PHOENIX, Ariz. — U.S Sen. Josh Hawley, from Missouri, surprised a large, boisterous crowd of Republican voters outside Phoenix Friday night, injecting a national boost to tight races that pit Donald Trump-endorsed candidates against Democrats backed by the Biden administration and party leadership.

Hawley, an avowed election denier, spoke ahead of Blake Masters, who is running against sitting U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, and Kari Lake, the bombastic Republican gubernatorial candidate that recently made light of the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband. 

Joining them were Abe Hamadeh, who is running for state attorney general, and Mark Finchem, who is seeking to replace Democrat Katie Hobbs for secretary of state. Hobbs is running against Lake for the governor's mansion.

“Democrats just don’t get America,” Hawley said to thunderous applause.

“They think this country is systemically racist, they think this country is oppressive … they think something is fundamentally broken,” Hawley added. “I have news for them — there is nothing wrong with America. There is something wrong with them.”

The Republican candidates took turns bashing everyone from President Joe Biden to Nancy Pelosi and other party elites.

"Yesterday was a pinch me day. Guess who came out and attacked me? Barack Obama," Lake said, referring to the former president's speech earlier this week.

On Wednesday, Obama appeared alongside Hobbs and Kelly at a rally in Phoenix. He roasted roasted Lake for peddling election conspiracy theories and said she is not qualified for office.

Just two days later, Hawley's cameo at a GOP event galvanized an already energetic crowd Friday night, many of whom wore Trump hats and chanted “lock her up” at a passing mention of Hillary Clinton. 

Masters told supporters they “are the red wave” in the upcoming election. 

“You are the tip of the spear,” he said. 

President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama are slated to rally voters at a campaign event Saturday in Philadelphia for Pennsylvania Democrats. It will be their only joint appearance on the 2022 campaign trail.

Biden and Obama are aiming to boost turnout for Democrat John Fetterman, who is in a tight Senate race with Republican Mehmet Oz, and Josh Shapiro, who faces far-right GOP candidate Doug Mastriano.

Pennsylvania will be the final stop on Biden's four-state campaign swing that included New Mexico, California and Illinois. 

Biden told reporters Friday that he thinks Democrats will pick up a seat in the evenly divided Senate in Tuesday’s midterm elections. The closely watched Pennsylvania Senate race is one of handful in battleground states that could determine which party controls the Senate.

Just catching up? Here’s what you missed on Friday.

• President Joe Biden said he thinks Democrats will pick up a seat in the evenly divided Senate and keep control of the House. He later warned that "if we lose the House and Senate, it’s going to be a horrible two years. The good news is that I’ll have the veto pen."
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who returned to San Francisco to be with her husband after he was brutally attacked at their home last week, told supporters in a video that Paul Pelosi's recovery would be a "long haul," but that he would be well.
• The Milwaukee County district attorney filed a criminal complaint against Kimberly Zapata, the former deputy director of the Milwaukee Election Commission who was fired this week following accusations that she fraudulently requested absentee ballots to be sent to a state representative.