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RandySF's JournalMA: Former State Senator (R) Indicted Using State Employees on Campaign
BOSTON – Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced today that a Suffolk County Grand Jury has handed down an indictment of former State Senator Dean Tran for two counts of violating state ethics laws.
Tran, 47, of Fitchburg, faces two counts of Use of Official Position to Secure an Unwarranted Privilege. The indictment alleges Tran used his State Senate staff to campaign on state time and payroll.
The Attorney General’s office did not announce an arraignment date.
In 2020, the Senate Committee on Ethics found Tran inappropriately used his senate staff for campaign activities. The matter was referred to the Attorney General’s office by the Office of Campaign and Political Finance following the report by the Committee on Ethics. Tran was stripped of his status as Minority Whip in the senate as a result of the Committee on Ethics report.
The Attorney General’s office alleges that during campaigns in 2018 and 2020, Tran’s senate staff were on state payroll time while organizing fundraisers, knocking doors, and crafting campaign mailers, along with other duties. Staff members engaged in these activities while at the MassGOP campaign regional office in Fitchburg.
https://thisweekinworcester.com/dean-tran-indicted-campaign-staff-092923/
NJ: Entire Legislature up in November Election
n 2023, the state’s legislative session was full of victories for older New Jerseyans: property tax relief for older residents, a new council to look at drug prices and a cap on certain pharmaceutical costs.
But there’s still work to be done: paying for and executing those new laws. That’s why activists are so focused on the November election.
“We can’t rest on our laurels,” says Ingrid Reed, 87, the retired director of the New Jersey Project at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University–New Brunswick and an AARP New Jersey volunteer.
On Tuesday, Nov. 7, voters will choose all 120 members of the New Jersey Legislature — 40 in the Senate, 80 in the General Assembly. Only a handful of other states are holding legislative or statewide elections this year, meaning political experts will be paying close attention to the results to gauge the mood of the electorate in advance of next year’s presidential election.
Top of mind for many older residents, political scientists say, is property tax relief. The Stay NJ Act, passed and signed into law this year, provides a credit on 50 percent of the property taxes paid for certain homeowners 65 and older; they can get up to $6,500 in relief.
https://states.aarp.org/new-jersey/upcoming-legislative-election-prepares-to-welcome-newcomers
Conflict among Ohio abortion foes could preview election-year fights
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Abortion opponents in Ohio are at odds not only over how to frame their opposition to a reproductive rights initiative on the state's November ballot but also over their longer-term goals on how severely they would restrict the procedure.
The disagreements, roiling the anti-abortion side just six weeks before Election Day, are providing a window into the challenges the wider movement is preparing to navigate next year. Initiatives to protect reproductive rights are expected in multiple states and abortion will be a central issue in candidate races up and down the ballot.
Scattershot campaign messaging in Ohio hints at some of the internal conflict among members of the broad anti-abortion coalition aligned against the constitutional amendment that seeks to protect abortion access in Ohio.
Early ads played on voters' fears by warning the amendment, known as Issue 1, would be a gateway to teenagers getting abortions and gender-transition surgeries without their parents’ consent. Other efforts focused on advancing legal arguments about the amendment's specific phrasing, including the meaning of “reproductive health care."
In its first statewide TV ad, which began airing last week, the opposition campaign Protect Women Ohio went in yet another direction. It combined clips of former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden on screen to try to unite Republicans and Democrats against the proposal's ability to protect abortions into the ninth month of pregnancy, even though health statistics show later-term abortions are a rarity, generally reserved for life-threatening circumstances.
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/ap/national/conflict-among-ohio-abortion-foes-could-preview-election-year-fights/article_d16a6431-b26f-5fef-8d23-6440537eb5fa.html
Talk of Van Drew (R) Senate bid could mean open seat in NJ-2
There is already speculation over who might run for an open congressional seat in New Jersey’s 2nd district if Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) decides to seek a seat in the United States Senate.
Van Drew is taking a hard look at a statewide run, either against indicted incumbent Bob Menendez or against the winner of the Democratic primary. Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown) is already in the race, and First Lady Tammy Murphy could be next in.
NJ-2 is considered Likely Republican. Van Drew flipped the seat as a Democrat in 2018 with an eight-point margin, held it as a Republican by six points against a well-funded challenger, Amy Kennedy, in 2020, and after redistricting, was re-elected by nineteen points in 2022.
Under the new lines, Trump would have won the district by five points, while 2021 gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli beat Gov. Phil Murphy in the district by an astonishing 21-point margin.
There’s a long shortlist of potential Republican candidates, including three state senators: Michael Testa, Jr. (R-Vineland), Vince Polistina (R-Egg Harbor Township), and Ed Durr (R-Logan). Durr, who ousted Senate President Steve Sweeney two years ago, faces a tough race for re-election this year.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/talk-of-van-drew-senate-bid-could-mean-open-seat-in-nj-2/
CA: Anaheim Voters Consider $25 Minimum Wage on Hotel Workers
Will hotel and event workers get a $25 minimum wage soon?
Anaheim voters are answering that question by mailing in ballots or casting votes in person up until 8 p.m. Tuesday for a special election against the backdrop of a public corruption scandal at City Hall.
It also comes as hotel workers have been conducting rolling strikes throughout Southern California – where workers picket for a few days, then go back to work as another hotel workforce walks out.
The election stems from a union-backed ballot initiative – Measure A – that would make the minimum wage for hotel and event center workers in Anaheim $25 an hour immediately with a 3% increase annually starting in 2026 – it also calls for increased workplace protections.
https://voiceofoc.org/2023/09/anaheim-voters-consider-25-minimum-wage-on-hotel-workers/
Huntington Beach warned that voter identification proposal would violate California law
A proposal before the Huntington Beach City Council to require voter identification for local elections isn’t sitting well with some top Sacramento leadership.
California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber sent a letter to city leaders Thursday, Sept. 28, warning the proposal conflicts with state election laws.
In a statement, Bonta said they “stand ready to take appropriate action to ensure that voters’ rights are protected” — though didn’t say what that would look like. The council is slated to make a decision on Oct. 5.
“The right to freely cast your vote is the foundation of our democracy,” Bonta said. “State elections law are in place to ensure the fundamental right to vote without imposing unnecessary obstacles that can reduce voter participation or disproportionately burden low-income voters, racial and ethnic minorities, the elderly, or people with disabilities. Huntington Beach’s proposed amendment violates state law and would impose additional barriers to voting.”
https://www.ocregister.com/2023/09/28/state-leaders-warn-in-letter-huntington-beach-voter-identification-proposal-would-violate-law/
Pro-Russian ex-PM Fico wins Slovak election, needs allies for government
BRATISLAVA, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Slovakia's leftist former Prime Minister Robert Fico beat his progressive rival in a parliamentary election after campaigning to end military aid to Ukraine, but he will need to win over allies to form the next government, nearly complete results showed on Sunday.
With 98% of voting districts reporting in the Saturday election, Fico's SMER-SSD party led with 23.37% of the vote. The liberal Progressive Slovakia (PS) followed with 16.86% and the HLAS (Voice) party, which could become the kingmaker for forming the next government, was third with 15.03%.
Former Fico colleague and leftist HLAS leader Peter Pellegrini kept his options open on future coalitions.
A government led by Fico and his SMER-SSD party would see NATO member Slovakia joining Hungary in challenging the European Union's consensus on support for Ukraine, just as the bloc looks to maintain unity in opposing Russia's invasion.
It would also signal a further shift in the region against political liberalism, which may be reinforced if conservative PiS wins an election in Poland later this month.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/slovaks-choose-between-pro-russian-ex-pm-fico-pro-western-liberals-2023-09-29/
NY: Christopher McGrath, Gary Carlton cross-endorsed for Supreme Court justice seats
The chairmen of the Nassau County Republican and Democratic committees have agreed to cross-endorse candidates for State Supreme Court, a practice that critics deride as backroom dealing but party leaders say is fair for both sides.
The parties nominated Christopher McGrath of Hewlett Harbor, a Republican, and Democratic District Court Judge Gary Carlton of Valley Stream. Because they are running unopposed in the Nov. 7 general election, both are expected to join the bench next year and replace retiring State Supreme Court Justices Gary Knobel and Jerome Murphy.
The justices serve 14-year terms.
https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/elections/supreme-court-cross-endorsements-p3w084iq
Idaho House and Senate still at odds over solution to presidential primary mess
With Sunday’s Republican Party deadline closing in, members of the Idaho Legislature’s two chambers had yet to agree Thursday on a solution to address the presidential primary election that legislators unintentionally eliminated earlier this year.
Both chambers of the Idaho Legislature – the Idaho House of Representatives and Idaho Senate – have separately advanced petitions calling for a special session to restore a presidential primary election.
But the two petitions are at odds with each other. Under the Idaho Legislature’s new power to call itself back into session, it takes a petition signed by at least 60% of the members of both the Idaho House and Idaho Senate to convene a special session.
Gov. Brad Little also has the authority to call a special session, but so far has not done so.
https://idahocapitalsun.com/2023/09/28/idaho-house-and-senate-still-at-odds-over-solution-to-presidential-primary-mess/
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro rallies Democrats in New Hampshire
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro appeared at the New Hampshire Democrats midterm convention on Saturday behaving an awful lot like a possible future presidential candidate, a role he has said he’s not pursuing. The governor was the keynote speaker at the event held at Bedford High School in Bedford, N.H. near Manchester, the state’s largest city.
Shapiro touted his accomplishments after less than a year in office, headlines that are familiar to Pennsylvanians: How the state worked to repair and reopen a damaged portion of I-95 in Philadelphia in 12 days; how the state now has free breakfast for all students, and his recent executive order to implement automatic voter registration at Pennsylvania driver license centers.
He also offered his view of the political landscape as the country gears up for 2024. “Today, the biggest threat to our democracy comes from within,” Shapiro said. “Dangerous extremists are actively working behind the scenes and on our screens to undermine our democracy. They’re fighting to limit access to the ballot box, literally right now.” Without naming either one, the governor referenced former President Donald Trump and the Republican who Shapiro beat to win the Pennsylvania governor’s race last year, state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin).
“We know how dangerous the former president is,” Shapiro said. “I know him and I know people like him. I ran against one of them last year. I beat him and won with the most votes ever in the history of Pennsylvania.” Shapiro received more than 3 million votes in the gubernatorial election, more than any previous candidate.
https://www.penncapital-star.com/campaigns-elections/pennsylvania-gov-josh-shapiro-rallies-democrats-in-new-hampshire/
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