Politics Election category, Page 211
High court won’t hear pandemic proxy voting dispute
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has rejected a challenge from House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy to the proxy voting system that Democrats put in place in response to the coronavirus pandemic. McCarthy had sought a declaration that proxy voting, an absent representative giving authority for someone in attendance to cast...
Some South Carolina Black Dems want Biden to ‘try a little bit harder’
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Joe Biden’s run for the Democratic presidential nomination was all but declared dead as he headed to the South Carolina primary in late February 2020. He had finished fifth in New Hampshire and fourth in Iowa. Still, Biden advised skeptics to withhold judgment until a state with...
Arizona Democrats censure Sinema over voting rights bill
U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is growing increasingly isolated from some of her party’s most influential officials and donors after playing a key role in scuttling voting rights legislation that many Democrats consider essential to preserving democracy. Leaders of the Arizona Democratic Party voted Saturday to censure Sinema, a symbolic condemnation...
Mitch McConnell responds to uproar over comment about Black voters
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell pushed back Friday against the uproar over a comment he made about African American voters, calling the criticism directed his way “outrageous.” McConnell had been accused of racism for saying that “African American” voters cast ballots at similar rates to “Americans.” The comment implied that...
Wisconsin prosecutor weighs in on fake GOP electors
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin assistant district attorney has said state or federal prosecutors should look into a complaint filed a year ago alleging that Republicans committed fraud when they submitted false paperwork saying former President Donald Trump had won the battleground state. Wisconsin is one of seven states where...
Former Pa. House Speaker Mike Turzai declares he is not running for governor
For weeks, there was talk that former Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai was toying with the idea of jumping into the crowded field of Republicans competing to be the party’s gubernatorial nominee. This week, he declared he is not a candidate. In a statement, Turzai said, “While I did not...
AP-NORC poll: Biden approval hits new low at 1-year mark
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden ends his first year in the White House with a clear majority of Americans for the first time disapproving of his handling of the presidency in the face of an unrelenting pandemic and roaring inflation, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center...
Georgia DA asks for special grand jury in 2020 election probe
ATLANTA — The Georgia prosecutor looking into possible attempts to interfere in the 2020 general election by former President Donald Trump and others has asked for a special grand jury to aid the investigation. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Thursday sent a letter to Fulton County Superior Court...
Voting bill collapses, Democrats unable to change filibusterVideo
WASHINGTON — Voting legislation that Democrats and civil rights leaders say is vital to protecting democracy collapsed Wednesday when two senators refused to join their own party in changing Senate rules to overcome a Republican filibuster after a raw, emotional debate. The outcome was a stinging defeat for President Joe...
West Virginia lawmakers seek to ban school mask, testing requirements
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A group of Republican lawmakers in West Virginia is trying to pass a law forbidding mask mandates in K-12 schools and restricting districts from requiring covid-19 testing for people who don’t have symptoms. The “Public School Health Rights Act” would also prevent students or school employees from...
Biden reviews first year of ‘challenges but also enormous progress’Video
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday sought to reframe his presidency as one of “challenges but also enormous progress,” saying he would restart efforts to pass his signature legislative agenda and use the midterm election campaigns to push harder against Republican obstinance. “For all this progress, I know there’s...
Candidate withdraws from race for Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s former Pa. House seat
A woman who planned to run for the state House seat vacated by Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey has rescinded her candidacy, citing proposed legislative maps that will likely put her in a different district. Ashley Comans of Wilkinsburg had previously launched a campaign in the 24th State House District, which...
Florida Democrat sworn in as newest member of HouseVideo
WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida was sworn in as the newest member of the House on Tuesday, filling the seat last held by Alcee Hastings, who died in April of pancreatic cancer. She’ll boost the Democrats’ slender House majority to 222-212, leaving room for no more than...
In unusual move, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis submits redistricting map
TALLAHASSEE — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has submitted a proposal to reshape the state’s congressional map and carve up districts held by Black Democrats, as the Republican takes the unusual step of inserting himself into the redistricting process. The proposed congressional map, submitted Sunday on the eve of Martin Luther...
Confusion, lawsuit follow Virginia Gov. Glenn Younkin’s order on masksVideo
RICHMOND — Virginia’s new Republican governor was facing pushback from Democratic lawmakers, school districts and a group of parents who sued him Tuesday over an executive order that aims to create an opt-out for classroom mask mandates. The order issued Saturday and set to take effect Monday was among Glenn...
Former AG William Barr’s memoir to be published March 8
NEW YORK — Former Attorney General William P. Barr has a memoir coming out March 8 titled “One Damn Thing After Another,” and billed by his publisher as a “vivid and forthright book” of his time serving two “drastically different” presidents, Donald Trump and George H.W. Bush. “Barr takes readers...
Big voting bill faces defeat as 2 Democrats won’t stop filibusterVideo
WASHINGTON — Voting legislation that Democrats and civil rights leaders say is vital for protecting democracy appeared headed for defeat as the Senate churned into debate Tuesday, a devastating setback enabled by President Joe Biden’s own party as two holdout senators refuse to support rule changes to overcome a Republican...
Biden year 1 takeaways: Grand ambitions, humbling defeats
Joe Biden’s long arc in public life has always had one final ambition: to sit behind the Resolute Desk of the Oval Office. He achieved it — albeit, at 78, as the oldest person to assume the presidency. After the turbulence and chaos of his predecessor, Donald Trump, Biden was...
Pa. GOP answered Wolf vetoes with constitution changes in strategy that’s here to stay
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 — Gov. Tom Wolf has vetoed more than 50 bills as he begins his final year in office, a number...
Mehmet Oz is spending millions on TV to boost his Senate campaign in Pennsylvania. He’s not alone in an ultra-wealthy GOP fieldVideo
PHILADELPHIA — If you live in Pennsylvania, there’s a good chance you’ve been seeing Mehmet Oz on your television — and not like you used to. The celebrity surgeon and former talk show host known as “Dr. Oz” is pouring millions of dollars into campaign ads as he runs for...
After Biden’s first year, the virus and disunity rage on
WASHINGTON — From the inaugural platform, President Joe Biden saw American sickness on two fronts — a disease of the national spirit and the one from the rampaging coronavirus — and he saw hope, because leaders always must see that. “End this uncivil war,” he implored Americans on Jan. 20,...
Pa. legislature’s redacted legal bills flout court ruling, leave taxpayers guessing
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 — In May, GOP lawmakers who control the state House and Senate hired the chair of the Republican Party of...
Westmoreland Republicans disappointed with current redistricting proposal
If State Rep. Bob Brooks, R-Murrysville, wants to continue representing the 54th Legislative District, he may have to move to southeastern Pennsylvania to do it. Under the proposal for redistricting House seats in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, Brooks’ hometown of Murrysville would be split in two. It would be absorbed...
Ohio Supreme Court rejects GOP-drawn congressional map
Ohio’s Republican-drawn congressional map was rejected by the state’s high court Friday, giving hope to national Democrats who had argued it unfairly delivered several potentially competitive seats in this year’s critical midterm elections to Republicans. In the 4-3 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court returned the map to the Ohio General...
Voters could be flooded with proposed changes to the Pa. Constitution in 2023
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 — Pennsylvania voters could face at least five ballot questions about changing the state constitution next year after House Republicans...
