Politics Election category, Page 271
V.P. Pence’s rally builds on slew of Trump surrogate visits to Western Pa.
Vice President Mike Pence affirmed his confidence Friday afternoon in West Mifflin that he believes President Donald Trump will again clinch victory in Pennsylvania, among the most critical battleground states in the 2020 election. Air Force Two touched down at 4 p.m. at Allegheny County Airport, about seven miles southeast...
Bernie Sanders to campaign for Joe Biden in Pittsburgh
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is visiting Pittsburgh on Saturday to campaign for former Vice President Joe Biden, the man who defeated him for the Democratic presidential nomination. Political experts said Sanders’ visit is designed to energize young and progressive Democrats. “This is a calculated move to energize the base of...
Pa. ballots can’t be tossed out over voter signature, court says
Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously Friday on a key concern surrounding an avalanche of mail-in ballots in the presidential battleground state, prohibiting counties from rejecting ballots because the voter’s signature on it may not resemble their signature on their registration form. Two Republican justices joined five Democratic justices in the...
Judge denies request to allow poll watchers at Allegheny County satellite election offices
A federal judge Friday denied a request to permit poll watchers at Allegheny County’s satellite election offices, saying there is no constitutional right to have them there. The ruling, during a telephone conference with U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan, was a blow to two Republican congressional candidates in Western...
Trump, Biden frame closing appeals for sprint to election
WASHINGTON — Their final debate behind them, President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden are packaging their divergent personal styles and policy prescriptions into closing messages for the final sprint to Election Day. The coronavirus was a central topic for both candidates on Friday as Trump headed to Florida and...
Dispute over Ohio drop box limit ends as advocates drop suit
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The fight over Ohio’s limit on ballot drop boxes ended Friday after a coalition of voting rights groups opted to drop their lawsuit, leaving in place an election chief’s order that was derided by three separate courts. The A. Philip Randolph Institute, League of Women Voters of...
Trump, Biden debate marked by clashes, but less chaos
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — After the first presidential debate was panned so widely that organizers introduced a mute button, Thursday’s second and final debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden was far more civil. Whether because of that button or the terrible reviews — especially for Trump —...
Debate Takeaways: Trump gets personal, Biden hits on virus
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden met for the second and last time on a debate stage Thursday after a previously scheduled town hall debate was scrapped after the Republican incumbent became one of the millions of Americans to contract coronavirus. For Trump, the matchup at...
2nd group of judges blocks Trump order on House seats count
For the second time in two months, a panel of federal judges on Thursday blocked President Donald Trump’s effort to exclude people in the U.S. illegally from being counted during the process of divvying up congressional seats by state. The decision from a panel of three district judges in California...
VP Mike Pence to rally Friday at Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin
Vice President Mike Pence is stumping again in Western Pennsylvania, with a political rally planned for Friday afternoon at the Allegheny County Airport. Pence is set to deliver remarks at a “Make America Great Again Victory” rally to be held at Lynx FBO hangar at the airport in West Mifflin,...
Trump posts unedited ’60 Minutes’ interview before it airs
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump posted full, unedited interviews that he and Vice President Mike Pence did with “60 Minutes” on Facebook on Thursday before the show’s scheduled broadcast this weekend. The footage shows Trump growing increasingly agitated as interviewer Lesley Stahl presses him on his response to the...
GOP-led Senate panel advances Amy Coney Barrett despite Dems’ boycott
WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to advance Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination to the full Senate as Republicans powered past Democrats’ boycott of the session. Democratic senators refused to show up in protest of the GOP’s rush to install President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace the...
Face to face: Trump, Biden to meet for final debate
NASHVILLE — President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, are set to square off in their final debate Thursday, one of the last high-profile opportunities for the trailing incumbent to change the trajectory of an increasingly contentious campaign. Worried about losing the White House, some advisers are urging...
Whitmer: Michigan at ‘dangerous moment’ as virus cases spike
LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer warned Wednesday that Michigan on average has more confirmed daily cases of the coronavirus than ever, noting a sharp increase since the state Supreme Court invalidated her sweeping orders earlier this month. The number of covid-19 cases had been gradually rising for months prior...
Rudy Giuliani caught in hotel bedroom scene in new ‘Borat’ film
NEW YORK — Rudy Giuliani is shown with his hand down his pants after flirting with an actress playing a young woman pretending to be a television journalist in a scene in Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest mockumentary, a sequel to his hit “Borat” film. The scene shot in a New...
Worsening opioid crisis overshadowed in presidential race
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Like millions of Americans, Diane Urban watched the first presidential debate last month at home with her family. When it was over, she turned off the television and climbed into the bed her 25-year-old son Jordan used to sleep in. It was where she found Jordan’s lifeless...
Amy Coney Barrett was trustee at private school with anti-gay policies
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett served for nearly three years on the board of private Christian schools that effectively barred admission to children of same-sex parents and made it plain that openly gay and lesbian teachers weren’t welcome in the classroom. The policies that discriminated against LGBTQ people and...
Trump tweets clip of ’60 Minutes’ host Lesley Stahl without mask at White House, threatens to air interview early
NEW YORK — He’s tick, tick ticked. President Donald Trump posted video of “60 Minutes” anchor Lesley Stahl appearing maskless after interviewing him Tuesday — then threatened to scoop CBS by airing their recent interview ahead of schedule. “Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes not wearing a mask in the White...
How Trump plowed through $1 billion, losing cash advantage
President Donald Trump’s sprawling political operation has raised well over $1 billion since he took the White House in 2017 — and set a lot of it on fire. Trump bought a $10 million Super Bowl ad when he didn’t yet have a challenger. He tapped his political organization to...
Melania Trump nixes campaign trip due to cough from covid
WASHINGTON — Melania Trump’s return to the campaign trail will have to wait. The first lady has decided against accompanying President Donald Trump to a campaign rally Tuesday in Erie because of a lingering cough after her bout with covid-19, said Stephanie Grisham, her chief of staff. It was to...
Presidential debate commission adopts new rules to mute micsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden will have their microphones turned off during parts of the final presidential debate on Thursday, the Commission on Presidential Debates said Monday night. Each candidate will have an uninterrupted two minutes to speak at the beginning of each of the...
Supreme Court allows 3-day extension for Pennsylvania ballots
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will allow Pennsylvania to count mailed-in ballots received up to three days after the Nov. 3 election, rejecting a Republican plea in the presidential battleground state. The justices divided 4-4 on Monday, an outcome that upholds a state Supreme Court ruling that required county election...
Democrat Tony DeLoreto challenges incumbent Republican Joe Pittman in 41st Senate District
State Sen. Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, is facing his first reelection challenge just 16 months after being sworn in to represent the 41st Senate District. Democrat Tony DeLoreto, a restaurateur from Indiana, is looking to knock off Pittman. Pittman has been representing the district since June 2019 after winning a special...
Audit faults Iowa’s move to spend coronavirus aid on $21M softwareVideo
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa’s auditor warned Monday that the governor’s decision to spend $21 million in federal pandemic relief funds on a new executive branch software system would not be allowed and should be abandoned. State Auditor Rob Sand said that using the federal money to pay for Workday,...
At Oakmont Bakery, the presidential ‘cookie poll’ tradition continues (just for fun)
In what might be the most appetizing part of the 2020 presidential election, Oakmont Bakery is producing patriotic cookies emblazoned with portraits of candidates Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. A dozen runs $24. The sugar cookies are iced with an image of either Biden surrounded by blue stars or...
