Political
Need information regarding current political news? Here we'll keep you updated on the latest political news, locally and nationally.
Thompson leads 13th District race, plans focus on costs, access
EPHRATA — Joshua Thompson led Deanna Martinez by 3,278 votes for the 13th Legislative District’s state representat…
Border agency fires 4, suspends 38 for social media posts
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Border Patrol's parent agency said Friday that it fired four employees and suspended 38 without pay for inappropriate social media activity following revelations of a secret Facebook group tha…
Surging Democrats expand Senate targets to GOP states
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's come to this for Republicans straining to defend their Senate majority in November's elections: They're air-dropping millions of dollars into races in Alabama, Kentucky and other red states w…
Panel OKs sending ballot request forms to all Iowa voters
A legislative panel voted unanimously Friday to approve the plan by Iowa's top election official to send absentee ballot request forms to all registered voters before the November election, following a similar acti…
Group seeking redistricting question withdraws petition
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A group that wants a bipartisan commission, instead of state lawmakers, to redraw Oklahoma’s legislative districts announced Friday they are withdrawing their initiative petition, citing legal …
Records: Montana governor feared backlash over mask mandate
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Gov. Steve Bullock's statewide mask mandate came after hundreds of Montana residents, business owners and health care leaders demanded the move as virus cases mounted in the state, records obta…
Minnesota hospitals ask Walz for statewide mask mandate
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota hospitals asked Gov. Tim Walz to order people throughout the state to wear masks in public to slow the spread of the coronavirus — a step the governor said he has been considering.
Republicans eye sweeping shield from coronavirus liability
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new plan from Senate Republicans to award businesses, schools, and universities sweeping exemptions from lawsuits arising from inadequate coronavirus safeguards is putting Republicans and Democr…
La. House speaker cautions against revoking virus emergency
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — House Speaker Clay Schexnayder sought Friday to stall an ongoing effort by his fellow Republicans to revoke Gov. John Bel Edwards'
California classrooms closed for fall as virus cases surge
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Most of California’s 6.7 million schoolkids will be learning from home when the new school year begins in a few weeks as the state struggles with soaring rates of coronavirus cases, hospit…
Judge: Houston can't ban convention; GOP deciding next move
A federal judge ruled Friday that Houston can’t ban the Texas Republican Party from holding its convention in-person, but it was not clear whether the GOP would move for a physical meetup or keep the event virtual …
New Mexico universities face prospect of budget challenges
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Officials say the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University face the prospect of major budget challenges because of reduced state funding and other fiscal fallout from the coron…
Democrats say White House blocking CDC head from testifying
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats are criticizing the White House for blocking the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from testifying at a public hearing on safely reopening the nation's schools.
John Lewis, lion of civil rights era with long, celebrated career in Congress, has died; diagnosed with cancer in 2019
ATLANTA (AP) — John Lewis, lion of civil rights era with long, celebrated career in Congress, has died; diagnosed with cancer in 2019.
N.C. elections chief orders minimum early vote sites in fall
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina's top elections administrator on Friday ordered that counties open a minimum number of early in-person voting sites this fall as a way to buttress ballot access during
John Lewis, lion of civil rights and Congress, dies at 80
ATLANTA (AP) — John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement whose bloody beating by Alabama state troopers in 1965 helped galvanize opposition to racial segregation, and who went on to a long and celebrated care…