Kansas temporarily stops enforcing impersonating election official law

Posted on by Bryan Richardson

Kansas has agreed to temporarily stop enforcing its impersonating an election official law, clearing the air for groups that said they feared accidentally committing a crime when helping people register to vote.

Shawnee County District Court Judge Teresa Watson granted the temporary injunction this week after the parties reached an agreement, which calls for a status conference to take place after the election in November.

“This will allow the parties to focus on preparing for the coming election and to confer regarding a joint proposal to the court for resolving any remaining issues in this litigation,” the agreement said.

The League of Women Voters of Kansas, Loud Light, Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, and the Topeka Independent Living Resource Center filed a lawsuit in 2021 against Secretary of State Scott Schwab and Attorney General Kris Kobach.

In 2021, the Legislature passed a bill that made it a felony for people to represent themselves as an election official. The contested portion of the law says it’s illegal to engage in conduct that “gives the appearance” or “would cause another person to believe” someone is an election official.

On May 31, the Kansas Supreme Court reversed the Shawnee County court’s decision not to grant an injunction, ordering the lower court to reconsider the request. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled the plaintiffs had a “substantial likelihood” of prevailing.

Representatives mentioned after the May ruling that volunteers limited their assistance because of the law’s vagueness.

Loud Light on X celebrated the temporary injunction that ended “1,125 days of unconstitutional voter suppression.”

“We are fired up and ready to register thousands of young Kansans to vote again,” Loud Light President Davis Hammet said Wednesday in a statement. “For 1,125 days, Kansas’ democracy suffered irreparable harm under the Legislature’s most recent voter registration suppression scheme.”

The ruling came after an effort by the Legislature to clarify the rule fell short of a veto override.

House Bill 2618, which would’ve stopped state agencies from accepting certain federal election funds, also would have added intent as an element of the crime of impersonating an election official.
“It clarifies that you have to intend to deceive in order to be guilty of the crime of impersonating an election officer,” Rep. Pat Proctor, R-Leavenworth, said on the House floor in April. “It’s not just based on the perception of the person who thinks you are an election officer.”

Bryan Richardson is the managing editor at State Affairs Pro Kansas/Hawver’s Capitol Report. Reach him at [email protected] or on X @RichInNews.

NRCC Statement on AZ-08 Primary Election

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff
WASHINGTON – The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) released the following statement on Arizona’s 8 th Congressional district primary election results: “Congratulations to Army veteran and former prosecutor Abe Hamadeh on his primary win. The West Valley made clear they want a conservative warrior to stop extreme San Francisco radical Kamala Harris’ open borders and inflation assault, and Abe Hamadeh will do just that.” – NRCC Spokesperson Ben Petersen Background: The 8 th district is rated a “ Solid Republican ” seat.

Pima County Procurement Department wins Excellence Award for 20th consecutive year

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff
PIMA COUNTY, Aug. 1, 2024 — The Pima County Procurement Department has earned the 2024 Achievement of Excellence in Procurement® (AEP) Award from the National Procurement Institute, Inc. (NPI). This is the 20th consecutive year that Procurement has won the prestigious award. The AEP Award, established in 1995, is earned by agencies that obtain a high application score based on standardized criteria by demonstrating a commitment to procurement excellence. The AEP is awarded annually to recognize innovation, professionalism, e-procurement, productivity, and leadership in procurement organizations. Pima County Procurement Director Terri Spencer encourages her team to pursue continuing education and professional development opportunities, including certification to promote personal and professional growth. “The award application process allows our team to review and improve our procurement processes to align with best practices and to provide excellent customer service to our client departments and the public we serve,” Spencer said. “We are excited that this year’s submittal achieved points for our newly implemented eProcurement system, Bidnet Direct, which is an admirable accomplishment for our department. Receiving this award recognizes the hard work and dedication of our amazing procurement team.” The Procurement Department is one of only 12 agencies in Arizona to receive the award in 2024. Pima County is one of only 49 counties in the United States and Canada to be recognized.

Rokita, Nieshalla demand IU prove no state funds are going to Kinsey Institute

Posted on by Jarred Meeks

Attorney General Todd Rokita and State Comptroller Elise Nieshalla on Wednesday called for Indiana University to prove it is not sending taxpayer dollars to its Kinsey Institute.

In a letter to Indiana University President Pamela Whitten and the university’s board of trustees, Rokita and Nieshalla said a “lack of transparency” has led them to question whether the university is complying with last year’s budget bill, which prohibits state funds from going to the institute.

During the 2023 legislative session, Rep. Lorissa Sweet, R-Wabash, authored an amendment outlining the prohibition, which Republicans kept in the final version of the bill. On the House floor, she claimed the institute’s research on sex, gender and reproduction and the work of its founder, Alfred Kinsey, exploited children and contributed to crimes. Democrats argued the university’s funding was held to appease conservatives’ cultural agenda.

“More than a year has passed since IU assured the public and state officials that it would follow the law, yet we have seen no indication that any serious actions have been taken,” Rokita said in a Thursday news release. “IU is not above the law, and Hoosiers deserve answers.”

In March, Indiana University pledged to submit a proposed plan with the Indiana State Board of Accounts to ensure compliance with the Indiana law.

The university “has engaged with the State Board of Accounts to address compliance with IC-21-20-6, using standard accounting practices in regard to budget reporting,” Mark Bode, an Indiana University spokesperson, told State Affairs in an email Thursday.

Last year, Indiana University initially mulled making the Kinsey Institute, which merged with the university in 2016, a separate nonprofit that would continue to operate at the university’s Bloomington campus.

After the plan received pushback from Kinsey faculty, staff, affiliates and university students, the university considered creating a nonprofit that would fund and manage limited, mostly administrative functions at the institute. The functions “have historically been supported by the university’s general fund,” portions of which might include money from the state, according to an FAQ released by the university. The university’s board of trustees tabled the latter proposal in November.

At Whitten’s recommendation, the board abandoned the idea in March. The university said in a news release that it, instead, would work with the Indiana State Board of Accounts to comply with the Indiana law.

In their letter, Rokita and Nieshalla claimed the university has not implemented an accounting plan.

“With the absence of evidence per state law that tax dollars are no longer supporting the Kinsey Institute, we are calling for necessary financial information to prove adherence to state statute,” Nieshalla said in the release.

Rokita and Nieshalla asked the university for confirmation that no tax dollars have gone to the institute since July 1, 2023, when the law took effect. They also requested written explanations, if applicable, of any instances of noncompliance, an accounting plan that abides by the law and a list of all funding sources for the institute since July 1, 2023.

Contact Jarred Meeks on X @jarredsmeeks or email him at [email protected].

Full results of school carbon monoxide, radon testing survey pending

Posted on by Matthew Sasser

Twenty school districts in North Carolina have not reported data from a General Assembly-mandated carbon monoxide alarm and radon testing survey. 

The Department of Public Instruction projects $85 million will be preliminarily needed to complete the project. 

Nathan Maune, director of the Department of Public Instruction’s Office of School Facilities, said his office received an 83% response rate from public school units, except charter schools, and a 47% response rate from agency, lab, regional and statewide schools. 

“We hope to give you a further update and complete the report once we’ve obtained as much data as we reasonably can,” Maune said, adding his office is working with Department of Public Instruction regional directors to get more data. 

The provision, added to the 2023 state budget, stated that the State Board of Education should report the survey findings to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee by Dec. 15, 2023. The report should include the number of school buildings without adequate carbon monoxide detectors and the cost of radon testing equipment for all classrooms. The legislation is meant to bring public schools into compliance with Section 915 of the North Carolina State Building Code’s Fire Prevention Code. 

Over 2,500 school campuses and 7,300 individual school buildings have been surveyed so far. Though each facility was designed and constructed to the standards at the time, Maune said the legislation recognizes that building codes change every several years.

A draft report that Maune’s office submitted to the State Board of Education on Wednesday outlined preliminary findings of $40 million for nearly 38,000 carbon monoxide alarms and $45 million for radon testing in every classroom. Maune said that characterizing the statewide cost was difficult and that the district-by-district table should not be taken verbatim because it’s still in draft form. 

Board members agreed they’d like to initiate a similar survey for charter schools. Maune said the survey link could be made available to those schools.

For questions or comments, or to pass along story ideas, please write to Matthew Sasser at [email protected] or contact the NC Insider at [email protected] or @StateAffairsNC 

Schools superintendent defends decision to drop AP African American Studies class, says it violates state law

Posted on by Tammy Joyner

Georgia School Superintendent Richard Woods said he dropped a college-level high school course about African American studies from the state’s class offerings because it violates a state law regulating the teaching of sensitive subjects such as race, gender, sex and history.

Woods’ explanation comes a week after educators, lawmakers, civil rights groups and other critics slammed him for not including an Advanced Placement African American Studies class as part of the 2024-25 school year curriculum. Critics called it an assault on students’ rights and educators’ ability to teach.

“After reviewing the content, it was clear that parts of the coursework did violate the law,” Woods said in a written statement that appeared on the Georgia Department of Education’s website. “As with most states with laws like Georgia on this issue that have raised concerns, the most glaring violation is on the topic of intersectionality. If the Advanced Placement course had presented a comparative narrative with opposing views on this and other topics, an argument could be made that the course did not violate Georgia law. For me, this has always been about following the law.”

Continue reading “Schools superintendent defends decision to drop AP African American Studies class, says it violates state law”

The veepstakes will end Tuesday; meanwhile Pete auditions

Posted on by Brian A. Howey

INDIANAPOLIS — Our quadrennial veepstakes mystery will end Tuesday in Pennsylvania. That’s when presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris will kick off a swing-state tour with her new running mate.

Asked by reporters in Atlanta on Tuesday whether she had finalized her choice, Harris said, “Not yet.”

But the fact that this ticket tour begins in Philadelphia has sparked much speculation around Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. He — along with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona — is on the so-called shortlist, though anyone with any real knowledge ain’t talkin’.

Buttigieg acknowledged in an interview Monday on Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show” that he’s “probably” being vetted. 

“All I should say about it is that she’s going to make this decision,” Buttigieg said. “She’s got a process to help her make this decision.” 

When Stewart pressed him on whether he’d made the “quarterfinals,” Buttigieg said, “What I know is that there’s a flying formation. What I’ll say is, no matter what the flying formation is going to be, I’m really excited to be part of this. I’m excited to be part of this campaign.”

Since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on July 21, Secretary Buttigieg has had a ubiquitous presence across the cable news spectrum.

He will appear in Kokomo on Friday to tout the Biden administration’s job creation profile at a battery manufacturer. As he did a couple years ago, there is speculation he could attend the Indiana Democratic Editorial Association convention in French Lick later in the day. Democratic Chairman Mike Schmuhl will host an event on the veranda at 3 p.m. 

Schmuhl managed Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign, which raised more than $90 million. The New York Times reported that a significant part of Buttigieg’s donor network is backing him for the ticket.

The former South Bend mayor told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on July 26: “I think anybody would be flattered to be mentioned in that context — I certainly am. There is really not more I can or should say about that process other than she’s going to make that decision.”

He had a sensational interview on “Fox News Sunday,” which only continued to pump up his reputation as one of the Democratic Party’s best messengers.

When anchor Shannon Bream brought up the topics of immigration and crime, Buttigieg said, “The false message of the RNC was that this was leading to an increase in crime.”

Bream responded, “If people had not been in this country illegally, people would still be alive.”

Buttigieg retorted, “Of course there are individual cases, but this is my point, right, trying to make people think that crime is up when crime is down under Joe Biden and crime was up under Donald Trump. Now I don’t know how often that gets reported on this network. So if you’re watching this at home, do yourself a favor and look up the data.”

That give-and-take prompted national Republican operative and analyst Mike Murphy to call Buttigieg the Democratic Party’s top messenger who would be a ticket asset. On Monday on MSNBC, Murphy also downplayed the notion of adding a governor simply to win a swing state, saying that is a tell-tale from a bygone era.

How does Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs handicap this?

Gov. Shapiro: The Harris ticket tour beginning in Philadelphia has national pundits swooning over Gov. Shapiro. It would be awkward for him to laud a ticket that he would not be a part of. Shapiro leads a toss-up battleground state with 19 Electoral College votes. Like Harris, he’s a former prosecutor, and a dynamic speaker who carried his state with a 15% plurality over a Donald Trump acolyte two years ago. 

Sen. Kelly: He told Politico he will be in Arizona next week. Arizona is a toss-up battleground state with 11 Electoral College votes, while neighboring Nevada has six Electoral College votes (assuming Sen. Kelly has had a presence in the Las Vegas media market). His strengths to the ticket would be he would help Harris deal with the southern border controversies; his wife, Gabby Giffords, survived an assassination attempt and could help articulate gun issues; and Kelly is a former astronaut, which is seen as an asset.

Secretary Buttigieg: He would posit the ticket as a torch passing to the “next generation.” He is now a resident of toss-up battleground Michigan, where about 10% of the southwestern part of the state was in the South Bend media market. He was fully vetted when he joined the Biden cabinet. His sexual orientation has been approached by some pundits like David Axelrod as the proverbial “bridge too far,” but those citizens uncomfortable with the idea of a gay vice president probably wouldn’t vote Democrat anyway. It would be fascinating to watch Buttigieg debate Republican nominee JD Vance, who has been a font of controversial statements since he joined the GOP ticket last month. Plus, Secretary Buttigieg polls better than any of the other contenders. He’s a long shot, but this is a dynamic, game-time decision and we haven’t placed an electronic fly on the wall at Kamala HQ in Wilmington.

Gov. Walz: The Minnesota governor is credited with creating the caricature of the Republican Party as “weird.” He’s a former schoolteacher who could help keep Minnesota in the blue column while having Upper Midwest appeal that could play in neighboring toss-up battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan.

Banks supports Vance, all the way to his nomination

The night Indiana U.S. Rep. Jim Banks addressed the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, he was invited to sit in the VIP box with Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., JD Vance and Tucker Carlson.

Now, as questions swirl around the selection of Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance as the vice presidential nominee, look no further than that VIP box to figure out how he ended up on the ticket.

Numerous media sources have said Trump Jr., backed by Carlson and Banks, pushed for Vance on the ticket. (Carlson’s son, Buckley, is on Banks’ congressional staff.) “It’s the American dream — he’s just gonna be an incredible pick,” Trump Jr. told ABC News at the Republican National Convention.

After Vance addressed the RNC, Banks told Politico the pick of Vance was “generational,” adding, “It is a personal story for literally tens of thousands of Americans who feel like Washington has completely ignored them. I think especially after Saturday, Donald Trump is thinking a lot about the future. To me, it’s less about [the] running mate [as] it is about the future of our Republican Party, the future of the America First movement. And JD Vance is that future.”

But Vance’s rollout following the RNC has been cluttered with controversial quotes that have surfaced. It is unclear whether Vance underwent a comprehensive vetting process. 

The most infamous quote was the “cat lady” remark he made on Carlson’s Fox News show in 2021 when Vance called “childless” Democratic leaders out of sync with voters. But there has been an array of similar bombshells from Vance, who called Donald Trump “America’s Hitler” and compared him to “cultural heroin.”

Others have reported that Vance suggested there should be a “federal response” to keep women from traveling out of state for abortions in a January 2022 episode of Aimee Terese’s “What’s Left” podcast.

CNN analyst Harry Enten said on X that Vance is the “least-liked non-incumbent vice presidential nominee in at least 44 years,” noting he had a double-digit unfavorable rating with voters across the Midwest. A CNN poll in July found Vance had a 28% favorable rating and a 44% unfavorable — or a -16 — rating among registered voters surveyed in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.

“The people who know him best, the region that knows him best, they like him even less than America likes him,” Enten told the network’s Erin Burnett.

Banks has played a conspicuous role in Vance’s ascent. The two endorsed each other’s U.S. Senate campaigns, with Banks’ endorsement coming in 2022 while Vance endorsed the Columbia City Republican earlier this year. Banks told Axios in 2022 that Vance “isn’t afraid to stand up to the woke elites and will always put middle- and working-class Ohioans first.”

In his endorsement of Banks, coming after Mitch Daniels declined to run against him for the Senate, Vance said, “We need more leadership in Washington like Jim Banks. Jim puts the interests of our own country first, like working to secure our border from illegal immigration and illicit drugs and fentanyl, standing up against Big Tech censorship and fighting for America First trade policies that support working families with job creation right here at home.”

Vance’s first solo campaign stop after the convention was in Fort Wayne last week, with Banks in tow.

Banks has also forged a friendship with Trump Jr., who campaigned for the congressman and for gubernatorial candidate Mike Braun at Fischer Farms in Shelbyville in late March.

Before Vance was nominated for the Trump ticket, Banks conspicuously backed Vance. “On the day JD Vance was selected as vice president, it was Jim Banks who introduced JD Vance to the convention,” Allen County Republican Chairman Steve Shine said on WFIU-FM’s “Noon Edition” on July 26. “Not to delegates, but around Milwaukee.”

When Donald Trump decided on Vance for the ticket, The New York Times reported that one of the first outbound calls Vance made was to the younger Trump to thank him for his help, according to a person with knowledge of the call. The Times also reported that during Vance’s pre-RNC speech walkthrough, Trump Jr. accompanied the U.S. senator from Ohio onstage.

As for Banks, this episode isn’t the first time he has acted as a power broker. In the Dec. 8, 2011, edition of Howey Politics Indiana, Banks was described as part of a “restive” conservative wing of the Senate Majority Caucus who began targeting female Republican incumbents. State Sen. Bev Gard was facing a challenge from Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Chris Lytle. Gard ultimately retired, while Mike Crider defeated Lytle and John Merlau in the Senate District 28 primary in 2012.

Sources tell Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs that the restive conservatives — Sens. Banks, Scott Schneider, Carlin Yoder, Travis Holdman, Mike Delph, Mike Young and possibly John Waterman and Jean Leising — are banding together to push what would have been unheard of in the era of Senate President Pro Tem Bob Garton: primary challenges to sitting members. One source said it is a “movement” patterned after a similar move to the right in Congress that was championed by U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina during the Tea Party movement in 2010.

Their potential targets included Sen. Connie Lawson (who was eventually elevated to secretary of state) and Sue Glick, the LaGrange Republican who authored the state’s 2022 abortion restriction law passed in a July special session that year.

“A Tea Party challenge to U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar from Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock may have only heightened the fervor for a ‘regime change,’” Howey Politics Indiana reported in December 2011. One former legislator told Howey Politics Indiana that things had “changed immeasurably” since the past two Republican waves that brought an influx of young conservatives to the Indiana Senate. The conservatives had been traveling to Tea Party and other events across the state well outside of their Senate districts. “Brian and David have their hands full,” one source said of then-House Speaker Brian Bosma and then-Senate President David Long.

That movement didn’t gain much traction. But Banks was no worse for the wear for trying. When Banks ran for Congress in 2015, Long was among a group of Northeast GOP legislators who endorsed him.

Governor

Braun, Rainwater tax plans

Indiana gubernatorial nominees have presented dueling property tax proposals, causing the race’s focus to shift toward the practicality of their relief plans. On July 26, U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, the Republican nominee for governor, unveiled his property tax plan. Braun called for Hoosiers whose homes are valued at more than $125,000 to receive a 60% homestead deduction. Under his plan, Hoosiers with homes valued below that amount would get a 60% supplemental deduction and a $48,000 standard deduction.

In addition, Braun would cap the increase in property tax bills for seniors, “low-income” Hoosiers and families with children under 18 at 2%; all other Hoosiers’ property tax bill increases would be capped at 3%.

Donald Rainwater, the Libertarian gubernatorial nominee, said in a Monday news release that his opponent’s property tax plan displays a “desire to continue the state government’s practice of giving some Hoosiers more favorable treatment than others.” Rainwater contended Braun’s plan fails to solve the “overall issue.” 

Rainwater has proposed capping property taxes at 1% of a property’s purchase price for a maximum of seven years. He says his plan would end “perpetual” property taxes. 

“Every Hoosier deserves to own their personal property without the fear of the government taking it for failure to pay taxes,” Rainwater said in the release.

Read the full story by State Affairs Statehouse reporter Jarred Meeks here.

Democrats respond to Beckwith

Over the weekend, Braun’s running mate, Micah Beckwith, posted comments on X about the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, calling its organizers “satanic” and hoping Paris would fall into a long electrical blackout. 

“Micah is proving on the campaign trail that he would use the lieutenant governor’s office as a stage for endless culture wars, including focusing on events thousands of miles away from Indiana,” Indiana Democratic Party Spokesman Sam Barloga  said in a statement. “His outsized influence in a Braun administration will turn Indiana’s executive branch into a vehicle that pushes divisive rhetoric, book bans, and an abortion ban with no exceptions, including for rape, incest, or the life of the mother. The contrast couldn’t be more clear. Jennifer McCormick and Terry Goodin will lead with a focus on childcare reform, workers’ rights, and restoring reproductive freedom to Hoosier families.”

Large donations

Jennifer McCormick (D): Local 157 PAC Fund, $10,000 (July 25).

Mike Braun (R): Joseph Pohrer III, $10,000 (July 25); Eric Preitauer, $22,000 (July 23).

Congress

Congressional District 1: Niemeyer seeks debates

Lake County Councilman Randy Niemeyer announced Monday that his campaign has formally reached out to local organizations and media outlets to help organize three debates with incumbent Congressman Frank Mrvan. These debates are proposed to take place in each county of the district, providing a comprehensive platform for voters to hear directly from both candidates before early voting begins Oct. 8. 

Niemeyer listed as NRCC ‘Young Gun’

The National Republican Congressional Committee listed Niemeyer in the 2024 “Young Guns” program. Candidates who achieve full Young Guns status have successfully collaborated with the NRCC and completed the requirements that establish a path to victory on Election Day. 

Niemeyer issued the following statement: “I am honored to be named to the NRCC Young Guns program. I am humbled by the support we have received from hardworking Hoosiers to conservative leaders across the country. There is much work to be done to flip this district and bring true leadership to Indiana’s First District. Our campaign remains focused on common-sense solutions to the issues that matter most: reducing inflation, securing our border, and keeping our neighborhoods safe. Together, we can deliver the positive change that Northwest Indiana deserves.”

Congressional District 6: Farm Bureau endorses Shreve

Indiana Farm Bureau’s federal, nonpartisan political action committee, the Indiana Farm Bureau ELECT PAC, has endorsed Jefferson Shreve. 

“At the federal level, there are many legislative decisions made each year that can impact Hoosier farmers’ bottom line and how they run their operations,” said Randy Kron, president of Indiana Farm Bureau. “The Indiana Farm Bureau ELECT PAC is happy to endorse Jefferson Shreve for Indiana’s sixth congressional district because we need elected officials who are willing to listen to and advocate for Indiana agriculture and rural communities in D.C.”  

Brian A. Howey is senior writer and columnist for Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs. Find Howey on Facebook and X @hwypol.

July tax revenues slightly below expectations

Posted on by Brett Stover

Kansas tax collections slightly missed the mark in July, falling 1% below expectations.

The state collected $660.3 million last month, the Kansas Department of Revenue said Thursday. That’s $6.4 million less than anticipated, and total tax collections were down 3% year-over-year for July.

Corporate income tax collections — as they were for much of fiscal year 2024 — were down in July, missing the mark by 31.4% ($15.7 million) and falling 23.3% short of July 2023 collections.

In July, a spokesperson for the Kansas Department of Revenue said the 2022 SALT Parity Act, which affects corporate income tax collections, has made those estimates “slightly harder to predict, since the law is still fairly new.”

Individual income tax collections exceeded expectations by 2.8%, though they were down 1.7% from last July. Combined sales and compensating use tax revenues also came in 1.4% higher than anticipated.

The revenue department reported last month that Kansas fell just short of its roughly $10.18 billion revenue projection for fiscal year 2024 by just over $43 million, or less than half a percent.

Brett Stover is a Statehouse reporter at State Affairs Pro Kansas/Hawver’s Capitol Report. Reach him at [email protected] or on X @BrettStoverKS.

Wake Up Call for Thursday, August 1, 2024

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff
Leach leading in LD17 Republican Senate primary race Arizona Capitol Times Former lawmaker Vince Leach has taken a slight lead in the Legislative District 17 Republican Senate primary, where he hopes to unseat incumbent Justine Wadsack. Incumbent leads Dem primary in LD23 Arizona Capitol Times Incumbent Rep. Mariana Sandoval leads the Democratic Legislative District 23 primary race with just under 49% of votes after Tuesday’s early results from the Secretary of State’s office at about 8:45 p.m. Matias Rosales, a city councilman in San Luis, has gained about 35% of votes. Incumbent and running mate lead LD14 GOP House primary Arizona Capitol Times A Republican House candidate in Legislative District 14 whose husband and brother-in-law were recently charged with misdemeanors after a scuffle at a local GOP meeting trails in the district’s House race after Tuesday’s preliminary voting results. Mayes weighs in on abortion, election ballot measures Capitol Media Services Attorney General Kris Mayes is weighing in against Republican lawmakers over how they are seeking to describe two ballot measures to voters. Tribe considers blocking trucks hauling uranium Associated Press The Navajo Nation planned on July 30 to test a tribal law that bans uranium from being transported on its land by ordering tribal police to stop trucks carrying the mineral and return to the mine where it was extracted in northern Arizona. Critic of Arizona’s elections operations unseats incumbent election official in GOP primary Associated Press A critic of Arizona’s voting operations has unseated the Maricopa County recorder in a Republican primary. Elsewhere, races were undecided with thousands of ballots left to be counted statewide. Vice President Kamala Harris to campaign in Arizona next week ABC15 Vice President Kamala Harris is set to campaign in Arizona next week as she tours battleground states ahead of the November election. Same APS discrimination against solar customers Arizona Capitol Times Arizona Public Service likes to tout itself as somehow new and different. It is not the APS we remember involved in scandals at the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) or opposing renewable energy like with Proposition 127. They have new leadership and clean energy goals now.  Stephen Richer loses — and shows everyone what election integrity looks like Arizona Republic One of the surprises of election night — to me, at least — was the defeat of Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer. Kari Lake wins, but alarm bells should be ringing wildly at GOP headquarters Arizona Republic It wasn’t a great night in Arizona for Donald Trump. To no one’s surprise, Kari Lake won her U.S. Senate primary, but she isn’t posting anywhere near the numbers she needed to show she’s a contender in November.

Why Trump is telling Christians they need to vote ‘just this time’

Posted on by Brian A. Howey

INDIANAPOLIS — On the face of it, Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump continues to say bizarre things at his rallies, but his intent is right there for all to see.

Trump said at The Believers’ Summit on July 26 in Florida: “Christians, get out and vote. Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore, you know what? Four more years, it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.”

Asked to clarify Trump’s intent, campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement: “President Trump was talking about uniting this country and bringing prosperity to every American, as opposed to the divisive political environment that has sowed so much division and even resulted in an assassination attempt.”

Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Monday urged Trump to reframe that notion. Instead, he doubled down: “I said, ‘Vote for me; you’re not going to have to do it ever again.’ It’s true.”

“You meant you [they] won’t have to vote for you because you’ll have four years in office,” Ingraham pressed.

“I’m saying, ‘Go out; you must vote,’” Trump replied. “I said to the Christians in the room … ‘You have to vote on Nov. 5. After that, you don’t have to worry about voting anymore. I don’t care because we’re going to fix it. The country will be fixed. … We won’t even need your vote anymore because, frankly, we will have such love.’”

For those who see Trump as an aspiring autocrat, the concern is that if he returns to the White House next January, he will ignore the constitutional term limits that came with the 22nd Amendment.

Section 1 reads: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.”

Trump has often praised autocratic leaders like Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping, both of whom rewrote their constitutions to extend their power. Xi is now “president for life.”

In 2018, President Trump reacted at a closed-door fundraiser in Florida, saying, “He’s now president for life. President for life. And he’s great. And look, he was able to do that. I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot someday.”

Such rhetoric sends chills down the spines of Americans who value democracy because Trump has acted like an aspiring autocrat repeatedly. He says routinely that elections have been “rigged” and “stolen” with virtually no evidence to back up those assertions. Jan. 6, 2021, is Exhibit A, when he sent a mob of supporters to the U.S. Capitol in an assault aimed at disrupting the decertification process. The attack wounded more than 140 cops and prompted over 1,000 federal criminal charges.

He has since called for the “termination” of the U.S. Constitution and said on Fox News he would only be a “dictator … on day one.” He has threatened to execute Gen. Mark Milley, the former Joint Chiefs of Staff chair, and hold “televised military tribunals” for political opponents ranging from Liz Cheney to former Vice President Mike Pence.

A grinning Republican New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said on ABC’s “This Week”: “I think he’s just trying to make the point that this stuff can be fixed. We want everybody to vote in all elections. But I think he was just trying to make a hyperbolic point that — that it can be fixed as long as he gets back into office and all that. But, you know, classic Trump right there.”

Yep, classic Trump, uttering what we call the quiet parts out loud.

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said on CNN’s “State of the Union”: “I think he’s obviously making a joke about how bad things had been under Joe Biden and how good they’ll be if we send President Trump back to the White House so we can turn the country around.” 

That goes beyond joking when taken into context.

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said on X that “whether this was a joke or not, talking about being President for life like Xi Jinping is the most un-American sentiment expressed by an American President. George Washington would roll over in his grave.”

In 2019 at a Republican congressional conference, Trump said of Xi: “He said, ‘But I am not king; I am president.’ I said, ‘No, you’re president for life, and therefore you’re king.’” 

Trump is also saying at rallies something completely antithetical for a presidential nominee. He is repeatedly telling supporters he doesn’t need their votes.

“My instruction: We don’t need the votes; I have so many votes,” Trump said on “Fox & Friends” on July 25.

The day after his June presidential debate with Biden, Trump said at a Virginia rally: “We don’t need votes.” A week earlier, he told another GOP conference: “I tell my people, ‘I don’t need any votes. We don’t need the votes.’”

And in Detroit earlier this summer, Trump said, “Listen, we don’t need votes. We don’t need votes. We have to stop — focus, don’t worry about votes.”

What is going on here?

Those remarks appear to be part of a planned Trump campaign assault on the nation’s patchwork of local and state election certification. That could lurch America into a constitutional crisis between the November election and the January 2025 inauguration if several counties refuse to certify results, thus holding up entire states.

The goal here would be to discredit the election by blowing certification deadlines, thus throwing the stalled process to the U.S. House to decide what is called a “contingent election.” That has occurred three times, in 1801, 1825 and 1837.

“Certification is kind of a new Wild West of election work,” Stephanie Jackson Ali, the policy director for voting rights group New Georgia Project, told CNN. “If you can hold up certification, then it really brings into question, can the state certify as a whole? And that means, can we send our delegates for president?”

Republicans on Washoe County’s Board of Commissioners in Nevada refused to certify local election results, as did Republicans on a board of canvassers in Delta County, Michigan, CNN reported.

The Associated Press reported in June: “The past four years have been filled with battles over all sorts of election arcana, including one that had long been regarded as an administrative afterthought — little-known state and local boards certifying the results. With the presidential election looming in November, attorneys are gearing up for yet more fights over election certification, especially in the swing states where the victory margins are expected to be tight. Even if those efforts ultimately fail, election officials worry they’ll become a vehicle for promoting bogus election claims.”

We should never forget the images of the U.S. Capitol under assault in an attempted coup d’état in the face of clear popular vote and Electoral College results.

The sequel is being planned and staged right before our eyes and ears, right now.

Brian A. Howey is senior writer and columnist for Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs. Find Howey on Facebook and X @hwypol.

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