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Tag: Elections

  • Big changes to the agency charged with securing elections lead to midterm worries

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    MINNEAPOLIS — Since it was created in 2018, the federal government’s cybersecurity agency has helped warn state and local election officials about potential threats from foreign governments, showed officials how to protect polling places from attacks and gamed out how to respond to the unexpected, such as an Election Day bomb threat or sudden disinformation campaign

    The agency was largely absent from that space for elections this month in several states, a potential preview for the 2026 midterms. Shifting priorities of the Trump administration, staffing reductions and budget cuts have many election officials concerned about how engaged the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency will be next year, when control of Congress will be at stake in those elections.

    Some officials say they have begun scrambling to fill the anticipated gaps.

    “We do not have a sense of whether we can rely on CISA for these services as we approach a big election year in 2026,” said Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat who until recently led the bipartisan National Association of Secretaries of State.

    The association’s leaders sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in February asking her to preserve the cybersecurity agency’s core election functions. Noem, whose department oversees the agency, has yet to reply.

    “I regret to say that months later, the letter remains very timely and relevant,” Simon said.

    CISA, as the agency is known, was formed under the first Trump administration to help safeguard the nation’s critical infrastructure, from dams and power plants to election systems. It has been undergoing a major transformation since President Donald Trump’s second term began in January.

    Public records suggest that roughly 1,000 CISA employees have lost their jobs over the past years. The Republican administration in March cut $10 million from two cybersecurity initiatives, including one dedicated to helping state and local election officials.

    That was a few weeks after CISA announced it was conducting a review of its election-related work, and more than a dozen staffers who have worked on elections were placed on administrative leave. The FBI also disbanded a task force on foreign influence operations, including those that target U.S. elections.

    CISA is still without an official director. Trump’s nomination of Sean Plankey, a cybersecurity expert in the first Trump administration, has stalled in the Senate.

    CISA officials did not answer questions seeking specifics about the agency’s role in the recently completed elections, its plans for the 2026 election cycle or staffing levels. They said the agency remains ready to help protect election infrastructure.

    “Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, CISA is laser-focused on securing America’s critical infrastructure and strengthening cyber resilience across the government and industry,” said Marci McCarthy, CISA’s director of public affairs.

    She said CISA would announce its future organizational plans “at the appropriate time.”

    Christine Serrano Glassner, CISA’s chief external affairs officer, said the agency’s experts are ready to provide election guidance if asked.

    “In the event of disruptions or threats to critical infrastructure, whether Election Day-related or not, CISA swiftly coordinates with the Office of Emergency Management and the appropriate federal, state and local authorities,” she said in a statement.

    California’s top election security agencies said CISA has played a “critical role” since 2018 but provided little, if any, help for the state’s Nov. 4 special election, when voters approved a redrawn congressional redistricting map.

    “Over the past year, CISA’s capacity to support elections has been significantly diminished,” the California secretary of state’s office said in a statement to The Associated Press. “The agency has experienced major reductions in staffing, funding, and mission focus — including the elimination of personnel dedicated specifically to election security and foreign influence mitigation.”

    “This shift has left election officials nationwide without the critical federal partnership they have relied on for several election cycles,” according to the office.

    CISA alerted California officials in September that it would no longer participate in a task force that brought together federal, state and local agencies to support county election offices. California election officials and the governor’s Office of Emergency Services did what they could to fill the gaps and plan for various security scenarios.

    In Orange County, California, the registrar of voters, Bob Page, said in an email that the state offices and other county departments “stepped up” to support his office “to fill the void left by CISA’s absence.”

    Neighboring Los Angeles County had a different experience. The registrar’s office, which oversees elections, said it continues to get a range of cybersecurity services from CISA, including threat intelligence, network monitoring and security testing of its equipment, although local jurisdictions now have to cover the costs of some services that had been federally funded.

    Some other states that held elections this month also said they did not have coordination with CISA.

    Mississippi’s secretary of state, who heads the national association that sent the letter to Noem, did not directly respond to a request for comment, but his office confirmed that CISA was not involved in the state’s recent elections.

    In Pennsylvania, which held a nationally watched retention election for three state Supreme Court justices, the Department of State said it is also relied more on its own partners to ensure the elections were secure.

    In an email, the department said it was “relying much less on CISA than it had in recent years.” Instead, it has begun collaborating with the state police, the state’s own homeland security department, local cybersecurity experts and other agencies.

    Simon, the former head of the secretary of state’s association, said state and local election officials need answers about CISA’s plans because officials will have to seek alternatives if the services it had been providing will not be available next year.

    In some cases, such as classified intelligence briefings, there are no alternatives to the federal government, he said. But there might be ways to get other services, such as testing of election equipment to see if it can be penetrated from outside.

    In past election years, CISA also would conduct tabletop exercises with local agencies and election offices to game out various scenarios that might affecting voting or ballot counting, and how they would react. Simon said that is something CISA was very good at.

    “We are starting to assume that some of those services are not going to be available to us, and we are looking elsewhere to fill that void,” Simon said.

    ___

    Smyth reported from Columbus, Ohio.

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  • AP Mapping Shows France’s Poorest Regions Backing Le Pen’s Party as Support for Macron Wanes

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    PARIS (AP) — The date was May 7, 2017. Addressing cheering supporters, the newly elected leader of France, Emmanuel Macron, made a promise that now, in his waning 18 months as president, lies in tatters.

    The rival that Macron defeated that day, Marine Le Pen, had secured 10,638,475 votes. They were nowhere near enough for the far-right leader to win. But they were too numerous for Macron to ignore, a best-ever watershed at the ballot box for Le Pen’s once-ostracized National Front party that she inherited from her Holocaust-denying father.

    Gazing out over a sea of French flags, Macron acknowledged “anger” and “distress” that he said motivated Le Pen voters. He pledged to do everything to win them over, “so they no longer have any reason to vote for the extremes.”

    But since then, Le Pen’s us-against-them nativist politics targeting immigrants, Muslims and the European Union have made millions more converts. Her National Rally party, rebranded in 2018 to broaden its appeal and shed its sulfurous links to her dad, Jean-Marie Le Pen, has become the largest in parliament and has never appeared closer to power, with the next presidential and legislative elections scheduled in 2027.


    Poverty worsened under Macron

    Many factors explain why Le Pen has gone from strength to strength. Some are intrinsic: The 57-year-old cat-loving mother of three is more polished and popular than her gruff ex-paratrooper father who had multiple convictions for inciting racial hatred and for downplaying Nazi atrocities in World War II. He died in January.

    Others are external and include voter disgruntlement over wealth inequality that has worsened significantly under Macron.

    An additional 1.2 million people have fallen below the poverty threshold in the world’s seventh-largest economy since the 2017 election and 2022 reelection of France’s pro-business president.

    The former investment banker slashed business taxes and watered down a wealth tax to boost France’s allure for investment. Left-wing critics labeled Macron “president of the rich.”

    The poverty rate was 13.8% when Macron took power and had barely shifted during the previous presidency of François Hollande, a Socialist.

    By 2023, into Macron’s second term and the most recent year with official data from the French national statistics agency, the poverty rate had ballooned to 15.4%, which is its highest level in nearly 30 years of measurements.

    Again, National Rally surged in the ensuing legislative election. It didn’t come close to winning a majority — no party did. But with 123 of the 577 lawmakers, National Rally vaulted past all other parties and surpassed its previous best of 89 legislators elected in 2022.

    Put bluntly: the worse off France becomes, the better National Rally seems to fare.

    Mapping by The Associated Press both of poverty in France and of the Le Pen vote in the four French legislative elections since she took over her father’s party in 2011 show how both have grown.

    The maps show particularly evident progress by National Rally in some of France’s poorest regions, especially in what have become National Rally strongholds: the deindustrialized northeast of France and along its Mediterranean coast.

    Region-by-region poverty rates were mapped through 2021, beyond which the national statistics agency INSEE doesn’t have data for all 96 of mainland France’s regions. The AP mapped support for the National Front and then National Rally by using the party’s showing in the first rounds of voting in legislative elections in 2012, 2017, 2022 and 2024.

    “We clearly see that the National Rally vote is very strongly correlated with issues of poverty, of difficulties with social mobility” and with voters “who are most pessimistic about the future of their children or their personal situation,” said Luc Rouban, a senior researcher at Paris’ elite Sciences Po school of political sciences who studies the party.

    François Ouzilleau, who stood for Macron’s party in the 2022 legislative election and lost to a National Rally winner in his district in Normandy west of Paris, puts it more simply.

    “It feeds off anger and people’s problems,” he said.


    Parallels with Trump are apparent

    But poverty is only part of the Le Pen success story and her appeal isn’t limited to voters who struggle to make ends meet. Combating immigration, the party’s bread and butter since its foundation, remains a central plank of Le Pen-ism.

    Rouban sees National Rally similarities with the playbook of U.S. President Donald Trump.

    “They’re doing Trump-ism à la française,” he said. “They say, ‘We’re wary of the justice system,’ like Trump. ‘We’re taking back control of our national borders,’ like Trump.”


    National Rally establishes strongholds

    The party says that its proposals to slash France’s spending on migrants and on the EU and to redirect money to people’s pockets by reducing the costs of energy and other necessities appeal to voters in financial need.

    “The French have clearly understood that the ones defending the purchasing power of the working and middle classes are the National Rally,” Laure Lavalette, a parliamentary spokesperson for the party, told the AP.

    Lavalette represents the southern Var region, one of National Rally’s new strongholds as Macron’s popularity has plummeted.

    In legislative elections that followed his election in 2017, Le Pen’s party failed to win any seats in Var. But after Macron’s reelection in 2022, National Rally grabbed seven of Var’s eight seats and repeated that feat in 2024.

    Poverty rates in the Var have long surpassed the national average, the AP’s mapping shows.

    Lavalette says that making ends meet is “crazy difficult” for some of her constituents and that “some tell me that they have to chose between eating or heating.”

    The 2024 legislative election produced a fractured parliament with fragile minority governments collapsing one after the other. To untangle that knot, Macron could have dissolved the National Assembly again this year, triggering a new election.

    That is what National Rally wanted, buoyed by polls suggesting it could perhaps win enough seats to form its first government.

    Mindful that such an outcome could saddle him with a National Rally prime minister for the remainder of his presidency, Macron held his fire.

    And for now at least, enough lawmakers have rallied around Macron’s prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, to keep him afloat, mindful of the risk of losing their seats if Macron called voters back to the ballot boxes.

    “There’s a sword of Damocles hanging over us, it’s called the National Rally,” said Ouzilleau, who serves as mayor in the Normandy town of Vernon and is a long-time friend of Lecornu.

    He says voters have increasingly been telling him that they are ready to test-drive National Rally, breaking decades of uninterrupted rule by mainstream parties.

    “It’s been two or three years that we’ve been hearing this: ‘We’ve tried everything except the National Rally, so what is the risk?’” he said.

    William Jarrett reported from London.

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

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  • Trump’s Breakup With Greene Is Not the Same as Others. but Like Always, There May Be Second Chances

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    ATLANTA (AP) — President Donald Trump’s chaotic political universe has at least one consistent law that rises above any other: The president has no permanent friends and no permanent enemies.

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia lawmaker who announced plans to leave Congress in January, is the latest figure to test that Trumpian rule. Throughout his political career, the president has sparred with Republicans who, recognizing his grip on the party, eventually came into or returned to the fold, often in senior administration positions.

    And already on Saturday, Trump referred to Greene as “a nice person,” hours after calling her a “traitor.”

    Yet Greene, who originated as a leading face of the “Make America Great Again” movement, supported Trump’s false claims that his 2020 election defeat was fraudulent and shares his pugilistic style. So she offers a notable contrast to the typical Trump roller coaster faced by other Republicans. Those mostly mainstream conservatives begrudgingly endured the president before finally citing some breaking point or tagged Trump as a threat to democracy only to join his ranks as he remade the GOP in his own image.

    In the end, Greene and Trump fell out not over ideological differences or fundamental fissures over his character but rather disagreements over the Jeffrey Epstein files and health care. With her planned departure, Greene becomes the most prominent MAGA figure to break with Trump, and what that means for both of them is an open question.

    “I have fought harder than almost any other elected Republican to elect Donald Trump and Republicans to power,” Greene said in her Friday video announcing her plans.

    “It’s all sort of out of left field,” said Kevin Bishop, a former longtime aide to Sen. Lindsey Graham, a stark example of a Trump critic-turned-ally. What’s clear, Bishop said, is that Trump, even with lagging approval ratings overall, retains “great sway over the activists and, frankly, all corners of the Republican Party.”


    A ‘transactional’ president has long subdued internal GOP critics

    Trump was not always the undisputed center of Republican power and identity. Even as he took control of a crowded GOP presidential field in 2016, his rivals pummeled him.

    Graham, the South Carolina senator, called him a “kook” and a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.” Within a few years, he was among Trump’s biggest fans in the Senate, calling him “my president.”

    Marco Rubio, then a Florida senator and now Trump’s secretary of state, called him a “con artist” and “the most vulgar person to ever aspire to the presidency.” He and Trump exchanged veiled insults about each other’s male anatomy.

    During that same campaign, a young author and future Vice President JD Vance wrote a New York Times op-ed titled: “Mr. Trump Is Unfit For Our Nation’s Highest Office.” Vance’s former roommate disclosed a text message in which Vance compared Trump to Adolf Hitler, Nazi Germany’s authoritarian author of the Holocaust. By 2021, Vance was a first-time Senate candidate from Ohio who sang Trump’s praises on immigration, trade and other matters.

    For Republicans who did not make that about-face, their political careers nearly always faced dead ends. Those recognizing the cost of their decisions course corrected.

    Sen. Bill Cassidy was among the few Republicans who voted to convict Trump after he left office in 2021. Yet eying reelection in 2026, the Louisiana physician provided Trump the deciding committee vote to confirm the controversial Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary.

    “Most of the establishment Republicans who secretly hate him and who stabbed him in the back and never defended him against anything have all been welcomed in right after the election,” she said.


    Personalities, golf and his own definition of loyalty explain Trump’s approach

    Bishop said those flips aren’t simply about politicians being politicians but about Trump bringing the vibes of real estate and marketing to politics.

    “He views the presidency as slightly more transactional than maybe the way people in politics view the world,” Bishop said. “A businessman says, ‘Well, we fought over this deal. But in a couple of years maybe we can work together and put together another deal.’”

    Bishop, who worked in Graham’s Senate office throughout Trump’s first presidency, said Trump “came out of the hospitality industry” and, despite his harshest policies and rhetoric, is less inclined to judge political opponents and allies in ideological or philosophical terms.

    It’s a trait Trump put on display in the Oval Office on Friday in a friendly meeting with New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist the president has previously mislabeled as a communist.

    Mamdani broke through, perhaps, by doing something Trump appreciates most: winning. Bishop said Graham did it with “a great sense of humor” that Trump appreciated and because they bonded on the golf course. “You spend three or four hours on a golf course,” he said. “That’s a lot of time to get to know someone.”

    Graham once offered a simpler explanation, telling The New York Times that his evolution on Trump was a way “to try to be relevant.”


    Trump has implicitly opened the door for making up with Greene

    It’s notable that one of Greene’s fights –- releasing the Epstein files -– went her way, not Trump’s. The president framed his retreat as something he was fine with all along. Even on health care, Greene can claim some measure of victory. The White House and GOP Hill leaders have countered expiring health insurance tax credits by offering a different potential subsidy: direct payments to consumers as they shop for polices.

    Greene certainly has options. She has personal financial security, with her ethics disclosures suggesting a net worth in the many millions of dollars. She has 1.6 million followers on X. She has long been a feature on the conservative media circuit — notably dating Brian Glenn, a right-wing White House correspondent for Real America’s Voice. And her recent break with Trump came with appearances on mainstream media, including ABC’s “The View.”

    She could still run for Georgia governor, which will be an open seat, or for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. But Greene acknowledged Trump’s potential power in her heavily Republican House district, saying she wanted to spare her constituents an ugly primary fight.

    “Once I left her, she was gone because she would never have survived the primary,” Trump told reporters. He added in a separate NBC interview that the congresswoman has “got to take a little rest.”

    Still, the president rebuffed any suggestion that there is any need for “forgiveness” in their relationship, and he told NBC, “I can patch up differences with anyone.”

    Associated Press writer Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.

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

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  • Chile’s Power Broker Says He Won’t Endorse Communist or Far-Right Rival for President

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    SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — As Franco Parisi tells it, he has suddenly become the most sought-after man in Chile.

    A populist economist who placed third in Chile’s presidential election last weekend, Parisi told The Associated Press on Saturday that he has been fielding calls all week from left-wing government officials and right-wing opposition leaders. He was even bombarded in a restaurant by a former Cabinet minister, he said.

    His answer, quite simply, is no.

    “I’m not talking to either of them because I don’t trust them,” the political outsider said of Kast and Jara. “They don’t believe in common sense. They believe in ideology.”

    In the vote on Nov. 16, Jara, the former labor minister in the center-left government of President Gabriel Boric who campaigned on expanding Chile’s social safety net, won 26.9%.

    Parisi took a surprising 19.7%, corralling voters angry about a lack of economic opportunity in one of Latin America’s most prosperous but unequal countries and eager to punish the elite on both the left and the right. His Party of the People — a motley crew drawn from across the political spectrum — secured 14 out of 155 seats in the divided lower house of Congress.

    With his supporters key to deciding the presidential runoff and his party members holding sway once a new administration takes over, Parisi, a prominent YouTuber (host of a show called “Bad Boys Who Make the Elite Uncomfortable”) has a sudden clout. But he says he won’t do anything with it — not even in exchange for control of key ministries.

    “I’m secluded in my house right now, not answering calls,” he said in a Zoom call from Chile’s capital of Santiago.


    ‘Neither communist, nor fascist’

    But Parisi balked when asked on Saturday whether Kast would scoop up his votes, saying, “No way, no how.”

    With the country obliging all citizens to vote, Parisi predicted most of his supporters would cast invalid ballots on Dec. 14 to protest their bad options.

    “Null votes, blank ballots, that will be the big shadow of this election,” he said.

    Employing his campaign slogan — “neither communist, nor fascist” — Parisi said his shock electoral success underscored that “people in Chile feel like the politicians from the left and from the right, both the communists and the fascists, are taking advantage of them.”

    While sharing Kast’s capitalist principles, Parisi said he doubted that the veteran politician hailing from Chile’s privileged elite would change the country’s concentration of market power in the hands of the few. In recent days, Kast’s campaign has brought on key financial officials emblematic of Chile’s conservative establishment who backed Matthei in the first round.

    Parisi said he also worries that a Kast government would “restrict some individual freedoms,” citing the devout Catholic candidate’s fierce opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion, even in cases of rape.

    Jara, born and raised in Conchalí, a working-class neighborhood in Santiago, is no better for her humble origins, Parisi argued, citing her career climbing the ranks of the hard-line Communist Party.

    “That’s the traditional party structure in Chile,” he said. “You have to be a soldier, so you can become a lieutenant, then a general, so you can get more power, more privilege.”

    He described Jara as “a really nice person,” but said he feared her state-led economic vision would hamper entrepreneurism.

    Representatives for Jara and Kast did not immediately respond to requests for comment.


    Chilean voters trapped between left and right

    A well-known campaign video during Parisi’s first presidential bid in 2013 shows him dressed in a sharp-looking suit and shined shoes pulling up to a ramshackle Santiago neighborhood in a Porsche. He knocks on an older woman’s door, and, to her surprise, asks her for work — to hire him to be her president.

    That clip says everything about Parisi’s man-of-the-people ethos and appeal to Chileans who feel neglected by the political and economic system, experts say, a disillusionment now evident in elections across the region.

    In that sense, said Patricio Navia, a Chilean political scientist at New York University, Parisi’s supporters — perhaps ironically — resemble voters for New York’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who vowed to transform government to restore power to the working class.

    “Parisi’s supporters like going to the mall, they want to own a house, they like capitalism,” Navia said. “But they feel like there isn’t a level playing field, that they’re being left out, that the model is tilted against them.”

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

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  • Potential presidential candidates are less coy about 2028 plans: ‘Of course I’m thinking about it’

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    NEW YORK — There was a time when presidential hopefuls played coy about their ambitions, crisscrossing the country under the guise of helping other candidates and deflecting when pushed on their obvious plans.

    Not so for some Democrats considering running in 2028. With no clear party leader and Democratic voters raring for a fight, some could-be candidates are being far more transparent about their intentions, doing away with pretensions as they try to gain maximum visibility at a time when authenticity is in high demand.

    “Of course I’m thinking about it. I haven’t ruled it out,” New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker recently told Fox News during a trip to early-voting New Hampshire, even as he stressed that his focus is on 2026, when he will be up for reelection.

    “I’d be lying otherwise. I’d just be lying and I can’t do that,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom told CBS when pressed on whether he will consider a run after the midterms next year.

    To be sure, many Democrats remain circumspect.

    Of the dozen potential 2028 candidates The Associated Press requested interviews with to discuss the changing dynamic, none was immediately available. Some Democrats deflect questions and say their attention is elsewhere even as they campaign for others in early-voting states.

    On the Republican side, an entirely different dynamic is brewing under the surface. Potential candidates are keeping low profiles amid expectations that President Donald Trump will play kingmaker in choosing his would-be successor.

    Presidential campaign strategists say the Democrats’ less guarded approach makes sense given the wide-open 2028 field and sheer number of candidates competing for attention. Among the others who have said they are considering a run: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who also was a White House chief of staff, and Hawaii Gov. Josh Green.

    “Old rules just don’t apply to anything anymore,” said Jess O’Connell, a Democratic strategist who advised Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign. She said the change was a good thing for the party.

    “You’ve got to be out there every single day fighting and sharing your vision,” she said. “And I think the more runway they have to talk to people in this moment and to communicate about meeting the needs of the future,” then the better.

    Alex Conant, a veteran of the presidential campaigns of Republicans Marco Rubio, a former Florida senator who is now Trump’s secretary of state, and Tim Pawlenty, a former Minnesota governor, said the dynamics of the emerging Democratic primary, with no clear front-runner, have changed the calculus for candidates.

    “I think the Democratic primary is going to be the longest primary of our life. It’s hard to recall a field that is this wide open. And the Democratic base is so hungry for someone to take on Trump and win back the White House,” he said. “The more crowded it is, the more important it is to start early.”

    Candidates, he noted, are also “immediately more relevant if you might be the next president,” adding to the incentive to say the quiet part out loud.

    Voters these days are also turned off by the kind of politician-speak that was once the norm.

    “One of the takeaways from Trump is that people want authenticity,” Conant said. “Voters are rejecting candidates who sound like politicians, so the rhetorical tricks that politicians have used for decades to avoid answering questions now just irritates voters.”

    Not everyone has embraced the approach.

    Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker played coy on stage during a recent interview with journalist Kara Swisher, repeatedly dodging her questions about his expected timeline.

    “Blah, blah,” she responded as he tried to pivot to talking about the strength of the Democratic bench.

    Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has been equally circumspect, refusing to acknowledge any White House ambitions or even commit to running again for governor, even as the shadow of 2028 follows him everywhere he goes. But during an appearance on “The Breakfast Club” podcast last month, as he reflected on the arson attack on his official residence, he sounded like someone who is eager to remain in the arena.

    “I love public service,” he said. “You can’t walk away now, with everything that’s on the line. … This is not a time to quit.”

    His perceived national ambitions have become a frequent attack line for his potential GOP rival for governor, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity.

    “We need somebody that is more interested in Pennsylvania and not on Pennsylvania Avenue,” Garrity said recently on a conservative radio show in Philadelphia.

    That is one of the risks for candidates, said Mike DuHaime, a longtime GOP strategist who advised the presidential campaigns of Chris Christie, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and George W. Bush.

    In 2013, he noted, Christie’s opponent in the New Jersey governor’s race often tried to use his national buzz as a campaign issue against him.

    Candidates, DuHaime said, also need to strike a balance and make that they are not distracting from midterm races by funneling money or attention away from candidates who need them.

    “I think it makes sense not to be so coy because people kind of get it, but they still should be careful about putting themselves in front of the country cause it could backfire,” he said. They “have to be careful that they still look a little bit like team players.”

    In other cases, candidates have genuinely not made up their minds, and may be lured by party leaders in early-voting states eager to draw rising stars to their events, DuHaime said.

    “It’s very intriguing and exciting for candidates and would-be candidates to be asked,” he said, with some deciding, “Let’s go experience it, the national circus. Let’s be part of that.”

    Along with potential legal considerations, O’Connell, the Democratic strategist, also noted that many of those expected to run have day jobs they need to balance. While picking fights with Trump certainly puts them in the spotlight, it could have ramifications for constituents if the Republican president retaliates, meaning that candidates will need to choose their moments wisely.

    “You have to fulfill your obligations to the states that you’re in,” she said. “It’s not so much that you’re playing a game, it’s that I think that there are some practical considerations.”

    “I think we’re going to see people struggling with that,” she added.

    She also urged candidates to embrace what she called a “Beyonce-Taylor Swift strategy,” referring to the pop stars’ boosting the economies of the cities where they performed on tour.

    “What I would advise anyone who wants to be president in 2028,” she said, “is to roll up your sleeves and help.”

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  • Potential Presidential Candidates Are Less Coy About 2028 Plans: ‘Of Course I’m Thinking About It’

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    NEW YORK (AP) — There was a time when presidential hopefuls played coy about their ambitions, crisscrossing the country under the guise of helping other candidates and deflecting when pushed on their obvious plans.

    Not so for some Democrats considering running in 2028. With no clear party leader and Democratic voters raring for a fight, some could-be candidates are being far more transparent about their intentions, doing away with pretensions as they try to gain maximum visibility at a time when authenticity is in high demand.

    “Of course I’m thinking about it. I haven’t ruled it out,” New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker recently told Fox News during a trip to early-voting New Hampshire, even as he stressed that his focus is on 2026, when he will be up for reelection.

    To be sure, many Democrats remain circumspect.

    Of the dozen potential 2028 candidates The Associated Press requested interviews with to discuss the changing dynamic, none was immediately available. Some Democrats deflect questions and say their attention is elsewhere even as they campaign for others in early-voting states.

    On the Republican side, an entirely different dynamic is brewing under the surface. Potential candidates are keeping low profiles amid expectations that President Donald Trump will play kingmaker in choosing his would-be successor.

    Presidential campaign strategists say the Democrats’ less guarded approach makes sense given the wide-open 2028 field and sheer number of candidates competing for attention. Among the others who have said they are considering a run: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who also was a White House chief of staff, and Hawaii Gov. Josh Green.

    “Old rules just don’t apply to anything anymore,” said Jess O’Connell, a Democratic strategist who advised Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign. She said the change was a good thing for the party.

    “You’ve got to be out there every single day fighting and sharing your vision,” she said. “And I think the more runway they have to talk to people in this moment and to communicate about meeting the needs of the future,” then the better.

    Alex Conant, a veteran of the presidential campaigns of Republicans Marco Rubio, a former Florida senator who is now Trump’s secretary of state, and Tim Pawlenty, a former Minnesota governor, said the dynamics of the emerging Democratic primary, with no clear front-runner, have changed the calculus for candidates.

    “I think the Democratic primary is going to be the longest primary of our life. It’s hard to recall a field that is this wide open. And the Democratic base is so hungry for someone to take on Trump and win back the White House,” he said. “The more crowded it is, the more important it is to start early.”

    Candidates, he noted, are also “immediately more relevant if you might be the next president,” adding to the incentive to say the quiet part out loud.

    Voters these days are also turned off by the kind of politician-speak that was once the norm.

    “One of the takeaways from Trump is that people want authenticity,” Conant said. “Voters are rejecting candidates who sound like politicians, so the rhetorical tricks that politicians have used for decades to avoid answering questions now just irritates voters.”

    Not everyone has embraced the approach.

    Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker played coy on stage during a recent interview with journalist Kara Swisher, repeatedly dodging her questions about his expected timeline.

    “Blah, blah,” she responded as he tried to pivot to talking about the strength of the Democratic bench.

    Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has been equally circumspect, refusing to acknowledge any White House ambitions or even commit to running again for governor, even as the shadow of 2028 follows him everywhere he goes. But during an appearance on “The Breakfast Club” podcast last month, as he reflected on the arson attack on his official residence, he sounded like someone who is eager to remain in the arena.

    “I love public service,” he said. “You can’t walk away now, with everything that’s on the line. … This is not a time to quit.”

    His perceived national ambitions have become a frequent attack line for his potential GOP rival for governor, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity.

    “We need somebody that is more interested in Pennsylvania and not on Pennsylvania Avenue,” Garrity said recently on a conservative radio show in Philadelphia.


    There are risks for candidates

    That is one of the risks for candidates, said Mike DuHaime, a longtime GOP strategist who advised the presidential campaigns of Chris Christie, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and George W. Bush.

    In 2013, he noted, Christie’s opponent in the New Jersey governor’s race often tried to use his national buzz as a campaign issue against him.

    Candidates, DuHaime said, also need to strike a balance and make that they are not distracting from midterm races by funneling money or attention away from candidates who need them.

    “I think it makes sense not to be so coy because people kind of get it, but they still should be careful about putting themselves in front of the country cause it could backfire,” he said. They “have to be careful that they still look a little bit like team players.”

    In other cases, candidates have genuinely not made up their minds, and may be lured by party leaders in early-voting states eager to draw rising stars to their events, DuHaime said.

    “It’s very intriguing and exciting for candidates and would-be candidates to be asked,” he said, with some deciding, “Let’s go experience it, the national circus. Let’s be part of that.”

    Along with potential legal considerations, O’Connell, the Democratic strategist, also noted that many of those expected to run have day jobs they need to balance. While picking fights with Trump certainly puts them in the spotlight, it could have ramifications for constituents if the Republican president retaliates, meaning that candidates will need to choose their moments wisely.

    “You have to fulfill your obligations to the states that you’re in,” she said. “It’s not so much that you’re playing a game, it’s that I think that there are some practical considerations.”

    “I think we’re going to see people struggling with that,” she added.

    She also urged candidates to embrace what she called a “Beyonce-Taylor Swift strategy,” referring to the pop stars’ boosting the economies of the cities where they performed on tour.

    “What I would advise anyone who wants to be president in 2028,” she said, “is to roll up your sleeves and help.”

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

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  • Trump paints Zelenskyy into a corner with his new plan to end Russia’s war on Ukraine

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    WASHINGTON — With his new 28-point plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, President Donald Trump is resurfacing his argument that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy doesn’t “have the cards” to continue on the battlefield and must come to a settlement that heavily tilts in Moscow’s favor.

    Trump, who has demonstrated low regard for Zelenskyy dating back to his first term, said Friday he expects the Ukrainian leader to respond to his administration’s new plan to end the war by next Thursday.

    “We think we have a way of getting peace,” Trump told reporters in an Oval Office appearance. “He’s going to have to approve it.”

    Buffeted by a corruption scandal in his government, battlefield setbacks and another difficult winter looming as Russia continues to bombard Ukraine’s energy grid, Zelenskyy says Ukraine is now facing perhaps the most difficult choice in its history.

    Zelenskyy has not spoken with Trump since the plan became public this week, but has said he expects to talk to the Republican president in coming days. It’s likely to be another in a series of tough conversations the two leaders have had over the years.

    The first time they spoke, in 2019, Trump tried to pressure the then newly minted Ukrainian leader to dig up dirt on Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 election. That phone call sparked Trump’s first impeachment.

    Trump made Biden’s support for Ukraine a central issue in his successful 2024 campaign, saying the conflict had cost U.S. taxpayers too much money and vowing he would quickly bring the war to an end.

    Then early this year in a disastrous Oval Office meeting, Trump and Vice President JD Vance tore into Zelenskyy for what they said was insufficient gratitude for the more than $180 billion the U.S. had appropriated for military aid and other assistance to Kyiv since the start of the war. That episode led to a temporary suspension of U.S. assistance to Ukraine.

    And now with the new proposal, Trump is pressing Zelenskyy to agree to concessions of land to Moscow, a massive reduction in the size of Ukraine’s army, and agreement from Europe to assert that Ukraine will never be admitted into the NATO military alliance.

    “Now Ukraine may find itself facing a very difficult choice: either loss of dignity, or the risk of losing a key partner,” Zelenskyy said in a video address Friday.

    At the center of Trump’s plan is the call on Ukraine to concede the entirety of its eastern Donbas region, even though a vast swath of that land remains in Ukrainian control. Analysts at the independent Institute for the Study of War have estimated it would take several years for the Russian military to completely seize the territory, based on its current rate of advances.

    Trump, nevertheless, insists that the loss of the region — which includes cities that are vital defense, industrial and logistics hubs for Ukrainian forces — is a fait accompli.

    “They will lose in a short period of time. You know so,” Trump said Friday when asked during a Fox News Radio interview about his push on Ukraine to give up the territory. “They’re losing land. They’re losing land.”

    The Trump proposal was formally presented to Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Thursday by Dan Driscoll, the U.S. Army secretary. The plan itself was a surprise to Driscoll’s staffers, who were not aware as late as Wednesday that their boss would be going to Ukraine as part of a team to present the plan to the Ukrainians.

    Army officials walked away from that meeting with the impression that the Ukrainians were viewing the proposal as a starting point that would evolve as negotiations progressed, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.

    It’s unclear how much patience Trump has for further negotiation. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Trump’s new plan reflects “the realities of the situation” and offers the “best win-win scenario, where both parties gain more than they must give.”

    Asked about Zelenskyy’s initial hesitant response to the proposal, Trump recalled the February Oval Office blow-up with Zelenskyy: “You remember, right in the Oval Office, not so long ago, I said, ‘You don’t have the cards.’”

    The mounting pressure from Trump comes as Zelenskyy is dealing with fallout over $100 million in kickbacks for contracts with the state-owned nuclear energy company. The scandal led to resignations of top Cabinet ministers and implicated other Zelenskyy associates.

    Konstantin Sonin, a political economist and Russia expert at the University of Chicago, said “what Donald Trump is certainly extremely good at is spotting weak spots of people.”

    One of the 28 elements of Trump’s proposal calls for elections to be held within 100 days of enactment of the agreement.

    “I think it’s a rationalistic assessment that there is more leverage over Zelenskyy than over Putin,” Sonin said. He added, “Zelenskyy’s back is against the wall” and “his government could collapse if he agrees” to the U.S. proposal.

    All the while, Ukraine is increasingly showing signs of strain on the battlefield after years of war against a vastly larger and better equipped Russian military. Ukraine is desperately trying to fend off relentless Russian aerial attacks that have brought rolling blackouts across the country on the brink of winter.

    Kyiv is also grappling with doubts about the way ahead. A European plan to finance next year’s budget for Ukraine through loans linked to frozen Russian funds is now in question.

    The Trump proposal in its current form also includes several elements that would cut deeply into Ukrainian pride, said David Silbey, a military historian at Cornell University.

    One provision calls on Russia and Ukraine to abolish “all discriminatory measures and guarantee the rights of Ukrainian and Russian media and education,” and “all Nazi ideology and activities must be rejected and prohibited.” That element could be seen by the Ukrainian side as giving credence to Putin’s airing of distorted historical narratives to legitimize the 2022 invasion.

    Putin has said the war is in part an effort to “denazify” Ukraine and complained of the country’s “neo-Nazi regime” as a justification for Russia’s invasion. In fact, in Ukraine’s last parliamentary election in 2019, support for far-right candidates was 2%, significantly lower than in many other European countries.

    The plan’s provision is “very clearly an attempt to build up Putin’s claim to Russian cultural identity within Ukraine,” Silbey said. He added, “From territory loss to the substantial reduction of the Ukrainian military to cultural concessions that have been demanded, I just don’t think Zelenskyy could do this deal and look his public in the eye again.”

    ————

    AP writers Michelle L. Price and Konstantin Toropin contributed reporting.

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  • Marjorie Taylor Greene Is Resigning. Here’s What to Know About Her Five Years in Congress

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    ATLANTA (AP) — It all happened so fast. Less than a week after President Donald Trump denounced Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican announced that she would resign from Congress on Jan. 5.

    Greene’s departure will cap five tumultuous years in Congress. She was first an outsider, then briefly at the center of power during House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s reign. Trump’s return to the White House could have heralded a new era of clout in Washington, but Greene’s simmering discontent led to a split with the president.

    Here’s a look at Greene’s background and some of the most notable episodes in her tumultuous five-year career in Congress.


    Where did Greene come from?

    Greene had little involvement in politics before Trump ran for president. She and her husband had bought a commercial contracting company from Greene’s father. Greene later opened a CrossFit gym in suburban Atlanta. But during the 2016 campaign, she started posting stories and videos online.

    Her initial commentary was a stew of conspiracy theories. Greene suggested a 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas was a coordinated attack to spur support for new gun restrictions. In 2018, she endorsed the idea that the U.S. government perpetrated the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. In a video filmed at the U.S. Capitol in 2018, she claimed Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., both Muslim women, weren’t “official” members of Congress because they used Qurans rather than Bibles in their swearing-in ceremonies.

    In 2020, Greene jumped into politics by joining a crowded Republican primary in a competitive congressional district in suburban Atlanta, where she lived. But after the incumbent in northwest Georgia’s strongly Republican 14th District announced his retirement, Greene shifted her candidacy there.

    During her campaign, Greene openly sympathized with QAnon, a conspiracy theory involving a global cabal of Satan-worshipping cannibals, including U.S. government leaders, that operates a child sex trafficking ring. She eventually distanced herself, saying she got “sucked into some of the things I had seen on the internet.”

    Greene won the Republican nomination in a runoff and then cruised to election when Democrat Kevin Van Ausdal dropped out of the race.


    How was she received in Congress?

    Some of Greene’s most inflammatory rhetoric wasn’t publicized until after she was elected, like a 2018 claim that California wildfires were ignited by a laser beam from space controlled by the Rothschild banking family.

    The claim was often summarized as “Jewish space lasers” because the family has been the subject of antisemitic claims over the years. Greene later said she didn’t know the Rothschilds were Jewish.

    A Democratic-led House kicked Greene off both her committees just weeks into her first term, saying she’d earned the punishment by spreading by hateful and violent conspiracy theories. Eleven Republicans backed the ejections.

    But Greene thrived in exile, raising millions in small donations even as she continued to provoke Democrats. For example, she and two other Republican House members sued House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after they were fined for refusing to wear masks on the House floor during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    When Republicans won the House majority in 2022, she lined up with McCarthy, the California Republican who became House speaker. McCarthy returned Greene to committee assignments and enlisted her as a close adviser.

    Greene has often been at the center of drama with Democrats, including bickering with Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas and heckling President Joe Biden as a “liar” during one of his State of the Union speeches.


    How did Greene fall out with Trump?

    While Trump ran for a second term, Greene was a constant cheerleader, often appearing alongside him at rallies in Georgia and elsewhere.

    But they soon drifted apart. Greene’s discontent dates back at least to May, when she announced she wouldn’t run for the Senate against Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff. Trump later claimed that he had sent Greene a poll showing that she “didn’t have a chance” in the race.

    Greene also passed on running for Georgia governor, attacking a political “good ole boy” system and alleging it was endangering Republican control of the state.

    She started taking positions contrary to Trump. Greene described Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “genocide” against Palestinians, and she backed the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. She also criticized Republican leadership over the recent federal government shutdown, saying they needed a better plan to ease the sting of expiring health insurance subsidies.

    Greene referred to herself as “America first, America only,” suggesting that Trump was too focused on foreign affairs. As her criticism escalated, Trump became fed up and said he would endorse a primary challenger.

    After years of support, he declared, Greene was a “traitor.” A week later, she announced her resignation.

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

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  • Hawaii Gov. Green predicts Newsom won’t satisfy Americans’ desire for a peacemaking leader in 2028

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    SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Gov. Josh Green, a Hawaii Democrat who has floated the possibility of running for president, predicted that Americans will want a peacemaker once Donald Trump’s second term is over — and California Gov. Gavin Newsom may not fit the bill.

    In an interview with The Associated Press, Green doubted that politicians skilled in “hand-to-hand combat” would be successful with voters weary of political conflict.

    The remarks reflect how ambitious Democrats are already jockeying for position in a crowded field of White House hopefuls three years before the next presidential election, especially with no heir apparent and uncertainty about how the party regains power in Washington.

    Newsom is a leading Democratic contender who has drawn attention as one of Trump’s most high profile antagonists. But Green, a moderate who has occasionally frustrated liberal interest groups, said he worries that Newsom will be seen as “a radical from California.”

    Green said he has deep respect for Newsom and his successful fight to redraw U.S. House districts in California to help Democrats in the midterm elections.

    “But if Gavin is ultimately going to win over America, he will have to also adopt some of the conciliatory, collegial rhetoric — or even policy ideas — that others are going for,” Green said Thursday during a meeting in Arizona of the Western Governors Association.

    Spokespeople for Newsom did not respond to a request for comment.

    Green said he’s hopeful both parties will nominate candidates committed to healing the deep partisan divide, warning that the country is “dangerously close to a political civil war.” He named Democratic Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, along with Republican Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah and himself.

    “We’re going to need leaders that are willing to take from both ideologies,” Green said. “I think that that’s who the next president should be, whoever that is, whether it’s Republican or Democrat.”

    He said he’s open to running himself but would rather support someone else, saying governor of Hawaii is most likely his last job in elected office.

    “I will definitely try to heal America, even perhaps as president someday, if we’re really in deep trouble,” he said. Green is about to enter the last year of his first term and is seeking re-election in Hawaii next year.

    Newsom briefly made a move toward conciliation as Trump took office earlier this year, inviting a backlash from many on the left. He warmly greeted the president days after the inauguration and hosted popular figures from his Make America Great Again movement for friendly podcast interviews.

    More recently, however, Newsom has been among Trump’s most vocal critics, forcefully fighting the deployment of National Guard and active military troops to California and leading the redistricting fight that voters approved this month.

    His office has also relentlessly mocked the president by mimicking his style on social media, trying to get under his skin while earning laughs — and attention — from Democrats who are eager for a more confrontational approach.

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  • Trump, Harris and big money transform Tennessee special election into marquee contest

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    NASHVILLE, Tenn. — For weeks, a Tennessee special election was flying under the radar in a heavily Republican congressional district. But now funding from President Donald Trump’s allies and an appearance by former Vice President Kamala Harris have turned the Dec. 2 contest into a marquee political battle with potential consequences for next year’s midterms.

    The race is the first for federal office since the Nov. 4 elections, when Democrats cruised to victories that were framed as a referendum on Trump. Now Republicans want to change the storyline, sinking money into the campaign and inviting Trump to visit the state after holding a virtual rally last week.

    Failing to run up the score — or worse, losing the seat — would be a sign of weakness, emboldening Democrats as they try to take back control of the U.S. House. If places like Tennessee’s 7th congressional district seem within reach, the party could expand its list of targets next year.

    MAGA Inc., a Trump-supporting super PAC, has reported more than $1 million in spending so far to support Matt Van Epps, the Republican candidate and former Army helicopter pilot who served in combat tours overseas. It’s the first time that the organization has participated in a campaign since last year’s presidential race.

    With the election taking place just days after Thanksgiving, “I’m very concerned that we could be caught with our pants down,” said Rep. Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican.

    The White House did not respond to a request for comment about the request for Trump to campaign for Van Epps, which was disclosed by two people with knowledge of the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly.

    State Rep. Aftyn Behn, the Democratic candidate and progressive community organizer, is getting national support of her own, including a visit by party chair Ken Martin.

    The Tennessee Democratic Party hosted Harris for a canvassing kickoff on Tuesday while she was in Nashville on her book tour. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said it hadn’t invited the former vice president, who didn’t appear with Behn even though they spoke at different times at the same event.

    Libby Schneider, deputy executive director at the Democratic National Committee, said a strong showing by Behn — even if she doesn’t win — will boost the party as it tries to take back control of the U.S. House next year.

    “We continue to overperform in places where we have no business overperforming,” Schneider said.

    In four previous special House elections that were completed this year, the Democratic candidate exceeded Harris’ vote share by an average of 9 percentage points.

    Tennessee organized a special election after Republican Rep. Mark Green, first elected in 2018, retired earlier this year.

    Green won the district by 21 percentage points in 2024, and Trump scored a similar margin. It was one of three seats redrawn in redistricting in 2022 that attempted to erode the influence of Nashville, the state’s largest city and a Democratic bastion.

    Van Epps, a former state general services commissioner, has closely aligned himself with Trump, whose endorsement helped him win a crowded primary.

    “I will have your back 100%,” he told the president during the virtual rally. He pledged to focus on lowering costs and helping veterans, plus supporting Trump’s immigration enforcement and rules preventing transgender women from playing on women’s sports teams.

    Behn, who describes herself as a “pissed off social worker,” narrowly won Democrats’ four-way primary. She supported Bernie Sanders in the 2020 presidential primary, and she was removed from the Tennessee House gallery in 2019 for shouting in protest of the former speaker.

    Like Democrats who emerged victorious in New Jersey, Virginia and elsewhere earlier this month, Behn has been hammering away at concerns about affordability. She’s emphasized her proposal to eliminate a state tax on groceries.

    “We have been building the coalition of the disenchanted,” Behn said at a recent Nashville rally. “If you are upset about the cost of living and the chaos of Washington, we are your campaign.”

    Behn has condemned Trump’s tax and spending legislation known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” and his tariffs, both of which Van Epps supports. She also has criticized Republicans’ reluctance to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein, a sex offender who became infamous for his connections to the rich and powerful.

    Van Epps originally opposed a House vote to force the Justice Department to disclose more documents, but changed his stance to mirror Trump after the president backed the measure this week.

    Democratic allies hope to undermine Van Epps by promoting Jon Thorp, a conservative independent candidate in the race. Your Community PAC, which has spent more than $16 million supporting Democratic candidates across the country since last year, is sending out mailers that encourage Republicans to vote for Thorp by describing Van Epps as a “hedge fund billionaire-backed RINO.”

    The bulk of the PAC’s funding has come from North Fund, a nonprofit umbrella group for left-of-center advocacy organizations.

    Conservatives for American Excellence, backed by megadonor Ken Griffin, is spending over $600,000 in advertisements opposing Behn, according to a campaign finance report filed this week.

    And Club for Growth, a pro-school voucher group heavily involved during the primary, is targeting Behn over past remarks where she described herself as “radical.” The group has spent $300,000 on advertising so far.

    Chip Saltsman, a Tennessee political strategist not involved in the race, said the slew of spending does not change his expectation that Van Epps will win. But he could fall short of previous margins.

    He suggested that Republicans take “a extra couple swigs of Pepto Bismol on election night.”

    The situation could “cause a little heartburn, but they’re doing everything they need to do.”

    ___

    Askarinam and Cappelletti reported from Washington. Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, Jill Colvin in New York and Maya Sweedler in Washington contributed to this report.

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  • Cook County budget for 2026 holds line on taxes and fees, prepares for federal cuts

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    Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle won swift approval of her $10.12 billion 2026 budget on Thursday, calling its passage a protection against President Donald Trump’s cuts.

    “The Trump administration is threatening our communities and targeting the very investments that keep families stable and safe,” Preckwinkle said at a post-board news conference with allies, pledging to protect essential services like the county’s flagship health system, which “faces an enormous financial crisis at a time when (the Affordable Care Act) and public health itself are under threat.”

    The budget “includes more than $320 million to shore up our strategic reserves, ensuring the county can weather whatever comes next,” Preckwinkle said.

    Preckwinkle made special note of the fact there is money in the budget to expand county Public Defender Sharone Mitchell Jr.’s immigration unit, which will get seven more positions next year, bringing it to 15.

    By adding more lawyers, county officials expect to be able to represent more clients who are in the midst of the immigration process or facing criminal prosecution and deportation. The unit, Mitchell said Wednesday, has so far represented 190 clients.

    Like the last several years, the 2026 budget does not include any layoffs or new taxes, fines or fees. The county has not raised its base property tax levy in nearly three decades. Avoiding those unpopular budget balancers is a political boost for Preckwinkle and board members who are facing primary elections in March.

    In another election year move, applicants chosen by lottery to get rebates from the county’s homeowner property tax relief fund for low-income individuals with significant bill increases began receiving checks this week, officials said.

    The budget remains largely unchanged from Preckwinkle’s initial proposal in October. Commissioners will give themselves pay raises — to $102,170 per year from $99,194 —the latest such increase tied to inflation that they voted to enact starting in 2022. Finance Chairman John Daley’s salary goes up from about $105,000 to $108,198.

    Recent tweaks include roughly two dozen new positions at State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke’s office and new mental health and domestic violence programs. And thanks to the city’s planned record surplus of special taxing district funding, there will be nearly $20 million in new spending on homelessness, food benefits, and help for renters.

    Its easy passage and the “collegiality” board members celebrated stood in stark contrast to the budget struggles swirling on the other side of the City Hall-County Building, which several commissioners alluded to after quickly approving a series of amendments in the Finance Committee.

    Preckwinkle declined to offer any advice to Mayor Brandon Johnson or the City Council as they continue to negotiate. “I’ve always thought it’s important to stay in our lane,” she said.

    Even Sean Morrison, the board’s lone Republican, supported the budget, estimating the county was in the “best fiscal position” in the state thanks to difficult pension fixes funded by a sales tax hike approved in 2015, the decision to refinance hundreds of millions in debt, and a flood of federal dollars hitting Cook County Health. The county has received a ratings upgrade every year for the last four years.

    Morrison announced later Thursday that he would not seek re-election, saying he had come to “recognize the limits of what one voice can realistically achieve in a system so overwhelmingly weighted to one side.”

    But many expect the following budget to be more difficult. The 2026 spending plan will tap reserves to weather what county officials think will be stormy conditions in 2027 and beyond. Health officials predict state and federal changes could result in an estimated $400 million “negative impact” on Cook County Health.

    Reductions in federal Affordable Care Act tax credits could lead to more uninsured patients with limited ability to pay their bills coming to county facilities for care. New Medicaid work requirements that kick in starting in 2027 could lead to an estimated 10% of current enrollees losing coverage.

    Eligibility checks for Medicaid patients will also happen twice a year instead of annually, which could lead to another 5% to 12% drop in coverage. Other stresses to the safety net hospital system could also bring in more uninsured patients, leaders have warned.

    The county expects to lose nearly 29,000 members in its Medicaid managed care program, CountyCare, next year.

    To prepare for that and other looming cuts, the board agreed to move some of the nearly $1 billion sitting in the county’s “unassigned” reserves; $65 million will go into a “grant risk mitigation fund” in case the Trump administration scales back federal grants and $55 million would go to a pension reserve.

    Nearly $200 million will help make up for money the county expects to lose thanks to a lawsuit first brought by the Illinois Roadbuilders in 2018. A judge is scheduled to rule in early December about whether the county improperly spent money that should have been used on transportation projects. The county spent some of that money on public safety offices they argued helped enforce traffic laws.

    Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke speaks to Cook County commissioners during her 2026 budget hearing at the County Building on Oct. 29, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

    Elsewhere in the budget, State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke won budget tweaks to add 10 positions to an “in-house digital forensics unit” she argued was sorely needed for attorneys to skim through reams of video evidence. That is paid for with a reroute of money set aside for capital projects. Six other new technology positions and eight victim witness specialists assigned to domestic violence cases in the office were also added in amendments.

    In a statement, O’Neill Burke said the budget “is a positive step” in efforts to reduce violent crime. The extra positions “will allow us to build on that progress, modernize our capabilities and improve our effectiveness in the courtroom on behalf of the victims of crime.”

    “It will take time, diligence, and persistence to fully restore this office, but we are moving in the right direction,” the statement said.

    Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plans to sweep roughly $1 billion from the city’s tax increment financing districts would deliver an additional $19.9 million windfall to the county. If that money comes through, commissioners voted to spend $5.8 million on help for renters in court, $4.1 million on homeless services and $10 million on food access. Another half a million dollars from Stroger Hospital’s budget will go to hosting community mental health forums for young people in suburban districts.

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  • No signs California won’t move forward with redistricting despite a court blocking similar plan in Texas

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    After a panel of federal judges in Texas this week struck down that state’s recently redrawn congressional maps, voters in California might be wondering if that means the Golden State will halt its own mid-decade redistricting plan.

    After all, when Gov. Gavin Newsom and other California Democrats began talking about redistricting early on, they framed it as a counter to the gerrymandering in Texas that was meant to benefit Republicans there. In selling the idea to voters that California should adopt new maps that benefit Democrats, Newsom said, just before he signed a bill to call the special election, “We’re responding (to) what occurred in Texas; we’re neutralizing what occurred.”

    However, now that Texas may not be able to move forward with its redistricting plan — the recent decision could still be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court — some voters may wonder if California ought to proceed with its new maps.

    Newsom’s office confirmed that California can still go forward with its plan because it is not contingent on what happens in any other state.

    That’s because on the day the California Legislature passed bills to call for a special election and put new maps before voters, language that said California’s new maps would be implemented “only if Texas, Florida, or another state adopts a new congressional district map” was removed. At the time, a spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said that wording was removed because Texas had, by then, voted to redistrict.

    “Because Texas Republicans have voted,” spokesperson Nick Miller said in an August email, “the original trigger language in our measure is no longer necessary.”

    “To make sure the measure is clear to California voters when they have the final say, it has been removed,” he added.

    Some voters may still be surprised, though, thinking California would only move forward with redistricting if Texas does. The title of the ballot measure had stated that Proposition 50 “authorizes temporary changes to congressional district maps in response to Texas’ partisan redistricting.”

    “There is more than one reason that Californians may feel misled, including the reason for (our) lawsuit,” Mike Columbo, the lead attorney in a case challenging the state’s new congressional maps, said in an email.

    That lawsuit — brought by California Republicans, and which the U.S. Department of Justice later joined — alleged California’s maps are unconstitutional because districts were racially gerrymandered. A spokesperson for Newsom previously expressed confidence that the state will prevail in court.

    Asked if California still plans to redistrict in light of this week’s ruling on the Texas maps, Newsom’s office responded with a statement from the governor: President Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott “played with fire, got burned — and democracy won. This ruling is a win for Texas, and for every American who fights for free and fair elections.”

    To be clear: Texas has filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the 2-1 decision by the federal district court judges. Should the nation’s highest court ultimately side with Texas, the maps that Abbott is pushing for could be implemented after all.

    Meanwhile, irrespective of the Texas case, there’s still the matter of the Republicans’ lawsuit challenging California’s maps.

    With that case still pending, voters and candidates alike may be asking what this means for California and the 2026 midterm elections. When will they know what the districts look like?

    After all, a key date for candidates is coming up: Starting Dec. 19, candidates who don’t want to pay the filing fee to run for a House seat can begin gathering voter signatures to have the fee waived.

    Knowing by then what the boundaries are for the district they’re running in is important, said Columbo.

    “It will create a problem for voters and those candidates if the districts change after that date,” he said.

    His team is seeking a preliminary injunction and requesting that California’s current congressional maps — used in the 2024 elections — remain in place until a final decision is rendered about the legality of those established by Proposition 50.

    A three-judge panel will hear the matter on Dec. 3, and attorneys for the plaintiffs have asked for a decision on the preliminary injunction by Dec. 5 so that if the losing side appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court would have two weeks to weigh in before Dec. 19, Columbo said.

    “The reason we are asking for such a quick decision is to avoid the confusion and disruption that would occur if we don’t have a decision by Dec. 19 and then later, the court determines that the maps are unconstitutional,” he said.

    Once it’s established which maps candidates will run on, the lawsuit challenging the Proposition 50 maps would proceed as normal through the court process, Columbo said.

    Such a plan is not unheard of.

    Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School who has taught courses on constitutional law and election law, said in these types of cases, a court generally will indicate which map shall be used for the next election while a case is still being heard.

    That happened, she said, with an ongoing U.S. Supreme Court case that centers around Louisiana’s congressional maps.

    “People need to know which lines are in place before they have to declare their candidacy,” Levinson said. “Judges will have to give some indication about whether or not the new lines can be used. That will obviously have huge implications for who runs, in which district and what the contest looks like.”

    “We just need to know which lines to use,” she added. “But the case doesn’t need to have a final resolution” yet.

    In the meantime, candidates have already started announcing their plans to run in districts based on the Proposition 50 maps. With California’s June 2 primary election just over six months away, a number of candidates have started fundraising and seeking endorsements.

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  • Fugees rapper sentenced to prison over illegal donations to Obama campaign

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    WASHINGTON — Grammy-winning rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of the Fugees was sentenced on Thursday to 14 years in prison for a case in which he was convicted of illegally funneling millions of dollars in foreign contributions to former President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign.

    Michel, 52, declined to address the court before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced him.

    In April 2023, a federal jury convicted Michel of 10 counts, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. The trial in Washington, D.C., included testimony from actor Leonardo DiCaprio and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

    Justice Department prosecutors said federal sentencing guidelines recommended a life sentence for Michel, whom they said “betrayed his country for money” and “lied unapologetically and unrelentingly to carry out his schemes.”

    “His sentence should reflect the breadth and depth of his crimes, his indifference to the risks to his country, and the magnitude of his greed,” they wrote.

    Defense attorney Peter Zeidenberg said his client’s 14-year sentence is “completely disproportionate to the offense.” Michel will appeal his conviction and sentence, according to his lawyer.

    Zeidenberg had recommended a three-year prison sentence. A life sentence would be an “absurdly high” punishment for Michel given that it is typically reserved for deadly terrorists and drug cartel leaders, Michel’s attorneys said in a court filing.

    “The Government’s position is one that would cause Inspector Javert to recoil and, if anything, simply illustrates just how easily the Guidelines can be manipulated to produce absurd results, and how poorly equipped they are, at least on this occasion, to determine a fair and just sentence,” they wrote.

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  • Fugees Rapper Pras Michel Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison Over Illegal Donations to Obama Campaign

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — Grammy-winning rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of the Fugees was sentenced on Thursday to 14 years in prison for a case in which he was convicted of illegally funneling millions of dollars in foreign contributions to former President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign.

    Michel, 52, declined to address the court before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced him.

    In April 2023, a federal jury convicted Michel of 10 counts, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. The trial in Washington, D.C., included testimony from actor Leonardo DiCaprio and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

    Justice Department prosecutors said federal sentencing guidelines recommended a life sentence for Michel, whom they said “betrayed his country for money” and “lied unapologetically and unrelentingly to carry out his schemes.”

    “His sentence should reflect the breadth and depth of his crimes, his indifference to the risks to his country, and the magnitude of his greed,” they wrote.

    Defense attorney Peter Zeidenberg said his client’s 14-year sentence is “completely disproportionate to the offense.” Michel will appeal his conviction and sentence, according to his lawyer.

    Zeidenberg had recommended a three-year prison sentence. A life sentence would be an “absurdly high” punishment for Michel given that it is typically reserved for deadly terrorists and drug cartel leaders, Michel’s attorneys said in a court filing.

    “The Government’s position is one that would cause Inspector Javert to recoil and, if anything, simply illustrates just how easily the Guidelines can be manipulated to produce absurd results, and how poorly equipped they are, at least on this occasion, to determine a fair and just sentence,” they wrote.

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

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  • Parkland survivor jumps into crowded NYC House race as Gen Z progressives challenge party elders

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    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    John F. Kennedy’s grandson Jack Schlossberg picked up plenty of national attention when he launched a congressional campaign to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., but the content creator is far from the only young, progressive candidate vying to represent the Big Apple in the U.S. House of Representatives.

    Democratic activist Cameron Kasky, 25, launched a campaign on Tuesday for New York’s 12th Congressional District, joining an already crowded field of Democratic primary contenders.

    Kasky is jumping into the race as progressives across the U.S., especially in New York City, seek to seize Democrats’ success in the 2025 races, including gubernatorial wins in New Jersey and Virginia and 34-year-old socialist Zohran Mamdani taking the helm of the largest city in America.

    “New Yorkers are always on the move, reaching new heights, and rushing towards the future, but today’s leaders just can’t keep up,” Kasky said in his announcement video, while walking through a busy New York City between jump cuts of the Gen-Z activist riding public transportation. 

    CAMELOT OR CRINGE?: MEET JFK’S GRANDSON TURNED CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE FOR THE SCROLLING GENERATION

    Co-founder of the student-led gun violence prevention group “Never Again,” Cameron Kasky, speaks at the March For Our Lives II to protest against gun violence on June 11, 2022, in Los Angeles, California.  (Sarah Morris/Getty Images)

    The video is reminiscent in tone and style to Mamdani’s own jumpy and cinematic-forward videos, with Kasky’s political campaign debut scripted over a jazzy musical ensemble.

    SOCIALIST WAVE SPREADS COAST TO COAST AS PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS RALLY AROUND ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S NYC WIN

    “I’m Cameron Kasky, and I’m running for Congress because it feels like our party has no future, so we need to invest in a new generation of leaders to take on the fight.

    Kasky said “he never dreamed” of getting into politics, but after surviving a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, and later leading the March For Our Lives, a student-led organization supporting gun control legislation, he said he learned “the hard way” that it happened because of the “American system,” he now seeks to dismantle.

    His key campaign promises are Medicare for All, calling for an end to “funding genocide” and abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

    Both Schlossberg and Kasky are seeking to unseat Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., the 78-year-old who is retiring at the end of next year after decades in Congress. Nadler currently represents Manhattan’s West Side, from Chelsea and Greenwich Village, through Midtown and Hell’s Kitchen, all the way up to the Upper West Side.

    Jack Schlossberg

    Jack Schlossberg, grandson of President John F. Kennedy, takes a photo as U.S. President Joe Biden departs for Michigan from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, on Sept. 6, 2024. (Annabelle Gordon/Reuters)

    Kasky’s announcement came on the heels of New York City Council member Chi Ossé launching a primary challenge against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in a neighboring congressional district amid an ongoing discussion about the party’s future.

    But even Mayor-elect Mamdani has rejected Ossé’s primary launch against Jeffries, arguing it’s not “the right time” to challenge the highest ranking House Democrat.

    As for Schlossberg, he is practically political royalty. But to New York City’s chronically online electorate, he is better known as the star of hundreds of satirical, and often absurd, viral videos, amassing close to 850,000 TikTok followers and nearly 770,000 on Instagram.

    Despite the followers and the Kennedy connections, Schlossberg has a thin résumé. He most recently served as a political correspondent for Vogue during the 2024 presidential election.

    Kasky and Schlossberg are far from the only candidates in an already jam-packed Democratic primary.

    Nonprofit leader and activist Liam Elkind is also in the running, and Elkind’s own launch video follows a similar walk-and-talk style as his fellow young, progressive opponents.

    Rep. Jerry Nadler

    United States Senator Jerry Nadler (D-NY) attends the 2023 New York City Pride March on June 25, 2023, in New York City.  (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

    Chief among the 26-year-old’s campaign promises is to “actually fight Trump,” in addition to improving the Democratic Party, ending corruption, affordability and civil rights.

    Also campaigning in the crowded field are Assembly members Micah Lasher and Alex Bores as well as Council member Erik Bottcher.

    According to 43-year-old Lasher, he is running to “revitalize the Democratic Party, fight Trump’s agenda, and deliver results that improve the lives of New Yorkers.”

    Meanwhile, Bores, who is in his mid-30s, said he is “running for Congress because big systems have stopped working for the little guys — but together, we can fix them.”

    And 46-year-old Bottcher is running to “keep the New York City dream alive and take back our country.”

    Civil rights lawyer Laura Dunn, former journalist and political commentator Jami Floyd, Merrill Lynch and Mercury Capital Advisors alum Alan Pardee, and LGBTQ rights activist Matthew Shurka are all vying for the coveted Democratic nomination.

    CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

    Forty-year-old Dunn said she is “running fearlessly for the people,” while 61-year-old Floyd notably did not vote for Mamdani this November and has been carving out a moderate position in the primary.

    Pardee, 58, said he is running to create “policies that make our city livable for all families,” and Shurka, 37, said he is campaigning to “take on corruption, confront Donald Trump’s attacks on this city, and fight for the people who make New York home.”

    Deirdre Heavey is a politics writer for Fox News Digital. 

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  • Tom Steyer Is Running for California Governor as a Populist Billionaire

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    Billionaire businessman and activist Tom Steyer, who once self-financed an unsuccessful White House campaign and spent his own money advocating for President Donald Trump’s impeachment, has launched his bid for California governor as a Democrat.

    The 68-year-old’s tremendous wealth immediately makes him a notable contender in a free-for-all that includes more than a half-dozen Democrats and two Republicans competing in an all-party June primary, with the top two vote-getters advancing to a November general election to succeed term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom.

    Steyer announced his candidacy with a pledge to improve economic conditions and by framing his political record as friendly to consumers, working-class voters and the environment.

    “Californians deserve a life they can afford,” he said in a video released Wednesday morning. “But the Californians who make this state run are being run over by the cost of living.”

    The approach puts Steyer on a collision course with other candidates like progressive Congresswoman Katie Porter, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

    At one time, Porter was viewed as a top contender but the contest is now seen as wide open. Steyer’s wealth could give him an advantage in reaching voters through television and digital advertising in an expansive state with nearly 40 million people and multiple media markets.

    Steyer nodded to his wealth Wednesday, noting his business enterprises made “billions of dollars.” But he also sounded populist tones.

    “The richest people in America think that they earned everything themselves,” he said, before dismissing that notion with an expletive for bovine excrement. “That’s so ridiculous.”

    Steyer said he would “make corporations pay their fair share again,” and his campaign cited his previous work on ballot initiatives with similar aims. Steyer was a leading advocate for a 2012 ballot initiative that made it harder for corporations to avoid certain taxes. The new revenue was steered to energy improvements in the state’s public schools.

    In other referendum work, Steyer helped lead the 2016 campaign that yielded a $2 per-pack tax hike on tobacco products. The money was steered to state health care programs, including tobacco-prevention efforts. And Steyer was a top opponent of a 2010 ballot initiative that would have rolled back California’s clean air and climate law, which has been viewed as a national standard on climate policy.

    Steyer spent millions of his own money touring the country and pushing for Trump’s impeachment during the Republican president’s first term. He then ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, spending more than $200 million of his fortune and receiving no pledged delegates. After distant finishes in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, Steyer doubled-down with an expensive push in South Carolina, only to finish a distant third behind eventual nominee and President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Steyer then ended his presidential bid, and he financially supported Biden’s reelection in 2024 before the Democrat bowed out in favor of then-Vice President Kamala Harris, another Californian.

    Steyer’s latest campaign comes amid some Democrats questioning Porter’s candidacy after her combative exchanges with a TV journalist spread online in October. He has long been mentioned, along with Harris, as a potential heavyweight candidate who could join the field.

    Harris, who is on a national tour promoting her 2024 campaign memoir, has said consistently that she has no plans to run — suggesting instead that any future campaign would be for the presidency.

    “I will be voting,” she told The Associated Press on Oct. 17 when asked about entering the governor’s race. Asked whether she was satisfied with the field as Porter faced her most intense criticism, Harris said only that she wanted Democrats to have “the best and the brightest running and winning” and that she was “not actively involved.”

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

    Photos You Should See – Nov. 2025

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  • Congress agrees to publicly release Epstein files

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    WASHINGTON — Both the House and Senate acted decisively Tuesday to pass a bill to force the Justice Department to publicly release its files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a remarkable display of approval for an effort that had struggled for months to overcome opposition from President Donald Trump and Republican leadership.

    When a small, bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a petition in July to maneuver around House Speaker Mike Johnson’s control of which bills reach the House floor, it appeared a longshot effort — especially as Trump urged his supporters to dismiss the matter as a “hoax.”

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    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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    By STEPHEN GROVES – Associated Press

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  • Judge Orders New Alabama Senate Map After Ruling Found Racial Gerrymandering

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    MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge has ordered Alabama to use a new state Senate map in upcoming legislative elections after ruling that districts drawn by lawmakers illegally diluted the voting power of Black residents in the state’s capital city.

    U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco, appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term, issued the ruling Monday putting a new court-selected map in place for the 2026 and 2030 elections. Manasco ruled in August that the state had violated the Voting Rights Act by “packing” Black voters into Montgomery’s Senate District 26 to limit their influence elsewhere. Manasco selected one of three proposed plans drawn by a court-appointed expert.

    “The Court orders the use of a remedial map that was prepared race-blind and affords Black voters in the Montgomery area an equal opportunity, but certainly not a guarantee, to elect Senators of their choice,” Manasco wrote.

    The order came from a 2021 lawsuit that argued the Alabama Senate district lines diluted the voting strength of Black citizens in Montgomery. The lawsuit maintained that in Montgomery, Black voters were unnecessarily packed into a single district, preventing them from influencing elections elsewhere, while white voters in the majority-Black city of Montgomery were “surgically” extracted into a neighboring district.

    The selected map adjusts two Montgomery-area districts — District 26, now represented by Democratic Sen. Kirk Hatcher, and District 25, now represented by Republican Sen. Will Barfoot. Manasco said the remedial plan “unpacks District 26 by moving some Black voters from District 26 into the adjacent District 25.”

    Court-appointed special master Richard Allen had cautioned in an earlier court filing that the plan only “weakly remedies” the Voting Rights Act violation. Manasco wrote the plan does enough to fix the violation while leaving most voters and district lines untouched.

    The civil rights groups that had filed the lawsuit that led to the redistricting order had objected to the selected plan. Lawyers for plaintiffs said the plan creates an opportunity district in Senate District 25 “at the expense of the existing opportunity in SD26.”

    “Although in Plan 3 Black-preferred candidates win around 89% of the time in SD25, such candidates win less than 50% of the time in SD26,” lawyers for plaintiffs wrote in an Oct. 31 court filing. They added that the analysis of past elections showed that Black candidates “almost never win in SD26.”

    Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen had also objected to the selected plan.

    The ruling will not change the partisan power balance in the Alabama Senate, where Republicans hold 27 of the 35 seats.

    Manasco had given Alabama lawmakers an opportunity to draw a new map, but Gov. Kay Ivey declined to call lawmakers into special session.

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

    Photos You Should See – Nov. 2025

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    Associated Press

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  • Eric Swalwell could run for California governor

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    There’s growing buzz that East Bay Congressman Eric Swalwell is considering a run for California governor, but political experts note he would be joining a crowded field.

    Swalwell’s office did not immediately return NBC Bay Area’s calls, but there are growing hints he’s running to succeed current Gov. Gavin Newsom next year, and there’s growing speculation he will make his announcement Thursday on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

    “Swalwell offers an interesting case, particularly for Democrats because a lot of this is going to go back to the impeachment days,” political analyst Larry Gerston said.

    Gerston said being on President Donald Trump’s bad side is a badge of honor in California for Swalwell, and it’s a plus if he’s trying a run for governor.

    Swalwell would join a list of 11 people formally vying for the governor’s seat. That list includes former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, former Congresswoman Katie Porter, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.

    Gerston said the fact that U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla decided not to run opens the door for other candidates.

    “Yes, it opens it up for others because, had Padilla chosen to run, I think he would have been the overwhelming favorite,” Gerston said. “U.S. senator, wide recognition, Latino.”

    Gerston said the list will only grow, with rumors that Congressman Ro Khanna might also enter the race, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon on the Republican side.

    “It’s early, but when you’re running in a state with almost 40 million people, it’s never early enough, in a sense,” Gerston said.

    The top two vote getters in the June primary, whether Republican or Democrat, will face each other next November in a race with huge implications.

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    Damian Trujillo

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  • WIRED Roundup: Fandom in Politics, Zuckerberg’s Illegal School, and Nepal’s Discord Revolution

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    Leah Feiger: Zoë, I am obsessed with this story. Before you continue, I think that it’s really important to say that Caroline, the lovely reporter of this story on your business desk, obtained 1,665 pages of documents about the dispute about Zuckerberg’s house. This story is canon now.

    Zoë Schiffer: Caroline Haskins is a complete star. Our fact-checking team literally cried when I asked them. They were like, “Wait, sorry, how many documents are we looking through?” I was like, “Yes.”

    Leah Feiger: Shout out to the WIRED research team.

    Zoë Schiffer: Absolutely. The school, I think we just have to say, is named after one of the Zuckerberg family chickens. It’s called the Bicken Ben School.

    Leah Feiger: I mean, hearing you say this, it’s, I know you’re being serious, but again.

    Zoë Schiffer: So, the Crescent City neighborhood in Palo Alto, where the Zuckerbergs live, as you can imagine, is some of the best real estate in the entire country. It’s filled with these gorgeous homes, a ton of greenery. Mark Zuckerberg has been expanding his presence throughout the years in this ultra fancy neighborhood. The plot of land that the Zuckerbergs live on has expanded to include 11 previously separate properties. This is so funny and just such a nightmare. If you’re living on the street, you paid whatever, $5 million for your house, and suddenly all of your neighbors are Mark Zuckerberg.

    Leah Feiger: Important to note that not all of them are connecting either. I don’t totally understand what that means. Do they walk through a neighbor’s porch to get to their horse’s pool? What does this entail?

    Zoë Schiffer: We have more questions. We have to Google Earth this. I think there’s some holes in this story that we need to fill in. The expansion first became a concern for Mark Zuckerberg’s neighbors, back in 2016, due to fears that his purchases were driving up the market pretty dramatically. But then, about five years later, neighbors started noticing that a school appeared to be operating out of the Zuckerberg compound. So, this is illegal to do without a permit, at least under the area’s residential zoning code. And so, naturally, the neighbors started to alert the city. Caroline Haskins, the reporter on the story, obtained over a thousand documents, like you said, outlining the resulting fight between the neighbors and the city authorities, basically arguing that, it felt to them like the Zuckerbergs were getting special treatment.

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    Zoë Schiffer, Leah Feiger

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