From WTOP’s Election Desk: Moore, Cox debate in Md. live; GOP candidates backtrack on abortion stances

Welcome back to WTOP鈥檚 election update. As the general election races heat up, WTOP’s reporters will let you know about the latest developments every Friday.

Local elections | Nick Iannelli

Lively debate in Maryland governor’s race

It got heated as Democrat Wes Moore and Republican Dan Cox met for their first 鈥� and likely only 鈥� televised debate in Maryland’s race for governor.

Moore described Cox as 鈥渄angerous鈥� for denying the results of the 2020 presidential election.

When asked whether he would accept the outcome of next month鈥檚 election, Cox said he has 鈥渁lways accepted election results that are fair鈥� but stopped short of giving a firm answer.

鈥淎t this point, it would be similar to saying that before a surgery takes place to decide whether or not the surgery went well,鈥� Cox said.

Moore responded by calling Cox an “extremist election denier” whose rhetoric is “dangerous and divisive.”

Cox went on to call Moore a “phony,鈥� criticizing his bestselling book for claiming he lived in Baltimore longer than he did.

Moore pays $21k water bill

In one of the weirdest stories during this election cycle, Wes Moore has now paid a huge Baltimore City utility bill of $21,200 after failing to pay his water charges over the last 18 months.

City records show Moore recently paid off the massive delinquent water bill, but only after it made the news.

According to , which broke the story, a campaign spokesman for Moore “did not dispute the accuracy of the bill or explain how the Moores had gotten so far behind on their payments, which are mailed monthly to residential and commercial water users in Baltimore.”

Moore defended himself by saying “as soon as we found out about it, we paid our bill and took care of it.鈥�

The bill was for an 8,000-square-foot house that Moore and his wife bought five years ago.

Mail/drop box voting now open across region

Early voting 鈥� in person and by mail 鈥� has taken place in Virginia for a few weeks now.

While in-person early voting has not started in D.C. or Maryland yet, voters in those areas have now joined Virginians in casting ballots via the mail or drop boxes.

Ballots were recently mailed out to every registered voter in D.C., and opened Friday for voters who want to use them.

In Maryland, ballots have started going out to voters who requested them, and nearly were installed this past week across the state.

DC’s 鈥榯ip鈥� ballot question explained

On the D.C. ballot this year is a section for voters to give an answer on whether to approve the “District of Columbia Tip Credit Elimination Act of 2021.”

So what exactly does that mean?

Essentially, if the act is approved, it would phase out the 鈥渢ipped minimum wage鈥� 鈥� well below the regular minimum wage 鈥� that鈥檚 paid to many workers in bars and restaurants in the district.

“It would not officially ban tips, but rather remove them from the calculation of how much workers make, putting the responsibility of paying the full minimum wage entirely on the employer,” .

It is not a new issue locally. D.C. voters chose to eliminate the tipped wage in 2018 before the D.C. Council reversed the decision.

Supporters of the act say that the tipped wage gives employers and customers too much power over restaurant workers and can leave tipped employees in a financially precarious situation.

Opponents say that the tipped wage can keep operating costs down for employers and can allow employees to potentially make far above the minimum wage.

From Capitol Hill | Mitchell Miller

GOP abortion backtrack

Many Republican candidates have been scurrying to alter how they present their views on abortion, now that they鈥檝e survived GOP primaries and are running in general midterm elections.

One of the first to do so, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 decision striking down Roe v. Wade, was Arizona Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters.

His website鈥檚 policy page on abortion restrictions was scrubbed this summer. He previously voiced support for a federal 鈥減ersonhood鈥� law, which would state that unborn babies are human beings that may not be killed.

That language has been removed from his website, though Masters has since said he supports a new Arizona law that will ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

In Maine, Paul LePage, a former Republican governor running to get back his old seat, for years was an advocate for overturning Roe v. Wade. But in a recent debate, he about what he would do if the state legislature added abortion restrictions in Maine. Instead, he said he would support the current state law, as he was pressed by his opponent, Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills.

In the Wisconsin governor鈥檚 race, Republican Tim Michels told GOP activists last month that he would not 鈥渨affle鈥� on the issue of abortion. But in a matter of weeks, he indicated he would reconsider his unqualified support for a 1849 state law that would ban abortion, except to save the life of the mother.

He said he would sign legislation to grant exceptions for rape and incest.

Democrats believe they can put Republicans on the defensive on the issue of abortion rights 鈥� and many have.

But polls indicate the issue of abortion rights may not be as critical to voters as some had thought right after the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision in June.

A released earlier this month had inflation and crime at the top of the list of voter priorities, especially among Republicans. While abortion is important to many Democratic voters, overall it was only seventh on the list.

Still, in individual races, abortion rights could help energize Democratic women. And many Democrats continue to criticize the GOP opponents on the issue, while Republicans stress economic issues and crime.

Georgia Senate race 鈥� has anything changed?

Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker has been playing political defense over the past two weeks.

He changed his story about a woman who claims he paid for an abortion, while continuing to say she鈥檚 lying.

Initially, after a Daily Beast report, he said he had no idea who the woman was.

She said she refused to have a second abortion and .

This week, Walker told that he knows who the woman is, but repeated that he didn鈥檛 pay for her abortion, even though she has produced a canceled check, an ATM slip and a card he allegedly signed.

Sens. Rick Scott, of Florida, and Tom Cotton, of Arkansas, traveled to Georgia to campaign for Walker this week. They dealt with a pretty uncomfortable moment at one point.

At an event where they appeared with him, Walker told a story about a bull that left behind three pregnant cows, that was later , given his situation.

Given all that鈥檚 happened, though, Republican voters in Georgia seem to be standing by Walker.

A poll released in the wake of the controversy finds little change in his race against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock. Warnock leads the Quinnipiac University poll of likely voters, 52%-45%, similar to a 52%-46% poll in September.

The poll finds 90% of likely Republican voters say they would vote for Walker.

There is also a Libertarian candidate in the race. If both Warnock and Walker fail to get 50% of the vote, a runoff election will need to be held after the midterms.

Arizona candidate seeks to ban mail-in voting, mails in his votes

Mark Finchem, a Republican running for secretary of state in Arizona, has railed against mail-in voting.

Finchem wants to ban early voting and restrict the use of mail-in ballots, arguing that they contribute to voter fraud.

But while the state lawmaker wants to prevent many state residents from mailing in their ballots, it turns out he has little problem with mailing in his own votes.

A who obtained voting records found that Finchem has voted by mail in 28 of the past 30 elections.

He voted in-person for the first time in 15 years in the 2022 primary election.

It鈥檚 hardly uncommon for Arizona residents to vote by mail 鈥� close to 89% of voters did so in 2020.

Finchem has said that he believes the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, and has sponsored a bill that would give state lawmakers the power to reject election results.

If elected as secretary of state, he would have extensive oversight of the state鈥檚 elections and the power to make decisions related to voting audits.

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