THE GARDEN STATE — Obama stumped for Murphy over the weekend, The Star-Ledger's Brent Johnson reported. Obama appeared in Newark, where he urged voters to cast ballots early for the governor. Murphy has led Republican Jack Ciattarelli in recent polls, and is vying to become the first Democrat reelected in New Jersey in decades. JUST PEACHY — Thune is the first member of Senate GOP leadership to endorse Walker in Georgia, months after top Republicans seemed wary of his bid for Senate, POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt wrote. Trump encouraged Walker to enter the race against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock , and he has been endorsed by GOP Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Steve Daines of Montana, Roger Marshall of Kansas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. National Republicans "were impressed by Walker's [$3.8 million] haul during the third quarter, which showed that the candidate is putting together a serious finance operation capable of competing with Warnock, who is raising vast sums. They also note Walker has built a campaign team stacked with seasoned operatives," Alex points out. They are also reluctant to put Walker through a damaging primary in the battleground state. — Georgia Democrats are fearful that voting rights are being eroded in the state, POLITICO's Laura Barrón-López reported, after Republicans passed new election restrictions earlier this year. "Deeply aware of the South's history, many who spoke to POLITICO said they worried that some of the horrors from that era are creeping up once more and that the voting rights wars could become violent, as exemplified by the Capitol riots on Jan. 6," Laura wrote. Voting advocates are calling on Congress to pass new voting rights laws, but legislation has stalled in the Senate. — Meanwhile, Georgia investigators will not look into ballot harvesting claims by the state Republican Party chair and a conservative voting group, saying the claims lacked enough evidence, Georgia Public Broadcasting's Stephen Fowler reported. "For months, True the Vote has claimed to have evidence of ballot harvesting, when groups collect and return absentee ballots on behalf of voters," Fowler wrote, although the group has not provided videos of the alleged ballot harvesting, which is illegal in Georgia. THE SHOW-ME STATE — The Republicans watching Missouri's crowded Senate primary agree on one thing: They need to stop disgraced former Gov. Eric Greitens, POLITICO's Natalie Allison wrote. Greitens has stacked his campaign with Trumpworld operatives, and is courting the former president's endorsement in the race to replace retiring Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). But if he wins the crowded primary, some Republicans fear his scandal-plagued career could jeopardize the party's chances to hang onto the seat. "To call it a clown show is an underestimation of the chaos," one longtime Missouri GOP activist told Natalie, sizing up the primary field. PARTY PROBLEMS — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is walking a tightrope with Trump as he tries to flip the House next year, The Washington Post's Michael Scherer and Josh Dawsey reported. The former president is angling to unseat the 10 Republicans who voted for his impeachment, even as McCarthy tries to build a GOP majority in the House. McCarthy has "been selling himself as a singular leader of the party, able to stand up to the unpredictable former president without breaking their bond." THE BUCKEYE STATE — A pair of pro-Josh Mandel super PACs launched a nearly $1 million ad buy attacking Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance, POLITICO's Natalie Allison reported. Club for Growth Action and USA Freedom Fund are airing the ads, which highlight old clips of Vance speaking negatively about Trump. Vance has reversed his position on the former president, who hasn't endorsed in the crowded primary battle. — Speaking of the Ohio Senate race, it's among the most expensive contests in the country, the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Andrew Tobias wrote. "With more than six months before the May primary, Ohio's Republican U.S. Senate candidates had spent $9.5 million, the third-most of any partisan Senate primary in the country for the 2022 election cycle," partially thanks to the wealthy self-funders in the race. STAFFING UP — New York state Attorney General Tish James is hiring campaign staff ahead of a possible bid for governor, The New York Times' Katie Glueck wrote. If she does enter the race, James will face Gov. Kathy Hochul in the Democratic primary. James hired prominent Democratic pollster Celinda Lake and Higher Heights for America co-founder Kimberly Peeler-Allen as a senior adviser and a campaign coordinator. New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams is exploring a bid for governor, and outgoing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is considering getting into the race. DAY IN COURT — Florida businessperson Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani, was found guilty of campaign finance fraud, The Washington Post's Shayna Jacobs reported. A federal jury in New York found "that Parnas committed fraud through donations to several state and federal candidates that were bankrolled by a Russian financier. Parnas was also found guilty on counts related to a $325,000 donation in 2018 to a joint fundraising committee that supported then-President Donald Trump." Parnas faces up to 45 years in prison, and will be sentenced early next year. THE MAP LINES — Florida Republicans control the redistricting process, and have already dealt some blows to Democrats, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune's John Kennedy wrote. Republicans have not proposed a map yet, but the chair of the state Senate redistricting chair ordered staff to draw maps "without regard to the preservation of existing district boundaries" rather than use court drawn political maps as a base for the new boundaries. — North Carolina Republicans have pledged not to use race or partisan data to draw new political maps, but the proposed maps still favor Republicans, The Associated Press' Bryan Anderson and Nicholas Riccardi wrote. The approach has drawn skepticism from Democrats, who say Republicans do not need a spreadsheet to know the political leanings of different areas in the state. Republicans control redistricting in the Tarheel State. — And in the race for Atlanta mayor, City Council President Felicia Moore and former Mayor Kasim Reed are leading the field of candidates on the November ballot, according to a new poll, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's J.D. Capelouto, Ben Brasch and Wilborn P. Nobles III wrote. Forty-one percent of voters are undecided, according to the poll, which was commissioned by the newspaper and conducted by the University of Georgia's School of Public and International Affairs from Oct. 6-20. GETTING IN — Colorado Republican Pam Anderson launched a campaign against Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold, The Colorado Sun's Jesse Paul reported. Anderson criticized Griswold for being "hyper partisan." Anderson, the top elections official in Jefferson County, "believes that Colorado's voting systems are safe and secure and that there wasn't any fraud or wrongdoing that would have overturned the results of the 2020 presidential election." | 
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