Election News
Election news and analysis from The Daily Signal, featuring reporting, commentary, and conservative insights on campaigns, candidates, and ballot issues.
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news
Senate Passes Big, Beautiful Bill in Tie-Breaking Vote
After weeks of negotiations, the Senate has passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—a 10-year fiscal package that would serve as the vehicle for fulfilling President Donald Trump’s campaign promises on tax cuts and border security. Despite intra-party debates on overall deficit levels, health care reform, and how to undo former President Joe Biden’s environmental… -
news
Battle Begins for Open House Seat Long Held by Democrats
Following last week’s “firehouse primaries” in the race to fill a critical open seat in the tightly divided U.S. House of Representatives, the Virginia Democratic and Republican parties have chosen their nominees for a Sept. 9 special election. Republican nominee Stewart Whitson, an Army combat veteran and former FBI special agent, will face Democratic nominee… -
news
‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Clears Senate Hurdle Amid Republican Defections
The Senate is in the midst of up to 20 hours of floor debate on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act after Senate Democrats had clerks read the entire 940-page bill aloud for 16 hours starting Saturday night. Senate Republicans managed to advance the bill Saturday evening despite a three-hour voting standstill as holdout senators… -
opinion
Senate Republicans Need to Step Up and Deliver on Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill
There’s been a lot of hand-wringing in Washington, D.C., this week about the One Big, Beautiful Bill, as the Senate goes through the “Byrd Bath” to scrub the reconciliation bill for compliance with the rules. But what is the Byrd Rule, what’s a “Byrd Bath,” and why does all this jargon matter for Americans hoping… -
news
Scramble Begins for Control of Former Dem Congressman’s Seat as Virginia Heads to Special Election
The death of longtime U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., has triggered a high-stakes political scramble in Northern Virginia, as both parties prepare to nominate candidates Saturday ahead of a rare special election Sept. 9. Virginia Republicans and Democrats will hold “firehouse primaries”—primary elections run by the political parties instead of the state—to determine their candidates. … -
opinion
Mamdani as NYC Mayor Would Devastate Economy, Spike Borrowing Costs
New York City’s economy faces devastating prospects if an avowed socialist wins the general mayoral election in November. That isn’t out of the picture, as Zohran Mamdani, winner of Democrats’ primary on Tuesday and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, pledges to run my former home into the ground, transforming it into an… -
news
Move to Bar Medicaid Funding of Trans Surgeries Nixed by Senate Parliamentarian, Drawing GOP Wrath
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act—the main legislative vehicle for fulfilling President Donald Trump’s campaign promises—would not prevent taxpayer funds from going to transgender surgeries, unless Senate Republicans take action. Democrats on the Senate Committee on the Budget announced Thursday that Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough—essentially, the chamber’s rules referee—had tossed out a provision that “prohibits… -
news
No Known ‘Causal Link’ Between Vaccines and Autism, CDC Nominee Tells Senate Panel
“I have not seen a causal link between vaccines and autism,” Susan Monarez said at her Senate committee confirmation hearing on Wednesday to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her answer came in response to a question from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and… -
news
NYC Mayoral Candidate Vows $65 Million in Funds for ‘Transgender’ Care; Penalties for Noncompliant Hospitals
If elected mayor of New York City, Democrat candidate Zohran Mamdani is pledging to spend $65 million in city funds on “gender-affirming care” and vows to penalize any hospital that declines to do the surgeries. Mamdani also plans to establish a city Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs to provide $87 million in funding that would include… -
opinion
New York’s Embrace of Socialist Mayoral Candidate Is About Liberal Catharsis
A far-left socialist who has supported defunding the police and replacing them with social workers, abolishing prisons, abolishing private health insurance, banning guns, decriminalizing pretty much every drug, and creating government-run grocery stores won the Democratic Party mayoral primary in New York City on Tuesday. The race is about more than New York. It’s a harbinger of… -
news
Mamdani Wins NYC Democrat Primary: What You Need to Know
New York Democrat Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani brought the Cuomo political dynasty to its knees Tuesday night with his victory in the New York City mayoral primary. Mamdani, 33, a self-described socialist, would become New York’s first Muslim mayor if elected. He held 43.5% of Democrat votes, compared to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 36.4% with 93%… -
news
Thune Confident Budget Bill Remains on Track for Senate Passage
Senate Majority Leader John Thune appeared determined on Tuesday to keep the budget reconciliation bill on track to be passed in the Senate by July 4, even as he acknowledged that some Senate Republicans might in the end vote against the so-called Big, Beautiful Bill. “Could be,” Thune, R-S.D., said at the weekly Senate Republican… -
opinion
One Year Later: How the Trump-Biden Debate Exposed a Dangerous Presidency
“Oh, God …” That was my spontaneous gasp mere seconds into the now-infamous Trump-Biden CNN debate, which took place one year ago this Friday. The president of the United States, Joe Biden, had come out mumbling, raspy, and in a fog thicker than anything seen in London. I confess, after four years of being called… -
news
Trump Supports Primary Challenge to Rep. Thomas Massie
President Donald Trump promised to primary Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., on Sunday, saying he would campaign against him in Kentucky. “MAGA should drop this pathetic LOSER, Tom Massie, like the plague! The good news is that we will have a wonderful American Patriot running against him in the Republican Primary, and I’ll be out in… -
opinion
National Republicans Commit $2 Million to Regain Virginia House as Democrats Hold Fundraising Lead
Last week, the national organization dedicated to electing Republicans to state offices announced that it was committing $2 million to Republicans in the Virginia House of Delegates to use toward taking back the House majority. What will that Republican State Leadership Committee money do, and will it be enough to help overcome Democrats’ already substantial… -
news
Senate Committee Moves to Deregulate Firearm Silencers in Budget Bill
The Senate is moving to deregulate firearms silencers in its long-anticipated version of the budget reconciliation bill. The bill has passed the House and is now being debated in the Senate. Provisions to loosen burdensome restrictions on firearms silencers have been included in the Senate Finance Committee’s legislative text for the Senate version of the… -
opinion
What Tuesday’s Democratic Primary in Virginia Means for November
131,793. That’s how many of the 6 million-plus of Virginia’s registered voters cast a ballot on Tuesday for state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi to be the Democratic Party’s nominee for lieutenant governor, and she won. To be fair, only about 34% of Virginia’s registered voters identify as Democrat, so it’s not as stark a number. OK,… -
news
Virginia Democrats Tap ‘Left-Wing Progressive’ as Lieutenant Governor Nominee
Virginia Democrats are eyeing an opportunity in November to reclaim the lieutenant governor’s seat, which Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican nominee for governor, will be vacating. By noon Wednesday, The Associated Press had verified Democrat state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, who represents Chesterfield County and part of Richmond, as the party’s nominee with 27.39% of the vote,… -
news
NYC Mayor: Democrats ‘Left Me’ and Working-Class Voters
New York City Mayor Eric Adams defended his record and positioned himself as the working-class candidate in this year’s mayoral race during a Fox News interview Monday. Adams, a former Democrat-turned-independent candidate, called out his former party of ahead of the Democrats’ June 24 primary. Republican Curtis Sliwa and independent Jim Walden are also challenging… -
news
Suspect Arrested in Shooting of Former Minnesota House Speaker
Vance Boelter, 57, the man suspected of dressing as a police officer and shooting and killing former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, along with another legislator and his wife, has been arrested after a two-day manhunt. “After a two-day manhunt, two sleepless nights, law enforcement have apprehended Vance Boelter,” Minnesota Gov. Tim…