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Post by Webster on Mar 19, 2024 16:12:32 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Voters in five states are casting ballots in primary races today, and while Joe Biden and Donald Trump have their respective parties’ nominations sewn up, the Guardian’s Lauren Gambino reports that there’s plenty of intrigue in the down-ballot elections to be decided: With a rematch set between Joe Biden and Donald Trump after both candidates crossed the delegate threshold needed to clinch their parties’ presidential nominations, suspense around the next wave of Tuesday primaries shifts to a handful of key down-ballot races.
Five states – Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio – will hold their presidential nominating contests on Tuesday. Trump and Biden are expected to sail to victory, growing their delegate counts in a march toward this summer’s conventions, where they will officially secure their parties’ nomination.
Trump’s last Republican challenger, his former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, ended her presidential campaign after being routed on Super Tuesday, while the Democratic congressman Dean Phillips dropped his long-shot challenge to Biden after failing to win a single delegate, including in his home state of Minnesota.
In Florida, the state Democratic party decided support for Biden was strong enough and cancelled its presidential primary. Republicans in the one-time swing state can vote for Trump, though his vanquished rivals, including the governor, Ron DeSantis, will still appear on the ballot. The result may reveal clues about the enduring strength of the anti-Trump vote within the Republican party.
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Post by Webster on Mar 20, 2024 15:00:43 GMT -5
(The Guardian) The aftershocks from Republican insurgents’ historic ouster of Kevin McCarthy as House speaker, and his subsequent resignation from Congress, continue to reverberate, notably in the race to replace him in his central California district. Vince Fong, a Republican California assemblyman, currently leads the official vote count after the Tuesday special election to replace McCarthy. But he does not appear to have won the 50% support necessary to avoid a runoff, meaning Fong will have to stand in May against whoever comes in second place. That is on course to be his fellow Republican Mike Boudreaux, with the Democratic candidate, Marisa Wood, trailing in third place – not much of a surprise, considering McCarthy’s former district is considered California’s most Republican. However that race ultimately turns out, the biggest loser last night may have been the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, who is trying to pass legislation with a tiny majority. Had Fong won, it would have given the speaker a sorely needed vote, but now he’ll have to wait till May to see McCarthy’s replacement seated. McCarthy’s decision to resign after being ousted from Republican leadership – which came a year after Nancy Pelosi left House Democratic leadership – comes amid a period of turnover in Golden State politics. The longtime Democratic US representatives Anna Eshoo, Tony Cárdenas and Grace Napolitano have also announced plans to step down. Two weeks after California’s primary, the race to replace Eshoo in her Bay Area district remains exceptionally close. Just two votes separate the Democratic candidates Evan Low, a state assemblyman, and Joe Simitian, a Santa Clara county supervisor, with ballot counting ongoing. The winner will advance to the November general election and face the Democrat Sam Liccardo, the former mayor of San Jose.
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Post by Webster on Mar 22, 2024 14:53:54 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Republican House majority goes from bad to worse as another lawmaker announces plans to leave earlyRepublican congressman Mike Gallagher announced he will resign his seat on 19 April, further winnowing down the GOP’s already slim control of the House. Gallagher had earlier this year announced plans not to seek re-election, but now says he will leave his seat early, dropping the Republicans’ slim majority to 217 seats, with Democrats holding 213 seats. That means Republicans can only lose one member on votes that Democrats oppose unanimously. “After conversations with my family, I have made the decision to resign my position as a member of the House of Representatives for Wisconsin’s Eighth Congressional District, effective April 19, 2024,” Gallagher said in a surprise statement. He noted that he “worked closely with House Republican leadership on this timeline” and “my office will continue to operate and provide constituent services to the Eighth District for the remainder of the term.”
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Post by Webster on Mar 27, 2024 20:47:50 GMT -5
(The Epoch Times) Democrat Congresswoman Annie Kuster Joins Exodus, Will Not Seek ReelectionRep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.), leader of the House’s New Democrat Coalition, has announced that she will not seek reelection in November, continuing the recent exodus of dozens of members of Congress. “As I look to the future, I am excited by the work and opportunities that lie ahead. We all have a role to play in standing up for what we believe in, advocating for a better future, and pursuing the change that we want to see,” she said in a statement. “I always said I was not going to stay in Congress forever—I will not be seeking re-election in 2024.” The 67-year-old added that she will finish the rest of her term, which ends in January 2025. “In the months ahead, I will use my time to help Congress build on the progress we have made and finish the job for the American people,“ she said. ”I will continue to lead the New Democrat Coalition to help pass comprehensive, bipartisan legislation to move our country forward.” As chair of the coalition, Ms. Kuster has worked much in reaching across the aisle. She is the founder and co-chair of the Bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Task Force, the Bipartisan Task Force to End Sexual Violence, and the Bipartisan Ski and Snowboard Caucus. She is also a member of the Bipartisan 21st Century Long-Term Care Caucus, the Bipartisan Congressional PFAS Task Force, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The six-term congresswoman has represented New Hampshire’s 2nd District since 2013, and the announcement of her departure comes at a critical time. With the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees effectively decided, the nation’s political focus has begun to shift toward congressional races. And as the GOP’s House majority hangs by a thread, Ms. Kuster’s seat—which she flipped from red to blue in 2012—could be targeted for an upset. Her exit will send Democrats scrambling to find a viable replacement candidate in time for New Hampshire’s Sept. 10 primary. Ms. Kuster is the latest lawmaker to join the 118th Congress’s long “casualty list” of members who are either retiring or seeking another office. Her announcement follows the March 22 departure of Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), who abruptly moved up the date of his resignation, further reducing the GOP majority. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) announced that he will likewise retire early on April 19.
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Post by Webster on Mar 29, 2024 22:24:10 GMT -5
(The Epoch Times) Federal Judge Throws Out New Jersey Primary Ballot Design After Lawsuit by Rep. Andy Kim
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Post by Webster on Apr 1, 2024 15:09:28 GMT -5
(The Guardian) John Avlon, the former CNN anchor and Daily Beast editor running for the Democratic nomination in New York’s first US House district, is heralding an impressive fundraising effort in his first month-and-a-bit in the race. “I’m honored and humbled to have received so much support in so short a time,” Avlon said in a statement accompanying news of more than $1.1m raised so far. “To raise over a million dollars in the first 40 days of the campaign is a measure of the excitement we’ve unleashed. Democrats understand that we can’t afford to lose this fight … Together, we’ll fight the good fight by defending our democracy, defeating Donald Trump and winning back the House from his Maga minions, who aren’t trying to solve problems in the national interest anymore.” Avlon, 51, has also spoken to Vanity Fair, describing the “moral urgency” he feels running for office with Trump at the head of the Republican ticket, as a determined centrist, calling for an end to partisan extremities. “This is a swing district,” he told Vanity Fair, “but when you look at the battleground maps in New York, it wasn’t being treated as one. We just got the new district registration numbers, and in New York one, we have the highest number of independent voters in the state. That’s prime for swing.” That could be vital in a close House election.
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Post by Webster on Apr 1, 2024 15:10:22 GMT -5
(The Guardian) In John Avlon’s Vanity Fair interview, the former CNN anchor and Daily Beast editor turned Democratic candidate for a US House seat in New York says his party has a problem when it comes to “obsessing about culture-war issues”. “I think Democrats often get spun around the axle when they start obsessing about culture-war issues,” Avlon says, offering as an example, “Defund the police, one of the worst, most self-defeating political slogans imaginable. “But in reality, in the last Congress – I counted this up – there were seven members of the Democratic House who supported the policy known as ‘Defund the police’. There were 139 members of the Republican House [and eight senators] who voted to overturn the election after the attack on the Capitol. That’s asymmetric, that’s not the same moral universe. “As I wrote in my book Wing Nuts over a decade ago, the far right and the far left can be equally insane, but there’s no question who’s far more powerful and more dangerous in our time. “I mean, the Democratic party nominates and elevates centrists, right? The party is evenly divided between liberals and moderates. The Republican party is nominating Donald Trump for a third time after he tried to destroy our democracy on the back of a lie, with totally fact-free rants that are contrary to everything that party allegedly once believed. So there’s just no equivalence at all. The problem is, it distracts from a lot of the issues that we really need to deal with that are right in the Democrats’ sweet spot.” Vanity Fair’s interviewer, Joe Pompeo, asked Avlon “for his centrist view on Israel and Gaza”. Avlon said: “As someone who was formed by 9/11, fundamentally, in the wake of the absolute horror of the October 7 attacks, our impulse should be to stand with the victims of terrorism and not blame the victims of terrorism … It’s absolutely legitimate to not only defend yourself, but to ensure that Hamas leadership is taken out. You’re dealing with terrorism, but you’ve got to maximise humanitarian aid and minimise civilian casualties, because that ends up playing into the terrorist narrative. I think the Biden administration is walking a difficult line well.”
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Post by Webster on Apr 3, 2024 14:56:54 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Sherrod Brown’s campaign is celebrating a strong fundraising display, as the leftwing Democrat gears up for his Ohio re-election fight with the Trump-endorsed Republican Bernie Moreno, one of a number of contests expected to decide control of the Senate later this year. Friends of Sherrod Brown, the three-term senator’s principal campaign committee, says it raised more than $12m in the first quarter of the year. Rachel Petri, campaign manager for the group, said: “While Sherrod’s opponent makes it clear he’s only out for himself and is using his millions to try to buy Ohio’s Senate seat, Sherrod has unprecedented grassroots support behind his reelection campaign. “Sherrod and Connie [Schultz, the senator’s wife] are thankful to every member of this movement working to send Sherrod back to the Senate to continue fighting for Ohioans and the dignity of work.” Moreno made his millions in cars, then made his bones in Donald Trump’s Republican party by moving from the establishment to the populist right. His victory in the primary was not without its surprises.
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Post by Webster on Apr 17, 2024 14:22:19 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Developments in Arizona over abortion, and the state’s supreme court paving the way for an 1864 act outlawing the procedure to take effect, have prompted a significant change in prospects for Republicans’ fortunes in November elections. According to Sabato’s Crystal Ball, the website of the University of Virginia’s respected pollster Larry Sabato, Arizona’s open Senate race between Republican Kari Lake (if she wins her primary race, as expected) and challenger Ruben Gallego has shifted from “toss-up” to “leans Democratic”. Similarly, the congressional race in AZ district six, currently held by Republican Juan Ciscomani, has moved from “leans Republican” to “toss-up”. Arizona Republicans have faced a huge backlash over the abortion issue, and particularly after they blocked Democrats’ early efforts to repeal the 1864 law.
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Post by Webster on Apr 18, 2024 13:11:07 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Republican congressman for Wisconsin Mike Gallagher has suggested that he is resigning from his seat in Congress because of death threats and swatting targeted at his family. Gallagher shared more insight into his decision to vacate his seat while talking with reporters on Tuesday, the NBC affiliate WLUK reported. Gallagher, 40, said: This is more just me wanting to prioritize being with my family ... I signed up for the death threats and the late-night swatting, but they did not. And for a young family, I would say this job is really hard. Gallagher is married, with two young daughters. He announced last month that he would be resigning from his congressional seat before the end of his term, effective 19 April. Gallagher, a rising star within the Republican party, announced his retirement in February after breaking with other House Republicans and refusing to vote to impeach the homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, a Democrat. But, in March, Gallagher said that he would be exiting Congress in April, before the end of his term. He has represented Wisconsin’s eighth district since 2017.
Allies said that the Republican congressman Mike Gallagher decided to exit after far-right Republicans ejected Kevin McCarthy, the former House speaker, amid other shenanigans. But Gallagher’s latest comments suggest that his early exit is tied to fears of rising political violence in the US on all sides, though the majority of threats and concerns come from the far right. Just this week, two prominent Republican lawmakers encouraged voters to either use violence against protesters or carry weapons. The Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake, who is vying for a seat in Arizona, told her supporters to “strap on a Glock” ahead of the 2024 elections. A day later, the Republican senator Tom Cotton said Americans should “take matters into their own hands” when dealing with pro-Palestinian protesters, encouraging vigilantism. An alarming number of Americans are also willing to use weapons to carry out political violence, according to a recent study.
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Post by Webster on May 6, 2024 15:47:29 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Bernie Sanders, the progressive senator from Vermont and two-time White House hopeful, announced his intention to run for re-election at 82. He is an independent who caucuses with Democrats. “In recent years, working together, we have made important progress in addressing some very serious challenges,” Sanders said in a video to Vermont voters. “But much much more needs to be done if we are to become the state and the nation our people deserve.” As chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee he has held several high-profile hearings on prescription drug pricing and workers’ rights.
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Post by Webster on May 13, 2024 12:35:45 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Democrats lead in races that could determine Senate control, poll findsFor all the worries it sparked about Joe Biden’s chances in November, this morning’s New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena College poll contained good news for Democrats’ chances of maintaining their Senate control. The party’s candidates were ahead in four states that will be crucial to determining whether or not Republicans are able to seize back the majority in November. The poll found, specifically: --Incumbent Tammy Baldwin was up against her challenger Eric Hovde in Wisconsin, with 49% support against his 40%. --In Nevada, Jacky Rosen led her challenger Sam Brown with 40% support against his 38%. --In the race for Arizona’s Senate seat, Ruben Gallego is ahead with 45% support against Kari Lake’s 41%. --Pennsylvania senator Bob Casey has 46% support against David McCormick’s 41%. However, the poll did not cover Ohio and Montana, both red states where incumbent Democratic senators will have to win re-election in order for the party to keep its majority, assuming Democrats do not pick up seats anywhere else, which is considered unlikely. And even if they triumph in all these states, Democrats are expected to lose a seat representing deep-red West Virginia, giving them a 50-50 tie with Republicans in the Senate – meaning Biden will have to win re-election in order for them to keep their majority.
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Post by Webster on May 22, 2024 17:29:55 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Mike Johnson has his own problems, particularly when it comes to maintaining staff, the Guardian’s Robert Tait reports: The Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, is reeling from a sudden staff exodus as he struggles to keep his position and the GOP’s tiny majority in the run-up to November’s elections.
In the latest in a spate of resignations, Johnson’s well-connected communications director, Raj Shah, a former White House deputy press secretary under Donald Trump, has confirmed he is leaving, Axios reported. He is expected to depart by the end of the summer.
News of his impending departure comes a day after it was announced that three top policy staff members, Brittan Specht, Jason Yaworske and Preston Hill, had quit and would leave by the end of May. All three worked for the previous speaker, Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted in an internal party coup last October, but were retained by Johnson when he ascended to the speaker’s chair.
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Post by Webster on May 22, 2024 17:31:16 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Democrats go on the offensive against Trump, GOP, over contraception accessDemocrats are looking for an edge against Donald Trump, and are moving forward with plans to tie the ex-president and his Republican allies to efforts to cut off access to contraception. Joe Biden’s campaign has seized on a vote by Louisiana’s Republican state lawmakers to reclassify two abortion drugs in a way that would make possessing them without a prescription a crime, calling it is a sign of policies to come if Trump is returned to the White House. “What’s happening right here in Louisiana is just one example of this dystopian agenda Trump and his allies are pushing,” Mitch Landrieu, the former New Orleans mayor who is a co-chair of Biden’s campaign, said in a call with reporters. “It’s a far cry from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, who are standing up for women’s fundamental freedoms and leading a whole-of-government effort to protect and strengthen access to reproductive health care in the face of extreme Republican attacks. They are going to fight like hell to restore protections of Roe v Wade, and they will never allow a national abortion ban to become law.” In the US Senate, Democratic majority leader Chuck Schumer announced the chamber would on Thursday vote on the Right to Contraception Act, which is intended to protect access to the medication. “Now more than ever, contraception is a critical piece of protecting women’s reproductive freedoms, standing as nothing short of a vital lifeline for millions of American women across the country,” Schumer said today in announcing the push. Senate legislation needs 60 votes to pass, and it is unclear if the measure will attract the Republican support necessary to clear that bar. Democrats have benefited from public concern over reproductive rights generated by the supreme court’s 2022 ruling overturning Roe v Wade and allowing states to ban abortion. They are banking on that support emerging again in the November presidential election, though, as the Guardian’s Carter Sherman reports, not all abortion rights supporters are comfortable with that strategy. -Read more: www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/09/florida-abortion-democrats-voting
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Post by Webster on May 22, 2024 17:33:28 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Guardian poll draws worrying conclusion for Democrats about voters' perception of the economyDemocrats are having increasing trouble convincing voters that the US economy is in a healthy state, a new Harris poll conducted for the Guardian found. Despite months of strong job growth, declines in the rate of inflation and record highs in stock indices, the survey indicated that a majority of Americans wrongly believe the country is in a recession. More worryingly for Joe Biden’s re-election prospects, nearly 60% blame “mismanagement” from his administration for making the situation worse. Those findings line up with other polls that have shown voters giving the president poor marks for his handling of the economy. -Read more: www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/22/poll-economy-recession-biden
Economic concerns loom large in the minds of voters nationwide, including in Georgia, a state Joe Biden won in 2020, the first Democrat to do so in decades, But polls have shown the president’s support slipping in the state, and as the Guardian’s Michael Sainato reports from rural Peach county, concerns over the availability of jobs and the affordability of essentials are one reason why: Rows of pecan and peach trees frame the scenery throughout Peach county, Georgia, a rural area of central Georgia, about 100 miles south of Atlanta. A field of yellow school buses pack a lot on the way into Fort Valley, the county’s seat, where the buses used across the US are manufactured.
Peach county is a swing county in what has emerged as one of the most important swing states in the presidential election. And, according to a March 2024 poll conducted by Emerson College, the economy is the most important issue to Georgia voters. About 32% of those polled said the economy was their top priority, trailed by immigration at 14% and healthcare at 12%.
In 2020, Joe Biden won the state of Georgia by 0.2 percentage points. Donald Trump won Peach county by just over 500 votes, 51.8% to 47.2%. Emerson’s last poll found 46% of voters in Georgia currently support Trump to 42% supporting Biden, with 12% undecided – setting the state, and Peach county, on course for another nail-biting election where views on the economy will be key.
For Victoria Simmons, a retired local newspaper editor who lives in Byron, the economy is a top issue. “People can hardly afford to buy groceries and are losing hope,” she said. “We need to be focusing more on our own country rather than sending millions to places like Ukraine. “If the election is fair and there is no tampering, I believe we will see a Trump victory,” she said.
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