The Democrat blasted Oz and his campaign over the statement, accusing them of making it “abundantly clear that they think it is funny to mock a stroke survivor.” Fetterman said he “chose not to participate in this farce.”

“I will not be participating in a debate the first week of September, but look forward to having a productive discussion about how we can move forward and have a real conversation on this once Dr. Oz and his team are ready to take this seriously,” he added.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3621814-fetterman-wont-participate-in-early-september-debate-with-oz/

Source: Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — A voter initiative rolling back Republican-backed election law changes and expanding voting access will not appear on the November ballot, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Friday, issuing a final death knell after an on-again off-again series of court rulings.

The high court decision upholds a lower court ruling issued hours earlier, in which Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Mikitish rejected thousands of signatures and said the initiative fell 1,458 signatures short of the 238,000 required to qualify for the ballot. The judge’s Friday ruling reversed his own decision from a day earlier after the Supreme Court asked him to explain how he concluded that the initiative had enough valid signatures to qualify.

The Supreme Court’s ruling is the last word in a weeks-long battle between initiative backers and opponents. Critics, led by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, succeeded in knocking off enough qualifying signatures for the measure to barely fail.

Lawyers supporting the initiative had urged the Supreme Court to allow the measure to reach voters, saying Mikitish violated the law by letting challengers throw out more signatures than allowed.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/elections-arizona-voting-phoenix-bda804312e77b4f4ddcea08ddb21c975

For Governor, Josh Shapiro leads Doug Mastriano 47% to 44%. For Senate, John Fetterman leads Mehmet Oz, 48% to 44%.

https://emersoncollegepolling.com/pennsylvania-2022-fetterman-holds-four-point-lead-over-oz-for-us-senate-shapiro-leads-mastriano-by-three/

Source: CNBC

Some experts believe the Biden administration could announce a decision on whether to extend a more than two-year-long pause on federal student loan debt this week, ahead of the current Aug. 31 deadline. Many borrowers are hoping the Education Department will extend that break and announce up to $10,000 in loan forgiveness.

Currently, about 44 million borrowers owe a collective $1.7 trillion in federal student loan debt.

Yet, a new poll finds Americans worry that debt forgiveness could have unintended consequences.

Already battling higher prices, 59% of Americans are concerned that student loan forgiveness will make inflation worse, according to a new CNBC survey, conducted online by Momentive among a national sample of 5,142 adults from Aug. 4 to 15.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/22/americans-are-concerned-student-loan-forgiveness-will-worsen-inflation.html

Trafalgar Group (A- on FiveThirtyEight):

Laxalt 47, Cortez Masto 44

https://www.thetrafalgargroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/TRF-NV-General-0819-Poll-Report.pdf

Any other recent polling? I feel it could be an outlier.

Source: Court TV

PRESCOTT VALLEY, AZ (KNXV) — A Wendy’s employee is facing second-degree murder charges after allegedly punching a customer in Arizona.

On July 26, police were called to a Wendy’s restaurant located in Prescott Valley, Arizona for an injured person.

A customer had complained about his food order, which led employee Antoine Kendrick to come out from behind the counter and hit the 67-year-old customer in the head, according to the Prescott Valley Police Department.

The customer then fell to the floor, hit his head, and lost consciousness. He was later flown to a Phoenix-area hospital where he died on August 5.

Read more: https://www.courttv.com/news/wendys-employee-charged-with-murder-after-punching-customer/

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Source: NBC News

JACKSON, Wyo. — Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., a onetime House GOP leader and a daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, was ousted in a Republican primary Tuesday night, NBC News projects.

Former President Donald Trump’s name wasn’t on the ballot, but his shadow eclipsed the contest as he sought revenge for Cheney's vote last year to impeach him and her work on the committee investigating his behavior leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. His hand-picked challenger, Harriet Hageman, defeated Cheney in a multi-candidate race.

The fight with Trump cost Cheney her spot in House Republican leadership last year and now her seat, but it also provided her with an elevated platform, a monster fundraising profile and the respect of some Democrats who reviled her father.

The split-screen images of Cheney — losing popularity at home, while her profile rose nationally — have sparked questions about whether she will seek the presidency or slip into another role that keeps her at the forefront of the bipartisan anti-Trump set.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/rep-liz-cheney-loses-primary-wyoming-trump-backed-challenger-rcna43379

6% in. Cheney has 40%, Hageman 56%.

If Trump doesn't (or can't) run, does any Republican have a chance to stop DeSantis in the 2024 Republican primaries? Who would even come in second?

It's an open seat, and seems like a crowded field of candidates running. Safe Democratic seat as well. Primary is August 23.