Politics Election category, Page 147
Trump claims he will skip GOP presidential primary debates
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump confirmed Sunday that he will be skipping the first Republican presidential primary debate on Wednesday — and others as well. “The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had,” Trump wrote on his social media site. “I WILL THEREFORE...
Why some of Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s cabinet picks still have ‘acting’ next to their title
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Seven months into his first term as Pennsylvania’s governor, two of Democrat Josh Shapiro’s picks for top cabinet posts...
Sara Innamorato picks up key labor endorsements in Allegheny County executive race
Sara Innamorato, the Democratic nominee for Allegheny County executive, secured several key labor endorsements this week, two months after the Republican candidate in the race locked up a few labor endorsements of his own. Innamorato was endorsed Friday by the Allegheny-Fayette Central Labor Council, a local branch of the AFL-CIO...
Trump’s 2024 GOP rivals converge on Atlanta just days after his latest indictment
ATLANTA — Several Republican White House hopefuls are set to greet a conservative conference with hopes of making up ground against Donald Trump. But the former president’s shadow may be especially difficult to escape in the city where he was most recently indicted. Trump will not speak at The Gathering,...
DeSantis expects ‘knives out’ in first GOP debate as supporters look for reassurance
MIAMI — When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis takes the stage next Wednesday at the first Republican primary debate in Milwaukee, he’ll face perhaps the biggest test yet of his campaign’s efforts to re-establish his position as the strongest alternative to former President Donald Trump. Even as the governor’s campaign has...
GOP-dominated Utah embraces mail voting despite party rhetoric
WASHINGTON — Deidre Henderson watched in surprise as her party waged one attack after another on mail voting in the aftermath of the 2020 election. For the better part of three years, Republicans, led by former President Donald Trump, have repeated claims that mail voting is unsafe and ripe for...
Biden’s approval rating on the economy stagnates despite slowing inflation, AP-NORC poll shows
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has devoted the past several weeks to promoting the positive impacts of his policies — but his efforts have yet to meaningfully register with the public. Only 36% of U.S. adults approve of Biden’s handling of the economy, slightly lower than the 42% who approve...
Arkansas school district says it will continue offering AP African American Studies course
LITTLE ROCK — The Little Rock School District said Wednesday it will continue offering an Advanced Placement course on African American studies despite Arkansas education officials saying the class won’t count toward a student’s graduation credit. The 21,200-student district announced the decision days after the Arkansas Department of Education said...
Veto overridden: Ban on gender-affirming care for minors takes effect in North Carolina
RALEIGH — Transgender youth in North Carolina lost access Wednesday to the gender-affirming treatments many credit as live-saving after the Republican-controlled General Assembly overrode the Democratic governor’s veto of legislation banning such care. GOP supermajorities in the House and Senate enacted — over Gov. Roy Cooper’s opposition — a bill...
Americans are divided along party lines over Trump’s actions in election cases, AP-NORC poll shows
WASHINGTON — Americans are deeply divided along party lines in their views of President Donald Trump’s actions in the most recent criminal cases brought against him, a new poll shows, with about half saying his alleged attempt to interfere in Georgia’s 2020 vote count was illegal. The poll from The...
Once a conservative lawmaker, Mark Meadows now indicted
WASHINGTON — Mark Meadows founded one of the most conservative groups in Congress, left early to be White House chief of staff for Donald Trump and now faces two state criminal charges related to the waning weeks of his time in that administration. The North Carolina Republican was named in...
State Rep. Rob Mercuri announces run for Congress in 17th District
Two-term state Rep. Rob Mercuri, R-Pine, is hoping to flip a congressional seat that covers many Pittsburgh suburbs. Mercuri announced Tuesday his run for Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District, which includes all of Beaver County, as well as suburban communities in Allegheny County’s North Hills, Allegheny Valley, and several boroughs just...
Trump trashes DA Fani Willis as ‘corrupt,’ vows report countering Georgia indictment
Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday blasted Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as “corrupt” and vowed to release an “irrefutable report” countering his sprawling Georgia election interference indictment. Minutes after Willis unveiled the indictment, Trump trashed the Atlanta prosecutor as “out of control and very corrupt.” He later promised...
In ‘Bidenomics,’ Congress delivered a once-in-generation investment — with political promise, peril
WASHINGTON — There are so many dots on the maps they blur into blobs — each one reflecting trillions of public and private dollars flowing in the U.S. this past year to build thousands of roads, bridges and manufacturing projects in communities large and small, in states red and blue....
Hunter Biden’s lawyers say gun portion of plea deal remains valid after special counsel announcement
WASHINGTON — Attorneys for Hunter Biden are pushing to keep part of a plea deal they reached with the prosecutor whose new status as special counsel intensified the tax investigation into the president’s son ahead of the 2024 election. Biden’s attorney argued in court documents late Sunday that an agreement...
Trump assails judge in 2020 election case after she warned him not to make inflammatory remarks
NEW YORK — Donald Trump is assailing the federal judge overseeing the election conspiracy case against him, days after she warned him not to make inflammatory statements about the case. The former president made posts Monday on his social media network calling U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan “highly partisan” and...
Prosecutors have started presenting Georgia election investigation to grand jury
ATLANTA — Prosecutors in Atlanta who have been investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies illegally meddled in the 2020 election in Georgia have begun presenting their case to a grand jury. Former Democratic state Sen. Jen Jordan, who had been subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury, said...
Trump’s Iowa state fair spectacle clouds DeSantis as former president is joined by Florida officials
DES MOINES, Iowa — Gone was the helicopter, but Donald Trump on Saturday renewed his reputation for defying norms and creating a mega-celebrity’s spectacle at the Iowa State Fair. Trump, in fewer than two hours on the steaming fairgrounds in Des Moines, attracted thousands of sweating, chanting supporters to his...
Fulton grand jury to hear Trump case early next week
ATLANTA — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will begin presenting her 2020 elections interference case against former President Donald Trump and his allies to a grand jury early next week. The timeline came into sharper focus on Saturday, when former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and independent journalist George...
Trailing in polls, DeSantis turns to attention-grabbing moves
TAMPA, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has long been known for his fiery responses to reporters and disdain for mainstream news outlets. He even blamed “the media” for low polling numbers in July. But in recent weeks, he has pivoted to accommodate and encourage the spotlight. As his presidential...
AG Garland appoints special counsel in Hunter Biden probe, deepening investigation
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday he has appointed a special counsel in the Hunter Biden probe, deepening the investigation of the president’s son ahead of the 2024 election. Garland noted the “extraordinary circumstances” of the matter as he named David Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware who...
W.Va. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin says he’s been thinking seriously about becoming an independent
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin said that he has been thinking “seriously” about leaving the Democratic Party and becoming an independent. The West Virginia lawmaker, who has raised his national profile as a swing vote on major spending packages in the closely divided U.S. Senate, made the comments...
Biden asks Congress for $40B to support Ukraine, replenish U.S. disaster aid and bolster border
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Thursday asked Congress to provide more than $13 billion in emergency defense aid to Ukraine and an additional $8 billion for humanitarian support through the end of the year, another massive infusion of cash as the Russian invasion wears on and Ukraine pushes a...
Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn arrested in 2021 after groping complaints at club, police records show
PHOENIX — Boris Epshteyn, a longtime aide to former President Donald Trump, was arrested in 2021 after he was accused of repeatedly groping two women in an Arizona nightclub, according to police records. Epshteyn pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct charges in Scottsdale city court after prosecutors dropped charges of attempted...
Florida Gov. DeSantis suspends another Democratic prosecutor as he seeks GOP presidential nominationVideo
TALLAHASSEE — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday suspended the top prosecutor in Orlando, again wielding his executive power over local government in taking on a contentious issue in the 2024 presidential race. It’s the second time DeSantis, a Republican, has removed a Democratic state attorney and follows an investigation...
