AZ: Maricopa County takes a fresh dump on Trump.

Trump lawyers withdraw from Arizona lawsuit

The largest law firm representing the Trump campaign or its allies in post-election litigation challenging votes in key states has withdrawn from an election lawsuit in Maricopa County, Arizona.

Associate Presiding Civil Judge Daniel Kiley on Tuesday granted Snell & Wilmer’s request to withdraw as counsel of record for the Republican National Committee. The RNC had teamed-up with the Trump campaign and the Arizona Republican Party in the case, which alleges that Maricopa County incorrectly rejected some votes cast on Election Day.



https://www.reuters.com/article/snell-maricopa/snell-wilmer-withdraws-from-election-lawsuit-as-trump-contests-arizona-results-idUSL1N2HY005

Trump may announce 2024 run by end of the year

State Department Won't Give Biden His Messages

“A stack of messages from foreign leaders to President-elect Joe Biden are sitting at the State Department but the Trump administration is preventing him from accessing them,” CNN reports.

“Traditionally, the State Department supports all communications for the President-elect, which is why many countries began sending messages to State over the weekend. But with Biden prohibited from accessing State Department resources by the Trump administration, because President Trump refuses to accept Biden’s victory, dozens of incoming messages have not been received.”




https://politicalwire.com/2020/11/11/state-department-wont-give-biden-his-messages/

Arizona AG: Biden Likely to Win Arizona

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) told Fox Business that President Trump is “very, highly unlikely” to win enough of the still-uncounted ballots in Arizona to defeat President-elect Joe Biden.

And there is no evidence so far that Arizona’s votes were tainted by fraud or other irregularities that would affect the election.




https://politicalwire.com/2020/11/11/biden-likely-to-win-arizona/

Tweet of the Day

Criminal justice reformer unseats Los Angeles district attorney

After a bitter race to lead the largest district attorney's office in the nation, reform candidate and former San Francisco D.A. George Gascón unseated Los Angeles County's first Black chief prosecutor.

With nearly 800,000 ballots still to be counted in Tuesday's election, Jackie Lacey conceded to Gascón on Friday in an emotional address attended by her staff and supporters.

"My consultants tell me that while I may close the gap between the two of us, I will not be able to make up enough based on the trending of the ballots to win this election," Lacey said. “I am so thankful to God for giving me this incredible opportunity to serve the people of Los Angeles County.”

The contest was regarded by many, and even Lacey herself, as an extension of the social unrest that spread across the country after George Floyd died in May while in Minneapolis police custody.

Lacey, who was also the county’s first female district attorney, acknowledged that “what happened in my election may one day be listed as a consequence of that” movement.

“It may be said that one day the results of this election is a result of our season of discontent and a demand to see a tsunami of change,” she said.



https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/criminal-justice-reformer-unseats-los-angeles-district-attorney-n1246871

DeSantis' latest hire for data team: Uber-driving, COVID-conspiracy sports blogger

When Gov. Ron DeSantis needed to hire a data analyst, his staff picked a little-known Ohio sports blogger and Uber driver whose only relevant experience is spreading harmful conspiracy theories about COVID-19 on the Internet.

In his own words, Kyle Lamb of Columbus, Ohio, has few qualifications for the job at the state’s Office of Policy and Budget, which pays $40,000 per year.

“Fact is, I’m not an ‘expert.’ I’m not a doctor, epidemiologist, virologist or scientist,” Lamb wrote on a website for a subscribers-only podcast he hosts about the coronavirus. “I also don’t need to be. Experts don’t have all the answers, and we’ve learned that the hard way.”

Plucked from the obscurity of the blogosphere, Lamb, 40, broadcasts his lack of scientific training in his theories about the pandemic.

In frequent posts on Twitter and sports message boards, Lamb has said that masks don’t prevent the coronavirus from spreading; that lockdowns are ineffective; that hydroxychloroquine, a drug touted by President Donald Trump, can treat the virus; that COVID-19, which he said might be part of a Chinese “biowar,” is not more deadly than the flu; and that the virus isn’t dangerous for children to contract.


https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article247081417.html#storylink=cpy

North Carolina Democrats maintain control of state offices.

Kesha Ram becomes first woman of color in Vermont Senate

On Tuesday, Democrat Ram became the first woman of color elected to the Vermont Senate, placing her alongside five other state senators for the Chittenden County district.

Ram came in third in the six-seat Chittenden District with 46,504 votes, according to unofficial results posted on the Vermont Secretary of State election website. All six seats in the district were won by candidates backed by the Democratic Party or both the Democratic and Progressive parties.

For Ram, born to an Indian father and Jewish American mother, the push to get people of color into state office doesn't stop with her election.

"I want to turn around and help recruit the first Indigenous woman, the first Black woman," she said. "Many other firsts and seconds and onward so that we can have a robust conversation and no one is seen as monolithic."

The state has struggled with a lack of diversity in politics for some time.




https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/2020/11/04/vermont-election-results-kesha-ram-elected-state-senate-first-woman-color/3716467001/