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  • 10 Rules law is Louisiana guv’s most current effort to move the state further to the best

    10 Rules law is Louisiana guv’s most current effort to move the state further to the best

    BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana has actually long been dependably red. The Bayou State has actually chosen the Republican prospect in every governmental election considering that 2000, with citizens extremely supporting Donald Trump throughout the previous 2, and the GOP has actually held a bulk in the statehouse for several years.

    However policies in the state have actually diverted even further best under the management of Republican politician Gov. Jeff Landry, who has actually performed a sweeping conservative program in simply 6 months on the task. Today he signed the country’s very first law needing that the 10 Rules be published in every public class. He enacted a brand-new law categorizing abortion tablets as harmful illegal drugs. He has actually voiced assistance for an expense on his desk requiring a Texas-style migration crackdown that might permit police to detain and prison migrants who get in the U.S. unlawfully.

    And legislators who have actually valued Landry’s hard law-and-order position on concerns such as brand-new capital punishment techniques await his action on a first-of-its-kind costs enabling judges to purchase the surgical castration of rapists who take advantage of kids.

    The relocations have actually made international headings and strongly ingrained Louisiana in the conservative motion on virtually every problem stimulating the Republican base in 2024. Democrats are horrified at the message Landry is sending out however some conservatives in Louisiana see the relocations as a strong and effective action as he raises his nationwide profile.

    “From about 500 miles away, it definitely appears that he has actually worked really rapidly,” stated Matt Mackowiak, a Texas-based GOP strategist who has actually worked for 2 Congress members and a guv. “He has actually struck the ground running and the capacity is truly high.”

    ‘Suppressed Republican policy choices’

    When Landry went into workplace in January, he did so with Republicans having actually protected every statewide chosen position for the very first time in almost a years.

    With the assistance of the Legislature, he likewise supported among the nation’s strictest abortion restrictions and pressed anti-LGBTQ+ policies, consisting of Louisiana’s variation of a “Don’t State Gay” costs.

    While Landry hasn’t suggested whether he will sign the Democrat-authored castration costs into law, lots of Republicans and a number of Democrats supported it.

    GOP legislators, in turn, have actually typically applauded the previous state chief law officer and one-time congressman.

    “It definitely provides you hope that your efforts are going to be efficient when you’ve got a guv who you understand where he bases on things and likewise understand that there’s a likelihood he will sign them,” stated speaker professional tempore state Rep. Michael T. Johnson.

    Johnson, who was chosen to your home in 2019, explained Landry as simple to deal with, transparent and a leader who he thinks will “move the state forward.” He included that the session was “more efficient” since there were “clear and orderly objectives we were attempting to achieve.”

    “I believe what you saw in this most current legal session is bottled-up Republican policy choices,” stated Robert Hogan, a teacher and chair of Louisiana State University’s government department. “They opened the floodgates and it began putting out, with a great deal of them really effective.”

    Throughout the aisle, Democrats regularly decried Landry’s efforts and the rate at which costs were passing, in some cases with little feedback from the general public.

    The LGBTQ+ neighborhood, which for 8 years prior had an ally in the guv’s estate, has actually turned into one of Landry’s harshest critics.

    “It is absolutely a various environment here in the Legislature, particularly with Gov. Landry focusing on these really damaging costs, pressing them through really quick and making it really hard and unpleasant to be here,” stated SarahJane Guidry, executive director of the LGBTQ+ rights group Online forum for Equality, stated in an interview throughout the session.

    Louisiana’s current political shift was at times warded off by previous Gov. John Bel Edwards, who could not instantly run once again since of term limitations.

    Edwards, the only Democratic guv in the Deep South throughout his 2 terms, looked for over 8 years to guide the state towards more Democratic opportunities by broadening Medicaid protection, signing up with environment modification efforts and banning a few of the steps that Landry has actually considering that signed into law.

    Lots of citizens appeared all set for the modification Landry has actually brought, though. He won the election outright with 52% of the vote, wiping out the Democratic runner-up’s 26%.

    While not everybody desired Landry for the task, lots of concur he has actually followed through on project guarantees — whether they support the policies or not.

    “I’m not shocked one iota, this is totally what I anticipated when he ended up being guv,” stated Chris Dier, a high school instructor in New Orleans who has actually opposed a great deal of Landry’s efforts. “I believe a great deal of the discussions before he even ended up being guv were how do we react to specific pieces of legislation when they pass.”

    Considering a larger phase?

    In a time of Trump-era conservatives, some think Landry might follow in the steps of other prominent guvs — ending up being a nationwide figure or running for greater workplace. His passion to take into location first-of-its-kind legislation, determination to select and get in nationwide battles and propensity to court media protection echo techniques utilized by other political leaders who increase to the nationwide phase.

    Pearson Cross, a government teacher at the University of Louisiana, indicates Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as examples of where Landry might go.

    “I believe Jeff Landry is really comfy with that type of profile. I believe he seems like he is defending the state and representing his constituents who are normally conservative — and possibly pressing back versus federal government overreach,” Cross stated.

    Like Abbott, Landry was a state chief law officer for several years before he ended up being guv. He likewise, like DeSantis, hung around in the U.S. Legislature, though with a much shorter period.

    However Landry, whose workplace decreased an interview demand from The Associated Press, has actually offered little sign of where his future goals lie.

    He just recently signed up with Abbott and other Republican guvs at Eagle Pass, a Texas town that has actually ended up being the center of a turf war over migration enforcement, to go over the border crisis. He likewise headlined the Tennessee Republican politician Celebration’s yearly fundraising supper in Nashville last weekend.

    He likewise signed an expense that conceals from public records information about his schedule and/or those of his partner or kids on premises of security issues. While not uncommon, challengers argue the law will be utilized to conceal who Landry meets and where he takes a trip to.

    Chatter at the state Capitol is on the other hand swirling about whether Landry may be used a cabinet position if Trump wins the governmental election in the fall. Steven Cheung, a representative for Trump’s project group, stated there have not been any conversations about who would serve in the administration. However, that hasn’t stopped individuals from hypothesizing.

    “I believe he has that (nationwide acknowledgment) and as it assists our state I definitely am delighted, however I don’t desire it to lead to him leaving for a cabinet position,” Johnson stated. “Nevertheless, I believe Louisiana has a lot to use, and if he can be an ambassador on a nationwide level then I believe definitely that is favorable.”

  • Senate races are roiled by campus protests over the war in Gaza as campaign rhetoric sharpens

    Senate races are roiled by campus protests over the war in Gaza as campaign rhetoric sharpens

    HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The student protest movement disrupting university campuses, classes and graduation ceremonies over the war in Gaza is also roiling Senate contests across the nation as Democrats tread cautiously over an internal divide and Republicans play up their rivals’ disagreements.

    The political impact of the protests on the White House campaign has drawn considerable attention, with opposition to President Joe Biden‘s handling of the Israel-Hamas war reverberating from Columbia to UCLA. The fast-evolving landscape of the demonstrations is shaping pivotal Senate races, too.

    Tent encampments have popped up at universities in many states where Democrats this election year are defending seats essential to maintaining the party’s razor-thin Senate majority. At some schools, police crackdowns and arrests have followed.

    The protests have sharpened the campaign rhetoric in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Ohio and Michigan, among other places. Republican candidates in California and Florida have stepped up their criticism of the Democratic president for the U.S. response to the war or for chaotic scenes on American campuses.

    Some Republicans have shown up at encampments, including one at George Washington University, not far from the White House. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who is facing reelection, said on social media that he went there to show solidarity with Jewish students. “We need to do all we can to protect them,” he said.

    Republican candidate David McCormick, during a visit to the University of Pennsylvania, said protesters at the Ivy League school did not know the “difference between right and wrong, good and evil,” and were creating a hostile atmosphere for Jewish students.

    McCormick has decried what he frames as a lack of leadership and moral clarity on the part of his Democratic opponent, Sen. Bob Casey, as well as by Biden and administrators at the school buffeted by accusations of harboring antisemitism.

    “What’s happening on campuses is clearly a test of leadership and moral courage, both for the college presidents and for our leaders and for Sen. Casey and President Biden,” McCormick said in an interview.

    Israel and its supporters say the protests are antisemitic, a charge that Israel’s critics say is sometimes used to silence legitimate opposition. Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, protest organizers, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at trying to save the lives of Palestinians civilians.

    Many Democrats, from Biden on down, avoided saying much about the situation until recently as universities began to crack down and comparisons were made to anti-war protests of the 1960s.

    Even then, Democrats balanced their criticism of antisemitism and rule-breakers with the need to protect the right to free expression and peaceful protest. Some have tried to avoid taking sides in protests that have pitted pro-Israeli versus pro-Palestinian Democrats and divided important parts of the party’s base, including Jewish, Arab American and younger voters.

    Republicans, meanwhile, have railed at what they characterized as equivocating or silence by Democrats. Republicans professed solidarity with Jews against antisemitism while condemning the protests as lawless.

    Mike Rogers, a Republican seeking an open Senate seat in Michigan, said student protesters at Columbia were “Hamas sympathizers.” In California, GOP Senate candidate Steve Garvey called them “terrorists” practicing “terrorism disguised as free speech.”

    In five states, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, is using the protests in digital ads about student loan forgiveness, saying Democrats want to pay off the loans of students “radicalized by the far left” who are “threatening Jews,” “attacking police” and “acting like terrorists.”

    McCormick and others say universities that, in their view, tolerate antisemitism should lose federal subsidies and that visas should be revoked for any foreign student inciting violence or expressing pro-Hamas sentiments at the encampments.

    Casey, long a staunch supporter of Israel, has criticized acts of antisemitism on campuses and pointed to legislation he sponsored as a way to make sure the Education Department takes action.

    “Students of course have the right to peacefully protest, but when it crosses the line either into violence or discrimination, then we have an obligation to step in and stop that conduct,” Casey said Thursday as he urged colleagues to pass his bill.

    Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada, who is Jewish and facing reelection, said she was “horrified” by displays of antisemitism on campuses and, like Casey, called for the department to hold schools accountable.

    In California, U.S. Rep Adam Schiff, the Democratic nominee for an open Senate seat, took aim at the Columbia demonstration and said “antisemitic and hateful rhetoric is being loudly and proudly displayed.” Accused by Garvey of being “incredibly silent” on the protests, Schiff, who is Jewish, voted for a House bill similar to Casey’s and released a statement that condemned violence and the “explicit, repeated targeting and intimidation of Jewish students.”

    Republicans elsewhere contended statements by Democrats were equivocating and inadequate.

    Republicans called out Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, after he told an Axios reporter last week that he was “not going to talk about the politics of that. People always have the right to speak out and should.”

    His Republican opponent, Bernie Moreno, charged that Brown had “wholeheartedly endorsed these vile and violent antisemitic demonstrations.”

    Later, at a news conference, Brown gave more expansive comments. “Students want to make their voices heard, they need to do it in a way that’s nonviolent, they need to do it in a way that doesn’t spew hatred, and laws need to be enforced,” he said.

    In Michigan, which has a relatively significant Muslim population, Biden’s handling of the war is expected to factor heavily into the presidential and Senate races.

    Rogers, a favorite for the GOP nomination, thanked New York City police for confronting protesters and “standing up to protect Jewish students at Columbia from the visceral hatred we’ve witnessed from Hamas sympathizers on their campus.”

    Republicans argued that U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the front-runner for the Democratic nominationfor Senate, had not spoken out strongly against protests at Columbia, her alma mater, and that she took five days after they began to say anything at all.

    Slotkin, who is Jewish, said in an April 22 statement — the most recent wave of demonstrations began at Columbia on April 17 — that “the use of intimidation, antisemitic signs or slogans, or harassment, is unacceptable.”

    It was, she suggested, a complicated topic.

    “I would rather be thoughtful and take more time than have a knee-jerk answer for any issue,” Slotkin said in an interview. “But especially this one.”

    __

    Associated Press reporters Adam Beam in Sacramento, California; Joey Cappalletti in Lansing, Michigan; Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey; Tassanee Vejpongsa in Philadelphia; and Stephany Matat in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.

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  • Northern Kentucky GOP candidate accuses his rival of using gay hookup app

    Northern Kentucky GOP candidate accuses his rival of using gay hookup app

    BURLINGTON, Ky. – A Republican candidate forum ended abruptly Tuesday night after one man accused the other of having a profile on a gay hookup app.

    Republican Kentucky House candidate Ed Massey told The Enquirer afterward he stood by his claim that his primary opponent T. J. Roberts is “rumored to be on Grindr.” The comment sparked 120 or so attendees at the event to shout toward the stage – some confused, others adamant the accusation was a lie.

    Roberts called for his opponent to withdraw from the race.

    “I’d ask that he apologize. I’d ask that he drop out of the race because Boone County deserves better,” Roberts told The Enquirer.

    “Do I have Grindr? No. That is stupid. And he used (the phrase) ‘rumored to be’ because he is getting to a level where he’s this close to getting sued for defamation,” Roberts, 26, said.

    Both candidates are running in the GOP primary for the empty state House seat in District 66, which includes the northern part of Boone County, located about 15 miles southwest of Cincinnati.

    Massey and Roberts were two of six candidates slated to attend the forum hosted by the Commonwealth Policy Center at the main branch of the Boone County Public Library.

    The center is a conservative political organization that recruits candidates, lobbies lawmakers and promotes traditional Christian values.

    Kentucky House District 66

    Kentucky House District 66

    ‘I don’t know who we’re dealing with’

    Massey, 56, did not provide evidence of a Grindr account linked to Roberts but defended the comment after the debate.

    “I’ve heard from more than one person that he may have a different affiliation. I don’t judge him for that, but I’d rather people just be truthful about what it is. Again, I said it was a rumored Grindr account because I don’t know that for certain,” Massey said. “But I will tell you, the lies that I’ve caught him in, the things that he’s said – I don’t know who we’re dealing with.”

    Roberts has previously told The Enquirer he believes marriage is between a man and a woman but accepts the issue has been settled legally by the Supreme Court. He lives with his grandparents and acts as their caretaker, he said.

    About 71% of people in the United States agree marriage between same-sex couples should be legally recognized, according to a 2023 Gallup poll. That includes 49% of Republicans and 41% of weekly churchgoers.

    Part of a broader Republican divide

    Roberts is part of a vocal and more conservative branch of the Republican party that emerged after the 2020 election – one that is deeply rooted in Christian values that support legislation such as total abortion bans without exceptions for rape or incest. They’re sometimes called liberty candidates or constitutional Republicans.

    That’s in contrast to establishment Republicans who thrived in a pre-Trump era, which is when Massey won two terms as state House representative.

    Whoever wins the May 21 primary election will go up against Democrat Peggy Houston-Nienaber in the general election this fall. A Republican has represented the district in the House for more than 40 years.

    During the forum, Massey also brought up what he said were Roberts’ offensive online comments, including about veterans.

    “My opponent got into a debate with a military member where he said to him, basically, that he needed to get a real job to get off the taxpayer dime and that he had no respect for the military,” Massey said, displaying a printout of the comments.

    Roberts said he could not remember the specific conversation or its context, but he said his stepfather and grandfather are both veterans.

    “My issue is that I despise the military-industrial complex’s use of our soldiers because, foundationally, I think that they sign up to defend America, they sign up to defend America first,” he said.

    Roberts made few personal accusations about Massey during the debate. Instead, he wanted to keep the conversation focused on issues, like limited government and the protection of people’s individual rights.

    “What he said was so false it was hardly deserving of a response,” Roberts said. “All I can say is how I am less than half that man’s age and yet still, in my view, was the adult in the room was beyond me.”

    The Enquirer previously interviewed Roberts and Massey about issues such as abortion, school vouchers, and Donald Trump. You can read more about their stance on specific issues at the link below.

    More: A censure and ‘cheap political points’ highlight GOP divide in Kentucky

    Have a news tip or question about something happening in Northern Kentucky? Contact NKY reporter Jolene Almendarez at jolenea@gannett.com or follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @jolenea1.

    More: A censure and ‘cheap political points’ highlight GOP divide in Kentucky

    This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: T.J. Roberts calls for Ed Massey to withdraw after Grindr rumor



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  • The culture war in North Carolina is playing out in the race for governor

    The culture war in North Carolina is playing out in the race for governor

    In front of a conservative talkshow host two weeks ago, Mark Robinson, North Carolina’s Republican candidate for governor, was grousing a bit about being snubbed by the state’s Democratic governor on a matter of race.

    “He talks a lot about diversity, equity and inclusion, but apparently the line for diversity, equity and inclusion stops at the Republican party,” Robinson told Lockwood Phillips. “Roy Cooper has had several chances to congratulate me on the accomplishment of being the first Black lieutenant governor, and he has never taken it.”

    Related: A physician, a lawyer, a CEO: the 84 fake electors who allegedly tried to steal the 2020 election

    Phillips, who is white, chuckled, then re-introduced Robinson to the audience, “who by the way is African American, Black, whatever. But, frankly, you don’t wear that. You really do not wear that in our entire conversation.”

    For a conservative speaking to a Black candidate, this is a compliment. For others, it is a jarring illustration of Robinson’s comfort with accommodating the racial anxieties of white Republicans and with the problematic – and at times inflammatory – rhetoric of the far right.

    But sitting for interviews and being perceived at all as a Black candidate is a different universe compared to the relative obscurity of Robinson’s life six years ago, before a viral video created his fateful star turn into the conservative cosmos. The former factory worker is now a national name, and drawing national attention, for his flame-throwing slurs against the LGBTQ+ community, antisemitic remarks and derision of other Black people.

    “The same people who support Robinson are the people who support Trump,” said Shelly Willingham, a Black state legislator from Rocky Mount. “It’s a cult. It’s not necessarily citizens supporting a candidate but following a cult leader.”

    ***

    Robinson’s political career began in an inspired four-minute flash in 2018 in front of the Greensboro city council, as he argued against the city’s effort to cancel a gun show in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas high school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

    “I’ve heard a whole lot of people in here talking tonight about this group, that group, domestic violence, Blacks, these minorities, that minority. What I want to know is, when are you going to start standing up for the majority? Here’s who the majority is. I’m the majority. I’m a law-abiding citizen and I’ve never shot anybody,” he said.

    Robinson, now 55, invoked images of gang members terrorizing people who have given up their weapons under gun-control laws. He said he was there to “raise hell just like these loonies on the left do”.

    I’m here to raise hell just like these loonies on the left do

    Mark Robinson

    The speech became a social media hit after being shared by Mark Walker, the former North Carolina representative. Robinson drew the attention of the NRA, which was under fire for its callous response to the Parkland shooting and looking for champions.

    Born into poverty and working in a furniture factory while attending college, Robinson quit his job and dropped out of school to begin speaking at conservative events. He graduated from UNC-Greensboro with a bachelors’ degree in history in December of 2022.

    Robinson beat a host of competitors for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 2020, winning about a third of the primary vote. He faced the state representative Yvonne Holley, an African American Democrat from Raleigh. Holley’s campaign focused on North Carolina’s urban territory while largely ignoring rural areas of the state, while Robinson barnstormed through each of the state’s 100 counties. He won narrowly but outperformed Trump’s margin over Biden by about 100,000 votes.

    At a rally in Greensboro in March before the state’s primary election this year, Trump endorsed Robinson, referring to Robinson as “Martin Luther King on steroids”. But try to imagine King saying something like: “Racism is a tool used by the evil, to build up the ignorant, to try and tear down the strong,” as Robinson wrote in 2017.

    That sentiment helps explain his initial appeal to white conservatives in a political moment in which rolling back racial justice initiatives has become central to the Republican brand. The right had found the face of a man who could not be easily accused of bigotry, at least not until people began to pay attention to what he said.

    “He should not be governor of North Carolina or any other place,” said Shirl Mason, who was attending a Black fraternity invocation and scholarship ceremony by Omega Psi Phi for her grandson in Rocky Mount. Her nose wrinkled and her posture shifted at the thought, as she fought for composure in a way people conversant in the manners of church folks would recognize.

    “He really should not be a politician. Anybody who can say that race did not play a part in the political arena, they should not be in politics at all,” Mason said.

    Like Trump, Robinson has a litany of provocative outrages in speeches and on social media that have been resurfacing, from referring to school shooting survivors advocating for gun control reforms as “prosti-tots” and “spoiled little bastards”, to describing gay and transgender people as “filth”.

    Robinson has shared conspiracist comments about the moon landing and 9/11. He has attacked the idea of women in positions of leadership. His swipes at Black culture and public figures are talk-radio fodder, describing Barack Obama as a “worthless anti-American atheist” and suggesting Michelle Obama is a man.

    “Half of black Democrats don’t realize they are slaves and don’t know who their masters are. The other half don’t care,” he wrote in one Facebook post. He described the movie Black Panther in another as the product of “an agnostic Jew and put to film by satanic marxist”, and wrote: “How can this trash, that was only created to pull the shekels out of your schvartze pockets, invoke any pride?”, using a derogatory Yiddish word to refer to Black people.

    The antisemitism of that comment is not singular. He has repeated common antisemitic tropes about Jewish banking, posted Hitler quotes on Facebook and suggested the Holocaust was a hoax. “There is a REASON the liberal media fills the airwaves with programs about the NAZI and the ‘6 million Jews’ they murdered,” wrote Robinson, with scare quotes around the figure.

    Robinson’s campaign has pushed back on accusations of antisemitism, citing his support for Israel and criticism of protests against the war in Gaza. But his past comments are likely to be revisited throughout the campaign in no small part because his opponent, Josh Stein, could be the first Jewish governor of North Carolina.

    The two present a sharp contrast in policy, temperament and experience. After graduating from both Harvard Law and the Harvard Kennedy school of government, Stein managed John Edwards’ successful Senate campaign. Stein then served in the statehouse before winning the attorney general’s race in 2016, becoming the first Jewish person elected to statewide office in North Carolina.

    Stein, 57, is running as a conventional center-left Democrat. At a stump speech in pastoral Scotland county near the South Carolina line, Stein focused on fighting the opioid-addiction epidemic, the state’s backlog of untested rape kits, clean drinking water and early childhood education. But he had some words about Robinson’s rhetoric.

    “The voters of North Carolina have an unbelievably stark choice before them this November, between two competing visions,” Stein said in an interview. “Mine is forward and it’s inclusive. It’s about tapping the potential of every person so that they have a chance to succeed where we have a thriving economy, safe neighborhoods, strong schools.

    “My opponent’s vision is divisive and hateful, and would be job-killing. I mean, he mocks school-shooting survivors. He questions the Holocaust. He wants to defund public education. He wants to completely ban abortion. And he speaks in a way that, frankly, is unfitting of any person, let alone a statewide elected leader.”

    Is Robinson an antisemite? “There are certainly people who are Jewish who feel that he does not like them,” Stein replied.

    “He says vile things. He agreed that Jews were one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. It’s unfathomable to me that someone would hold those beliefs and then feel comfortable saying them out loud.”

    ***

    North Carolina has a relationship with bilious conservatives; this is the state that produced Jesse Helms and Madison Cawthorn. But voters here have a temperamentally moderate streak and a long history of split-ticket voting that also produces the occasional John Edwards or Roy Cooper.

    In six of the last eight general elections, voters here chose a Democratic governor and a Republican president. Though every lieutenant governor in the last 60 years has run for governor, only three of 11 have won, each a Democrat. The last two attorneys general of North Carolina also have subsequently been elected governor, also both Democrats.

    But the margins are always maddeningly close. Stein won his first race for attorney general in 2016 – a Trump year – by about 25,000 votes. He won re-election four years later by about half that margin.

    He mocks school-shooting survivors. He questions the Holocaust. He wants to completely ban abortion

    Josh Stein, on Mark Robinson

    Cooper, a Democratic moderate, has been a political fixture in North Carolina politics for a generation, and has been able to fend off some of the more radical impulses of Republicans over the years with a combination of veto power and moral suasion.

    But while Democrats hold the North Carolina governor’s mansion today, Republicans achieved a veto-proof majority in both legislative chambers in 2022 after Tricia Cotham, the newly elected state representative, switched parties shortly after winning an otherwise safely Democratic seat. Since that political shock, Cooper’s vetoes have been routinely overcome by a Republican supermajority.

    North Carolina’s political maps are also notoriously gerrymandered – manipulated in favor of Republicans – but winning two-thirds of house seats in the legislature is an open question in a year where abortion rights are emerging as a driving political issue. As of 1 May, North Carolina will be the only southern state remaining where an abortion can be obtained after six weeks of pregnancy.

    Given the stakes, Stein’s campaign hopes to avoid the pratfall of tradecraft that led to Robinson’s victory in the lieutenant governor’s race four years ago. For the moment, the tables have turned on the campaign trail in their favor.

    In one of Robinson’s three bankruptcy filings, reporters discovered that he had failed to file income taxes between 1998 and 2002. Questions have been raised about personal expenses charged to campaign funds from the 2020 race.

    His wife shuttered a nutrition non-profit after a conservative blogger began to raise questions about the Robinson family’s financial dependence on government contracts. Reporters later learned that the North Carolina department of health and human services is investigating the firm for questionable accounting.

    In the hothouse of abortion politics this year, video also surfaced of Robinson at a rally in February calling for an eventual ban on abortion. “We got to do it the same way they rolled it forward,” Robinson said. “We got to do it the same way with rolling it back. We’ve got it down to 12 weeks. The next goal is to get it down to six, and then just keep moving from there.”

    His campaign spokesperson later re-characterized those remarks as support for a ban beyond the six-week “heartbeat” stage of a pregnancy.

    Robinson acknowledged in 2022 paying for an abortion for his wife 33 years earlier.

    The question is whether Robinson’s full-throated anti-abortion stance hinders not just his own candidacy but that of Trump. Planned Parenthood plans to double its spending in North Carolina, to $10m, with an eye on defending the governorship and ending a veto-proof Republican legislative majority. Trump, meanwhile, has backed away from publicly endorsing the most extreme abortion bans.

    ***

    Down in the polls, Robinson has until this week apparently kept a light campaign schedule and stayed away from places where a reporter might pick up yet another unscripted comment. With the exception of an appearance at the Carteret County Speedway on 3 April and the radio interview on 9 April, there is scant evidence that Robinson has been campaigning at all since the March primary. A request to his campaign for a list of his recent campaign stops went unanswered, as did requests for an interview or comment for this story.

    Mark Robinson should not be governor of North Carolina or any other place

    Shirl Mason, North Carolina resident

    Stein, meanwhile, has been averaging a campaign stop every two days – 22 events since the March primary – showing up in small towns and rural counties across the state. Stein’s father founded North Carolina’s first integrated law firm, and he spent many years in consumer protection and racial equity roles as a lawyer, a point he raises in rural Black communities.

    “I think his coming here alone says that he understands that he needs rural communities in order to be successful,” said Darrel “BJ” Gibson, vice-chair of the board of commissioners in Scotland county. “And I say it because so many times we get left out of these gatherings, and state candidates don’t understand that.”

    The question for both Stein and Robinson is whether the bombast of Robinson’s life as a self-described social media influencer will overshadow substantive policy discussions.

    When Phillips, the conservative talkshow host, asked Robinson in April about how his approach has changed over time, he described Robinson as more Trumpian than Trump.

    “My message has not changed,” Robinson replied. “Now, I can tell you clearly that my methods have, because I’ve switched buckets. I’ve gone from social media influencer to advocate, to now elected official. But my heart is still in the same place.”

    This story was amended on 28 April 2024 to include that Mark Robinson earned a bachelors’ degree in history in 2022.

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  • Steve Garvey is raising millions — and paying for it

    Steve Garvey is raising millions — and paying for it

    SACRAMENTO, California — Steve Garvey, the former baseball superstar turned Republican candidate, has managed to raise millions in recent weeks for his longshot bid for California’s open Senate seat — and it’s costing him.

    Garvey raised $3.4 million from mid-February through the end of March, and, as federal filings show, it cost him over $1 million to do it, between digital ads, direct mail, commission costs and venue fees.

    Even with his improved numbers — his best showing yet, leaving him with $1.6 million in cash — Garvey faces an incredibly steep climb to seize the seat previously held by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Republicans haven’t won a statewide race in California since 2006, and breaking that streak would be a feat, even for a celebrity.

    He also faces a major disadvantage in running against Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, who has millions to burn in a general election where he’s expected to glide to victory. Garvey benefited from millions of dollars in negative Schiff TV ads before the March 5 primary — a boost he’s unlikely to get in the general election.

    The latest report showed Schiff bringing in $3.7 million over a six-week period that covered the weeks leading up to the primary and through March 31. He had $4.8 million in cash at the end of March.

    Garvey has built his campaign around “common sense” and “consensus” while steering clear of specific policy proposals. Despite his celebrity status, he hasn’t reported any big-name endorsements or donations, instead building his war chest from small-dollar supporters — many of them out of state, from places like Florida, Arizona and Texas.

    He has had to build his campaign “from the ground up,” manager Andy Gharakhani said in a statement Monday when asked about his spending on fundraising. Garvey collected an average donation of $57 from 62,000 individuals in the first quarter of 2024.

    “Steve’s investment in campaign infrastructure will provide him the tools needed to win in November,” Gharakhani said.

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