Eight University of Florida professors have been banned from testifying against state leaders as an expert witnesses in three separate cases in the past year, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Continue reading “Eight University Of Florida Professors Have Been Barred From Testifying Since Last Year”India Walton Goes Down in Defeat to Write-in Mayor
A lot of progressives across the country as well as in Buffalo were enthused by what a few months ago had seemed like the near certainty that India Walton, a self-described democratic socialist who won the Democratic primary against longtime Mayor Byron Brown, would be the next Mayor of Buffalo. But it appears that Mayor Byron Brown has managed a comeback victory as a write-in candidate.
(Neither Republicans nor New York’s various minor parties fielded candidates. So Walton was literally the only name on the ballot. Brown’s campaign spent about $100,000 on rubber stamps with his name to hand out to voters.)
Continue reading “India Walton Goes Down in Defeat to Write-in Mayor”TPM’s Gonzo Election Highlights And Lowlights
Though the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey took center stage yesterday, there were plenty of other elections and ballot measures across the country that might’ve slipped under your radar.
Continue reading “TPM’s Gonzo Election Highlights And Lowlights”Reports from the Scene
One anecdote doesn’t capture a state. But I wanted to pass on this note from a TPM alum …
Continue reading “Reports from the Scene”I read and enjoyed your piece on McAuliffe’s loss. I think it’s all on target, atop the fact that McAuliffe just isn’t a base moving guy on his own.
It may not have changed the result given the headwinds at play, but from where I sit in the Northern VA suburbs of DC, it also seems like McAuliffe and the VA Dems got completely out-hustled and out-campaigned, while leaving their reliable voters to do the work for them.
MTG Locked In Utterly Cheese-Brained Feud With Lin Wood
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.
Nesting Doll Of Stupid
Far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is at war with fellow conspiracy theorist and grifter Lin Wood, a pro-Trump lawyer who’s facing disbarment for trying to overturn the 2020 elections in court. There are multiple angles to their squabble, and all of them are very funny.
- The latest news is that Wood is accusing Greene of stiffing him on the $5,000 legal fees her campaign allegedly owes him after he represented the campaign in two defamation suits (which brings up a separate question of whether Greene violated campaign finance laws).
- Wood compared Greene to the devil in a Daily Beast interview this week and accused her of being a “communist”–again.
- Yes, Wood called the far-right troll a communist last month for demanding Biden’s impeachment–because in doing so, the GOP lawmaker was acknowledging that Biden won the election, Wood argued.
- Greene has attacked Wood over allegations that the lawyer, who formerly represented Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse despite not being a criminal defense attorney, pocketed the bail funds he raised for Rittenhouse.
- Green also accused the lawyer of “serving the father of lies” instead of God.
- The whole thing apparently started when Greene dropped Wood as her legal counsel several months ago. The lawyer responded by accusing Greene of being a “RINO” and not fighting to undo the election for Trump as hard as him.
A Shockingly Tight Guv Race In New Jersey
The New Jersey gubernatorial race between incumbent Phil Murphy (D) and GOP rival Jack Ciattarelli has yet to be called.
- Ciattarelli is currently leading by a razor-thin margin with 97.51 precincts reporting: With his 1,173,558 votes to Murphy’s 1,172,365, the Republican is at 49.65% of the vote compared to the Democrat’s 49.6%.
McAuliffe Loses To Youngkin
Republican Glenn Youngkin has defeated ex-Gov. Terry McAuliffe, according to the Associated Press. The latest tallies show Youngkin leading 50.7 percent to 48.6 percent.
- TPM’s Kate Riga wrote about what the election results could mean for congressional Democrats’ reconciliation package amid doomsday howls from pundits over a McAuliffe loss.
- Let’s find out if Republicans still think there was voter fraud today!
- What’s that? Trump’s gloating over the election without a single mention of fraud? Quelle surprise!
Yet Another Professor Blocked From Testifying Against DeSantis Bullshit
A fourth professor at the University of Florida says he’s been barred from testifying against one of free speech lover Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) Trump-esque policies.
- In this case, the professor would’ve testified on the importance of masks, in litigation against the governor’s mask mandate ban.
- Three other University of Florida professors have been banned from testifying against DeSantis’ voting restriction law.
Trump Tries To Stall Jan. 6 Panel Doc Request
The ex-president’s lawyer filed a request yesterday asking a federal judge to order a document-by-document review of all of his White House records that the House Jan. 6 select committee is digging for.
- As expected, the Trump attorney is arguing that the documents are protected by executive privilege.
Santorum Slithers Over To Newsmax
Ex-GOP senator Rick Santorum has found a new home at the pro-Trump outlet several months after CNN axed him as a political commentator for whitewashing Europeans’ genocide of Native Americans (and that was hardly his only racist take).
Discover Cancer Risks From Air Pollution Near You
ProPublica has this incredible map based on the EPA’s data that shows you toxic hot spots and estimated cancer risks from industrial emissions throughout the country between 2014 to 2018.
- The data also highlights the disturbing racial element to damage caused by pollution: There was about 40 percent more cancer-causing air pollution in areas mostly inhabited by people of color than areas inhabited by white people. Areas with majority Black residents had more than double the cancer risk compared to mostly white areas.
?VOTER FRAUD ALERT?
Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate for New York City mayor who predictably lost to Democratic nominee Eric Adams in the election yesterday, tried to bring one of his 17 rescue cats to a polling site in the Upper West Side earlier in the day.
- The cat’s name is Gizmo, and I can objectively report, without ever having met him, that he is a very good kitty.
More Cat Content In Case You Found Today To Be A Bummer
There’s a Twitter account that monitors when a French cat named Pépito leaves and returns home, and the responses are always filled with people either wishing him a safe journey or giving him a warm welcome back.
- “Cristina, stop posting about cats.” No, it’s my birthday.
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McAuliffe’s Loss Means ‘Democrats Are Doomed’ Punditry. Will That Make Reconciliation Harder?
Pundits telegraphed their think pieces for weeks: the governor’s race in Virginia, pitting former Gov. Terry McAuliffe against the quietly-Trumpy-in-nonthreatening-dad-packaging Glenn Youngkin, will be a Democratic bellwether.
Continue reading “McAuliffe’s Loss Means ‘Democrats Are Doomed’ Punditry. Will That Make Reconciliation Harder?”Youngkin Defeats McAuliffe
The networks haven’t called it. But the numbers crunchers I watch have. What do we make of this result? My main reaction is that we should not be surprised that Youngkin won. By this I do not mean that this morning I would have told you this was going to be the result. In fact, I had an inkling in the last day or so that McAuliffe might pull it out. I mean on the larger canvass: this shouldn’t surprise us.
Why? Let me explain.
Continue reading “Youngkin Defeats McAuliffe”Florida Dems Sharply Condemn University’s Ban On Professors Testifying Against DeSantis’ Voting Law
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and other members of Florida’s Democratic congressional delegation on Tuesday sent a letter to the University of Florida’s president sharply condemning the school’s move to bar three professors from serving as expert witnesses in a lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) voter suppression law.
Continue reading “Florida Dems Sharply Condemn University’s Ban On Professors Testifying Against DeSantis’ Voting Law”Where Things Stand: State Dems Walk Out As GOP Seats New Member Who Was In DC For Jan. 6
Nearly all of the Democratic members of the North Carolina state House staged a walk-out on Monday evening to protest the seating of a new Republican state lawmaker who has not only dabbled in COVID-19 conspiracy theories, but who was present at the Jan. 6 Trump rally that became the insurrection.
The new state House member Rep. Donnie Loftis (R) has drawn the ire of North Carolina Democrats since his appointment. Loftis is a former county commissioner in the state and resigned his position on a local hospital board last year after he was criticized for posting coronavirus conspiracy theories on Facebook. In some of the posts, he referred to stay-at-home orders, enacted in the deadliest days of the pandemic to slow the spread, as a form of tyranny, according to The Charlotte Observer.
But it was Loftis’ presence near the Capitol while the attack unfolded that drove Democrats to walk out during his swearing-in this week, the state Democratic Party said in a statement.
Continue reading “Where Things Stand: State Dems Walk Out As GOP Seats New Member Who Was In DC For Jan. 6”Democrats Bring Medicare Drug Pricing Negotiations Back From The Dead
Last week, the White House released a reconciliation framework that omitted any kind of provision that would allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug costs. On Tuesday, Senate Democrats announced that they’d arrived at a deal.
Continue reading “Democrats Bring Medicare Drug Pricing Negotiations Back From The Dead”