What are the US midterm elections and when are they due?
A new poll in Pennsylvania has put Dr Mehmet Oz, the Republicans’ Senate nominee, two points ahead of his Democratic rival, John Fetterman. The survey from Emerson College Polling pegged the celebrity physician at 48 per cent to Mr Fetterman’s 46; crucially, the data was gathered after the two men’s recent debate, which saw Mr Fetterman sometimes struggling to speak.
In a sign of how seriously Democrats are taking the prospect of an Oz victory, both Joe Biden and Barack Obama will be campaigning in Pennsylvania in the coming days, with the two running mates appearing together at a rally in Philadelphia this Saturday. Also visiting the state is Bernie Sanders, who is on a multi-state tour to boost progressive candidates.
Meanwhile, Mr Biden urged Americans to protect democracy at the ballot box in the midterm elections as he called for an end to political violence in a speech on Wednesday.
The president compared the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband to the January 6 attack, and slammed his one-term predecessor for refusing to accept the results of the 2020 election – or in Mr Biden’s words, for putting “loyalty to himself ahead of loyalty to the Constitution”.
