Politics Election category, Page 139

NORFOLK, Va. — With midterm election season rapidly approaching, Republicans and Democrats have something in common when it comes to recruiting candidates they hope will deliver majorities in Congress: a preference for military veterans. Both parties anticipate a significant number of races where veterans will be opposing each other, using...

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is facing a summer slump, with Americans taking a notably less positive view of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his job approval rating ticking down. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 54% of Americans approve...

FORT LAUDERDALE — A Florida judge on Thursday refused to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the order by Gov. Ron DeSantis that parents should decide whether their children wear masks at school to combat the coronavirus. The order by Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper clears the way for a...

WASHINGTON — Three senators said Thursday they have tested positive for covid-19 despite being vaccinated, a high-profile collection of breakthrough cases that comes as the highly infectious delta variant spreads rapidly across the United States. Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., said they have tested...

DENVER — Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert’s husband made $478,000 last year working as a consultant for an energy firm, information that was not disclosed during Boebert’s congressional campaign and only reported in her financial disclosure forms filed this week. In paperwork filed with the House of Representatives on Tuesday, the...

HARRISBURG — A backer of former President Donald Trump’s effort to carry out an Arizona-style “forensic investigation” of Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election suggested Thursday that fellow Republicans in the state Senate are blocking his efforts. In a video posted Thursday on Facebook, state Sen. Doug Mastriano did not name names,...

WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump’s administration signed a peace deal with the Taliban in February 2020, he optimistically proclaimed that “we think we’ll be successful in the end.” His secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, asserted that the administration was “seizing the best opportunity for peace in a generation.” Eighteen...

ATLANTA — Georgia’s State Election Board on Wednesday took a step toward a possible eventual takeover of elections in the state’s most populous county under a process outlined in the state’s sweeping new voting law. The board voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a bipartisan, three-person review panel to investigate the...

ATLANTA — Georgia’s State Election Board on Wednesday took a step toward a possible eventual takeover of elections in the state’s most populous county under a process outlined in the state’s sweeping new voting law that critics argue could open elections up to political interference. The board voted unanimously Wednesday...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — who has been criticized for opposing mask mandates and vaccine passports — is now touting a covid-19 antibody treatment in which a top donor’s company has invested millions of dollars. DeSantis has been flying around the state promoting Regeneron, a monoclonal antibody treatment that was...

WASHINGTON — Facing pressure from civil rights groups, House Democrats kicked an effort to pass a new Voting Rights Act into high gear this week, despite intense Republican opposition. Over the weekend and during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing Monday, House Democrats stated their intention to vote on the measure...

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has approved a significant and permanent increase in the levels of food stamp assistance available to needy families—the largest single increase in the program’s history. Starting in October, average benefits for food stamps (officially known as the SNAP program) will rise more than 25 percent...

The aftermath of the 2020 election put an intense spotlight on voting machines as supporters of former President Donald Trump claimed victory was stolen from him. While the theories were unproven — and many outlandish and blatantly false — election security experts say there are real concerns that need to...

WASHINGTON — When the pace of vaccinations in the U.S. first began to slow, President Joe Biden backed incentives like million-dollar cash lotteries if that’s what it took to get shots in arms. But as new coronavirus infections soar, he’s testing a tougher approach. In just the past two weeks,...

Moderate House Democrats say they would sink a crucial fiscal blueprint outlining $3.5 trillion in social and environment spending unless a separate infrastructure bill is approved first, a new complication for the divided party’s drive to enact President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda. The centrists’ threat directly defies House Speaker Nancy...

WASHINGTON — Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul waited more than a year to disclose that his wife purchased stock in a company that makes a covid-19 treatment, an investment made after Congress was briefed on the threat of the virus but before the public was largely aware of its danger. The...

This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. HARRISBURG — After months of delays, the Census Bureau on Thursday delivered...

WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee met privately Wednesday with a former U.S. attorney in Georgia who resigned in January as then-President Donald Trump waged a pressure campaign on state and federal officials to overturn his presidential defeat — part of a larger probe into Trump’s actions after the November...

AUSTIN, Texas — Officers of the Texas House of Representatives delivered civil arrest warrants for more than 50 absent Democrats on Wednesday as frustrated Republicans ratcheted up efforts to end a standoff over a sweeping elections bill that stretched into its 31st day. But after sergeants-at-arms finished making the rounds...

Redistricting season officially kicks off with the release of detailed population data from the U.S. Census Bureau that will be used to redraw voting districts nationwide — potentially helping determine control of the U.S. House in the 2022 elections and providing an electoral edge for the next decade. The new...

NASHVILLE — All 73 Tennessee House Republicans signaled their support on Wednesday for a special session to limit the authority of local officials to make rules aimed at preventing the spread of covid-19, as lawmakers fumed over mask requirements in a handful of school districts. House Speaker Cameron Sexton sent...

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Washington ruled that Donald Trump must disclose certain financial records held by his accounting firm Mazars in response to a subpoena from congressional Democrats. But in an order on Wednesday, the judge stopped short of calling for the handover of all the financial records...

Andrew Cuomo’s resignation as governor of New York this week brought to an end a political dynasty stretching back to the 1980s, as a once-towering presence in Democratic politics was forced off stage for sexual misconduct ahead of a possible impeachment trial. It was an ignominious ending to the once-bright...

WASHINGTON — Democrats pushed their expansive $3.5 trillion framework for bolstering family services, health, and environment programs toward Senate passage early Wednesday, as Republicans unleashed an avalanche of amendments aimed at making their rivals pay a price in next year’s elections. Congressional approval of the budget resolution, which seems assured,...

WASHINGTON — The Senate has passed a nearly $1 trillion bipartisan plan to rebuild roads and bridges, modernize public works systems and boost broadband internet, among other improvements to the nation’s infrastructure. The White House is projecting that the investments will add, on average, about 2 million jobs per year...