Only two midterm debates for Senate races are scheduled so far. Plenty of candidates say they’re open to debating their opponents, but only on their terms, setting up stalemates as a result. In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, the crew analyzes how debates can affect campaigns and why Senate candidates seem to be avoiding them this year.
Next, the team breaks down how GOP lawmakers and candidates have been approaching potential policies on abortion after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision. While Republican lawmakers can’t agree on how restrictive abortion legislation should be in South Carolina and West Virginia, candidates running in the midterms are trying to distance themselves from the stricter abortion bans they supported earlier in their campaigns.
Finally, we turn to the recent death of Queen Elizabeth II and the succession of her eldest son, King Charles III, whose popularity is significantly lower than the late monarch’s.
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