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U.S. Soccer Star Megan Rapinoe: 'I'm Not Going To The F**king White House'

Megan Rapinoe, co-captain of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, has no plans to visit President Donald Trump at the White House if the squad wins the Women’s World Cup now underway

In fact, she doesn’t think the record-breaking team will even be offered the opportunity.

Rapinoe elaborated in the print version of the interview published earlier this month.

“[Trump] tries to avoid inviting a team that might decline,” she said. “Or, like he did when the (NBA’s Golden State) Warriors turned him down (in 2017), he’ll claim they hadn’t been invited in the first place.”

Trump canceled a visit by the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles to honor their February 2018 Super Bowl win after most of the team’s players vowed to skip it. Based on comments by some players on the Toronto Raptors, the newly crowned NBA champs, a trip by the team to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is in doubt.



https://www.huffpost.com/entry/megan-rapinoe-white-house-visit_n_5d128f9ce4b0a3941869f5bd

AOC-backed candidate Tiffany Caban declares victory in tightly contested Queens DA race

A progressive criminal justice reformer stunned the Queens Democratic party Tuesday night by besting the handpicked local machine candidate in the district attorney primary by a few hundred votes in an election that was too close to call.

With 98% of the districts counted, public defender Tiffany Cabán, who ran on a platform of decriminalizing sex work and “ending racist law enforcement” had 39.65% of the vote to 38.21% for Borough President Melinda Katz, who worked her way up through the county system, according to unofficial results from the city Board of Elections.

There were about 1,200 votes between them.

Whoever wins is poised to become the first female Queens DA.

There are about 3,400 uncounted paper ballots — including affidavit, absentee and military— and they can’t be tallied until July 3, according to the Board of Elections.

“We are doing a recount,” Katz told a crowd of supporters at a Forrest Hills election night bash.
“This thing ain’t over folks,” Queens Democratic party boss Rep. Gregory Meeks pledged. “Every vote will be counted.”

Caban took the stage at the La Boom Club in Woodside a little after 11 p.m. to a chanting crowd and declared victory.


https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-tiffany-caban-melinda-katz-queens-da-district-attorney-democratic-20190626-ic22ow62q5aznctytdpx7bcf3q-story.html

Avengers Endgame Final Battle - 16 Bit Scenes

AZ: Democrat with little political experience becomes most effective in 2019

Democrats won big at the ballot box in 2018 with gains in the state House, two statewide offices and a U.S. Senate seat.

But even with the 17-13 split in the Senate, the 31-29 split in the House, the Democrat who accomplished the most during the First Regular Session of the 54th Legislature is the one who was criticized for her lack of political experience during the campaign – and she wasn’t even a lawmaker.

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman accomplished a majority of her legislative agenda and was directly responsible for Gov. Doug Ducey signing three bills into law; more than any other Democrat in the House or Senate. Sen. Sean Bowie, D-Phoenix, got two bills signed into law, while eight other Democrats each got a single bill passed and signed.

Hoffman said her first session exceeded her expectations and credits her new policy team for making that possible.

“We got more done than expected. … Overall we were really proud,” she said.

Stefan Swiat, Hoffman’s spokesman, said her approach to advancing departmental initiatives is the biggest difference he can think of compared to Superintendent Diane Douglas, his former boss.

“Superintendent Hoffman prefers to create task forces and invite stakeholders affected by the program or policy to the table to govern by consensus,” he said, giving as an example the handling of the menu of achievement tests the State Board of Education was charged with selecting. “Stakeholders from all sides of the political spectrum all weighed in on how to proceed before the superintendent brought a solution to the State Board.”

He said in contrast, when Douglas, a Republican, felt passionately about an issue she would proceed based on her beliefs, even if there wasn’t a consensus from stakeholders.

Hoffman highlighted her biggest accomplishment as the repeal of a 1991 law barring the promotion of a homosexual lifestyle and safe homosexual sex in mandated HIV and AIDS education in public schools, known as the “no promo homo” law.



https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2019/06/24/democrat-with-little-political-experience-becomes-most-effective-in-2019/

FEWER MILLENNIALS ACCEPTING OF LGBTQ PEOPLE, STUDY FINDS

Young people are often assumed to be progressive, especially when it comes to gay rights. But a new study reveals that acceptance of the LGBTQ community by adults 18 to 34 is falling.

A new Harris Poll commissioned by GLAAD found that 36 percent of respondents in that demographic reported they'd be "very" or "somewhat" uncomfortable learning a family member was LGBTQ. That's up from 29 percent who said the same in 2018.

According to the 2019 Accelerating Acceptance Index, 39 percent would be unsettled by their child learning about LGBTQ history in school, compared to just 30 percent in 2018. And finding out their doctor was LGBTQ made a third (34 percent) uncomfortable—an uptick from 27 percent last year.

"The younger generation has traditionally been thought of as a beacon of progressive values," GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. "We have taken that idea for granted."

Conducted online earlier this year, the poll quizzed 1,970 U.S. adults on their comfort level with seven theoretical situations: Learning a family member is LGBTQ, learning their doctor is LGBTQ, having LGBTQ members at their place of worship, seeing a LGBTQ co-worker's wedding picture, having their child placed in a class with a LGBTQ teacher, seeing a same-sex couple holding hands, and learning their child was learning LGBTQ history in school.

The number of young Americans who were comfortable across all seven situations dropped from 53 percent in 2018 to 45 percent this year, the second consecutive dip for the age bracket.

Harris Poll CEO John Gerzema admitted surveys typically show younger people advocating for issues like immigration reform, gender equality and climate change. "So it's surprising to see a notable erosion of acceptance for the LTBTQ community, which counters many of the assumptions we make about their values and beliefs," Gerzema said in a statement. "In this toxic age, tolerance––even among youth––now seems to be parsed out. Nothing today should be taken for granted."



https://www.newsweek.com/young-people-comfortable-lgbt-poll-1445435?utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=NewsweekTwitter&utm_medium=Social

The candidates for New York City's primary elections

New York City voters will cast ballots for a number of primary races, including a council race in Brooklyn, judgeship contests and the hotly contested Queens DA’s race. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

There’s a race in the 45th Brooklyn Council District, the former seat of Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. Farah Louis won the seat in a special election last month to succeed Williams and is favored to prevail again on Tuesday. Her challengers include Monique Chandler-Waterman, Anthony Alexis and Xamayla Rose.

In the race for Queens Civil Court, a 10-year term, attorney Lumarie Maldonado Cruz and defense lawyer Wyatt Gibbons face off.

In Brooklyn, there are primaries for Surrogate’s Court, Countywide Civil Court and a four-way race for the 6th Civil Court District seat.

In the Surrogate Court’s race, incumbent Judge Margarita Lopez Torres faces off against rivals Elena Baron and Meredith Jones.

In the county-wide civil court race, Edward King faces off against Derafim Bernadette Neckles.



https://nypost.com/2019/06/24/the-candidates-for-new-york-citys-primary-elections/

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Billionaire Steyer, Emily's List pump cash into Virginia to help Democrats

Billionaire Tom Steyer is pouring $1 million into efforts to register at least 12,000 millennial voters in Virginia, part of a broader push to deliver the General Assembly to Democrats in fall elections.

NextGen America, the liberal advocacy group Steyer founded in 2013, will target 11 mostly Republican-held districts with digital ads and other forms of outreach to voters between the ages of 18 and 35, with messages centered on gun safety, reproductive rights and climate change, the group announced Monday.

And two national Democratic political action committees will pump a combined $600,000 into Virginia this year to try to boost women candidates.

Priorities USA and Emily's List announced Monday that they will back some of the 36 female candidates around the state who support abortion rights, in part with a $600,000 digital campaign "focused on voter persuasion and mobilization."

Virginia is one of four states with legislative races in 2017 but the only one where control of the state legislature is at stake. All 140 seats in the General Assembly are on the ballot in November, and the GOP holds a three-seat edge in the House (51 to 48) and a bare majority in the Senate (20 to 19), with one vacant seat in each chamber.

"This is a specific focus on the two chambers of the legislature, and each one of them can turn blue this year," Steyer said, referring to razor-thin majorities Republicans hold after Democrats made sweeping gains in 2017. "Obviously, that's something that would be incredibly important."

Democrats have been hoping that a wave of successes in recent Virginia elections will move them into control of the legislature for the first time since 1995. The party in charge in 2021 will oversee the next statewide redistricting effort, following next year's census - potentially cementing an advantage in future elections.


https://www.thehour.com/news/article/Billionaire-Tom-Steyer-pours-another-1-million-14032751.php

ME-SEN: Gideon announces she will challenge Collins in 2020

Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon announced Monday she will challenge Sen. Susan Collins in 2020.

Gideon, a four-term representative from Freeport, said she will run against Collins “because Mainers deserve a senator who will always put our state first.”

Gideon, 47, a Democrat, has flirted with the idea of a Senate run since last fall, when Collins faced enormous pressure over her vote to confirm U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Gideon is in her fourth and final term in the Maine House and has been speaker for the last two.

It was widely assumed that the House speaker – regarded as a top Democratic contender in the 2020 race – would wait until after the Legislature adjourned to announce a Senate bid.

Gideon has also led the charge during the legislative session on several bedrock Democratic issues – including expanding access to abortion and offering paid family leave – that could play well with many swing female voters in Maine.



https://www.pressherald.com/2019/06/24/gideon-announces-she-will-challenge-collins-in-2020/