Politics Election category, Page 154
DeSantis faces balancing act in backing Trump, experts say
ORLANDO, Fla. — Given the chance to pounce, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is instead backing his rival Donald Trump, accusing the U.S. Department of Justice of partisan bias in charging the former president. For political analysts, DeSantis’ unwillingness to attack Trump over his legal problems showcases the influence Trump retains...
Trump faces unprecedented legal peril, but will it hurt his standing with Republican voters?
DES MOINES, Iowa — In March, when Donald Trump became the first former president in U.S. history indicted on criminal charges, his reelection campaign saw a huge surge in donations. Even political rivals rushed to support him. There was no dent in his front-runner status after the state charges in...
Supreme Court rules in favor of Black Alabama voters in unexpected defense of Voting Rights ActVideo
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a surprising 5-4 ruling in favor of Black voters in a congressional redistricting case from Alabama, with two conservative justices joining liberals in rejecting a Republican-led effort to weaken a landmark voting rights law. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh...
Republican Joe Rockey picks up key labor endorsements in Allegheny County executive race
The Republican candidate for Allegheny County executive picked up a rare, but not unprecedented, endorsement from a large labor union on Thursday. The Pennsylvania District Council of the Laborers International Union of North America endorsed Republican Joe Rockey, a retired chief risk officer at PNC. He is facing state Rep....
Republican presidential field is largely set. Here are takeaways on where the contest stands
NEW YORK — After a trio of new announcements this week, the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential field is all but set. A handful of stragglers may jump in later, but as of now there are at least 10 high-profile Republican candidates officially seeking their party’s nomination. And with the announcement...
House Republicans pull back contempt charge against FBI director Wray over Biden doc
WASHINGTON — The Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday called off a vote on a contempt of Congress charge against FBI Director Christopher Wray, accepting a last-minute offer by the bureau to allow the full committee access to a confidential document of an unverified tip about President...
Biden vetoes effort to block student loan forgiveness
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden vetoed legislation on Wednesday to block his attempt to grant student debt relief through executive action. The measure, which the Senate cleared last week, will now go back to Capitol Hill for a possible override attempt, which would be unsuccessful based on the support it...
Pennsylvania looking to charge electric vehicle owners a $290 annual fee
Pennsylvanians who own electric vehicles may soon be required to pay an annual fee to help pay for road and bridge improvements. The Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday approved a bipartisan-backed bill by a 13-1 vote that would charge owners of non-commercial passenger electric vehicles a $290 fee annually —...
Pennsylvania House OKs $100 million for adult mental health services
HARRISBURG — A proposal to allocate $100 million in federal funds to pay for adult mental health programs easily passed the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Wednesday, a plan built on the recommendations of a state commission charged with issuing suggestions for coordinated care. The bill passed 173-30 and was...
LBJ’s daughter Luci watched him sign voting rights bill, then cried when Supreme Court weakened it
AUSTIN, Texas — Luci Baines Johnson was a somewhat impatient 18-year-old on Aug. 6, 1965, when she happened to be on what she called “daddy duty,” meaning “I was supposed to accompany him to important occasions.” The occasion that day was President Lyndon Johnson’s scheduled signing of the Voting Rights...
Voting rights marcher recalls being clubbed, hearing fatal gunshot during pivotal day of protests
MARION, Ala. — Della Simpson Maynor was just 14 when she marched for voting rights in her hometown of Marion, Alabama. Her most distinct memory of that evening is of the police attacking the demonstrators. She recalls one officer, on horseback, swinging at her head with a club. “I remember...
Activist’s fight against segregation evolved into political action to push for voting rights
NEW YORK — Norman Hill was at the AFL-CIO office in Washington, D.C., in August 1965, and recalls cheering when he learned the Voting Rights Act had passed Congress. He then took a moment to remember the people “who were killed, literally, struggling to try to get Blacks registered to...
Voting activist killed during Freedom Summer in Mississippi believed country should be integrated
NEW YORK — Stephen Schwerner doesn’t remember how he learned that his younger brother Michael, nicknamed Mickey, was missing in Mississippi along with colleagues Andrew Goodman and James Chaney. What he remembers is that as soon as the family heard the news, they were certain of the young men’s fate....
Andrew Young was at Martin Luther King’s side throughout often violent struggle for civil rights
ATLANTA — Andrew Young’s first thought when he heard the Voting Rights Act had been signed into law was not celebratory. It was strategic. “Where are we going to get the money to get the country mobilized to register these voters?” he recalled thinking at that momentous time nearly 60...
For many Southern Baptists, the only campaign question is which Republican candidate to support
Southern Baptists form a core part of the white evangelical Christian bloc that has reliably and overwhelmingly voted Republican in recent elections, and is expected to again in 2024. But Southern Baptists are weighing their options in the GOP presidential primary field — some already lining up behind Donald Trump,...
Young lawyer who helped write voting rights bill ‘star-struck’ as he witnessed 1965 signing into law
WASHINGTON — Joel Finkelstein is an accidental witness to one of the seminal events of the civil rights movement, the signing in 1965 of the Voting Rights Act. He was a year out of law school at Cornell when he received the call to head to the Capitol for the...
Voices from the violent civil rights era see attacks on voting rights as part of ongoing struggle
They are part of a small, vanishing group who lived at the epicenter of the struggle for voting rights six decades ago, an era driven by segregation, violence and the yearning for equality that eventually led to laws bringing the U.S. closer to its promise of democracy for all its...
N.D. Gov. Doug Burgum launches bid for 2024 GOP presidential nomination
FARGO, N.D. — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has announced his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, adding his name to the long list of contenders hoping to dent former President Donald Trump’s early lead in the race. Burgum, 66, made the announcement in the The Wall Street Journal...
Pence says ‘Different times call for different leadership’ in video launching 2024 presidential bidVideo
DES MOINES, Iowa — Former Vice President Mike Pence promised “the best days of the greatest nation on earth are yet to come” in a video released Wednesday formally launching his campaign for the Republican nomination for president. “Different times call for different leadership,” Pence, who served four years alongside...
House conservatives block GOP bills, voice frustration in response to debt ceiling vote
WASHINGTON — House conservatives staged a mini-revolt Tuesday in retaliation for Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s leadership on last week’s vote to raise the debt ceiling, the right wing banding together to block progress on a mixture of bills and vent their frustration. Led by outspoken members of the House Freedom Caucus,...
Allegheny County Council passes minimum wage hike for county workers
Some Allegheny County employees could see a wage increase thanks to a new minimum age wage bill that passed Tuesday evening. Allegheny County Council voted 10-4 to pass a bill that would set $20 an hour as the minimum wage for county workers by 2026. There would be incremental increases...
Abortion providers sue Kansas over new medication rule, longstanding waiting period
TOPEKA, Kan. — Abortion providers sued Kansas on Tuesday, challenging a new law requiring them to tell patients that an abortion medication can be stopped but also existing restrictions that include a decades-old requirement that patients wait 24 hours to terminate their pregnancies. The lawsuit filed in state district court...
Former N.J. Gov. Christie kicks off 2024 GOP presidential bid with swipes at Trump
NEW YORK — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie wasted no time going after Donald Trump while launching his presidential campaign on Tuesday, calling the former president and current Republican primary front-runner a “lonely, self-consumed, self-serving mirror hog” and arguing that he’s the only one who can stop him. Christie...
Ex-Indiana attorney general eyes GOP governor’s race after groping case derailed 2020 reelection
INDIANAPOLIS — Former Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill is considering whether to join the 2024 Republican governor’s race, nearly three years after his reelection bid was derailed by allegations that he drunkenly groped four women during a party. Hill built a following among social conservatives during his time in office...
Judge blocks Florida ban on trans minor care in narrow ruling, says ‘gender identity is real’
TALLAHASSEE — A federal judge temporarily blocked portions of a new Florida law championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that bans transgender minors from receiving puberty blockers, saying in a Tuesday ruling that gender identity is real and the state has no rational basis for denying patients treatment. Judge Robert...
