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congress is at stake. can? democrats maintain control of the senate? follow -- can dts maintain control of thee? find our data-rich election page at c-span.org/campaign2022. >> next, the chair of the democratic senatorial campaign committee, senator gary peters, talks about key races in the 2022 midterm elections. this is hosted by the washington post. jonathan: i am jonathan capehart , associate editor of the washington post. democrats are not only hoping to hold their majority in the senate, they are hoping to pick

up two more seats. the person leading the effort is the chair of the democratic senatorial campaign committee, senator gary peters of michigan. welcome to "washington post" live. sen. peters: thank you for the invitation. jonathan: over the summer, democrats seemed to have the wind at their backs and bulls are now tightening. what changed? sen. peters: actually, nothing changed from what we anticipated. we knew the polls were be tightening. and we knew these elections are all going to be nailbiter's. they are all going to be very close. if you would have asked me last year, where do you see these races in the last few weeks? i would have told you these battleground states are all going to be very tight. it is critical for us to have a ground operation to turn out voters. voter turnout in a midterm tends

to drop off from a presidential election, so turnout is a major factor. it is something that the dscc which i am privileged to share has been making investments on the ground in battleground states to get out the vote. no one should be surprised with these numbers, it is going to come right down to election day and very tight races will determine the majority of the senate. jonathan: we will talk about key races in a bit, but i want to pick up on turnout. we hear that word of the time, we have to turn out the base, making investments to turn out voters, what you mean by that? sen. peters: it our defend the majority program that we have instituted. in my own experience in 2020 when i ran in a tight race in

michigan, it came down to very tight margins for me as well as president haydn. and substantial investments that the dscc made in michigan two years out from the election, making sure the voter lists were correct, reaching out to voters talking about issues that were important to them, and ensuring they got a absentee ballot or were ready to vote on election day, all of the mechanics of campaign 101 when it comes to reaching out to those voters you believe will support your candidates, and making sure they actually vote. it is not something you can turn on a dime. it is not something we can start this month and hope that in three weeks we have great turnout, this is something we have been doing for a long time. and i am confident that our ground operations are superior to what we are seeing more frankly, not seeing on the ground with the republican party. jonathan: turnout is one part of the equation, the other part is

issues. are the issues that potential voters are interested in, the supreme court decision on the constitutional right to an abortion feels a lot of that wind. but the latest washington post poll shows that the economy and inflation are more pressing, 85% say the economy is more pressing and 78% say the economy and 62% said abortion was the number-when issue or very important to them. a majority of those polled trust republicans to do a better job handling inflation and the economy, both 54%. how do you turn those trust numbers around, especially on inflation and the economy, the handling of both? sen. peters: those are national numbers i think you are looking at and the numbers are not what is really happening in battleground states. that is where the elections are. it is not a national election

when we elect senators. it is each state. in each state, it is a candidate versus candidate race. that is the major advantage we have going into this election c. quality. we have republican strategists and even the leader of the republicans in the senate say they have a problem with candidate quality. we have a clear choice between two candidates. they look at those issues and look at what is in there about the individual candidates in every case i'm confident those voters are going to believe that our democratic incumbents running for reelection are clearly superior to their challengers and our challengers are running great races and clearly differentiating themselves from their opponents. this is going to be an election where it is going to be dependent on candidate quality. that is usually the difference

particularly in very close races. so you add a ground operation getting our voters out who are highly motivated on particular issues. we are seeing a lot of new voters highly and motivated on the abortion issue and the fact that republicans are taking away a fundamental right for women is highly motivating. it is what you are seeing voting registration up particularly with women in all of these key states. these are folks who may not have voted otherwise. they may not even be -- but they want to get out and vote. put all that together with a clear contract -- contrast in candidates, that is it. jonathan: i hear you on candidate quality. i'm wondering, though poll numbers, there is the national number. but it is hard to believe that

fear or concern about the economy and inflation are not having an impact on individual senate races. i'm wondering if candidate quality is going to supersede a voters anger at the party of the majority. the anger over the economy or inflation eating into wage again. sen. peters: we are addressing the economy and how we address the challenges we have with inflation for example. the inflation we are seeing in this country, very similar to inflation in western europe, the u.k., the united states as a result of coming out of this pandemic. we know inflation is a difficult problem worldwide. the question is who is trying to deal with that issue and democrats are doing that. if you look at our incumbents in support of the inflation reduction act, this is a piece of legislation signed into law that will lower prescription drug prices for seniors.

it will cap the amount of money they pay for medical costs and medicare, a huge issue for seniors all across the country. we are dealing with energy costs to try and move away from a dependence on fossil fuels so we are not tied to our prices -- our prices for gasoline are not tied to global events like opec price production -- reduction and putin engaged in a war. we are taking action when it comes to the economy. i want to remind folks on the legislation, but also reduces the deficit. not one republican voted for it. they did not vote for any commonsense sense solutions to dealing with the challenges we are facing with inflation and all we are hearing is they want to have a national abortion law. they want to take away fundamental rights from women. they want to challenge elections. candidates are saying if they lose the election they are going to challenge it because it is

stolen. they want to undermine the fundamental basis of our democracy. that is what they are offering up to the american people. democrats are dealing with tough issues and are offering commonsense solutions for those issues whereas republicans simply are not doing that. jonathan: two more questions before we get to specific races. this is from california, john sutter picking up on something you just mentioned in terms of abortion. he is wondering if democrats are considering new abortion legislation to take the place of roe v. wade, they are trying to get something off the ground. there was a move just after dobbs by the senate to try and do something to codify at roe v. wade. sen. peters: there is a move to look at that as to how we codify roe v. wade. but bottom line we need votes to do that. that is why these elections are so important. if folks believe that roe v.

wade should continue to be the law of the land as it has been for over half a century, they need to make sure that voice is heard loud and clear at the voting booth in the coming weeks. it is on the ballot. this is going to impact every state, especially if there is a ban as republicans have proposed. we also know the republicans have proposed legislation. i mentioned lowering drug costs for our seniors, for our price of medicines, no republican voted for that. now the have introduced legislation taken away from the american people, a process by which we can lower drug prices. this is the rates about contrast and about -- and it is a race that should be very clear to the american people that will impact their lives in a very clear way. it is a contrast between

candidates running to make sure they are voting democratic. jonathan: what is the democratic response to the republican mantra on crime, and the polls that show republicans are more trusted on dealing with crime? sen. peters: well the issue is not accurate where democrats are. i share the senate -- i chair the senate homeland security committee. i think about keeping them in the past and meaningful legislation to do that. pets have voted for substantial resources for police response -- police department's and first responders across the country. we helped police department said first responders get through the challenges they have faced with the pandemic and make them stronger going forward. on that important legislation, to find police department's across the state and country, in every state, republicans voted no. they certainly did not put their money where their mouth is and we all remember january 6 and

that beating of police officers by that mob. republicans are continuing to say nothing really happened january 6. los capitol police officers who suffered serious injuries, whether or not subbing happened, democrats stood with those capitol police officers on the grounds and we said with police officers all across the country. jonathan: what's talk about some specific races. georgia. the incumbent senator, senator braun file warnock, is in a close race with former nfl star herschel walker who has denied reports he has paid for an extra friends abortion. today's headline, women, i pressed walker to pay for abortion he wanted. more on this story. i question is why is this race this close? sen. peters: i will say it is close because there's georgia. georgia is going to be very close race.

we saw that in 2020. it was a very close race. there is no reason to think it will be different. but there is no question what we are hearing about herschel walker is very troubling information. but ultimately, the people of the state of georgia will make the decision to back up candida choice. take a look at rafael warnock's outstanding record as a senator, who he is as a person and compare it to his opponent and i'm confident the voters of georgia will see the clear contrast and support rafael warnock. he will be elected, he will continue to be a senator representing the state of georgia. but we know this is going to come down to the wire, which is why we are going to continue to raise the resources we need. certainly we need grassroots resources not just for georgia, but republicans are extending us

with their super pac's, the guys that give a billion dollars for their cost, a massive amount of money coming in from a small number of very wealthy contributors attempting to buy this election. that is why we have defend the senate.org, to support the work we are doing at the kingpin -- at the committee to make sure we can give back the super pac money to buy these elections in key battleground states. so far to -- defendthesenate.org is the place to do that. as long as people in this country who care about the values that we stand for and support what we are doing, we've got a lot and we are finding a group, a small group of agreeably wealthy individuals putting forward extreme candidates in these races who do not represent the people in those states.

i would encourage everybody to take a good hard look at the candidate running in your state and look at the difference in quality and the values they represent and make sure you get out to vote. jonathan: it is not just billionaires standing behind these questionable candidates. your republican counterpart, senator rick scott of florida, is gung ho for herschel walker. he and senator tom cotton did an event with him just the other day. how is this -- about herschel walker? sen. peters: they're going to throw everything under the sun -- >> herschel is a good candidate. the democrats want to align this to their agenda. that is some cuts across the country. jonathan: your response. sen. peters: certainly rick scott is going to say that

because they want to have the majority. they want to make sure senator mcconnell is the majority leader in the senate so they can push forward their agenda, and what is that agenda? we know they've got legislation, we've got a national abortion ban. rick scott is going to put out information he wants to reassess social security and medicare, perhaps cut those types of programs. they have an extreme agenda. they don't like talking about their issues because they know it is out of step with the american people. to them it is all about power. and they are willing to support candidates who clearly are not ready for prime time. they are not ready for any time at the present extreme views that will hurt american families both in the pocketbook and undermine the very basis of our democracy, free and fair elections. this is a pivotal time in the history of our country.

the american people are going to be faced with a clear choice this election and i believe in the end we will prevail. jonathan: let's move to pennsylvania come out senate race between the democrat against his republican senator--republican challenger, mehmet oz. how much of the recent that tightening is concerned about federman's health? he suffered a stroke in may. sen. peters: i sound like a broken record here but we always expect to these races to be very tight. that is what happens in the elections. historically you will see republican candidates tend to tighten elections as you have closer to elections. so what we're seeing is not anything that we did not already expect. certainly his opponent is trying to make issues of the fact that he has a health condition he is healing from.

but he is a doctor who wants to make the issue of a patient who is recovering from a health issue. we all have members of our family or people we love who had strokes and have recovered. it takes time to do it and we are seeing that with john fetterman. he is making remarkable progress. he's on the campaign trail, holding huge rallies with people, adding excitement up in pennsylvania and he is running against a guy who doesn't even really have been pennsylvania. he is running against a guy who came from new jersey and claims he is an everyday guy but he doesn't even remember how many houses he owns and they are mostly all outside of pennsylvania except one that he recently purchased. he is a person who strongly supports trump and that agenda and election denial. certainly not a pennsylvanian. so we've got john fetterman, someone who has a distinguished record in pennsylvania fighting for the people of pennsylvania,

running against the guy from new jersey. jonathan: you left out the word crudites in your critique. [laughter] how pivotal and how decisive will the debate between federman and oz be in that race? sen. peters: certainly i believe in debates. it is good to have them for people who see the contrast. i'm confident when folks see the candidates on the debate stage the choice will be clear and john fetterman will be the choice for senate. jonathan: let's turn to ohio. republican tim ryan debated his competitor. republican ryan came out of that debate to some good press at good reviews. but the next morning on morning joe, he complained he is getting no help whatsoever from the party.

are they not providing support to ryan and if not, why not? jonathan: well, we have provided resources for tim ryan. he is an outstanding candidate. there is no question he is an incredibly strong candidate running an absolutely great race in ohio. we now provided resources. we provided help with him for some of his media. we continue to work closely and help raise money all across the country for him, from individual donors that will help him. he is getting that support now. he needs to continue to get that. certainly grassroots support is critically important for all of our candidates. we look at all of our battleground states and the reason we are competitive on the money front is not super pac's. those are all primarily on the republican side in terms of the amount of money they have. they have massive amounts of

money they are pouring into those races. our only ability to have the resources necessary to run is when our grassroots supporters give to things like grassroots.org. that allows us to have breakthroughs -- to have races in ohio and all the main races across the country. i believe in the candidacy. my organization has invested in his candidacy and his campaign and we will continue, i will continue to work to raise money from individual donors from all across the country to help us make sure tim ryan is elected to the united states senate and i think he can do that. jonathan: four more weeks. every penny helps. sen. peters: where we are right now, this is crunch time. so we are looking at all of our battleground states, literally on a daily basis.

we are going to be there to make sure we have races across the finish line, but it is a constant assessment we are making and we are going to do everything we possibly can to support each and every one of our battleground candidates to the extent that we can. but understand our money is not unlimited. we have a budget we have to work with. that is why i continue to encourage folks who really understand how important this election is to get online, support their individual candidates. our website cannot you can go there and look at all of the individual candidates in our battleground states and folks can give to that individual candidate to make sure that individual candidate that they believe most strongly about can have an fighting chance to win. when that happens, i'm confident we will not only hold the majority, we will also have the ability to pick up the receipts. you will have to do this

together as a team and that is what democrats have done and what we will have to do in the future. jonathan: we have less than a minute left and i want to use this time to switch gears to this last question. you mentioned you are the chair of the homeland security committee. i'm wondering how concerned are you that we could have a repeat of a january 6 style insurrection either here in the nation's capital or an estate capital anywhere in the country? sen. peters: i am very concerned about the rise of extremist movements. we are seeing this in this country. violent extremist groups. we have engaged the department of homeland security to monitor what is happening on social media, and the hearings, we will briefly will have another hearing on how social media actually takes folks who have some interest in a particular topic and takes them down a rabbit hole that often leads to extremist material and has the

impact of sometimes turning what they are reading on social media platforms into actual violence, whether at the u.s., individual capitals or in our communities. we are facing a very dangerous community. and politicians who flame those fires or flame but hate that can exist within some of these individuals, it is a very dangerous situation. certainly i'm focused on it, the department i've been working with closely, the department of homeland security, to make sure they are focused on it. but it is also for americans all across this country to condemn with their seeing and condemn politicians that fuel those flames and make sure that their voices heard loud and clear on election day. jonathan: i'm sorry, one more question. how surprised are you that republican leaders, leaders are

silent in the face of the hate that is coming from their party? sen. peters: i am beyond disappointed. it is outrageous. elected officials have an obligation to lead and strengthen the democracy of this great nation of ours. we also have an obligation to fight against violence and political violence in particular, which has absolutely no place in an american democracy and this amazing democratic republic that we have. and our political leaders remain silent, it means they are complicit. that is on acceptable. folks who remain silent in the face of the challenges to our very core democracy should be soundly rejected by the american people. it is incumbent on the american people to expect more from their elected officials. when elected officials remain silent when they need to speak out, voters need to punish the behavior and make sure we are electing candidates who will

stand up for american democracy. jonathan: senator gary peters, chairman of the democratic editorial campaign -- senatorial campaign committee, thank you for joining us, i appreciate you going over time with me today. thank you. sen. peters: my pleasure, but to be with you. jonathan: and thank you for joining us, for more information on what we have coming up, head to washington live.com. i am jonathan >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more. the world has changed. today a fast internet connection is something no one can live without. so we are there for our customers with speed, reliability, value and choice. it all starts with great internet. >> they support c-span along

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