Trump and Obama will duel in opposing midterm campaign trails again after viral cheesecake moment: Live updates

Former President Barack Obama was set to campaign in Georgia on Wednesday for the Democratic candidates running for Senate and governor.

Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff has been leading Republican Rep. Mike Collins in the Senate race, according to recent polls, while the race for governor between Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson is closer.

The list of fines, compiled by CBS News, does not include nearly $120 million that was owed to the Crime Victims Fund and another $171 million in restitution that is jointly owed with co-defendants who did not receive clemency, bringing the total funds that were denied to victims and the government to more than $1.1 billion over the last two years.

Those fines also don’t include $661 million in restitution owed by the former tech CEO who was convicted of defrauding investors, nor the potentially tens of thousands of dollars that would have likely been owed to the government by the more than 1,500 people charged in connection with the January 6 attack. The president issued rioters a blanket pardon on his first day in office.

Several high-profile midterm campaign rallies are planned for Wednesday — as Election Day is less than a week away.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to travel to Ohio, where the race for Senate and governor appear to be close.

In the Senate, incumbent Republican Jon Husted is facing a challenge from Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown. Trump has made headlines while campaigning for Husted, whose athletic body he has admired even while campaigning for candidates in other states.

In the governor’s race, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy is competing against Democrat Amy Action.

This is Trump’s third trip to Ohio this month.

Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance will go to North Carolina to campaign for Michael Whatley, who faces a competitive Senate race against Democratic challenger Roy Cooper.

Whatley has trailed behind Cooper in the polls as both are looking to replace retiring Senator and frequent Trump critic Thom Tillis.

President Donald Trump is facing dismal midterm forecasts, despite GOP efforts to rally supporters ahead of November 3.

Fox News has predicted in its latest Power Rankings that Democrats will take back control of the House.

The network’s forecast for the Senate is much more of “a toss-up,” with Democrats predicted to take 48 Senate seats while Republicans hold 47 and five remain up in the air.

The Democratic Party currently holds a 9-point edge over the Republican Party among voters, with 53 percent saying they’d lean to the Democratic candidate compared to 44 percent who would lean toward the Republican, according to the latest Ipsos analysis.

Republicans have spent about $183 million on television ads focused on transgender-related attacks against Democrats ahead of the midterm elections.

Through October 25, the GOP has produced about 217,000 TV spots nationwide.

The investment exceeds the amount Republicans spent on similar ads during the 2024 presidential election cycle, according to data provided to the Associated Press by data firm AdImpact.

Ahead of the midterms, Republicans are spending $2.1 billion across all races, outspending Democrats who have invested $1.8 billion total, according to The New York Times.

Retired teacher Michael Pogue turned up at one of Ramaswamy’s campaign events in Cincinnati at the weekend to protest his attack ad featuring the mother of his rival Amy Acton claiming that she lied about being raped by her stepfather as a child.

Pogue held up a banner that said, “Shame on you, Vivek! I taught you better.”

Rhian Lubin has the story.

As we saw earlier, Ken Paxton joined the president on stage yesterday dressed exactly like him in signature blue suit and red tie.

Meanwhile in Kansas, Roger Marshall appears to have been under the sun lamp too long.

The president’s wave of pardons erased more than $119 million in restitution owed to the victims of crime perpetuated by the white-collar criminals and political allies he absolved of wrongdoing.