距离选举日还有四周，2022年中期周期正式进入最后冲刺阶段，两党都在争夺对国会的控制权。
长期以来，中期选举一直被认为是对总统所在政党的公投，选民现在首次有机会在全国范围内对乔·拜登总统前两年的领导做出反应。
美国广播公司9月份的最新民意调查显示，拜登的支持率处于水下，只有39%的美国人认可他的工作表现，而53%的人不认可。
但民主党人正在寻求利用今年夏天的一系列立法胜利和最高法院推翻罗伊诉韦德堕胎权的有争议的决定，而共和党人则希望将高通胀和他们所说的处理犯罪的问题归咎于政府。
十几个州已经开始提前投票，还有几个州将在本周开始提前投票。
有什么利害关系
随着竞选活动接近终点线，拜登的立法议程和确认法官和其他提名人的能力悬而未决。
中期选举很可能会改变国会的权力平衡，由于副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯的平局，民主党在众议院占据微弱多数，在平分秋色的参议院占据一票优势。
今年11月，众议院的所有435个席位都将被争夺，尽管众议院议长南希·佩洛西对保留众议院的控制权表示乐观，但FiveThirtyEight的最新预测显示，共和党人正在略受青睐赢得房子。
在参议院，今年11月的投票中有35个席位。共和党人只需要翻转一个席位就可以夺回众议院，但是五三八模型显示民主党人目前略微倾向于保持他们的多数。
如果共和党人夺回两院中的任何一个，他们就可以阻挠拜登任期最后两年的大部分议程——这是国会山的共和党领导人已经发誓要做的事情。拜登本人警告说，如果共和党重新控制国会，将会有“艰难的两年”。
最新预测
根据FiveThirtyEight的数据，共和党有80%的机会在众议院占据209至242个席位，其中十几场左右的胜负竞争可能决定共和党和民主党的多数席位。
至于参议院，538显示民主党有大约三分之二的机会保持控制。自7月下旬以来，该党保住权力的几率有所增加，当时该模型显示民主党和共和党都有大约50%的机会赢得多数党控制权。
根据538参议院的预测，今年中期选举最有可能出现转折点的四个州是佐治亚州、内华达州、宾夕法尼亚州和威斯康星州。
佐治亚州在2020年为拜登翻蓝，在过去一周成为政治宇宙的中心，因为争议一直困扰着共和党提名人赫歇尔·沃克(Herschel Walker)与民主党现任参议员拉斐尔·沃诺克(Raphael Warnock)的竞选。
参议院的辩论凸显了两党的关键问题
同时，辩论季正在如火如荼地进行作为战场州的候选人走上舞台来解决他们的分歧。
共和党人将他们的信息集中在南部边境安全，经济和犯罪上，而民主党人则指出堕胎权和选举否认主义是选民在这个选举周期的主要转折点。
在俄亥俄州的参议员竞选中，民主党人蒂姆·瑞恩和共和党人J.D .万斯在关于…的辩论中发生冲突周一晚上堕胎权-瑞安说他想编纂罗伊诉韦德案，同时声称万斯曾称强奸为“不便”万斯否认了这一说法，并错误地声称，如果瑞安在犯罪和移民问题上尽职，一名寻求堕胎的印第安纳州10岁女孩“一开始就不会被强奸”。
拜登和前总统唐纳德·特朗普也在一些辩论中崭露头角。
In this May 3, 2022, file photo, a voter fills in her ballot during primary voting at Central Elementary School in Kent, Ohio.
杰夫·斯文森/盖蒂图片社，档案
在激烈的竞选中，少数民主党人在某些问题上与拜登政府保持了距离，包括亚利桑那州参议员马克·凯利，他在上周与共和党人布莱克·马斯特斯的辩论中称南部边境的局势是“一团糟”，以及瑞安，他在俄亥俄州周一的参议院辩论中也在通货膨胀和边境问题上与拜登保持了距离。
与此同时，北卡罗莱纳州共和党参议员候选人泰德·巴德欣然接受了他与前总统的关系，在周五与民主党人切丽·比斯利的辩论中，他自称是“美国第一候选人”。周一在俄亥俄州举行的辩论中，万斯也拒绝与特朗普划清界限，特朗普此前开玩笑说，万斯非常希望得到他的支持。
更多的辩论定于本周在乔治亚州、密歇根州和威斯康星州举行。
Election Day is just one month away. Here's where things stand
Officially four weeks out from Election Day, the 2022 midterm cycle is entering a final sprint as both parties wrestle for control of Congress.
Midterm elections have long been considered a referendum on the president's party and voters now have their first nationwide chance to react to the first two years of President Joe Biden's leadership.
The most recent ABC News polling, from September, shows Biden's approval rating is underwater, with just 39% of Americans approving of his job performance while 53% disapprove.
But Democrats are looking to capitalize on a string of legislative victories this summer and a controversial Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade's abortion rights, while Republicans look to blame the administration for high inflation and what they say is a problem dealing with crime.
Early voting is already underway in more than a dozen states, with several more to start early voting sometime this week.
What's at stake
Biden's legislative agenda and ability to confirm judges and other nominees hang in the balance as campaigns near the finish line.
The midterms could very well change the power balance of Congress, where Democrats enjoy a narrow majority in the House and a one-vote advantage in the evenly split Senate thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris' role as tie-breaker.
All 435 seats in the House are up for grabs this November, and while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has expressed optimism about retaining control of the chamber, the latest forecast from FiveThirtyEight shows Republicans areslightly favoredto win the House.
In the Senate, there are 35 seats on the ballot this November. Republicans need to flip just one seat to take back the chamber, butFiveThirtyEight's modelshows Democrats currently slightly favored to hold onto their majority.
If Republicans take back either chamber, they can thwart much of Biden's agenda for the last two years of his term -- something Republican leaders on Capitol Hill have already vowed to do. Biden himself has warned of a "difficult two years" if the GOP regains congressional control.
Latest forecasts
According to FiveThirtyEight, Republicans have an 80% chance of holding between 209 and 242 seats in the House -- where a dozen or so toss-up races could make the difference between a GOP and Democratic majority.
As for the Senate, FiveThirtyEight shows Democrats having about a two-in-three chance of holding onto control. The party's odds for retaining power have increased since late July, when the model showed both Democrats and Republicans with about a 50-50 chance of winning majority control.
The four likeliest tipping-point states in this year's midterms are Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to the FiveThirtyEight Senate forecast.
Georgia, which flipped blue for Biden in 2020, has been the center of the political universe this past week as controversy has plagued Republican nominee Herschel Walker in his race against Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock.
Senate debates highlight key issues for both parties
Meanwhile,debate season is in full-swingas candidates in battleground states take the stage to hammer out their differences.
Republicans are focusing their messaging on southern border security, the economy and crime while Democrats point to abortion rights and election denialism as major inflection points for voters this election cycle.
In Ohio's Senate race, Democrat Tim Ryan and Republican J.D. Vanceclashed at a debate onMonday night over abortion access -- with Ryan saying he wants to codify Roe v. Wade while alleging Vance once called rape an "inconvenience." Vance denied saying that and falsely claimed a 10-year-old girl from Indiana who sought an abortion would've "never been raped in the first place" if Ryan had done his job on crime and immigration.
Also looming large over some debates have been Biden and former President Donald Trump.
A handful of Democrats in tight races have distanced themselves from the Biden administration on certain issues, including Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, who in a debate last week against Republican Blake Masters called the situation at the southern border a "mess," and Ryan, who during Ohio's Senate debate on Monday also distanced himself from Biden when it came to inflation and the border.
Meanwhile, North Carolina GOP Senate nominee Ted Budd embraced his relationship with the former president, touting himself as an "America-first candidate" in his Friday debate against Democrat Cheri Beasley. Vance, during Monday's debate in Ohio, also declined to separate himself from Trump, who previously joked that Vance badly wanted his support.
More debates are scheduled this week in Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin.
