Politics Election category, Page 162
Allegheny County Council passes minimum wage hike for county workers
Some Allegheny County employees could see a wage increase thanks to a new minimum age wage bill that passed Tuesday evening. Allegheny County Council voted 10-4 to pass a bill that would set $20 an hour as the minimum wage for county workers by 2026. There would be incremental increases...
Abortion providers sue Kansas over new medication rule, longstanding waiting period
TOPEKA, Kan. — Abortion providers sued Kansas on Tuesday, challenging a new law requiring them to tell patients that an abortion medication can be stopped but also existing restrictions that include a decades-old requirement that patients wait 24 hours to terminate their pregnancies. The lawsuit filed in state district court...
Former N.J. Gov. Christie kicks off 2024 GOP presidential bid with swipes at Trump
NEW YORK — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie wasted no time going after Donald Trump while launching his presidential campaign on Tuesday, calling the former president and current Republican primary front-runner a “lonely, self-consumed, self-serving mirror hog” and arguing that he’s the only one who can stop him. Christie...
Ex-Indiana attorney general eyes GOP governor’s race after groping case derailed 2020 reelection
INDIANAPOLIS — Former Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill is considering whether to join the 2024 Republican governor’s race, nearly three years after his reelection bid was derailed by allegations that he drunkenly groped four women during a party. Hill built a following among social conservatives during his time in office...
Judge blocks Florida ban on trans minor care in narrow ruling, says ‘gender identity is real’
TALLAHASSEE — A federal judge temporarily blocked portions of a new Florida law championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that bans transgender minors from receiving puberty blockers, saying in a Tuesday ruling that gender identity is real and the state has no rational basis for denying patients treatment. Judge Robert...
Protests in France as unions make last-ditch bid to resist higher retirement age
PARIS— French union activists marched on the headquarters of the Paris Olympics and slowed traffic at the capital’s Orly Airport with strikes Tuesday as they sought to reignite resistance to a higher retirement age. But the last-ditch effort drew fewer followers than at the height of the movement earlier this...
Atlanta project decried as ‘Cop City’ gets funding approval from City Council
ATLANTA — The Atlanta City Council early Tuesday approved funding for the construction of a proposed police and firefighter training center, rejecting the pleas of hundreds of activists who packed City Hall and spoke for hours in fierce opposition to the project they decry as “Cop City.” The 11-4 vote...
EU parliament criticized for slow pace of anti-corruption reform as offices searched over Qatargate
BRUSSELS — Six months after a group of European Union lawmakers was swept up in a cash-for-influence scandal, no new anti-corruption rules are in place at the European Parliament and the ones that do exist are not being enforced anyway, anti-corruption officials and parliamentarians said Tuesday. The criticism came as...
LGBTQ+ ‘State of emergency’ declared, ‘Americans Fight Back’ guidebook released
WASHINGTON — The Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. on Tuesday and a released a guidebook summarizing what it calls discriminatory laws in each state, along with “know your rights” information and health and safety resources. Sounding the alarm about the current...
Supreme Court opened the door to states’ voting restrictions
ATLANTA — Within hours of a U.S. Supreme Court decision dismantling a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Texas lawmakers announced plans to implement a strict voter ID law that had been blocked by a federal court. Lawmakers in Alabama said they would press forward with a similar law...
New Hampshire Gov. Sununu rules out 2024 presidential bid, warns that crowded GOP field helps TrumpVideo
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said Monday that he will not seek the presidency in 2024, arguing that Republican candidates with “no path to victory must have the courage to get out” of their party’s increasingly crowded primary to stop former President Donald Trump. The 48-year-old governor, who has emerged...
Allegheny County passes campaign finance law limiting size of individual donations
A law enacted last week will bring campaign finance limits to Allegheny County starting in 2025. Candidates seeking elected office in Allegheny County government now face no limits on how much money people can donate to their campaigns, allowing corporate interests, wealthy people, labor unions and national groups to pour...
Former Vice President Pence files paperwork launching 2024 presidential bid in challenge to Trump
NEW YORK — Former Vice President Mike Pence filed paperwork on Monday declaring his campaign for president in 2024, setting up a challenge to his former boss, Donald Trump, just two years after their time in the White House ended with an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and Pence fleeing...
Pa. budget 2023: Your guide to what’s on the table, what comes next and how to follow along
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — June is budget negotiation month in Pennsylvania, when state lawmakers decide how to direct billions of tax dollars and...
Biden’s 2024 pitch highlights pragmatism over Trump’s pugilism
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden promised voters in 2020 that he knew how to get things done in Washington and could bring stability to the capital. It seemed like a message out of step with the more combative era brought on by Donald Trump. But Biden prevailed, by more than...
DeSantis hits Trump from the right while the ex-president looks ahead to the general election
NEW YORK — In his first week on the campaign trail as a presidential candidate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis repeatedly hit his chief rival, Donald Trump, from the right. “This is a different guy than 2015, 2016,” DeSantis told a conservative radio host before slamming the bipartisan criminal justice reform...
Western Pa.’s Fetterman, Lee explain votes against debt ceiling bill
Western Pennsylvania’s U.S. Sen. John Fetterman and U.S. Rep. Summer Lee were among lawmakers in Washington to vote against the debt ceiling and budget cuts package after weeks of tense negotiations. The compromise package negotiated between President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy restricts spending for the next two years,...
Justice Department says it won’t charge Mike Pence over handling of classified documents
NEW YORK — The Department of Justice has informed former Vice President Mike Pence ‘s legal team that it will not pursue criminal charges related to the discovery of classified documents at his Indiana home. The department sent a letter to Pence’s attorney on Thursday informing him that, after an...
Just days to spare, Senate gives final approval to debt ceiling deal, sending it to BidenVideo
WASHINGTON — Fending off a U.S. default, the Senate gave final approval late Thursday to a debt ceiling and budget cuts package, grinding into the night to wrap up work on the bipartisan deal and send it to President Joe Biden’s desk to become law before the fast-approaching deadline. The...
NATO presses Turkey to approve Sweden’s membership, eyes Ukraine security framework as summit looms
OSLO, Norway — NATO on Thursday ramped up pressure on member nation Turkey to drop its objections to Sweden’s membership as the military organization seeks to deal with the issue by the time U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts meet next month. The 31-member alliance is also looking at...
North Korean leader’s sister says U.S. hypocritical for criticizing failed satellite launchVideo
SEOUL, South Korea — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday accused the United States of “gangster-like” hypocrisy for criticizing her country’s failed launch of a military spy satellite and insisted a successful launch will be made soon. Kim Yo Jong said North Korea’s efforts...
Grand jury charges ex-GOP candidate with election interference in shootings at lawmakers’ homes
SANTA FE, N.M. — A failed political candidate has been indicted on federal charges including election interference in connection with a series of drive-by shootings at the homes of state and local lawmakers in Albuquerque, according to a grand jury indictment that was unsealed Wednesday. The indictment filed in U.S....
GOP walkout in Oregon Senate hits 4th week; uncertain if boycotters will be sanctioned
SALEM, Ore. — The longest-ever walkout in the Oregon Legislature reached its fourth week on Wednesday as the enforceability of a ballot measure that would disqualify the boycotters from immediate reelection appeared in doubt. Senate President Rob Wagner once again tried on Wednesday to convene the Senate, which last met...
Oklahoma high court strikes down 2 abortion bans; procedure remains illegal in most cases
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that two state laws banning abortion are unconstitutional, but the procedure remains illegal in the state in nearly all cases except life-threatening situations. In a 6-3 ruling, the high court said the two bans are unconstitutional because they require a...
Coal firms owned by family of West Virginia governor sued over unpaid penalties
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Thirteen coal companies owned by the family of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice are being sued over unpaid penalties for previous mining law violations that the federal government says pose health and safety risks or threaten environmental harm. Justice, who was not named in the lawsuit, accused...
