Debate highlights three-way Senate race in New Mexico

In this May 18, 2016, file photo, then-Libertarian presidential candidate and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson speaks with legislators at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City. Johnson wants to occupy a potentially powerful swing seat in the U.S. Senate, as Republican and Democrats jockey for the majority in November 2018 elections.

Congress heads toward postelection fight over border wall

Congress is heading toward a postelection showdown over President Donald Trump's wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, as GOP leaders signal they're willing to engage in hardball tactics that could spark a partial government shutdown and the president revs up midterm crowds for the wall, a centerpiece of his 2016 campaign and a top White House priority. Trump is promising voters at rallies across the country that Republicans will bring tougher border security in campaign speeches that echo those that propelled him to office two years ago.

The Latest: Biden heaps praise on Donnelly at Indiana rally

The Latest on dueling rallies former Vice President Joe Biden and current Vice President Mike Pence are having in Indiana to support Senate candidates : Former Vice President Joe Biden has brought his blue-collar appeal to a Democratic stronghold of Indiana, heaping praise on Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly as the kind of guy who keeps his word, puts country over party - and would have his back in a street fight. Biden told a crowd in the heavily industrial northwest corner of Indiana on Friday that, "Joe is as good a man as I know."

The Latest: New Mexico Democrat defends role in Senate

In this May 18, 2016, file photo, then-Libertarian presidential candidate and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson speaks with legislators at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City. Johnson wants to occupy a potentially powerful swing seat in the U.S. Senate, as Republican and Democrats jockey for the majority in November 2018 elections.

Sen. Lindsey Graham tours Socastee neighborhood still recovering from Florence

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham spent Friday touring a Horry County neighborhood devastated by flood waters in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence last month. Many homeowners were able to get back into their homes on Sunday, nearly a month after the storm made landfall in the United States.

Biden, Pence rally Indiana voters in fierce Senate race Source: AP

Former Vice President Joe Biden brought his blue-collar appeal to a Democratic stronghold of Indiana on Friday, heaping praise on Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly as the kind of guy who keeps his word, puts country over party - and would have his back in a street fight. Biden told a crowd in the heavily industrial northwest corner of Indiana that "Joe is as good a man as I know," adding that if they'd grown up in the same neighborhood they would've been friends.

GOP ad against Gillum stirs up political storm

While Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum was managing the city's response to a hurricane of historic proportions, his supporters were engaged in a separate storm because of a negative campaign ad lobbed by backers of the Democrat's gubernatorial opponent, Ron DeSantis. With Hurricane Michael barreling toward Florida's Big Bend and Panhandle regions, the Republican Party of Florida unleashed a caustic television ad declaring Gillum is "running for governor and also from the FBI."

Correction: Border-Abandoned Migrant Families story

In a story Oct. 12 about immigrants in Arizona, The Associated Press reported erroneously the name of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Smugglers in recent weeks have been abandoning large groups of mostly Guatemalan adult and child migrants near Arizona's boundary with Mexico, alarming Border Patrol officials who say the trend puts hundreds of children and adults at risk PHOENIX - Smugglers in recent weeks have been abandoning large groups of Guatemalan and other Central American migrants in Arizona's harsh cactus-studded Sonoran Desert near the border with Mexico, alarming Border Patrol officials who say the trend is putting hundreds of children at risk.

Hurlburt Special Tactics team opens Tyndall runway

Barely 24 hours after Hurricane Michael made landfall and virtually destroyed Tyndall Air Force Base, a Special Tactics team from the Hurlburt Field-based 23rd Special Tactics Squadron had opened a runway and begun bringing air traffic into the base.

Protester Asks GOP Senator To ‘Apologize’ To Her Children …

Anti-Brett Kavanaugh protesters flooded Capitol Hill for weeks before his eventual confirmation to the Supreme Court, walking hallways in protest, holding loud demonstrations and confronting senators in their office buildings. Alethea Torrellas Shapiro had been attempting to harass senators on the Hill for days and regularly used her school-aged children to do so.

Would either Arlington Heights candidate be a Springfield insider?

The two candidates for outgoing state Rep. David Harris' 53rd House District seat have each tried to deflect criticism that, if elected, they'd be controlled by Springfield insiders. For first-time candidate Eddie Corrigan, 29, of Arlington Heights, that's meant fending off campaign mailers from Democratic opponent Mark Walker calling Corrigan "a political operative who was hand-picked by his party bosses to protect the status quo."

The lessons after threats drive a black legislator to quit

Voters in this very liberal, very white state made Kiah Morris a pioneer when in 2014 they elected her as its first black female legislator. Not long after, another Vermont surfaced: racist threats that eventually forced her to leave office in fear and frustration.

Kavanaugh dispute still white-hot as California to start voting

As the partisan brawl continues to rage over Brett Kavanaugh 's Supreme Court appointment, Californians begin voting this week and continue right on through Nov. 6. Granted, the bulk of absentee and early voting probably will happen in two or three weeks, but, at the very least, voters are starting to focus more on the election. How the raw battle over Kavanaugh's confirmation and accusations that he engaged in sexual assault and misconduct will affect the eventual outcome is uncertain.