NY Times: “In Terry McAuliffe’s tough fight for a new term as Virginia’s governor, he has been striving to frame the election as a referendum on a president. Just not the one who is currently sitting in the Oval Office. For weeks, Mr. McAuliffe has made little mention of President Biden, instead using his campaign…

WaPo: “The trial over Ahmaud Arbery’s killing promises to be yet another high-stakes test of the proposition that such a thing as colorblind justice can exist in these United States. Arbery, an unarmed Black man — where have we heard that before? — was chased down, accosted and killed near Brunswick, Ga., by White vigilantes in February 2020…

NC Policy Watch: “Voter registration in North Carolina is divided roughly into thirds – a third Democrats, a third Republicans, and a third unaffiliated voters. Donald Trump eked out a victory in North Carolina with 49.9% of the vote to President Joe Biden’s 48.6%. So how did North Carolina Republicans senators come up with proposed…

WaPo: “A fundamental tenet of police training in the United States is that officers who fire their weapons in response to a deadly threat should always aim for “center mass,” generally the chest. That’s the biggest target and so the easiest to hit. But a bullet that finds its mark there is likely to kill….

WaPo: “All 100 seats in the House are on the Nov. 2 ballot. Democrats are defending a 55-45 advantage. Republicans need to flip just six districts to regain the majority they had enjoyed for a generation until Democrats snatched it in 2019, when voters turned out in massive numbers to express their dislike of Trump….

AL Political Reporter: “Twenty-six-year-old white Episcopal seminary student, Jonathan Daniels knew the dangers he faced. His cleric’s collar and the quarter-sized black and white lapel pin that he always wore  — with the white cross in the middle and the initials “ESCRU” underneath, which stood for Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity — made him…

Arkansas Times: “Casey Copeland, the state contractor who was fired after emailing Rep. Charlene Fite (R-Alma) to criticize her vote to deny gender-affirming care to transgender youth, has had his state contract reinstated permanently. After working as an attorney for the state on dependency-neglect cases since 2012, Copeland said he was fired on April 1 after emailing…

Old North State Politics: “There is indeed a lot of North Carolina past Asheville- hours of it, in fact. There’s a mid-sized university, part of a national park, a portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway, 8 counties, a separate nation, a ton of bears, some good flatpickers, terrific whitewater, three NC House districts, two NC…

Political Wire: “Party leaders are now rallying around Walker, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump who is running in a race that could determine which party controls the Senate after 2022. Scrutiny of Walker’s erratic past at first led Senate Republicans to voice concern about whether the former running back can win, but…

CNN: “The Supreme Court allowed a Texas law that bars most abortions after six weeks to remain in place for now, but it agreed to hear oral arguments on the law next month.The law, banning abortions often before a woman knows she is pregnant is in stark contrast to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark decision legalizing abortion…