Lawfare: “In any case, even if the petition against Cawthorn vaults that hurdle, its prospects for disqualifying him are dim. While the events of Jan. 6 probably qualify as an “insurrection,” discovery would have to turn up something far more damning than the petitioners have alleged so far to establish that Cawthorn “engaged in” it….

NY Times: “Like the majority of her neighbors in the heavily Latino community of Laredo, Angelica Garza has voted for Democrats for most of her adult life. Her longtime congressman, Henry Cuellar, with his moderate views and opposition to abortion, made it an easy choice, she said. But as up-and-coming Democratic candidates in her patch…

WaPo: “At least 19 police officers in this statecapital are facing criminal charges for allegedly using excessive force on protesters during the summer of 2020, according to their union president — an unusually high number that reflects District Attorney José Garza’s year-old effort to crack down on police misconduct. Garza, who was elected in 2020 after promising…

WaPo: “Virginia’s new Republican Attorney General ended a legal campaign to get the federal government to recognize the state’s ratification of the landmark Equal Rights Amendment, the long-running effort to enshrine women’s equality in the Constitution. Attorney General Jason Miyares withdrew Friday from an appeal seeking to compel the U.S. archivist to certify that Virginia,…

NY Times: “Even in deep red East Texas, even on a Tuesday afternoon, even after a failed bid for the Senate followed by a failed bid for president, Beto O’Rourke still draws a crowd. More than 100 supporters gathered last week in a park in the city of Tyler, southeast of Dallas in the Piney…

TX Tribune: “Patrick’s ascent to top statewide power broker has been somewhat unlikely. Born Dannie Goeb in Baltimore in 1950 — he started using the name Patrick in the late 1970s — Patrick got his start as a TV sports broadcaster, eventually reinventing himself in the 1990s as a conservative shock jock radio host. (He…

AR Democrat Gazette: “Two bids to allow the Arkansas General Assembly to consider legislation coupling a Texas-style cause of action with a ban on abortion except to save the life of the mother failed Tuesday afternoon in the Arkansas Senate. A two-thirds vote of the 35-member Arkansas Senate and 100-member Arkansas House of Representatives is…

TX Observer: “As he gallivants across Texas trying to outdo his Republican challengers ahead of the GOP primary for governor on March 1, incumbent Greg Abbott is touting a solution in search of a problem.  “The parental bill of rights empowers parents to hold their schools accountable; there must be accountability,” Abbott said during a campaign stop…

AL Political Reporter: “A measure authorizing the inclusion of a Space National Guard within the Alabama National Guard passed in the Alabama Senate Tuesday. The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Tom Bulter, R-Madison, does not create an Alabama Space Guard, but instead allows for its creation if Congress and the U.S. Department of Defense authorize…

WLKY: “Community leaders in Louisville say they are shocked and stunned after 21-year-old Quintez Brown was arrested for allegedly trying to kill mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg. “A lot of us are just struggling to make sense out of all this, but sometimes you simply cannot make sense out of things that simply do not make sense,”…