Politics Election category, Page 129
Analysis: Slowing inflation suggests Biden’s policies are helping, but American voters are still hurting
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden can make an increasingly strong case that he’s helped fix inflation — if only he can get voters to believe him. Figures issued this past week reflected a historic level of progress on battling high prices, hinting that inflation could be near the Federal Reserve’s...
Republicans try to block Biden administration plan to cut money for anti-abortion counseling centers
WASHINGTON — In a new twist to the fight over abortion access, congressional Republicans are trying to block a Biden administration spending rule they say will cut off millions of dollars to anti-abortion counseling centers. The rule would prohibit states from sending federal funds earmarked for needy Americans to so-called...
Iowa’s winter blast could make an unrepresentative way of picking presidential nominees even more so
DES MOINES, Iowa — Most Iowans won’t be out Monday night. Never mind that it’s forecast to be well below zero, with wind chills as low as minus 40 degrees, and the roads may still be icy from a set of snowstorms that hammered the state this past week. It’s...
Worried about losing in 2024, Iowa’s Republican voters are less interested in talking about abortion
DES MOINES, Iowa — A man in Iowa stood up at a recent town hall and told Ron DeSantis he had an “easy” question: How would the Florida governor address abortion when it’s sure to be a big issue in the coming 2024 presidential election? DeSantis said he’d talk about...
Head of Pa. House Freedom Caucus vies for open state Senate seat
The head of the Pennsylvania State Freedom Caucus is vying for the state Senate seat that represents Cumberland and York counties. Rep. Dawn Keefer has announced she is running for the Republican nomination in the race for the 31st District, currently held by Sen. Mike Regan. Regan has announced he...
West Mifflin Rep. Pisciottano announces run to replace McKeesport’s Brewster in PA Senate
Less than a day after longtime State Sen. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport, announced his retirement, the Mon Valley district has attracted a would-be successor. State Rep. Nick Pisciottano, D-West Mifflin, announced Thursday that he is running for Pennsylvania State Senate District 45, which covers Allegheny County’s Mon Valley, as well as...
President Joe Biden’s record age, 81, is an ‘asset,’ first lady Jill Biden says
WASHINGTON — First lady Jill Biden says her husband’s age is an “asset,” as President Joe Biden — at 81 already the oldest American leader in history — faces persistent questions from voters about his decision to seek another term. In an interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” released Thursday, Jill...
Chris Christie ends his Republican presidential bid, criticizing his rivals on his way out
WINDHAM, N.H. — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday suspended his Republican presidential bid just days before Iowa’s leadoff caucuses, ceding to growing pressure to drop out of the race from those desperate to deny Donald Trump a glidepath to the nomination. Addressing supporters at a New Hampshire...
Takeaways from the DeSantis-Haley debate in Iowa
There were only two Republicans on the presidential debate stage Wednesday, as former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis met for the highest-stake faceoff yet just five days before the nominating process formally starts with Iowa’s caucuses. Haley and DeSantis’ spirited debate came in the shadow...
Donald Trump enjoys a relaxed Fox News town hall while top Republican rivals have fiery debate
NEW YORK — As Donald Trump’s two main Republican rivals slugged it out Wednesday on an Iowa debate stage, the former president appeared across town on a Fox News Channel town hall in a counterprogramming move where few discouraging words were heard. Trump walked onstage to cheers and chants of...
U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio 1st Democrat calling for resignation of Defense Secretary Austin
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has come under fire recently for failing to disclose a recent hospitalization, and U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Aspinwall, is joining the chorus in calling for Austin’s resignation. Deluzio, a Navy veteran and member of the House Armed Services Committee, is likely the first Democrat in...
Chris Christie will announce at New Hampshire town hall he’s ending presidential bid
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is planning to announce he’s dropping his Republican presidential bid on Wednesday night at his New Hampshire town hall. That’s according to a person with direct knowledge of the former New Jersey governor’s plans who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity...
McCormick, Casey announce big campaign hauls in U.S. Senate race
Rivals in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race raised roughly $10 million combined in the past three months, setting the stage this year for yet another huge influx of cash into a legislative race in the Keystone State. In 2022, the clash for an open Senate seat drew more than $400 million...
As House GOP launches effort to impeach Mayorkas, senators want to strike a border deal with him
WASHINGTON — Marching ahead with multiple impeachment plans, House Republicans set their sights Wednesday on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who they intend to prove is “derelict in his duty” over handling the surge of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. The chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Mark Green,...
California lawmakers to consider ban on tackle football for kids under 12
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers will debate on Wednesday whether to ban tackle football for children under 12, a move pushed by advocates seeking to protect kids from brain damage but opposed by coaches who warn it would cut off youths from an important source of physical activity. The bill, authored...
State Sen. Jim Brewster retiring at end of 2024
A Mon Valley political fixture is stepping down from his state Senate seat, but he insists it won’t lead to a sea change in his district. State Sen. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport, said Wednesday that he is retiring at the end of this year. He will not seek reelection. Brewster serves...
U.S. Rep. Greg Pence of Indiana, former VP Mike Pence’s older brother, won’t seek reelection
WASHINGTON — Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Pence of Indiana said Tuesday he will not seek reelection this year to a fourth term, becoming the latest House member to announce that they won’t run for reelection. Pence, the older brother of former Vice President Mike Pence, announced his decision Tuesday morning...
How an animated character named Marlon could help Trump win Iowa’s caucuses
SIOUX CENTER, Iowa — Well before Donald Trump takes the stage, a waiting audience of hundreds of supporters sits captivated as dramatic music begins to swell throughout the room. On projector screens, a rotating Planet Earth appears. “Making America Great Again starts one place on Earth, and one place only,”...
Florida Republicans oust state party chairman facing rape allegations in critical election year
TALLAHASSEE — The Republican Party of Florida ousted Chairman Christian Ziegler in a special vote on Monday as police investigate a rape accusation against him — a move that came a week before Gov. Ron DeSantis competes in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation presidential caucus. A majority of about 200 members approved the...
School funding, permitting at top of Pa. legislature’s 2024 agenda
This story first appeared in The Investigator, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring the best investigative and accountability journalism from across Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — In the new year, Pennsylvania lawmakers plan to put a lot of their energy into changing permitting processes, getting a long-sought constitutional amendment over the...
Congressional leaders announce an agreement on spending levels, a key step to averting shutdown
WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders have reached an agreement on overall spending levels for the current fiscal year that could help avoid a partial government shutdown later this month. The agreement largely hews to spending caps for defense and domestic programs that Congress set as part of a bill to suspend...
Trump downplays Jan. 6 on the anniversary of the Capitol siege and calls jailed rioters ‘hostages’Video
NEWTON, Iowa — Former President Donald Trump, campaigning in Iowa Saturday, marked the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol by casting the migrant surge on the southern border as the “real” insurrection. Just over a week before the Republican nomination process begins with Iowa’s...
Biden invokes George Washington, calls Trump a threat to democracy
President Joe Biden pitched his reelection as a defense of democracy Friday, visiting a historic Revolutionary War site to accuse Republican Donald Trump and his supporters of having “abandoned the truth” about what happened at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The president, speaking at a campaign event in Blue...
Massachusetts voters become latest to try to keep Trump off ballot over Jan. 6 attack
BOSTON — Five Republican and Democratic voters in Massachusetts have become the latest to challenge former President Donald Trump’s eligibility to appear on the Republican primary election ballot, claiming he is ineligible to hold office because he encouraged and did little to stop the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the...
Florida resort cancels Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Jan. 6 event
A fundraiser and book signing at a sprawling Central Florida resort featuring U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been canceled after the resort’s owners discovered the event was also a commemoration of the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. “Please be advised that Westgate was...
