Utah Sen. Mike Lee has sent a letter to Republican offices outlining his suggested course of action for the successor of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, warning his colleagues that “the health of the Republican Party and the future of the republic itself are at stake.” 

Senators John Cornyn, R-Texas; John Thune, R-S.D. and Rick Scott R-Fla., are among those jockeying to take over McConnell’s leadership role after the 82-year-old announced in February that he would be stepping down in November. 

“The best way we can help lower the temperature of our politics and restore public trust in our institutions is to ensure that the people have more say in the laws that govern their lives,” Lee wrote in his letter, which was obtained by Politico. “We have a once-in-a generation opportunity to do so with the upcoming election for our Senate Republican leadership.” 

“This is our moment to reaffirm and strengthen the greatest features of the Senate and set a new course for our conference,” he added. “I am confident that with the right leadership and a commitment to these reforms, we can create a stronger, more accountable Senate that truly serves the people.” 

JOHN CORNYN FLEXES FUNDRAISING CHOPS AS BATTLE TO SUCCEED MITCH MCCONNELL RAMPS UP 

In his letter, Lee outlined three reforms that he says should “guide” the approach of Senate Republicans going forward. 

He called for more time for debate and deliberation, writing that “We all know the pressure that comes with last-minute votes on massive spending bills that are dropped on our desks hours before a deadline” and “This is not how the Senate should operate.” 

“First, at the beginning of each year, the republican floor leader should propose a structured process and floor schedule for considering appropriations legislation, just as the leader publishes a calendar of days in session at the beginning of each year,” Lee said. “Second, when omnibus spending bills are considered, we should ensure at least four weeks to debate and amend them.” 

Lee also said “We must be strategic in promoting the conservative values that our voters elected us to champion” and that “currently, must-pass legislation is overwhelmingly shaped by the progressive priorities of the Democratic Party.” 

“First, we should ask that our new floor leader to propose policy goals at the start of each year, to be ratified by the conference,” he said. “Second, in addition to having general policy goals, the leader should present specific strategies for achieving Republican victories in connection with must-pass legislation.” 

SENATE GOP BRACING FOR LAST-MINUTE LEADER BIDS – POTENTIALLY BY KEY TRUMP ALLY 

“Third, the Republican floor leader and whip should whip for or against a bill or nominee only with the support of the majority of the conference,” Lee continued. “Above all, this would protect Republican leadership from ever being in the position of having to whip for legislation advancing Democrat priorities, as happens from time-to time when must pass legislation is up against a critical deadline.” 

In addition, Lee told his colleagues: “One of the fundamental issues we face is that our current processes are shutting out the people we represent. Most Americans would be shocked to learn that their senators often cannot offer amendments to legislation. Filling the [amendment] tree has become commonplace in recent years. Since Sen. Harry Reid began centralizing the process in the early 2010s, the vast majority of senators have been largely excluded from the legislative process for most bills.” 

The Senate describes filling the amendment tree as “a process by which a certain number and type of amendments are offered under Senate precedents” and “Once these amendments are offered and the ‘tree is filled’ no other amendments are allowed.” 

It’s a process that the Congressional Research Service says majority leaders can use to “freeze” the amendment process in place and block additional floor amendments. 

Lee wrote that “One simple, additional reform” for this process “could involve requiring three-fourths of our conference to agree before the tree can be filled.” 

A Democratic win in Indiana. A Republican victory in New Mexico. And an election where Missouri was decided by less than 4,000 votes.

They’ve all happened in the last twenty years.

These results are little more than trivia questions today (the answers are 2008, 2004, and 2008 again). At the time, they raised eyebrows and changed our understanding of the electorate.

Surprises happen on election week. And when the national race looks this close, one unexpected flip can decide who wins the White House.

Vice President Harris still has the edge in this week’s forecast. It predicts that Harris will take home at least 241 electoral college votes to Trump’s 219.

Her advantage is no larger than it was in September, and as this column has mentioned, battleground states are usually – and mostly – won and lost together. The six toss-up states in this forecast are worth 78 votes, enough to give either candidate a victory on election night. 

National polls show a tight race: a Quinnipiac survey has Harris and former President Trump tied at 48%-48% with likely voters, while Marist has the candidates at 50%-48%, well within the polls’ margins of sampling error.

FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: TRUMP MAINTAINS LEAD ON TWO TOP ISSUES

Neither poll shows Trump slipping with the national electorate. Other recent polls showed a point worth of erosion after the September presidential debate.

Battleground state polls have been sparse. (Hurricane Helene has devastated communities in Georgia and North Carolina, and Hurricane Milton will soon make landfall in Florida. This will affect the accuracy of polling in these areas.)

Overall, this race is still anyone’s game.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance debated a week ago in New York City. Vance mostly broke through the character that Democrats had constructed for him, while Walz stumbled out of the gate. 

A flash poll showed neither candidate winning the night. As always, wait for results from multiple polls conducted in the weeks after the debate to properly assess the polling impact.

That was the only scheduled event that could surprise voters this month. (Fox News Media has proposed a second Harris-Trump debate later in October.)

Of course, it’s the unexpected events in years past that have done more to reshape the race. And events in two categories have already resurfaced. 

FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS CITE HIGH PRICES AS BIGGEST MOTIVATOR TO VOTE

Polarization will limit the impact of these events on the horserace. But watch Harris and Trump’s support with independents over the coming weeks. Those voters made up 5% of the electorate in 2020, and they broke for President Biden by 15 points; recent polls put Harris in that ballpark. Trump likely needs to claw that back to win the race.

Two states that could surprise in November

There are nine “likely” races on the Power Rankings map. The two that would have the biggest impact on the race are Florida and Virginia.

Former President Trump improved his performance in Florida in the 2020 presidential election, bringing his margin up to about 372,000 votes.

That’s a win of 3.4 points, or his second-closest victory of the cycle. (The closest was North Carolina, a toss-up in the rankings, which he won by 1.3 points.)

Republicans have strong advantages. The state’s White working-class and senior voters lean towards Trump, while its large Hispanic population, particularly the Cuban and Venezuelan communities, has shifted right in recent years.

The GOP won big at every level in the midterms and enjoys a 1 million-plus voter registration advantage, and most tellingly, the Democratic Party is not making significant investments.

Democrats hope that a competitive Senate race, where incumbent Republican Rick Scott has personally spent more than $8 million, means the presidential election is closer than people think. Florida is also one of three competitive states with an abortion measure on the ballot.

It would take a blowout night for Harris to flip the Sunshine State. It would also be the first state after the battlegrounds to go blue.

Florida stays at Likely R in the rankings. 

A win for Trump in Virginia would also be shocking, especially since Biden won this state by more than 10 points in 2020.

The state has a higher proportion of Black, suburban, and college-educated voters than the rest of the country, and all three groups help Democrats run up the margin. While Republicans talked about Virginia after the June presidential debate, the race has changed, and neither party is making big investments in the state today.

Some polls show a race that isn’t over for the GOP. A survey from Virginia Commonwealth University in September put Harris at 47% with registered voters and Trump at 37%. A poll from the Washington Post earlier in the month had Harris at 50% to Trump’s 42%.

Still, it would take a blowout in the other direction for the Old Dominion to reject Harris. Virginia remains a Likely D race.

Four weeks until election night

More than 1.5 million voters have cast their ballot as the countdown to election night continues. Early voting has now begun in: 

The Harris ticket continues a media tour this week while Trump will rally in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The GOP has done surprisingly well there in recent years.

Former President Trump announced a campaign rally in Aurora, Colorado, for Oct. 11 on Tuesday, vowing to highlight the “flood” of migrants in the city.

The rally comes after weeks of Trump blasting the migrant situation in Colorado, saying some 43,000 illegal immigrants have made their way into nearby Denver and Aurora. His campaign also highlighted the Tren De Aragua gang’s takeover of multiple apartment buildings.

“Aurora, Colorado has become a ‘war zone’ due to the influx of violent Venezuelan prison gang members from Tren de Aragua. With approximately 43,000 migrants flooding the neighboring city of Denver since December 2022, many of these migrants have made their way to Aurora, bringing chaos and fear with them,” the campaign said in a statement.

“Local families have been forced to flee their homes as Tren de Aragua members terrorize apartment complexes with guns, theft, and rampant drug activity. Kamala Harris’ open-border policies are turning once-safe communities into nightmares for law-abiding citizens,” the statement continued.

AURORA POLICE REACT TO ALLEGED VENEZUELAN GANG PRESENCE AT APARTMENTS: ‘HAVE NOT TAKEN OVER’

“Kamala’s border bloodbath has made every state a border state, leaving Colorado families at the mercy of criminals. The only solution to stop the border crisis is to elect President Trump, who will secure the border, deport dangerous criminals, and Make America Safe Again,” the campaign added.

TREN DE ARAGUA GANG MEMBERS ARRESTED IN AURORA, COLORADO IN CONNECTION TO APARTMENT BUILDING TAKEOVER: POLICE

Tren de Aragua gang members first took over an apartment complex in Aurora in 2023. The Whispering Pines Apartments suffered violent assaults, murder threats, extortion, child prostitution and strongarm tactics, Denver law firm Perkins Coie wrote to city leaders in a nine-page report obtained by CBS News Colorado.

The firm was hired to investigate the alleged gang takeover of the apartment building, the outlet said, and interviewed witnesses and reviewed video footage from the complex prior to issuing its report.

TRUMP LAUNCHES GOFUNDME TO HELP HURRICANE HELENE VICTIMS, RAISES MORE THAN $1M

“The evidence we have reviewed indicates that gang members are engaging in flagrant trespass violations, assaults and battery, human trafficking and sexual abuse of minors, unlawful firearms possession, extortion, and other criminal activities, often targeting vulnerable Venezuelan and other immigrant populations,” T. Markus Funk, a former U.S. Attorney, wrote in the letter.

The firm interviewed the apartment complex’s property manager, who said “he had never seen anything remotely like the Tren De Aragua takeover of Whispering Pines in his entire career.”

Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr and Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.

ATLANTA – Voters in Georgia’s capital city are split over which presidential candidate has the best chance of winning their pivotal swing state in November.

“I see a lot more signs for Kamala than I do for Trump,” Atlanta resident Stephanie Roberts, who works at a financial advisory firm, told Fox News Digital. “However, go to the south, go to the more rural areas, and you will see a lot more Trump signs.”

Roberts, a Vice President Kamala Harris supporter herself, added, “I do feel like the energy is more positive for Kamala.”

GEORGIA GOP CHAIR SHARES 2-PRONGED ELECTION STRATEGY AS TRUMP WORKS TO WIN BACK PEACH STATE

The Peach State could be critical to deciding the winner of the 2024 presidential race between Harris and former President Donald Trump.

The traditionally red Georgia has trended more favorably toward Democrats in recent years, particularly since Trump became the face of the GOP. Its pivotal turning point came in 2020, when President Biden won the state by just over 11,000 votes.

SPEAKER JOHNSON RIPS ‘LACK OF LEADERSHIP’ IN BIDEN ADMIN’S HELENE RESPONSE: ‘ALARMED AND DISAPPOINTED’

“I think it’s going to be a tough call. I think the current polls are pretty tight,” said Atlanta resident Jose Malabo, who spoke with Fox News Digital in the city’s Piedmont Park.

“I think if people show up and vote in numbers, I think Kamala has an edge here.”

Another person who only identified himself as Kevin said Harris would “definitely” win Georgia.

“She’s the best candidate, in my opinion, from what I’ve read. And I follow it closely,” he said.

However, despite Atlanta’s reputation as a blue stronghold, not everyone there agreed Harris would take the state – a testament to Georgia’s purple trends.

“Really, we’re a Republican state,” Tramel Simpson, a music producer, told Fox News Digital. “Most people who voted in 2020 were just voting non-Trump…it’s more of a decision now.”

FORMER REPUBLICAN US SENATOR ENDORSES KAMALA HARRIS, SAYS ELECTION OFFERS ‘STARK CHOICE’

Atlanta resident Terry Davis also said Trump would “probably” win.

“It seems like he has a fair amount of momentum in the state right now, and I think Georgia continues to be a red-leaning state despite its purple status in the last couple of cycles,” Davis said.

Another person who did not give their name simply told Fox News Digital, “I don’t know. It’s a close call.”

Former President Trump and Republicans across the swing state of Wisconsin are ramping up campaign efforts everywhere, including deep blue areas, to close the margins. 

“In a state this tight, we have to get votes in every single corner of the state,” Wisconsin Republican Party Executive Director Andrew Iverson told Fox News Digital.

“Closing the margins just a little bit makes a huge difference,” he said.

HERE’S WHAT 2 UNDECIDED WISCONSIN VOTERS ARE HOLDING OUT FOR IN 2024 ELECTION

This is paired with “running up the score in red counties.”

The reason such an approach is necessary, he said, is “this election will likely come down to 20,000-30,000 votes.”

In 2016, Trump defeated Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin by one point and less than 30,000 votes. When President Biden beat Trump in the state during the next election in 2020, it was similarly by about 20,000 votes. 

Now, Wisconsin is once again expected to be a deciding factor in the presidential election. 

SENATE REPUBLICANS MARK OCT 7 ATTACK 1 YEAR OUT AS ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR CONTINUES

“I would highlight that the Republican Party of Wisconsin and the Republican National Committee (RNC) – we have over 100 staff on the ground in Wisconsin, and we have 40 field offices,” Iverson explained.

“So we have a great presence across the entire state.”

According to him, the path to victory for Republicans relies on pulling “votes in every single corner of the state.”

He pointed to Trump’s decision to hold a rally in Dane County, home to the state capital of Madison, Wisconsin. “Republicans are going where we traditionally may not always go,” he said.  

SOROS-LINKED DARK MONEY GROUP PROPS UP NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE IN KEY SENATE RACE

Iverson described Dane as “the most liberal county in the state of Wisconsin,” and said Trump’s trip there is “because he has to get votes in every single county and turn out Republicans in every part of the state.”

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, a Republican, told reporters earlier this month at a press conference in Milwaukee, “Donald Trump called me and asked me, how do I carry Wisconsin?”

The longest-serving Wisconsin governor, who was in office from 1987 to 2001, said he told Trump to follow his lead, “You got to go into southwestern Wisconsin.”

“I said to the president, you’ve got to come into Dane County. There hasn’t been a presidential candidate in Dane County since 1996, when Bob Dole ran for president. Republicans stay away. I said, we have to go.”

TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM ONLY VP DEBATE BETWEEN VANCE, WALZ BEFORE ELECTION

Trump’s visit to the blue stronghold that same day drew massive crowds, despite the county’s reputation. Thompson remarked that there was a “huge crowd all the way from the airport to the factory,” where the event was held.

This attention to heavily Democratic-voting areas of the state is a departure from previous Republicans’ strategy, as the former governor noted. 

Iverson told Fox News Digital that while the election cycle is quite polarized and many people are decided on their candidate, “there’s a rather decent segment of voters who are still undecided, and they’ll be making up their decision until the moment they vote.” 

“That’s why it’s so important that we are out there talking to as many voters as possible, because each conversation that we could have could be the last conversation they have with voters before they go and vote,” he said. 

Wisconsin was rated a “Toss up” by Fox News Power rankings, as of late last month. 

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., is calling on President Biden and his administration’s Department of Education to promptly reverse a grant rejection for Montana universities because of a failure to meet certain diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hiring standards. 

In a statement exclusively to Fox News Digital, the senator said, “The Biden Administration’s decision to strip critical funding from local schools is just another example of one-size-fits-all policies from Washington bureaucrats who don’t understand Montana.”

“I’m calling on the Biden Administration and the Department of Education to immediately reverse this decision, because Montana’s students are more important than [made-up] D.C. hiring practices.”

SENATE REPUBLICANS MARK OCT 7 ATTACK 1 YEAR OUT AS ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR CONTINUES

Tester, who is fighting for his political life in a competitive re-election match in a traditionally Republican state, first voiced his concerns about the grant rejection due to insufficiently diverse hiring practices in a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona last month.

“I am deeply troubled by indications that the Department rejected Montana’s application based primarily on an unfair scoring decision related to subjective diversity hiring requirements that failed to recognize the work already being done on this front,” he wrote.

HERE’S WHAT 2 UNDECIDED WISCONSIN VOTERS ARE HOLDING OUT FOR IN 2024 ELECTION

The senator’s office revealed that after 25 years of receiving the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) grant, Biden’s DOE rejected the Montana university systems’ federal funding because Montana supposedly did not include sufficient details about its hiring practices for “a diverse group of individuals.”

According to Tester, the denial was “embarrassing” for the DOE. 

The DOE told Fox News Digital it had received the letter and was in the process of reviewing it. Tester’s office confirmed that it had yet to receive a response despite reaching out on Sept. 9. 

The pointed criticism of the Biden administration’s implementation of DEI standards sets him apart from his party, which has been generally supportive of the initiatives. On the other hand, Republicans have criticized the continued efforts to prioritize diversity over merit in hiring. 

In less than a month, the Montana Democrat will face off in one of the most competitive races in the country against Republican candidate Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL. Recently, several political handicappers have indicated Sheehy has the advantage going into the election. 

SOROS-LINKED DARK MONEY GROUP PROPS UP NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE IN KEY SENATE RACE

A spokesperson for Sheehy’s campaign criticized Tester’s stance against the Biden administration on DEI, telling Fox News Digital, “Jon Tester loved the radical Left’s Woke agenda when he voted to exclude white farmers from getting assistance just because they were white, supported AOC’s Green New Deal moving forward, and blamed Biden’s border crisis on Climate Change.”

“After voting 95% of the time with Biden and Harris, Two-Faced Tester is doing the Tester Two-Step just ahead of an election because he’s a desperate career politician making an all-out effort to save his political career that made him rich in Washington.”

TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM ONLY VP DEBATE BETWEEN VANCE, WALZ BEFORE ELECTION

Tester voted in line with Biden 90% of the time in the last Congress, according to FiveThirtyEight. In the first half of the 118th Congress, he voted with the president roughly 95%. 

The three-term senator has held off explicitly endorsing Vice President Harris in the presidential election, repeatedly telling reporters he is focused on Montana and his own race. 

However, critics have pushed back at this, pointing to reports that the senator was responsible for recruiting Harris to run for Senate in 2015 when he served as chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Tester’s campaign did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

EXCLUSIVE: The leading outside group that supports House Republicans is reporting its highest fundraising quarter ever.

The Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), which is closely aligned with House Speaker Mike Johnson, is announcing that it hauled in $81.4 million during the July-September third quarter of 2024 fundraising. 

With four weeks left until Election Day in November and the GOP aiming to hold onto and expand its fragile House majority, the CLF is also announcing that it is dishing out another $11 million in new ad reservations. Word of both developments was shared first on Tuesday with Fox News.

“We continue to raise at levels that will allow us to be incredibly impactful this cycle. We’re invested deeply and continuing to add more strategically in the must-win races that will determine the Majority,” CLF President Dan Conston said in a statement.

TRUMP UPS THE ANTE WITH HIS SEPTEMBER FUNDRAISING HAUL

The money raised over the past three months by the CLF tops its previous record of $77.4 million in the third quarter of 2020. The group said it is on track with what it raked in during the 2022 midterms, when Republicans flipped the House, and are out-pacing what they raised at this point in 2020, the last presidential cycle.

The CLF also highlighted that it had $152.8 million cash on hand as of the end of September and touted that it slightly outpaced its Democratic rival in total money raised so far this election cycle.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE 2024 ELECTION

House Majority PAC, the main super PAC supporting House Democrats, announced last week that it and its aligned non-profit organization hauled in $69 million in September, part of a $150 million third quarter. However, according to a report, the House Majority PAC alone brought in roughly $100 million in fundraising during the past three months.

After then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy – who was long known for his fundraising prowess – was ousted a year ago in a very messy intra-party battle, expectations for a strong fundraising cycle for House Republicans were lowered. However, the CLF’s fundraising appears to have defied those low expectations.

The group said Johnson had done well with fundraising and picked up where McCarthy left off. CLF officials also said that they are continuing to haul in “big money” in the week since the end of the third quarter.

The CLF said the new ad reservations – with the money being spent on top GOP offensive and defensive House races – brings the group’s total reservations this cycle to $190 million. They note that they will likely add more spending ahead of Election Day.

The group is directing some of the new spending to beef up existing ad buys in three Democrat-held districts the GOP’s aiming to flip: Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District and Maine’s 2nd Congressional District.

Additionally, the CLF says it will also use some of the new reservations to “lay down aircover to combat Democrats’ spending” in districts where it’s playing defense, including New York 19, Wisconsin 03, and Arizona 06.

The GOP currently controls the 435-member House by a narrow 220-212 majority. Two Democrat-held and one Republican-held seats are vacant.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Four more states began their early voting processes on Tuesday: Indiana, New Mexico, Wyoming and the major swing state of Ohio.

Here is everything you need to know about casting a ballot in each of the states.

Ohio is home to one of the most competitive Senate races on the map.

Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown has won the Midwestern state three times, but with Trump pushing White working-class voters toward the GOP and record spending from both parties, this is set to be a tight race. Brown faces Republican businessman Bernie Moreno.

Republicans have made inroads in the northeastern and heavily industrial areas bordering Pennsylvania. Trumbull County flipped to the GOP in 2016, and Trump increased his margin to 10 points in 2020; Mahoning County flipped in 2020 by almost two points. These counties played a key role in Trump’s statewide wins.

Democrats are performing better than ever in the “three C’s”: Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. These areas have the highest percentages of college-educated voters. President Biden won the counties home to these cities by double-digit margins in 2020, with roughly 30-point wins in Franklin (Columbus) and Cuyahoga (Cleveland).

Unlike in other competitive states, Republicans still hold up in Ohio’s suburban and exurban areas, particularly those surrounding Cincinnati.

Ohio’s Senate race is a toss-up and the presidential race is ranked Likely R on the Fox News Power Rankings.

Meanwhile, New Mexico is also in the “likely” column, both at the presidential and senate level. The state delivered Biden an 11-point win in 2020, but Latino or Hispanic voters made up 35% of the state’s electorate in the 2020 election, and those voters’ support for the Democrat ticket has wavered in recent polls.

Republicans would need to run up their margins with these voters all across the state and keep Harris at bay in places like Doña Ana County, home to Albuquerque and which last voted for Biden by 18 points, to pull off a victory.

Voting also begins today in four House districts ranked Lean or Toss Up on the Fox News Power Rankings. 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 Indiana.

Indiana began absentee voting on Tuesday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse in order to receive a ballot. State officials must receive a ballot request by Oct. 24, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

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Indiana offers early in-person voting beginning Oct. 8 and running through Nov. 4.

Indiana residents must have registered to vote by Oct. 7.

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 New Mexico.

New Mexico began absentee voting on Tuesday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse in order to receive a ballot. State officials must receive a ballot request by Oct. 22, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

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New Mexico offers early in-person voting beginning Oct. 8 and running through Nov. 2.

New Mexico residents must register to vote by the end of Tuesday.

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 Ohio.

Ohio began absentee voting on Tuesday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse in order to receive a ballot. State officials must receive a ballot request by Oct. 29, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Ohio offers early in-person voting beginning Oct. 8 and running through Nov. 3.

Ohio residents must have registered to vote by Oct. 7.

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 Wyoming.

Wyoming began absentee voting on Tuesday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse in order to receive a ballot. State officials must receive a ballot request by Nov. 4, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5.

Wyoming offers early in-person voting beginning Oct. 8 and running through Nov. 4.

Wyoming residents must register to vote by mail by Oct. 21. They can register to vote in person at any time during early voting or on election day.

FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans are moving to roll back a progressive Obama-era regulatory metric for greenhouse gas emissions, arguing that it’s sandbagging the U.S. energy sector by using “nonscientific” standards.

“North Carolinians are struggling to fill up their tanks and pay their electricity bills. The last thing they are worried about is the ‘social cost’ of energy,” Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital.

“We need to be unleashing American energy to lower prices, not crippling production with burdensome, costly regulations.”

Hudson, who also chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, is leading 12 fellow GOP lawmakers in introducing a bill to stop federal agencies using the “social cost of carbon” when creating new regulations for the U.S. energy sector.

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Models calculating the “social cost” of greenhouse gases use several factors, including population health, sea level changes, economic impacts and other human-felt costs.

Because of the vastly different indicators, “social cost” emissions projections can vary widely, according to the Brookings Institute.

It was first used as a federal regulatory tool under the Obama administration but was rolled back by former President Trump.

President Biden made it part of his clean energy plan when he took office, directing a task force to study where federal agencies should consider the “social cost of greenhouse gases” as part of an executive order titled “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis.”

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Democrats have held it up as a necessary tool that presents a more holistic picture for the long-term harms of carbon pollution.

Republicans, however, have criticized the metric as a nonscientific tool that’s responsible for burdensome regulations.

Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-Okla., a co-sponsor of the bill, said the “social cost” metric and the Biden administration’s green energy push overall was pushing gas prices up.

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“It’s just a fact that government interference in the energy industry has directly contributed to these rising costs. No more manipulated studies and biased research – the American people deserve transparent and honest information,” Hern told Fox News Digital.

Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, another co-sponsor of the bill, said, “The Biden-Harris White House has proven their willingness to hide behind biased and flawed research to advance their war against American energy producers.”

“The White House should unleash clean, affordable American energy to bring costs down for the American people,” he said.

The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

One week after Israel launched a ground incursion into Lebanon and one year after Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in support of Hamas, Jerusalem reinforced its troops fighting inside Lebanon with a third division, prompting immediate questions over the extent of its “limited” operations in Lebanon.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday sent troops from its 91st Division, also known as the Galilee Formation, to join forces already in Lebanon hunting down Hezbollah strongholds. 

The 91st Division, traditionally responsible for overseeing security for the entirety of the border with Lebanon, will reinforce efforts already being carried out by two other divisions.

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Israel’s initial advance into Lebanon was led by soldiers from the 98th Division on Oct. 1, which encompassed paratroopers, elite commandos and the 7th Armored Brigade, who were transferred to northern Israel from the border with Gaza in early September for training, reported the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) Long War Journal on Sunday ahead of the IDF announcement.

“Forces from the Commando Brigade, including soldiers from the Egoz Unit, located and destroyed a Hezbollah attack infrastructure, which included a rocket launcher, explosive stockpiles, and additional military equipment,” the IDF said of the initial operation.

Though Hezbollah’s response was fairly muted as many were believed to have retreated ahead of the incursion, at least nine IDF soldiers were killed between Oct. 1-2 during one of the opening battles in Lebanon, confirmed the Long War Journal.

Reinforcements from the IDF’s 36th Division, including the Golani infantry, 188th Armored Brigade and the 6th Reserve Infantry Brigade were then sent in, according to reports last week. 

Following the Israeli incursion – a security measure that the U.S. and other international allies warned Jerusalem against – IDF spokesperson Rear. Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel would not push its ground forces north toward Beirut and would instead focus on securing the villages near the border.

Jerusalem has said the operation in Lebanon is necessary to secure the area so some 60,000 Israelis from northern Israel could return home, though data collected by the FDD shows that some 150,000 Israelis have evacuated from the northern border areas. 

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Hagari said the incursion would be “limited” and take “days” to “weeks” to complete. 

But the renewed support of additional troops on Monday prompted questions over the scope of Israel’s plans in southern Lebanon, including from the U.S. State Department on Monday. 

In response to questions from reporters regarding Israel’s operations in Lebanon, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, “We’re watching this very closely.”

“We support their ability to target militants, to degrade Hezbollah’s infrastructure, to degrade Hezbollah’s capability. But we are very cognizant of the many times in the past where Israel has gone in on what looked like limited operations and has stayed for months or for years,” he added. “And ultimately, that’s not the outcome that we want to see.”

Israel has not announced any additional plans for its ground forces and said the IDF Divisions have engaged in “targeted, limited, and localized operations” in southern Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah’s infrastructure.

But one security expert with the FDD pointed out that Israel could be taking precautionary steps to build up its force in the region should Israel decide it needs to bolster its ability to go after Hezbollah even further.

“What the Israelis have been doing is gradually ratcheting up pressure on Hezbollah to make the price of continuing to attack in support of Gaza too costly for the organization,” David Daoud, senior fellow at FDD specializing in Hezbollah and Lebanon, told Fox News Digital. 

Daoud explained that in the wake of the Oct. 8 attacks, Israel and Hezbollah engaged in “mutual attrition,” continuing to strike one another but rarely taking the level of attack beyond aerial bombardments, unlike the attacks carried out by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. 

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This level of engagement shifted after Israel’s telecommunication device operation in which it allegedly detonated some 5,000 pagers previously distributed to Hezbollah operatives, killing more than three dozen and wounding nearly 3,000 others in a coordinated attack in late September. 

Israel has not taken credit for the attacks, but according to open-source data compiled by the FDD in its latest interactive report dubbed “Road to the Third Lebanon War, Mapping the War of Attrition,” the event was a clear launching point in which Jerusalem drastically changed its modus operandi when it came to countering Hezbollah.

On Sept. 22, Israel carried out its most significant bombardment against the terrorist group than at any other point since the Oct. 8, 2023,attacks, firing some 1,182 strikes, nearly five times the number of attacks it fired during its second-heaviest strike campaign on Feb. 11, 2024, when 239 strikes were fired, the FDD found. 

“I would call it a kind of proactive attrition,” said Daoud, who co-authored the FDD report. “The Israelis are no longer keeping a balance of attrition, they’re really weighing heavily on Hezbollah without going to a full ground invasion.”

The expert explained that the IDF is “ratcheting up pressure” on Hezbollah in an attempt to get it to back off its support for Hamas, a similar strategy it has taken in Gaza in an attempt to persuade Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to hand over the hostages. 

The merits of this approach are debatable as hostages remain in Hamas captivity despite the immense pains the IDF has caused in the Gaza Strip, and Daoud questioned whether this tactic would be effective against Hezbollah, an organization that is more sophisticated, better armed, better financed and more entwined in Lebanese society.

“I don’t see Hezbollah backing down, even at this level of pain that the Israelis are inflicting upon them,” Daoud said. “So a ground invasion may become necessary, and you want to make sure that your forces are in place for that to move into effect immediately, if that becomes the case.”

The expert highlighted that Israel may once again be considering the establishment of a “security zone” in Lebanon in order to create a buffer between Hezbollah strongholds and the Israeli border, a move that would replicate steps Israel took between 1985 and 2000 and one that would require a prolonged IDF stay in Lebanon. 

It is unclear if Israel could be considering another buffer-zone scenario, though it would likely prove unpopular not only with the Lebanese government but with the international community, which has increasingly urged Israel to reduce its footprint in the region by embracing a two-state solution with the Palestinians in the south and along Israel’s eastern border.

But Daoud argued that the threat Hezbollah poses isn’t going away and that creating a buffer zone combined with continued air strikes could be the solution that appeases the international community best by avoiding an all-out ground invasion across Lebanon.

“There are ways to avoid a ground invasion,” Daoud argued. “It will take much longer, but given where international opinion is, this is probably a better option for Israel now than a full ground invasion up to Beirut.”

Though Israel has not announced any plans to engage in a ground operation to oust Hezbollah forces from strongholds like Beirut, it has ramped up the number of strikes on suburban areas outside the capital city, and since late September the U.S. has organized the departure of some 700 Americans from Lebanon.