WaPo: “Thomas Stovall grew up in a strict Baptist family in Mississippi and always believed that anyone involved with abortion was destined for hell. But his lifelong conviction crumbled when his wife, Chelsea, was 20 weeks pregnant with their third child. Tests showed a severely malformed and underdeveloped fetus, one that was sure to be stillborn if…
“Paxton’s election fraud charges upend lives but result in few convictions”
WaPo: “The church leader’s case fits a pattern that has emerged in Texas under Paxton: Aggressive prosecutions for alleged election fraud crimes that upend lives but result in few cases that go to trial and end in a conviction. The Republican attorney general and his supporters believe election fraud is rampant, and point to the…
“UT-Austin student sues over arrest during pro-Palestinian demonstrations”
TX Tribune: “A University of Texas at Austin student has sued the university, President Jay Hartzell and Vice President and Provost Sharon Wood, claiming that the university violated his First Amendment rights when he was arrested during a pro-Palestinian demonstration on campus this spring. Ammer Qaddumi filed the lawsuit in U.S. federal court Tuesday, which…
“Journalist withheld information about Emmett Till’s murder, documents show”
WaPo: “A journalist whose 1956 article was billed as the “true account” of Emmett Till’s murder withheld credible information about people involved in the crime, according to newly discovered documents. William Bradford Huie’s article in Look magazine helped shape the country’s understanding of 14-year-old Till’s abduction, torture and slaying in Jim Crow-era Mississippi. The article…
“Steve Kornacki and Chuck Todd Analyze Democrats’ Chances of Winning North Carolina and Georgia”
NBC News: “Chuck Todd, Steve Kornacki and Mike Memoli join Meet the Press NOW to break down the state of the race, as the Harris-Walz ticket campaigns in Georgia, with North Carolina emerging as a presidential toss-up.” [VIDEO AT LINK]
“In the Battle for Georgia, Democrats Lose a Key Fighter”
NY Times: “When Democrats flipped Georgia in 2020, Bishop Reginald T. Jackson, the leader of the African Methodist Episcopal Church’s Sixth Episcopal District, had been in the state just four years. That was all the time he needed to turn a disjointed operation into a political machine. His success in mobilizing Black voters of faith…
“Ron DeSantis is struggling to maintain power in Florida following presidential campaign flop”
Politico: “Gov. Ron DeSantis — whose pugnacious brand of politics made him a national Republican star — is now finding himself against the ropes at home. DeSantis pulled back a contentious plan this week to add golf courses and hotels at some Florida state parks. The governor acted after his administration’s “Great Outdoors Initiative” faced…
“Trump comes out against Florida’s abortion rights ballot measure after conservative backlash”
NBC News: “Former President Donald Trump came out on Friday against a ballot measure in his home state of Florida that would expand access to abortion, after spending a day doing damage control on the issue. His announcement came a day after telling NBC News that Florida’s six-week ban is “too short” and declining to take a clear stance…
“In North Carolina, the Math for a Supermajority May Come Down to One”
NY Times: “Nowhere has the battle been more magnified than in North Carolina, a heavily gerrymandered state where Republicans hold the 60 percent minimum required for an override in both chambers, even though registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans. Last year, after State Representative Tricia Cotham unexpectedly switched her party affiliation from Democrat to Republican, Republican leaders were able to enact a…
“RFK Jr. Sues North Carolina to Get Off the Ballot”
Political Wire: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is suing the North Carolina State Board of Elections in a last-ditch attempt to get his name removed the state’s ballot ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the Raleigh News and Observer reports.”