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…

Politico: “Nowhere has the post-Trump era been more painful for the Republican Party than in Georgia, where Trump loyalists’ war on Republican elected officials is still raging, at great cost. After the presidential election, lost by Republicans in Georgia for the first time since 1992, the party crumpled in the January Senate runoffs. In the…

The Atlantic: “As our vision of high-level political partnership gets a reboot (the first-ever first lady who’s not giving up her career, the first-ever second gentleman), it seems a good time to recall just how undefined the role of unelected spouse has been. We tend to date a modern shift to 1992, when Bill Clinton…

AP: “North Carolina state Sen. Jeff Jackson had a sizeable fundraising advantage entering this month over other Democratic opponents in the 2022 U.S. Senate race, while a former Republican congressman running also has flush coffers so far, according to new campaign finance reports. Jackson’s committee raised nearly $1.3 million between the time he announced his…

FOX8: “Oscar-winning Texan Matthew McConaughey could give incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott a race of cinematic proportions in the 2022 election. That’s according to a recently released poll from The Dallas Morning News and University of Texas Tyler, which surveyed 1,126 registered adult voters — a group composed of 30% Democrats, 37% Republicans and 33% who don’t identify as either. Results showed…

Off the Kuff: “Good for the Biden administration putting the pressure on. The Biden administration on Friday rescinded changes to a federal funding agreement, known as a 1115 waiver, that would have extended for 10 years Texas’ health care safety net for uninsured residents — teeing up a new round of negotiations before the existing waiver…

Bearing Drift: “There was a time when the memory of the hideous behavior of the 1930s “America First” committee was enough to keep any decent politician away from that moniker. Whether memory or decency has faded from the Republican political class is a question I leave to others….The “America First” caucus may have been scotched,…

WMC5: “For months, the mayor of Madison, Mississippi has expressed concerns over the constitutionality of Initiative 65, a ballot initiated constitutional amendment that would allow doctors in the state to prescribe medical marijuana for patients. Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler says the language in the current constitutional language that allows petitions to be put on the ballot creates a…