Politics Election category, Page 177
Twitter storm hovers over Allegheny County Council race between Hallam, Doven
That escalated quickly. A race for an at-large seat on Allegheny County Council had barely gotten underway this month when attacks started flying. Many of them came from observers of the race on social media, particularly Twitter, and almost immediately put the race’s two candidates on the defensive. Joanna Doven...
Wisconsin judge dismisses complaint against GOP fake elector
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin judge on Tuesday dismissed an open records complaint against a Republican member of the Wisconsin Elections Commission who served as a fake elector for former President Donald Trump. Allegations that the elections commission violated the state open records law by wrongly withholding documents will go...
Shapiro takes oath of office to become 48th Pa. governor
HARRISBURG — Democrat Josh Shapiro took the oath of office Tuesday to become the 48th governor of Pennsylvania, placing his hand on a stack of three Jewish Bibles at Tuesday’s inaugural ceremony outside the state Capitol to cap his blowout win in November’s election. Shapiro, 49, takes over in the...
Pa. lawmakers once again propose moving up presidential primary
PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania is a hugely important political battleground, but it hasn’t traditionally mattered much in presidential primaries. That’s because the state votes so late. It holds its presidential primary on the fourth Tuesday in April, long after many states have voted. Despite being one of the biggest swing states...
Wisconsin voting groups criticize GOP minority turnout email
MADISON, Wis. — Black and Hispanic voters in Wisconsin’s largest city say a Republican election commissioner publicly applauding GOP strategies he credits with depressing minority turnout are a public admission of a conservative strategy in place for years. “He’s proudly telling Hispanic and Latino voters, ‘I’m your enemy, and I’m...
Secrecy has dominated Shapiro’s transition to Pa. governor and may be a sign of what’s to come
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 — For nearly two months, a team of advisers has been working to ensure Democratic Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro has a...
House GOP demands visitor logs in Biden classified docs caseVideo
WASHINGTON — Newly empowered House Republicans on Sunday demanded the White House turn over all information related to its searches that have uncovered classified documents at President Joe Biden’s home and former office in the wake of more records found at his Delaware residence. “We have a lot of questions,”...
Special elections to fill Pa. House seats vacated by Democrats should be held Feb. 7, court 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 — Special elections to fill Pennsylvania House seats vacated by Democrats should be held on Feb. 7, Commonwealth Court has...
Biden special counsel deepens Justice Dept. in politics fray
WASHINGTON — In naming a special counsel to investigate the presence of classified documents at President Joe Biden’s Delaware home and former Washington office, Attorney General Merrick Garland described the appointment as underscoring the Justice Department’s commitment to independence and accountability in particularly sensitive investigations. If those words sounded familiar,...
Biden’s Delaware home is now a player in document drama
WASHINGTON — It’s President Joe Biden’s refuge from Washington — a place that’s part home office, part Sunday family dinner venue, a safe place for his treasured 1967 Corvette and a makeshift campaign studio during the covid-19 pandemic. Now, Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, is coming under fresh scrutiny as...
State employees’ off for Shapiro inauguration
Some 1,200 state government employees who report to the Capitol Complex to work have an extra long weekend ahead of them. Not only do they have Martin Luther King Day off on Monday, these non-essential employees have Tuesday off to reduce traffic and free up parking for Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro...
Key dates in discovery of classified records tied to Biden
WASHINGTON — Key dates related to the discovery of classified documents tied to President Joe Biden, based on statements from the White House, the president and Attorney General Merrick Garland: — Jan. 20, 2017: Biden’s two terms as vice president to President Barack Obama end. — Mid-2017-2019: Biden periodically uses...
Here’s what outgoing Gov. Tom Wolf will be remembered for
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 — Gov. Tom Wolf began and ended his eight years in the state’s top job with the same mantra: He...
Carnegie Mellon administrator Rick Siger nominated by Gov.-elect Shapiro for cabinet post
A Carnegie Mellon University administrator and former Obama administration official is Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro’s pick to serve as secretary of the state Department of Community and Economic Development. Rick Siger, chief of staff and senior adviser to the president at Carnegie Mellon, will begin the job next Tuesday after Shapiro...
A side-by-side look at the Trump, Biden classified documents
The revelation that classified materials were discovered at think tank offices formerly used by President Joe Biden, as well as at the president’s Delaware home, has prompted questions on how the circumstances compare with the seizure last year of hundreds of documents marked as classified from Mar-a-Lago, the Florida residence...
Trump to hold 1st public campaign event in South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Former President Donald Trump is planning to hold the first public campaign event of his 2024 White House bid in the early-voting state of South Carolina. Campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told The Associated Press on Thursday that Trump will visit South Carolina later this month. No other...
Nebraska governor names predecessor to U.S. Senate seat
LINCOLN, Neb. — In one of his first acts as Nebraska’s governor, Republican Jim Pillen named his predecessor to the state’s vacant U.S. Senate seat on Thursday. Pillen surprised no one in naming fellow Republican Pete Ricketts to the seat vacated Sunday by Ben Sasse. The governor said 111 people...
Merrick Garland appoints special counsel to investigate Biden docsVideo
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appointed a special counsel to investigate the presence of classified documents found at President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, and at an unsecured office in Washington dating from his time as vice president. Robert Hur, a onetime U.S. attorney appointed by...
In Washington, ‘classified’ is synonymous with ‘controversy’
WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton’s presidential dreams were undermined by her use of a private email server that included classified information. Donald Trump has risked criminal charges by refusing to return top-secret records to the government after leaving the White House. And now misplaced files with classified markings could cause a...
Pennsylvania Senate bill aims to undo 2023 gas tax increase
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s state Senate on Wednesday voted to undo an automatic wholesale tax increase on gasoline and diesel that kicks in this year in an effort to prevent motorists from paying more per gallon. The vote, 29-19, sent the bill to the state House of Representatives, where a partisan...
Mike Kelly’s federal bill would ban abortions after fetal heartbeat is detected
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, a Butler County Republican, has re-introduced a bill to ban abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detected. “Our founders understood that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are our most fundamental rights,” Kelly said in a statement. “First among these is life.” Kelly, who introduced...
George Santos refuses to resign despite political pressureVideo
NEW YORK — State and local Republican leaders in New York on Wednesday called for the immediate resignation of their new GOP congressman George Santos, who is facing multiple investigations by prosecutors over his personal and campaign finances and lies about his resume and family heritage. “His lies were not...
Pa. House at a standstill as deadline nears to get relief for child sex abuse survivors on May ballot
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’s closely divided state House has recessed indefinitely, throwing the chamber’s agenda, including a number of far-reaching constitutional amendments,...
Biden team finds more docs with classified markings
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s legal team has discovered additional documents containing classification markings in a second location, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The revelation comes days after an attorney for the president said Biden’s lawyers had discovered a “small number” of classified...
House Democrats ask ethics panel to probe Santos’ financial disclosures
WASHINGTON — Two New York Democratic House members filed a complaint Tuesday with the House Ethics panel against fellow Empire State Rep. George Santos, a Republican who has found himself mired in scandal since winning his seat in November. Reps. Dan Goldman, a freshman like Santos, and Ritchie Torres, who...
