Politics Election category, Page 171
West Virginia GOP majority House OKs religious freedom bill
CHARLESTON — West Virginia’s GOP supermajority House of Delegates passed a bill Monday that would create a test for courts to apply when people challenge government regulations they believe interfere with their constitutional right to religious freedom. The bill passed after several Democrats expressed concern that the proposal could be...
Florida Gov. DeSantis takes over Disney district, punishing company
TALLAHASSEE — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill that gives him control of Walt Disney World’s self-governing district, punishing the company over its opposition to the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law. The bill requires DeSantis, a Republican, to appoint a five-member board to oversee the government services...
Pa. House preparing to consider critical chamber rules
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 — Pennsylvania House Speaker Mark Rozzi, D-Berks County, says he will introduce chamber rules this week that would give Republicans...
Williamson becomes Democratic primary’s 1st Biden challenger
WASHINGTON — Bestselling self-help author Marianne Williamson, who brought quirky spiritualism to the 2020 presidential race, has announced she’s running for president again, becoming the first major Democrat to challenge President Joe Biden for his party’s nomination in 2024. Williamson is formally kicking off her campaign with an event in...
GOP leaders, stung by losses, plan to wade into Senate races
WASHINGTON — A football legend who held a gun to his ex-wife’s head. Rivals who nearly brawled during a televised debate. A venture capitalist who voiced sympathy for the Unabomber. And that’s just to name a few. Republican Senate primaries in several pivotal states last year exuded a carnival-like aura,...
Trans people face ‘horrifying’ rhetoric at statehouses
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — It was pharmacist Gwendolyn Herzig’s first time testifying before a legislative committee when she spoke to several Arkansas lawmakers in a packed hearing room this month about a bill restricting gender-affirming care for minors. Herzig, who is transgender, spoke out against the legislation and told the...
DeSantis moves toward GOP presidential bid on his own terms
NEW YORK — Republican presidential contenders typically fight for prime speaking slots at the Conservative Political Action Conference. But as conservative activists gather in suburban Washington this week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will be courting donors more than a thousand miles away in Texas and California. The apparent CPAC snub...
Failing at polls, election deniers focus on state GOP posts
PARKER, Colo — In a basement event space in the Denver suburb of Parker, Tina Peters surveyed a crowd of Colorado Republicans last week and made an unusual pitch for why she should become chair of their beleaguered party: “There’s no way a jury of 12 people is going to...
Experts: Senate job not to blame for Fetterman health concerns
The eyes of the country were watching Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman as the former Braddock mayor and Pennsylvania lieutenant governor took office in January, just months after his recovery from a life-threatening stroke. Just weeks into the job, Fetterman checked himself into the hospital in early February for tests...
Some Democratic-led states seek to bolster voter protections
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers in several Democratic-controlled states are advocating sweeping voter protections this year, reacting to what they view as a broad undermining of voting rights by the Supreme Court and Republican-led states as well as a failed effort in Congress to bolster access to the polls. Legislators in Connecticut,...
Nikki Haley keeping early 2024 fundraising numbers quiet
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley had a busy first week as an official 2024 presidential candidate, announcing in her native state, then hustling to early voting New Hampshire and Iowa and going on a media blitz. But as fundraising starts to build for the potential GOP...
Biden ready to run, U.S. first lady says
NAIROBI, Kenya— U.S. first lady Jill Biden gave one of the clearest indications yet that President Joe Biden will run for a second term, telling The Associated Press in an exclusive interview on Friday that there’s “pretty much” nothing left to do but figure out the time and place for...
DeSantis leads Trump by wide margin in California as primary race starts, poll finds
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has surged to a lead among California Republicans over former President Donald Trump for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination, a poll released Friday found. About 37% of GOP voters backed DeSantis, while 29% preferred Trump, according to the new UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll...
Gisele Fetterman shares window into family since husband’s hospitalization
After U.S. Sen. John Fetterman last week checked himself into a hospital for clinical depression treatment, his wife, Gisele, found her home circled by media trucks. In a series of tweets Friday morning, Gisele Fetterman explained how her children were home from school and her home surrounded by press when...
Allegheny County voter turnout rises with a boost from mail-in voting
Allegheny County cast more votes in the November election than any other Pennsylvania county — surpassing even Philadelphia, which has about 350,000 more residents and 100,000 more registered voters. Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said the county’s robust efforts to help people vote by mail were a key factor. Fitzgerald...
Florida bill would end diversity programs, ban majors, shift power at universities
A bill filed this week in the Florida House would turn many of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ wide-ranging ideas on higher education into law by limiting diversity efforts, vastly expanding the powers of university boards and altering course offerings. House Bill 999, filed by Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, proposes leaving all...
Republicans set opening presidential debate for August
NEW YORK — The opening Republican presidential debate of the 2024 election season will take place in Milwaukee this August, the Republican National Committee decided Thursday. The rough time and location were the only details finalized as a small group of RNC members met behind closed doors in Washington this...
U.S. Rep. Scott Perry argues for constitutional protections in phone seizure case
Attorneys for U.S. Rep. Scott Perry argued in court Thursday that federal investigators should not have unfettered access to Perry’s cellphone communications because of Constitutional protections against questioning a sitting Congressman for his or her legislative activities. Perry, a Republican from Carroll Township, York County, is one of several Republican...
Pa. Senate committee hears 5 hours of testimony on East Palestine derailment
Lives were at stake and timing was crucial when Pennsylvania officials deferred decision-making authority to Norfolk Southern in the aftermath of the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment, according to testimony Thursday at a state Senate committee hearing in Beaver County. About 50 Norfolk Southern cars, including 10 with hazardous materials,...
Pa. House set to vote on bill giving childhood sexual abuse survivors chance for justice
Survivors of childhood sexual abuse who have been waiting for a chance to seek justice may see positive movement in that direction Friday in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The chamber has positioned two separate pieces of legislation for a vote that would lift the statute of limitations on childhood...
Westmoreland Democrats seek to refocus commissioner campaign with Thrasher out of the race
Less than 24 hours after the surprise announcement that Westmoreland Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher would not seek reelection, county Democrats said Wednesday they are ready to move forward with a campaign to reclaim a majority at the courthouse. That plan, party officials conceded, is reliant on another candidate coming forward...
Former Arizona AG Mark Brnovich sat on records refuting election fraud
PHOENIX — Arizona’s former attorney general suppressed findings by his investigators who concluded there was no basis for allegations that the 2020 election was marred by widespread fraud, according to documents released Wednesday by his successor. Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes, who took office last month, said the records show...
Mike Pompeo’s PAC made bulk book order on the same day his memoir was released
A political action committee founded by the former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spent more than $42,000 on a bulk order of books the same day his memoir “Never Give An Inch” went on sale. Champion American Values, Pompeo’s PAC launched in 2021, reported spending $42,181.97 at Bulkbooks.com, a site...
Pennsylvania House nears vote on child-abuse lawsuit window
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania House Democrats put their freshly minted majority status to work Tuesday in shutting down Republican efforts to make changes to legislation designed to let victims of childhood sexual abuse file otherwise outdated lawsuits. After the winners of three Pittsburgh-area special elections were sworn in, giving Democrats a...
Jennifer McClellan wins special election for Virginia’s 4th District
RICHMOND, Va. — Democrat Jennifer McClellan defeated her Republican opponent in a special election Tuesday to win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she will be the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress. McClellan, a veteran state legislator from Richmond, prevailed over pastor and Navy...
