Political Wire: ““Early Monday afternoon, former Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) received an email from a Georgia GOP official spelling out a trio of punishments for his embrace of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign last year,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports. “The state executive committee formally expelled Duncan from the party, demanded he cease referring…
“A ‘Business-Friendly’ Lawyer’s Rise From Lobbyist to Attorney General Pick”
NY Times: “Ms. [Pam] Bondi would not be the first U.S. attorney general who previously served as a lobbyist. A review of lobbying records from the last 25 years showed that Eric H. Holder Jr., who served as attorney general during the Obama administration, had worked as a registered lobbyist, and that William P. Barr, one…
“The huge stakes in a new Supreme Court case about pornography”
Vox: “If you’ve studied First Amendment law, it’s impossible not to experience déjà vu while reading the briefs in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, a Supreme Court case the justices will hear on January 15 about online pornography. That’s because the Texas law at the heart of Free Speech Coalition is in all relevant respects identical to a…
“Buddy MacKay, a Democrat who briefly served as Florida’s governor, dead at 91”
Politico: “Former Florida Gov. Buddy MacKay, who lost to Jeb Bush in 1998 but still served 23 days in office after the sudden death of Gov. Lawton Chiles, has died. He was 91…. MacKay, Chiles’ lieutenant governor for two terms, had been trounced by Bush in the 1998 gubernatorial election when Chiles died six weeks…
“After Jimmy Carter Won the Presidency, Democrats Lost the South”
NY Times: “On the day he was sworn in as governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, an ambitious white peanut farmer from rural Sumter County, announced that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” The declaration landed like the carefully calculated bomb it was intended to be in the South of 1971 — and landed Mr….
“Judge rules Arkansas law threatening librarians with jail unconstitutional”
WaPo: “A federal judge on Monday struck down key parts of an Arkansas law that threatened librarians and booksellers with imprisonment if they were found to have provided “harmful” content to a minor. U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks ruled that two parts of Arkansas Act 372 — which Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed…
“Roy Cooper showed Democrats how to govern and win. And he’s not done.”
WaPo: “When Roy Cooper was narrowly elected North Carolina’s governor eight years ago, the prospects for a Democrat to get much done in the Tar Heel state were not exactly auspicious. As the Assembly, a North Carolina-based digital publication, wrote last week: “No governor in modern state history has faced a legislature so bent on thwarting…
“House Ethics Closes Probe Into Two Republicans”
Political Wire: ““The U.S. House Ethics Committee on Monday closed its investigations into allegations that Reps. Ronny Jackson and Wesley Hunt misused campaign funds, clearing the Texas Republicans of wrongdoing,” the Dallas Morning News reports.”
“Roy Cooper Grants Clemency to 15 on Death Row”
Political Wire: “In one of his final acts in office, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) granted clemency to 15 people on death row, forgave two people for their past crimes and made two others immediately eligible for parole, the Raleigh News & Observer reports.”
“Ex-Rep. Riggleman mulls independent run for Va. governor, lt. governor”
WaPo: “Former Republican congressman Denver Riggleman, who broke with his party over the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, is exploring an independent bid for Virginia governor or lieutenant governor thisyear, a move that could also put him at odds with the lone Democrat in the race, outgoing Rep. Abigail Spanberger, whom he endorsed two years ago for Congress.”