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
War Over Women: Colorado Senate Candidates Fight for Female Vote
Health care and women’s reproductive rights are stealing the spotlight in Colorado’s 2014 Senate race. The two candidates, incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Udall and Republican Rep. Cory Gardner, are battling over issues of abortion, personhood and birth control pills. As a result, citizens of the Rocky Mountain State are being bombarded with political ads targeting… -
news
Independent Voters Hold Key in Maine Governor’s Race
AUGUSTA, Maine—Outspoken and under fire, Republican Gov. Paul LePage is in danger of losing his re-election bid. One of the most conservative governors in the country, LePage triangulated his way to victory in 2010 with 38 percent of the vote. Independent candidate Eliot Cutler, who siphoned enough Democratic support to give LePage the victory, is… -
news
Kentucky Senate Candidates Want You to Know They Care
Kentucky’s U.S. Senate candidates have stopped the mudslinging–for now–and are tugging on the Bluegrass State’s heartstrings with ads aimed to show Kentuckians they care. Incumbent Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, released an ad yesterday telling the story of Noelle Hunter, a Morehead, Ky., woman whose daughter, Muna, was abducted and taken to Mali in… -
news
Fowl Fight: Could 4 Chickens Sway Iowa Senate Race?
Four pet chickens are causing Rep. Bruce Braley, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Iowa, a major headache. In his first official faceoff with Republican Joni Ernst last night, Braley found himself in an uncomfortable situation when asked about reports that he threatened to sue his neighbor over chickens that had wandered onto his… -
news
Fracking Good Times: North Dakota Tops U.S. Income Gains
North Dakota leads the nation in personal income growth. No other state even comes close. From 2008 to 2012, North Dakotans’ per-capita income jumped 31 percent to $57,367, the highest of any state and just behind Washington, D.C., according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. South Dakota came in a distant second at 10… -
opinion
Teachers Union Trying to Block School Choice Loses in Florida Court
Florida children won in court Wednesday. In a hearing that lasted approximately 19-minutes, Leon County circuit court judge Charles Francis dismissed the Florida Education Association’s lawsuit to block the state’s innovative Personal Learning Scholarship Account school choice option, finding that the FEA did not have standing to challenge the law. Although the FEA has 15… -
news
In Missouri, Public School Students Are Learning How to Handle Guns Safely
Ready, aim, fire. A new statewide program in Missouri has introduced an after-school lesson on gun safety for public school students. According to local ABC news affiliate KSPR, the special program brings students of various ages to the Missouri Department of Conservation gun range where they spend several hours discussing gun safety, learning how to… -
opinion
Washington Shouldn’t React to White House Fence Jumper By Making Government Buildings Less Accessible
Since this article was originally published, it has been reported that the fence jumper, Omar Gonzalez, got further inside the White House than was known. Courtesy of Mashable, here's an image showing how far Gonzalez got. Image: Mashable Composite, WhiteHouse.gov Last Friday, a troubled Army veteran jumped the White House fence and dashed across the… -
opinion
Politico Found Lois Lerner. So Why Can’t the U.S. Attorney in Washington?
Politico obviously had no problem finding Lois Lerner for an exclusive interview that it published on Monday. So why can’t the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Ronald C. Machen, Jr., find Lois Lerner so that a federal grand jury can interview her? Perhaps the Obama administration doesn’t want Lerner answering any real questions… -
news
Washington Considers Legislation That Would Let You Only Buy One Cable Channel
WASHINGTON — Concerns about higher consumer prices if cable and satellite customers could unsubscribe from local channels stalled a move on Capitol Hill to create a la carte local TV. But the proposal’s champions are fighting to keep the idea alive. In August, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Ranking Member John Thune,… -
news
New Mexico to Give $100K to ‘The Bachelor’
SANTA FE, N.M. – There is now a state element to wooing “The Bachelor.” The New Mexico Tourism Department is joining the Santa Fe City Council in the dating pool for the ABC reality TV series. “We’re really excited,” said Rebecca Latham, communications director for the tourism department, who confirmed Monday the state agency will pay $50,000 to the… -
news
Why Is Limbaugh’s Best-Selling Book Not on New York Times List?
“Jesus on Trial,” the new book by conservative author and lawyer David Limbaugh, just took the #1 spot on Amazon, but is nowhere to be found on the New York Times best-seller list. The Washington Examiner reported Thursday that Limbaugh’s book was omitted from the print hardcover best-seller list “despite having sold more copies than… -
news
Gov. Bobby Jindal Says Americans Want a ‘Hostile Takeover’ of Washington
Gov. Bobby Jindal today said Americans are clamoring for a “hostile takeover” of Washington, D.C. While speaking at The Heritage Foundation to a group of reporters about his new energy plan, the Louisiana governor and potential 2016 presidential candidate said voters are calling on Republicans to offer “real ideas” and “real solutions” in Washington. “We… -
opinion
Why the Washington Post Is Right to Oppose Legalized Pot in D.C.
In a refreshing move, The Washington Post came out against legalizing pot in the District of Columbia in an editorial this weekend. The Post supported the decriminalization of marijuana when it was on the ballot a few years back, but draws the line at outright legalization – which is what’s on the ballot this November… -
news
Blood Testing Could Be in Store for Mississippi Drivers at DUI Checkpoints
Over Labor Day weekend, the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol ran a no-refusal DUI checkpoint in Oxford, home of the University of Mississippi. In a no-refusal checkpoint, a driver who refuses a sobriety test — either a breath test or a standard field sobriety test — could be compelled to undergo a blood test. A judge… -
news
Virginia School Bans Chapstick
A school board in Virginia got an earful from one of its students last week over its ban on lip balm. Last winter, Grace Karaffa, a student in Augusta County, was told by her teachers she was not allowed to bring lip balm to school or to wear it while in the building because of… -
opinion
Not So Fast: ISIS Crossing Texas-Mexico Border Not a Serious Concern
Today Texas Sheriff Gary Painter warned about the possibility that ISIS terrorists could cross the Texas-Mexico border. Painter told Fox News that close to the border people had found “Muslim clothing” and copies of the Qu’ran. “So we know that there are Muslims that have come across and been smuggled in the United States,” he… -
news
Feds Have No Idea the Extent of SNAP Fraud, Says Iowa Official
DES MOINES, Iowa — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is sure the U.S. Department of Agriculture is doing a great job fighting fraud committed by people receiving benefits in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Wendy Dishman disagrees. Dishman is the administrator of the Investigative Division of the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, which has… -
opinion
Why Hispanics Thrive in Texas, But Not in California
The world provides us with countless case studies on the relative merits of free markets and central planning. In Asia and Europe we have seen the controlled experiments of the Koreas and the two postwar Germanys, admittedly extreme examples. In South America, we have consistently successful Chile and perennially chaotic Argentina. In this country, we… -
opinion
Wisconsin Is Treating Conservatives Like a Banana Republic Would
Oral arguments were heard Tuesday before the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in O'Keefe vs. Chisholm, the so-called John Doe investigation in which local prosecutors in Wisconsin tried to criminalize political speech and activity on public issues. The 7th Circuit should uphold the lower court decision halting this Star Chamber investigation that violated basic…