NC Newsline: “Republican Appeals Court Judge Jefferson Griffin officially launched an appeal of a Wake County trial court’s rejection of his effort to throw out more than 60,000 votes. On Monday, Griffin filed notice he is appealing Superior Court Judge William Pittman’s ruling in favor of the state Board of Elections. Griffin trails Democratic incumbent Supreme…
“Fort Liberty Will Be Fort Bragg Again. But There’s a Twist to the Controversial Name”
News & Observer: Less than two years after Fort Bragg officially became Fort Liberty, the North Carolina Army base’s name is changing back to Fort Bragg. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered Army officials Monday to change the name. But it’s not the same soldier for whom the base was initially named. Instead of renaming…
“One of the judges Ken Paxton helped elect wants to reform judicial campaign finances”
Off the Kuff: “David Schenk, the new presiding judge on Texas’ Court of Criminal Appeals, is on a mission to make sweeping changes to the rules governing judicial elections in the Lone Star State. Right now, Schenck points out, anyone can donate to a judge’s political campaign in Texas, even if they are in the middle of…
“‘I am not a robot’: Amazon warehouse workers in Garner [NC] begin weeklong union election”
NC Newsline: “Voting opened at 4 a.m. Monday morning in an election that will determine whether workers in Garner form the first Amazon warehouse union in the South after nearly three years of organizing. Workers will have until Saturday Feb. 15 at noon to cast either a “Yes” vote in favor or a “No” vote…
“The ‘Texas Three-Step’: Defund, Demonize, and Privatize Public Schools”
TX Observer: “Texas state lawmakers have gaveled in and started stepping to the tune of well-funded efforts to pass private school vouchers and undercut public schools. It’s a tired tune that state leaders sang throughout 2023’s lengthy legislative season, though it lacked the backup vocals of thousands of Texas families. Now, with a chorus of…
“Think Edwin Edwards played loose with ethics? Take a look at Jeff Landry’s record after only a year in governor’s office”
LA Voice: “Of course, this is the governor, who after getting in trouble with the State Ethics Board, moved to solve that problem by simply taking over the board. More on that later, but first let’s look at his actions in eradicating homelessness in New Orleans. Actually, I can make it easy for you by…
“Texas doctors accused of providing transgender care to kids halt practice”
WaPo: “Three doctors in Texas have agreed to stop seeing patients or limit their medical practice while they fight state charges of illegally providing gender-affirming care to minors, a move touted by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxtonas his allies in the White House target transgender rights nationally. The doctors, all endocrinologists, have denied the allegations…
“Casey DeSantis Mulls Bid for Florida Governor”
Political Wire: “Republican donors at a gathering last week in Palm Beach County openly discussed the prospect of Casey DeSantis’ running for governor in 2026, and for the first time, Florida’s first lady is seriously considering the idea,” NBC News reports.”
Former US Atty General: “The Courts Must Stop This Judge From Stealing an Election [in NC]”
NY Times: “As President Trump started his second term by pardoning violent insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Republicans in North Carolina already had a monthslong effort underway to achieve, essentially, the same goal the insurrectionists had four years ago: to overturn the results of a free and fair election. On Nov….
“How should we remember Pauli Murray? Social justice center is a start.”
WaPo: “Murray may not be as widely known as Parks or John Lewis, but a new facility in the city where they were raised is doing its part to change that. The Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice, which opened in September in their childhood home, tells the story of this scholar, writer, activist, priest and gender-nonconforming trailblazer….