Politics Election category, Page 204
Brookings Institution places retired general on leave amid FBI probe
The prestigious Brookings Institution placed its president, retired four-star Marine Gen. John Allen, on administrative leave Wednesday amid a federal investigation into Allen’s foreign lobbying. Brookings’ announcement came a day after The Associated Press reported on new court filings that show the FBI recently seized Allen’s electronic data as part...
Senate Republicans revive election bill over 2020 complaints
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Senate approved a bill Monday that orders a number of changes to state laws over partisan election observers in polling places and election offices, a throwback to complaints in 2020 by former President Donald Trump that the Democratic bastion of Philadelphia needed to be watched closely...
2022 midterms: What to watch in primaries in 7 states
LOS ANGELES — Primary elections in seven states Tuesday will set the stage for U.S. House and Senate races this fall, with many contests shaped by political fissures in both major parties and the lingering shadow of former President Donald Trump. With control of Congress in play, a string of...
Senators say gun talks inching forwardVideo
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of U.S. senators continues to move forward on negotiating limited measures to help prevent mass shootings, though a deal is far from assured, senators involved in the talks from both parties said on Sunday. “There are intensive discussions underway,” Sen. Pat Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania,...
Iowa Democrats hope changes help it salvage leadoff caucuses
DES MOINES, Iowa — In a last-ditch effort to salvage their leadoff presidential selection position, Iowa Democrats are proposing two key changes that they hope will increase participation and avoid the chaos that marred their 2020 caucuses. One change would allow Iowa Democrats to submit presidential preference cards by mail...
Toxic exposure bill would rewrite America’s compact with veterans
WASHINGTON — In a year in which Congress has strained for legislative achievements, a big one is in sight. When senators return from a Memorial Day recess spent honoring those who gave their lives for the United States, they will take up a bipartisan bill that will dramatically broaden America’s...
John Fetterman reveals undisclosed heart condition that led to stroke
Democratic U.S. Senate nominee John Fetterman revealed Friday in a campaign statement that he was diagnosed with a heart condition in 2017 and didn’t follow up with a physician for years until he suffered a stroke in May. Fetterman said the condition led to his stroke. His campaign also released...
Democrats, Republicans fight to a redistricting stalemate
After nearly a year of partisan battles, number-crunching and lawsuits, the once-a-decade congressional redistricting cycle is ending in a draw. That leaves Republicans positioned to win control of the House of Representatives even if they come up just short of winning a majority of the national vote. That frustrates Democrats,...
Mastriano willing to talk to Jan. 6 committee, spoke to FBI
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Republican nominee for governor, Doug Mastriano, has offered to sit for an interview with the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and was interviewed by FBI agents last year about it, his lawyer said Thursday. Mastriano, a state senator and retired U.S....
2 candidates for Michigan governor lose key ballot ruling
DETROIT — The Michigan Court of Appeals kept two Republican candidates off the Aug. 2 primary ballot Wednesday, declaring that election officials suspecting signature fraud had no obligation to examine campaign petitions line by line. The court first ruled against Perry Johnson, a wealthy businessman considered to be a leading...
Gift ban, other good-government changes stall in Pa. despite promises from leadership
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 — Rabbi Michael Pollack stood at a podium in the Capitol, just steps away from where the legislature meets, to...
Biden to meet Fed chair as inflation bites U.S. pocketbooks
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to meet with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as soaring inflation takes a bite out of Americans’ pocketbooks and the president’s public approval. Tuesday’s meeting is the first since Biden renominated Powell to lead the central bank and comes weeks after his...
Christian nationalism on the rise in some GOP campaigns
PITTSBURGH — The victory party took on the feel of an evangelical worship service after Doug Mastriano won Pennsylvania’s Republican gubernatorial primary this month. As a Christian singer led the crowd in song, some raised their arms toward the heavens in praise. Mastriano opened his remarks by evoking Scripture: “God...
Senate GOP blocks domestic terrorism bill, gun policy debate
WASHINGTON — Democrats’ first attempt at responding to the back-to-back mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas, failed in the Senate on Thursday as Republicans blocked a domestic terrorism bill that would have opened debate on difficult questions surrounding hate crimes and gun safety. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y....
Wisconsin GOP leader open to arming teachers in schools
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin’s top legislative Republican said Thursday that he is open to the idea of arming teachers following the latest school shooting in Texas, while he dismissed as “disingenuous” an offer from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to find common ground. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told the Associated Press...
Abrams-Kemp slugfest promises to be pricey, long and ugly
ATLANTA — Georgia voters didn’t get much of a break from election talk on the day after the Tuesday primary in which Republican Gov. Brian Kemp demolished GOP challenger David Perdue and Democrat Stacey Abrams finally clinched a nomination waiting for her after no other members of her party jumped...
Ohio’s high court rejects latest GOP-drawn Statehouse maps
COLUMBUS — A frustrated Ohio Supreme Court rejected Republican-drawn Statehouse maps for a fifth time Wednesday, extending the string of GOP defeats in a redistricting process that has ground the state’s legislative primaries to a halt. Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor was clearly angered by the Republican-dominated Ohio Redistricting Commission’s decision...
Will Congress act on guns after Sandy Hook, Buffalo, Uvalde?Video
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer swiftly set in motion a pair of background-check bills for gun buyers Wednesday in response to the school massacre in Texas. But the Democrat acknowledged Congress’ unyielding rejection of previous legislation to curb the national epidemic of gun violence. Schumer implored his Republican...
‘Trump is in the past’: Mounting losses show limits of power
WOODSTOCK, Ga. — Donald Trump opened May by lifting a trailing Senate candidate in Ohio to the Republican nomination, seemingly cementing the former president’s kingmaker status before another possible White House run. He’s ending the month, however, stinging from a string of defeats that suggests a diminishing stature. Trump faced...
Greene’s divisive politics face test in Republican primary
With millions raised to defend her seat in Congress and five fellow Republicans running to take it, GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene faced her first reelection vote Tuesday in a GOP primary race that tests how her conservative Georgia constituents judge her turbulent freshman term. Greene, 47, became a celebrity...
GOP to intervene in lawsuit over Pa. Senate race vote-count
HARRISBURG — The national Republican Party is stepping in on the neck-and-neck GOP primary contest for U.S. Senate and opposing a lawsuit that could help former hedge fund CEO David McCormick close the vote gap between him and celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania’s votes. McCormick’s lawsuit was...
David Perdue says Stacey Abrams ‘demeaning her own race’ ahead of primaryVideo
ATLANTA — Georgia Republican candidate David Perdue on Monday accused Stacey Abrams of “demeaning her own race” in Abrams’ recent criticism of Georgia’s quality of life for its residents. Abrams is bidding to be the first Black woman to be a governor of an American state. She’s without opposition in...
Watchdog: West Virginia Rep. Alex Mooney likely broke rules with Aruba trip
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A congressional watchdog has determined that Rep. Alex Mooney likely broke House rules when the West Virginia Republican accepted a trip to Aruba allegedly paid for by a campaign client and family friend. The latest allegations were included in a statement released Monday by the House Ethics...
Ethics panel opens investigation into GOP’s Madison Cawthorn
WASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee is investigating allegations that Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn had a conflict of interest in a cryptocurrency he promoted and engaged in an improper relationship with a member of his staff, the panel said Monday. The investigation is just the latest moment of high-profile scrutiny...
How Doug Mastriano built a grassroots movement in Pa. on election denial, Christianity and Facebook
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 — Two years ago, one Republican operative responded to the thought of a Doug Mastriano gubernatorial run with: “Seriously?” Now,...
