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Tag: Elections

  • SCOOP: Trump-backed former Navy SEAL launches GOP primary challenge against Massie

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    FIRST ON FOX – A former longtime Navy SEAL and fifth-generation Kentucky farmer who is backed by President Donald Trump on Tuesday declared his candidacy in the state’s 4th Congressional District, as he challenges Republican Rep. Thomas Massie in next year’s GOP primary.

    “I’ve dedicated my life to serving my country, and I’m ready to answer the call again,” Ed Gallrein said in a statement shared first with Fox News Digital. 

    And pointing to Massie, a frequent GOP critic of the president during his second term in the White House, Gallrein emphasized, “This district is Trump Country. The President doesn’t need obstacles in Congress – he needs backup. I’ll defeat Thomas Massie, stand shoulder to shoulder with President Trump, and deliver the America First results Kentuckians voted for.”

    The campaign launch comes four days after Trump took to social media to praise Gallrein, urge him to run, and blast Massie.

    MAVERICK HOUSE REPUBLICAN CASHES IN ON TRUMP’S ATTACKS

    Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, arrives for a news conference outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025 (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

    Trump argued that Massie was a “Third Rate Congressman,” a “Weak and Pathetic RINO,” and a “totally ineffective LOSER who has failed us so badly.”

    And the president applauded Gallrein, calling him a “Brave Combat Veteran” and a “very successful Businessman” who, if elected to Congress, would “fight tirelessly to Keep our now very Secure Border, SECURE, Stop Migrant Crime, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment.”

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    Trump’s social media post included a photo of himself and Gallrein holding red MAGA hats in the Oval Office.

    Gallrein served three decades in uniform, rising to the rank of Captain. According to his campaign bio, he served multiple times on SEAL Team SIX, deploying to Panama, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and earned four Bronze Stars and two Presidential Unit Citations.

    Ed Gallrein with President Trump at the White House

    Ed Gallrein, left, seen with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House, on Tuesday launched a congressional bid to primary challenge Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Gallrein’s campaign launch comes four days after Trump backed him and urged him to run. (Ed Gallrein congressional campaign)

    His campaign release also highlighted that “Gallrein’s roots run deep in Kentucky.” He was born and raised in the state. And his family, which has farmed for over a century, built Kentucky’s largest dairy farm and Gallrein Grain Farms, one of the state’s largest grain operations.

    Massie took aim at Gallrein following Trump’s social media endorsement, calling him a “failed candidate and establishment hack,” as he pointed to Gallrein’s unsuccessful run last year for the state Senate.

    MASSIE FIRES BACK AFTER JOHNSON CALLS HIS EPSTEIN RECORDS PUSH ‘MEANINGLESS’

    “After having been rejected by every elected official in the 4th District, Trump’s consultants clearly pushed the panic button with their choice of failed candidate and establishment hack Ed Gallrein,” Massie said in a statement to Politico. “Ed’s been begging them to pick him for over three months now.”

    Trump started targeting Massie for ouster earlier this year over the seven-term lawmaker’s opposition to the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which passed the GOP-controlled Congress early in the summer nearly entirely along party lines. The sweeping GOP megalaw is the president’s major legislative achievement since returning to the White House.

    Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie, and Ro Khanna

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) speaks with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) during a news conference with alleged victims of disgraced financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein outside the U.S. Capitol on September 3, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

    Massie is also leading the push, along with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, in forcing a House floor vote to urge the release of the Justice Department’s files on the late convicted sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, a move the White House and House GOP leaders have aimed to counter. Massie is on the verge of reaching the needed 218 signatures to force the vote.

    Two top Trump political advisers — 2024 co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita and pollster Tony Fabrizio — in June launched a super PAC that aims to defeat Massie. Nearly $2 million has been spent already to run TV ads targeting Massie.

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    But Massie has used the attacks from Trump and his allies to boost fundraising, hauling in more than $750,000 the past three months, which was the best fundraising quarter of his congressional career.

    Massie’s district, in the northeastern part of the state, includes Louisville’s eastern suburbs and Cincinnati’s Kentucky suburbs.

    Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast.”

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  • Texas finds thousands of illegal immigrants registered to vote on state voter rolls

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    A Texas election review has identified thousands of illegal immigrants on the state’s voter rolls, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson said Monday.

    Nelson said a crosscheck of state voter records found that more than 2,700 possible illegal immigrants were registered on the voter rolls, leading to an eligibility review across the 254 counties.

    The data came from a full comparison of Texas’s 18 million registered voters against federal citizenship records in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ SAVE database, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

    “Only eligible United States citizens may participate in our elections,” Nelson said. “The Trump Administration’s decision to give states free and direct access to this data set for the first time has been a game changer, and we appreciate the partnership with the federal government to verify the citizenship of those on our voter rolls and maintain accurate voter lists.”

    TRUMP ADMIN BLOCKS CITIZENSHIP FOR ILLEGAL MIGRANT VOTERS

    A voter wearing a protective mask and gloves signs a document at a drive-thru mail ballot hand delivery center in Austin, Texas. (Sergio Flores/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

    The investigation showed after running the SAVE crosscheck, that state officials could identify 2,724 potential noncitizens whose voter files have been sent to local counties to be further investigated.

    This process falls under Chapter 16 of the Texas Election Code, which requires counties to verify each voter’s eligibility and remove confirmed noncitizens from the rolls.

    Nelson said the review is part of an effort to maintain an accurate voter list and to safeguard election integrity ahead of the 2026 election cycle.

    “Everyone’s right to vote is sacred and must be protected,” Nelson said. “We encourage counties to conduct rigorous investigations to determine if any voter is ineligible – just as they do with any other data set we provide.”

    Each flagged voter will receive a notice from their county registrar giving them 30 days to provide proof of U.S. citizenship. If a voter does not respond, their registration will be canceled, though it can be reinstated immediately once proof of citizenship is provided. 

    Nelson’s statement said confirmed noncitizens who voted in previous Texas elections will be referred to the Attorney General’s Office for further review and potential prosecution. 

    The announcement comes amid growing national scrutiny of voter rolls as several states – including Georgia, Arizona, and Florida – have conducted similar audits of voter eligibility.

    Republican Governor Greg Abbott said that since Senate Bill 1 was signed into law, Texas has removed more than one million ineligible or outdated registrations from the state’s voter rolls, calling the effort essential to safeguard Texans’ right to vote.

    ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS POTENTIALLY COUNTED IN US CENSUS TAKE CENTER STAGE IN REDISTRICTING BATTLE

    Voters in Texas head to the polls

    Texas has confirmed noncitizens who voted in previous elections will be referred to the Office of the Attorney General for further review and potential prosecution. (Getty Images)

    “These reforms have led to the removal of over one million ineligible people from our voter rolls in the last three years, including noncitizens, deceased voters, and people who moved to another state,” Abbott said. “The Secretary of State and county voter registrars have an ongoing legal requirement to review the voter rolls, remove ineligible voters, and refer any potential illegal voting to the Attorney General’s Office and local authorities for investigation and prosecution. Illegal voting in Texas will never be tolerated. We will continue to actively safeguard Texans’ sacred right to vote while also aggressively protecting our elections from illegal voting.”

    Abbott has called the initiative proof that Texas is “leading the nation in election integrity.”

    A breakdown of the information was released by the Secretary of State’s office showing Harris County with the largest number of potential noncitizens at 362, followed by Dallas County (277), Bexar County (201), and El Paso County (165).
    Smaller counties, including Andrews, Llano, and Cooke, reported fewer than ten flagged registrations.

    In total, all 254 Texas counties were included in the SAVE database review. Counties began sending verification notices this week as part of the 30-day review process. 

    In June, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson announced that she had referred to the Office of Attorney General to investigate the names of 33 potential noncitizens who voted in the November 2024 General Election. 

    The statement released by Nelson said the referral came within weeks of Texas gaining access to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s SAVE Database.  

    “Gaining access to this database has been a game-changer. Not only have we been able to identify individuals who should not have voted in the last election, we have also been able to confirm naturalization of dozens more,” Secretary Nelson said. 

    The crosscheck was made possible after the Trump Administration granted states direct and free access to the federal SAVE database for the first time.

    The tool allows election officials to confirm voter citizenship against immigration and naturalization records.

    The statement also said Texas was among the first states to join a pilot program with DHS, USCIS, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to improve the database’s functionality. 

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    “We are in the early stages of this pilot program, but we already see promising results. This may be the most current and accurate data set there is when it comes to citizenship verification,” Secretary Nelson said.  

    County registrars are expected to complete their investigations by early December, with official removals and potential referrals to follow.

    The Secretary of State’s office said the review will continue with periodic checks against federal databases to ensure accuracy. 

    “The SAVE database has proven to be a critically important data set and one of many that we will continue to use in Texas to ensure that only qualified voters cast a ballot in our elections,” Nelson said.

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  • Japan’s Parliament Is Set to Elect Sanae Takaichi as Nation’s First Female Prime Minister

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    TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s parliament is set to elect ultraconservative Sanae Takaichi as the country’s first female prime minister Tuesday, one day after her struggling party struck a coalition deal with a new partner that would pull her governing bloc further to the right.

    Takaichi will replace Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, ending a three-month political vacuum and wrangling since the Liberal Democratic Party’s disastrous election loss in July.

    Ishiba, who lasted only one year in office, resigned with his Cabinet earlier Tuesday, paving the way for his successor.

    The LDP’s off-the-cuff alliance with the Osaka-based rightwing Japan Innovation Party, or Ishin no Kai, ensures her premiership in a vote later in the day because the opposition is not united. Takaichi’s untested alliance is still short of a majority in both houses of parliament and they need to court other opposition groups to pass any legislation – a risk that could make her government unstable and short-lived.

    “Political stability is essential right now,” Takaichi said at Monday’s signing ceremony with the JIP leader and Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura. “Without stability, we cannot push measures for a strong economy or diplomacy.”

    The two parties signed a coalition agreement on policies underscoring Takaichi’s hawkish and nationalistic views.

    Their last-minute deal Monday comes 10 days after the Liberal Democrats lost its longtime partner, the Buddhist-backed Komeito, which has a more dovish and centrist stance. The breakup threatened a change of power for the LDP, which has governed Japan almost uninterrupted for decades.

    Once she is elected prime minister, Takaichi, 64, will present a Cabinet with a number of allies of LDP’s most powerful kingmaker, Taro Aso, and others who backed her in the party leadership vote.

    JIP will not hold ministerial posts in Takaichi’s Cabinet until his party is confident about its partnership with the LDP, Yoshimura said.

    Takaichi is running on deadline — a major policy speech later this week, talks with U.S. President Donald Trump and regional summits. She needs to quickly tackle rising prices and compile economy-boosting measures by late December to address public frustration.

    While she would be the first woman serving as Japan’s prime minister, she is in no rush to promote gender equality or diversity.

    Takaichi is among Japanese politicians who have stonewalled measures for women’s advancement. Takaichi supports the imperial family’s male-only succession and opposes same-sex marriage and allowing separate surnames for married couples.

    A protege of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Takaichi is expected to emulate his policies including stronger military and economy, as well as revising Japan’s pacifist constitution. With a potentially weak grip on power, it’s unknown how much Takaichi would be able to achieve.

    When Komeito left the governing coalition, it cited the LDP’s lax response to slush fund scandals that led to their consecutive election defeats.

    The centrist party also raised concern about Takaichi’s revisionist view of Japan’s wartime past and her regular prayers at Yasukuni Shrine despite protests from Beijing and Seoul that see the visits as lack of remorse about Japanese aggression, as well as her recent xenophobic remarks.

    Takaichi has toned down her hawkish rhetorics. On Friday, Takaichi sent a religious ornament instead of going to Yasukuni.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Biden Completes a Round of Radiation Therapy as Part of His Prostate Cancer Treatment

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    Biden had been receiving treatment at Penn Medicine Radiation Oncology in Philadelphia, said aide Kelly Scully.

    In May, Biden’s postpresidential office announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and that it had spread to his bones. The discovery came after he reported urinary symptoms.

    Prostate cancers are graded for aggressiveness using what is known as a Gleason score. The scores range from 6 to 10, with 8, 9 and 10 prostate cancers behaving more aggressively. Biden’s office said his score was 9, suggesting his cancer is among the most aggressive.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Ultraconservative Sanae Takaichi on track to become Japan’s first female prime minister

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    TOKYO — TOKYO (AP) — Sanae Takaichi is on track to become Japan’s first female prime minister, after her governing party secured a crucial coalition partner.

    Takaichi, 64, is set to replace Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tuesday’s parliamentary vote. If she’s successful, it would end Japan’s three-month political vacuum and wrangling since the coalition’s loss in the July parliamentary election.

    The moderate centrist Komeito party had split from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party after a 26-year-long coalition. It came just days after Takaichi’s election as LDP leader, and forced her into a desperate search for a new coalition partner to secure votes so that she can become prime minister.

    The Buddhist-backed Komeito left after raising concerns about Takaichi’s ultraconservative politics and the LDP’s lax response to corruption scandals that led to the party’s consecutive election defeats and loss of majority in both houses.

    While the leaders of the country’s top three opposition parties failed to unite to seek a change of government, Takaichi went for a quick fix by teaming up with the most conservative of them: the Osaka-based Ishin no Kai, or Japan Innovation Party. The two parties on Monday signed a coalition agreement that includes joint policy goals on diplomacy, security and energy.

    The fragile new coalition, still a minority in the legislature, would need cooperation from other opposition groups to pass any legislation.

    Big diplomatic tests await the government within days — talks with U.S. President Donald Trump and regional summits. At home, Takaichi needs to quickly tackle rising prices and come up with economic stimulus measures to appease the frustrated public.

    An admirer of former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi’s breaking of the glass ceiling makes history in a country whose gender equality ranks poorly internationally.

    But many women aren’t celebrating, and some see her impending premiership as a setback.

    “The prospect of a first female prime minister doesn’t make me happy,” sociologist Chizuko Ueno posted on X. Ueno said that Takaichi’s leadership would elevate Japan’s gender equality ranking, but “that doesn’t mean Japanese politics becomes kinder to women.”

    Takaichi, an ultraconservative star of her male-dominated party, is among those who have stonewalled measures for women’s advancement. Takaichi supports the imperial family’s male-only succession, opposes same-sex marriage and a revision to the civil law allowing separate last names for married couples, so women don’t get pressured into abandoning theirs.

    “Ms. Takaichi’s policies are extremely hawkish and I doubt she would consider policies to recognize diversity,” said Chiyako Sato, a political commentator and senior writer for the Mainichi newspaper.

    If she’s successful in the parliamentary vote, Takaichi would immediately launch her Cabinet on Tuesday and make a policy speech later in the week.

    A protege of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Takaichi is expected to emulate his economic and security policies.

    She would have only a few days to prepare for diplomatic talks at regional summits, and with Trump in between. She is expected to keep ties with China and South Korea stable, despite concerns over her revisionist views on wartime history and past visits to the Yasukuni Shrine.

    The shrine honors Japan’s 2.5 million war dead, including convicted war criminals. Victims of Japanese aggression, especially China and the Koreas, see visits to the shrine as a lack of remorse about Japan’s wartime past.

    Takaichi supports a stronger military, currently undergoing a five-year buildup with the annual defense budget doubled to 2% of gross domestic product by 2027. Trump is expected to demand that Japan increase its military spending to NATO targets of 5% of GDP, and purchase more U.S. weapons.

    Takaichi also needs to follow up on Japan’s pledge of investing $550 billion in the U.S. as part of a U.S. tariff deal.

    Her policy plans have focused on short-term measures such as battling rising prices and improving salaries and subsidies, as well as restrictions against a growing foreign population as Japan faces a rise in xenophobia. Takaichi hasn’t addressed bigger issues like demographic challenges.

    Takaichi’s mission is to regain conservative votes by pushing the party further to the right. The LDP’s coalition with the right-wing JIP may fit Takaichi’s view.

    On Friday, Takaichi sent a religious ornament instead of going to the Yasukuni Shrine, apparently to avoid a diplomatic dispute with Beijing and Seoul. She also reached out to smaller opposition groups, including the far-right Sanseito, apparently in a bid to bring her coalition closer to securing a majority in parliament.

    “There is no room for Takaichi to show her true colors. All she can do is cooperate per policy,” said Masato Kamikubo, a Ritsumeikan University political science professor. “It’s a pathetic situation.”

    Many observers expect a Takaichi government wouldn’t last long and an early election may follow this year.

    Experts also raised concerns about how Takaichi, a fiscal expansionist, can coordinate economic policies with Ishin’s fiscal conservative views.

    “The era of LDP domination is over and we are entering the era of multiparty politics. The question is how to form a coalition,” Sato said, noting a similar trend in Europe. “We need to find a Japanese way of forming a coalition and a stable government.”

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  • Battle for governor in closely watched election may be headed for a photo finish

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    With the November election just 15 days out, the Republican nominee in one of the nation’s only two races for governor this year is feeling confident.

    “The energy across the state is electric. The reception in minority communities has been great, and on being endorsed by prominent Democrats, that tells you all you need to know in terms of the people of New Jersey wanting change. And that’s what this election is all about. Change,” Jack Ciattarelli said this weekend in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

    Ciattarelli, who’s making his third straight run for Garden State governor and who nearly upset Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago, has good reason to be optimistic he can pull off victory in blue-leaning New Jersey.

    In a state where registered Democrats still outnumber Republicans despite a GOP surge in registration this decade, three public opinion polls released last week — from Fox News, Quinnipiac University, and Fairleigh Dickinson University — indicated Ciattarelli narrowing the gap with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill in the race to succeed the term-limited Murphy.

    THE POLITICAL BOMB TRUMP EXPLODED IN THE NEW JERSEY SHOWDOWN FOR GOVERNOR

    Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for governor in New Jersey, speaks to supporters at a diner in Saddle Brook, N.J. on Oct. 15, 2025. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

    The Fox News poll conducted Oct. 10 – 14, put Sherrill at 50% support among likely voters, with Ciattarelli at 45%. Sherrill’s 5-point advantage was down from an 8-point lead in Fox News’ September survey in New Jersey.

    New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states to hold gubernatorial showdowns in the year after a presidential election, and the contests traditionally grab outsized attention and are viewed as political barometers ahead of the following year’s midterm elections.

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    And this year, they’re being viewed, in part, as ballot-box referendums on President Donald Trump’s unprecedented and combustible second-term agenda.

    While Democrats have long dominated federal and state legislative elections in blue-leaning New Jersey, Republicans are very competitive in gubernatorial contests, winning five out of the past 10 elections.

    Former President Trump speaks during a campaign event in New Jersey.

    President Donald Trump, seen speaking during a campaign event at Wildwood Beach in Wildwood, New Jersey, May 11, 2024, will headline a tele-rally for Jack Ciattarelli, the 2025 Republican gubernatorial nominee in the Garden State. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

    And Trump made major gains in New Jersey in last year’s presidential election, losing the state by only six percentage points, a major improvement over his 16-point deficit four years earlier.

    Ciattarelli, interviewed by Fox News Digital last week in Bayonne, New Jersey, noted that he “made big gains” in his 2021 showing “in Hudson County and Passaic County,” two long-time Democratic Party strongholds.

    “And the President did very, very well in ’24 in those very same counties. And if you take a look at who’s been endorsing me, including some very prominent Democrats here in Hudson County, people want change,” Ciattarelli emphasized.

    But Ciattarelli is also aiming to energize Republican base voters in what’s likely to be a low-turnout election.

    Multiple sources confirmed to Fox News that Trump will hold a tele-rally with Ciattarelli ahead of Election Day. Trump’s teaming up with Ciattarelli may help energize MAGA supporters, many of whom are low propensity voters who often skip casting ballots in non-presidential election years.

    Vivek Ramaswamy and Jack Ciattarelli on campaign trail in New Jersey

    Republican gubernatorial candidate in Ohio Vivek Ramaswamy headlines a campaign event for New Jersey GOP nominee for governor Jack Ciattarelli, on Oct. 15, 2025, in Saddle Brook, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

    And last week, Ciattarelli was joined at a jam-packed diner stop in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, by Vivek Ramaswamy, the MAGA rockstar who is running for governor next year in his home state of Ohio.

    Ramaswamy, the multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and conservative commentator who pushed an “America First 2.0” platform as he ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination before ending his bid and becoming one of Trump’s top supporters and surrogates, told Fox News Digital that a Ciattarelli win this year would “set the table for even bigger and more decisive victories, hopefully in places like Ohio next year.”

    ONLY ON FOX: RAMASWAMY SAYS GOP VICTORIES IN THE 2025 ELECTIONS WOULD ‘SET THE TABLE’ FOR BIGGER WINS IN 2026

    Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, commenting on why Republicans feel bullish about the New Jersey showdown, raised concerns.

    “New Jersey is the best place, probably, for Donald Trump to actually stop the Democratic momentum — or at least minimize the Democratic momentum that we’ve seen throughout this year,” Martin said in a Politico interview. 

    But the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) forecasts a Sherrill victory in two weeks.

    “As numerous polls show her holding a strong lead and earning more than 50% of the vote, Mikie Sherrill is rising to meet the moment in this incredibly competitive race,” DGA Spokesperson Izzi Levy told Fox News. “It’s clear that Mikie has the momentum, and that New Jersey voters are all-in to reject Ciattarelli for a third time this November.”

    Sherrill had plenty of company on the campaign trail this weekend from major Democratic Party surrogates, including two of the biggest names in the party — Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Wes Moore of Maryland.

    Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore

    Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie of New Jersey, left, teams up on the campaign trail with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, in Newark, N.J., on Oct. 19, 2025. (Mikie Sherrill campaign )

    “From Maryland to New Jersey, we’re united with one goal – making sure every voice is heard at the ballot box,” Moore wrote on social medial. “Proud to stand with @MikieSherrill and community members in Newark to get out the vote. Let’s finish strong this November!”

    And former President Barack Obama endorsed Sherrill and starred in a new ad for the party’s nominee.

    CIATTARELLI WELCOMES TRUMP’S HELP IN FINAL STRETCH IN BATTLE FOR NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR

    While Trump isn’t on the ballot, he’s loomed large over the New Jersey gubernatorial election.

    At the second and final debate two weeks ago, Sherrill charged that her GOP rival had “shown zero signs of standing up to this president. In fact, the president himself called Jack 100% MAGA, and he’s shown every sign of being that.”

    mikie sherrill and jack ciattarelli on the debate stage

    New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill, right, and Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli, on the stage moments at the start of their second and final debate, on Oct. 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News Digital)

    Asked whether he considered himself part of the MAGA movement, Ciattarelli said he was “part of a New Jersey movement.”

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    When asked to grade the president’s performance so far during his second term, Ciattarelli said, “I’d certainly give the president an A. I think he’s right about everything that he’s doing.”

    “I think that tells us all we need to know about who Jack Ciattarelli’s supporting. I give him an F right now,” Sherrill responded, as she pointed to New Jersey’s high cost of living.

    New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill

    Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in New Jersey, takes questions from reporters following a debate on Oct. 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

    The race in New Jersey was rocked a couple of weeks ago by a report that the National Personnel Records Center, which is a branch of the National Archives and Records Administration, mistakenly released Sherrill’s improperly redacted military personnel files, which included private information like her Social Security number, to a Ciattarelli ally. 

    But Sherrill’s military records indicated that the United States Naval Academy blocked her from taking part in her 1994 graduation amid a cheating scandal.

    The showdown was jolted again two weeks ago after Sherrill’s allegations that Ciattarelli was “complicit” with pharmaceutical companies in the opioid deaths of tens of thousands of New Jerseyans, as she pointed to the medical publishing company he owned that pushed content promoting the use of opioids as a low-risk treatment for chronic pain.

    Last week, Trump set off a political hand grenade in the race, as he “terminated” billions of federal dollars for the Gateway Project, which is funding a new train tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and New York.

    Sherrill, holding a news conference Thursday at a major commuter rail station just a few miles from the site of the tunnels in one of the busiest train corridors in the nation, called the project “critical” as she took aim at Trump and Ciattarelli.

    “I’m fighting for the people of New Jersey. He’s fighting to excuse Trump. It’s unacceptable,” Sherrill charged.

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    New Jersey traditionally elects a governor from the party out of power in the White House, which this year favors the Democrats.

    But Garden State voters haven’t elected a governor from the same party in three straight elections in over a half century, which would favor the Republicans.

    One of those political trends will be busted in next month’s election.

    Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast.”

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  • Markey faces generational challenge from Moulton

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    BOSTON — Incumbent Democratic Sen. Ed Markey survived a primary challenge five years ago from a member of Massachusetts’ most storied political families, but observers say he faces an even more formidable threat from Rep. Seth Moulton as he seeks a third-term.

    Moulton, a five-term congressman, announced on Wednesday that he is challenging Markey for the U.S. Senate seat in next year’s Democratic primary.


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    Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.

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  • Ultraconservative Sanae Takaichi on Track to Become Japan’s First Female Prime Minister

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    TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s governing party leader, Sanae Takaichi, is on track to become the country’s first female prime minister, after finding a badly needed replacement for a crucial partner that left her Liberal Democratic Party’s coalition.

    Takaichi, 64, would replace Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tuesday’s parliamentary vote. If she’s successful, it would end Japan’s three-month political vacuum and wrangling since the coalition’s loss in the July parliamentary election.

    The moderate centrist Komeito party split from the LDP after a 26-year-long coalition. The move by Komeito came days after Takaichi’s election as president of her party, and it forced her into a desperate search for a replacement to secure votes so that she can become prime minister.

    The Buddhist-backed Komeito left after raising concerns about her ultraconservative politics and the LDP’s lax response to slush fund scandals that led to their consecutive election defeats and loss of majority in both houses.

    While the leaders of the country’s top three opposition parties failed to unite for a change of government, Takaichi went for a quick fix by teaming up with the most conservative of them: The Osaka-based Ishin no Kai, or Japan Innovation Party. But the long-term stability of their cooperation is an unknown.

    The two parties are set to sign a coalition agreement on Monday.

    An eventual Takaichi premiership would be on a cliff edge. The fragile new coalition, still a minority, would need cooperation from other opposition groups to pass any legislation. It would be a risk that could lead to an unstable, short-lived leadership.

    Big diplomatic tests come within days — talks with U.S. President Donald Trump and regional summits. At home, she needs to quickly tackle rising prices and compile economic boosting measures to address the frustrated public.

    An admirer of former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi’s breaking of the glass ceiling makes history in a country whose gender equality ranks poorly internationally.

    But many women aren’t celebrating, and some see her impending premiership as a setback.

    “The prospect of a first female prime minister doesn’t make me happy,” sociologist Chizuko Ueno posted on X. Ueno explained that Takaichi’s leadership would elevate Japan’s gender equality ranking, but “that doesn’t mean Japanese politics becomes kinder to women.”

    Takaichi, an ultraconservative star of her male-dominated party, is among those who have stonewalled measures for women’s advancement. Takaichi supports the imperial family’s male-only succession, opposes same-sex marriage and a revision to the civil law allowing separate last names for married couples, so women don’t get pressured into abandoning theirs.

    The prospect for a dual system for last names is fading under Takaichi, Ueno says.

    “Ms. Takaichi’s policies are extremely hawkish and I doubt she would consider policies to recognize diversity,” said Chiyako Sato, a political commentator and senior writer for the Mainichi newspaper.


    Rising prices and population decline

    If she’s successful in the parliamentary vote, Takaichi would immediately launch her Cabinet on Tuesday and make a policy speech later in the week.

    A protege of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Takaichi is expected to emulate his economic and security policies. With a potentially weak grip on power, it’s unknown how much Takaichi would be able to achieve.

    She would have only a few days to prepare for diplomatic tests — major regional summits and talks with Trump in between. She has to reassure that there will be stable ties with China and South Korea, which are concerned about her revisionist views on wartime history and past visits to the Yasukuni Shrine.

    The shrine honors Japan’s 2.5 million war dead, including convicted war criminals. Victims of Japanese aggression, especially China and the Koreas, see visits to the shrine as a lack of remorse about Japan’s wartime past.

    Takaichi supports a stronger military, currently undergoing a five-year buildup with the annual defense budget being doubled to 2% of gross domestic product by 2027. Trump is expected to demand that Japan increase its military spending to NATO targets of 5% of GDP, and purchase more U.S. weapons.

    Takaichi has to follow up on Japan’s pledge of $550 billion to Trump’s administration as part of a U.S. tariff deal.

    Her policies focus on short-term measures such as rising prices, salary increase and subsidies, as well as restrictions against a growing foreign population amid a rise of xenophobia. Takaichi hasn’t shown a vision for Japan to address bigger issues like demographic challenges.

    Takaichi’s mission is to regain conservative votes by pushing the party further to the right.

    The LDP’s new coalition with the right-wing JIP may fit Takaichi’s views, but experts say that she would have to avoid pushing them and prioritize stability.

    She needs to balance relations between China and the United States under Trump, while at home she also needs balance to gain support from the opposition camp to achieve anything.

    “She needs to be realistic,” says Sato, the commentator.

    On Friday, Takaichi sent a religious ornament instead of going to the Yasukuni Shrine, apparently to avoid a diplomatic dispute with Beijing and Seoul.

    To consolidate opposition cooperation and lift her coalition closer to a majority, she has reached out to smaller opposition groups, including the far-right Sanseito.

    “There is no room for Takaichi to show her true colors. All she can do is cooperate per policy,” said Masato Kamikubo, a Ritsumeikan University political science professor. “It’s a pathetic situation.”

    Takaichi’s election as LDP leader as she seeks the premiership is about power politics by the 85-year-old conservative former Prime Minister Taro Aso, the party’s most powerful kingmaker.

    In her first move as LDP president, Takaichi appointed Aso as the party’s vice president and gave more top jobs to his allies and others who supported her, including Abe allies linked to the funds scandal. Takaichi is expected to appoint them to her Cabinet.

    Political observers expect that a Takaichi government wouldn’t last long. An early election may have to be called later this year, in hopes of regaining a majority in the lower house, though that would be tough.

    Experts also raise concerns about how Takaichi, a fiscal expansionist, can coordinate economic policies with Ishin’s fiscal conservative views.

    “The era of LDP domination is over and we are entering the era of multiparty politics. The question is how to form a coalition,” Sato said, noting a similar trend in Europe. “We need to find a Japanese way of forming a coalition and a stable government.”

    About a dozen opposition parties span the spectrum from the Japanese Communist Party on the left to Sanseito and several others on the extreme right.

    “What’s going on here right now is what’s going on in all our democracies for a lot of complicated reasons,” said Gerald Curtis, a Columbia University professor and expert on Japanese politics, citing the mainstream political parties losing popularity, and voters acting on the basis of anger and resentment.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Bill Ackman jumps into NYC mayoral fight, says Sliwa must drop or ‘we are toast’

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    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    Billionaire investor Bill Ackman is escalating his commentary on the New York City mayoral race, claiming Republican Curtis Sliwa’s refusal to exit has pushed democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani to a 90% chance of victory, according to prediction market data. 

    Ackman, the founder of Pershing Square Capital, argued that Sliwa staying in the race is helping Mamdani secure the win.

    On Friday, Ackman posted new Polymarket odds on X showing Mamdani near 90%, well ahead of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Sliwa.

    “It was not Zohran Mamdani’s debate performance. It was Curtis Sliwa’s statement after the debate that he is not leaving that has tipped the odds to 90% for Mamdani,” Ackman wrote on X.

    Sliwa had said he would not drop out after the most recent debate.

    FINAL STRETCH: MAMDANI’S LARGE LEAD SHRINKING AS CUOMO GAINS GROUND IN NYC MAYORAL RACE

    Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa greets supporters upon arriving to participate in a mayoral debate Thursday in New York City. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

    Ackman’s remarks mark a rare public foray by a high-profile investor into a local election. A spokesperson for Pershing Square told Fox News Digital there was “no additional comment beyond Ackman’s posts.” 

    Ackman has supported Cuomo’s independent bid and earlier in the week urged Sliwa to exit the race to give Cuomo “a better shot.”

    Sliwa is not backing down. His campaign, in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital, rejected the idea that Ackman or any donor should influence the race. 

    “Billionaires aren’t going to decide the outcome — it’s the voters. It’s the people. Let the people decide,” said Maria Sliwa, the candidate’s spokeswoman.

    “Cuomo lost the primary as a Democrat. He’s running as an independent. Curtis is on a major party line just like Mamdani. If anything, Cuomo should drop out, not Curtis.”

    She said Sliwa has always planned to stay in the race to give Republicans a choice. 

    “This race won’t be decided by millionaires, billionaires or professional politicians. It will be decided by the voters on Nov. 4.”

    Sliwa’s refusal to exit has become a flashpoint in the campaign. Ackman and others say a one-on-one matchup between Cuomo and Mamdani would be more competitive. 

    NEW POLL REVEALS MAMDANI’S LEAD IS SHRINKING AS CUOMO GAINS GROUND IN NYC SHOWDOWN

    cuomo and sliwa mayoral debate

    Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the independent candidate, left, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa participate in a mayoral debate Thursday in New York City. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, Pool)

    Some polls suggest Cuomo could close the gap without Sliwa in the race. But Sliwa’s team and several analysts question whether his voters would support Cuomo.

    Appearing Friday morning on “Sid & Friends in the Morning” on WABC radio, Cuomo accused Sliwa of playing spoiler and warned Republicans that staying loyal to Sliwa could hand the election to Mamdani.

    “Curtis cannot win,” Cuomo said. “No Republican voted to put Curtis on the ballot. No Democrat voted to put Curtis on the ballot. He was put on by the party bosses — the Republican county chairs — because he is a spoiler. And they want Mamdani to win.”

    Cuomo argued that GOP leaders are backing Sliwa for strategic reasons, not to win City Hall. 

    “They’ll take Mamdani and run him around the country saying, ‘Look at how crazy this Democratic Party is — they elected a 33-year-old socialist who’s anti-cop, anti-business, antisemitic.’ It’ll help them politically, but it’ll kill the city,” Cuomo said.

    He added that voters who support Sliwa are effectively helping Mamdani. 

    “You vote for Curtis, just save yourself the time and vote for Mamdani,” Cuomo said. “He’s the candidate of the Republican Party chairs. And what Republicans are going to have to decide is whether partisan loyalty is more important than loyalty to the city.”

    FOX NEWS POLL: UNHAPPY WITH NYC’S DIRECTION, VOTERS FAVOR MAMDANI FOR MAYOR BY A WIDE MARGIN

    sliwa and mamdani nyc debate

    Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, left, speaks while participating in a mayoral debate with democratic socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani, right, and independent candidate and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (not pictured) Thursday in New York City.  (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, Pool)

    Cuomo also attacked Mamdani’s public safety policies, warning, “You defund the police, you close Rikers — he’s talking about releasing 7,000 people from Rikers when it closes. There are no new jails. There will be a mass exodus from this city. It will never be the same.”

    The 2025 NYC mayoral race has drawn national attention. Mamdani, 33, is a socialist state assemblyman from Queens who upset Cuomo in the Democratic primary. If elected, he would be the city’s first Muslim mayor, and he has the backing of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

    Cuomo, 65, is running as an independent four years after resigning as governor. He is trying to frame himself as a centrist who can beat Mamdani. Since Mayor Eric Adams dropped out, Cuomo has gained ground in polling.

    Sliwa, 69, is best known for founding the Guardian Angels patrol group and has built his campaign around crime and quality-of-life issues. He won 27% of the vote in the 2021 mayoral race.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Ackman’s involvement has sparked renewed interest in Polymarket, a prediction site where users bet on political outcomes. 

    The contract for the NYC mayoral race has already passed $190 million in trading volume, one of the largest for a local U.S. election. Ackman’s posts have fueled speculation and a surge in trading activity.

    Voters head to the polls Nov. 4.

    Polymarket did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

    Jasmine Baehr is a Breaking News Writer for Fox News Digital, where she covers politics, the military, faith and culture.

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  • First Republican Enters Race for Governor of New Mexico in 2026 as Democrat Terms Out of Office

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    SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico has its first Republican contender for governor ahead of the 2026 elections, as the three-term city mayor of fast-growing Rio Rancho launched his campaign.

    Gregg Hull on Friday outlined priorities, including greater state investments in the health care workforce and roadways, in pursuing the Republican nomination ahead of an open race for governor. He also described a “zero-tolerance” approach to crime that would revisit the state’s bail reforms and seek changes to juvenile justice statutes.

    “I’ve taken a very pragmatic approach to solving problems up in Rio Rancho,” said Hull, a former business executive for a commercial crating company and a motorhome resale business. “That’s how we want to approach the issues in New Mexico.”

    Three Democratic candidates are pursuing their party’s nomination as Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham terms out of office next year.

    New Mexico lawmakers this month approved legislation to prop up funding for food assistance and rural health care services in response to President Donald Trump’s cuts to federal spending on Medicaid and nutrition programs, drawing on the state’s large surplus linked to booming local oil production.

    Hull said he hopes to deploy the state’s outsized financial resources to expand vocational education, including training in construction trades, and shore up access to health care by underwriting medical school and other advanced degrees for health professionals — “but on the caveat that we need them to stay in the state and provide those services to New Mexicans.”

    On public education, he emphasized a commitment to school choice but said it was too soon to say whether that might include public funding for private or parochial education options.

    “School choice means, really, parental oversight of their child’s education,” he said.

    Hull sounded a supportive note on the current governor’s deployment of the National Guard in limited roles to shore up public safety in Albuquerque and the Española area.

    “When we look at public safety, we need to have all options on the table,” Hull said. “If these local governments need the help, then let’s help them.”

    New Mexico has alternated between Democratic and Republican governors since the early 1980s.

    In recent years, Democrats have consolidated control over ever statewide elected office in New Mexico, with majorities in the state House and Senate. Trump lost the presidential vote three times in New Mexico, but he gained ground in 2024.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Kenyans Bid Farewell to Statesman and Democracy Activist Raila Odinga at State Funeral

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    NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Presidents and representatives of African heads of state joined thousands of mourners at a state funeral service Friday for Kenya’s former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the democratic reformer who died this week in India at the age of 80.

    Kenyans have turned out in large numbers to mourn Odinga since his death on Wednesday, reflecting the outsized influence the respected statesman had on political life in the East African country.

    Thousands filled a soccer stadium where Odinga’s casket was covered in the national flag for an Anglican Church service in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. They chanted and held up portraits of Odinga, while some carried twigs, a symbol of peace and unity in Kenyan tradition.

    Odinga ran for Kenya’s presidency five times over three decades, and although he never succeeded in becoming president, he is revered for a life of activism that helped steer Kenya toward becoming a vibrant multiparty democracy.

    Odinga’s body lay in state in Parliament on Friday morning ahead of the funeral, an honor only reserved for the president and former presidents.

    President William Ruto said Odinga deserved the honor for having been a legislator for 15 years, a role he used to play “a pivotal role in shaping some of the most consequential laws in our Republic’s history.”

    Ruto campaigned for Odinga in 2007 — a disputed election that was marred by violence. The two men were rivals in subsequent elections, including the most recent one in 2022.

    The two leaders signed an agreement this year after months of anti-government protests, and the pact saw opposition party members appointed to cabinet positions.

    David Kodia, the Anglican bishop who led the service, urged the leaders present to be “selfless” like Odinga and to shun corruption. Odinga was a practicing member of the church.

    Political analyst Herman Manyora told The Associated Press that the love displayed by so many mourners was a reflection of his work for democracy.

    “You can’t point at a man more willing to sacrifice everything just for the sake of his people,” said Manyora, who is based at the University of Nairobi.

    Among the mourners were Odinga’s wife Ida, daughters Winnie and Rosemary, and son Raila Odinga Junior.

    Winnie, who was with him in India, led the mourners to chanting in the local Luo language. She said her father died “strong, with dignity and pride” after he pushed his morning walk from his usual two to five rounds around the hospital where he was being treated.

    His son Junior, while donning his father’s beaded hat and a fly whisk, said he would take care of the family as the sole surviving son.

    President Ruto led the mourners in singing Odinga’s favorite song, Harry Belafonte’s “Jamaica Farewell” and said he helped him steady the nation earlier in the year.

    “Whenever the nation needed him to rise above self, he always did so unreservedly,” he said.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • After winning Trump’s $20 billion, President Milei must win votes as Argentine industry reels

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    BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — The factory floor used to roar.

    Walking around his textile mill in southern Buenos Aires, Luciano Galfione pointed out the up-to-the-minute machines that once whirred and clattered as 200 employees churned out fabric to be transformed into athleisure and other apparel for Argentina’s vast middle class.

    But on Monday afternoon, the factory was so quiet that Galfione’s footsteps rang clear through the compound. A handful of workers at the Galfione Group factory in Argentina’s capital spooled yarn and dyed cloth.

    Almost two years after libertarian President Javier Milei stormed to power on a promise to rescue Argentina’s crisis-stricken economy through harsh austerity and free-market reforms, falling orders and surging competition have forced Galfione to cut operations by 80%, lay off or suspend half his staff and use his own savings to keep his family’s 78-year-old firm afloat.

    Other companies have simply closed their doors. Over 17,600 businesses — among them 1,800 manufacturers and 380 textile companies — have folded in the last year and a half, according to Fundación Pro Tejer, a nonprofit representing textile manufacturers.

    “We’re seeing an industry in crisis, and it’s about to go bankrupt,” said Galfione, who also runs Fundación Pro Tejer. “Not only textiles. Textiles are just the first and fastest to fall.”

    As Argentina heads to Oct. 26 midterm elections widely seen as a referendum on Milei’s policies, Galfione’s troubles reflect bigger shocks jolting the country. The economy has sputtered. Cheap imports have gutted manufacturing. Spending has stumbled, squeezed by higher unemployment and lower wages.

    The turmoil engulfing Argentine financial markets began when voters in the manufacturing belt of suburban Buenos Aires — a region that for decades represented the dream of national industry nurtured by tariff protection — punished Milei in a provincial election last month.

    The scale of Milei’s humiliation triggered a sharp peso sell-off and sent officials scrambling to secure $20 billion in financing from a friendly Trump administration.

    President Donald Trump, who sees a kindred spirit and fellow culture warrior in Argentina’s chain saw wielding leader, shocked Argentines and Americans alike Tuesday by warning that the $20 billion was contingent on Milei’s success in what is shaping up to be a hotly contested legislative election.

    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent went further on Wednesday, saying that the U.S. could tap investment funds to provide Argentina with up to $40 billion.

    “Just helping a great philosophy take over a great country,” Trump explained after meeting Milei at the White House.

    Thousands of miles away, many Argentines are losing patience with that philosophy.

    Those interviewed on the streets of Buenos Aires Wednesday had no illusions about Trump’s lifeline fixing their problems.

    “Let’s say they give us this money from abroad. What am I going to do with it?” asked Walter Willatt, a 56-year-old newsstand owner whose son was just laid off from a local Toyota dealership. “If the economy revives it will have to be through domestic consumption.”

    Over a year ago, markets cheered as Milei fulfilled his flagship promise to reduce the runway inflation that he inherited from his populist predecessors. Many Argentines — who had grown accustomed to supermarkets revising prices upward everyday — hailed Milei’s program as a miraculous outbreak of normalcy in a notoriously topsy-turvy economy.

    But today, price stability is old news as Argentines contend with a lengthening list of worries.

    Unemployment in Buenos Aires Province climbed to 9.8% in the second quarter of this year, compared to 7.3% during the same period in 2023, before Milei entered office. Salaries nationwide haven’t kept up with inflation. Milei’s major subsidy cuts mean that even if prices have stabilized, Argentines are paying more for bus fares, utility bills and healthcare.

    “Milei’s challenge is that the public now assumes inflation has gone down, that’s a given,” said Marcelo J. García, Director for the Americas for the Horizon Engage political risk consultancy firm. “There’s a new generation of demands. The economy needs to grow, there needs to be job creation. I’m not sure that government is prepared to meet those demands.”

    Rodolfo Núñez, a 43-year-old former factory worker in Pilar, outside Buenos Aires, said he voted for Milei in 2023 because he wanted change. Then the blows began to fall. His daughter’s epilepsy medication shot up in price. His retired parents struggled to afford groceries on their $300-a-month pension.

    On Aug. 29, the ceramic factory where he worked for the last 18 years shut down. The company, ILVA, fired all the plant’s 300 workers in a WhatsApp message that cited the economic crisis, leaving Núñez and his colleagues in limbo, without severance pay or health insurance.

    ILVA did not respond to a request for comment.

    “What Milei promised, he didn’t do. He messed with retirees, he messed with my daughter and he messed with the workers,” he said from outside the padlocked ILVA factory where dozens of dismissed employees now camp out in protest, the air filled with smoke from burning tires and roasting chicken.

    “What do I tell my landlord? That I can’t pay her next month? Where am I going to go?”

    Núñez said he voted for the opposition in last month’s regional elections.

    Government statistics show poor and middle-class households cutting back on all but essential spending. Clothing sales, for instance, fell 10.9% in September compared to the year before. The collapsed consumption reverberates down the supply chain.

    “We’re reducing costs as much as we can, trying to survive with very low production and without making money,” said Alejandro Schvartz, owner of Visuar, a household appliance vendor and producer whose sales dropped roughly 25% in the first half of this year.

    Other policies that Milei depends on to fight inflation — such as high interest rates and central bank interventions to defend the peso — further erode the competitiveness of Argentine industry.

    The peso has become so strong that shoppers now get more bang for their buck by splurging anywhere but Argentina — from Chile’s malls to Brazil’s beaches.

    Upon taking office, Milei tore down trade barriers and relaxed import restrictions, opening Argentina to an avalanche of cheaper industrial and textile products. Chinese e-commerce companies like Temu and Shein pay no import duties for products valued below $400.

    But Milei maintained sky-high taxes for Argentine manufacturers, giving local companies no choice but to pass on the cost to consumers.

    “This is not a fair playing field,” said Pablo Yeramian, director of the Argentine textile company Norfabril, who has already cut 20% of his staff.

    As scenes of Milei beaming beside Trump in Washington flashed across Argentine televisions on Tuesday, some manufacturers couldn’t help wishing that the similarity between the two presidents was, in at least one way, more than just rhetorical.

    “No developed country in the world surrenders its industrial sovereignty,” said Galfione, pointing to Trump’s “Made in America” ambitions for the U.S. “I think instead of doing what the U.S. tells us, we should do what they do.”

    ___

    Associated Press writer Andrea Vulcano in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report.

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  • Mamdani clashes with rivals in fiery debate less than three weeks before NYC chooses next mayor

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    NEW YORK, N.Y. – The three men running to be the next mayor of New York City, the largest city in the United States, clashed on multiple occasions on the debate stage Thursday night on issues ranging from the war in Gaza to public safety to housing costs.  

    Public safety was discussed throughout the debate, with Mamdani’s past disparaging comments about police and his calls to defund the New York City Police Department taking center stage. 

    “He believes in defunding the police, disarming the police, disbanding the police,” Cuomo said. “That’s who he is.”

    Mamdani attempted to distance himself from his past tweets, pointing out that they were from 2020. 

    HERE’S EVERYTHING YOU MISSED FROM ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S FIRST FOX NEWS INTERVIEW

    From left, Mayoral candidates Independent candidate former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa and Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani participate in a mayoral debate, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in New York. (Angelina Katsanis, Pool/ AP Photo)

    All three candidates discussed their plans to address the housing crisis in New York City with Mamdani’s plan to “freeze the rent” drawing sharp criticism from Cuomo and Sliwa.

    “Freeze the rent only postpones the rent,” Cuomo said about Mamdani’s plan, making the case that many of Mamdani’s opponents have made that rent freezes would do more harm than good to housing stock. 

    Mamdani attempted to distance himself from his past support of legislation to decriminalize prostitution and faced criticism from both his opponents on that subject.

    Mamdani’s past statements on Israel were another flashpoint during the debate. At one point, Mamdani said, “of course” he supports calling on Hamas to disarm, despite dodging questions on that subject the previous day in an interview with Fox News Channel.

    “I have denounced Hamas time and time again and it will never be enough,” Mamdani said. 

    Republican Curtis Sliwa told Mamdani, “Jews don’t trust that you’ll be there for them when they are victims of anti-Semitic attacks.”

    cuomo and sliwa mayoral debate

    Independent candidate, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, left, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa participate in a mayoral debate, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in New York.  (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, Pool)

    Experience was also brought up several times in the debate, focused on Mamdani and Cuomo making the case that they were the candidate with the right resume to lead the city going forward.

    “This is not a job for a first timer,” Cuomo said of Mamdani, adding, “he’s literally never had a job.”

    “Thank God I’m not a professional politician because they have helped create this crime crisis in the city that we face,” Sliwa said, criticizing both of his opponents’ records. 

    Mamdani shot back with a line directly at Cuomo on the experience issue.

    “What I don’t have in experience, I make up for in integrity,” Mamdani said to Cuomo. “What you don’t have in integrity, you could never make up for in experience.”

    With under three weeks until Election Day, Mamdani holds a double-digit lead in the race for the nation’s most populous city, but Cuomo is narrowing the gap, according to the latest public polling.

    The tightening contest underscores how Cuomo’s independent bid continues to draw support from disaffected Democrats following embattled Mayor Eric Adams’ withdrawal from the race.

    ‘ABSOLUTELY A COMMUNIST’: MAMDANI DODGES LABEL, BUT HIS RECORD AND EXPERT SAY OTHERWISE
     

    Zohran Mamdani supporters

    Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani supporters gather outside 30 Rock in New York City on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025.  (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital)

    Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist state lawmaker from the New York City borough of Queens who shocked the political world in June with his convincing win over Cuomo and nine other candidates to capture the Democratic Party’s mayoral nomination, stands at 46% support among likely voters in the most recent survey in the race, from Quinnipiac University.

    Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid multiple scandals and who is running as an independent candidate in the general election after losing the primary, had 33% support in the survey, which was conducted Oct. 3–7.

    Sliwa, who for a second straight election is the Republican mayoral nominee in the Democratic-dominated city, stood at 15% in the poll.

    Quinnipiac’s survey was the only major poll in the field entirely after Adams, a Democrat who was running for re-election as an independent, dropped out of the race. 

    In Quinnipiac University’s previous poll, conducted in early September, Mamdani held a 22-point 45%-23% lead over Cuomo, with Sliwa at 15% and Adams at 12%.

    Despite Mamdani’s lead in the race for Gracie Mansion, the democratic socialist has struggled to secure endorsements from national party leaders, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

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    Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo supporter holds a sign

    Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo supporters gather outside 30 Rock in New York City on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025.  (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital)

    Mamdani did recently secure an endorsement from Gov. Kathy Hochul, who joined Mamdani on the campaign trail this week, but has since refused to return the favor. 
    “It’s a decision that should be made after this general election,” Mamdai said when asked if the candidates are supporting Hochul for re-election. 

    Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.

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  • The Man Threatening Viktor Orbán’s 15-Year Grip on Hungary

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    OROSZLÁNY, Hungary—Jabbing his finger at a life-size cardboard cutout of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Péter Magyar wooed the voters of this coal-mining town with a feisty speech about corruption and economic decline.

    Magyar, Orbán’s main rival in next year’s pivotal election, mocked him as a mafia boss, a Turkish sultan and Ali Baba with 40 thieves. He concluded with the Russian phrase “Tovarishchi, konetz”—or comrades, it’s over—the motto of the 1990 democratic election that ousted Hungary’s Soviet-installed regime.

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

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    Yaroslav Trofimov

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  • Political crisis in France eases for now as prime minister survives no-confidence vote

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    PARIS — PARIS (AP) — France’s latest political crisis eased — for now — when Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu survived two consecutive no-confidence votes on Thursday, averting another government collapse and giving President Emmanuel Macron a respite before an even tougher fight over the national budget.

    The immediate danger may have receded but the core problem is still very much center stage. The eurozone’s second-largest economy is still run by a minority government in a splintered parliament where no single bloc or party has a majority.

    Every major law now turns on last-minute deals, and the next test is a spending plan that must pass before the end of the year.

    On Thursday, lawmakers in the 577-seat National Assembly rejected a no-confidence motion filed by the hard-left France Unbowed party. The 271 votes were 18 short of the 289 needed to bring down the government.

    A second motion from the far-right National Rally also failed.

    Had Lecornu lost, Macron would have faced only unpalatable options: call new legislative elections, try to find yet another prime minister — France’s fifth in barely a year — or perhaps even resign himself, which he has ruled out.

    Macron’s decision to dissolve the National Assembly in June 2024 backfired on him, triggering legislative elections that stacked the powerful lower house with opponents of the French leader but producing no outright winner.

    Since then, Macron’s minority governments have sought to barter support bill by bill and have fallen in quick succession.

    That collides with the architecture of the Fifth Republic, founded in 1958 under Charles de Gaulle.

    The system was built for a strong presidency and stable parliamentary majorities, not for coalition horse-trading or a splintered house.

    With no single bloc near an absolute majority of 289 seats, the machinery is grinding against its design, turning big votes into cliffhangers and raising existential questions about the governance of France.

    For French voters and observers, it’s jarring. France, once a model of eurozone stability, is now stumbling from crisis to crisis, testing the patience of markets and allies.

    To peel away opposition votes, Lecornu offered to slow the rollout of Macron’s flagship 2023 pension law, which raises the retirement age from 62 to 64.

    The proposed slowdown could push the law back roughly two years, easing near-term pressure on people nearing retirement while leaving the end goal intact.

    The government puts the short-term cost of the delay at 400 million euros ($430 million) for next year and 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion) for 2027, saying it will find offsets.

    For many in France, pensions touch a nerve — the 2023 law triggered massive protests and strikes that left heaps of trash rotting on Paris streets.

    The government then used Article 49.3 — a special constitutional power that lets a prime minister push a law through without a parliamentary vote. But the backlash only hardened.

    With Thursday’s reprieve, Macron’s government has some breathing room. It shifts the battle to the 2026 budget, with a debate opening on Oct. 24.

    Lecornu has vowed not to use Article 49.3 to pass a budget without a vote — which means no shortcuts: every line must win support in a fractured chamber.

    The government and its allies hold fewer than 200 seats. For a majority, they need opposition support.

    That math makes the Socialists, with 69 lawmakers, and the conservative Republicans, with 50, both potential swing blocs. But their backing isn’t a given, even though they both lent support to Lecornu against Thursday’s no-confidence motions.

    The Socialists say the budget draft still lacks “social and fiscal justice.”

    France’s deficit sits near 5.4% of GDP. The plan is to bring it to 4.7% next year with spending restraint and targeted tax changes while trying to protect growth.

    The left is preparing a renewed push for a wealth-side measure aimed at ultra-high fortunes.

    The government rejects that path and prefers narrower, lower-yield steps, including measures on holding companies.

    Analysts predict hard bargaining over benefit freezes, higher medical deductibles and savings demanded of local authorities — each concession risking votes on one flank even as it gains them on another.

    The clock is ticking: Against a year’s end budget deadline, the government must show how it will pay for the pension slowdown and negotiate, in parallel, with the Socialists and conservatives over taxes and spending.

    For the president, success would mean proving that France can pass a credible budget and start to rein in its deficit without extraordinary procedural force.

    If the talks crack — on pensions, taxes or spending — the risks of Lecornu’s government collapsing return, and at the end of the year, France could find itself back where it started: deadlocked.

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  • Louisiana Lawmakers to Consider Changing 2026 Election Schedule Ahead of Redistricting Court Ruling

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    BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A day after the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a significant redistricting case centering on Louisiana‘s congressional map, which has two majority-Black districts, Republican Gov. Jeff Landry announced that he is calling state lawmakers back to the Capitol to consider changes to next year’s election schedule, plans and code.

    If the court strikes down the current political boundaries, pushing back the election schedule and deadlines could allow the GOP-dominated Legislature more time to craft a new map.

    Unlike past special sessions called by Landry, there is only one item listed in his proclamation: “To legislate relative to the election code, election dates, election deadlines, and election plans for the 2026 election cycle, and to provide for the funding thereof if necessary.”

    The special session is scheduled to begin Oct. 23 and must conclude by the evening of Nov. 13.

    The Republican-led challenge before the high court is a case that could result in the weakening of a key tool of the Voting Rights Act, which helped root out racial discrimination in voting for more than a half century.

    The current map is the result of a hard-fought battle by civil rights groups, who say Black voter strength previously, when only one of the state’s six congressional districts was a majority-minority district. That was the case even though Black residents account for about one-third of Louisiana’s population.

    But opponents argue that the state’s new second Black majority congressional district, which helped flipped a reliably red congressional seat to blue, was unconstitutionally gerrymandered based on race.

    During Wednesday’s arguments the Supreme Court’s six conservative justices seemed inclined to effectively strike down a Black majority congressional district in Louisiana because it relied too heavily on race.

    If the court overturns the map, the ruling could open the door for legislatures to redraw congressional districts in Southern states, helping Republicans by eliminating majority Black and Latino districts that tend to favor Democrats.

    The court is expected to rule by early summer in 2026.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

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  • Philly renters will get voter registration information when signing a new lease

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    Upon signing a new lease in Philadelphia, renters soon will receive information explaining how they can register to vote or update their existing voter registrations.

    A new bill unanimously approved by City Council on Thursday updates the city’s handbook on good housing to include a link to the How to Register page on the City Commissioner’s website. Landlords are required to provide new tenants with a copy of this handbook and a certificate stating the property is suitable to live in. The update to the handbook is intended to ensure residents vote at the polling places connected to their new addresses.

    MORE: Philly’s only rape crisis center receives financial relief to stay afloat after layoffs

    Tenants must sign a form saying that they’ve received a copy of the handbook. The How to Register page provides information on how to register, check one’s registration status and register to vote by mail. Residents must have lived in their election districts for at least 30 days prior to Election Day before they can vote using their new addresses. 

    Approximately 47% of housing in Philadelphia is renter-occupied and the city saw a 2.5% increase in renters from 2010 to 2020, the Economy League reported. But Councilmember Nina Ahmad, who introduced the legislation, said renters often move multiple times, neglect to update their addresses and “fall off the voter rolls.”

    “The bill meets people where they are and makes updating registration easy when people move in the city,” Ahmad said during Thursday’s meeting. 

    The legislation takes effect Nov. 16. The city’s handbook will be updated with the new information before that deadline. 

    According to the Philadelphia Commissioner’s Office, 1.062 million of Philadelphia’s 1.6 million residents are registered to vote. However, turnout remains an issue. Only 65% of registered voters took part in the November 2024 election, down 1.3% from the 2020 election, the Inquirer reported. 

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    Michaela Althouse

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  • Energy Department offers $1.6 billion loan guarantee to upgrade transmission lines across Midwest

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    WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Energy said Thursday it has finalized a $1.6 billion loan guarantee to a subsidiary of one of the nation’s largest power companies to upgrade nearly 5,000 miles of transmission lines across five states, mostly in the Midwest, for largely fossil fuel-run energy.

    AEP Transmission will upgrade power lines in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma and West Virginia, primarily to enhance enhance grid reliability and capacity, the Energy Department said. The project by AEP Transmission, a subsidiary of Ohio-based American Electric Power, is meant to help meet surging electricity demand from data centers and artificial intelligence.

    AEP primarily produces electricity from coal, natural gas and nuclear power, along with renewable resources such as wind and hydroelectric power.

    Thursday’s announcement deepens the Trump administration’s commitment to traditional, polluting energy sources even as it works to discourage the U.S. from clean energy use.

    The move comes as the Trump administration has moved to cancel $7.6 billion in grants that supported hundreds of clean energy projects in 16 states, all of which voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election. A total of 223 projects were terminated after a review determined they did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs or were not economically viable, the Energy Department said.

    The cancellations include up to $1.2 billion for California’s hydrogen hub aimed at producing clean-burning hydrogen fuels to power ships and heavy-duty trucks. A hydrogen project costing up to $1 billion in the Pacific Northwest also was cancelled.

    The loan guarantee finalized Thursday is the first offered by the Trump administration under the recently renamed Energy Dominance Financing program created by the massive tax-and-spending law approved this summer by congressional Republicans and signed by President Donald Trump. Electric utilities that receive loans through the program must provide assurances to the government that financial benefits from the financing will be passed on to customers, the Energy Department said.

    The project and others being considered will help ensure that Americans “will have access to affordable, reliable and secure energy for decades to come,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement.

    “The president has been clear: America must reverse course from the energy subtraction agenda of past administrations and strengthen our electrical grid,” Wright said, adding that modernizing the grid and expanding transmission capacity “will help position the United States to win the AI race and grow our manufacturing base.”

    The upgrades supported by the federal financing will replace existing transmission lines in existing rights-of-way with new lines capable of carrying more energy, the power company said.

    More than 2,000 miles of transmission lines in Ohio serving 1.5 million people will be replaced, along with more than 1,400 miles in Indiana and Michigan serving 600,000 customers, the company said. An additional 1,400 miles in Oklahoma, serving about 1.2 million people and 26 miles in West Virginia, serving 460,000 people, will be replaced.

    The projects will create about 1,100 construction jobs, the company said.

    The loan guarantee will save customers money and improve reliability while supporting economic growth in the five states, said Bill Fehrman, AEP’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “The funds we will save through this program enable us to make additional investments to enhance service for our customers,” he added.

    Wright, in a conference call with reporters, distinguished the AEP loan guarantee from a $4.9 billion federal loan guarantee the department cancelled in July. That money would have boosted the planned Grain Belt Express, a new high-voltage transmission line set to deliver solar and wind-generated electricity from the Midwest to eastern states.

    The Energy Department said at the time it was “not critical for the federal government to have a role” in the first phase of the $11 billion project planned by Chicago-based Invenergy. The department also questioned whether the project could meet strict financial conditions required, a claim Wright repeated Thursday.

    “Ultimately that is a commercial enterprise that needs private developers,” Wright said. The company has indicated the Grain Belt project will go forward.

    Trump and Wright have repeatedly derided wind and solar energy as unreliable and opposed efforts to combat climate change by moving away from fossil fuels. Wright said the Grain Belt Express loan was among billions of dollars worth of commitments “rushed out the doors” by former President Joe Biden’s administration after the 2024 election.

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  • One Republican Now Controls a Huge Chunk of US Election Infrastructure

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    The news last week that Dominion Voting Systems was purchased by the founder and CEO of Knowink, a Missouri-based maker of electronic poll books, has left election integrity activists confused over what, if anything, this could mean for voters and the integrity of US elections.

    The company, acquired by Scott Leiendecker, a former Republican Party operative and election director in Missouri before founding Knowink, said in a press release that he was rebranding Dominion, which has headquarters in Canada and the United States, under the name Liberty Vote “in a bold and historic move to transform and improve election integrity in America” and to distance the company from false allegations made previously by President Donald Trump and his supporters that the company had rigged the 2020 presidential election to give the win to President Joe Biden.

    The Liberty release said that the rebranded company will be 100 percent American owned, that it will have a “paper ballot focus” that leverages hand-marked paper ballots, will “prioritize facilitating third-party auditing,” and is “committed to domestic staffing and software development.” The press release provided no details, however, to explain what this means in practice.

    Dominion, the second leading provider of voting machines in the US, whose systems are used in 27 states—including the entire state of Georgia—has developed its software in Belgrade, Serbia and Canada for two decades. A search on LinkedIn shows numerous programmers and other workers in Serbia who claim to be employed by the company.

    The Liberty statement does not say whether the company plans to re-write code developed by these foreign workers—which would potentially involve rewriting hundreds of thousands of lines of code—or whether the company will move foreign developers to the US or replace them with American programmers. (Dominion already has a US headquarters in Colorado.) A Liberty official, who agreed to speak on the condition that they not be named, told WIRED only that Leiendecker “is committed to 100 percent … domestic staffing and software development.” An unnamed source told CNN, however, that Liberty will continue to have a presence in Canada, where its machines are used across the country.

    Philip Stark, professor of statistics at UC Berkeley and longtime election-integrity advocate, says that Liberty’s assurance about domestic-only workers is a red herring. “If the claim is that this is somehow a security measure, it isn’t. Because programmers based in the US also … may be interested in undermining or altering election integrity,” he tells WIRED.

    With regard to third-party audits mentioned in the press release, a Liberty official told WIRED this means the company will conduct a “third-party, top-to-bottom, independent review of [Dominion] software and equipment in a timely manner and will work closely with federal and state certification agencies and report any vulnerabilities” to give voters assurance in the machines and the results they produce. The company didn’t say when this review would occur, but a Liberty representative told Axios it would happen ahead of next year’s midterm elections, and the company would “rebuild or retire” machines as needed.

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    Kim Zetter

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  • Jay Jones’ ‘two bullets’ scandal over violent texts expected to dominate Virginia AG debate

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    Former Virginia state Del. Jay Jones’ escalating scandal — over messages envisioning the murder of a Republican lawmaker and his young “fascist” children — is expected to dominate Thursday’s attorney general debate at the University of Richmond.

    The tentacles of the scandal have already reached far beyond the home of the Spiders, as President Donald Trump and Republican leaders across the country have latched onto the messaging from Jones, D-Norfolk, and the muted response from fellow Democrats.

    The most recent Fox News-approved poll, conducted by Christopher Newport University on Oct. 3 before the scandal broke, showed Jones leading Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares by six points, with other Democrats on the statewide ticket enjoying similar margins.

    But anecdotal evidence points to a tightening race, as Miyares has largely put the three-seat Republican ticket on his shoulders while Jones’ campaign falters.

    JOE SCARBOROUGH TELLS DEM CANDIDATE JAY JONES TO LEAVE RACE OVER VIOLENT COMMENTS AGAINST GOP LAWMAKER

    Virginia attorney general candidates Jay Jones and Jason Miyares (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Maxine Wallace/The Washington Post/Getty Images)

    Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears hammered Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger on the issue at their own debate last week in Norfolk, repeatedly asking whether Jones should withdraw from the race.

    Spanberger declined to call for his resignation, saying voters should decide, but several voters in the Shenandoah Valley told Fox News Digital they were disappointed she didn’t take a stronger stand.

    Jones’ fellow Democrats have either been silent or vaguely supportive of the embattled former Biden administration Justice Department staffer continuing his bid, even as polling and public sentiment suggest his troubles could bring down the rest of the Democratic ticket.

    Top Democrats back Jones despite backlash

    Current Virginia House Speaker Don Scott Jr., D-Portsmouth, was defiant when he addressed the media following the gubernatorial debate, comparing and contrasting the situation with Trump’s own words about Wyoming Republican Liz Cheney facing gun barrels in one of the war zones her neoconservative stances advocated for.

    Senate President L. Louise Lucas, D-Norfolk, and caucus campaign chief Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, later issued a joint statement backing Jones and warning that keeping Miyares in office would be worse.

    Meanwhile, Earle-Sears has a similar grip on the Republican base as Youngkin did, but continues to trail Spanberger in recent polling. Miyares, however, has now either closed the gap or slightly surpassed Jones – which pundits have said may help blunt Democratic turnout for the entire ticket.

    LIBERAL MEDIA DOWNPLAYS SCANDAL OF DEM VIRGINIA AG HOPEFUL JAY JONES’ TEXTS FANTASIZING MURDER OF GOP LAWMAKER

    Republican lieutenant gubernatorial candidate John Reid recently posted on social media that he has reportedly pulled to within a point or two of challenger Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, although the rubric of the surveys he was referring to were not immediately verifiable.

    Together, these signs suggest a tightening statewide contest in an increasingly blue-leaning commonwealth.

    Virginia’s political upset shifting again 

    In 2021, Republican Glenn Youngkin rode an upset victory on parental-rights outrage over transgender athletes in school sports. Earle-Sears has since championed that same issue while also hammering Democrats for their silence or ambivalence over Jones remaining in the race.

    Youngkin’s upset over Terry McAuliffe was an outlier versus other recent Virginia races – notably Republican military veteran Hung Cao’s 20-point defeat to Sen. Tim Kaine in the intervening 2024 election. Kamala Harris also defeated Trump that year.

    A decade ago, Republicans still had somewhat of a presence in heavily-populated northern Virginia. Then-Prince William County chairman Corey Stewart, seen as a staunch conservative, unsuccessfully sought statewide office but remained in the suburban county’s leadership for many years.

    While currently opposed to Trump’s brand of Republicanism, then-Rep. Barbara Comstock, was a popular officeholder in the now-progressive Loudoun County area. Del. Geary Higgins, R-Lovettsville, remains the only Republican delegate in the once-red county west of Washington. Though he, too, faces a tough road against Warrenton innkeeper John McAuliff in November’s contest.

    YOUNGKIN SAYS DEMOCRAT AG CANDIDATE JAY JONES MUST ‘STEP AWAY IN DISGRACE’ OVER TEXTS ABOUT FORMER GOP LEADER

    Gov. Glenn Youngkin

    Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin addresses the crowd during an early voting rally on Sept. 21, 2023, in Petersburg, Va.  (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

    During his campaign, Youngkin made repeated trips to southwest Virginia to run up margins in Republican strongholds and boost turnout — a strategy that, combined with support from concerned parents across northern Virginia’s Democratic-leaning suburbs, helped secure his victory.

    Jones’ texts revealed

    In messages first reported earlier this month, Jones texted Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Hopewell, in 2022, imagining a scenario where he would choose to “fire two bullets” into then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert’s head, describing Gilbert as worse than dictators Pol Pot or Adolf Hitler.

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    Jones also referred to Gilbert’s young children as “fascists” in the exchange.

    The revelations have prompted bipartisan condemnation, though Democratic leaders have so far resisted calls — including from Youngkin — for Jones to bow out of the race. 

    Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. 

    He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant. 

    Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

    Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.

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