Politics Election category, Page 194
Proposal to help publishers negotiate with Big Tech advances in Senate
A prominent Republican and Democrat came together Thursday to strike a deal over a proposal aimed at helping local and smaller news outlets level the playing field with tech giants such as Google and Facebook, according to a report by The Hill. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and U.S. Sen....
Looming election jolts Harrisburg into action as Pa. lawmakers pass a flurry of bills, cash in on fundraisers
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 — Horse-trading, nose-holding, and a whole lot of cash. The Pennsylvania Capitol this week jolted into action with just six...
Trump allies create a new super PAC called MAGA Inc.
NEW YORK — Top allies of former President Donald Trump are creating a new super PAC that’s expected to serve as the main vehicle for his midterm spending and could become a key part of his campaign infrastructure should he move forward with a 2024 White House run. The political...
Oz releases health records to spotlight Fetterman’s stroke
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, released his health records as he maneuvers to keep questions about Democratic rival John Fetterman’s recovery from a stroke front and center in the hotly contested campaign. Dr. Rebecca Kurth in New York City wrote in a four-page letter...
House passes election law overhaul in response to Jan. 6Video
WASHINGTON — The House has passed legislation to overhaul the rules for certifying the results of a presidential election as lawmakers accelerate their response to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Donald Trump’s failed attempt to remain in power. The bill, which is similar to bipartisan legislation moving through the...
Sen. Joe Manchin rails against ‘revenge politics’ on permit planVideo
WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Manchin on Tuesday railed against what he called “revenge politics,” as liberals in the House and Senate team up with Republicans to oppose his plan to speed permits for natural gas pipelines and other energy projects. Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who chairs the Senate Energy...
Ad spending shows Dems hinging midterm hopes on abortion
WASHINGTON — Democrats are pumping an unprecedented amount of money into advertising related to abortion rights, underscoring how central the message is to the party in the final weeks before the November midterm elections. With the most intense period of campaigning only just beginning, Democrats have already invested more than...
Josh Shapiro rallies in Pittsburgh, vows to create more labor protections for Pa. workers if elected governor
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro said Monday during a campaign rally in Pittsburgh that he would work to create more labor protections for Pennsylvania workers if elected governor in November. Shapiro, the state’s attorney general, faces Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano in the general election. On Monday, Shapiro visited the...
In letter released by Shapiro campaign, 60 veterans blast Doug Mastriano’s Confederate uniform photo as ‘shameful’
A group of nearly 60 veterans from Pennsylvania signed a letter deriding Republican candidate for governor Doug Mastriano for being photographed wearing a Confederate Army uniform, calling it “shameful” and saying it’s “an insult to those of us who served and those who continue to serve.” The letter, released by...
Texas Sen. John Cornyn leads Senate GOP push for special counsel in Hunter Biden probeVideo
WASHINGTON — Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and 32 other Senate Republicans are demanding special counsel powers for the prosecutor investigating Hunter Biden, warning Attorney General Merrick Garland to take steps needed to avert political meddling on behalf of the president’s son. “There is no way of knowing the entire...
GOP congressional candidate Jeremy Shaffer picks up U.S. Chamber of Commerce endorsement in key race
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has endorsed Republican Jeremy Shaffer in a key race to represent part of suburban Pittsburgh in the U.S. House. Shaffer, an engineer and former Ross commissioner who founded a software company focused on infrastructure, said he was honored to be endorsed by one of the...
Biden: Classified documents at Mar-a-Lago raise concernsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden says the discovery of top-secret documents at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate raised concerns that sensitive data was compromised and called it “irresponsible.” Biden, who rarely does interviews, spoke to CBS’ “60 Minutes” in a segment that aired Sunday. He said that when he...
Voter challenges, records requests swamp election offices
Spurred by conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, activists across the country are using laws that allow people to challenge a voter’s right to cast a ballot to contest the registrations of thousands of voters at a time. In Iowa, Linn County Auditor Joel Miller had handled three voter...
Pennsylvania’s high-stakes U.S. Senate race between Oz, Fetterman tightens
After a bruising primary that saw Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz emerge as the GOP nominee by less than 1,000 votes, the celebrity surgeon and TV personality’s general-election campaign got off to a slow start. That left an opening for Democratic nominee John Fetterman to define Oz early...
Trump openly embraces, amplifies QAnon conspiracy theoriesVideo
After winking at QAnon for years, Donald Trump is overtly embracing the baseless conspiracy theory, even as the number of frightening real-world events linked to it grows. On Tuesday, using his Truth Social platform, the Republican former president reposted an image of himself wearing a Q lapel pin overlaid with...
Bill would let people ban themselves from buying booze in Pennsylvania
A state lawmaker who has publicly shared his struggles with alcoholism wants to enlist the help of state liquor stores and restaurants and bars that serve liquor as tools to help individuals like him in their recovery. Rep. Matt Dowling, R-Fayette/Somerset counties, introduced legislation that would allow individuals to voluntarily...
U.S. Senate candidates Fetterman, Oz to debate in late October
After repeated calls from his challenger for multiple debates in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate election, Democratic candidate and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has agreed to participate in one debate in late October. Fetterman’s campaign said Wednesday that the Democratic nominee has committed to an Oct. 25 debate hosted by Nexstar, a...
Oz backs U.S. Senate bill to protect same-sex marriage rights
Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz has joined more than 400 Republican leaders who are calling on the Senate to pass legislation to protect marriage rights for same-sex couples. Same-sex marriage was legalized in 2015 after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision, but Justice Clarence Thomas hinted this...
West Virginia lawmakers OK abortion ban with few exceptionsVideo
CHARLESTON — West Virginia’s Legislature passed a sweeping abortion ban with few exceptions Tuesday, approving a bill that several members of the Republican supermajority said they hope will make it impossible for the state’s only abortion clinic to continue to offer the procedure. “It is going to shut down that...
GOP’s Lindsey Graham unveils nationwide abortion ban after 15 weeksVideo
WASHINGTON — Upending the political debate, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced a nationwide abortion ban Tuesday, sending shockwaves through both parties and igniting fresh debate on a fraught issue weeks before the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. Graham’s own Republican party leaders did not immediately embrace his...
What’s left as Jan. 6 panel sprints to year-end finish
WASHINGTON — With only three months left in the year, the House Jan. 6 committee is eyeing a close to its work and a final report laying out its findings about the U.S. Capitol insurrection. But the investigation is not over. The committee has already revealed much of its work...
They tried to modernize Congress. Now time is running out
WASHINGTON — They are the oddballs and the true believers on Capitol Hill, the ones who think civility is possible in these uncivil times. For four years, they have worked to “fix Congress” — and tried to live by their own advice. It came close to falling apart. Cool reflection...
Twitter whistleblower brings his critiques to Congress
WASHINGTON — A former security chief at Twitter told Congress that the social media platform is plagued by weak cyber defenses, privacy threats and the inability to control millions of fake accounts. Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, a respected cybersecurity expert, appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to lay out his allegations...
Census meddling is targeted in bill, recommendations
Democratic lawmakers intent on making sure that unprecedented efforts by the Trump administration to politicize the 2020 census never happen again are moving forward with plans for safeguards they say will help the U.S. head count stay free of future interference. Democratic House members are preparing this week to send...
Debate talks in Pennsylvania governor, Senate races devolve into trash talk, predawn tweets
They can’t even agree on when, where or how to disagree. In two of the most important races in the country, Pennsylvania’s candidates for U.S. Senate and governor are hurling insults at each other over what was once a relatively routine process: negotiating a time and place for debates. Mehmet...
