Politics Election category, Page 226
Kentucky lawmaker charged in domestic dispute case resignsVideo
FRANKFORT, Ky. — A Kentucky lawmaker who won reelection despite facing criminal charges for allegedly choking a woman and trying to “hog tie” her during a domestic dispute resigned on Tuesday. State Republican Rep. Robert Goforth, a former gubernatorial candidate, submitted a letter to the governor’s office and the House...
Trump-backed Herschel Walker seeks Georgia Senate seat
ATLANTA — Herschel Walker on Tuesday filed paperwork to enter the U.S. Senate race in Georgia after months of speculation, joining other Republicans seeking to unseat Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in 2022. The 59-year-old Walker joins the race with high name recognition, known for winning a Heisman Trophy in 1982...
House passes $3.5T Biden blueprint after deal with moderates
WASHINGTON — Striking a deal with moderates, House Democratic leaders muscled President Joe Biden’s multitrillion-dollar budget blueprint over a key hurdle Tuesday, ending a risky standoff and putting the party’s domestic infrastructure agenda back on track. The 220-212 vote was a first step toward drafting Biden’s $3.5 billion rebuilding plan...
A Bronze Star recipient watches the fall of Afghanistan from Congress — and wants answers
WASHINGTON — Jimmy Panetta can’t stop thinking about the narrow streets leading to Kabul’s airport. The former Navy intelligence officer remembers how the snarls of traffic, poor roads and crowds of pedestrians made airport access such a challenge during his tour of duty in 2007 and 2008, and again on...
9 women now serving as governors in U.S., tying recordVideo
Taking over on short notice for a scandal-plagued predecessor in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul began her tenure Tuesday with more than enough challenges for a new administration. She also began with an historic opportunity: Hochul is the first woman to hold one of...
Cyber Ninjas staff reportedly have covid, Arizona election report delayed again
PHOENIX — The delivery of a report on the 2020 vote count to Arizona state Senate Republicans was delayed yet again Monday after the Donald Trump supporter hired to lead the effort and several others involved contracted covid-19 “and are quite sick,” the Senate GOP leader said. Republican Senate President...
What’s wrong with Arizona’s 2020 audit? A lot, experts sayVideo
PHOENIX — A cybersecurity firm plucked from relative obscurity to conduct an unprecedented review of ballots in Arizona’s largest county is readying to present its findings to Republican lawmakers. Experts say there should be little anticipation about the revelations from the Maricopa County audit — and whatever those revelations are,...
Veterans are prized recruits as congressional candidates
NORFOLK, Va. — With midterm election season rapidly approaching, Republicans and Democrats have something in common when it comes to recruiting candidates they hope will deliver majorities in Congress: a preference for military veterans. Both parties anticipate a significant number of races where veterans will be opposing each other, using...
Biden sees dip in support amid new covid cases: AP-NORC poll
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is facing a summer slump, with Americans taking a notably less positive view of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his job approval rating ticking down. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 54% of Americans approve...
Judge won’t dismiss suit on Florida school mask mandate ban
FORT LAUDERDALE — A Florida judge on Thursday refused to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the order by Gov. Ron DeSantis that parents should decide whether their children wear masks at school to combat the coronavirus. The order by Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper clears the way for a...
3 U.S. senators test positive for covid in breakthrough cases
WASHINGTON — Three senators said Thursday they have tested positive for covid-19 despite being vaccinated, a high-profile collection of breakthrough cases that comes as the highly infectious delta variant spreads rapidly across the United States. Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., said they have tested...
Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert discloses husband’s work for energy firm
DENVER — Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert’s husband made $478,000 last year working as a consultant for an energy firm, information that was not disclosed during Boebert’s congressional campaign and only reported in her financial disclosure forms filed this week. In paperwork filed with the House of Representatives on Tuesday, the...
GOP senator’s plan to issue Pennsylvania election subpoenas ‘stopped’
HARRISBURG — A backer of former President Donald Trump’s effort to carry out an Arizona-style “forensic investigation” of Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election suggested Thursday that fellow Republicans in the state Senate are blocking his efforts. In a video posted Thursday on Facebook, state Sen. Doug Mastriano did not name names,...
Biden was not handcuffed by Trump’s Taliban deal
WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump’s administration signed a peace deal with the Taliban in February 2020, he optimistically proclaimed that “we think we’ll be successful in the end.” His secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, asserted that the administration was “seizing the best opportunity for peace in a generation.” Eighteen...
Georgia board to review Fulton County election problems, takeover possible
ATLANTA — Georgia’s State Election Board on Wednesday took a step toward a possible eventual takeover of elections in the state’s most populous county under a process outlined in the state’s sweeping new voting law. The board voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a bipartisan, three-person review panel to investigate the...
Georgia board to review Fulton elections, takeover possible
ATLANTA — Georgia’s State Election Board on Wednesday took a step toward a possible eventual takeover of elections in the state’s most populous county under a process outlined in the state’s sweeping new voting law that critics argue could open elections up to political interference. The board voted unanimously Wednesday...
Florida’s DeSantis top donor invests in covid drug governor promotes
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — who has been criticized for opposing mask mandates and vaccine passports — is now touting a covid-19 antibody treatment in which a top donor’s company has invested millions of dollars. DeSantis has been flying around the state promoting Regeneron, a monoclonal antibody treatment that was...
Democrats push for new Voting Rights Act before maps are drawn
WASHINGTON — Facing pressure from civil rights groups, House Democrats kicked an effort to pass a new Voting Rights Act into high gear this week, despite intense Republican opposition. Over the weekend and during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing Monday, House Democrats stated their intention to vote on the measure...
USDA to permanently boost food stamp benefits by 25%
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has approved a significant and permanent increase in the levels of food stamp assistance available to needy families—the largest single increase in the program’s history. Starting in October, average benefits for food stamps (officially known as the SNAP program) will rise more than 25 percent...
Experts: False claims on voting machines obscure real flaws
The aftermath of the 2020 election put an intense spotlight on voting machines as supporters of former President Donald Trump claimed victory was stolen from him. While the theories were unproven — and many outlandish and blatantly false — election security experts say there are real concerns that need to...
Biden eyes tougher vaccine rules without provoking backlash
WASHINGTON — When the pace of vaccinations in the U.S. first began to slow, President Joe Biden backed incentives like million-dollar cash lotteries if that’s what it took to get shots in arms. But as new coronavirus infections soar, he’s testing a tougher approach. In just the past two weeks,...
Moderate Democrats demand quick passage of infrastructure bill
Moderate House Democrats say they would sink a crucial fiscal blueprint outlining $3.5 trillion in social and environment spending unless a separate infrastructure bill is approved first, a new complication for the divided party’s drive to enact President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda. The centrists’ threat directly defies House Speaker Nancy...
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul failed to disclose wife’s stock in company behind covid treatment
WASHINGTON — Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul waited more than a year to disclose that his wife purchased stock in a company that makes a covid-19 treatment, an investment made after Congress was briefed on the threat of the virus but before the public was largely aware of its danger. The...
Pa.’s political mapmakers finally have new census data. Now the hard work begins.
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 — After months of delays, the Census Bureau on Thursday delivered...
Senate panel interviews former U.S. attorney in Trump probe
WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee met privately Wednesday with a former U.S. attorney in Georgia who resigned in January as then-President Donald Trump waged a pressure campaign on state and federal officials to overturn his presidential defeat — part of a larger probe into Trump’s actions after the November...
