RandySF
RandySF's JournalMD-SEN: Larry Hogan (R) launches first Maryland Senate general-election ad, focused on abortion
Larry Hogan is taking to the airwaves in his latest attempt to neutralize Democratic attacks on his abortion-rights record.
The former Maryland governor had declined to fully elaborate exactly where he stood on the issue during his state’s Senate GOP primary. And in the week since Hogan won his party’s Senate primary, he’s repeatedly sought to clarify his stance, directly addressing abortion in his first major speech as the nominee, in interviews — and now on TV.
Hogan’s first general election ad is set to air Wednesday, and it’s entirely about abortion. In it, the former governor goes direct-to-camera as he endorses codifying the abortion protections the nation had under Roe v. Wade.
“With Roe overturned, many have asked what I'll do in the United States Senate,” he says in the ad. “I'll support legislation that makes Roe the law of the land in every state, so every woman can make her own choice.”
The 30-second spot, shared first with POLITICO, is part of a more than $1 million buy and will air on cable, broadcast and digital platforms in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., media markets. It’s the latest move in a bid by Hogan to defang abortion-rights-centered attacks that Democrats have wielded against Republicans since the fall of Roe.
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/05/21/congress/hogan-launches-abortion-ad-maryland-senate-alsobrooks-00159124
Current, former sheriff vying to be Dallas County's top cop in runoff election
The incumbent Dallas County sheriff and her predecessor will go toe-to-toe in the runoff election next Tuesday in a hotly contested race for the county’s top law enforcement official.
Sheriff Marian Brown is running to keep her post, while Lupe Valdez — who served as sheriff from 2005 until she stepped down to run for governor and endorsed Brown as her replacement in 2017 — is vying for a political comeback.
Brown and Valdez split the vote, 42% and 37.67%, respectively, in the crowded Democratic primary in March. With no Republican on the ballot, the winner will run unopposed in the November general election.
Valdez’s campaign spokesperson, Mike Hendrix, said her camp is confident Dallas County voters understand what’s at stake in the sheriff’s race: Control and oversight of the county’s law enforcement agency and jail for the next four years.
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/elections/2024/05/21/current-former-sheriff-vying-to-be-dallas-countys-top-cop-in-runoff-election/
Baltimore mail-in ballot counting inches forward, wait continues for city council hopefuls
The wait continues for several Baltimore City Council hopefuls this week as mail-in ballot counting inches forward in the city.
As of Monday night, the city still had about 8,300 mail-in ballots left to be counted, according to state records. The vast majority, about 8,100, were cast by Democrats in the overwhelmingly Democratic city. The Democratic primary typically determines the eventual winners of races in Baltimore.
That 8,300 ballot figure does not include the roughly 6,300 provisional ballots cast by voters at city polling places which will be considered by the Baltimore City Board of Elections beginning Wednesday. Voters are asked to cast a provisional ballot when there are questions about their residency or eligibility to vote.
Armstead Jones, the city’s election director, said he does not expect to complete the provisional ballot count Wednesday due to the quantity received.
https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/05/21/baltimore-mail-in-ballot-counting-inches-forward/
Trump suggests he is open to states restricting access to birth control
Former president Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that he is open to allowing states to restrict access to birth control and promised to release a “comprehensive policy” on the issue soon.
In an interview with KDKA News in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Trump was asked whether he supported any restrictions on a person’s right to contraception.
“We’re looking at that, and I’m going to have a policy on that very shortly, and I think it’s something that you’ll find interesting,” Trump said. “I think it’s a smart decision. But we’ll be releasing it very soon.”
Pressed if that meant he would support states if they wanted to ban certain forms of birth control, including the morning-after pill, Trump did not answer directly but said he would be releasing more details “within a week or so.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/05/21/trump-contraception-restrictions-policy/
CA-SEN: Steve Garvey (R) Has His Property Taxes Paid by Some Mysterious Outfit Called 'Sisters in Christ'
There’s some funny business in Steve Garvey’s taxes, aside from the fact that he owes several hundred thousand, as his property taxes are being paid by some nebulous group with the name “Sisters in Christ.”
Now that former LA Dodger and Republican candidate Steve Garvey is heading for the November Senate election against Rep. Adam Schiff, the press is starting to go skeleton-hunting in Garvey’s closets. And they are finding skeletons! The Sacramento Bee reported in late March that Garvey still owes several hundred thousand dollars in unpaid taxes, and has had a number of tax liens filed against him. Digging further into the case, the Bee reported Friday that very oddly, the property taxes on Garvey’s Palm Desert home are being paid by some organization called Sisters in Christ.
We should note that there is a very legitimate religious charity organization called Sisters in Christ, based in Florida, which does bible studies and runs programs to support women. This is a different Sisters in Christ, it’s an LLC based in Utah, which does not appear to have any other activities outside of paying Steve Garvey’s property taxes. Oh, and one of its officers is Garvey’s sister-in-law Shaunna Hood.
It is possible that Sisters in Christ LLC actually owns Garvey’s Palm Desert house. Per the Sacramento Bee, Garvey’s wife’s mother Marilyn Smythe transferred the deed for the home to Sisters in Christ in 2006. I’m no accountant, but this smells like it’s got “tax dodge” written all over it.
https://sfist.com/2024/05/17/gop-senate-candidate-steve-garvey-has-his-property-taxes-paid-by-some-mysterious-outfit-called-sisters-in-christ/
Arizona weighs when lawyers' long-shot election challenges cross the line
At a state bar association event on election law last month, a jovial mood turned to silence after Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes told the assembled lawyers that they need to do a better job of upholding their professional standards.
Election lawyers are filing too many frivolous cases “just because the plaintiffs are mad at their political opponents,” Fontes said at the podium, and they’re endangering public faith in democracy.
To back up his admonition — which has not been reported previously — he cited the unprecedented number of election lawyers who are being sanctioned by the courts over frivolous claims. Judges in Arizona have issued penalties in at least five cases against lawyers who have filed election lawsuits since 2020 — as much as $122,000 in one case — and the bar association has received ethics complaints against more than two dozen lawyers.
But the rise in sanctions and disciplinary scrutiny is prompting debate about exactly when lawyers who bring election challenges are crossing the line, and whether professional standards of conduct have shifted.
https://azmirror.com/2024/05/21/arizona-weighs-when-lawyers-long-shot-election-challenges-cross-the-line/
New York's high court upholds requiring insurance to cover medically necessary abortions
New York can continue to require companies with health insurance plans to cover medically necessary abortions, the state’s highest court ruled Tuesday.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany and other religious groups argued that the rule violated their religious freedoms.
State financial regulators approved the policy in 2017. The state Legislature then separately codified the abortion coverage regulation into law in 2022. The religious groups sued over the regulation, not the law.
The Court of Appeals case had larger significance because the state's law could be challenged using a similar legal argument, if the religious groups were successful.
https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2024/05/21/n-y--high-court-upholds-insurance--abortions-case
MT-SEN: Tim Sheehy (R) removes public land advertisement from his ranch's website
U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy, who is seeking the Republican nomination in Montana’s Senate race, removed a section from his ranch’s website advertising its proximity to public land.
According to the Little Belt website, Sheehy owns and operates the ranch with fellow veteran Greg Putman. Prior to March, the property’s website also boasted about its proximity to public land and impressive game in a section titled “The Ranch”. This section has since been deleted, and a recent NBC News report confirmed that the property does not allow public hunting access on its 37,000 acres.
Little Belt also does not participate in Montana’s block management program, which is specifically designed to work with private land owners to provide free public hunting access to people in the state. As recently as 2022, Sheehy’s ranch did provide luxury hunting packages, including one for $12,500.
According to a voter survey poll from March conducted by the University of Montana, 47% of the state’s voters consider clean water, clean air, open spaces and open public lands to be very important factors in deciding who to elect.
https://heartlandsignal.com/2024/05/20/tim-sheehy-removes-public-land-advertisement-from-his-ranchs-website/
Souls to the Polls Wisconsin ramps up calls for GOP official's resignation
A Milwaukee-based voting rights group is ramping up calls for the resignation of the Wisconsin Republican Party’s director over comments he made during the 2020 election.
Souls to the Polls, which provides Election Day transportation primarily to low-income people and people of color, called for Andrew Iverson to step down from his role in state politics because of suggestions he made over text message that Republicans use the group’s services in an attempt to “wreak havoc.”
At a press conference Monday, Rev. Greg Lewis, the group’s director, called on Iverson to “have some integrity, admit what you’ve done and remove yourself from leadership.”
The state party has maintained that Iverson’s comments were taken out of context and that they’ve been conflated with comments by Carlton Huffman, an embattled former GOP operative who was recently fired from a job at the North Carolina statehouse after white supremacist media appearances came to light.
https://www.wpr.org/news/souls-polls-wisconsin-gop-resignation
WI: Gableman says recall Vos (R) effort 'on track' to collect enough signatures
Former conservative Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman says he believes those seeking to recall Assembly Speaker Robin Vos “are on track to collect more than an adequate number” of signatures to be successful.
Gableman spoke to recall supporters Monday in Union Grove just more than a week from the deadline to turn in signatures to the Elections Commission. It’s the second recall attempt against Vos, the longest-serving Assembly speaker in Wisconsin history.
“When Racine Recall turns in the required number of valid signatures calling for Robin’s recall, we will mark the transfer of power from the closed fist of Robin Vos to the people of Wisconsin,” said Gableman, who has repeatedly clashed with Vos.
The Republican Assembly Campaign Committee didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment left with the state GOP.
https://www.wispolitics.com/2024/gableman-says-recall-vos-effort-on-track-to-collect-enough-signatures/
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