Politics Election category, Page 130
U.S. national debt hits record $34 trillion as Congress gears up for funding fight
WASHINGTON — The federal government’s gross national debt has surpassed $34 trillion, a record high that foreshadows the coming political and economic challenges to improve America’s balance sheet in the coming years. The U.S. Treasury Department issued a report Tuesday logging U.S. finances, which have become a source of tension...
Lawsuit seeks to remove Pa. Rep. Scott Perry from 2024 ballot
A former Pennsylvania congressional candidate filed a lawsuit on Tuesday to remove Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry from the state primary ballot, arguing that Perry’s role challenging the results of the 2020 election should make him ineligible to run for office. Gene Stilp filed the suit as a voter in...
Biden and Trump are poised for a potential rematch that could shake American politics
LACONIA, N.H. — U.S. presidential elections have been rocked in recent years by economic disaster, stunning gaffes, secret video and a pandemic. But for all the tumult that defined those campaigns, the volatility surrounding this year’s presidential contest has few modern parallels, posing profound challenges to the future of American...
Ron DeSantis urges crowd to defy odds, help him ‘win the Iowa caucuses’
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — To underscore how much Iowa means to Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor was unwilling to put his campaigning there on hold even in the waning hours of 2023. At a New Year’s Eve event in a Sheraton Hotel ballroom in West Des Moines, jeans and...
Poll: More Americans think foreign policy should be a top priority
WASHINGTON — In this time of war overseas, more Americans think foreign policy should be a top focus for the U.S. government in 2024, with a new poll showing international concerns and immigration rising in importance with the public. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults named foreign policy topics in...
Maine state official who removed Trump from ballot was targeted in swatting call at her home
A fake emergency call to police resulted in officers responding Friday night to the home of Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows just a day after she removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot under the Constitution’s insurrection clause. She becomes the latest elected politician to...
American democracy has overcome big stress tests since the 2020 election. More challenges are ahead
Over the past three years, the world’s oldest democracy has been tested in ways not seen in decades. A sitting president tried to overturn an election and his supporters stormed the Capitol to stop the winner from taking power. Supporters of that attack launched a campaign against local election offices,...
Retirements could tip control of the House majority. It’s Republicans who have the early edge
WASHINGTON — A chaotic year for the House is coming to a close with more Democrats than Republicans deciding to leave the chamber, a disparity that could have major ramifications in next year’s elections. About two dozen Democrats have indicated they won’t seek reelection, with half running for another elected...
Judge blocks most of an Iowa law banning some school library books and discussion of LGBTQ+ issues
DES MOINES, Iowa — A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked key parts of an Iowa law that bans some books from school libraries and forbids teachers from raising LGBTQ+ issues. Judge Stephen Locher’s preliminary injunction halts enforcement of the law, which was set to take effect Jan. 1 but...
In Pennsylvania, any challenge to Trump being on the ballot must go through the courts
Pennsylvania’s secretary of state said Friday he does not have the authority to remove former President Donald Trump from the ballot and any such challenge here must be done through the courts. “Pennsylvania’s Election Code does not give me, as secretary of the commonwealth, the authority to reject a nomination...
Trump is blocked from the GOP primary ballot in 2 states. Can he still run for president?
DENVER — First, Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled that former President Donald Trump wasn’t eligible to run for his old job in that state. Then, Maine’s Democratic secretary of state ruled the same for her state. Who’s next? Both decisions are historic. The Colorado court was the first court to apply...
Maine bars Trump from ballot as U.S. Supreme Court weighs state authority to block former president
PORTLAND, Maine — Maine’s Democratic secretary of state on Thursday removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot under the Constitution’s insurrection clause, becoming the first election official to take action unilaterally as the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to decide whether Trump remains eligible to continue...
As cities take down Confederate memorials, Florida bill seeks to stop them — and put the statues back up
Confederate monuments have come down in Orlando, Tampa and most recently Jacksonville as part of a nationwide reckoning with public memorials that commemorate the Confederacy. But if a bill becomes law next year, local leaders could be fined and even booted from office if they remove those monuments. State Rep....
Nikki Haley doesn’t mention slavery when asked what caused the Civil War. She later walks that backVideo
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was asked at a New Hampshire town hall about the reason for the Civil War, and she didn’t mention slavery in her response. She walked back her comments hours later. Asked Wednesday night during a town hall in Berlin what she believed...
Boebert switches congressional districts, avoiding Democratic opponent who has far outraised her
DENVER — Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert announced Wednesday she is switching congressional districts, avoiding a likely rematch against a Democrat who has far outraised her and following an embarrassing moment of groping and vaping that shook even loyal supporters. In a Facebook video Wednesday evening, Boebert announced she would enter...
Trump ballot ban appealed to U.S. Supreme Court by Colorado Republican Party
DENVER — The Colorado Republican Party on Wednesday appealed the state’s supreme court decision that found former President Donald Trump is ineligible for the presidency, the potential first step to a showdown at the nation’s highest court over the meaning of a 155-year-old constitutional provision that bans from office those...
Democratic mayors criticize drop-offs of migrants from Texas, seek help
CHICAGO — The mayors of Chicago, New York City and Denver renewed pleas Wednesday for more federal help and coordination with Texas over the growing number of asylum-seekers arriving in their cities by bus and plane. The mayors’ requests come as U.S. cities have struggled to manage the increasing number...
Michigan Supreme Court will keep Trump on 2024 ballot
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan’s Supreme Court is keeping former President Donald Trump on the state’s primary election ballot. The court said Wednesday it will not hear an appeal of a lower court’s ruling from groups seeking to keep Trump from appearing on the ballot. The state’s high court said in...
Poll: Americans sour on the primary election process and major political parties
WASHINGTON — With the GOP primary process just about to start, many Republicans aren’t certain that votes will be counted correctly in their presidential primary contest, amid widespread pessimism about the future of both the Democratic and Republican parties, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for...
As social media guardrails fade and AI deepfakes go mainstream, experts warn of impact on elections
NEW YORK — Nearly three years after rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, the false election conspiracy theories that drove the violent attack remain prevalent on social media and cable news: suitcases filled with ballots, late-night ballot dumps, dead people voting. Experts warn it will likely be worse in the coming...
Marjorie Taylor Greene targeted by failed Christmas swatting attempt
Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was the target of a swatting attempt at her Georgia residence on Christmas morning, the congresswoman and local police said, marking the latest instance of someone calling in a fake emergency to draw armed officers to her home. The Rome Police Department quickly verified...
Kicking Trump off the ballot won’t be easy — here’s why
WASHINGTON — The argument that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution bars Donald Trump from the ballot has rapidly gone from obscurity to the top of the political agenda. In August, when I wrote about why the 14th Amendment needed to be taken seriously and how it had the potential...
Biden says presidents can be subject to criminal prosecution
President Joe Biden said he “can’t think of one” reason presidents should receive absolute immunity from prosecution, as Republican front-runner Donald Trump has claimed. Biden made the comment in response to a reporter’s question Saturday before departing the White House for Camp David, where he will spend Christmas. The Supreme...
North Dakota lawmaker made homophobic remarks to officer during DUI stop, bodycam footage shows
BISMARCK, N.D. — A North Dakota lawmaker who serves on a panel that handles law enforcement legislation made homophobic and anti-migrant remarks to a police officer who arrested him on a charge of driving drunk, body camera footage shows. Republican state Rep. Nico Rios of Williston also was charged with...
Trump says he’s eager to debate Biden in 2024, even if controversial commission plans events
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump says he is eager to debate President Joe Biden, even if the debates are sponsored by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. And he says he is open to debating a single Republican rival if a serious challenger emerges after the New Hampshire...
