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Trump leads Harris in Georgia 2 weeks from Election Day, poll finds

Trump leads Harris in Georgia 2 weeks from Election Day, poll finds

Former President Donald Trump holds a slight lead over Vice President Kamala Harris in the key swing state of Georgia, according to a new poll. The poll, conducted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the University of Georgia, found Trump at 47% support in the state, compared to Harris’ 43%. A sizable 8% of respondents said they remain undecided, however. The Georgia poll surveyed 1,000 of the state’s likely voters from Oct. 7-16. The poll advertises a margin of error of 3.1%. The poll further found that 60% of respondents say the country is on the wrong track, and their top issues were inflation/cost of living (19%), the economy/jobs (17%), preserving democracy (17%), immigration (14%) and abortion (8%). GEORGIA SHATTERS EARLY VOTING RECORDS AS CAMPAIGNS ENTER HOME STRETCH IN BATTLEGROUND STATE The poll comes as Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is facing pressure to release the results of a voter roll audit he announced this summer. HARRIS INVOKES JIMMY CARTER IN BID TO GET SUPPORTERS TO VOTE EARLY “Millions of illegal immigrants have flooded our country since 2021, and it’s well-documented that thousands of them have successfully registered to vote in multiple states. But even with early voting now underway, Georgia voters are still waiting for confirmation that non-citizens are not casting ballots in our elections,” former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who now serves as the chairwoman for the group behind the effort, Greater Georgia, said in a release obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital. The comments come more than three months after Raffensperger announced the state was conducting a “SAVE audit” of noncitizens who may have registered to vote, which he called a “vital step in maintaining election security and integrity in Georgia.” “We are double-checking to make sure that if any non-citizens attempt to register to vote, they will not be able to vote unless they prove that they are U.S. citizens,” Raffensberger said in a release at the time, which also warned of prison sentences of up to 10 years and fines of up to $100,000 for noncitizens who register to vote in the state. Raffensperger told NewsNation just a few weeks later that the audit was complete, boasting that he could promise residents of the state that “only American citizens are voting.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Reached for comment by Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for the Georgia Secretary of State’s office said that Raffensperger will hold a press conference on Wednesday to announce the results of the audit. Fox News’ Michael Lee contributed to this report.

Jewish-American group urges US citizens in Israel to vote as absentee ballots can impact swing states

Jewish-American group urges US citizens in Israel to vote as absentee ballots can impact swing states

U.S.-based Jewish organizations are working to get out the vote among Americans living in Israel ahead of the November election, which comes weeks after the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks.  Nathan Diament, the executive director of public policy for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, said his organization has coordinated with the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and partnered with Yeshiva University, a private Orthodox Jewish university in New York, on outreach instructing young Americans taking their gap years in Israel on how to request their absentee ballots and vote from abroad. “First of all, it’s important, from our point of view, for every American citizen, no matter where they are, to hopefully participate in the election,” Diament told Fox News Digital. “You know, this past year has obviously been a very intense, serious and historic year in terms of what’s going on in Israel as it continues to battle against Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran itself. We have friends and family who are there, whose lives are really on the line. And so it’s really important for Americans there who have the right to vote to, again, participate, because the United States is Israel’s most important ally.” He estimated that there are a few thousand Jewish Americans currently in Israel taking their gap year, typically done between high school and college. His own son is one of those students this year. SMALL SWING IN JEWISH VOTERS TO GOP COULD BE ‘DECISIVE’ IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATES The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (or Orthodox Union), which represents more than 1,000 Orthodox Jewish synagogues around the U.S. as well as several hundred Jewish K-12 schools, also works on educational resources targeting another demographic – the few hundred thousand Jewish American immigrants who permanently relocated to Israel – so they, too, can participate in the 2024 election.  The deadline to request absentee ballots is approaching for several battleground states. Of the about 420,000 Jewish Pennsylvanians, Diament said that some studying or living in Israel “could have an impact on the vote” in their communities around Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and even Scranton. “Joe Biden won Pennsylvania in the last election by an 80,000 vote margin,” Diament said. “So, you know, a shift in the American Jewish vote in Pennsylvania by, you know, several thousand or 10,000 or more votes could be very, very significant in this election.”  The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem in January urged Americans living in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza to check their voter registration to provide for enough time to participate in the upcoming 2024 federal elections. As the U.S. does not offer in-person voting at embassies or consulates abroad, U.S. citizens are encouraged to vote by absentee ballot if they cannot meet their state’s in-person voting requirements.  TRUMP SUGGESTS HE COULD WIN 50% OF JEWISH VOTE IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION SHOWDOWN AGAINST HARRIS At the time, the embassy noted how “many U.S. federal elections for the House of Representatives and Senate have been decided by a margin smaller than the number of ballots cast by absentee voters.”  The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem said all states are required to count every absentee ballot “that is valid and reaches local election officials by the absentee ballot receipt deadline.” A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department told Fox News Digital that U.S. citizens living outside the United States can register to vote and vote absentee while living overseas. Students living overseas for an extended period during an election season need to vote absentee and complete a Federal Post Card Application at FVAP.gov to request an absentee ballot, the spokesperson said, adding that voting residency will continue to be the student’s last legal residence prior to leaving the U.S. to study abroad. The State Department spokesperson said U.S. citizens voting from overseas should check FVAP.gov for their state’s deadlines and more information about how to return their ballot. “An American living abroad can most easily request an absentee ballot either through the team that we have set up at our center in Jerusalem or, again, they could go to the U.S. embassy or consulate in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv,” Diament said. “And as long as you show your ID and you get your absentee ballot appropriately, then you just need to send it in a timely way. It’s really not that complicated.”  Jeremy Kazzaz, executive director of the Beacon Coalition, a nonprofit focused on getting out the Jewish vote locally on the ground in Pittsburgh, said U.S. citizens, whether traveling out of state or abroad during an election season, should send their absentee ballots as soon as possible to be included in initial counts. “The mail system gets bogged down around election time because it’s not just all the ballots that are going through the mail, but it is the 5 billion pieces of political mail that everybody is getting on a day-to-day basis,” Kazzaz told Fox News Digital. “And then you add to that the chaos and disruptions of multiple hurricanes going through the Eastern Seaboard at this time. And so the best practice is to do all of this as early as humanly possible.” While Diament said it is confidential which candidates who members of the Orthodox Union support, he pointed to polling done by Israeli outlets and pollsters on the ground among Israelis and Americans as signaling a shift toward Republican Donald Trump, especially in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. “You know, frankly, that is not matched in the American Jewish population as a whole. The American Jewish population, by and large, is pretty liberal. And so, traditionally, the Democrat wins a majority, sometimes a very, very large majority. But we’ve done polling and others have done polling this year among American Jews here in the United States,” Diament said. “What we’ve seen, at least so far, is that while Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate is ahead among the American Jewish vote in general, she’s not ahead by as large

Legal experts question Harris’ backing from donors with government ties

Legal experts question Harris’ backing from donors with government ties

Vice President Harris has raised some eyebrows over potential conflicts of interest related to the substantial support her presidential run has received from individuals and entities engaged in active business dealings before the federal government. The Harris campaign tapped law firm Covington & Burling to help vet Harris’ potential running mates and advise the campaign’s transition team. The law firm, which also provided the Harris campaign with financial support and experienced attorneys to defend it, is currently challenging the ban on TikTok in the U.S. passed by Congress and signed by President Biden. One significant supporter of Harris’ campaign includes Chris Larsen, angel investor and co-founder of cryptocurrency firm Ripple Labs. Larsen, who has given Harris’ campaign committees nearly $12 million, is currently in a protracted legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission over whether its cryptocurrency, XRP, should be classified as “securities.” Meanwhile, $1 million of Larsen’s money to the Harris campaign was made in the form of his XRP cryptocurrency. These are among the handful of examples that elucidate potential conflicts of interest that legal experts say don’t necessarily amount to anything illegal, but do raise questions about Harris’ judgment.  EPIC CLASH: PRESSED BY FOX NEWS, KAMALA HARRIS COMES OUT SWINGING “To establish a violation of law — in the main, bribery — prosecutors would really have to prove a quid pro quo,” Andrew McCarthy, a senior fellow at the National Review Institute and a contributing editor for National Review’s online print publication, told Fox News Digital. “These situations are in the capacious category of arrangements that are ethically troubling, and that could be politically damaging depending on how they play out, but that are probably not legally actionable.” Last week, attorneys from Covington & Burling and other major D.C. law firms, such as Paul, Weiss LLP, hosted a pricey Washington, D.C., fundraiser for Harris. Among the attorneys present were Weiss’ Karen Dunn, Bill Isaacson and Jeannie Rhee, who are currently defending Google in federal court against the Biden-Harris Justice Department. Additionally, the Harris camp tapped Dunn ahead of the September presidential debate to help Harris prep. “It’s a conflict of interest if the government is indebted to opposing counsel,” Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, told the New York Post after it reported on the fundraiser. “That’s why attorneys should not be allowed to negotiate potential settlements with the Department of Justice if they served as active bundlers, including fundraiser hosts, for that administration.” LAWYER DEFENDING GOOGLE IN DOJ CASE PREPPING HARRIS FOR DEBATE IS ‘CONFLICT OF INTEREST,’ JORDAN INVESTIGATES Hans von Spakovsky, manager of the Heritage Foundation’s Election Law Reform Initiative, said fundraisers like the one held for Harris last week do “raise concerns about the judgment of some of the people involved,” but Spakovsky also echoed McCarthy’s remarks that there was likely nothing legally actionable. “If you are helping a political figure who is the boss of a federal prosecutor who is involved in a case with you, I mean that – to me – does clearly raise a conflict of interest,” Spakovsky argued. “Because if the prosecutors then go easy on your client, there’s always going to be a question of, well, ‘Did they do that because the prosecutors’ ultimate boss in the White House told them to go easy on the defense counsel’s client.” “It may not look good and raises concerns about the judgment of some of the people involved,” Spakovsky concluded. “But I don’t see a legal problem.”   Uber general counsel and Harris’ brother-in-law, Tony West, was also present at last week’s fundraiser, alongside Democrat bigwigs like Eric Holder, a longtime Covington & Burling partner, and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. Holder and West are reportedly in the running to be in Harris’ Cabinet if she wins next month. Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment but did not receive a response by press time. 

Hawaii, Utah, Missouri, Wisconsin kick off in-person early voting

Hawaii, Utah, Missouri, Wisconsin kick off in-person early voting

Early in-person voting kicks off in Hawaii, Utah, Missouri and Wisconsin this week as candidates have begun urging their supporters to cast their ballots ahead of Election Day. Here is everything you need to know. Wisconsin is one of three Rust Belt states that voted for former President Trump in 2016, then flipped back to the Democrats in 2020. President Biden won the state by just 20,682 votes, or 0.7 points. Like the other competitive Midwestern states, it is defined by its White working class population. Fifty-eight percent of the state’s voters are White without a college degree, according to the Fox News Voter Analysis. That is 15 points higher than the national electorate. Those voters favored Trump by 11 points in the last presidential cycle, and he will look to build on that margin to put this state back into the GOP’s column. For Democrats, the goal is to keep turnout high in the cities and surrounding areas by activating Black and suburban voters. There are highly populated pockets of deep-blue voters in Milwaukee and Madison, and the counties that those cities call home make up nearly a quarter of the statewide vote. FOX NEWS POLL: TRUMP TAKES NATIONAL LEAD, HARRIS LEADS BATTLEGROUND STATES In the Senate race, incumbent Democrat Tammy Baldwin faces Republican banker Eric Hovde as she seeks a third term. The race is ranked “Lean D” in the Fox News Power Rankings. Voting begins today in several battleground House districts. For a full list of competitive races, see the latest Senate and House rankings. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Hawaii. Hawaii has begun absentee voting. The state began delivering ballots to eligible voters on Oct. 18, and those ballots must be delivered to election officials by Nov. 5. Residents do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. TIM WALZ’S SELECTION AS HARRIS RUNNING MATE DRAWS SKEPTICISM, EVEN AMONG ANTI-TRUMP FIGURES Some Hawaii counties offer early in-person voting beginning Tuesday, but it varies by location. Check the state’s website for more information. Hawaii residents can register to vote by mail through Oct. 28. They can register in person or online at any point through Election Day. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Utah. Residents do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot in Utah. State officials will send ballots to eligible voters beginning Oct. 15 through Oct. 29, and those ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 4 if sent by mail or delivered in person to state officials by Nov. 5. Utah offers early in-person voting starting Tuesday in some locations, but the start dates vary by county. Check the state’s website for more information. FOX NEWS POLL: TRUMP AHEAD OF HARRIS BY 2 POINTS NATIONALLY Utah residents can register to vote online or by mail through Oct. 25. They can also register in person during early voting, Oct. 22 through Nov. 1, and on Election Day. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Missouri. Missouri began absentee voting on Tuesday. Applicants need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. The state must receive a ballot application by Oct. 23 and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5. Missouri began in-person early voting on Tuesday, Oct. 22, and it will continue through Nov. 4. Missouri residents were required to register to vote by Oct. 9. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Wisconsin. Wisconsin applicants do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. The state must receive a ballot application by Oct. 31 and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5. Some counties in Wisconsin began in-person early voting on Tuesday, Oct. 21, but the start date varies by location. Check the state’s website for more information. Wisconsin residents can register to vote in person during early voting or on Election Day.

‘Left behind’: Vulnerable Dem incumbent in key swing state slammed for putting ‘knife in back’ of workers

‘Left behind’: Vulnerable Dem incumbent in key swing state slammed for putting ‘knife in back’ of workers

TOLEDO – Ohio GOP State Rep. Derek Merrin, who is running for Congress against vulnerable Democrat incumbent Marcy Kaptur, spoke to Fox News Digital about why the issues affecting Northwest Ohioans in 2024 are putting Kaptur’s 41-year tenure in Congress in jeopardy. “Northwest Ohio has been left behind for many years because of Marcy Kaptur and Marcy Kaptur’s values do not represent northwest Ohio,” Merrin told Fox News Digital at the Lucas County GOP Headquarters about why he decided to enter the race to try to unseat the longtime Democratic congresswoman.  “I felt there’s a real opportunity to win this race. There’s a real opportunity to change and I really believe that the future of our country is at stake and we have to stop the liberal policies of Joe Biden and Marcy Kaptur of the Democratic Party to save our country.” Kaptur, currently serving her 21st term in Congress representing Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, is considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the House. While the Cook Political Report ranks her race as “Lean Democrat,” redistricting following the 2020 census has Republicans believing the seat is a prime opportunity to ensure control of the House and that they can flip the seat. ‘MUST APOLOGIZE’: VULNERABLE HOUSE DEM FACES RENEWED BACKLASH OVER COMPARISON INVOLVING 9/11 TERRORIST Merrin told Fox News Digital that he expects a significant number of Independents, and some Democrats, to support his candidacy pointing to the “ineffectiveness” of Congress and unpopular Democrat policies. “The vast majority of Americans are fed up with the Democratic Party but guess what?” Merrin said. “Not everyone’s a Republican. People want policy. They want to lower the cost of living. They want secure borders, and they’re tired of the political class. I’m going to pick up votes from Democrats. I’ll pick up a lot of votes from independents because my message and policies are aligned with what they want to see happen.” “They want to pay less money at the pump. They want their health insurance to go down. They want their housing costs to go down. They want their insurance costs to go down. They want to be able to take their family out to eat for under $100 every time they go out to eat. And I’m going to work on policies that are going to get our country moving again, that are going to bring back American jobs and to lower the cost of living and to secure our border.”  WATCH: DEM. REP. SNATCHES PHONE IN TESTY AIRPORT EXCHANGE OVER BIDEN’S MENTAL CLARITY: ‘WHO OWNS YOU?’ Kaptur is one of eight Democrats running in 2024 in a district that voted for Trump in 2020. Trump won the state of Ohio by 8 points in 2020 and is expected to equal or surpass that in 2024. “This is a new district,” Merrin said. “This is a Republican-leaning district and Marcy Kaptur’s values are being exposed for what she’s actually done in Washington, D.C. She doesn’t believe anyone should be allowed to drive a gas-powered car. She believes basically everyone needs to pay more taxes. She puts illegal immigrants ahead of United States citizens. And when people realize her record and her failure, she’s been one of the most ineffective Congress people passing legislation in our country. People want change. They’re worse off than they were four years ago, and I think they’re looking for a new change and I’m going to deliver it.”  Merrin told Fox News Digital that when he goes around his district talking to voters, it’s clear that the economy and inflation are the number one cause for concern. “The cost of living, I mean, you look, you can’t take a family of four out in northwest Ohio at a restaurant for under $100 and people can’t afford it,” Merrin said. “You look at car insurance, you look at home insurance, you look at the cost of living overall. It’s hurting people and people are very uncertain on where we’re at and they’re looking for policies that are going to lower the cost of living, lower the cost of energy and make their lives better. People want their kids to be able to experience the American dream that they were able to experience. And I think most families believe that’s in jeopardy right now.” Pro-Merrin ads running on television in northwest Ohio have highlighted Kaptur’s record of voting with the Biden administration 90% of the time, and Kaptur has also faced criticism from Merrin for introducing just 5 bills that have become law in 41 years, which her campaign pushed back on citing hundreds of bills that she has cosponsored. “Yes, they do,” Merrin told Fox News Digital if voters in his district are in favor of term limits. “People want term limits for members of Congress. I support term limits. I’ve signed a pledge to support legislation that would limit members of Congress in the House to three terms and I think that’s a winning message that’s resonating with voters.” Merrin also hit Kaptur on illegal immigration and said that Ohioans are “fed up” with the negative consequences stemming from the millions of illegal immigrants who have entered the country over the last four years. “Crime has surged among our community and a large part of it’s due to illegal immigration,” Merrin said. “I mean, tens of thousands of people are in northwest Ohio here illegally and it’s just we’re tired and fed up with it.” “We want to put American citizens first. They’re burdening our health care system, our education system and our criminal justice system. And it’s not too much to ask to say, hey, our federal government needs to secure our borders and put American citizens first and Marcy Kaptur, she’s put a knife in the back of the American people, in union workers, allowing illegal immigrants to come in and take their jobs. It’s an outrage. It’s outrageous. She’s not a proponent of the working man in middle class America. She’s

What are election betting odds? Expert explains why Trump is current favorite

What are election betting odds? Expert explains why Trump is current favorite

Former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has opened up a sizable advantage in the election betting odds in recent weeks, giving Americans a new way of trying to piece together what might happen come Election Day. “More than two billion dollars have been bet on the election already,” Maxim Lott, who runs ElectionBettingOdds.com, told Fox News Digital. The comments come as Lott’s website, which uses data from five different betting sites to display a betting average, shows Trump has a 58.5% chance of winning the presidential election as of Monday. Lott’s website isn’t the only one tracking the betting odds, with popular sites such as RealClearPolitics, which has become known over the years for tracking polling averages, joining the fray. TRUMP OPENS UP LARGEST BETTING LEAD SINCE DAYS AFTER BIDEN’S DROPOUT Like ElectionBettingOdds.com, the RealClearPolitics betting average shows Trump as the favorite with a 59% chance to win the election as of Monday. Trump’s chances of winning the election have dramatically risen over the last few weeks, with his Democrat opponent, Vice President Harris, being the betting favorite on RealClearPolitics as recently as Oct. 4. But Trump took the lead the next day and hasn’t looked back, eventually rising to the nearly 20 percentage-point advantage the former president enjoyed on Monday. For Lott, looking at betting averages gives people a much clearer picture of what the most likely outcome of the election is compared to trying to piece together polls. “These are really accurate, they’re more accurate than just trying to look at polls or especially more accurate than listening to pundits bloviating,” Lott said. “[The bettors] look at all sorts of historical data, they look at trends,” he added. “I find the percent more useful than the polls.” CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE 2024 ELECTION Lott, who previously served as a program executive producer for the Fox Business Network, also noted that people risk their own money to make a bet on an outcome, creating a market that has the ability to “discipline people” who get it wrong. “If you’re not very smart, or very biased, you’re going to lose your money pretty quickly, and then maybe you won’t bet again next election,” Lott said. While betting on elections is newer than more well-known gambling pastimes such as sports betting and casino games, Lott said the market has become robust enough to offer election followers a glimpse into what the most likely outcome will be. “Last cycle we had more than a billion dollars traded. That’s still [not] that much if you compare it to … the stock market or something, but it’s enough that we have a reliable indicator, and that’s what [is] important to us as users who just want to know what’s going to happen,” Lott said. As for Trump’s lead, Lott said it likely reflects an end to the “honeymoon period” Harris enjoyed after being elevated as the Democrat nominee, noting that Trump had risen to around 70% likely to win the election before President Biden dropped his bid for re-election and has bounced back into the lead once again. “Things have kind of reverted back to the mean where – it is a tough cycle for Democrats with things like inflation and immigration, and so maybe for a couple months people were like, ‘Oh, Harris, this is interesting, this is new, this is refreshing,’ and then it’s kind of sinking in: ‘This is the same administration we didn’t like with Biden,” Lott said. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.