Nicole Lafond

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Nicole Lafond is TPM’s deputy editor, based in New York. She has also worked as the special projects editor and as a senior newswriter for TPM. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and previously covered education in central Illinois.

Where Things Stand: The Little Guys Are Holding The Front Line Prime Badge
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The school districts fighting back against Republican governors’ efforts to prolong the life of the pandemic in their states have shown pretty remarkable strength this week.

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Where Things Stand: Washington State Finally Does It — All School Workers Must Be Vaccinated Prime Badge
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Being vaccinated is now a condition of employment in all Washington state schools. And that includes public, charter and private.

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MINNEAPOLIS, MN - OCTOBER 23: Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon (L) speaks with city clerk Melissa Kennedy (C) and election specialist Robert Stokka (R) during a public accuracy testing of Election Day voting machines at the Municipal Services Center on October 23, 2018 in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Each jurisdiction that operates electronic voting equipment must hold a public accuracy test within 14 days of the election (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) Where Things Stand: Election Officials Are Searching For A Plan To Avoid The Next MAGA ‘Audit’ Disaster Prime Badge
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The National Association of Secretaries of State is trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube.

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AUSTIN, TX - JUNE 08: Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks during a press conference at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas on June 8, 2021. Abbott signed Senate bills 2 and 3 into law to reform the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and weatherize and improve the reliability of the state's power grid. The bill signing comes months after a disastrous February winter storm that created widespread power outages and left dozens of Texans dead. (Photo by Montinique Monroe/Getty Images) Where Things Stand: Contender For Worst COVID Governor Gets COVID Prime Badge
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who has distinguished himself with his incredibly lax approach to handling the COVID-19 outbreak in his state, has tested positive for COVID-19.

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Where Things Stand: The GOP’s Dramatic Reversal Prime Badge
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The Republican Party wants you to forget that just a few months ago the GOP agreed that the move to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan, which Biden is now being criticized for, was sound foreign policy.

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Where Things Stand: Cruz Hops On The ‘Poor Insurrectionists!’ Train Prime Badge
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We expected folks like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to offer jailed insurrectionists the victim card. They staged a photo-op protest at the jail where some of them are being held last month to paint the rioters as mistreated political prisoners.

Now Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is joining the whitewashing movement.

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Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-FL, speaks during the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law hearing on “Online Platforms and Market Power” in the Rayburn House office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on July 29, 2020.  POOL Where Things Stand: Greenberg Hands Over Sex-Arranging Texts That Include Pics Of Gaetz Prime Badge
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ABC News got its hands on some private messages that it says Matt Gaetz’s buddy Joel Greenberg allegedly sent. The messages, ABC reports, were turned over to federal investigators, and reportedly show Greenberg arranging a meet up between himself, Gaetz, and women who were allegedly paid for sex.

Things are looking increasingly bad — and gross — for the congressman.

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Where Things Stand: Biden Sends Ventilators To FL. DeSantis Wants Nothing To Do With It Prime Badge
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The Biden administration reportedly sent 200 ventilators and 100 nasal oxygen kits to the state of Florida this week as the state sees an unprecedented spike in COVID-19 cases. As we’ve reported, the number of people hospitalized with the virus increased by 1,173 just in the last two days — putting the total number of confirmed hospitalizations in the Sunshine state at 14,787.

But Gov. Ron DeSantis claims he didn’t ask the feds for the life-saving equipment.

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Where Things Stand: Mark Meadows, You’re Up Prime Badge
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Former White House chief-of-staff Mark Meadows was one of Trump’s top henchmen pushing the DOJ to buy into his conspiracy theory of a stolen election — that is, when Trump wasn’t doing the dirty work himself.

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Where Things Stand: The Bedding Mogul Is Confronted, Gets Mad Prime Badge
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MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has been on a destructive path for some time, buckling himself to the former president’s Big Lie crusade with near blind allegiance.

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