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Which party controls Congress? It could be days or weeks before we know
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Democrats exulted Wednesday in outperforming expectations in the midterm elections, even as vote-counting was still in progress and control of both chambers of Congress remained unknown. The U.S. Senate will go to the winner of two of the last three races where party control is still in doubt in […]
Record-setting number of women elected as governors in midterms
WASHINGTON — The United States’ ceiling for female governors was shattered this week, with voters in 12 states electing women to the role, breaking the prior record of nine set for the first time back in 2004. While not all of the gubernatorial campaigns have been called as of Thursday afternoon, Arizona and Oregon voters […]
U.S. Senate control too close to call as multiple states grapple with tight vote counts
WASHINGTON — Control of the U.S. Senate remained unclear early Wednesday as races in a handful of swing states in the midterm elections were still too close to call, and it appeared it might be days — or even weeks — before a final result was known. But Democrats flipped the open Pennsylvania Senate seat, […]
Control of U.S. Senate still a guess ahead of midterm elections
WASHINGTON — Democrats and Republicans have just a day left to convince voters who should control Congress before voting in the Nov. 8 midterm elections ends. The two political parties are spending millions on campaign ads and mailers in the dozens of toss-up races that will determine control of Congress, while President Joe Biden, former […]
Mitch McConnell-aligned super PAC pours record advertising cash into U.S. Senate races
WASHINGTON — The super PAC aligned with U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has spent a record amount advertising for GOP Senate candidates this cycle, according to AdImpact. The Senate Leadership Fund has “become the highest-spending advertiser” AdImpact, started in 2014, has ever reported on, according to data it released Thursday. The […]
A GOP showdown over the debt limit could grip Congress and the nation next year
WASHINGTON — Republicans are eyeing the debt limit and government funding deadlines as a way to force Democrats to the negotiating table for spending cuts, should the GOP regain control of Congress following the midterm elections. Republicans unhappy about government spending could move to shut down the government, a tactic unsuccessful for the GOP in […]
More than 9 million voters already have cast their ballots in November elections
WASHINGTON — Roughly 9.4 million Americans have already voted in the midterm elections, casting a combination of in-person early votes and mail-in ballots, according to data compiled by the United States Elections Project. Florida as well as Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania are among the top states in terms of early voting so far. The initiative, […]
Women could claim the most governors’ seats in U.S. history in November
WASHINGTON — Women running in governors’ races throughout the country are potentially set to break records if elected this November. Arizona will undoubtedly contribute to those numbers with two women, Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and Republican former news anchor Kari Lake, running against one another. In total there are 25 women governor candidates […]
The battle for control of Congress: Abortion, inflation, crime and Biden
WASHINGTON — Members of Congress are fanning out to every district in the country, leaving the wonky floor debates on Capitol Hill behind for the campaign trail in advance of the crucial Nov. 8 midterm elections. Democrats are fighting to hold their razor-thin majorities in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, citing two years of […]
Biden to pardon all federal offenses for simple marijuana possession, review criminalization
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday announced executive actions that would pardon thousands of people with prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession. Biden then called on governors to follow suit with state offenses for simple marijuana possession, saying that “just as no one should be in a Federal prison solely due to the […]
Stopgap spending bill advances in U.S. Senate after Manchin pulls his energy plan
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate advanced a catchall spending package Tuesday that would provide billions to aid Ukraine’s war effort, help communities throughout the country recover from natural disasters and keep the federal government funded through mid-December. Democrats and Republicans voted 72-23 to move the measure toward a final vote later this week—a success that […]
Republicans in Congress say they’d keep federal abortion funding in cases of rape, incest
WASHINGTON — A nearly 50-year-old federal law backed by Republicans allows the use of federal dollars for abortions in cases of rape, incest or the life of the pregnant person. That so-called Hyde Amendment, which is folded into spending bills, is less stringent than new or planned abortion bans in some GOP-led states, where governors […]