Illinois voters set to pick a new generation of Democrats for House, Senate after near-record retirements
CHICAGO — Illinois voters are deciding primaries Tuesday for six open U.S. House and Senate seats that will spur a new generation of leadership in the state’s heavily Democratic congressional delegation. The retirement of longtime Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat, has triggered a competitive campaign, drawing as candidates two sitting...
Allegheny County sets dates for mail-in voting and certifies Feb. 24 special election
While certifying the results of Feb. 24’s special election in the South Hills, the Allegheny County Board of Elections approved plans for the upcoming midterms. Voters can expect much the same process that has been followed in recent years. This includes the option to request a mail-in ballot and return...
Will independents ever get to vote in Pa. primaries? Advocates hope a lawsuit moves the needle.
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Supporters of opening Pennsylvania’s primaries to more than 1 million unaffiliated voters hope the courts will accomplish...
Western Pa. primary races shaping up as candidates file nomination petitions
The May 19 primary could feature more than a dozen contested races across Southwestern Pennsylvania for state House and Senate, the U.S. House and lieutenant governor, according to a state database of candidates who filed nomination paperwork to run for office. The field of candidates isn’t set yet, though. Signatures...
An Arkansas man accused of killing his daughter’s alleged abuser wins GOP sheriff’s nomination
An Arkansas man accused of killing his teenage daughter’s alleged abuser won the Republican nomination for local sheriff while waiting to stand trial for murder in his rural county, where he ran on a message of seeing the failures of law enforcement. Aaron Spencer defeated Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley...
Republicans brace for an ugly fight in the Texas Senate runoff between Cornyn and Paxton
DALLAS — The mess in Texas may be just beginning. Four-term Sen. John Cornyn and his allies spent nearly $70 million to survive the first round of the party’s nomination fight on Tuesday. He was slightly ahead of conservative firebrand Ken Paxton, the state attorney general, with more votes still...
Talarico wins Texas Senate Democratic nomination while Cornyn, Paxton head to Republican runoffVideo
State Rep. James Talarico topped Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett in an expensive and fiercely contested Texas Senate Democratic primary that once again has the party dreaming of a big upset in November. Who Talarico will face depends on a May runoff between longtime Republican Sen. John Cornyn and MAGA favorite Ken...
John Cornyn, Ken Paxton advance to runoff in Republican primary for Texas U.S. Senate seat
DALLAS — Longtime Sen. John Cornyn and MAGA favorite Ken Paxton are heading to a May runoff in Texas’ Republican Senate primary, setting up what’s expected to be a nasty and expensive second round and a renewed push to win the endorsement of President Donald Trump. On the Democratic side,...
Change in primary voting rules leads to confusion in 2 Texas counties as voters are turned awayVideo
Voters in two major Texas counties were turned away at polling locations and directed to different precincts Tuesday, after a recent change in how the primary is conducted created confusion and frustration. In Dallas County, a judge ordered polls to remain open for two hours past the scheduled 7 p.m....
Challengers test Summer Lee’s grip on congressional seat in Trump-era midterms
A popular and polarizing Democratic congresswoman is staking her reelection bid on her record in a midterm election seen by many as a referendum on President Donald Trump. While Beltway experts say this year’s race in Pennsylvania’s 12th District is Rep. Summer Lee’s to lose, the progressive firebrand from Swissvale...
Democrat a landslide winner in special election for South Hills seat in state House
A Dormont Democrat was the landslide winner in a special election Tuesday to fill a state House seat in the South Hills that was vacated after the former incumbent was elected to be an Allegheny County Common Pleas judge. According to unofficial results from the Allegheny County Election Bureau, Jen...
Mazzocco, Leckenby to square off in state House special election in South Hills
A special election is being held Tuesday in the South Hills to fill a vacant state House seat. The seat had been occupied by former state Rep. Dan Miller, D-Mt. Lebanon, for more than 12 years. He stepped down after being elected in November to serve as an Allegheny County...
Federal court rejects GOP-led Utah Legislature’s latest try to block House map that helps Democrats
New Utah voting districts that give Democrats an improved shot at winning a U.S. House seat can be used in this year’s election, a federal court ruled Monday while turning aside a Republican request to block the new map. The ruling marked the second setback in recent days for Republicans,...
Many Democrats are still down on the Democratic Party, a new AP-NORC poll finds
WASHINGTON — Democratic candidates have notched a series of wins in recent special elections — but a new AP-NORC poll finds views of the Democratic Party among rank-and-file Democrats have not bounced back since President Donald Trump’s victory in 2024. Only about 7 in 10 Democrats have a positive view...
Paper ballots OK’d for Westmoreland voters at $18K price tag
Westmoreland County voters will again be able to cast paper ballots at the polls during this year’s primary and general elections. Republican commissioners Sean Kertes and Doug Chew on Thursday approved a contract with an estimated price tag of $18,275 to supply paper ballots at each of the county’s 306...
Susan Collins announces reelection bid in pivotal Maine Senate race
PORTLAND, Maine — Republican Sen. Susan Collins announced her reelection bid Tuesday, betting that she can hold onto her coveted Maine seat despite a renewed Democratic effort to oust her in a race that could determine control of the U.S. Senate. The campaign will test Collins’ political survival skills. The...
ICE should ‘surround’ polling places in midterm elections, Steve Bannon says
Far right-wing firebrand Steve Bannon is calling on Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to “surround” polling places in the upcoming midterm elections, a move that would amount to an unprecedented effort to intimidate voters. The ally of President Donald Trump claimed that ICE agents, who have spearheaded the president’s nationwide...
Trump facing growing cultural revolt against immigration crackdown
NEW YORK — No longer confined to the partisans and activists, the fierce backlash against Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has begun to break out across American culture, spanning the worlds of business, sports and entertainment. Bruce Springsteen released a new song Wednesday that slammed “Trump’s federal thugs.” OpenAI chief executive...
Trump endorses Stacy Garrity in race for Pa. governor
President Donald Trump threw his support behind Republican Stacy Garrity on Tuesday night as she aims to unseat Gov. Josh Shapiro as Pennsylvania governor. In an evening Truth Social post, Trump called Garrity — who serves as Pennsylvania treasurer — a “true America First Patriot.” “Stacy Garrity has my Complete...
Shapiro, Garrity set stage for Pa.’s high-stakes race for governor
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro didn’t mention his likely Republican opponent by name once last week when he launched his reelection campaign with a 26-minute speech in Pittsburgh. President Donald Trump’s name didn’t come up either. Shapiro’s likely opponent in the race for governor, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity, took a different...
Progressive Pa. group targeting Fetterman launches website to get contributions refunded
A progressive Pennsylvania group that has already pledged to back a primary opponent against Sen. John Fetterman in 2028 has unveiled a website that will help unhappy donors get refunds for their contributions to him. The Pennsylvania Working Families Party on Friday said PrimaryFetterman.com will be the hub for its...
Top ICE official resigns to seek battleground congressional seat in Ohio
COLUMBUS — A top ICE official resigned her job on Thursday in hopes of ousting the longest-serving woman in Congress, Democrat Marcy Kaptur, this fall. In a video launching her campaign for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, former ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan said she had stopped more illegal immigration in...
Judge is asked for emergency hearing after Congress members blocked from ICE facility in Minneapolis
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration secretly reimposed a policy limiting Congress members’ access to immigration detention facilities a day after a federal immigration officer fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis, attorneys for several congressional Democrats said Monday in asking a federal judge to intervene. Three Democratic members of Congress...
Rioter convicted for carrying Pelosi’s podium seeks Florida county office
BRADENTON, Fla. — A Florida man who grabbed then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s podium and posed for photographs with it during the U.S. Capitol riot is running for county office. Adam Johnson filed to run as a Republican for an at-large seat on the Manatee County Commission on Tuesday. That was...
Josh Shapiro to run for 2nd term as Pa. governor, trailed by talk of a 2028 White House bid
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will run for a second term in the pivotal battleground state after a first term that put him on the Democratic Party’s radar as a potential presidential contender in 2028. He plans to make the formal announcement Thursday at events in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia....
