4/3/2023
1. A New York grand jury voted to indict Trump — he faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud in the investigation regarding hush money payments to a porn star.
2. A judge denied granting summary judgment to Fox News in its attempt to get Dominion Voting System’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit thrown out, meaning the case will go to trial in mid-April.
3. A new Harvard Institute of Politics poll found that 63% of young Americans support stricter gun laws.
4. Attempts to stop out-of-state students from voting in their campus towns and to roll back preregistration for teenagers have failed in New Hampshire and Virginia.
5. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) plans to return to the Senate the week of April 17.
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3/20/2023
1. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin of Russia for war crimes. The court said that Putin bore individual criminal responsibility for the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children.
2. Biden signed an executive order designed to reduce gun violence through tougher enforcement of existing laws
3. The West Virginia legislative session for the year is over, and with it, 17 anti-trans bills die
4. The North Dakota Supreme Court ruled that a state abortion ban will remain blocked while a lawsuit over its constitutionality proceeds
5. In a segment with Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R), a Fox News host expressed how unimpressed he was with the Republicans' investigation of the Biden family -- "Five years investigating; nothing just yet."
6. A federal judge has once again blocked DeSantis' Stop Woke Act (which bans the teaching of Critical Race Theory in Florida’s public education institutions)
7. California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to install 1,200 tiny homes throughout the state as he aims to reduce homelessness by 15%
8. The Biden administration said that thousands of Ukrainians who fled to the United States after Russia invaded their country would be eligible to extend their stay
9. Nebraska state Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh's (D) filibuster of an anti-trans bill in the legislature has been enormously successful. According to the Republican Speaker, out of 170 "priority" bills they hoped to work through in the 90 day session, only 7 have been addressed
10. Former Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti won a Senate vote to become President Biden’s ambassador to India, winning the support of 7 Republican senators
11. Steve Bannon's business associate, Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese billionaire, has been arrested on federal charges for a $1 billion fraud scheme
12. A new Quinnipiac University poll finds that two-thirds of Americans — including 2 in 5 Republicans — think that Fox News should be held accountable for its election lies
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3/13/2023
1. Governor Gavin Newsom announced that California would not renew a $54M contract with Walgreens after the company caved to right wing demands to not sell the federally approved progesterone blocker mifepristone.
2. A new USA Today/Ipsos poll finds that by a 56% to 39% margin, Americans say the term “woke” means awareness of social injustices, not excessive political correctness.
3. A Republican-backed proposal to rename of a portion of Nashville road (Rep. John Lewis Way) after former President Donald Trump is off the table.
4. In Wyoming, a bill attempting to ban gender-affirming care failed to progress in the state legislature.
5. A federal court in Arizona denied a Republican motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging two voter suppression laws in the state.
6. The Federal Trade Commission has demanded Twitter turn over internal communications related to owner Elon Musk regarding layoffs as part of their investigation.
7. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is entering his re-election contest in a rare position for a red state Democrat: the frontrunner.
8. President Biden’s public approval rating edged up to 42%, its highest level since June, as inflation has eased in the United States and job growth has stayed strong.
9. Judge Gina Mendez-Miro was confirmed by the Senate to the US District Court for Puerto Rico, becoming the first openly LGBTQ judge to serve there.
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2/27/2023
1. President Biden's surprising trip to Kyiv was a mission with an inspiring message. He reminded embattled Ukrainians that the United States has their backs in their struggle against the bloody Russian onslaught. He showed Russian dictator Vladimir Putin that Ukrainian survival has become a bedrock element of American national security policy. Finally, Biden encouraged the American public to remain steadfast in support of their democratic allies.
2. Minnesota became the latest state to restore voting rights to ex-felons once they are released from prison
3. Hakeem Jeffries is proving to be a terrific fundraiser, like Pelosi before him. The DCCC raised $8.1 million while the Republicans' NRCC took in only $4.5 million in January
4. A Jan. 6 rioter who threatened Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on social media after participating in the attack was sentenced to 38 months in prison
5. The Alaska House of Representatives voted almost unanimously Wednesday to reprimand Rep. David Eastman (R) for speculating the state could financially benefit if child abuse victims died of their abuse
6. The Supreme Court again declined to hear a lawsuit from a trio of Utah brothers seeking to kick President Joe Biden out of the White House and return Donald Trump to the presidency
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2/20/2023
1. Fox News had one of their worst days ever as Dominion’s filing in their 2020 election defamation lawsuit became public
Find more on that story HERE
2. WI Governor Tony Evers is once again proposing an automatic voter registration program through his annual budget
3. AZ Republican Kari Lake lost yet another legal challenge in her doomed effort to overturn the 2022 governor’s election
4. Chuck Schumer’s Senate confirmed 7 more of Biden’s judicial nominees this week
5. Joe Biden continued to hammer the Republicans on their proposal to sunset Medicare and Social Security AND the media actually continues to cover it
6. Mitch McConnell went on Fox News to unequivocally say that there should be bipartisan support in defeating Russia in their war against Ukraine
7. A federal judge sentenced GOP operative Jesse Benton to 18 months in prison for funneling $25,000 from a Russian businessman to Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign
8. Georgia released parts of the grand jury report into Trump’s interference in the 2020 election; more on that HERE
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2/13/2023
1. According to a CNN flash poll 72% of viewers had a positive opinion of President Biden's State of the Union address
2. Democrats won all three vacant House seats in the Pennsylvania state legislature securing a majority
3. Although the Oversight Committee, now led by Republicans, were hoping to dig into Twitter's so-called collusion with Democrats to take down tweets they didn't like, the hearing this week revealed that Twitter kept a database of all the times Trump and Republicans demanded that tweets be taken down source
4. The NRA has lost a million members and is now smaller than it was 2012
5. Mitch McConnell spoke on a podcast a few days ago and confirmed it "was the Scott plan" (i.e. Rick Scott) to sunset Social Security and Medicare. He predicted it would hurt Scott's re-election in Florida
6. Kevin Seefried, the January 6th rioter who carried a Confederate flag through the Capitol was sentenced to 3 years in prison
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1/30/2023
Affordable Care Act enrollments have reached an all-time high
The FDA unveiled new guidance to relax blood donor restrictions, that had been set during the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s, for gay and bisexual men
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) push for a 15-week abortion ban died when a state Senate subcommittee blocked the ban along with two other restrictions
The U.S. economy grew by 2.9% last quarter
Newly empowered Democrats in Michigan and Minnesota state legislatures are advancing several voting rights bills
A federal judge sentenced the Pennsylvania man who pepper sprayed U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick on January 6th, to 6 1/2 years in prison
DirecTV released conservative cable channel Newsmax from its lineup
Pope Francis criticized laws that criminalize homosexuality as “unjust,” saying "God loves all his children just as they are," and called on Catholic bishops who support the laws to welcome LGBTQ people into the church
The Biden administration unveiled new actions this week to protect tenants, making renting more affordable and improving fairness in the rental housing market
12/6/2022
Voters of Georgia re-elected Senator Warnock for a full 6-year term
Hallelujah!
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Democrats held the Senate with 50 but we want 51...December 6th Runoff in Georgia will put more GOOD NEWS on this list
Democrats flipped the Michigan state legislature AND the Minnesota state legislature
We likely flipped the PA House
We held off a GOP supermajority in the NC statehouse
We held the Maine Dem majority
Statehouses had an AMAZING election
Tennessee voters on Tuesday approved a ballot measure that removes language allowing slavery and involuntary servitude as forms of punishment for those convicted of crimes
A Kentucky judge who signed off on the police raid that resulted in the death of Breonna Taylor lost her reelection bid on Tuesday
Voters in a record five states—California, Michigan, Vermont, Kentucky and Montana—decided on abortion-related ballot measures and came down decisivel in favor of abortion rights and access
Massachusetts voters elected Maura Healey, their first woman, as Governor; she—-along with Oregon’s Tina Kotek— will also be one of the first openly LGBTQIA+ women to be elected as Governor in the US
Maxwell Frost just made history as the first member of Gen Z in Congress. Frost made gun violence a central point of his campaign and secured representation for the growing generation of new voters
Not a single election denying Secretary of State candidate won their race in a battleground state!
Ultra-conservative Nebraska passed a $15 minimum wage
Voters in New York state have approved a sweeping ballot measure to mitigate climate change and protect the state’s natural resources
Attorney General Josh Kaul (D-WI) has eked out re-election against his Republican challenger, as did Governor Tony Evers! These are crucial holds for Dems in the battleground state.
Nevada decisively passed a ballot initiative adding an Equal Rights Amendment to their state constitution, and it will be the most comprehensive and inclusive ERA in the country
In Missouri, voters passed Amendment 3 legalizing recreational marijuana and expunging the records of those who were previously charged with nonviolent marijuana offenses
Democrats won at practically every level in Michigan, one of the country’s most important swing states. Despite fierce challenges from Republicans, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) and Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) won their reelection bids, and ballot proposals enshrining voting and abortion rights passed
Becca Balint, 54, an openly gay liberal Democrat, won her race to become Vermont’s lone member of the House of Representatives, the first time the state has elected a woman to Congress. Vermont is the last state to send a woman to Washington
Wes Moore, 44, a Democrat and a political newcomer, will become the first Black governor in Maryland’s history. Moore will be the only Black governor in the country and the third elected since Reconstruction
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1. Thankfully Paul Pelosi is expected to make a full recovery.
2. Brazil Elects Lula, a Leftist Former Leader, in a Rebuke of Bolsonaro.
3. A DC judge gave a 7.5-year sentence to the U.S. Capitol rioter who delivered Officer Michael Fanone by his neck to a violent mob.
4. Court decisions ensured that counties in Pennsylvania may continue to provide both drop boxes and an opportunity for voters to correct minor errors on their mail ballot envelopes.
5. New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a new law protecting the confidentiality of voters who are survivors of sexual abuse.
6. Student protesters flooded the field during the University of Pennsylvania’s homecoming football game this week to demand change. They want the university to “be a good neighbor” and save a low-income housing complex, pay its fair share in property taxes, and end fossil fuel investments.
7. The U.S. economy grew 2.6% in the third quarter, reversing a six-month slump.
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States across the country have seen a surge of early voting
In Georgia alone, in-person turnout is up 70%
In North Carolina, requests for absentee ballots are up 114%
These numbers are in comparison to the 2018 midterm elections
In a New York Times/Sienna College poll published last week, the age group most likely to vote for the Democratic candidate was 18 –29
65+ came in second
A Texas sheriff has certified that the nearly 50 migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were victims of a crime
That certification is a key step in qualifying them for a special visa they would not have otherwise been eligible for
Fourteen members of Nevada U.S. Senate candidate Adam Laxalt’s (R) family announced that they would collectively endorse his opponent, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D)
Steve Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison for contempt of Congress
He remains free pending an appeal
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The most recent Cook Report moved 7 out of 10 House races in Democrats favor
Arizona appeals court reinstates an injunction blocking pre-statehood total abortion ban, allowing abortions to restart
Ohio judge has granted a request for a preliminary injunction, which will keep the 6-week abortion ban blocked indefinitely
Planned Parenthood is launching its first mobile abortion clinic. It will operate in Illinois, where abortion is legal, but could travel to borders of states where it's not (for example: Missouri). If it is successful Planned Parenthood could launch more mobile clinics
A Canadian couple wanted to help Ukrainian refugees make it to safety. They asked airline employees if they had buddy passes they could share to bring refugees to Canada. To date, they've brought nearly 200 Ukrainian refugees to Canada
The GOP pulled all their funding from the Ohio 9th district race (which is a Toss-Up) after it was learned that the GOP candidate lied about his military service
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