Politics Election category, Page 228
Florida Gov. DeSantis: Universities ‘intellectually repressive,’ survey on beliefs is needed
TALLAHASSEE — Civics education will be expanded in Florida, including instruction about communist and totalitarian governments, and state universities will be prevented from quashing conservative ideology under bills Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed this week. DeSantis signed three bills at a Lee County middle school, two of which dealt...
Missouri special session on Medicaid funding begins
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri senators on Wednesday returned to the Capitol to work out a deal on a critical piece of Medicaid funding that’s entangled in a fight over family planning services. Republican Gov. Mike Parson called the last-minute special session after threatening to cut $722 million from the...
Mitch McConnell killed election reform in Senate. Democrats will now take it to the people
WASHINGTON — Mitch McConnell held his entire Republican caucus together to effectively kill the Democrats’ highest legislative priority of the year, a transformative 888-page bill intended to make it easier to vote, rein in the wealthy’s impact on elections, and outlaw the gerrymandering process that constructs partisan congressional districts. But...
Michigan Senate GOP probe: No systemic fraud in election
LANSING, Mich. — State Senate Republicans who investigated Michigan’s 2020 presidential election for months concluded there was no widespread or systemic fraud and urged the state attorney general to consider probing people who have made baseless allegations about the results in Antrim County to raise money or publicity “for their...
Biden faces growing pressure from the left over voting bill
WASHINGTON — When New York Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones was at the White House for the signing of the proclamation making Juneteenth a national holiday last week, he told President Joe Biden their party needed him more involved in passing voting legislation on the Hill. In response? Biden “just sort...
Panel agrees to put guardrails on how Pa. lawmakers draw congressional maps, but not their own
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 — A key state Senate committee agreed Tuesday to put guardrails...
House will form new committee to investigate Jan. 6 attack
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democratic colleagues on Tuesday that she is creating a new committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, according to a person familiar with her remarks. Pelosi made the announcement at a private leadership meeting and did not give additional details....
GOP filibuster halts Democrats’ signature voting billVideo
WASHINGTON — The Democrats’ sweeping attempt to rewrite U.S. election and voting law stalled Tuesday in the Senate, blocked by a wall of Republican opposition to what would have been the largest overhaul of the electoral system in a generation. The bill, known as the For the People Act, would...
Republicans condemn election reform bill as an ‘extreme power grab’
U.S. Senate Republicans used a filibuster to block the Democrat-backed “For the People Act” — an election reform bill — Tuesday in Washington. Pennsylvania lawmakers voiced opinions on the legislation ahead of a test vote needed to begin debate on the bill in the Senate. “This would be the most...
Ohio business groups speak out against GOP vaccination bill
COLUMBUS — Two major Ohio business groups on Tuesday came out in opposition to pending GOP legislation in the Ohio House that would prohibit employers, either public or private, from requiring employees to receive vaccinations. The bill also would prevent workers from being fired as a result of refusing to...
How a Pennsylvania lawmaker billed taxpayers $1.8 million in expenses
Over the next year, The Caucus and Spotlight PA will examine and make public specific areas of spending by the legislature as part of their ongoing efforts to follow the money and track taxpayer dollars. HARRISBURG — The legislature was on break. Policymaking in the Capitol had ground to a...
Harris touts administration’s plans to help families, organized labor
Vice President Kamala Harris made it clear Monday to a receptive audience on her first visit to Western Pennsylvania: there’s a new sheriff in town as she touted the expanded child tax credit and took her case for the Biden administration’s battle for an expansive infrastructure program and stronger labor...
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis edges former President Trump in 2024 straw poll
A Florida man was the favorite of Western conservatives for president in 2024 — and it wasn’t the former president in Palm Beach. Gov. Ron DeSantis topped the 2024 presidential approval poll at the Western Conservative Summit 2021 in Denver over the weekend, edging out former President Donald Trump by...
In Senate vote, Biden sees ‘step forward’ for elections billVideo
WASHINGTON — The White House said Monday it views the Senate’s work on an elections bill overhaul and changes being offered by Sen. Joe Manchin as a “step forward,” even though the Democrats’ priority legislation is expected to be blocked by a Republican filibuster. White House press secretary Jen Psaki...
Judge weighs whether to dismiss Georgia ballot review case
McDONOUGH, Ga. — A judge is weighing whether to dismiss claims brought by a group of voters who allege that fraud during the November general election in Georgia’s most populous county resulted in the violation of their constitutional rights. The lawsuit filed by nine Georgia voters alleges that counterfeit ballots...
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham says bipartisan infrastructure deal is there for takingVideo
WASHINGTON — A senior Republican senator said a $579 billion bipartisan accord on infrastructure is on the table and he challenged President Joe Biden to decide whether he wants to pursue it. South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, who’s in a group of 21 senators from both parties who last week signed...
Back home: Biden has daunting to-do list after European tour
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is facing a formidable to-do list now that he’s back from his summit-filled trip to Europe, with pressing legislative challenges, foreign policy follow-up and a need to steer the country’s reopening as the coronavirus threat recedes. His overseas tour was meant to showcase the U.S....
GOP needs new health care target as ‘Obamacare’ survives again
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s latest rejection of a Republican effort to dismantle “Obamacare” signals anew that the GOP must look beyond repealing the law if it wants to hone the nation’s health care problems into a winning political issue. Thursday’s 7-2 ruling was the third time the court has...
Democrats waiting for Conor Lamb as Pa.’s 2022 Senate race takes shape
PHILADELPHIA — When U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan decided she wouldn’t run for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat, moderate Democrats lost one of their big hopes for next year’s critical election. But they haven’t freaked out. That’s because in Democratic political circles, there’s widespread belief that U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, a Mt....
Biden signs bill making Juneteenth a federal holidayVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed legislation Thursday establishing a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery, saying he believes it will go down as one of the greatest honors he has as president. Biden signed into law a bill to make Juneteenth, or June 19, the 12th federal...
Democrats eye $6T plan on infrastructure, Medicare, immigrationVideo
WASHINGTON — Democrats are eyeing a $6 trillion infrastructure investment plan that goes far beyond roads and bridges to include core party priorities, from lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 60 and adding vision and hearing benefits to incorporating a long-running effort to provide legal status for certain immigrants, including...
Gov. Wolf calls GOP’s election bill ‘driven by fringe conspiracy theories’ as Republican lawmakers crash eventVideo
PHILADELPHIA — The battle to shape public opinion over Pennsylvania Republicans’ proposed election overhaul intensified Thursday, as Gov. Tom Wolf called it an attack on voting rights and GOP lawmakers crashed a news conference in the Philadelphia suburbs to demand he negotiate. Democrats have blasted the proposal as the latest...
Pompeo unveils PAC, demurs on possible 2024 presidential bid
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has become the latest former Trump administration official to launch a political action committee, but he’s not disclosing any possible 2024 presidential plans. “Only the Lord knows where I will be in 2023,” Pompeo said Thursday in an interview with the...
Conservative activists request audit of Michigan election
LANSING, Mich. — Conservative activists who falsely claim former President Donald Trump won reelection asked the Republican-led Michigan Senate on Thursday to order an audit of the results, seeking a review like one that is underway in fellow battleground state Arizona. Michigan Conservative Coalition co-founder Marian Sheridan said “something very...
Texas governor: State, crowdsourcing will fund border wallVideo
AUSTIN — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that he will use $250 million in state money and crowdsourced financing to build more barriers along the U.S. border with Mexico, part of an emerging proposal that also extends his political fight over immigration with the Democratic Biden administration. But questions...
