State Politics & News
Coverage of state politics, elections, and conservative policy battles across all 50 states shaping America’s future.
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- News
Oregon Official Who Shut Down Sweet Cakes Loses Election Bid to a Republican
The Oregon official who ordered the former owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa to pay $135,000 in damages for refusing to make a cake for a same-sex wedding lost to a Republican in his bid for Oregon secretary of state. Brad Avakian, commissioner of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries and a staunch Democrat,…Kelsey Bolar -
- News
Liberals Claim Victory Over North Carolina Bathroom Law, but Not Everyone’s Buying It
Liberals had few victories to celebrate Tuesday night, but in North Carolina, they’re claiming one: The state’s incumbent governor, Republican Pat McCrory, lost his bid for re-election to state Attorney General Roy Cooper, a Democrat. The final numbers aren’t in, but the outcome looks clear. By all accounts, McCrory should have had the election in…Kelsey Bolar -
- Opinion
Why Poll-Watching Trends in Florida Are Harming Democracy
Last week, the specter of ballot fraud came alive in Florida when scores of mail ballots in Broward County were found to have been wrongfully opened by election officials in secret. This episode comes not as an “isolated” incident, but sadly as the predictable result of a pernicious tactic of discouraging poll watchers from doing…Lisa Dixon -
- News
California Voters to Decide Whether Schools May Teach Students in Spanish
Voters in California will weigh in Tuesday on a decades-old debate about bilingual education in the state’s public school system. The outcome ultimately could determine whether California schools will continue to be required to teach in English, or may use Spanish or another language. Although largely overlooked in a crowded election season, the issue has…Kelsey Bolar -
- Opinion
Colorado Lawmakers Take a Step to End the Electoral College
Editor’s note: On Tuesday, the Colorado Senate passed legislation that would award the state’s Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote. If the legislation becomes law, Colorado would join 11 states and the District of Columbia as part of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which will only take effect…Jarrett Stepman -
- News
Virginia Governor Pardons 60,000 Felons, Enough to Swing Election
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has granted voting rights to as many as 60,000 convicted felons just in time for them to register to vote, nearly five times more than previously reported. McAuliffe sought to allow all of Virginia’s estimated 200,000 felons to vote, but state courts said each individual felon’s circumstances must be weighed. To…Luke Rosiak -
- News
Why Kansas Conservatives Are Pushing Voters to Reshape the State’s Highest Court
It’s typically a no-drama affair. Every six years, Kansans vote whether to retain the state’s sitting Supreme Court justices. The question is the last item on the ballot. In Kansas history, voters never have voted out a justice on the state’s highest court. But this year, the judicial elections in Kansas—known as retention elections—are especially…Josh Siegel -
- News
The Government Seized $100K From This California Family’s Bank Accounts, College Savings
James Slatic was sitting in a breakfast meeting when he heard the news. An employee who worked for him and his medical marijuana business, Med-West Distribution, called to tell him he arrived at Med-West’s facility in San Diego, California, to find “25 police cars” outside. It was Jan. 28, and on that day, an estimated…Melissa Quinn -
- News
Gun Control Measure Divides California’s Politicians, Law Enforcement
A gun control measure on California’s ballot Nov. 8 is pitting sheriffs, police chiefs, and prosecutors against most of the state’s political establishment. “This initiative would do nothing to stop criminals from acquiring ammunition, guns, or large-capacity magazines,” @michele_hanisee says. A state that already has some of the strictest limits on gun ownership in the…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
Washington Should Be More Concerned About the Next Generation Than the Next Election
It’s no secret that Americans are fed up with Washington’s lack of results. Less than 20 percent of respondents in a recent Gallup survey said they trust the federal government to do its job. You know what, they’re right. Somebody has to be responsible for the mess in Washington. For too long, career politicians have…Sen. David Perdue -
- News
How Obama’s Post-Presidency Could Affect Your State Legislature
During his final State of the Union address, President Barack Obama insisted that one means of ending the nation’s polarized political environment is changing how the states draw congressional and state legislative districts. “If we want a better politics, it’s not enough just to change a congressman or change a senator or even change a…Fred Lucas -
- News
Voters to Decide Legality of Physician-Assisted Suicide in Colorado
Colorado could become the sixth state to make physician-assisted suicide legal when voters go the polls next month. “Doctor-assisted suicide is sold as a personal decision to end suffering at the end of a person’s life,” @jeffhunt says. Called Proposition 106, the ballot question in Colorado would allow a “terminally ill individual” to request and…Rachel del Guidice -
- News
Student Sues Over Iowa State’s ‘Speech Code’
A 34-year-old student at Iowa State University is suing the school over what he calls an “unconstitutional speech code.” The student, Robert Dunn, says the university is forcing him to compromise his First Amendment rights by complying with “overly broad and vague” anti-discrimination and harassment policies. Failing to agree to abide by the policies, he…Kelsey Bolar -
- News
As Obama Travels to Florida to Promote Obamacare, State Faces Higher Costs, Fewer Options
Before Obamacare insurance exchanges were established in 2013, Florida had 18 insurers operating in the state. President Barack Obama arrives in Miami Thursday to promote his signature legislative achievement, as Florida will have just five companies for Florida residents to choose from in 2017. The Affordable Care Act was sold in part as a means…Fred Lucas -
- News
Meet the Maryland Conservative Who Aims to Take Over the House’s Largest GOP Caucus
Like most Americans, but unlike most of the other 434 members of the House of Representatives, Andy Harris pulls a lengthy commute to work each day. One way and without traffic, the Maryland Republican says he can go door to door in an hour and a half from his home in Cockeysville to his office…Philip Wegmann -
- News
Why Virginia’s ‘Reasonable’ Voter ID Law Could Survive the Courts
Virginia Republicans are making the case that this state’s voter identification law is different than versions in other states that came and failed before it. “We like our facts; we have better facts than some of other cases that have struggled in court,” said Del. Robert B. Bell, a state Republican legislator. “That’s why we…Josh Siegel -
- News
Washington Couple Fights Government After Police Seize Car Son Was Borrowing
Terry and Maria Platt haven’t been to Arizona in more than 30 years, and they weren’t driving the 2012 Volkswagen Jetta that belongs to them when police in the Grand Canyon State seized it in May. In fact, Terry Platt, 77, and Maria Platt, 74, who goes by Ria, were five states away in Prosser,…Melissa Quinn -
- News
Virginia Hasn’t Stopped Noncitizens From Voting, Watchdog Finds
More than 1,000 noncitizens registered to vote in Virginia and cast nearly 200 ballots in elections before being purged from voter rolls, according to a government watchdog group. The Public Interest Legal Foundation released its findings Tuesday from only eight of Virginia’s 133 voting jurisdictions. So, the group suggested, the problem of noncitizen voting could…Fred Lucas -
- News
Why This Virginia Tech Student Went on a Hunger Strike for Gun Rights
A Virginia Tech student, currently on a hunger strike advocating for the allowance of concealed weapons on campus, wants the right of self-defense abided by on his college campus. “I am advocating for Virginia concealed gun permit holders to be able to carry concealed on campus and in buildings and in the classrooms,” Ryan James…Leah Jessen -
- News
Hundreds of Noncitizens on Voting Rolls in Swing State of Virginia
The 2012 presidential race in Virginia was decided by just 3 percentage points, as was the next year’s race for governor. In both 2005 and 2013, fewer than 1,000 votes decided contests for Virginia attorney general. Against this backdrop, watchdog groups have pushed local election officials in seven Virginia jurisdictions to reveal hundreds of noncitizens…Fred Lucas