The Atlantic: “Figuring out why Cooper keeps winning could have potentially huge implications for determining whether he’s a fluke or a model for Democrats across the South and in other red states. Cooper’s races never became national Democratic causes. He has set no major fundraising records. He’s not an otherworldly political talent. And yet his…

The Intellectualist: “Texas Republican Party Chairman Allen West this week voiced support for allowing Texans to vote on whether the state should secede from the union, journalist Judd Legum reported on Friday….Asked what he thinks about the notion of “Texit,” already introduced as HB 1359, the Texas Independence Referendum Act, West commented that he has “always said [he]…

Watauga Watch: “Dallas Woodhouse — yes, that Dallas Woodhouse — is now director of strategic operations at the Civitas Institute, and he has his name on something of a political scoop about the potential Democratic primary in 2022 for the US Senate seat currently occupied by Richard Burr. Woodhouse reports that former NC Chief Justice Cheri Beasley “has hired a new…

AP: “U.S. Sen. Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the Senate’s fourth most senior member, has told confidantes that he does not intend to run for reelection next year — prompting some Republicans to urge the powerful, establishment politician to reconsider, even as potential replacements prepare to run for his seat. The senator in recent weeks…

THV-11: “A controversial Stand Your Ground bill that passed the Arkansas Senate was voted down in the House Committee Tuesday, effectively stopping the bill from becoming law. The Senate panel previously voted in favor of loosening restrictions on the use of deadly force in self-defense last month before it was sent to the House. The…

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Control of the U.S. Senate was on the line, but many Georgia Republicans — at least some deterred by Donald Trump’s loss — stayed home rather than cast ballots in January’s runoffs. Their absence at the polls helped swing Georgia and the Senate to the Democrats. Over 752,000 Georgia voters who cast ballots…

WSB-TV: “He has been one of the most vocal, visible and controversial critics of the integrity of Georgia’s election. Attorney Lin Wood filed lawsuits and held rallies, claiming people voted illegally in the 2020 presidential election. Now Channel 2 investigative reporter Justin Gray has learned that the state has launched an investigation into whether Wood himself was…

NY Times: ““Over the years, I have been rebelling against second-class citizenship. It didn’t begin when I was arrested,” Mrs. Parks reminded interviewers time and again. Born Feb. 4, 1913, she had been an activist for two decades before her bus stand — beginning with her work alongside Raymond Parks in 1931, whom she married…

The Hill: “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday blasted Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s embrace of “loony lies and conspiracy theories” as a “cancer for the Republican Party.”  “Somebody who’s suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.’s airplane is…

AP: “Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Sunday the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine has been “seamless” under the administration of President Joe Biden. Hutchinson said on ABC’s “This Week” that anything that can be done to speed up production of vaccines, including invoking the Defense Production Act, would be good. “In terms of the vaccine…