Politics Election category, Page 143
RFK Jr.’s independent run for president draws GOP criticism and silence from national Democrats
PHILADELPHIA — Republicans attacked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday as the longtime environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist launched an independent bid for the White House, reflecting growing concerns on the right that the former Democrat now threatens to take votes from former President Donald Trump in 2024. The Republican...
How 3rd-party and independent candidates could threaten Democrats and Republicans in 2024
NEW YORK — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and scion of the storied Democratic dynasty, is expected to launch an independent or third-party presidential bid on Monday. Cornel West, a philosopher and Black social leader, made the same choice last week. And No Labels, a new political...
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Schumer criticizes China for not supporting Israel after Hamas attack
BEIJING — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told Chinese President Xi Jinping in a rare meeting Monday that he was “very disappointed” by China’s failure to strongly condemn the recent Hamas attack on Israel and show sympathy for the country and its people. Schumer is leading a delegation of...
Trump asks Iowans to help him ‘win big’ in caucuses to set general election tone
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Donald Trump on Saturday called for a show of strength in Iowa, arguing before big audiences that dominating in the Republican presidential caucuses in January would signal to voters across the country his strength in the November election next year. “We have to win big,” Trump...
Republican field blaming Biden for dealing with Iran after Hamas’ attack on Israel
WATERLOO, Iowa — Former President Donald Trump and other GOP contenders tried to lay blame on the Biden administration after Hamas militants launched the deadliest attack on Israel in decades, citing a $6 billion transfer to Iran that administration officials insisted Saturday had yet to be spent. Hamas’ surprise early...
Immigration among Biden’s biggest problems in bid for reelection
MIAMI — The ad sounds like something out of the GOP 2024 playbook, trumpeting a senator’s work with Republicans to crack down on the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs into the U.S., getting tough on Chinese interests helping smugglers, and noting how he “wrote a bill signed by...
House speaker race pits Trump-backed Jordan against Scalise
WASHINGTON — The bitter battle between Reps. Steve Scalise, R-La., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, for the U.S. House speakership culminates a long-simmering personal rivalry that grew along with the fractures in the Republican party. Their tensions will be on display next week as Republicans hold a divisive fight for the...
Biden administration backs strong rules to close digital divide
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration urged the Federal Communications Commission to adopt strong rules to redress historic shortfalls that have left some communities lacking adequate broadband service. The position sets up a possible clash with large broadband providers that have warned the FCC, which is set to produce rules by...
Some see presidential aspirations in Gov. Josh Shapiro’s school voucher support
HARRISBURG — In the partisan politics of education funding, the school choice movement has pressed states for decades to send taxpayer money to private and religious schools and long had to concentrate its efforts on states where a Republican governor was an ally. That suddenly changed over the summer. Pennsylvania...
Voter rolls are new battleground, including in Pa., as intimidation fears grow
SANTA FE, N.M. — A group has been impersonating government officials, harassing New York residents at their homes and falsely accusing them of breaking the law, state officials have warned. But what sounds like a scam aimed at people’s pocketbooks is actually part of a shakedown with a much different...
Rudy Giuliani slapped with $500K lien on Palm Beach condo for unpaid taxes
NEW YORK — Rudy Giuliani has been hit with a nearly $550,000 lien on his Palm Beach condo for unpaid taxes. Court records show the IRS attached a $549,435.26 lien to the penthouse apartment for failure to pay 2021 taxes, the Daily Mail first reported Friday. The lien means Giuliani...
Who might replace McCarthy as House speaker? What are Republicans already demanding for their vote?
WASHINGTON — For Republicans, it’s a question with no clear answer: Who becomes House speaker after Kevin McCarthy? It’s not at all certain that any of the GOP candidates will be able to round up enough votes — 218, if all lawmakers are present and voting — to ascend to...
Not having a House speaker is threatening these key areas
WASHINGTON — Work in Congress has ground to a halt as Republicans search for a new speaker, threatening Ukraine aid and delaying consequential business legislation. Among the items now stalled are a measure to extend federal banking protections to marijuana companies operating in states where the drug is legal and...
Sen. Bob Casey’s campaign touts strong start to 2024 fundraising
U.S. Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. is staring down the barrel of the toughest re-election he’s ever faced, and he’s trying to raise funds like he knows it. The Casey campaign on Thursday announced a top-line number of $3.2 million in contributions through the just-completed third quarter reporting period, which...
Black voting power gets boost in Alabama as new U.S. House districts chosen by federal judges
MONTGOMERY — Federal judges on Thursday selected new congressional lines for Alabama to give the Deep South state a second district where Black voters comprise a substantial portion of the electorate. The judges stepped in to pick a new congressional map after ruling that one drawn by Alabama illegally diluted...
Donald Trump may visit the Capitol to address Republicans as they pick a new speaker
WASHINGTON — Former President and GOP front-runner Donald Trump is in talks to visit Capitol Hill next week as Republicans debate who should be the next speaker of the House following Kevin McCarthy’s stunning ouster, according to three people familiar with the discussions. The trip would be Trump’s first to...
Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as House speaker could cost GOP its best fundraiser heading into 2024
WASHINGTON — Kevin McCarthy spent years raising mountains of Republican campaign cash, flying around the country to recruit top candidates in key districts and painstakingly building political relationships as he worked his way toward becoming speaker of the House. Now that he’s been ousted from the post after less than...
Trump’s intensifying rhetoric offers insight into how he might govern again as president
Over the past two weeks, Donald Trump said shoplifters should be immediately shot, suggested the United States’ top general be executed and mocked a political opponent’s husband who was beaten with a hammer. The former president and current front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination also in recent weeks encouraged the...
A $19,000 lectern for Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders sparks call for legislative audit
LITTLE ROCK — Sarah Huckabee Sanders rose to national prominence in part during her time at the lectern as White House press secretary, but the purchase of a $19,000 lectern for the Arkansas governor is undergoing scrutiny and prompting claims that records about it have been altered. A legislative panel...
5 takeaways from the House speakership saga
The U.S. House voted Tuesday to boot California Republican Kevin McCarthy from his role as House speaker, marking the first time in history that had been done. The effort was led by U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who garnered enough Republicans to join forces with all House Democrats to oust...
Attack ads and millions of dollars flow into race for Pennsylvania Supreme Court seat
HARRISBURG — Spending in the campaign for an open Pennsylvania state Supreme Court seat is picking up, with millions of dollars flowing into the race as the sides sharpen their attacks over questions about ethics and abortion rights. The race between Democrat Dan McCaffery and Republican Carolyn Carluccio won’t change...
Man charged with voter fraud in Florida blames rivalry between Trump and DeSantis supporters
THE VILLAGES, Fla. — A man has been charged with forgery and fraud after authorities say he cast a ballot in Florida for his deceased father in the 2020 election, though the suspect says the charges were motivated by a local, internal GOP political rivalry between former President Donald Trump...
What comes next in the Speaker of the House situation?
WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives is entering uncharted territory after a far-right effort to remove fellow Republican Kevin McCarthy from the speakership succeeded thanks to support from Democrats. A resolution — titled a motion to vacate — from Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., passed Tuesday with the support of eight...
Pence: Trump’s attacks on Milley ‘utterly inexcusable’
WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday criticized his former boss-turned-rival, Donald Trump, for calling retired Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a traitor over phone calls he made to China in the final stormy months of their administration. “Frankly, what Donald...
Laphonza Butler sworn in as California’s newest U.S. senator
WASHINGTON — Laphonza Butler is California’s newest senator, following a historic swearing-in ceremony with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday afternoon in the U.S. Capitol. Flanked by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., Butler raised her right hand to take the oath of office....
