Politics Election category, Page 163
Harlan Crow, who gave lavish trips to Clarence Thomas, has donated $13M to GOP
WASHINGTON — Harlan Crow, the Dallas investor whose lavish secret trips with Justice Clarence Thomas have sparked an intense debate about Supreme Court ethics, is a GOP megadonor with many friends in high places. In the last three decades, the billionaire real estate magnate has donated $14.7 million to candidates...
Expelled Tennessee lawmakers both seeking seats again
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — One of the two Black Democrats who was thrown out of the Tennessee House last week appeared likely to get his seat back Monday, just days after the GOP exacted retribution against the lawmakers who called for more gun control. Nashville’s Metro Council could return Justin Jones...
Unemployment fell to 3.5% under Biden. For how much longer?
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden keeps seeing good economic news and bad public approval ratings. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5% in March. More than 236,000 jobs were added. But there has been no political payoff for the president. A poll last month by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public...
Fetterman, Casey slam federal judge’s ruling against abortion medication
Pennsylvania’s Democratic U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Bob Casey did not mince words when responding to Friday’s ruling by a federal judge in Texas halting the approval of an abortion medication. “This ruling by a hard-right Trump appointed judge is simply bull(expletive),” Fetterman said in a statement released Saturday morning....
Biden sports plan angers transgender advocates, opponents
A Biden administration proposal to forbid outright bans on transgender athletes sparked outrage from conservative leaders while also angering trans rights activists who note schools could still prevent some athletes from participating on teams that align with their gender identity. The proposed rule, which still faces a lengthy approval process,...
What’s next for Tennessee’s expelled lawmakers?
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Republicans have expelled two Democratic lawmakers from the state Legislature for their role in a protest calling for more gun control. Here’s a look at what could happen next: What happened? Republicans voted Thursday to expel two Black lawmakers who last week approached the front of...
House Republicans subpoena former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz in Trump case
WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Thursday subpoenaed one of the former Manhattan prosecutors who had been leading a criminal investigation into Donald Trump before quitting last year in a clash over the direction of the probe. Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, ordered Mark Pomerantz to testify...
U.S. would bar full ban on trans athletes but allow exceptions
WASHINGTON — Schools and colleges across the U.S. would be forbidden from enacting outright bans on transgender athletes under a proposal released Thursday from the Biden administration, but teams could create some limits in certain cases — for example, to ensure fairness. The proposed rule sends a political counterpunch toward...
Arkansas lawmakers reject proposed affirmative action ban
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas’ Republican-led House has rejected and effectively killed legislation aimed at banning affirmative action by state and local governments after critics said it would have gone much further than its architects said it would and threatened a host of programs around the state. The bill rejected...
Tennessee’s House expels 2 of 3 Democrats over gun protestVideo
NASHVILLE — In an extraordinary act of political retaliation, Tennessee Republicans on Thursday expelled two Democratic lawmakers from the state Legislature for their role in a protest that called for more gun control in the aftermath of a deadly school shooting in Nashville. The banishment of Reps. Justin Jones and...
Idaho becomes 1st state to restrict interstate travel for abortions
BOISE — Helping a minor travel to another state for an abortion, without parental consent, will be a felony in Idaho next month, barring a successful court challenge. Republican Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Wednesday signed House Bill 242. It prohibits traveling with a minor to another state for an...
Anti-vaccine activist RFK Jr. challenging Biden in 2024
NEW YORK — Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist and scion of one of the country’s most famous political families, is running for president. Kennedy filed a statement of candidacy Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission. The 69-year-old’s campaign to challenge incumbent President Joe Biden for the Democratic...
Kansas bans transgender athletes from women’s, girls’ sports
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas is banning transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports from kindergarten through college, the first of several possible new laws restricting the rights of transgender people pushed through by Republican legislators over the wishes of the Democratic governor. The Legislature on Wednesday overrode Gov. Laura Kelly’s...
Trump’s bravado tested as legal woes overlap with campaign
NEW YORK — When Donald Trump stepped into a Manhattan courthouse Tuesday afternoon, his usual bravado was replaced with palpable anger and notable silence as the former president was reduced to a criminal defendant in custody. By the time he returned to his Mar-a-Lago club hours later, he was ready...
Party switch gives GOP veto-proof control in North Carolina
RALEIGH — A Democratic state lawmaker in North Carolina announced Wednesday that she is jumping to the Republican Party, giving the GOP veto-proof majorities in both the state’s legislative chambers that should make it easier to enact conservative policies over the opposition of Gov. Roy Cooper. Whether the switch by...
Legal experts say jury selection in Trump trial could be sticking point
The coverage around former President Donald Trump’s arraignment has created a media circus, and Pittsburgh legal experts expect that trend to accelerate, as it could have an effect on jury selection for the trial. An indictment unsealed Tuesday claimed Trump conspired to illegally influence the 2016 election through a series...
Supporters hope Pa.’s new legislature will embrace open primaries, but at least one big hurdle remains
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 — Lawmakers and advocates who support opening Pennsylvania’s primary elections to over a million independent voters hope the legislature will...
Florida Senate passes 6-week abortion ban backed by Gov. DeSantisVideo
TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Senate on Monday approved a bill to ban abortions after six weeks, a measure supported by Gov. Ron DeSantis as the Republican prepares to launch his expected presidential candidacy. The vote prompted demonstrations at the state’s capital that resulted in the arrest of the leader of...
Tennessee GOP members move to oust 3 Democrats after gun protest
NASHVILLE — Tennessee Republican lawmakers took the first steps Monday to expel three Democratic members from the GOP-dominant House for their role in a recent gun control protest at the state Capitol. Resolutions have been filed against Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson after they led chants from...
Spending in Wisconsin Supreme Court race tops $42 millionVideo
MADISON, Wis. — Spending on the high stakes Wisconsin Supreme Court race has topped $42 million, nearly triple the previous national record for a court race, with the Democratic-backed candidate having a roughly $6 million advantage, according to a report released on Monday just before polls opened. The winner in...
DeSantis signs bill to carry concealed guns without a permit
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Floridians will be able to carry concealed guns without a permit under a bill Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Monday, giving the governor another legislative victory as he prepares a campaign for president. The governor signed the bill in a private ceremony in his office. His only...
Trump indictment ends decades of perceived invincibility
NEW YORK — When Donald Trump steps before a judge this coming week to be arraigned in a New York courtroom, it will not only mark the first time a former U.S. president has faced criminal charges. It will also be a reckoning for a man long nicknamed “Teflon Don,”...
Ex-Arkansas GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson is running for president
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Asa Hutchinson, who recently completed two terms as Arkansas governor, said Sunday he will seek the Republican presidential nomination, positioning himself as an alternative to Donald Trump just days after the former president was indicted by a grand jury in New York. Hutchinson said Trump should...
Biden and his 2024 campaign: Waiting for some big decisions
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has all but announced he’s running for reelection, but key questions about the 2024 campaign are unresolved: Who will manage it? Where will it be based? When will he finally make it official? Advisers have long said he planned to wait until after March, when...
Trump facing at least 1 felony charge in NY case
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump is facing multiple charges of falsifying business records, including at least one felony offense, in the indictment handed down by a Manhattan grand jury, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Friday. He will be formally arrested and arraigned...
