Politics Election category, Page 243
Biden urges gun control laws as another mass shooting alters his pandemic-relief tour
WASHINGTON — For the second time in a week, President Joe Biden’s campaign to broaden public awareness and support for his pandemic relief benefits has been overshadowed by a mass shooting, thrusting the fraught issue of gun control to the fore. On Tuesday, he was set to travel to Ohio,...
Impeachment probe into N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo could take ‘months’
ALBANY, N.Y. — It could take “months” to determine whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo should be impeached after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct and questions remain about his administration’s undercounting covid-19 deaths in nursing homes, the chair of the state Assembly’s judiciary committee said Tuesday. Chair Charles Lavine said...
Ballot questions should be clear, but 2 written by Wolf administration don’t pass test, critics say
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. A version of this story originally appeared in our free weekly newsletter. HARRISBURG — Amending the Pennsylvania Constitution is a lengthy process that ends at the ballot...
D.C.’s long-simmering statehood push begins in CongressVideo
WASHINGTON — Washington, D.C.’s bid for statehood finally got a congressional hearing Monday, but Mayor Muriel Bowser’s clashes with Republicans on the panel made clear that the issue is far from settled. Republicans accused Democrats of a cynical power play, claimed statehood was never the intention of the country’s Founding...
Brooks, Trump advisor to make campaign announcement
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Alabama U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks has scheduled a Monday night campaign rally where he will be joined by former President Donald Trump adviser Stephen Miller where it is anticipated he will enter the race to replace Sen. Richard Shelby. Brooks said Miller — who was Trump’s top...
Trump ally to take on embattled Georgia secretary of state
ATLANTA — A conservative Georgia congressman and acolyte of former President Donald Trump has announced his bid to unseat the Republican secretary of state who angered Trump and his allies for refusing to help overturn the November election results. Rep. Jody Hice, a Tea Party favorite, is the first major...
New York Republican Rep. Tom Reed, accused of misconduct, will retire
U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, a Republican from western New York who was accused last week of rubbing a female lobbyist’s back and unhooking her bra without her consent in 2017, apologized to the woman on Sunday and announced that he will not run for reelection next year. Reed, 49, said...
Julia Letlow wins northeast Louisiana-based U.S. House seat
BATON ROUGE — Republican Julia Letlow easily won a Saturday special election for the northeast Louisiana-based U.S. House seat that her husband, Luke, couldn’t fill because of his death from complications related to covid-19. With the victory, Julia Letlow becomes the third woman ever elected to the U.S. House from...
Election Code proposals trigger debate in Harrisburg as hearings progress
State lawmakers are weighing sweeping changes to Pennsylvania’s election laws as candidates cautiously test the waters for a 2022 mid-term election that could once again put the state in the bull’s-eye of the national debate over election reform. In Pennsylvania, where unsuccessful court challenges to the 2020 presidential election continued...
5 White House staffers lose jobs over drugs, marijuana use
Five White House staffers have been fired because of their past use of drugs, including marijuana, press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday. Marijuana has become a delicate issue for President Joe Biden’s administration because 15 states and Washington, D.C., allow for recreational usage, despite a federal prohibition. The administration...
Biden, Harris to focus on Atlanta-area shootings during Georgia trip
ATLANTA — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris plan to meet with Asian American community leaders in Georgia in the wake of the deadly shootings at three Atlanta-area massage parlors, the White House announced Thursday. Meanwhile, authorities said the investigation was wide open and could still result in...
Redistricting data may be ready a month early, in old format
States under pressure to redraw congressional and legislature districts but facing a delay in the release of the needed data may be able to get the numbers in an outdated format in August, more than a month earlier than the planned date for their official release, a U.S. Census Bureau...
Divided House OKs Dems’ bill helping Dreamer immigrants
WASHINGTON — The House voted Thursday to unlatch a gateway to citizenship for young Dreamers and immigrants who have fled war or natural disasters abroad, giving Democrats a win in the year’s first vote on an issue that once again faces a steep uphill climb in Congress. On a near...
For Biden, questions about N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo grow harder to ignore
NEW YORK — President Joe Biden’s relentless effort to avoid the day-to-day distractions of the political world is being put to the test by the growing calls for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign. Throughout the campaign and during his first two months in office, Biden’s team installed zealous...
Republicans seize on immigration as border crossings surge
WASHINGTON — Delegation trips to the border. Apocalyptic warnings. A flurry of press conferences. Republicans still divided over former President Donald Trump’s legacy are seizing on his signature campaign issue, turning their focus to immigration as they try to regain the political upper hand. Faced with President Joe Biden’s early...
Trump’s taxes in hand, Manhattan DA’s probe heats up
NEW YORK — With former President Donald Trump’s tax returns finally in hand, a team of New York prosecutors led by a newly hired former mob-buster is sending out fresh subpoenas and meeting face-to-face with key witnesses, scrutinizing Trump’s business practices in granular detail. Amid the swirl of activity, the...
Senate confirms Katherine Tai as Biden’s top trade envoy
WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Katherine Tai as the top U.S. trade envoy in an overwhelming bipartisan vote on Wednesday . She will be the first Asian American and first woman of color to hold the position. Tai is considered a problem-solving pragmatist, and her nomination by President Joe Biden...
Despite pandemic, these Western Pa. lawmakers cashed in on taxpayers’ dime
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. Despite the coronavirus pandemic and a lengthy statewide shutdown, Pennsylvania state lawmakers — led by Democrats in the House — still...
The Washington Post publishes correction on Trump call with Georgia investigatorVideo
The Washington Post published a correction of a story in December about a phone call with then President Donald Trump and Georgia elections official Frances Watson after a recording surfaced that proved he did not use the precise phrase “find the fraud.” The newspaper admitted it wrongly attributed multiple quotes...
Virginia governor restores voting rights to 69,000 ex-felons
RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Tuesday that he has restored voting rights to more than 69,000 former felons who have completed their prison sentences but are still on probation. Northam’s move mirrors a proposed constitutional amendment recently approved by the General Assembly that would automatically restore voting rights...
Utah campaign against porn marches on with phone filter plan
SALT LAKE CITY — Conservative lawmakers in Utah have fired another salvo in their longtime campaign against online porn with a new requirement that all cellphones and tablets sold in the state automatically block pornography in a plan that critics call a significant intrusion on free speech. Supporters and critics...
Alaska GOP wants Sen. Murkowski to stop identifying as Republican
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Republican Party has censured U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski for voting to convict former President Donald Trump at his impeachment trial and now doesn’t want her to identity as a GOP candidate in next year’s election, a member of the party’s State Central Committee said Tuesday....
In Pennsylvania, Biden to highlight aid to small businesses
WASHINGTON — After opening his presidency by playing down expectations for combating the pandemic, President Joe Biden and his top messengers are touring the country to raise hopes over his $1.9 trillion relief package. The president — as well as his vice president and his wife — is promising that...
Voter outreach led to big drop in rejected mail ballots
The coronavirus pandemic triggered an unprecedented surge in mailed ballots last year, raising concerns that a flood of first-time absentee voters would lead to another record: more ballots tossed out for missing deadlines, signatures or other reasons. Those fears never materialized. An analysis by The Associated Press found that the...
Conor Lamb, Democrats’ 2018 Trump Country hero, faces hard political path
HARRISBURG — In 2018, Conor Lamb wasn’t just a candidate — he was a symbol. Barely a year into Donald Trump’s presidency, Democrats were desperate to show they could reconnect with the white, working-class voters who had turned against them. By eking out victory in a congressional district stretching across...
