Politics Election category, Page 213
Pa. Supreme Court rejects legal challenges to state’s new legislative maps
This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s highest court has affirmed the state’s new legislative district...
Senate votes to overturn mask mandate on airplanes, transit
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday voted 57-40 to overturn a federal requirement that passengers on U.S. airplanes and other modes of public transportation wear masks. The Congressional Review Act measure, introduced by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is the latest salvo in a fight between congressional Republicans and the Biden...
Embattled Federal Reserve pick Sarah Bloom Raskin withdraws nominationVideo
WASHINGTON — Sarah Bloom Raskin withdrew her nomination Tuesday to a position on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors after a key Democrat had joined with all Senate Republicans to oppose her confirmation. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin announced Monday that he opposed Raskin’s confirmation, and all Republicans in the...
Allegheny County GOP Chairman Sam DeMarco opts against congressional run
Allegheny County Republican Chairman Sam DeMarco said Tuesday he will not run for Congress this year in Pennsylvania’s 17th District. DeMarco, a county councilman from North Fayette, said last week that he was mulling a run and gathering petition signatures required to formally enter the race. But on Tuesday he...
Senate approves bill to make daylight saving time permanentVideo
WASHINGTON — The Senate unanimously approved a measure Tuesday that would make daylight saving time permanent across the United States next year. The bipartisan bill, named the Sunshine Protection Act, would ensure Americans would no longer have to change their clocks twice a year. But the bill still needs approval...
Lawmakers send Texas-styled abortion bill to Idaho governorVideo
BOISE — Legislation aimed at banning abortions in Idaho after six weeks of pregnancy by allowing potential family members to sue a doctor who performs one headed to the governor. The House voted 51-14 late Monday with no Democratic support to approve the legislation modeled after a Texas law that...
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signs bill ending conceal carry permit mandate
COLUMBUS — Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law Monday a measure that will make a concealed weapons permit optional for anyone legally allowed to carry a gun and eliminate the requirement that individuals “promptly” notify police officers that they are carrying a concealed weapon. Ohio’s GOP-controlled Legislature passed the...
Mississippi governor signs law limiting race in classroom lessons
JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill Monday to limit how race can be discussed in classrooms, and it became law immediately. “Contrary to what some critics may claim, this bill in no way, in no shape and in no form prohibits the teaching of history,” Republican...
The super PAC hammering Mehmet Oz as a RINO is getting money from longtime Democratic donors
PHILADELPHIA — Wealthy investors and executives supporting Republican Senate candidate David McCormick have helped flood Pennsylvania’s airwaves with ads accusing GOP rival Mehmet Oz of being too liberal, a RINO — Republican In Name Only. But some of those same donors have also supported some of the most liberal Democrats...
House Democrats seek probe of USPS plan for new mail truck fleet
WASHINGTON — Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are seeking an investigation into a U.S. Postal Service plan to replace its aging mail trucks with mostly gasoline-powered vehicles. The plan largely ignores White House calls to replenish the mail-service fleet with electric vehicles and has drawn sharp criticism from the...
West Virginia advances bill punishing banks for cutting oil ties
West Virginia’s legislature has approved a proposal that could restrict the state’s work with financial institutions that have limited their business with coal and oil companies. The measure, Senate Bill 262, is now under consideration by Republican Gov. Jim Justice, after clearing both chambers over the weekend. If enacted, the...
Raskin nomination for Fed in peril as Democrat opposes pick
Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, said Monday that he opposes the nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin to a key position on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, endangering her prospects of winning Senate confirmation. Raskin’s nomination has been stuck in the Senate Banking Committee after Republicans last month...
Anti-Trump Republicans lining up for 2024 shadow primary
NEW YORK — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is planning trips to Iowa and New Hampshire. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., is considering a rough timeline for a potential presidential announcement. And allies of Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., are openly talking up her White House prospects. More than two years before the...
All smiles, Jackson tries for Senate reset on Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — Engaging in lawyerly small talk, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley was telling Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson this past week how he met his wife while clerking at the high court. Jackson already knew the story, he discovered. She even “filled in some of the details for me.”...
Florida Gov. DeSantis, Disney butting heads on LGBTQ issue
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Disney World is suspending its political donations in Florida after the company’s CEO received huge blowback for not using Disney’s vast influence in the state to try to quash a recently passed Republican bill that would prevent teachers from instructing early grades on LGBTQ issues. Shortly after,...
Bhavini Patel ends her run for Congress in 12th District
Edgewood Councilwoman Bhavini Patel said Friday she is ending her campaign for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 12th District. Patel was one of four Democratic candidates running in the newly drawn district that stretches from Pittsburgh to Westmoreland County. She launched her campaign in January. “The campaign didn’t gain the momentum needed...
The 4 reasons the Pa. Supreme Court picked the winning congressional map
This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. HARRISBURG — In February, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court announced that it had...
Texas flagged 27,000 mail ballots for rejection in primary
AUSTIN, Texas — More than 27,000 mail ballots in Texas were flagged for rejection in the first test of new voting restrictions enacted across the U.S., jeopardizing votes cast by Democrats and Republicans alike and in counties big and small, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. It puts...
Cowboys for Trump co-founder won’t seek reelection
SANTA FE, N.M. — Cowboys for Trump co-founder Couy Griffin said Tuesday that he won’t run for reelection to southern New Mexico’s Otero County commission or seek other public office in the 2022 election cycle. As a crucial registration deadline passed, Griffin said he has lost faith in the political...
Allegheny County Councilman Sam DeMarco exploring run for Congress
An Allegheny County councilman who heads the county’s GOP committee said he’s exploring a run for Congress in a district representing Beaver County and much of suburban Pittsburgh. Allegheny County Councilman Sam DeMarco, R-North Fayette, said Tuesday he is gathering signatures to get on the ballot in the upcoming primary...
Congress passes Emmett Till bill to make lynching hate crime
WASHINGTON — Congress gave final approval Monday to legislation that for the first time would make lynching a federal hate crime in the U.S., sending the bill to President Joe Biden to sign into law. Years in the making, the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act is among some 200 bills that...
Supreme Court rejects GOP redistricting pleas in Pennsylvania, North Carolina
WASHINGTON — In a victory for Democrats, the Supreme Court has turned away efforts from Republicans in North Carolina and Pennsylvania to block state court-ordered congressional districting plans. In separate orders late Monday, the justices are allowing maps selected by each state’s Supreme Court to be in effect for the...
Florida to recommend against covid vaccines for healthy kids
TALLAHASSEE — Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo said Monday that the state will formally recommend against covid-19 vaccinations for healthy children. Ladapo made the announcement at a roundtable event organized by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that featured a group of doctors who criticized coronavirus lockdowns and mandate policies. It...
‘We want to win’: Democrats face choice in key Senate race in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — John Fetterman was sitting, alone, in the corridor outside the hotel ballroom where Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party committee members were gathered, looking every bit like someone who didn’t belong there. Moments later, Fetterman — Pennsylvania’s sitting lieutenant governor — got trounced by more than 2 to 1 by U.S....
Republican ‘unforced errors’ threaten path to Senate control
WASHINGTON — As the prospect of a red wave grows, a series of Republican missteps including recruiting stumbles, weak fundraising and intense infighting is threatening the GOP’s path to the Senate majority. Arizona’s Republican Gov. Doug Ducey dealt his party its latest setback late last week by announcing he would...
