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Politics · page 115

‘Dark money made darker’: funding labyrinth conceals donors to Republican campaigns

One man’s campaign finance operation in Wisconsin exemplifies the opacity of the US political funding system In the summer of 2024, a non-profit called the Green Dragon Coalition wired the last $20,000 of a $445,000 grant to a Super Pac . Its tax return for that year would describe the purpose of the transfer as “educational”. The same day, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, the Super Pac spent $8,000 attacking Celeste Maloy, the Republican congresswoman for Utah’s second district, four days before the primary that would decide whether she kept her seat. It had already spent more than $400,000 promoting her challenger, Colby Jenkins, who was running to her right with the endorsement of the rightwing Utah senator Mike Lee. Continue reading...

The Guardian · Nov 1
The ant and the grasshopper: Europe’s unfolding emergency preparedness plans

There is perhaps no more well-known Aesop’s fable than The Ant and the Grasshopper. The ant works hard and saves during the summer, while the grasshopper spends his time singing and dancing. When winter arrives, the grasshopper approaches the ant and asks for help. In the traditional version, the ant teaches the grasshopper a lesson […]

Washington Examiner · Nov 1
The socialists are half-right: Ban reelection, not the Senate

Tuesday’s midterm elections will settle control of Congress for two years. They will also quietly start the next campaign. By Wednesday morning, would-be presidential candidates will be booking trips to early-primary states, and newly elected House members will be back on call time, raising money for 2028. America has less a governing problem than a […]

Washington Examiner · Nov 1
What Coal Country Can Teach America About Fighting Flock

Paige Reiring showed up at Woodchuck’s house with a revolver strapped to her hip. She didn’t know anything about the man except that he loved America and hated Flock cameras. He’d reached out to Reiring via TikTok after seeing her videos tracking automated license plate readers in the city of Morgantown; he wanted her to […]

Mother Jones · Nov 1
Trump makes war on the International Criminal Court 

“It is only a matter of time” before the International Criminal Court interferes with “American military and law enforcement operations,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned in July. Convinced that such meddling would “mean the death of the United States as a sovereign and independent nation,” Rubio promised that the U.S. would use “all the…

The Hill · Nov 1
AI Concerns Move to Center of Midterm Campaigns

Bloomberg Government senior AI and government reporter Cristiano Lima-Strong tells Bloomberg This Weekend that AI is emerging as a major issue in the midterm elections, as candidates clash over regulation, data centers, jobs and safety. Speaking with hosts David Gura and Lisa Mateo, Lima-Strong explains that Democratic control of Congress could bring a more aggressive regulatory approach as lawmakers debate how to balance safeguards with innovation. (Source: Bloomberg)

Bloomberg · Nov 1
Why Florida Republicans are "white-knuckled" about Tuesday

Florida Republicans aren't panicking about sluggish turnout for the midterms , but in the words of one GOP elder: "We're white-knuckled." Why it matters: Florida once looked like a much safer Republican bet for the midterms. Losing any statewide race would stun and embarrass its elite Republican residents, starting with President Trump . "I don't necessarily want to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think the turnout is as strong as we would like to see," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis fretted last week. The biggest GOP concern is U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds' campaign for governor, though most polls show him narrowly leading Democrat David Jolly. Donalds has raised $176 million; Jolly just $28 million. Zoom in : The GOP's jitters are rooted in early turnout data. Republicans led Democrats in early ballots cast by just 2.8 percentage points as of Saturday afternoon. That's much lower than in the past two general elections — and it's despite a much-bigger Republican registration advantage over Democrats: 11 points. Republican turnout is weakest in parts of the conservative Panhandle and rural North Florida, including many of the 17 counties Donalds lost in the Republican primary. In those 17 counties, GOP turnout is 3.2 points below 2022, compared with 1.1 points below in counties that Donalds won, University of Florida political scientist Michael McDonald found. Between the lines: Republican turnout is made up of more habitual voters, while Democrats and independents are banking ballots from people who don't always show up. That could benefit Jolly if polls underestimate those voters. Democrats already have surpassed their entire 2022 early and mail-in vote totals in 15 counties, compared with four counties for Republicans. Nearly every poll shows independent voters favoring Democrats by double digits, so Republicans need a heavy turnout advantage. About two-thirds of Florida voters typically cast ballots before Election Day, making the early and absentee margins critica

Axios · Nov 1
Outspoken Dem Senator Suffers Stroke At Son’s Hockey Game

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) was hospitalized after suffering a stroke while attending his son’s hockey game on Saturday. Allison Herwitt, Murphy’s chief of staff, said the incident occurred on Halloween afternoon. “Yesterday afternoon, Senator Murphy started experiencing numbness in his arm while at his son’s hockey game. He was taken to a local hospital, where ...

Daily Wire · Nov 1
Harold Cruse, the Loneliest Black Radical Intellectual

Harold Cruse’s Crisis of the Negro Intellectual became an instant classic and helped found the field of African American studies. His writing brimmed with erudition and insight, but his fragile ego and personal grudges left him isolated.

Jacobin · Nov 1
Trump's election probes find an opening in Georgia

On the eve of midterms, President Trump is facing setbacks left and right in his push to investigate alleged election fraud . But in Georgia, he has an opening. Why it matters: Six years ago, Georgia was at the epicenter of Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Now the state's own election board has invited his administration to investigate its voting system. Georgia features two high-stakes statewide campaigns: Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) against Rep. Mike Collins (R) for Senate, and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) against businessman Rick Jackson (R) for governor. The big picture: The Justice Department disclosed in court on Friday that the administration has sent letters to officials in California, Washington, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Nevada, asking some states to segregate mail-in ballots from suspected noncitizen voters. A federal judge on Friday issued an emergency order that blocks federal officials from threatening to charge election officials who count ballots from voters the DOJ claims are ineligible. In October, a federal judge restricted the Department of Homeland Security's investigations into suspected noncitizen voters. But Georgia is different . "We've managed with duct tape and bubble gum to be able to bootstrap our way through one last round, but that's not a way of running elections," a Georgia election official told Axios. Georgia's State Election Board asked the Justice and Homeland Security departments to review and potentially investigate the state's voting system and handling of election data. The Sept. 30 letter cited outdated software, threats to ballot secrecy and QR-code ballots it says may violate the Help America Vote Act. A DOJ spokesperson said in response to the letter: "We take seriously allegations that election officials have failed to adequately maintain election equipment and otherwise comply with federal law. We are evaluating the request and will investigate and, if appropriate, bring an enforce

Axios · Nov 1
Haley Stevens Gives Dems Parting Gift: An Endorsement For Mike Rogers

Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) crossed party lines to endorse former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) in the Michigan Senate race on Sunday. Stevens made the endorsement via X after attending services with Rogers at Perfecting Church in Detroit. “Hey Michigan. As you may have seen, our Democratic nominee for U.S., Senate, Abdul, said that I was ...

Daily Wire · Nov 1
Dems and GOP quietly bankroll dozens of third-party spoilers

More than 40 third-party candidates in pivotal House and Senate races across the country are receiving support from outside super PACs, many of which have ties to the two major parties, an Axios analysis has found. Why it matters: The sums being thrown around, which total more than $16.5 million, are far greater than virtually any of those candidates have raised or spent on their own. The super PACs have spent an average of $375,000 more than the third-party candidates they are supporting. More than half of the 43 candidates haven't filed any financial paperwork with the Federal Election Commission. While it is a comparative drop in the bucket for a midterm that has already seen billions in ad spending nationally, the money will likely play an outsized role in races that are set to be decided by razor-thin margins. Those races, in turn, will help decide the balance of power in Congress next year. Data: Federal Election Commission; Note: Heikes is a self-identified Republican, but Sen. Dan S. Sullivan is the Republican Party-endorsed candidate in the race; Table: Andrew Solender/Axios The top spenders nationwide have been a pair of obscure groups which, like many of the other "pop-up" super PACs in this story, were formed this month and therefore won't have to disclose their donors until after Election Day. Buckeye Freedom PAC has reported spending more than $3.8 million on ads in Ohio's U.S. Senate election supporting Libertarian Bill Redpath and opposing Republican Sen. John Husted, who is in a tight race with Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown. Alaska Values PAC has disclosed spending $3.8 million backing Gerald Heikes, a self-identified Republican running on Alaska's ranked-choice U.S. Senate ballot with Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola. Between the lines : Third-party candidates in Alaska are facing national scrutiny after the New York Times reported that Heikes and another self-proclaimed Republican on the ballot, Dan J. Sullivan, wer

Axios · Nov 1