NY Times: “Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida on Thursday named Ashley Moody, the Republican state attorney general, to replace Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate, elevating a close ally to Mr. Rubio’s seat after he is confirmed as President-elect Donald J. Trump’s secretary of state. … Ms. Moody, like Mr. DeSantis, was elected to statewide…

Hoodline: “In a significant political development in the Lone Star State, Republican Dustin Burrows of Lubbock secured the position of Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. Gaining support from a mix of both his party colleagues and Democrats, Burrows clinched the role on a second ballot with 85 votes, narrowly surpassing Rep. David Cook’s…

ABC News: A Georgia state senator who was previously banned from the state House chamber was arrested Thursday when he tried to enter the chamber for the governor’s state of the state speech and got into a shoving match with House employees. State Sen. Colton Moore, a Republican from Trenton, is among the chamber’s most…

NY Times: “Nothing should be shocking after Jan. 6, 2021, when an American president’s scheming to overturn the legitimate results of a fair election culminated in the bloody breaching of the Capitol. Still, I’m aghast at the audacity of what Republicans here in North Carolina are up to. They are following in their leader’s footsteps…

Political Wire: “With online access to pornography and other sexually explicit content easier than ever before, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will take a fresh look at government efforts to impose new safeguards for children by requiring adult websites to conduct electronic age verification,” ABC News reports. “The case, brought by an adult entertainment industry trade…

VA Mercury: “Roughly two months after Virginia’s Department of Corrections confirmed that six inmates at Red Onion State Prison had burned themselves by tampering with electrical outlets, advocates renewed calls for an overhaul of the facility on Wednesday outside of Virginia’s Capitol, as lawmakers prepare legislation to address some of the concerns shared by people incarcerated at…

NBC News: “Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., has been telling potential donors and Florida political players that he is running for governor in 2026, the clearest signal yet that his much-expected bid is moving forward. Donalds, who represents southwest Florida, has long been rumored to be considering a campaign to replace term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis, but…

Politico: “The summer after he was sworn in as president, Jimmy Carter flew to Mississippi, that deepest of Deep South states, and articulated the mix of pride, swagger, insecurity and optimism he shared with his home region. “People just didn’t believe that a Southerner could be elected president,” Carter said upon landing at Jackson’s airport….

WaPo: “A North Carolina man who fired shots into a popular D.C. pizza parlor that internet conspiracy theorists convinced him housed a satanic pedophile ring was shot to death last week by two North Carolina police officers. Authorities said he pulled a gun on them during a traffic stop. Edgar Maddison Welch became the name…

WaPo: “Virginia has agreed to pay nearly $1.6 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of more than 50 people who were held in prison beyond their release dates, in some cases for more than a year, federal court records show. …The dispute arose after the Virginia General Assembly passed a law in…