Politics Election category, Page 135
Pa. lawmakers to get early holiday gift: a pay increase will bump base salary to $106k
Base salaries for lawmakers will soon top $106,000 a year, establishing Pennsylvania again as the third highest paid state legislature in the nation. The 3.5% pay raise starting Dec. 1, pushes yearly salaries to $106,422 — or $8.869 a month — up from the $102,844 received last December when lawmakers’...
Shapiro says unfinished business includes vouchers, more school funding and higher minimum wage
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Monday that his list of unfinished business for the state Legislature includes passing a private school voucher program, increasing the minimum wage and approving bills to curb gun violence. Shapiro also said he wants lawmakers to lift limits that prevent adult victims of...
Calls for ceasefire in Israel-Hamas war draws support from group of Pittsburgh Jews
A group of over 130 members of Pittsburgh Jewish community is calling for a ceasefire in the Israel/Hamas war. A letter from the group urges President Joe Biden to call for deescalation in the conflict and a ceasefire to preserve lives. Those who signed the letter include community organizers, constituents,...
Voters back abortion rights, but some foes won’t relent. Is the commitment to democracy in question?
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The statewide battles over abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a constitutional right to abortion have exposed another fault line: the commitment to democracy. As voters in state after state affirm their support for abortion rights, opponents are acting with escalating defiance toward the democratic...
Biden: ‘Revitalized Palestinian Authority’ should govern Gaza, West Bank
WILMINGTON, Del. — President Joe Biden says achieving a cease-fire amid Israel’s war with Hamas “is not peace” and that an important key to lasting stability is a reunited Gaza Strip and West Bank that can be governed under “a revitalized Palestinian Authority.” In an op-ed published Saturday in the...
Political violence threatens to intensify as the 2024 campaign heats up, experts on extremism warn
The man who bludgeoned former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer last year consumed a steady diet of right-wing conspiracy theories before an attack that took place with the midterm elections less than two weeks away. As the 2024 presidential campaign heats up, experts on extremism fear the...
Officials stock up on overdose antidote naloxone after fentanyl-laced letters disrupt vote counting
SEATTLE — The suspicious letters sent to vote centers and government buildings in six states this month were undeniably scary, some containing traces of fentanyl or white powder, accompanied by not-so-veiled threats and dubious political symbols. Harkening back to the anthrax attacks that killed five people in 2001, the mailings...
Tempers flare and bills languish as Speaker Johnson confronts the same problems that vexed McCarthy
WASHINGTON — By most accounts, Speaker Mike Johnson inherited a House Republican majority in disarray after the sudden ouster of his predecessor last month. But as Johnson, R-La., tries to rebuild that slim majority, he’s fast running into the same hard-right factions and divisions that Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was...
Colorado judge keeps Trump on ballot, rejects insurrection argument
DENVER — A Colorado judge on Friday rejected an effort to keep former President Donald Trump from appearing on the state’s primary ballot, the latest blow to groups seeking to block his run for another term using a Civil War-era Constitutional amendment that prevents anyone who “engaged in insurrection” from...
Judge rejects Trump’s request for a mistrial in civil fraud case
NEW YORK — The judge in Donald Trump’s civil fraud case denied his bid for a mistrial Friday, rejecting claims from the former president’s lawyers that the proceedings are poisoned by political bias. Trump’s lawyers had argued Judge Arthur Engoron irreparably harmed Trump’s right to a fair trial through “astonishing...
Pittsburgh Jews concerned about next spring’s primary falling during Passover
Next year’s primary in Pennsylvania is scheduled to be held during Passover, and Pittsburgh’s Jewish community is raising alarms about how that could disenfranchise voters. The state’s primary is scheduled for April 23. Passover starts at sundown April 22 and runs through April 30. Passover has work, travel and other...
Ethics chairman launches new bid to expel George Santos after a withering conduct report
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the House Ethics Committee announced Friday he has filed a resolution to force a vote on expelling Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., from Congress, one day after the committee issued a withering report detailing substantial evidence that Santos converted campaign donations for his own personal use....
Univision news anchor León Krauze departs after network’s controversial Trump interview
León Krauze, a veteran news anchor for Univision and its Los Angeles TV station, has resigned in the aftermath the Spanish-language network’s recent interview with former President Trump. “After thirteen rewarding years, my journey with Univision Noticias concluded yesterday,” Krauze wrote on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). “It...
Rep. George Santos won’t seek reelection after scathing ethics report cites evidence of lawbreaking
WASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee in a scathing report Thursday said it has amassed “overwhelming evidence” of lawbreaking by Republican Rep. George Santos of New York that has been sent to the Justice Department, concluding flatly that he “cannot be trusted” after a monthslong investigation into his conduct. Shortly...
Averting government shutdown, Congress approves temporary funding through the holidays
WASHINGTON — Ending the threat of a government shutdown until after the holidays, Congress gave final approval Wednesday night to a temporary government funding package that pushes a confrontation over the federal budget into the new year. The Senate met into the night to pass the bill with an overwhelming...
Pennsylvania House passes ‘shield law’ to protect providers, out-of-staters seeking abortions
HARRISBURG — A bill seeking to protect those who travel to Pennsylvania to get abortions by barring public officials from cooperating with authorities in other states that criminalize the practice advanced Wednesday through the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. The legislation passed 117-86. It now goes to the GOP-controlled state Senate,...
Pennsylvania’s Senate approves millions for universities and schools, but rejects House priorities
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Legislature on Wednesday approved hundreds of millions of dollars for universities after a fight that has dragged on five months into the fiscal year, although the politically divided body continued to feud over elements of school funding. Legislation to send just over $600 million to several higher...
House heads home after defeat of rule for Iran, spending bills
WASHINGTON — House lawmakers left town Wednesday for Thanksgiving after a GOP revolt that led to defeat of the rule for floor debate on the final two pieces of legislation the chamber was scheduled to consider. Nineteen Republicans voted against the rule for the fiscal 2024 Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill and...
Trump’s lawyers want a mistrial in his New York civil fraud case. They claim the judge is biased
NEW YORK — Lawyers for Donald Trump asked for a mistrial Wednesday in the New York civil fraud case that threatens the former president’s real estate empire. They accuse the judge of tainting the proceedings with “tangible and overwhelming” bias. Trump’s lawyers urged Judge Arthur Engoron to stop the case...
Sen. Joe Manchin says Donald Trump would destroy U.S. democracy if he wins 2nd term as presidentVideo
WASHINGTON — West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, days removed from announcing he won’t seek reelection, said Wednesday that if the nation’s voters give former President Donald Trump another term in the White House, “he will destroy democracy in America.” Manchin, whose home state voters overwhelmingly backed Trump in the last...
Senate looks to speed ahead on temporary funding to avert government shutdown through the holidays
WASHINGTON — The Senate was pushing toward a swift vote Wednesday on a temporary government funding package as lawmakers sought to keep the holiday season free from any suspense over a government shutdown. Senators were trying to speed forward on the funding package one day after it passed the House...
Spending on Pa. Supreme Court race broke records, set precedent for outside influence
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — The candidates for Pennsylvania Supreme Court and their allies spent at least $22 million to influence the race’s outcome, with much of that...
Nikki Haley walks back her demand that social media ban anonymous posters after facing GOP backlash
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Nikki Haley on Wednesday partially walked back her proposed requirement that social media companies ban people from posting anonymously online for national security reasons, a stance for which she drew backlash across conservative social media and some of her GOP presidential rivals. The former United Nations ambassador’s...
New Hampshire defies national Democrats’ calendar revamp with Jan. 23, 2024, presidential primaries
CONCORD, N.H. — New Hampshire’s secretary of state on Wednesday scheduled the state’s presidential primaries for Jan. 23, 2024, extending its century-old streak of going first despite national Democrats’ efforts to overhaul the nominating calendar. State law requires New Hampshire’s Republican and Democratic primaries to be held at least seven...
Pennsylvania House OKs $1.8 billion pension boost for government and public school retirees
HARRISBURG — Democrats who control the state House of Representatives on Tuesday advanced an estimated $1.8 billion boost to the pensions of Pennsylvania state government and public school retirees, while some Republicans said taxpayers will unfairly shoulder the financial burden. The legislation passed 140-63, with every Democrat supporting it. It...
