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Tag: Elections

  • Biden juggling long list of issues to please Dem coalition

    Biden juggling long list of issues to please Dem coalition

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden wants to tame inflation. He wants Congress to protect access to abortions. He wants to tackle voting rights. And he’s taking on China, promoting construction of new factories, addressing climate change, forgiving student debt, pardoning federal marijuana convictions, cutting the deficit, working to lower prescription drug prices and funneling aid to Ukraine.

    Biden is trying to be everything to everyone. But that’s making it hard for him to say he’s focused on any single issue above all others as he tries to counter Republican momentum going into the Nov. 8 elections.

    “There’s no one thing,” Biden said Wednesday when questioned about his top priority. “There’s multiple, multiple, multiple issues, and they’re all important. … We ought to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. You know, that old expression.”

    Biden’s exhaustive to-do list is a recognition that the coalition of Democratic voters he needs to turn out Election Day is diverse in terms of race, age, education and geography. This pool of voters has an expansive list of overlapping and competing interests on crime, civil rights, climate change, the federal budget and other issues.

    The Republican candidates trying to end Democratic control of Congress have a far more uniform base of voters, allowing them to more narrowly direct messaging on the economy, crime and immigration toward white voters, older voters, those without a college degree and those who identify as Christian.

    In the 2020 election, AP VoteCast suggests, Biden drew disproportionate support from women, Black voters, voters younger than 45, college graduates and city dwellers and suburbanites. That gave Biden a broader base of support than Republican Donald Trump and it also is a potential long-term advantage for Democrats as the country is getting more diverse and better educated.

    But in midterm elections that normally favor the party not holding the White House, it requires Biden to appeal to all those constituencies.

    “Coherence and cohesion have always been a challenge for the modern Democratic Party that relies on a coalition that crosses racial, ethnic, religious and class lines,” said Daniel Cox, a senior fellow in polling and public opinion at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. “It takes considerable political talent to maintain a coalition with diverse interests and backgrounds. Barack Obama managed to do it, but subsequent Democrats have struggled.”

    Biden devoted his public remarks this past Tuesday to abortion, Wednesday to gasoline prices, Thursday to infrastructure and Friday to deficit reduction, student debt forgiveness and historically Black colleges and universities. In most of his public speeches, Biden says he understands the pain caused by consumer prices rising 8.2% from a year ago and that he’s working to lower costs.

    Cox said there are signs that Biden’s 2020 coalition is fracturing, with younger liberal voters not that enamored with him, and he does not appear to have done much to shore up Hispanic support.

    But compared with 2016, when Trump won the presidency, Biden made relative progress with one prominent bloc that generally favors Republicans: white voters without a college degree, as he won 33% of their votes compared with 28% who supported Hillary Clinton in 2016, according to a 2021 analysis by the Pew Research Center.

    Keeping those voters in the Democratic coalition could be essential for maintaining control of the Senate.

    Biden has traveled repeatedly to Pennsylvania, campaigning on Thursday for Senate nominee John Fetterman with the goal of picking up a seat in the state. Fetterman, with his sweatshirts and shorts, exudes a blue-collar image, a contrast with the Republican nominee, Dr. Mehmet Oz, who rose to fame as a TV show host.

    “Democrats need to hold on to as much of that bloc as possible, especially in key whiter states like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin,” said William Frey, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

    The test for Democrats is how to address broader concerns about the economy and inflation that affect everyone, while also highlighting the specific issues that could energize various segments of their base.

    That can involve trade-offs.

    As Republicans have made crime a national issue, Biden’s message that he backs the police could help with those white voters. But it could also turn off younger voters in Senate races in Georgia and Florida who believe the police are part of the problem on civil rights, said Alvin Tillery Jr., a professor at Northwestern University and director of its Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy.

    Tillery said he doesn’t know how the president can bridge those differences, though Biden could be in a better position to focus on the policing overhaul that Democrats tried to negotiate with Republicans — only to be unable to reach a consensus that would be able to clear a GOP filibuster.

    “Maybe they’ve blunted some Republican attacks, but they’ve also softened support for people who turned out for them in the 2020 election,” Tillery said. “I don’t know how they solve for that, except to say they need to be more vigorous in saying the things they wanted to achieve were blocked in the Senate.”

    Tillery added the overarching challenge might be that people view inflation as a domestic phenomenon, rather than a global one. Republicans are blaming high prices on Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief from 2021, whereas recent months have also shown that inflation is a worldwide trend driven in part by the aftermath of the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, causing prices for energy and food to rise.

    “The reality is — like all presidents — he is a victim of things beyond his control,” Tillery said. “Inflation is a problem globally. It’s much worse in other parts of the world, but he can’t message that way.”

    ___

    Follow AP’s coverage of the elections at: https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections

    Check out https://apnews.com/hub/explaining-the-elections to learn more about the issues and factors at play in the 2022 midterm elections.

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  • Republican National Committee sues Google over email spam filters

    Republican National Committee sues Google over email spam filters

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    The Republican National Committee has filed a lawsuit against tech giant Google, alleging the company has been suppressing its email solicitations ahead of the midterm elections in November — an allegation Google denies.

    The lawsuit, filed in the District Court for the Eastern District of California Friday evening, accuses Gmail of “discriminating” against the RNC by unfairly sending the group’s emails to users’ spam folders, negatively impacting both fundraising and get-out-the-vote efforts in pivotal swing states.

    “Enough is enough — we are suing Google for their blatant bias against Republicans,” said RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel in a statement to The Associated Press. “For ten months in a row, Google has sent crucial end-of-month Republican GOTV and fundraising emails to spam with zero explanation. We are committed to putting an end to this clear pattern of bias.”

    Google issued a statement denying the charges. “As we have repeatedly said, we simply don’t filter emails based on political affiliation. Gmail’s spam filters reflect users’ actions,” said spokesperson José Castañeda, adding that the company provides training and guidelines to campaigns and works to “maximize email deliverability while minimizing unwanted spam.”

    The lawsuit focuses on how Google’s Gmail, the world’s largest email service with about 1.5 billion users, screens solicitations and other material to help prevent users from being inundated by junk mail. To try to filter material that account holders may not want in their inboxes, Google and other major email providers create programs that flag communications likely to be perceived as unwelcome and move them to spam folders that typically are rarely, if ever, perused by recipients.

    The suit says Google has “relegated millions of RNC emails en masse to potential donors’ and supporters’ spam folders during pivotal points in election fundraising and community building” — particularly at the end of each month, when political groups tend to send more messages. “It doesn’t matter whether the email is about donating, voting, or community outreach. And it doesn’t matter whether the emails are sent to people who requested them,” it reads.

    Google says that its algorithms are designated to be neutral, but a study released in March by North Carolina State University found that Gmail was far more likely to block messages from conservative causes. The study, based on emails sent during the U.S. presidential campaign in 2020, estimated Gmail placed roughly 10% of email from “left-wing” candidates into spam folders, while marking 77% from “right-wing” candidates as spam.

    Gmail rivals Yahoo and Microsoft’s Outlook were more likely to favor pitches from conservative causes than Gmail, the study found.

    The RNC seized upon that study in April to call upon the Federal Election Commission to investigate Google’s “censorship” of its fundraising efforts, which it alleged amounted to an in-kind contribution to Democratic candidates and served as “a financially devastating example of Silicon Valley tech companies unfairly shaping the political playing field to benefit their preferred far-left candidates.”

    Since then, the commission has approved a pilot program that creates a way for political committees to get around spam filters so their fundraising emails find their way into recipients’ primary inboxes. Gmail is participating in the ” Verified Sender Program, ” which allows senders to bypasses traditional spam filters, but also gives users the option of unsubscribing from a sender. If the unsubscribe button is hit, a sender is supposed to remove that Gmail address from their distribution lists.

    As of Friday evening, the RNC had not signed up to participate in the pilot program.

    Republicans who have tried to cast doubt on the outcome of the 2020 election without parroting the most extreme and baseless claims about corrupted voting machines and stolen votes have often tried to blame big technology companies like Twitter and Facebook that they allege were biased against former President Donald Trump. A long list of state and local election officials, courts and members of Trump’s own administration have said there is no evidence of the mass fraud Trump alleges.

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  • EXPLAINER: Why the British public is not choosing its leader

    EXPLAINER: Why the British public is not choosing its leader

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    LONDON — Observers of Britain’s governing structure can be forgiven for scratching their heads in recent weeks as they watch the country reel through a succession of prime ministers without holding an election. While the opposition Labour Party is demanding an election, the governing conservatives are pushing on with choosing another prime minister from within their own ranks, which they have the right to do because of the way Britain’s parliamentary democracy works.

    BRITONS NEVER ACTUALLY VOTE FOR THEIR PRIME MINISTER

    Britain is divided into 650 local constituencies, and people tick a box for the representative they want to become their local member of parliament, or MP. In most cases, this will be a member of one of the country’s major political parties.

    The party that wins the majority of seats gets to form a government, and that party’s leader automatically becomes prime minister. While coalitions are possible, Britain’s voting system favors the two largest parties and in most cases a single party will take an absolute majority of seats, as is the case for the Conservatives in the current Parliament.

    HOW DO THE PARTIES CHOOSE THEIR LEADERS?

    Since 1922, all of Britain’s 20 prime ministers have come from either the Labour Party or the Conservative Party. This means the members of these parties have an outsized influence on who will be the country’s prime minister. The processes the parties use to choose them can appear Byzantine.

    Deep breath: For the Conservative Party, their lawmakers must first signal their support for a potential leader. If there is enough support, this person will become an official candidate. All Conservative MPs then cast a series of votes, gradually whittling down the number of candidates to two. Finally, the party’s ordinary members — around 180,000 of them — vote between these two candidates. Last time they chose Liz Truss over Rishi Sunak.

    If the MPs are able to unite behind a single candidate then there is no need for the wider party members to have a vote. This last happened in 2016 when the lawmakers backed Theresa May after the resignation of David Cameron and she automatically became prime minister. This could happen again.

    The Labour Party has its own process that is, arguably, even more complicated.

    BUT DIDN’T BRITAIN VOTE FOR BORIS JOHNSON IN 2019?

    Johnson was selected by his party following the resignation of Theresa May. He had already been prime minister for five months when electors ticked their ballot cards in December 2019. However, voters’ support for the Conservative Party did cement his position as prime minister.

    Even in that election, though, it was only actually around 70,000 people who got the chance to vote directly for or against Johnson — those who happened to live in his Parliamentary constituency of South Ruislip and Uxbridge, in west London.

    Since then, another prime minister, Liz Truss, has come and gone, and one more will be in place by the end of next week — all without anyone troubling the general electorate.

    WILL THERE BE A GENERAL ELECTION SOON?

    Constitutionally, no general election is required in Britain for two more years. But as the prime ministers come and go, selected by a tiny proportion of the population, a lot of Britons are beginning to wonder why they are not getting a chance to influence who is their next leader. The clamor for a general election in the near future is only likely to get louder.

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  • Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni sworn in as Italian premier

    Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni sworn in as Italian premier

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    ROME — Giorgia Meloni, whose political party with neo-fascist roots emerged victorious in recent elections, was sworn in on Saturday as Italy’s first far-right premier since the end of World War II. She is also the first woman to be premier.

    Meloni, 45, recited the oath of office before President Sergio Mattarella, who formally asked her to form a government a day earlier.

    Her Brothers of Italy party, which she co-founded in 2012, will rule in coalition with the right-wing League of Matteo Salvini and the conservative Forza Italia party headed by former Premier Silvio Berlusconi. Those two parties’ popularity has sagged with voters in recent years.

    Meloni recited the ritual oath of office, pledging to be faithful to Italy’s post-war republic and to act “in the exclusive interests of the nation.” The pledge was signed by her and counter-signed by Mattarella, who, in his role as head of state, serves as guarantor of the Constitution, drafted in the years immediately after the end of war, which saw the demise of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

    Meloni’s 24 ministers followed, similarly swearing in. Five of the ministers are technocrats, not representing any party. Six of them are women.

    In her campaign for the Sept. 25 election, Meloni insisted that national interests prevail over European Union policies should there be conflict. She often railed against EU bureaucracy.

    Salvini’s right-wing League party has at times leaned euroskeptic. An admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Salvini has also questioned the wisdom of EU sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, arguing that they hurt Italian business interests more than Russian ones.

    European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen sounded an upbeat note in her congratulations tweet to Meloni right after she was sworn in and noted that the Italian was the first woman to hold the premiership.

    “I count on and look forward to constructive cooperation with the new government on the challenges we face together,” the EU chief said.

    One immediate challenge for Meloni will be ensuring that her country stays solidly aligned with other major nations in the West in helping that country fight off the Russian invaders.

    In the days before she became premier, Meloni resorted to giving an an ultimatum to her other main coalition partner, Berlusconi, over his professed sympathy for Putin.

    Berlusconi in remarks to his center-right Forza Italia party lawmakers, delivered what was tantamount to justification for the Russian invasion in February to install what he called a “decent” government in the Ukrainian capital.

    After making clear she’d rather not govern than lead a coalition with any partner wavering over continued Italian support for Ukraine, aligned with Europe and NATO — “Italy with us in government will never be the weak link of the West” — Meloni tapped as her foreign minister a longtime Berlusconi stalwart with solid pro-Europe credentials. Antonio Tajani formerly was president of the European Parliament.

    With potential wavering in Parliament by her Russian-sympathizing allies, as well as from former Premier Giuseppe Conte, a populist opposition leader, over continued arms supplies to Ukraine, Meloni appointed one of her party co-founders, Guido Crosetto, as defense minister.

    While Meloni has pitched herself as crucial to combating leftist ideology, Crosetto sounded a more conciliatory note.

    “Whoever governs represents the entire nation, sheds partisan attire and takes on that of collective responsibility,” the new defense minister told reporters.

    Europe’s political right, eager to dominate on the continent, exulted in Meloni’s coming to power.

    French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, referring to Meloni and Salvini, wrote on Twitter: “Throughout Europe, patriots are coming to power and with them, this Europe of nations.”

    Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also hailed the birth of her new government as a “big day for the European Right.”

    Meloni will lay out her priorities when she pitches for support in Parliament ahead of confidence votes required of new governments. Voting is expected within a few days.

    While her government holds a comfortable majority in the legislature, the vote could indicate any cracks in her coalition if any of her partners’ lawmakers, perhaps disgruntled by not getting ministries they wanted for their parties, don’t rally behind her.

    Meloni’s government replaces that led by Mario Draghi, a former European Central Bank chief who was appointed by Mattarella in 2021 to lead a pandemic national unity coalition. Meloni was the only major party leader to refuse to join that coalition, insisting governments must be decided by the voters.

    In any unusual touch for a country used to male-dominated politics and power, attending the swearing-in ceremony in a sumptuous room of the Quirinal Palace was Meloni’s companion, who is a journalist in Berlusconi’s media empire, and their 6-year-old daughter, Ginevra.

    While Meloni didn’t campaign openly to be Italy’s first woman premier, she has said there would be no doubt that her victory would be clearly breaking through the “glass ceiling” that discourages women’s progress.

    ————

    Giada Zampano in Rome contributed.

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  • Guinea junta agrees with bloc to hold vote in early 2025

    Guinea junta agrees with bloc to hold vote in early 2025

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    CONAKRY, Guinea — The government led by Guinea’s coup leader reached an agreement late Friday with West African regional mediators on a schedule for holding new elections a little over two years from now.

    The regional bloc known as ECOWAS has spent more than a year negotiating with Col. Mamady Doumbouya’s government following the September 2021 coup and had imposed sanctions on the junta leadership. It was not immediately known how soon those might be lifted.

    The junta initially proposed a three-year transition, which was rejected by the regional mediators who already had obtained two-year transition deals after similar coups in both Mali and Burkina Faso. Guinea’s two-year clock starts in January, with elections then due in early 2025.

    For some, the news was bittersweet as demonstrations protesting the duration of the transition in Guinea have turned deadly, including three killed Thursday.

    “It took more than 17 deaths to reach a consensus,” complained Aly Baldé, whose brother was shot dead in Conakry.

    Guinea became the second country hit by a recent coup in West Africa, a little over a year after Mali’s military junta overthrew that country’s democratically elected ruler. Since then, Burkina Faso has seen two coups of its own.

    Burkina Faso and Mali already have agreed with ECOWAS on election dates — Mali’s is scheduled to be held by March 2024, but the situation in Burkina Faso is now in doubt after the latest coup there.

    A deal had been reached with the man who first toppled Burkina Faso’s president in January to hold a vote by July 2024. But it remains to be seen whether Capt. Ibrahim Traore, who seized power on Sept. 30, will fully honor that agreement.

    ECOWAS has said that Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso will all remain suspended from the bloc until elections are held.

    Beyond setting dates, ECOWAS also has expressed concerns about what shape the future elections will take and whether the coup leaders turned interim presidents will be allowed to run as candidates.

    Earlier this month, Doumbouya reiterated that neither he nor any member of the junta or the transitional government would take part in the eventual elections now due by January 2025.

    Doumbouya emerged as the leader after mutinous soldiers overthrew President Alpha Conde last year.

    Conde had won a landmark 2010 election after decades of dictatorship and strongman rule in Guinea, only to eventually try to seek a third term in office. He claimed the country’s term limits did not apply to him. While he succeeded in winning a third term, he was overthrown nine months later.

    ———

    Associated Press writer Krista Larson in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.

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  • Alan Dershowitz Says He Has Warned Trump Jews Won’t Vote For Him

    Alan Dershowitz Says He Has Warned Trump Jews Won’t Vote For Him

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    Prominent attorney and Donald Trump ally Alan Dershowitz said he has told the former president several times that most Jews won’t vote for him — or any Republicans — because of their stands on human rights.

    Dershowitz recalled that Trump over the years has asked him a number of times: “Why don’t more Jews vote for me? I’ve been so good for Israel. I’ve been so good to the Jewish people.”

    Dershowitz said his answer has always essentially the same, “Jews like me admire what you did for Israel. We appreciate it. … But we can’t vote Republican, because Israel is not the only issue that we deeply care about. We’re Americans.”

    He pointed out to Trump that he supports same-sex marriage, a woman’s right to an abortion, work to combat climate change, gun control, and separation of church and state. These are the “issues that Republicans are not good on. They’re terrible,” Dershowitz said.

    Dershowitz, once considered a staunch liberal, has drifted into Trump’s camp over the years. He served on Trump’s defense team during his first impeachment trial and blasted the FBI in editorials for agents’ confiscation of documents at Mar-a-Lago in August that Trump took from the White House.

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  • Boris Johnson vs Rishi Sunak: The mother of all leadership battles

    Boris Johnson vs Rishi Sunak: The mother of all leadership battles

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    LONDON — They were once close allies — two Tory Brexiteers working at the very top of government to steer Britain through the pandemic.

    They then became the deadliest of enemies, when the apprentice knifed his master in the back and embarked on a fruitless campaign to pinch his job.

    Now the poisonous rivalry between Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak has reached its dramatic third act — an extraordinary struggle to take back control of the Conservative Party following the disaster of Liz Truss’ brief tenure.

    “Rishi is the acceptable face of the Conservatives,” said one party insider who knows both men well, “whereas Boris has a monstrous appetite and a huge ego — he wouldn’t have got where he is without it.” 

    For Sunak, victory would mark an improbable comeback, just six weeks after he was roundly defeated in the last leadership contest.

    Yet for Johnson, the comeback would be even more unlikely. No ousted prime minister has returned to No. 10 in nearly 40 years, since Labour’s Harold Wilson in 1974. Nobody since Bonar Law in the 1920s has led the Conservative Party twice.

    The leadership contest has been truncated to last just a single week this time, and nominees must secure the backing of at least 100 Tory MPs by Monday afternoon to go forward to a final ballot of the party grassroots. 

    MPs have begun declaring their allegiances already, with Sunak currently in the lead and Johnson in second place. For both men, there is all to play for ahead of Monday’s 2 p.m. deadline.

    The love I lost

    A final head-to-head dual between Johnson and Sunak would be a gripping moment even by the standards of a modern-day Conservative Party which seems endlessly embroiled in psychodrama.

    It was Johnson who gave Sunak his big break, promoting him first to a senior ministerial role in the Treasury and then, six months later, making him chancellor, the second-biggest job in government.

    At first, the pair seemed to work well, with Johnson’s allies heaping praise on his young protege as the pair battled their way through the COVID pandemic which struck just a few weeks after Sunak was appointed chancellor in early 2020.

    The PM and chancellor initially had a joint unit of advisers, but it gradually became dominated by Sunak’s people and the pair increasingly found themselves at loggerheads over tax-and-spend decisions. Sunak tacked to a more traditional Conservative view of fiscal responsibility and Johnson was comfortable with higher spending and borrowing. 

    “There had been mounting tension between the PM and Rishi for a while,” said one member of Johnson’s No. 10 team. “[Johnson] wanted a more adventurous, ambitious economic policy.”

    By the time Sunak resigned, relations between the two men had deteriorated bitterly. Johnson’s team had long believed Sunak was plotting to oust their boss, and the same former aide claimed Sunak had not even phoned Johnson to warn him he was quitting.

    During the summer leadership contest Sunak frequently distanced himself from his old boss, while allies of Johnson made clear they were prepared to stop Sunak’s march to No. 10 at any cost.

    If they do end up as the final two contenders, nobody in the party will be able to say they are not getting a genuine choice. 

    Grassroots’ choice

    Many of those who backed Sunak last time, largely from the moderate or centrist wing of the party, have immediately flocked back to his side. A few right-wingers, too — fed up of the Johnson circus — have joined them. 

    For his part, Johnson has garnered support mainly from loyalist former ministers, along with a cohort of ardent Brexiteers. But he has already demonstrated he still has the power to attract party big hitters, despite his checkered record in office. 

    Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, well-regarded for his handling of the Ukraine invasion, ruled himself out of the race Friday and said he was inclined to support Johnson as he “wins elections.” Ben Houchen, the Tees Valley mayor seen as a quasi-spokesman for the post-industrial areas in northern England won by the Tories in 2019, also switched allegiance to Johnson Friday, having previously backed Sunak in his head-to-head with Truss. 

    Crucially, Johnson has another weapon in his armory, in the form of thousands of grassroots activists who believe he was wrongfully defenestrated in the summer and could yet rise again to save the party. If Johnson can make it onto the members’ ballot, he would fancy his chances against Sunak — or any of his other rivals — in a final head-to-head.

    “It’s very similar to the Liz vibes of ‘we’re gonna win, it’s gonna be amazing’ and sunlit uplands,” said one Tory activist. “They all still think that absolutely nothing has happened since 2019, and Boris is still this hugely popular lovable buffoon that wins elections.”

    Two rival Whatsapp groups have already sprung up for councillors and other local members: a ‘Back Boris’ group containing more than 500 people and a ‘Ready4Rishi’ group which is closer to 300. 

    Stumbling blocks

    Sunak faces two major obstacles in his quest for Downing Street. The first — a major problem in his last campaign — is a perception of untrustworthiness among the grassroots, still angry that he turned on Johnson in July and triggered the sequence of events that led to the PM’s exit.

    Second, Sunak is widely seen to have fought a lackluster campaign against Truss last time around — and the Conservative Party prides itself on picking winners. In the words of Tory focus group guru James Frayne, Sunak was “technocratic” where Truss was punchy and bold. 

    For his part, Johnson comes with enough baggage to fill the Downing Street flat several times over. Most pressingly, he is facing a parliamentary inquiry into whether he misled the House of Commons over the so-called Partygate scandal — a potentially serious offense which could see him temporarily suspended as an MP.

    One MP elected in 2019 under Johnson’s banner said: “This inquiry would rip us apart if Boris was in No. 10.” An ex-aide to Johnson predicted that choosing him would prove to be “short-term gain for long-term pain,” as Johnson would provide a temporary bounce for the Tories “only to be then mired in months of crap” around the inquiry. 

    The Johnson myth 

    But there are good reasons, too, why these two former allies are the leading contenders for No. 10.

    “[Johnson] does just make people feel good about themselves,” said a senior Conservative official who has known him since his time as mayor of London. “He has that quality.”

    A former Sunak campaign member who has worked in frontline politics since the David Cameron era said he was “the hardest working politician I’ve ever seen in my life,” adding: “I don’t think anyone comes close to him in understanding the economy.”

    Henry Hill, deputy editor of ConservativeHome, said the two men’s electoral appeal was radically different. Sunak would enable a “blue wall”-centered strategy at the next election — appealing to more affluent seats in the South — while “the best version of a Boris case is that it’s leaning into the realignment which accepts the Conservative Party’s future is more based on working-class constituencies in the North.”

    Despite the persistent view among many Tories that Johnson is an election winner, however, pollsters warn the picture has shifted since his thumping 80-seat victory in 2019. 

    Keiran Pedley of IPSOS said Johnson’s net satisfaction rating with the general public on leaving office was worse than that of past PMs John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown or David Cameron, while a recent poll found most people rated Sunak above Johnson when it came to doing a better job than Truss. 

    Perhaps more important than their personal ratings, Pedley added, the Tory Party “probably needs to consider that their problem is that people have lost confidence in them on the economy and are looking anew at Labour.”

    None of the above

    It is not beyond the realms of imagination that a third candidate surges through the middle and defeats the two biggest hitters in the race.

    Brexiteer darlings Penny Mordaunt, Kemi Badenoch and Suella Braverman would all be hopeful of beating Sunak in a members’ ballot — although of these, Mordaunt is probably the only one likely to attract enough support from MPs to reach a final head-to-head. 

    Intriguingly, rumors abound — denied by both camps — of the possibility of a deal between the two men; one perhaps accepting a senior position in the other’s administration in return for their support.

    “I reckon he wants a big job,” one former adviser to Johnson said. “Home secretary, or foreign secretary maybe.”

    While Johnson was photographed flying back to the U.K. from his Caribbean holiday late Friday night, many expect he will only reenter the fray if he is confident he can win. 

    “Him losing a leadership contest is just ignominious — that’s not how the myth is meant to end,” said Hill. “In that circumstance, he’d probably be much happier always being able to think ‘oh, it could have been me.’”

    This story was updated to include Boris Johnson’s return to the U.K.

    CORRECTION: This story has been updated to say that nobody since Bonar Law in the 1920s has led the Conservative Party twice.

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    Esther Webber

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  • A timeline of what happens next following UK PM Liz Truss’ resignation

    A timeline of what happens next following UK PM Liz Truss’ resignation

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    On resigning after just 45 days in office, Truss becomes Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister in history and the third Conservative Party leader to be toppled in as many years

    Dan Kitwood | Getty Images News | Getty Images

    LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned Thursday after just 44 days in office, firing the starting gun on yet another Conservative Party leadership contest.

    It means Truss becomes Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister in history and the third Conservative leader to quit in as many years. Her resignation kickstarts the search for a new leader at a time when the country faces a worsening cost-of-living crisis and a looming economic recession.

    Her short speech Thursday confirmed she no longer felt she had the authority to govern after a failed tax-cutting budget that rocked financial markets and led to a rebellion in her political party.

    What happens now?

    The race to find Truss’ replacement is already well underway.

    Graham Brady, the Conservative politician who oversees leadership votes and reshuffles, outlined on Thursday how the fast-tracked leadership election will proceed this time around.

    Brady said he hoped the process would be concluded by Oct. 28, but the result could come much sooner than that — potentially as early as Monday evening.

    Candidates vying to succeed Truss as prime minister have until 2 p.m. London time on Monday to gather the support of at least 100 Conservative Members of Parliament to run. It is a particularly high bar of nominations for a party composed of 357 MPs and caps the number of candidates able to contest for the leadership to a maximum of three.

    Brady said nominations could be accepted via signature or by email and the ballots would be conducted as necessary thereafter. He told reporters that MPs will have the chance to hear from the nominated candidates at a hustings on Monday afternoon, although these will be held behind closed doors.

    Graham Brady, U.K. lawmaker and chairman of the 1922 Committee, speaks to the media outside the Houses of Parliament in London, UK, on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022.

    Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    If only one candidate receives 100 nominations on Monday, they will become the next leader of the party and the new prime minister.

    If there are two candidates with 100 nominations, an indicative ballot will be held on Monday afternoon to show the level of support each has in the party. It is thought that the candidate with the fewest number of votes may step down at this stage to avoid an online ballot among the party membership.

    And if there are three candidates in the running on Monday, the one with the fewest number of votes from MPs will be eliminated in results announced at 6 p.m. London time. An indicative ballot of the two remaining candidates would then follow, with the result announced later that evening.

    The race to become Britain’s next prime minister, and the fifth since the Conservatives took power in 2010, has yet not seen anyone announce their intention to run for office.

    Dan Kitwood | Getty Images News | Getty Images

    Conservative Party Chairman Jake Berry said Thursday it had been agreed that should the party put forward two candidates, there would be an “expedited, binding online vote of Conservative Party members.”

    In this scenario, Conservative members would take part in an online vote to choose the next leader of the party.

    The ballot will close at 11 a.m. London time on Oct. 28 and the winner will be declared later that day.

    Who’s in the running?

    The race to become Britain’s next prime minister, and the fifth since the Conservatives took power in 2010, has yet not seen anyone announce their intention to run for office.

    However, it is thought former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, former Defense Secretary Penny Mordaunt and — despite being ousted from office just three months ago — former Prime Minister Boris Johnson could be among the main contenders.

    What happens after the winner is declared?

    Once the winner of the leadership contest has been declared, Britain’s King Charles will then ask them to form a government, making them the next prime minister in the process.

    Thereafter, the new prime minister will not have long to prepare before the scheduled medium-term fiscal plan announcement on Oct. 31.

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  • Jan. 6 Capitol riot committee subpoenas former President Donald Trump

    Jan. 6 Capitol riot committee subpoenas former President Donald Trump

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    Former President Donald Trump was issued a subpoena Friday by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

    The committee, which voted unanimously on the move, is demanding Trump’s testimony under oath next month as well as records relevant to the probe into the attack, which the panel noted came after weeks of him denying losing the 2020 election to President Joe Biden.

     The panel had said on Oct. 13 that it would subpoena Trump, whose supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as a joint session of Congress met to confirm Biden’s victory.

    “We recognize that a subpoena to a former President is a significant and historic action,” the panel’s leaders wrote Trump in a letter Friday.

    “We do not take this action lightly.”

    Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Republican Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming, in the letter cited what they called Trump’s central role in a deliberate, “multi-part effort” to reverse his loss in the 2020 presidential election, and to remain in power.

    The subpoena says that Trump would be deposed on Nov. 14, after the midterm elections.

    It is not clear whether Trump will comply with the subpoena.

    The records being sought by the House committee pursuant to the subpoena are due Nov. 4.

    The records would include documentation of telephone calls, text messages, or communications sent through the encrypted messaging app Signal, as well as photos, videos and handwritten notes relevant to the scope of the probe.

    Pro-Trump protesters storm the U.S. Capitol to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., U.S. January 6, 2021.

    Ahmed Gaber | Reuters

    The panel specifically asked for communications to, and memorandum from, 13 Trump allies and fellow deniers of Biden’s victory, among them former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, Republican gadfly Roger Stone, retired Army Lt. General Michael Flynn, and former White House aide Stephen Bannon.

    Bannon was sentenced to four months in jail earlier Friday for refusing to comply with his own subpoenas from the committee. He remains free pending appeal.

    In their letter to Trump, committee leaders Thompson and Cheney accused him of “maliciously” making false allegations of election fraud, “attempting to corrupt the Department of Justice” to endorse those claim, pressuring state officials to change election results, and overseeing efforts to submit false electors to the Electoral College.

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    The letter also noted that he had pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, to refuse to count Electoral College votes during the joint session of Congress.

     “As demonstrated in our hearings, we have assembled overwhelming evidence, including from dozens of your former appointees and staff, that you personally orchestrated and oversaw a multi-part effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election and to obstruct the peaceful transition of power,” the letter said.

    “You were at the center of the first and only effort by any U.S. President to overturn an election and obstruct the peaceful transition of power, ultimately culminating in a bloody attack on our own Capitol and on the Congress itself,” the letter said.

    The committee’s leaders pointed to the fact that seven presidents had testified to Congress after leaving office, most recently Gerald Ford, a Republican.

    And at least two presidents, Ford and Abraham Lincoln, testified before Congress while serving in the White House, the letter noted.

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  • Yellen boosting Biden’s agenda in Virginia as midterms near

    Yellen boosting Biden’s agenda in Virginia as midterms near

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    HERNDON, Va. — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is promoting Biden administration policies as the key to advancing the nation’s “long-term economic well-being” in the lead-up to the midterm elections.

    The former Federal Reserve chair visited a Virginia research and development business park with Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine on Friday and talked up administration efforts to revitalize America’s manufacturing capacity, spur computer chip production and upgrade the country’s infrastructure. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., was also in attendance.

    Yellen’s visit is part of the Treasury leader’s ongoing tour of the U.S., as she and other administration officials try to quell the impact on Americans of persistent high inflation. Republicans say the administration’s outsized pandemic spending and other domestic policies have contributed to high inflation.

    Voters have made clear that price increases are a top concern. A June Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll showed that 40% of U.S. adults specifically named inflation in an open-ended question as one of up to five priorities for the government to work on in the next year.

    Democrats want to retain their control in Congress and will need to convince voters they can wrangle inflation, which accelerated in September. In Virginia, Yellen talked about how a boost in domestic industrial manufacturing will be one of the solutions.

    “Our government’s failure to invest in innovation has had wide-ranging impacts on our long-term economic well-being,” Yellen said during her speech. “At the most fundamental level, it impacted our productive capacity.”

    She said that over the past year, President Joe Biden’s administration “has begun to reverse that trend.”

    “We have advanced an economic plan that finally puts innovation and technology at the forefront of our national agenda,” she said.

    Kaine said Virginia “was a laggard in clean energy even up to five or 10 years ago.” But with investments from the new federal climate and health care law and other programs “we’re now positioned to lead the United States in offshore wind,” he said.

    Yellen also attended a roundtable with local entrepreneurs and people representing Virginia colleges who are focused on semiconductors, advanced manufacturing and other emerging technologies.

    “Together, our efforts are raising our economy’s aggregate production capacity,” Yellen said. “And in turn, we are raising America’s long-term economic outlook.”

    Early voting is underway in many states, including Virginia.

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  • Giorgia Meloni becomes Italy’s first female prime minister

    Giorgia Meloni becomes Italy’s first female prime minister

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    ROME — Giorgia Meloni has been named Italy’s first female prime minister at the head of a right-wing government, after holding talks with the country’s president.

    After a week of infighting which overshadowed the negotiations, Meloni’s warring coalition put forward a united front, backing Meloni to lead the country during formal talks with President Sergio Mattarella, on Friday.

    Later on Friday Mattarella asked Meloni to form a government. 

    Meloni, after arriving for talks in a Fiat 500, accepted unconditionally, a spokesman for the president’s office said. The right-wing coalition emerged triumphant from the election, with 44 percent of the vote, led by Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, which took 26 percent.

    But even before a government could be cobbled together, rivalry emerged inside the coalition, with allies arguing over Meloni’s unwillingness to accommodate Silvio Berlusconi’s preferred nominations in her cabinet.

    At the opening of the new parliament, Berlusconi, leader of the Forza Italia party, said in a note left in public view that he found Meloni “overbearing … domineering … arrogant … offensive.”

    No sooner were peacetalks concluded than Berlusconi was recorded asserting that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was to blame for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and affirming his friendship with Vladimir Putin.

    Meloni replied saying that anyone who did not agree with her pro-Europe, pro-NATO orientation “cannot be part of the government, even if that means not forming the government.”

    Despite the clashes, the right-wingers made up in order to take over as Italy’s new government. Meloni met with the President on Friday alongside her fellow leaders in the right wing bloc, Matteo Salvini, leader of the League, and Berlusconi.

    Meloni is set to name her team on Friday with the new cabinet sworn in on Saturday and a vote of confidence in parliament on Tuesday.

    Her team must immediately roll up their sleeves, working to deadlines including the Budget, which has to be sent to Europe for approval by the end of the month, and the Recovery Plan, the EU’s post pandemic economic aid program. Some 55 targets and milestones have to be met by the year’s end to unlock almost 20 billion euros in funding for Italy under the program.

    The new government’s priority will be to tackle a cost of living crisis exacerbated by sky-high energy prices and rising interest rates, which weigh on Italy’s heavy public debt.

    Caretaker prime minister Mario Draghi, who was ousted in July, has attempted to smooth the transition, pushing for a cap on energy prices in Europe and setting out the narrow margins for manoeuvre in the budget.

    Draghi, in his last news conference as the head of the Italian government, said: “Italy must be at the centre of the European project with the credibility, authoritativeness and determination fitting of a great country like ours.”

    But Meloni’s new team is likely to struggle to reconcile the expensive electoral promises they made on pensions and tax cuts with the economic reality. A recession is forecast for next year.

    European leaders indicated they were ready to work with Meloni’s government.

    At the end of the European Council in Brussels, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: “We are all together as European nations within the EU and it is essential that we democracies cooperate a great deal.”

    “Every time that there is a change of government because of elections, as [happens] in a democracy, it cannot change the good relations that we have with the other member states or, for example, that we have between Germany and Italy … We will continue to work with very good cooperation between the countries and within the sphere of the European Union.”

    French President Emmanuel Macron said: “I am ready to work with Meloni.” Macron is visiting Rome on Sunday and Monday to meet President Mattarella and Pope Francis, and said he could meet Meloni then, too. “We will see on Monday according to institutional developments, in compliance with protocol,” he said.

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    Hannah Roberts

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  • Social media platforms brace for midterm elections mayhem

    Social media platforms brace for midterm elections mayhem

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    A Facebook search for the words “election fraud” first delivers an article claiming that workers at a Pennsylvania children’s museum are brainwashing children so they’ll accept stolen elections.

    Facebook’s second suggestion? A link to an article from a site called MAGA Underground that says Democrats are plotting to rig next month’s midterms. “You should still be mad as hell about the fraud that happened in 2020,” the article insists.

    With less than three weeks before the polls close, misinformation about voting and elections abounds on social media despite promises by tech companies to address a problem blamed for increasing polarization and distrust.

    While platforms like Twitter, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube say they’ve expanded their work to detect and stop harmful claims that could suppress the vote or even lead to violent confrontations, a review of some of the sites shows they’re still playing catchup with 2020, when then-President Donald Trump’s lies about the election he lost to Joe Biden helped fuel an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

    “You would think that they would have learned by now,” said Heidi Beirich, founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism and a member of a group called the Real Facebook Oversight Board that has criticized the platform’s efforts. “This isn’t their first election. This should have been addressed before Trump lost in 2020. The damage is pretty deep at this point.”

    If these U.S.-based tech giants can’t properly prepare for a U.S. election, how can anyone expect them to handle overseas elections, Beirich said.

    Mentions of a “ stolen election ” and “voter fraud” have soared in recent months and are now two of the three most popular terms included in discussions of this year’s election, according to an analysis of social media, online and broadcast content conducted by media intelligence firm Zignal Labs on behalf of The Associated Press.

    On Twitter, Zignal’s analysis found that tweets amplifying conspiracy theories about the upcoming election have been reposted many thousands of times, alongside posts restating debunked claims about the 2020 election.

    Most major platforms have announced steps intended to curb misinformation about voting and elections, including labels, warnings and changes to systems that automatically recommend certain content. Users who consistently violate the rules can be suspended. Platforms have also created partnerships with fact-checking organizations and news outlets like the AP, which is part of Meta’s fact-checking program.

    “Our teams continue to monitor the midterms closely, working to quickly remove content that violates our policies,” YouTube said in a statement. “We’ll stay vigilant ahead of, during, and after Election Day.”

    Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, announced this week that it had reopened its election command center, which oversees real-time efforts to combat misinformation about elections. The company dismissed criticism that it’s not doing enough and denied reports that it has cut the number of staffers focused on elections.

    “We are investing a significant amount of resources, with work spanning more than 40 teams and hundreds of people,” Meta said in a statement emailed to the AP.

    The platform also said that starting this week, anyone who searches on Facebook using keywords related to the election, including “election fraud,” will automatically see a pop-up window with links to trustworthy voting resources.

    TikTok created an election center earlier this year to help voters in the U.S. learn how to register to vote and who’s on their ballot. The information is offered in English, Spanish and more than 45 other languages. The platform, now a leading source of information for young voters, also adds labels to misleading content.

    “Providing access to authoritative information is an important part of our overall strategy to counter election misinformation,” the company said of its efforts to prepare for the midterms.

    But policies intended to stop harmful misinformation about elections aren’t always enforced consistently. False claims can often be buried deep in the comments section, for instance, where they nonetheless can leave an impression on other users.

    A report released last month from New York University faulted Meta, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube for amplifying Trump’s false statements about the 2020 election. The study cited inconsistent rules regarding misinformation as well as poor enforcement.

    Concerned about the amount of misinformation about voting and elections, a number of groups have urged tech companies to do more.

    “Americans deserve more than lip service and half-measures from the platforms,” said Yosef Getachew, director of Common Cause’s media and democracy program. “These platforms have been weaponized by enemies of democracy, both foreign and domestic.”

    Election misinformation is even more prevalent on smaller platforms popular with some conservatives and far-right groups like Gab, Gettr and TruthSocial, Trump’s own platform. But those sites have tiny audiences compared with Facebook, YouTube or TikTok.

    Beirich’s group, the Real Facebook Oversight Board, crafted a list of seven recommendations for Meta intended to reduce the spread of misinformation ahead of the elections. They included changes to the platform that would promote content from legitimate news outlets over partisan sites that often spread misinformation, as well as greater attention on misinformation targeting voters in Spanish and other languages.

    Meta told the AP it has expanded its fact-checking network since 2020 and now has twice as many Spanish-language fact checkers. The company also launched a Spanish-language fact-checking tip line on WhatsApp, another platform it owns.

    Much of the misinformation aimed at non-English speakers seems aimed at suppressing their vote, said Brenda Victoria Castillo, CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, who said that the efforts by Facebook and other platforms aren’t equal to the scale of the problem posed by misinformation.

    “We are being lied to and discouraged from exercising our right to vote,” Castillo said. “And people in power, people like (Meta CEO) Mark Zuckerberg are doing very little while they profit from the disinformation.”

    ———

    Follow the AP’s coverage of misinformation at https://apnews.com/hub/misinformation.

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  • Appeals court rules Lindsey Graham must testify in Georgia election probe

    Appeals court rules Lindsey Graham must testify in Georgia election probe

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    U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham must testify before a special grand jury investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and others illegally tried to influence the 2020 election in Georgia, a federal appeals court said Thursday.

    The ruling by a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals paves the way for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to bring Graham in for questioning. She wants to ask the South Carolina Republican about phone calls he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in the weeks after the election.

    Raffensperger said Graham asked whether he had the power to reject certain absentee ballots, something Raffensperger took as a suggestion to toss out legally cast votes. Graham has dismissed that interpretation as “ridiculous.”

    Graham could appeal the ruling to the full appellate court. An attorney for Graham deferred comment Thursday to a spokesperson for the senator’s office, which did not immediately comment on the ruling.

    Graham had challenged his subpoena, saying his position as a U.S. senator protected him from having to testify in the state investigation. He has also denied wrongdoing. In a six-page order, the judges wrote that Graham “has failed to demonstrate that this approach will violate his rights under the Speech and Debate Clause.”

    Willis opened the investigation early last year, shortly after a recording of a January 2021 phone call between Trump and Raffensperger was made public. In that call, Trump suggested Raffensperger could “find” the votes needed to overturn his narrow loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

    Willis requested a special grand jury, saying the panel’s subpoena power would allow the questioning of people who otherwise wouldn’t cooperate with the investigation. She has since filed several rounds of paperwork with the court seeking to compel the testimony of close Trump advisers and associates.

    Some of those associates include former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who has testified before the special grand jury, according to a person familiar with Cipollone’s testimony who spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday on condition of anonymity to discuss a private appearance. Cipollone’s appearance was first reported by CNN.

    Cipollone vigorously resisted efforts to undo the election and has said he did not believe there was sufficient fraud to have affected the outcome of the race won by Biden.

    Graham was in the first group of people close to Trump whose testimony Willis sought to compel in a batch of petitions filed with the court in early July. He challenged his subpoena in federal court, but U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May refused to toss out his subpoena. Graham then appealed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

    Graham’s lawyers argued that the U.S. Constitution’s speech or debate clause, which protects members of Congress from having to answer questions about legislative activity, shields him from having to testify. He contends that the call he made to Raffensperger fare was protected because he was asking questions to inform his decisions on voting to certify the 2020 election and future legislation.

    Lawyers on Willis’ team argued that comments Graham made in news interviews at the time, as well as statements by Raffensperger, show that the senator was motivated by politics rather than by legislative factfinding.

    They also argued that the scope of the special grand jury’s investigation includes a variety of other topics that have nothing to do with the Raffensperger call. They also want to ask Graham about his briefings by the Trump campaign, including whether he was briefed on the Trump-Raffensperger call, and whether he communicated or coordinated with Trump and his campaign about efforts to overturn the election results in Georgia and elsewhere.

    Graham’s lawyers also argued that the principle of “sovereign immunity” protects a U.S. senator from being summoned by a state prosecutor.

    Even if the speech or debate clause or sovereign immunity didn’t apply, Graham’s lawyers argued, his status as a “high-ranking official” protects him from having to testify. That’s because Willis has failed to show that his testimony is essential and that the information he would provide cannot be obtained from someone else, they argued.

    In their ruling Thursday, the appellate judges ruled that Willis “can ask about non-investigatory conduct that falls within the subpoena’s scope” but “may not ask about any investigatory conduct,” noting that Graham could note any issues over specific areas at the time of his questioning.

    Others have already made their appearances before the special grand jury. Former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, who’s been told he could face criminal charges in the probe, testified in August. Attorneys John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro have also appeared before the panel.

    Paperwork has been filed seeking testimony from others, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

    Associated Press writers Kate Brumback in Atlanta and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

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  • Biden returns to Pittsburgh to see new construction on bridge that collapsed earlier this year

    Biden returns to Pittsburgh to see new construction on bridge that collapsed earlier this year

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    The Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh became a symbol of the country’s troubled infrastructure, collapsing into a ravine earlier this year, hours before President Biden visited the city.

    At the time, Mr. Biden detoured to survey the scene, where vehicles were stranded on shards of roadway and several people were injured, and pledged that help was on the way. On Thursday, the Democratic president returned to the bridge in hopes of turning it into a symbol of success for his administration. 

    US-POLITICS-BIDEN-INFRASTRUCTURE
    US President Joe Biden speaks about the rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure at the Fern Hallow Bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 20, 2022. – The bridge carrying Forbes Avenue through Frick Park, collapsed early on January 28, 2022, hours before Biden was due for a Pittsburgh visit.

    MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images


    Mr. Biden has become a frequent visitor to Pennsylvania, leading up to the midterms less than three weeks away. John Fetterman, the Democrat running for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, was on hand for the president’s visit. Fetterman, known for his casual attire, wore a suit for the occasion. 

    US-POLITICS-BIDEN
    President Joe Biden speaks with greeters, including US Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania Bob Casey (R), Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf (2nd R) and Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. and Democratic senatorial candidate John Fetterman (3rd R), upon arrival at Pittsburgh International Airport in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 20, 2022 .

    MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images


    A new span is being built, and the bridge could be finished by December. 

    “I’m coming back to walk over this sucker,” Mr. Biden said Thursday. “Although my staff said to me, ‘You realize how many times you’ve been to Pittsburgh?’ I said no. ‘Nineteen.'”

    The White House is crediting the bipartisan infrastructure law championed by Mr. Biden for the accelerated timeline.

    “It’s being done in record time. Normally, you’d be looking at two to five years to build a bridge like this,” Mr. Biden said, adding the cost is $25 million and “fully paid for” by the federal government. 

    The legislation is one of the president’s most notable successes from the first two years of his term, and he repeatedly emphasizes its impact while traveling the country to roadways, airplane terminals and seaports. Out of roughly $1 trillion in spending, about $40 billion is dedicated to bridges.

    The Biden administration has sought to increase the , hosting a summit last week at the White House to help state and local government officials streamline their processes.

    The push to speed up the permitting, design and construction process has come as high inflation has been pushing up costs and causing delays. The Commerce Department has an initiative to coordinate the installation of water pipes and broadband and power lines to avoid tearing up roads multiple times. And the Transportation Department launched an internal center to advise on best practices for construction.

    Biden, before boarding his helicopter on the White House South Lawn, challenged a reporter who suggested that few Democratic candidates have done events with him ahead of the midterm elections.

    “That’s not true,” Biden responded. “There have been 15. Count, kid, count.”

    After the bridge, Mr. Biden plans to stop in Philadelphia for a fundraiser with Fetterman, trying to replenish coffers that have been drained in one of the year’s most expensive races.

    Fetterman is competing with Dr. Mehmet Oz, a Republican, for an open seat being vacated by Sen. Pat Toomey, also a Republican. If Fetterman wins, Democrats will have a much better shot at maintaining control of the Senate.

    Mr. Biden was born in Pennsylvania, and the state remains central to his political identity.

    His trip on Thursday will be his 14th to the state since taking office. A 15th trip has already been scheduled for next week, when he’s expected to return to Philadelphia for another political event.

    Asked during a stop at a Pittsburgh sandwich shop if Democrats will hold the Senate, the president responded, “I think so. It ain’t over until it’s over.”

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  • Liz Truss quits as UK prime minister

    Liz Truss quits as UK prime minister

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    LONDON — Liz Truss has resigned as U.K. prime minister after a chaotic six weeks in office, saying she “cannot deliver the mandate” on which she was elected.

    In a short but dramatic televised statement outside No. 10 Downing Street Thursday, Truss admitted she could no longer command the support of her party and that a rapid-fire Conservative leadership election will take place over the next week to choose her successor.

    Truss’ resignation after just 44 days makes her the shortest-serving prime minister in British history — an extraordinary and unwanted tag she could scarcely have imagined when she was selected as leader by Tory members on September 6.

    But in less than two months in office she triggered a meltdown in financial markets, sacked two of her most senior ministers, was forced into multiple policy U-turns and ultimately lost the backing of her own MPs.

    Her successor will have to resolve significant tensions within the ruling Conservative party over the U.K.’s economic approach, while facing a yawning budget deficit which must be filled with tax rises or deep spending cuts. They will also face pressure for a general election, although — given their disastrous poll ratings — the Tories are likely to resist calling one until legally required to do so in 2024 or January 2025.

    “I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party,” Truss said in her statement Thursday. “I have therefore spoken to his majesty the king to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.”

    Turmoil

    Truss had faced a disastrous start to her premiership after unveiling a radical economic plan of unfunded tax cuts on September 23 which spooked financial markets, sent U.K. borrowing costs soaring and collapsed her party’s poll ratings to a record low.

    She attempted to steady her faltering administration last week by sacking her friend and chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, and replacing him with a center-ground choice, her former leadership rival Jeremy Hunt. He immediately junked her entire economic program in an effort to calm the markets and bring down Britain’s borrowing costs.

    But Truss’ premiership disintegrated Wednesday night amid chaotic scenes in the House of Commons, where party enforcers struggled to marshal mutinous Tory MPs in a crucial vote. Earlier in the day Truss had been forced to suspend one of her closest aides and sacked her home secretary, Suella Braverman, enraging her right-wing supporters.

    The turmoil prompted more Conservative MPs to go public with their demands for Truss to leave office, with dozens more calling for her to go behind the scenes.

    Truss then held crisis talks Thursday morning with Graham Brady, chairman of the powerful 1922 Committee, which sets leadership contest rules; Deputy PM Thérèse Coffey; and Conservative Party Chairman Jake Berry. Together they concluded she could no longer command the support of her own MPs.

    Speaking to reporters in Westminster Thursday afternoon, Brady said the plan as agreed with Berry was to conclude the leadership election by October 28, meaning a new prime minister will be in place before Hunt’s next big fiscal statement on October 31.

    Nominations will close Monday at 2 p.m., and in a move that is expected to substantially narrow the field compared to the past summer’s 11-strong contest, candidates will need the backing of at least 100 fellow Tory MPs to progress. If only one candidate reaches that threshold Monday, they will be crowned leader that same day.

    If there are three candidates who manage to garner that number of backers, Tory MPs will vote again to whittle them down to a final two before the contest is opened up to the party’s approximately 180,000 grassroots members. The contest will be wrapped up by next Friday at the latest.

    The favorites to succeed Truss as PM include Rishi Sunak, the former U.K. chancellor who won more backing from Tory MPs than any other candidate last time round, but who she defeated in a head-to-head ballot of Tory members over the summer.

    Also in the running are Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt and — incredibly — former PM Boris Johnson, who remains wildly popular among Tory Party members. Johnson, who left office only last month, is currently on holiday in the Caribbean with his wife Carrie. Hunt has already ruled himself out of the running.

    Keir Starmer, the Labour Party leader, called for an immediate general election so that the British people could choose their next leader.

    He told broadcasters on Thursday that “we can’t have a revolving door of chaos, we can’t have another experiment at the top of the Tory Party. There is an alternative, and that is a stable Labour government. The country should be entitled to have their say.”

    This developing story is being updated.

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    Matt Honeycombe-Foster

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  • Mike Pence Suggests He’d Vote For ‘Somebody Else’ Over Trump In 2024

    Mike Pence Suggests He’d Vote For ‘Somebody Else’ Over Trump In 2024

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    Former Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday wouldn’t say if he would vote for Donald Trump if he ran for president again.

    After Pence gave a speech at the conservative Young America’s Foundation at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., a student asked him: “If Donald Trump is the Republican nominee for president in 2024, will you vote for him?”

    There were audible gasps and murmurs from the audience.

    “Well, there might be somebody else I’d prefer more,” Pence said, setting off a round of applause. “What I can tell you is I have every confidence that the Republican Party is going to sort out leadership. All my focus has been on the midterm elections and it will stay that way for the next 20 days.”

    “But after that, we’ll be thinking about the future. Ours and the nations. And I’ll keep you posted,” Pence added.

    Pence has declined to reveal whether he’s running for president in 2024, though he’s made multiple visits to early primary states to make speeches and campaign with GOP candidates.

    A rift has opened between Trump and Pence in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, when an angry mob of Trump’s supporters laid siege to the U.S. Capitol and threatened to hang Pence because he declined to help Trump attempt a coup.

    Pence had to be evacuated from the Senate chamber during the riot. Members of his security detail have said they feared for their lives during the ordeal.

    Trump was apparently apathetic about the death threats his vice president received. In a March 2021 interview, he defended his supporters when asked about their threats to Pence. “The people were very angry,” Trump said.

    Trump confirmed in March this year that Pence would not be his running mate if he decided to throw his hat in the ring in 2024.

    “I don’t think the people would accept it,” Trump said at the time. “Mike and I had a great relationship except for the very important factor that took place at the end,” he added, referring to Pence’s refusal to help him overturn a democratic election.

    While Pence has often defended policy achievements of the Trump administration, he’s stood firmly by his decision regarding the election certification and said on multiple occasions that Trump was wrong to think that the vice president had the authority to overturn the results.

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  • Europe’s looming Ukraine fear: What happens if the US pulls back?

    Europe’s looming Ukraine fear: What happens if the US pulls back?

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    Europe is waking up to a troubling reality: It may soon lose its NATO benefactor in Ukraine. 

    With conservatives poised to make gains in the upcoming U.S. elections, NATO’s most generous donor to Ukraine’s war effort may suddenly seem much more parsimonious in 2023.

    The possibility has put the spotlight on the gap between American and European aid.

    Already, it’s been a tough sell to get all of Europe’s NATO members to dedicate 2 percent of their economic output to defense spending. Now, they are under increasing pressure from the U.S. to go even further than that. And that comes amid an already tough conversation across Europe about how to refill its own dwindling military stockpiles while simultaneously funding Ukraine’s rebuild. 

    Still, the mantra among U.S. Republicans — whom polls show are favored to take control of one of two chambers of Congress after the November elections — has been that Europe needs to step up. 

    “Our allies,” said Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, “need to start addressing the problem in their own backyard before they ask us for any more involvement.” 

    While European governments have opened their wallets and military stockpiles to Ukraine at record levels, Washington’s military assistance to Kyiv still dwarfs Europe’s efforts. It’s a disparity Republicans are keen to highlight as they argue Russia’s war in Ukraine is a much greater threat to Europe than it is to the U.S.

    The result could be a changing tenor out of Washington if Congress falls into conservative control.

    “It’s horrible what the Russians are doing,” Burchett added, but said he sees China and drug cartels as “more threatening to the United States of America than what’s going on in Ukraine.”

    2 percent becomes the baseline

    Since Moscow launched its assault on Ukraine, European capitals have pledged over €200 billion in new defense spending. 

    NATO allies pledged in 2014 to aim to move towards spending 2 percent of GDP on defense within a decade, and an increasing number of governments are taking this promise seriously. But the Biden administration wants them to go even further.

    The 2 percent benchmark is just “what we would expect” from allies, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said earlier this month. “We would encourage countries to go above that 2 percent because we’re gonna have to invest more in expanding industrial bases and making sure that we’re doing the right things to replace” some of what was provided to Ukraine.

    Washington’s recently released “National Security Strategy” codified those expectations. 

    “As we step up our own sizable contributions to NATO capabilities and readiness,” the document says, “we will count on our Allies to continue assuming greater responsibility by increasing their spending, capabilities, and contributions.”

    It’s an aspiration that will be hard for many European policymakers, who themselves face economic woes at home. The U.K., for instance, has committed to hitting a 3 percent defense spending target but recently acknowledged the “shape” of its increase could change as recent policy changes roil the economy.

    The Biden administration has taken a path of friendly encouragement toward Europe, rather than haranguing its partners. 

    But Republicans are not as keen to take such a convivial tone. And if they take control of Congress, Republicans will have more of a say over the U.S. pursestrings — and the tone emerging from Washington. 

    “I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine,” House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy told Punchbowl news earlier this week. 

    “There’s the things [the Biden administration] is not doing domestically,” he added. “Not doing the border and people begin to weigh that. Ukraine is important, but at the same time it can’t be the only thing they do and it can’t be a blank check.”

    US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said earlier this month that the benchmark of 2 percent of GDP spent on defense is what is expected from allies | Omar Havana/Getty Images

    Republicans are likely eyeing the polls, which show a slim but growing chunk of Americans saying the U.S. is providing too much support to Ukraine. The figure has risen from 7 percent in March to 20 percent in September, according to a Pew Research Center poll. And it now stands at 32 percent among Republican-leaning voters. 

    So while President Joe Biden continues to ask Congress to approve more Ukraine aid packages, observers say there could be more skepticism in the coming months. 

    “It’s becoming harder because the sense is that we’re doing it all and the Europeans aren’t,” said Max Bergmann, director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 

    And while noting that “in some ways, that’s unfair” due to the economic cost of the war to Europe, he said that on the military side aid for Ukraine and spending on defense industrial capacity is now “the new 2 percent.”

    In European capitals, policymakers are watching Washington closely. 

    “For Europeans, the idea that U.S. politics matters — that what happens in the midterm election will have implications for what will be expected of us from [our] U.S. ally — is something that is taken more and more seriously,” said Martin Quencez, a research fellow at the German Marshall Fund’s Paris office. 

    The Brussels view

    But back in Brussels, some officials insist there’s little reason for worry.

    “There is broad, bipartisan support for Ukraine,” said David McAllister, chair of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. 

    Indeed, while the more Donald Trump-friendly wing of the Republican Party is opposed to continuing aid to Ukraine, more traditional Republicans have actually supported Biden’s aid for Kyiv.

    “If there was a Republican majority in congressional committees, I expect an impact on debates about which weapons to supply to Ukraine, for example,” McAllister said in an email. “Ultimately, though, the president maintains considerable control over foreign policy.”

    McAllister, a member of Germany’s conservative Christian Democratic Union, said Europe is already increasing its defensive investments and aid to Kyiv, pointing to an EU initiative to train Ukrainian soldiers and a recent bump up for an EU fund that reimburses countries for military supplies sent to Ukraine. 

    Polish MEP Witold Waszczykowski, the Foreign Affairs Committee’s vice chair, also said in an email that he doesn’t expect a Republican-dominated Congress to shift Ukraine policy — while urging Washington to put more pressure on Europe. 

    “Poland and other Eastern flank countries cannot persuade Europeans enough to support Ukraine,” said Waszczykowski, a member of the conservative ruling Law and Justice party.  

    The “smell of appeasement and expectations to come back to business as usual with Russia,” the Polish politician said, “dominates in European capitals and European institutions.” 

    Cristina Gallardo contributed reporting.

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  • The 2022 election influencers

    The 2022 election influencers

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    To really understand an election, you have to understand the motivations — and the lives — of the Americans voting in it. But too often our politics misses the point, and just describes people as demographic groups or party labels. We can do better. 

    We’ve got the data for it: tens of thousands of interviews in our CBS News polling over the year where people have expressed themselves and how they see politics.

    Here’s what we learned from it all: the groups who are the influencers of 2022, whose ideas and choices are steering the conversation now and likely deciding the midterms next month. 

    Chances are you know someone like them — or are even a member of these groups yourself. And that’s the point.

    We’ll follow them all the way through election night itself with our surveys, to see how they vote and if they vote, which is often more critical in these polarized times. Because if every election is a story about us, and who we are as a nation, then we’ll certainly need to see the ending they write.

    The Pressured Parents

    Their story: Post-pandemic stress over their finances…and their kids.

    It’s been a long few years for everyone. The pandemic took a massive toll on so many. All through it we interviewed parents who worked to keep families safe; navigating quarantines, juggling working and schooling from home, and telling us it brought them stress. And then as that eased, inflation hit, piling financial stress on top. Today, this group of parents reflects all that, saying the pandemic negatively impacted kids, or they are facing a tough financial situation now.

    These parents collectively show a mix of ideas in politics: they are impacted by rising inflation and gas prices, the economy is important in their vote, concerned about paying for things, and they think President Biden could be doing more. But relief funds did help many of them, and they are more apt to think Republicans are for the wealthy. Is there a conflict there, and which party might win out? They are 13% of likely voters and their current vote is a bit more Republican, with 47% Republican and 40% Democratic. 

    Trump True-Believers

    The “MAGA” Republicans with big influence on the party, and its fortunes

    These voters told us they consider themselves “part of the MAGA movement,” along with being Republicans, and that makes them a potent force inside today’s GOP. You can’t understand this election without understanding them. On the issues, they’ve told us they don’t believe Biden won in 2020; want the Republican party and its candidates to support the former President. Notably, in their approach to politics, they’re more likely than other Republicans to call Democrats “enemies,” not just opponents. 

    The Republicans need their turnout in order to win, even as the former president polls as a net-negative factor and those views about 2020 aren’t popular beyond the base. Their impact is a turnout one, not a vote choice one. They’re 20% of voters and 97% are voting Republican. Will they show up without Donald Trump on the ballot? Or if you start to see Republican candidates moderate their stances, do any stay home? 

    trump-true-believers.png

    Restoring Roe Voters

    Women prioritizing abortion rights — and voting on them

    We know Roe’s reversal changed this election — the question is by how much?  This group, in particular, will help tell the tale. While many people call the issue important, these women profile the most like single-issue, abortion rights voters. They are: 24% of voters, women who say abortion is very important, want it to remain legal and they say that a candidate must agree in order to earn their vote.

    Their motivation closed the gap this fall in what might otherwise have been a larger GOP lead, as they’re voting strongly Democratic at 81% today. But can Democrats grow their ranks? Much of their campaign seems to be banking on it. Of late, in the face of worse economic news, the Democrats have faced headwinds on this. So will they be enough to keep the races close or tip some? 

    restoring-roe-voters.png

    The Young and Restless:

    A turnout story for the ages

    Many young people today tell us they feel older generations had things easier than they do.  Many feel shut out from big parts of the economy. Their view of the world is driven in part by their generation’s diversity, which studies show is the most diverse in U.S. history. They are under 30 and don’t have kids. But they’re also less likely to vote, with under half saying they definitely will, and so comprising now 6% of likely voters. Their vote now is: 60% Democrat to 26% Republican. They use social media more and do pay attention to politics, though not quite as much as others.

    young-and-restless.png

    They mostly — but not overwhelmingly — vote Democratic when they do, so Democrats need them to have a better chance overall. Yet, this past year, they were among the first to drop in approval for Mr. Biden, disappointed by the economy. Will social issues and rights issues motivate them instead?

    Stay tuned…

    Anthony Salvanto


    Anthony Salvanto

    Anthony Salvanto, Ph.D., is CBS News’ director of elections and surveys. He oversees all polling across the nation, states and congressional races, and heads the CBS News Decision Desk that estimates outcomes on election nights. He is the author of “Where Did You Get This Number: A Pollster’s Guide to Making Sense of the World,” from Simon & Schuster (a division of ViacomCBS), and appears regularly across all CBS News platforms. His scholarly research and writings cover topics on polling methodology, voting behavior, and sampling techniques.

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  • Biden to release 15M barrels from oil reserve, more possible

    Biden to release 15M barrels from oil reserve, more possible

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    WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will announce the release of 15 million barrels of oil from the U.S. strategic reserve Wednesday as part of a response to recent production cuts announced by OPEC+ nations, and he will say more oil sales are possible this winter, as his administration rushes to be seen as pulling out all the stops ahead of next month’s midterm elections.

    Biden will deliver remarks Wednesday to announce the drawdown from the strategic reserve, senior administration officials said Tuesday on the condition of anonymity to outline Biden’s plans. It completes the release of 180 million barrels authorized by Biden in March that was initially supposed to occur over six months. That has sent the strategic reserve to its lowest level since 1984 in what the administration called a “bridge” until domestic production could be increased. The reserve now contains roughly 400 million barrels of oil.

    Biden will also open the door to additional releases this winter in an effort to keep prices down. But administration officials would not detail how much the president would be willing to tap, nor how much they want domestic and production to increase by in order to end the drawdown.

    Biden will also say that the U.S. government will restock the strategic reserve when oil prices are at or lower than $67 to $72 a barrel, an offer that administration officials argue will increase domestic production by guaranteeing a baseline level of demand. Yet the president is also expected to renew his criticism of the profits reaped by oil companies — repeating a bet made this summer that public condemnation would matter more to these companies than shareholders’ focus on returns.

    It marks the continuation of an about-face by Biden, who has tried to move the U.S. past fossil fuels to identify additional sources of energy to satisfy U.S. and global supply as a result of disruptions from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and production cuts announced by the Saudi Arabia-led oil cartel.

    The prospective loss of 2 million barrels a day — 2% of global supply — has had the White House saying Saudi Arabia sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin and pledging there will be consequences for supply cuts that could prop up energy prices. The 15 million-barrel release would not cover even one full day’s use of oil in the U.S., according to the Energy Information Administration.

    The administration could make a decision on future releases a month from now, as it requires a month and a half for the government to notify would-be buyers.

    Biden still faces political headwinds because of gas prices. AAA reports that gas is averaging $3.87 a gallon. That’s down slightly over the past week, but it’s up from a month ago. The recent increase in prices stalled the momentum that the president and his fellow Democrats had been seeing in the polls ahead of the November elections.

    An analysis Monday by ClearView Energy Partners, an independent energy research firm based in Washington, suggested that two states that could decide control of the evenly split Senate — Nevada and Pennsylvania — are sensitive to energy prices. The analysis noted that gas prices over the past month rose above the national average in 18 states, which are home to 29 potentially “at risk” House seats.

    Even if voters want cheaper gasoline, expected gains in supply are not materializing because of a weaker global economy. The U.S. government last week revised downward its forecasts, saying that domestic firms would produce 270,000 fewer barrels a day in 2023 than was forecast in September. Global production would be 600,000 barrels a day lower than forecast in September.

    The hard math for Biden is that oil production has yet to return to its pre-pandemic level of roughly 13 million barrels a day. It’s about a million barrels a day shy of that level. The oil industry would like the administration to open up more federal lands for drilling, approve pipeline construction and reverse its recent changes to raise corporate taxes. The administration counters that the oil industry is sitting on thousands of unused federal leases and says new permits would take years to produce oil with no impact on current gas prices. Environmental groups, meanwhile, have asked Biden to keep a campaign promise to block new drilling on federal lands.

    Biden has resisted the policies favored by U.S. oil producers. Instead, he’s sought to reduce prices by releasing oil from the U.S. reserve, shaming oil companies for their profits and calling on greater production from countries in OPEC+ that have different geopolitical interests, said Frank Macchiarola, senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs at the American Petroleum Institute.

    “If they continue to offer the same old so-called solutions, they’ll continue to get the same old results,” Macchiarola said.

    Because fossil fuels lead to carbon emissions, Biden has sought to move away from them entirely with a commitment to zero emissions by 2050. When discussing that commitment nearly a year ago after the G-20 leading rich and developing nations met in Rome, the president said he still wanted to also lower gas prices because at “$3.35 a gallon, it has profound impact on working-class families just to get back and forth to work.”

    Since Biden spoke of the pain of gas at $3.35 a gallon and his hopes to reduce costs, the price has on balance risen another 15.5%.

    ———

    Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2022 midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections.

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  • At Georgia debate, Abrams and Kemp clash on abortion, crime

    At Georgia debate, Abrams and Kemp clash on abortion, crime

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    ATLANTA (AP) — Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams painted different visions for the future of Georgia, clashing on the economy, crime, voting and education as they debated Monday night after more than 100,000 Georgians swarmed to the polls of the first day of early voting.

    Kemp issued perhaps his clearest commitment yet that he won’t pursue any new restrictions on abortion or birth control, clarifying his position on an issue he’s sometimes avoided as he seeks a second term.

    Abrams, pushing uphill to unseat the incumbent four years after she narrowly lost to Kemp, told voters his record of accomplishments was scant.

    “This is a governor who for the last four years has beat his chest but delivered very little for most Georgians,” she said. “He’s weakened gun laws and flooded our streets. He’s weakened … women’s rights. He’s denied women the access to reproductive care. The most dangerous thing facing Georgia is four more years of Brian Kemp.”

    Kemp, though, reminded voters that he had delivered billions in tax relief and rebates to millions of Georgians, crediting his decision to reopen Georgia’s economy amid the pandemic for the state’s financial strength and repeatedly blaming Democrats for economic difficulties.

    “My desire is to continue to help them fight through 40-year-high inflation and high gas prices and other things that our Georgia families are facing right now financially because of bad policies in Washington, D.C., where President Biden and the Democrats have complete control,” he said.

    Kemp said he “would not” go beyond the “heartbeat bill” he signed in 2019 to ban nearly all abortions at six weeks of pregnancy, a point that comes before many women know they’re pregnant. The law took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned a constitutional right to abortion services. The Georgia law includes exceptions in cases of rape, incest and health risks to pregnant women.

    Abrams has criticized the Republican incumbent as an extremist on abortion, leaving him trapped between moderates who want more permissive abortion laws and activists who want the governor to completely ban abortion or restrict Plan B, an over-the-counter contraceptive that can prevent pregnancy even after an egg is fertilized.

    The debate question came after Kemp was captured on tape by a voter pressing Kemp to commit to more restrictions. Kemp sought to quell concerns. “That’s not my desire” to push any new abortion or birth control legislation, he said.

    Libertarian Shane Hazel, who was also on the debate stage, interrupted the other candidates several times to get his point across because he wasn’t asked as many questions.

    Beyond abortion, Kemp and Abrams rekindled their long-standing feud over voting rights, with Abrams accusing Kemp as governor and previously as secretary of state of trying to make it harder for some Georgians to vote.

    Abrams said, however, that she would accept the outcome of the November election after Republicans criticized her for acknowledging Kemp’s 2018 victory but refusing to use the word “concede.”

    “I will always acknowledge the outcome of elections, but I will never deny access to every voter, because that is the responsibility of every American to defend the right to vote,” she said.

    Kemp urged voters to remember that he was among the Republican governors who relaxed public restrictions early in the COVID-19 pandemic, including resisting widespread mask mandates and school closures during the nation’s worst public health crisis in a century.

    “Our economy is incredible … we are the ones that’s been fighting for you when Ms. Abrams was not,” Kemp said.

    Still, he found himself on the defensive from Hazel, who blasted Kemp for ever going along with any restrictions and for endorsing the government-distributed COVID-19 vaccine. Abrams defended her criticism of the reopening as showing prudent caution in a pandemic that killed tens of thousands of Georgians.

    Abrams and other Democrats have steamed as Kemp has used the power of the governor’s office to spend heavily, noting much of the spending is underwritten by a Democratic COVID-19 relief bill that Kemp opposed. Abrams argues she has a better longer-term vision for Georgia’s economy, pledging a much larger teacher pay raise than the $5,000 Kemp delivered, an expanded Medicaid program, increased access to state contracts for small and minority-owned businesses and broader access to college aid paid for by gambling.

    Perhaps the old rivals’ most personal clash came on crime and public safety. Kemp, as he has with his campaign ads, spent considerable effort painting Abrams as an enemy of law enforcement, arguing she has no support from Georgia sheriffs and police. She retorted that it’s possible to support “justice and safety” at the same time and said Kemp has made Georgia more dangerous by making it legal to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.

    Earlier Monday, Kemp rolled out a fresh set of anti-crime proposals, including increasing mandatory prison sentences for recruiting juveniles into a gang to at least 10 years and making it harder for judges to release people who have been arrested without cash bail. “That’s what we’re doing, going after street gangs,” Kemp said.

    Abrams recalled a 2021 gun massacre at Asian-owned massage parlors in metro Atlanta. “Street gangs did not shoot six Asian women, going into a gun store, getting a weapon and murdering six women,” she said. “Street gangs aren’t the reason people are getting shot in parking lots and grocery stores and in schools.”

    Monday’s debate took place as Georgians began flooding the polls for 19 days of early in-person voting. Herb McCaulla, who owns a business selling pop culture memorabilia, praised Kemp on the economy.

    “He’s doing a great job,” McCaulla said in Lilburn in suburban Atlanta. “He kept this state afloat during the COVID craziness.”

    Democrats said they opposed Kemp over abortion restrictions and loosened gun laws.

    “I want Kemp out,” Chalmers Stewart said.

    More than 4 million people could vote in the state’s elections this year, and more than half are likely to cast ballots before Election Day. Gabriel Sterling, an official with the Georgia secretary of state’s office, said more than 100,000 people cast early votes Monday. Sterling said that surpassed a previous record of 72,000 for a midterm cycle.

    More than 200,000 people have requested mail ballots already, with an Oct. 28 deadline to request them. Early in-person voting will run through Nov. 4.

    Kemp and Abrams are scheduled to meet for a second debate on Oct. 30.

    ___

    Follow Jeff Amy at http://twitter.com/jeffamy.

    ___

    Follow the AP’s coverage of the midterm elections at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections.

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