State Politics & News
Coverage of state politics, elections, and conservative policy battles across all 50 states shaping America’s future.
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opinion
As Colorado Legalizes Assisted Suicide, Don’t Be Conned by the Agenda of Death
Editor's Note: Reprinted with permission from Bound4LIFE International. Campaign season 2016 is officially over. As I sat in stunned elation watching the last of the presidential returns filter in during the wee hours of the morning, my heart was also broken. While we as a nation voted in the most pro-life platform in history, Colorado also… -
opinion
California Regulations Threaten Single Mom Over Homemade Food
Should a single mom be facing jail time for selling homemade food? California investigators recently completed an undercover sting operation into a community group using Facebook as a platform to exchange and sell homemade food items. This is yet another example of overcriminalization under the watch of California Gov. Jerry Brown, which also limits the… -
news
Washington Florist Case Goes Before the State Supreme Court
The Washington Supreme Court on Tuesday heard the case of a 72-year-old florist who is facing fines after declining to make flower arrangements for a gay couple’s wedding. During the hearing, lawyers for the florist, Barronelle Stutzman, were asked to explain how declining to make flower arrangements for a same-sex wedding is different from discrimination… -
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,… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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,…