Politics Election category, Page 230
Eric Adams wins Democratic primary in New York City’s mayoral race
NEW YORK — Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams has won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City after appealing to the political center and promising to strike the right balance between fighting crime and ending racial injustice in policing. A former police captain, Adams would be the city’s...
Ex-ambassador, investment CEO Carla Sands seeks Pennsylvania Senate seatVideo
HARRISBURG — Carla Sands, former President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Denmark, announced Tuesday that she will join the crowded Republican primary field for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat. She brings possibly significant personal wealth to the race, as well as ties to Trump in a race where such ties may...
Ethics panel closes investigation into former Pa. Victim Advocate Jennifer Storm
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 — After a more than yearlong investigation, state ethics investigators have found that Pennsylvania’s former chief advocate for crime victims...
Allen West will challenge Texas Gov. Abbott in GOP primary
AUSTIN, Texas — Republican Allen West, the former Florida congressman and firebrand who rode into office on the tea party wave a decade ago, said Sunday that he will run for governor of Texas in a bid to again seize on restless anger from the right. His odds are far...
Redistricting reform in Pa. is dead for now, advocates say. So what’s next?
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 — Redistricting reform supporters in Pennsylvania are having a moment of...
Biden: U.S. ‘coming back together,’ but covid not yet finished
WASHINGTON — Calling a vaccination “the most patriotic thing you can do,” President Joe Biden on Sunday mixed the nation’s birthday party with a celebration of freedom from the worst of the pandemic. He tempered the strides against covid-19 with a warning that the fight against the virus wasn’t over....
Trump voices radio ad for Rep. Mo Brooks in US Senate race
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Former President Donald Trump is appearing in a radio ad for U.S. Rep Mo Brooks as he tries to sway the outcome of the state’s Senate race. Brooks’ campaign said the ad began airing Friday. “Hi Alabama, this is your favorite president, Donald Trump. Few Republicans have...
‘Hillbilly Elegy’ author JD Vance joins U.S. Senate campaign
The venture capitalist and author of “Hillbilly Elegy” officially joined the crowded Republican race for the Ohio U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Rob Portman. JD Vance, whose book was widely seen in 2016 as helping explain Republican Donald Trump’s appeal to struggling white, working-class voters, made the announcement Thursday...
Trump-era law on surprise medical bills advances under Biden
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Thursday began putting in place consumer protections against “surprise” medical bills enacted in bipartisan legislation signed last year by former President Donald Trump. Regulations jointly issued by four federal agencies spell out protections for insured patients against surprise billing in medical emergencies, and unexpected...
McCarthy to GOP: Don’t let Pelosi name you to Jan. 6 riot panel
WASHINGTON — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has threatened to strip Republicans of committee assignments if they accept an appointment from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to join the new select panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a top House GOP aide said Thursday. The warning by McCarthy, R-Calif., underscores...
Trump Organization CFO surrenders ahead of expected charges
The Trump Organization’s Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg surrendered to authorities early Thursday ahead of expected charges against him and former President Donald Trump’s company, according to multiple news outlets. Weisselberg was seen walking into the the courthouse in lower Manhattan around 6:20 a.m. with his lawyer. New York prosecutors...
‘Orange skies’: Biden raising federal pay to fight wildfires
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Wednesday it is hiring more federal firefighters — and immediately raising their pay — as officials ramp up response efforts in the face of a severe drought that is setting the stage for another destructive summer of intense wildfires across the West. President Joe...
House creates committee to investigate Jan. 6 Capitol attack
WASHINGTON — The House voted largely along party lines Wednesday to create a special committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump crowd. The attack occurred while Congress was certifying the 2020 presidential results and forced Vice President Mike Pence and hundreds of lawmakers to...
Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dies at 88
WASHINGTON — Donald Rumsfeld, the two-time defense secretary and one-time presidential candidate whose reputation as a skilled bureaucrat and visionary of a modern U.S. military was unraveled by the long and costly Iraq war, died Tuesday. He was 88. In a statement Wednesday, Rumsfeld’s family said he “was surrounded by...
Hempfield resident John Ventre announces bid for Pa. governor
Hempfield Republican John Ventre said he’s been stewing for years, believing Gov. Tom Wolf’s “one size fits all and scorched earth policies” hurt state residents. Ventre, 64, announced Wednesday he is running for governor in 2022. Wolf, a Democrat, will leave office in 2023 because of term limits. “You don’t...
Pennsylvania governor vetoes GOP-led election overhaul, citing voter ID restrictions
This article is made possible through Votebeat, a nonpartisan reporting project covering local election integrity and voting access. This article is available for reprint under the terms of Votebeat’s republishing policy. HARRISBURG — Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed a Republican rewrite of Pennsylvania’s Election Code on Wednesday, making clear his...
McConnell says federal standard may be needed to protect college sports
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday federal legislation “probably is necessary” to protect college sports after a Supreme Court ruling that loosened the NCAA’s control and cleared the way for greater compensation for student athletes. McConnell said there now are a variety of state laws regarding...
House looks to remove Roger Taney bust, Confederate statues
WASHINGTON — The House is expected to approve a bill Tuesday that would remove from the Capitol a bust of Roger Taney, the U.S. chief justice best known for an infamous pro-slavery decision, as well as statues of Jefferson Davis and others who served in the Confederacy. A similar bill...
Maricopa County won’t reuse subpoenaed ballot counters
PHOENIX — Maricopa County officials said Monday they’ll never again use voting machines turned over to contractors hired by Arizona Senate Republicans to audit the 2020 election. The county’s Republican-controlled Board of Supervisors responded to Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who said in May that she would seek to...
California bans state travel to Florida, 4 other states
SAN FRANCISCO — California added five more states, including Florida, to the list of places where state-funded travel is banned because of laws that discriminate against members of the LGBTQ community, the state attorney general announced Monday. Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta added Florida, Arkansas, Montana, North Dakota and West...
Germany’s Merkel defends idea of summit between EU and Putin
BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday defended the idea of holding a European Union meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, arguing that it would offer an opportunity to confront Putin with European concerns. The idea was rejected last week by eastern EU members. At a summit on Friday,...
Bill Barr reportedly had profanity-laden split with Trump over election fraud claims
WASHINGTON — Former Attorney General William Barr told then-President Donald Trump that there was no evidence of election fraud, an assertion that was met with profanity from the president, according to a report in The Atlantic. Barr met with Trump in early December, weeks after Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch...
Bipartisan infrastructure deal back on track after walk-backVideo
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan deal to invest nearly $1 trillion in the nation’s infrastructure appeared to be back on track Sunday after a stark walk-back by President Joe Biden to his earlier insistence that the bill be coupled with an even larger Democrat-backed measure in order to earn his signature....
Mike Gravel, former U.S. senator for Alaska, dies at 91
SEASIDE, Calif. — Mike Gravel, a former U.S. senator from Alaska who read the Pentagon Papers into the Congressional Record and confronted Barack Obama about nuclear weapons during a later presidential run, has died. He was 91. Gravel, who represented Alaska as a Democrat in the Senate from 1969 to...
Arizona election audit enters new phase as ballot count ends
PHOENIX — Technology consultants hired by Arizona Senate Republicans to probe the 2020 election have finished counting and photographing nearly 2.1 million ballots from Maricopa County. A final report of the findings is still weeks to months away, said Ken Bennett, a former Republican secretary of state working on the...
