All posts tagged: Senate

How to Replace a Senate Candidate

How to Replace a Senate Candidate

Published by Daniella Wilson

Kathie Purdy doesn’t mind the phone calls. And there have been a lot of them—producing a sustained buzzing from her iPhone throughout the nearly two weeks since Graham Platner announced that he would drop out of the Maine Senate race. At one point, Purdy’s device grew so hot that she had to take it out of its case to let it breathe. But that was okay, she told me. As chair of the York County Democratic Committee, it was her job to help guide Mainers through this confusing moment. What Purdy did not appreciate was the insinuation—from other Democrats, from members of the media, from online trolls—that the process to replace Platner was somehow undemocratic. “This is what I’m talking about,” Purdy told me on Sunday, showing me a text from a voter asking whom “leadership had picked” for the nomination. It was early afternoon in the Sanford Performing Arts Center, and we were sitting side by side on the stage, looking out over the democratic process in action. Purdy rolled her eyes, exasperated. “Actually, …

Senate Panel Advances Jay Clayton’s Nomination to Lead US Intelligence Agencies

Senate Panel Advances Jay Clayton’s Nomination to Lead US Intelligence Agencies

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Intelligence Committee has advanced the nomination of Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the nation’s intelligence agencies, along party lines. The 9-8 vote came after some Democrats had praised Clayton and indicated that they might vote for him. But that shifted after a contentious hearing last week in which Clayton repeatedly refused to say that former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the panel, said at the end of the hearing that he was “bitterly disappointed” in Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, even though he had worked with him in the past. The committee’s approval sets up a floor vote on Clayton’s nomination, potentially early next week. The vote took place behind closed doors, as is customary for the panel, and all Democrats voted against Clayton, according to a person familiar with the vote who requested anonymity to disclose it. Clayton told senators that he …

Senate Democrats push tighter prediction market rules to protect tribal gaming

Senate Democrats push tighter prediction market rules to protect tribal gaming

Published by skeptic

A group of Senate Democrats is urging Congress to tighten federal oversight of prediction market platforms, warning that pending digital asset legislation could weaken tribal gaming protections and erode states’ authority over gambling as lawmakers across Washington pursue a wider crackdown on the fast-growing industry. Sen. Martin Heinrich and 11 other Democratic senators have asked two key Senate committees to revise pending digital asset legislation before it advances, arguing that the bills could unintentionally expand prediction markets at the expense of long-standing tribal and state gaming systems. Senate Democrats call for stronger guardrails on prediction markets In a letter to the leaders of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, the lawmakers said the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act) and the Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act (DCIA) would reduce oversight of decentralized finance betting platforms while allowing prediction markets to operate outside existing gambling frameworks. They wrote, “We write with urgency regarding the continued lack of proper regulation over prediction markets and the resulting circumvention …

Abdul El-Sayed Is an Epidemiologist Running for Senate. His State Is a Public Health Disaster

Abdul El-Sayed Is an Epidemiologist Running for Senate. His State Is a Public Health Disaster

Published by skeptic

Michigan is ground zero for the twin public health crises wreaking havoc in the US. The state has had some of the most polluted air on Earth due to Canadian wildfire smoke last week while it also has the highest number of cyclosporiasis cases in the country. These in-your-face (and sometimes in-your-gut) problems, says senatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed, help make a complex topic—the need to invest in public health infrastructure—extremely easy to talk about with voters. And he has unique qualifications to do so as a MD-PhD who’s served as the health officer for Detroit. “Do you like eating lettuce? I do. I don’t like the idea because we DOGE’d our whole service that keeps the lettuce safe,” El-Sayed says, referring to how the Department of Government Efficiency downsized the federal lab that tests for cyclosporiasis last year. “Now, everybody’s trying to dodge the lettuce. And if you don’t, then you’re stuck on a toilet for the next five days. That sucks.” El-Sayed is locked in a tight Democratic primary for Michigan’s open senatorial seat. …

Troy Jackson emerges as Democratic pick as top Maine Senate candidates step aside

Troy Jackson emerges as Democratic pick as top Maine Senate candidates step aside

Published by Sam Flores

SANFORD, Maine — Former state Senate President Troy Jackson emerged from a whirlwind weekend of voting as Maine Democrats’ likely pick to take on GOP Sen. Susan Collins. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. By Sunday night, all of Jackson’s major opponents had dropped out of the race, including Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, physician Nirav Shah and former congressional staffer Jordan Wood, who reversed course after initially committing to remain in the race. Bellows made her announcement Sunday morning, while Shah exited the race Sunday evening after Democrats across the state selected delegates to next week’s state nominating convention. Jackson quickly established a seemingly insurmountable advantage in delegates as his supporters swept counties throughout the state. Jackson’s supporters won 481 of the 500 convention seats up for grabs this weekend, according to his campaign. Those delegates are not technically required to support Jackson at the convention, but with such a strong showing, his nomination became a foregone conclusion. A logger and former legislator, Jackson …

Rep. Ralph Norman launches campaign to replace Lindsey Graham in Senate race

Rep. Ralph Norman launches campaign to replace Lindsey Graham in Senate race

Published by Sam Flores

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., announced Saturday that he plans to run in the special primary election to replace the late GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham on the ballot in November, just one day after President Donald Trump backed Graham’s sister in the election. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. “I’ll be throwing my hat in the ring, and you know, day one … I will be laser-focused on passing President Trump’s America First, and it starts with the SAVE America Act. We’ll nuke the filibuster, and I will be a vocal, a vocal vote and a supporter to make this happen,” Norman told Fox News. Norman acknowledged that Trump has backed Lindsey Graham’s sister, Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., in the race. She was sworn into the Senate earlier this week after GOP Gov. Henry McMaster appointed her to serve out the rest of the late senator’s term, just days after he died suddenly last weekend. On Friday, Trump urged Darline Graham to seek a full term in …

Life and death in the Senate, and a dinosaur’s million payday: The news quiz

Life and death in the Senate, and a dinosaur’s $50 million payday: The news quiz

Published by Sam Flores

Lionel Messi leads La Albiceleste back to the World Cup final, the House tries changing the clock, and health officials look for the cause of the cyclosporiasis outbreak. Test your knowledge of the week in news, and take last week’s quiz here. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. Source link

Democrat moves to drop out of Nebraska’s Senate race, clearing the path for an independent

Democrat moves to drop out of Nebraska’s Senate race, clearing the path for an independent

Published by Sam Flores

Nebraska Democratic Senate nominee Cindy Burbank has submitted a letter requesting her name be removed from the ballot, a move that would set up a one-on-one matchup between Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts and independent challenger Dan Osborn. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. Rani Taborek-Potter, a spokesperson with Secretary of State Bob Evnen’s office, confirmed to NBC News that the office received Burbank’s letter. Taborek-Potter added that the secretary of state will be sending a letter to the state attorney general to ask whether to honor Burbank’s request. Courier Nebraska first reported the news. “My candidacy for Senate was a privilege I’ll never forget,” Burbank said in a video sent via text message, later adding: “You deserve representation that works for you. I’ve looked at the numbers. I won’t be your next senator. So I have withdrawn my bid for U.S. Senate.” Burbank did not endorse Osborn in her message, instead urging her voters to “educate yourselves about the remaining candidates.” The Democrat had repeatedly stressed …

Maine Democratic Senate Candidates Brand Collins a Trump Enabler in Debate

Maine Democratic Senate Candidates Brand Collins a Trump Enabler in Debate

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON, July 17 (Reuters) – Four top candidates vying to replace Graham Platner as the Democratic U.S. Senate ⁠nominee ⁠in Maine took to the debate stage on Thursday to make ⁠their case for why they should be the one to face Republican Senator Susan Collins in November. Here are some takeaways from the first hour of ​debate featuring Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, former Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Nirav Shah and ex-congressional aide Jordan Wood: DEMOCRATS AVOID INFIGHTING The Democratic candidates repeatedly attacked Collins and President Donald Trump ‌rather than tearing one another down on stage. The strategy is ‌perhaps a reflection that the party will need to quickly coalesce behind the next nominee to unseat Collins, a well-funded moderate Republican with an independent streak who has represented the state for nearly 30 years.  Some 600 delegates will select ⁠a nominee next weekend ⁠to replace Platner, who withdrew last week after losing widespread support following sexual assault allegations that he denies. Twelve people are ​vying …

Crowded field to replace Platner in Maine struggle to stand out in first Senate debate: 4 takeaways

Crowded field to replace Platner in Maine struggle to stand out in first Senate debate: 4 takeaways

Published by Sam Flores

A slew of Maine Democrats vying to replace Graham Platner as the party’s Senate nominee struggled to stand out on the debate stage Thursday night, with just days before the deadline to pick a new candidate.   The crowded field is jockeying to replace Platner to take on longtime Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) after the progressive’s exit from the race earlier this month amid sexual assault and misconduct allegations, which he has… Source link