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Early outside spending boosts Speaker Moore's
position in congressional race
Carolina Journal | Dallas Woodhouse
December 21, 2023
Early independent spending combined with significant home county support has NC House Speaker Tim Moore surging into a commanding position in Congressional District 14, a newly configured district that heavily favors the GOP in the General Election in 2024.
A new survey conducted for the GOPAC Education Fund by Differentiators Data shows North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore with a significant lead in North Carolina's 14th Congressional District Republican primary.
Moore, an active leader in GOPAC's mission during his decade-long tenure as state House speaker, holds a 43-percentage point lead over his nearest competitor.
Moore is supported by half of all voters with 49%. The two other Republicans in the race, Jeff Gregory (6%) and Lillian Joseph (2%), are virtual unknowns to voters. Moore avoided what would have been his strongest primary challenge when Republican Pat Harrigan, a businessman, and former Green Beret, filed to run for Rep. Patrick McHenry's seat after the former speaker pro tempore announced he'll retire at the end of his term. Harrigan won the primary for the 14th Congressional District in 2022, so would have had high name ID and some momentum with primary voters. Read more
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WG Economy: How Did 2023 End For Gas Prices?
WG Economy | David Winston
December 20, 2023
2023 has been a rollercoaster for inflation. We have seen some moderation in the year-over-year CPI but inflation has proven to be stickier than many expected. Gas prices have been an area of inflation that the Biden White House has tried toclaim credit in times when prices have improved. Blaming the "Putin price hike" and accusing oil companies of price gouging are what we have heard from the White House during record highs at the pump in 2022. But when prices started to come down in the spring and early summer of this year, the White House took credit. When prices went back up in September, the White House started talking about corporate gouging again. Now that prices are on the way down again, Democrats are taking credit. This edition of WG Economy looks beyond the political spin and shows what weekly price tracking says about how gas prices are ending for 2023. The chart below shows our trending of weekly national averages from the US Energy Information Administration, starting from the beginning of the Biden presidency. WG Economy, December 20, 2023.pdf
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Nikki Haley struggles to win Republican women as they stick with Donald Trump before 2024
USA Today | Savannah Kuchar
December 20, 2023
Nikki Haley looked into the crowd at the first Republican primary debate and told supporters to thunderous applause, "If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, as a woman."
Whether quoting Britain's first female prime minister or joking about her five-inch heels on the campaign trail, the former South Carolina governor has leaned into her identity as the only woman seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
When it comes to courting female voters, however, Haley's White House bid may not be resonating.
"It doesn't seem like woman, Republican women, care that she's a woman," said Laurel elder, professor of political science at Hartwick College who studies gender in politics. Read more
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Republican delegate preserves victory in recount
of Va. House District
The Washington Post | Gregory S. Schneider
December 20, 2023
A recount in a House of Delegates district south of Richmond confirmed Wednesday that Del. Kim Taylor (R-Dinwiddie) prevailed over Democrat Kimberly Pope Adams, though her margin of victory shrank.
The outcome does not affect the balance of power in the House, where Democrats won a 51-49 majority in November's elections. A change in this race would have increased Democrats' edge.
Taylor won with 14,289 votes - 53 more than the 14,236 for Adams. The recount shifted 25 votes to the Democrat, who conceded. Read more
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GOP rallies around Trump after Colorado ballot ruling
His Republican primary rivals said they want to beat him,
but not this way
Politico | Olivia Alafriz
December 19, 2023
Republicans rallied around Donald Trump on Tuesday after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the former president was ineligible for reelection because he stoked an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel blasted the ruling as "election interference" in a post on X, writing that the party's legal team "looks forward to helping fight for a victory."
"Like the rest of the unprecedented, constant, and illegal election interference against President Trump, this will backfire and further strengthen President Trump's winning campaign to Save America," House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik said in a statement.
House Speaker Mike Johnson also threw his weight behind the former president and rejected the ruling, calling it "nothing but a thinly veiled partisan attack."
Trump's primary competitors joined the fray, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has staked his campaign on positioning himself as a foil to Trump. Read more
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Donald Trump blocked from appearing on presidential primary ballot by Colorado Supreme Court
The decision, which may be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, comes as state elections officials must set the primary ballot by Jan. 5
Colorado Sun | Jesse Paul
December 19, 2023
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Donald Trump cannot appear on the state's Republican presidential primary ballot next year because he is disqualified by engaging in an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol.
The stunning 4-3 decision is almost certain to be immediately appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and is likely to have national ripple effects. Similar lawsuits seeking to block Trump from appearing on presidential primary ballots have been filed in other parts of the country, but no others have been successful.
The Colorado Supreme Court stayed its ruling until Jan. 4 to give the U.S. Supreme Court time to weigh in. Read more
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Biden to nominate five new judges in Texas, other Republican-led states
Reuters | Nate Raymond
December 19, 2023
President Joe Biden on Tuesday said he planned to nominate five new trial court judges in four states with Republican senators, whose support the White House has increasingly sought as it pushes to fill vacancies in their home states.
The nominees include the Democratic president's second and third in Texas, Ernesto Gonzalez and Leon Schydlower, who would serve as district court judges in the state's Western District. Other nominees hail from Nebraska, Utah, and Wyoming. Read more
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Up to 10 candidates to vie for party nominations for Southside state Senate seat Tuesday
Virginia Mercury | Sarah Vogelsong
December 18, 2023
As many as 10 candidates will vie for party nominations for a Southside Virginia state Senate seat on Tuesday, Dec. 19.
Republican Sen. Frank Ruff, a 30-year veteran of the General Assembly, was elected this November to represent the new Senate District 9, encompassing Pittsylvania, Halifax, Charlotte, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, and Nottoway counties, the southern portion of Prince Edward County, and the city of Danville.
On Friday, however, Ruff announced he will not take office for the 2024-28 term after a cancer diagnosis.
"Entering into an aggressive and ongoing treatment regimen, I have concluded I may not be able to devote 100% of my focus to doing the work needed in the General Assembly," said Ruff in a statement. "Consequently, I believe now is the right time to retire."
With the legislative session set to begin Jan. 10, Gov. Glenn Youngkin has called a special election to fill the seat on Jan 9, 2024. Because candidates must file with the Virginia Department of Elections by Dec. 20 in order to appear on the ballot, both Democrats and Republicans in the district are holding their nominating contests one day earlier, on Dec. 19. Read more
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Trump's campaign expects to clinch 2024 nomination by mid-March - senior official
Reuters | Gram Slattery & Nathan Layne
December 18, 2023
Former President Donald Trump's campaign team projects he could formally clinch the republican presidential nomination by March 19, given his lead in polls in the early voting states, a senior campaign official said on Monday.
The team believes Trump is on track to win 1,478 delegates by then, based on a mix of public and internal polls, said the official, who requested anonymity to discuss the campaign.
That would be more than enough delegates needed to win a majority of the total of 2,429 delegates who will select a nominee at the Republican National Convention, set for July in Milwaukee. Read more
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Republican lawmakers press for special session to reassess Oregon's vehicle taxes
Sen. Brian Boquist and Rep. Anna Scharf say Democrats have ignored an unconstitutional disparity in how heavy trucks are being taxed. Their push for a special session is unlikely to succeed.
OPB | Dirk VanderHart
December 18, 2023
Two Republican lawmakers are pressing for a special session next month to correct what they say is a growing unfairness in how the state taxes vehicles.
Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, and Rep. Anna Scharf, R-Amity, filed a request with the legislative administrators on Dec. 13. That will kickstart a vote among all 90 lawmakers that will take place beginning this week.
If a majority of lawmakers in both chambers agree on the need for an emergency session -- unlikely given that a regular legislative session will convene in February -- lawmakers would convene in early January. Read more
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How do Iowa's Republican caucuses work? Here's what you should know for 2024
Des Moines Register | Brianne Pfannenstiel
December 18, 2023
So you're getting ready for Iowa's Republican caucuses in January and need a refresher on how it all works? We've got you covered.
Throw out any ideas you may have about "state delegate equivalents" and "viability thresholds" that are lingering after the Democratic caucuses in 2020. The way Republicans caucus in Iowa is much more straightforward.
Here's a look at what to expect. Read more
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Democrats are gearing up to 'unravel' Republican supermajorities across the country in 2024
Business Insider | John L. Dorman
December 17, 2023
This year, Democratic state legislative candidates in key races across the country were buoyed by abortion rights and gun reform, and as 2024 approaches, the organization that works to let more of the party's candidates at the state level said it's ready to keep going.
Some of the biggest Democratic victories this year were ones that the party had been eyeing for some time, which included flipping the Virginia House of Delegates and holding the Virginia Senate, enshrining abortion rights into law in Michigan and Minnesota, and voter approval of a constitutional amendment ensuring access to abortion in Republican-leaning Ohio. Read more
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Missouri lawmakers prep or annual session amid election-year posturing
STL Today | Kurt Erickson
December 16, 2023
State lawmakers will convene in just over two weeks for the 2024 session against the backdrop of an election season that has at least 15 members of the Legislature seeking higher office.
All signs point to plenty of political posturing by those who want to lead the state, while Gov. Mike Parson, who is in his final year in office, seeks to shape his legacy as Missouri's 57th governor.
Senate President Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, who is running for Secretary of State, is predicting an amped-up Senate, where at least five of the 34 members are seeking statewide posts. Read more
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Court ruling backs tribes' effort to force lawmakers to redraw North Dakota legislative boundaries
Associated Press | Jack Dura
December 15, 2023
A federal appeals court denied a request on Friday to delay a judge's decision that North Dakota's legislative map violates the Voting Rights Act in diluting the voting strength of two Native American tribes.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision comes a week before the deadline set by the judge for the state to adopt a new map of legislative districts.
Last month, U.S. District Chief Judge Peter Welte ruled that the map violated the Voting Rights act of 1965 in that it "prevents Native American voters from having an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice." He gave North Dakota Republican Secretary of State Michael Howe and the GOP-controlled Legislature until Dec. 22 "to adopt a plan to remedy the violation." Read more
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Republican Mazi Pilip, Democrat Tom Suozzi set to face off in special election to replace expelled congressman George Santos
CBS New York | Jennifer McLogan
December 15, 2023
New York Republicans have named their candidate to replace expelled Congressman George Santos, and party leaders say they're confident in the vetting process this time.
Republicans in Nassau and Queens turned out in force, nominating Mazi Pilip, a little-known first-term Nassau County legislator, as their candidate in the special election to replace Santos.
"I am the example of the American dream," Pilip said.
Pilip is an Ethiopian Jew who migrated to Israel, served in the Israeli Defense Forces and came to the United States as a young woman.
"She's a mother, she's a soldier, she's a legislator," former Republican Rep. Peter King said. Read more
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Lawmaker's departure adds more drama to this year's political upheaval in the Pa. House
Penn Live | Jan Murphy
December 15, 2023
Once again, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives finds itself in a 101-101 partisan tie following the Thursday resignation of Democratic Rep. John Galloway.
Galloway stepped away from the House seat representing part of Bucks County that he has served since 2007 after being elected to a magisterial district judgeship in November.
House Speaker Joanna McClinton, D-Philadelphia, on Thursday, issued a writ setting the special election date to fill the seat for Feb. 13
The House is not scheduled to return for a voting session until March 18, providing enough time for the results of that special election to be certified so the winner can be seated when the chamber reconvenes. It also is allowing crews to perform work in the chamber to address damage caused by a burst pipe last December. Read more
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WG Discussion Points: Assessing the Fallout Of The College Presidents Hearing
WG Discussion Points | David Winston
December 15, 2023
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In our latest survey for Winning the Issues (December 7-9, 1000 registered voters), we looked at the impact of last week's House Education and Workforce hearing with the presidents of three top universities. Comparing with numbers prior to the hearing, our new numbers show continued bipartisan dissatisfaction with how colleges and universities have handled the protests. Similar to what we saw in October, only 18% approve of their handling with a slight increase the percentage disapproving from 40% to 44%. WG Discussion Points, December 15, 2023.pdf |
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