Politics Election category, Page 173
Allegheny County Treasurer John Weinstein denies deals in attempt to stay on Alcosan board
Allegheny County Treasurer John Weinstein on Friday said he never tried to orchestrate political deals behind closed doors in order to regain power and position on the county’s influential Alcosan board. The statement came after Schuyler Sheaffer, a former campaign manager for state Rep. Emily Kinkead, said that County Councilwoman...
Officials discussing security in case of Trump indictment
NEW YORK — Law enforcement officials in New York are making security preparations for the possibility that Donald Trump could be indicted in the coming weeks by a Manhattan grand jury and appear in a courtroom in an investigation examining hush money paid to women who alleged sexual encounters with...
Trump vs. DeSantis: Rivals’ very different styles on display
DAVENPORT, Iowa — In his first trip to Iowa this year, Ron DeSantis did not take any questions from voters. He ignored the local press. He avoided the diners, pizza parlors and ice cream shops that have helped presidential contenders in the leadoff voting state showcase their personal appeal and...
Fetterman to open Pittsburgh regional office next month
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, on Friday announced he will open a Pittsburgh regional office early next month. “Our team is proud to open another office to serve the people of Pennsylvania, this time in Pittsburgh,” said Joe Pierce, Fetterman’s state director. “This location will provide top services to the people...
Biden hosting Irish prime minister on St. Patrick’s Day
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is set to host Ireland’s prime minister on Friday, after the covid pandemic scuttled the longstanding St. Patrick’s Day meetup two years in a row. Leo Varadkar, known as the taoiseach, and his partner, Matthew Barrett, will attend a breakfast with Vice President Kamala Harris...
Stormy Daniels meets with prosecutors investigating Trump
NEW YORK — Porn actor Stormy Daniels met Wednesday with prosecutors who are investigating hush money paid to her on former President Donald Trump’s behalf, her lawyer said Wednesday. The news emerged as Michael Cohen, a former Trump attorney who orchestrated the payment, was giving a second day of testimony...
Biden says Jimmy Carter has asked him to deliver his eulogy
ATLANTA — President Joe Biden says he plans to deliver the eulogy at the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter, who remains under hospice care at his home in south Georgia. Biden told donors at a California fundraiser Monday evening about his “recent” visit to see the 39th president, whom...
Kentucky House passes tax-relief bill for bourbon industry
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Proposed tax relief for Kentucky’s bourbon makers was fast-tracked Monday in advancing in the state House, but local leaders living near some of the world’s best-known distilleries were in no mood to toast the industry victory. The measure aims to phase out a property tax on the...
Michael Cohen to testify before grand jury in Trump hush money probe
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen testified Monday before a Manhattan grand jury investigating hush money payments made on the former president’s behalf. A Trump loyalist turned adversary, Cohen spent around three hours answering questions in the secret proceeding. He is scheduled to return again...
Woody Guthrie’s family to Josh Hawley: Stop using his lyrics, insurrectionist
WASHINGTON — Sen. Josh Hawley referenced Woody Guthrie last week when he sponsored a bill to prevent people associated with the Chinese Communist Party from owning U.S. farmland and called it the “This Land is Our Land Act.” But the family of one of America’s most revered folk singers wasn’t...
West Virginia GOP Legislature passes transgender care ban
CHARLESTON — A bill that would ban evidence-based health care for transgender minors in West Virginia, the state estimated to have more transgender youth per capita than any other in the nation, is headed to the desk of Gov. Jim Justice. The Republican governor has not taken a public stance...
Anti-Trump GOP voters mostly loyal in 2022, but not entirely
WASHINGTON — Rep. Lauren Boebert’s grip on Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District didn’t seem in question heading into last year’s midterms. But in the end, the congresswoman who gained a national reputation as a combative member of the “Make America Great Again” movement won reelection by just 564 votes. “This was...
Pence says Trump ‘endangered my family’ on Jan. 6
WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday harshly criticized former President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, widening the rift between the two men as they prepare to battle over the Republican nomination in next year’s election. “President Trump was...
Will it take market crash for Congress to raise debt limit?
WASHINGTON — There’s one way to force President Joe Biden and Congress to solve the looming crisis over the debt limit: a financial market crash. That’s a view held by several economists and a former White House official, mindful that Congress rarely acts unless an emergency forces lawmakers to. “For...
Allegheny County Democratic endorsements show leftward shift on committee
Two progressive candidates in high-profile, countywide races earned endorsements this month from the traditionally moderate Allegheny County Democratic Committee. In years past, the committee has been known to back moderate candidates and those with longstanding insider connections to local committee members. On March 5, progressive District Attorney candidate Matt Dugan...
Child marriage ban bill resurrected in West Virginia Senate
CHARLESTON — A bill to prohibit minors from getting married in West Virginia was resurrected in the state Senate on Thursday, a day after its defeat in a committee. The about-face didn’t necessarily give the bill a clear path to passage. Several senators gave impassioned speeches after the bill was...
Philadelphia state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta announces bid for auditor general
State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta announced on Thursday he will be vying for the Democratic nomination for state auditor general in 2024. Standing outside the Pennsylvania Capitol, the 32-year-old Philadelphia lawmaker said he is running to take back the office that had been in Democratic hands for 24 years until 2020...
Biden to seek more than $2.8B from Congress for cancer fight
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is asking Congress for more than $2.8 billion in the federal budget he’s sending to Capitol Hill on Thursday to help advance his cancer-fighting goals. More than half of the money, $1.7 billion, would go to the Department of Health and Human Services to support...
A hearing on covid’s origins spurs call for rules to curb risky virus researchVideo
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s top infectious disease official urged lawmakers during a hearing on the origins of the covid-19 pandemic to ban research that enhances a pathogen’s ability to spread or cause disease. Robert Redfield, who served as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at...
Erin McClelland drops out of Allegheny County executive race; Burgess not running for Pittsburgh council
Harrison resident and former congressional candidate Erin McClelland has ended her bid for Allegheny County executive. McClelland, a contractor in Allegheny County’s Human Services Division, didn’t submit signatures to the county election division even though she was the first candidate to announce for the executive race. She said her experience...
Tucker Carlson’s scorn for Trump revealed in court papersVideo
NEW YORK — A defamation lawsuit is revealing scornful behind-the-scenes opinions by Fox News figures about Donald Trump, including a Tucker Carlson text message declaring, “I hate him passionately.” Carlson’s private text comments were revealed in court papers at virtually the same time the former president was hailing the Fox...
Biden upends politics, precedent in pivot on D.C. crime law
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s support of a Republican resolution to block new District of Columbia crime laws has split members of his own party amid rising concerns about crime in the nation’s capital and other cities. The GOP-led disapproval resolution is expected to easily pass the Senate on Wednesday...
‘Boy Meets World’ star Ben Savage enters U.S. House race in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES — Actor Ben Savage, who starred as a child in the ABC teen sitcom “Boy Meets World,” is running for a U.S. House seat in California, marking his latest attempt to make the jump from Hollywood to politics. Savage, a Democrat, said in an Instagram post Monday that...
Gigi Sohn withdraws after Joe Manchin opposes her FCC confirmation
Gigi Sohn withdrew her nomination to become a member of the Federal Communications Commission after Sen. Joe Manchin on Tuesday said he would oppose her confirmation. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed Sohn’s withdrawal at a news conference. “She would have brought tremendous intellect and experience” to the FCC,...
State university scholarship initiative not included in Shapiro’s budget, nor is aid sought to freeze tuition
Leaders of Pennsylvania’s state-owned universities said boosting Commonwealth funding by 3.8% to $573.5 million would enable them to consider freezing tuition across the 85,000-student system for a fifth straight year this fall. But when Gov. Josh Shapiro on Tuesday unveiled his proposed state budget for 2023-24, he included about half...
