Election category, Page 55
Alabama lawmakers advance bills to ensure Joe Biden is on the state’s ballot
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama lawmakers advanced legislation Wednesday to ensure President Joe Biden will appear on the state’s November ballot, mirroring accommodations made four years ago for then-President Donald Trump. Legislative committees in the Alabama House of Representatives and Senate approved identical bills that would push back the state’s certification...
Election HQ: A voter guide to 2024 primary races
Primary election day in Pennsylvania is Tuesday, April 23. It is a presidential election year, so voters will be picking the Democrat and Republican candidates for the role, although the results are already a given as neither faces a challenger. It’s the same case in the battle for one of...
A look at the Democratic primary between Summer Lee, Bhavini Patel
Pennsylvania’s primary election day is coming up next week and will feature one of the more interesting races as Democrats will choose between incumbent Rep. Summer Lee and challenger Bhavini Patel, an Edgewood councilwoman, in the battle for the District 12 seat in the U.S. House. TribLive reporter Ryan Deto...
In politically riven Pennsylvania, primary voters’ picks could impact policy paralysis in Harrisburg
HARRISBURG — The two parties in Pennsylvania’s state House and its congressional delegation are nearly evenly divided, and that won’t change once results are in from next week’s primary election. But come November, the candidates the parties will select April 23 for hundreds of legislative seats could alter what has...
Garland defends Biden’s mental fitness and says he has ‘complete confidence’ in him
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Merrick Garland told lawmakers on Tuesday that President Joe Biden has shown no signs of cognitive impairment while defending Biden’s ability to serve as commander in chief. Garland, appearing before a House committee overseeing funding for the Justice Department, was answering questions on the report from...
Biden returns to his Scranton roots to pitch his plan for higher taxes on the rich
SCRANTON — President Joe Biden returned to his childhood hometown of Scranton on Tuesday to open three straight days of campaigning in Pennsylvania, capitalizing on the opportunity to work the battleground state while Donald Trump spends the week in a New York City courtroom for his first criminal trial. The...
Jewish Federation urges voters to heed mail-in ballot deadline as Passover approaches
The Pittsburgh Jewish community is reminding voters that Tuesday is the last day to request a mail-in ballot for the April 23 primary, a date with added importance this year since the Passover holiday will make it impossible for potentially thousands of Jews to vote in person on Election Day....
Cooper to face Republican challenger in 55th District primary
First-term state legislator Jill Cooper will face a primary challenge from a fellow Murrysville Republican this month. Cooper, 62, elected in 2022, will compete for the 55th District seat against Jamie Lingg, 50, who is in her first term on Murrysville Council. “There’s just some fundamental things that we’re not...
News organizations urge Biden and Trump to commit to presidential debates during the 2024 campaign
NEW YORK — Twelve news organizations on Sunday urged presumptive presidential nominees Joe Biden and Donald Trump to agree to debates, saying they were a “rich tradition” that have been part of every general election campaign since 1976. While Trump, who did not participate in debates for the Republican nomination,...
Donald Trump and Lindsey Graham are again at odds, now over abortion. The strife could help both men
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The long and occasionally quixotic relationship between Donald Trump and Lindsey Graham has again turned negative after the South Carolina senator criticized the former president for refusing to support a federal abortion ban. Trump repeatedly disparaged Graham on his social media site and said he regretted endorsing...
How a hush money scandal tied to a porn star led to Trump’s first criminal trial
NEW YORK — It was the kind of tawdry tale that Donald Trump might have relished before politics: a porn actor claiming they had had sex. But on the eve of the 2016 presidential election, Trump feared the story, which he says is false, would cost him votes. So, prosecutors...
Voting rights groups appeal ruling that directs Pa. to reject undated mail ballots
This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. After a court defeat, Pennsylvania voting rights organizations are trying to convince a larger group of federal appellate judges that the state shouldn’t be allowed to reject mail ballots...
Why independents can’t vote in the 2024 Pa. primary, and the slow-moving push to change that
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. HARRISBURG — Millions of voters are expected to cast ballots during Pennsylvania’s April 23 primary, choosing candidates to represent the Democratic and Republican parties in...
2 women who say abortion restrictions put them in medical peril feel compelled to campaign for Biden
WASHINGTON — A Texas woman who went into premature labor, developed sepsis and nearly died and a Louisiana woman who said restrictive abortion laws prevented her from getting medical help for a miscarriage are now campaigning for President Joe Biden as the Democrat highlights how women’s health is being affected...
Anonymous users are dominating right-wing discussions online. They also spread false information
NEW YORK — The reposts and expressions of shock from public figures followed quickly after a user on the social platform X who uses a pseudonym claimed that a government website had revealed “skyrocketing” rates of voters registering without a photo ID in three states this year — two of...
Lee, Patel spar on TV over Biden support, Mideast war
Democratic U.S. Rep. Summer Lee and primary challenger Bhavini Patel sparred Thursday in their only scheduled televised debate, attacking each other over their positions on war in the Mideast and support of President Joe Biden. WPXI moderated the 28-minute debate, which was not open to other media. No primary race...
Summer Lee is Pennsylvania’s most progressive representative in Congress and its only Democrat facing a primary fight
NORTH IRWIN — U.S. Rep. Summer Lee stood with Republican and Democratic elected officials in Westmoreland County, holding an oversized check symbolizing federal dollars to rebuild a bridge, where behind her there was instead, a gaping hole. “We’re not just delivering asphalt and concrete,” Lee said in the small town...
Lawsuit challenges Alabama restrictions on absentee ballot help
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Civil rights organizations and other groups filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging a new Alabama law that criminalizes certain types of assistance with absentee ballot applications. The Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, and other groups are plaintiffs in the lawsuit that says...
Months ahead of the presidential election, Nebraska’s GOP governor wants a winner-take-all system
OMAHA, Neb. — With only months to go before what is shaping up to be a hotly contested presidential election, Nebraska’s Republican governor is calling on state lawmakers to move forward with a “winner-take-all” system of awarding Electoral College votes. “It would bring Nebraska into line with 48 of our...
Trump’s immigration rhetoric makes inroads with some Democrats. That could be a concern for Biden
WASHINGTON — The video shared by former President Donald Trump features horror movie music and footage of migrants purportedly entering the U.S. from countries including Cameroon, Afghanistan and China. Shots of men with tattoos and videos of violent crime are set against close-ups of people waving and wrapping themselves in...
Democrats hope Biden could get a boost from down-ballot races under Wisconsin’s new legislative map
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin’s presidential primary Tuesday clears the way for a general election campaign that Democrats see as an opportunity unlike any in recent state history. New legislative districts adopted last month erase Republican advantages that gave the GOP dominance of the Wisconsin Assembly even as Democrats won 14...
Elections 101: What to know about poll watchers, and what they can and can’t do in Pennsylvania
Elections 101 from Spotlight PA protects you against election misinformation and empowers you to make informed decisions. HARRISBURG — As the 2024 election heats up, voters in Pennsylvania may hear candidates talk about poll watchers. Appointed by candidates or political parties, poll watchers are permitted to observe polling place setup,...
Biden’s fundraiser with Obama and Clinton nets a record $25 million, his campaign says
NEW YORK — A fundraiser for President Joe Biden on Thursday in New York City that also stars Barack Obama and Bill Clinton is raising a whopping $25 million, setting a record for the biggest haul for a political event, his campaign said. The eye-popping amount was a major show...
‘Dark money’ groups would be forced to disclose how they spend on Pa.’s elections under advancing bill
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. HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania House is advancing modest campaign finance reforms during an election year that will likely see a torrent of hard-to-trace political spending...
Biden leans on his Democratic predecessors as Trump remains isolated from other Republican leaders
WASHINGTON — When President Joe Biden needs advice, there are two people he can turn to who know what it’s like to sit in his chair. Sometimes he will invite Barack Obama over to the White House for a meal or he will get on the phone with Bill Clinton....
