Month: April 2021

NPR: “Two Louisiana state senators will go head-to-head in a runoff election Saturday that will determine who will succeed a White House adviser in the U.S. House. State Sens. Karen Carter Peterson and Troy Carter, both Democrats, will compete for the 2nd Congressional District seat left vacant by Cedric Richmond, whom President Biden tapped to serve…

AL.com: “The Alabama Senate [Tuesday] passed bill to prohibit racial profiling that would require police to keep records of traffic stops intended to show whether profiling is happening. The bill is by Sen. Rodger Smitherman, a Democrat from Birmingham, who has sponsored bills to prohibit racial profiling for more than a decade. Under his legislation, city, county,…

CNN: “Former President Donald Trump’s backing of football great Herschel Walker to run for the Georgia Senate seat has been enough to effectively freeze the GOP field in place — even though some Republicans privately worry the political neophyte might fizzle against Sen. Raphael Warnock in a high-stakes general election. Warnock, who is running for a full six-year…

Gambit: “Four years ago I recalled in this space Gov. Earl K. Long’s masterful put-down of then-state Attorney General Jack Gremillion — “If you want to hide something from him, put it in a law book.” I jokingly speculated that the same might be said of current Louisiana AG Jeff Landry. Now, after watching Landry lose yet…

The Root: “Birmingham, Ala., Mayor Randall Woodfin gave residents a reason to celebrate when he officially pardoned anyone convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession by the city over the last three decades. On Tuesday, Woodfin announced a blanket pardon for anyone with a closed marijuana conviction in the Birmingham Municipal Courts between 1990 and 2020. The…

Politico: “Florida Rep. Val Demings said she’s “seriously considering” a statewide bid against Sen. Marco Rubio or Gov. Ron DeSantis, boosting Democratic hopes in a battleground state that’s growing increasingly red. Demings, a former Orlando police chief, rose to national prominence as a House impeachment manager and as a possible running mate for Joe Biden last year….

GA Public Broadcasting: “A new analysis of demographic data from Georgia’s November and January elections confirms a larger decline in white rural turnout led to Democrats flipping both U.S. Senate seats, one of the biggest challenges the GOP must tackle ahead of 2022. After a record-setting November 2020 general election that saw more than five million Georgians cast their ballots,…

Headlines from across the South: ‘Let this be a turning point for our country’: Texas leaders react to Derek Chauvin verdict ‘Justice’: Florida political leaders react to Derek Chauvin guilty verdict Derek Chauvin Trial: Alabama reacts to conviction of ex-officer in George Floyd’s death Mississippians react to Derek Chauvin guilty verdict Virginia, North Carolina officials…

Charlotte Observer: “North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooperand Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have helped organize a bipartisan letter calling on businesses to speak out against a flurry of bills introduced across the country that would restrict voting access. The open letter, obtained by McClatchy, was signed by more than 50 current and former governors, lieutenant governors,…

The News & Observer: “There’s no path forward for a GOP bill that would ban health care treatment for transgender teens, a spokesperson for the top Republican in the North Carolina Senate said Tuesday. The legislation is the most controversial of eight bills filed by North Carolina state lawmakers this year related to LGBTQ rights. In addition…