Politics Election category, Page 234
Democrat Melanie Stansbury wins U.S. House race in New Mexico
ALBUQUERQUE — Democrat Melanie Stansbury has won election to Congress for New Mexico to fill a vacant seat previously held by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. Stanbury prevailed Tuesday in a four-way race after campaigning in support of major initiatives of the Biden administration. Her victory shores up the Democratic majority...
Biden to suspend oil leases in Alaska’s Arctic refuge
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is suspending oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as it reviews environmental impacts of drilling in the remote region that has been the focus of a political fight for decades, according to two people who have been briefed on the administration’s...
Democrat Nikki Fried announces run for Florida governor
TALLAHASSEE — Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried announced Tuesday she’ll seek the Democratic nomination for governor, calling Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis an authoritarian who’s putting his party and political ambition ahead of Floridians. Fried criticized DeSantis for trying to quash the voice of Floridians by signing bills that make it more...
Biden invites GOP senator as infrastructure deadline looms
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is set to meet Wednesday with West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, the top Republican negotiator on infrastructure as the administration signals time is running out to strike a bipartisan deal on the White House’s big investment proposal and top legislative priority. The president is...
Nevada OKs bill in try for 1st presidential nominating state
CARSON CITY — Nevada lawmakers passed a bill on Monday that aims to make the state the first to weigh in on the 2024 presidential primary contests. The move upends decades of political tradition and is likely to prompt pushback from other early states that want to retain their places...
Pentagon chief slams Ted Cruz for abetting Russia, China with claim that ‘woke’ policies are turning Army into ‘pansies’
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin slammed Sen. Ted Cruz on Monday for accusing the Army of projecting an image of “pansies” because of its inclusive recruiting policies, asserting that the Texas Republican’s rhetoric only emboldens adversaries. China and Russia “would like to capitalize on talking points like that,” the...
Mark Zuckerberg helped some Pa. counties survive 2020 election; GOP lawmakers say that was unfair
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 — As coronavirus cases rose and Pennsylvania counties were flooded with millions of mail ballot applications last fall, election directors...
Dems walk, stop Texas GOP’s sweeping voting restrictions
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Democrats pulled off a dramatic, last-ditch walkout in the state House of Representatives on Sunday night to block passage of one of the most restrictive voting bills in the U.S., leaving Republicans with no choice but to abandon a midnight deadline and declare the legislative session...
Texas Senate passes elections bill after more than 7 hours of debate
AUSTIN — The Texas Senate advanced a massive elections bill Sunday morning, after an hourslong, overnight debate in which Democrats blasted the GOP majority for releasing just hours earlier a new version of the legislation that expanded its restrictions and penalties. Discussion on the sweeping voting legislation kicked off just...
Trump looms large in Pennsylvania’s GOP primaries in 2022
HARRISBURG — With Pennsylvania’s wide-open races for governor and U.S. Senate taking shape, Republican candidates with strong ties to Donald Trump are running and considered strong contenders for the party’s nominations — a powerful sign of the former president’s enduring popularity within the GOP. Within a few days of each...
Pressure for Senate rules change after GOP blocks Jan. 6 probe
WASHINGTON — As Republicans blocked a bill Friday to establish a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, pressure mounted on Democrats to end the practice of requiring 60 votes to move legislation through the Senate if they have any hope of advancing their priorities and President Joe Biden’s...
Ex-Speaker Ryan to GOP: Reject Trump, ‘2nd-rate imitations’
Emerging from two years of relative silence, former House Speaker Paul Ryan has joined the fight against Donald Trump, urging fellow conservatives to reject the former president’s divisive politics and those Republican leaders who emulate him. Ryan made his remarks during a Thursday evening address at the Ronald Reagan Presidential...
Idaho lieutenant governor bans mask mandates while governor awayVideo
BOISE — With the governor out of the state, Idaho’s lieutenant governor issued an executive order Thursday banning mask mandates in schools and public buildings, saying the face-covering directives threatened people’s freedom. Republican Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin is acting governor while Gov. Brad Little is at the Republican Governors Association...
GOP offers $928B on infrastructure, funded with covid aidVideo
WASHINGTON — Republican senators outlined a $928 billion infrastructure proposal Thursday that would tap unused coronavirus aid, a counteroffer to President Joe Biden’s more sweeping plan as the two sides struggle to negotiate a bipartisan compromise and remain far apart on how to pay for the massive spending. The Republican...
GOP set to block Jan. 6 commission, stoking Senate filibuster fight
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans are ready to deploy the filibuster to block a commission on the Jan. 6 insurrection, shattering hopes for a bipartisan probe of the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol and reviving pressure on Democrats to do away with the procedural tactic that critics say has lost...
Wisconsin GOP leader hires retired police to probe election
MADISON — One of Wisconsin’s top Republican lawmakers said Wednesday he is hiring retired police officers to investigate the presidential election won by President Joe Biden in the battleground state. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is joining Republicans across the country in their continued push for repeated examinations of ballots. Assembly...
Child sex abuse survivors, supporters pressure Pa. Senate leader Kim Ward to bring bill to vote
Survivors of clergy child sexual abuse turned up the heat this week on state Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, depositing a pouch of silver coins on the Hempfield Republican’s desk and labeling her a “Judas.” Ward’s failure to schedule a Senate vote on a bill that would provide a day...
Mother of Capitol Police officer who died after Jan. 6 urges 1/6 commissionVideo
WASHINGTON — Republicans are poised to block legislation that would create a commission on the Jan. 6 insurrection, despite both a bipartisan effort to salvage the bill and a last-minute push by the mother of a Capitol Police officer who collapsed and died after the siege. Senate Majority Leader Chuck...
Manhattan DA convenes grand jury to weigh criminal charges against Trump, report says
NEW YORK — New York prosecutors have convened a special grand jury to consider evidence in a criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump’s business dealings, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The development signals that the Manhattan district attorney’s office was moving toward...
Pennsylvania firm drops out of Arizona GOP’s 2020 election recount
PHOENIX — A subcontractor working on a Republican-led audit of the 2020 election results in Arizona’s largest county has dropped out of the project. Wake Technology Solutions Inc. was leading the hand-recount part of the audit but decided not to renew its contract, audit officials said Tuesday. The recount is...
GOP leaders condemn Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene over Holocaust commentsVideo
WASHINGTON — Republican leaders forcefully condemned GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Tuesday, calling her comments comparing covid-19 safety measures like mask-wearing to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany “appalling.” “Marjorie is wrong, and her intentional decision to compare the horrors of the Holocaust with wearing masks is appalling,”...
Florida law seeks to rein in large social media companies
TALLAHASSEE — Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Monday that seeks to punish social media platforms that remove “conservative ideas” from their sites, though it is not clear if it would pass constitutional muster because it might violate the First Amendment. The new law will enable the...
Biden aide rules out ‘inaction’ as GOP balks on spending planVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden “will not let inaction be the final answer” on his infrastructure spending plan, and will change course if it becomes clear a bipartisan outcome is impossible, said a top White House adviser. Senate Republicans on Friday panned Biden’s trimmed-down $1.7 trillion infrastructure proposal, saying the...
Lawmakers report receiving fewer gifts during pandemic as push for ban continues
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan 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. Every May, state legislators and other public officials are required to file reports detailing, among other items, whether they received pricey...
CNN cuts ties with Rick Santorum over disparaging comments
NEW YORK — CNN is cutting ties with former Pennsylvania senator and current TV analyst Rick Santorum over disparaging comments he made about Native American culture. On CNN, Santorum was a senior political commentator who was often tasked with giving the Republican point of view during campaign coverage. His parting...
