The Hill: “Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick won the special election on Tuesday to succeed the late Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) in Florida’s 20th Congressional District.  The Associated Press called the race for Cherfilus-McCormick at 7:08 p.m. ET. Florida’s 20th District, which encompasses parts of Palm Beach and Broward counties, leans heavily Democratic, and Cherfilus-McCormick was the heavy favorite heading into the…

NC Policy Watch: “Maps for new congressional and legislative districts do not violate the state constitution and can be used in the next election, a three-judge panel said in a decision Tuesday that will be appealed to the state Supreme Court. The NC League of Conservation Voters, Common Cause, the state NAACP, and voters backed…

Politico: “Fresh off a high-profile speech in which he warned that a dagger had been placed at the throat of American democracy, President Joe Biden will travel to the state that White House officials view as “ground zero” for Republican-led election suppression efforts. Biden will speak in Georgia on Tuesday. In his remarks, he is…

Political Wire: “Alabama Republicans are heading for a dogfight in the state’s Senate primary, with GOP voters in the reddest of states set to forecast which of the party’s disparate wings could be ascendant in the November midterms,” The Hill reports. “The nominating contest is largely a contest among Rep. Mo Brooks (R) and Katie Boyd Britt,…

Associated Press: “The prosecutor weighing whether Donald Trump and others committed crimes by trying to pressure Georgia officials to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential election victory said a decision on whether to bring charges could come as early as the first half of this year. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said in an interview with The Associated…

AL Political Reporter: “Former U.S. Senator Doug Jones is calling on citizens to “build a pro-democracy coalition” a year after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. “Jan. 6 was a day of remembrance and analysis, a day to look back,” Jones said. “Today is a day to look forward,” Jones said. “Quite frankly, democracy is…

NC Policy Watch: “Gov. Roy Cooper signed an ambitious executive order today designed to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions statewide and to emphasize environmental justice in agency decisions, beyond the NC Department of Environmental Quality. Executive Order 246 sets several targets to mitigate the damage of climate change, including the reduction of statewide greenhouse gas emissions by…

NY Times: “A Georgia judge on Friday sentenced both Travis McMichael, the man who fatally shot Ahmaud Arbery, and his father to life in prison without the possibility of parole, but issued a lesser sentence of life with the possibility of parole to the other white man convicted of murdering Mr. Arbery, a 25-year-old Black…

TX Observer: “In November 2012, Austin voters were asked to approve a proposition that promised to expand health care for the poor. They approved a ballot measure creating a pool of $35 million in tax money each year for the nonprofit Central Health, an agency charged by the state with funding indigent health care and…

North State Journal: “States and the federal government carried out 11 executions this year, the fewest since 1988, as support for the death penalty has continued to decline.  That’s according to an annual report on the death penalty released in mid-December. Three of the death sentences were carried out in January days before President Donald…