Source: CBS Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Incumbent Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has won Minnesota’s 5th District Primary Tuesday evening.

The race was hotly contested, as Omar faced four challengers from her own party, including heavily-funded Antone Melton-Meaux. His campaign spokesman told WCCO he conceded at 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Tuesday’s election was also a test of Minnesota’s absentee-voting system, with unprecedented numbers voting by mail because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Election results were delayed because of the influx of absentee ballots which were sent in.

Omar was first elected to the seat in 2018, becoming the first Somali American and one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress. She won that crowded primary field by more than 18 percentage points, and has since made her mark as a progressive and outspoken critic of President Donald Trump. She was endorsed by the DFL and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Read more: https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/08/11/rep-ilhan-omar-defeats-antone-melton-meaux-3-other-challengers-in-primary-election/

Source: NY Times

Conspiracy theorists won a major victory on Tuesday as a Republican supporter of the convoluted pro-Trump movement QAnon triumphed in her House primary runoff election in Georgia, all but ensuring that she will represent a deep-red district in Congress.

The ascension of Marjorie Taylor Greene, who embraces a conspiracy theory that the F.B.I. has labeled a potential domestic terrorism threat, came as six states held primary and runoff elections on Tuesday.

In Georgia, Ms. Greene defeated John Cowan, a neurosurgeon who is no less conservative or pro-Trump, according to The Associated Press, holding a lead of more than 15 percentage points around 10 p.m. Eastern. The result is likely to unsettle mainstream Republicans, who have sought to publicly distance themselves from QAnon supporters running for congressional office this cycle even as they quietly support some of them.

Now, with Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, one of the most Republican in the country, likely to vote red in November, Ms. Greene is all but assured of getting the chance to put into action her talk of rooting out an imagined deep-state cabal of pedophile Satanists who are trying to take down President Trump.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/11/us/politics/marjorie-taylor-greene-qanon-georgia-primary.html

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Source: WCAX

MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) - Vermont Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman is going to be seeking to oust incumbent GOP Gov. Phil Scott in the November General Election.

During Tuesday's Vermont primary, Zuckerman defeated former Vermont Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe and two lesser known candidates to win the party's gubernatorial nomination. The 48-year-old Zuckerman, a Hinesburg farmer, says he was motivated to run by what he calls "the imperative nature of the climate crisis."

Zuckerman says he thinks Scott is "a really admirable person" but he hasn't been really visionary on how to address these issues.



Read more: https://www.wcax.com/2020/08/12/zuckerman-to-face-scott-in-november/

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Source: CNN

(CNN)Former WWE wrestler James Harris has died at age 70, according to a news release from the wrestling company.

Harris, who performed in the ring as Kamala, made his WWF debut in 1984, according to WWE's website.

In a career that spanned more than two decades, Harris battled many of wrestling's superstars, including Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker and Andre the Giant, according to the release.

"He terrorized opponents and thrilled audiences in Mid-South, World Class Championship Wrestling, WCW and WWE until 2006," the WWE said. His character, Kamala, was promoted as a 6-foot-7, 350-pound "Ugandan Giant."

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/10/us/wwe-kamala-james-harris-death/index.html

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RIP Kamala.

Will David Zuckerman win?

Source: NY Times

STURGIS, S.D. — Tens of thousands of motorcyclists roared into the western South Dakota community of Sturgis on Friday, lining Main Street from end to end, for the start of an annual rally that kicked off despite objections from residents and with little regard for a public health emergency ravaging the world.

It could have been any other past summer rally in Sturgis, with herds of R.V.s, bikers and classic cars converging for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, a 10-day affair that was expected to attract roughly 250,000 enthusiasts this year — about half the number who attended last year but a figure that puts it on track to be among the country’s largest public gatherings since the first coronavirus cases emerged in the spring.

Save for a few hard-to-spot hand-sanitizer stations, it could have been any other major festival in pre-pandemic times.

“Screw Covid I went to Sturgis,” read a black T-shirt amid a sea of Harley Davidson and Trump 2020 outfits sported by the throng of people walking along Main Street. Their gear did not include face masks, and social distancing guidelines were completely ignored.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/07/us/sturgis-motorcyle-rally.html

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Source: Forbes

With key benefits from the CARES Act having already expired and lawmakers unable to agree on a new coronavirus relief package, President Trump on Friday doubled down on his intention to pursue executive orders to prop up the ailing American economy if lawmakers can’t reach a deal.

“If Democrats continue to hold this critical relief hostage, I will act under my authority as President to get Americans the relief they need,” Trump said during a press briefing.

Trump laid out a plan to use executive orders to extend enhanced unemployment benefits through the end of the year (though he declined to say at what level those benefits would be extended), defer student loan payments and forgive interest “until further notice” (a policy that will likely apply only to federal loans) and extend an eviction moratorium for certain renters.

Negotiations on Friday reached what could be a permanent impasse after a self-imposed deadline came and went without an agreement or any significant progress; White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that they would recommend Trump move ahead with executive action after Friday’s unsuccessful meeting.

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahhansen/2020/08/07/trump-promises-executive-orders-on-unemployment-student-loans-and-eviction-ban-after-stimulus-talks-fail/#763103b56526

She progressive, a big name in the BLM movement, and was not the choice of the Party leaders. Democratic leaders preferred candidate James Mackler.

I for one would love to see what she can do in November. She's a fantastic candidate!

Source: CNN

(CNN)Cori Bush, a progressive activist and veteran of the racial justice protest movement, defeated 20-year incumbent Missouri Rep. William Lacy Clay in a Democratic primary on Tuesday, a stunning victory for the party's insurgent left.

The US House seat, based in St. Louis, has been held by Clay and his father, former Rep. William Clay Sr., one of the founders of the Congressional Black Caucus, since 1969. Bush, who challenged Clay in 2018 and lost, was the first candidate launched by Justice Democrats, the progressive group dedicated to toppling moderate Democratic congressional incumbents.

Bush's second attempt to unseat Clay, who won in 2018 with 57% of the primary vote, was backed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Sunrise Movement -- a youth-led group that champions the Green New Deal -- and other leftist and progressive leaders, including Jamaal Bowman, who ousted Rep. Eliot Engel in New York during the state's June primary.



Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/05/politics/cori-bush-defeats-lacy-clay-missouri-result/index.html

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This is a huge upset, I’m stunned...

Source: Business Insider

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that he could support an extension of the now-lapsed $600 federal unemployment insurance boost — if President Donald Trump ends up backing it.

At his weekly Senate Republican leadership press conference, McConnell was asked about Speaker Nancy Pelosi's appearing to draw a red line on the weekly federal supplement and whether he could support a negotiated spending package containing it.

"Wherever this thing settles between the president of the United States and his team, who has to sign it into law, and the Democrat, not insignificant minority in the Senate and majority in the House, is something I'm prepared to support," McConnell told reporters. "Even if I have some problems with certain parts of it."

The Kentucky senator added many Republicans would likely not vote for the final stimulus legislation if it restored the measure. It has drawn fierce GOP criticism for months.

Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/mitch-mcconnell-600-unemployment-benefit-extension-stimulus-package-trump-congress-2020-8

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I've been saying for days they will cave. But will we get back-pay for missing this week's $600 payment?