Daily Archives: July 31, 2022

OPINION:

The Republican National Convention is coming to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Well, technically, the members of the Republican National Committee (RNC) must vote on the matter during their meetings in Chicago this week. The site selection committee recommended the Badger States largest city be the host of the 2024 convention and themembers of the RNC should affirm that decision at their summer meetings. So why will it be in Milwaukee?

First, it is a turnkey proposal. The region was successful inwinning the bid for the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Arrangements for hotel accommodations, catering and other food services, security concerns, and other issues were worked out for a national political convention and can be used again in 2024.

In addition, much of the money raised for the 2020 convention comes from sources that can be tapped again for the 2024 convention. Most of the businesses, foundations, and individuals who were interested in hosting a convention in Milwaukee were motivated by civic pride and economic impact. The groundwork was done andis largely transferable to the next convention.

Overall, the local convention and visitors bureauVisit Milwaukeeput together an impressive proposal. Because they had done the same for the Democrats convention in 2020, the people making the recommendation for the RNC knew Milwaukee could deliver on their promises. The new Mayor of Milwaukee did an excellent job convincing the selection panel that they would be welcome. The chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party did a great job of bringing people together in the region. Local activist Gerard Randal helped lead the charge with former RNC Chairman Reince Preibus. John Hiller and others helped behind the scenes. It was a great team effort.

Many might not know this, but Milwaukee sits on the shores of Lake Michigan with one of the most open lakefronts in the Great Lakes region. It is the home of several professional sports teams, arts and entertainment, museums, an award-winning zoo, outstanding restaurants and bars, and Summerfestthe worlds largest music festival.

Second, the Fiserv Forum is a state-of-art facility perfect for hosting a national convention. The home of world champion Milwaukee Bucks is the second newest arena in the National Basketball Association. I was with members of the site selection committee when they toured the Fiserv Forum earlier this year. They were impressed with the complex. It has sufficient seating, excellent access for staging and equipment, and a remarkable entertainment area outside called the Deer District.

In addition, the Fiserv Forum was built with the latest technology.Chairman Preibus noted that it cost the party organizers around $1 million to install 5G equipment at the arena in Cleveland, Ohio for the 2016 national convention. That technology is already built into the Fiserv Forum.

Financing for the new construction was unique. In Wisconsin, professional basketball players (home and visiting teams) pay a prorated income tax for each game. These funds were used to cover the commitment from the state government. The current and former owners of the team matched the public commitment to the newarena. Unlike most sports construction projects, it was done without a new or increased tax.

Overall, the pitch was simple: Milwaukee could match the plans of any of the other sites under consideration for the convention. Once we made the case that we were equal to or better than the other regions, my final push was to go to a state that matters.

In 2016, Wisconsin was key to the election of President DonaldTrump. In 2020, the reverse was true for President Joe Biden. In 2000 and 2004, the margin was less than one vote per ward across the state. Wisconsin is a true battleground state.

In contrast, the other finalist for the 2024 Republican National Convention is Nashville. It is a great city in a wonderful state. But Tennessee has not gone for a Democrat in a presidential election in decades. Even former Vice President Al Gore could not carry his home state twenty-two years ago. The electoral college votes of the Volunteer State are going for whomever the Republican candidate for President is in 2024.

With that in mind, why not pick a city in a state that matters?

Improving the margins in Milwaukee can help make that happen in 2024. Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson carried Milwaukee County in one of his re-election campaigns. And I was elected the Milwaukee County Executive three times in an area that traditionallyvotes for Democrats by about a two-to-one margin.

Making inroads in Milwaukee could help carry the State of Wisconsin,which might be the key to a Republican President winning in 2024. That is why all roads appear to be headed to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the next Republican National Convention. We will have a cold beer ready for you!

Scott Walker is the president of Young Americas Foundation and served as the 45th governor of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019.

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Why the Republican National Convention should be held in Milwaukee - Washington Times

Republican flamethrowers and culture warriors like Donald Trump and Representatives Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene typically draw an outsize amount of media attention.

Americans may conclude from this that there is a striking, and perhaps unfortunate, relationship between extremism and political success.

But Republicans arent hoping for a red wave in the midterms only because norm-thrashing or scandal sells. The truth is much more banal, yet also important for parties to internalize and better for politics generally: In states across the country, Republican governors are delivering real results for people they are physically more proximate to than federal officials.

Now, its true that the party that controls the presidency nearly always gets whipped in midterm elections, and inflation would be a huge drag on any party in power. And its also true that among those governors are culture warriors like Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas.

But people too often overlook the idea that actual results, especially ones related to pocketbook issues, can often be as important as rhetoric. Looked at that way, lots of Republicans some with high public profiles, and some who fly below the radar are excelling.

Start with the simplest measure: popularity. Across the country, 13 of the 15 most popular governors are Republicans. That list does not just include red states. In fact, blue-state Republican governors like Phil Scott of Vermont, Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and Larry Hogan of Maryland are among the most popular.

There are many reasons that G.O.P. governors seem to be succeeding. Its true that governors cant take credit for everything. Sometimes they just get lucky. But they do make policy choices, and those made by governors since the start of Covid have made a difference in particular.

For example, take a look at the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data on unemployment. In the 10 states with the lowest rates as of June, eight were led by Republican governors. Several governors who dont make frequent appearances in national news stand out, like Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, Spencer Cox of Utah and Phil Scott of Vermont. Their states have unemployment rates under 2.5 percent, and of the 20 states with the lowest unemployment rates, just four are led by Democrats.

States with Republican governors have also excelled in economic recovery since the start of the pandemic. Standouts in this measure include Mr. Abbott and Doug Ducey of Arizona.

These results reflect many things some states have grown and others have shrunk, for example but are at least in part a result of policy choices made by their elected leaders since the start of the pandemic. For example, governors like Kristi Noem in South Dakota often rejected lockdowns and economic closures.

Republican governors were also far more likely to get children back to in-person school, despite intense criticism.

Covid policy doesnt explain everything. Fiscal governance has also made a difference. The Cato Institutes Fiscal Report Card on Americas governors for 2020 (the most recent edition available), which grades them on tax and spending records, gives high marks to many Republicans. Nearly all of the top-ranked states in this report have Republican governors, like Kim Reynolds of Iowa or Mr. Ricketts. (Some Democratic governors also ranked highly, including Steve Sisolak of Nevada and Roy Cooper of North Carolina.) Some have made their mark with employer-attracting tax cuts, others with spending controls, others with a mixture.

Most states mandate a balanced budget, so taxing and spending policies are important for fiscal stability. Low taxes tend to attract and keep employers and employees. Restrained budgets help ensure that taxes can be kept low without sacrificing bond ratings, which may matter if debt-financed spending is needed in a crisis or to try to stimulate businesses to hire more.

Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas has cut taxes for individuals, reduced the number of tax brackets and cut the corporate income tax rate. Mr. Sununu has restrained spending, vetoed a payroll tax proposal and cut business taxes. Brian Kemp of Georgia, by contrast, actually paused some tax cuts that had been scheduled and focused almost exclusively on spending restraint, issuing a directive for state agencies to generate budget cuts and keeping 2020 general fund growth to a tiny 1 percent.

Even in blue Vermont, Mr. Scott despite being an odd duck among governors because he is not constrained by a balanced-budget amendment kept the increase in general fund spendingto an annual average of just 2.4 percent between 2017 and 2020, and he has also cut taxes. He signed a bill to ensure that the federal tax reform instituted under Mr. Trump and limiting state and local tax deductions wouldnt result in Vermonters getting hammered. He has also cut individual income tax rates, reduced the number of tax brackets and resisted new payroll taxes in favor of voluntary paid leave plans for private-sector employers.

Republicans who have a big impact on the day-to-day lives of many Americans unlike, say, Representative Kevin McCarthy or certainly Mr. Trump, and in terms of the quality of state economies, local job markets and education are delivering. In our federalist system, a lot of power still sits with states and not the federal government and determines much about citizens lives.

This is a big reason that Republicans are well positioned heading into the midterms. It should be a warning to Joe Biden and Democrats and to some of the culture warriors. Cable-news combat over whatever the outrage of the day is may deliver politicians the spotlight. But sound economic policy and focusing on the job, not theatrics, are delivering basic day-to-day results that Americans want, need and will reward.

Liz Mair (@LizMair), a strategist for campaigns by Scott Walker, Roy Blunt, Rand Paul, Carly Fiorina and Rick Perry, is the founder and president of Mair Strategies.

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Opinion | These Republican Governors Are Delivering Results, and Many Voters Like Them for It - The New York Times

Republicans are "telling themselves lies" and hoping Donald Trump will simply go away, according to a biographer.

Tim O'Brien, the author of TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald and senior executive editor of Bloomberg Opinion, made the remarks on Mary Trump's podcast.

People "routinely discount how damaging and destructive" Trump can be, O'Brien said.

"I think we we know how dangerous it would be to pretend that Donald is not a problem anymore. That if we just ignore him, he'll go away," added Mary Trump, the former president's niece and a frequent critic.

But as the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol continues to present damning evidence about Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, she said it was also important "to talk about his enablers and the people who use him for their own ends, and the people he uses."

O'Brien said Trump had a "reptilian sensibility about other people's vulnerability" and said some in his orbit "overestimate who he is."

Another group view Trump as "their useful idiot, someone who they think they can manipulate or use to further their financial or political or social ends," he said.

O'Brien continued: "I am surprised by the willingness of people who can see right in front of themselves what he's doing.

"Of the entire GOP, major institution, outside of political institutions, law enforcement, business institutions, academic institutions, and they essentially tell themselves lies and delude themselves, I think, in the belief that he might go away or he won't be bad or that he can be channeled to get their own goal enabled and realized.

"And time and time again, he takes advantage of them. All of them. Each and every single one of them."

O'Brien went on to warn that "Trumpism" would not be going away even if Trump does not win a second term in the White House in 2024.

"Trumpism isn't going away... [it] inhabits a bigger part of the Republican Party than when Donald first descended," he said. "And I think that we're going to be living with that for a long time whether or not he becomes president."

During the podcast, Mary Trump also said that while Trump is clearly paying attention to the January 6 hearings, they would not have any impact on his behavior.

"Donald's paying attention to January 6, but it's not going to modify his behavior in any way," she said.

Newsweek has contacted Trump's spokeswoman and the Republican National Committee for comment.

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Republicans Lying to Themselves and Hoping Trump Will Go Away: Biographer - Newsweek

As the lone Republican in the New York City congressional delegation, Representative Nicole Malliotakis has adopted certain stances that would make her an understandable outlier in a deeply Democratic city.

Just days after taking office in early 2021, she voted to discard the legitimate 2020 election results, voting for a debunked conspiracy theory that claimed President Donald J. Trump actually won the election. She followed up by voting against Mr. Trumps second impeachment as a result of the deadly Capitol riots of Jan. 6, 2021.

But as she seeks re-election in November, Ms. Malliotakis has tried to tread a finer line around guns and abortion, two polarizing social issues that have taken on added prominence in light of recent Supreme Court decisions. (In June, the court overturned the federal right to abortion, as well as a New York law governing concealed weapons.)

On guns, for example, Ms. Malliotakis has voiced some support for new regulations, even voting for several Democratic gun control bills proffered in the wake of the massacres in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas. She later, however, voted against the omnibus bill package, contending that it was constitutionally suspect and represented a partisan overreach.

Ms. Malliotakis opposes abortion rights, favoring restrictions on using taxpayer funding for the procedure and on late-term abortions. But she has said that she believes that abortion should be allowed under certain circumstances, such as when the life of the mother is at risk.

But Ms. Malliotakis has also tried to maintain some distance from the courts decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, saying in a recent interview that she didnt weigh in on it. Yet earlier this month, the congresswoman voted against a pair of bills that would have banned states from restricting abortions and prohibited them from blocking access to out-of-state abortion services.

Republicans, who are expected to fare well in Novembers midterm elections, have long fought to overturn Roe. Yet some of the partys candidates have not rushed to embrace the Dobbs ruling, wary of alienating voters who, according to polls, may be swayed by social issues in ways that help Democrats.

Ms. Malliotakis is a prime example. Her district encompasses Staten Island and a swath of southwest Brooklyn, some of the citys most conservative areas. Yet New York remains an overwhelmingly Democratic city, and the recent Supreme Court rulings were profoundly unpopular here.

So, like many of her Republican colleagues, Ms. Malliotakis, a first-term congresswoman, is instead trying to steer the conversation toward bottom-line issues like inflation and high gas prices.

People are struggling putting gas in their tanks, putting food on their tables, paying their bills, Ms. Malliotakis said in a recent interview.

For some people who are single-issue individuals, it could potentially have an impact, she added, of her statements on guns and abortion. But I know that crime and pocketbook issues are the most important issues to the people I represent.

Ms. Malliotakis is expected to easily win her Republican primary next month against John Matland, a badly underfunded rival, setting her up for a likely rematch against Max Rose, the former Democratic congressman whom she unseated in 2020.

Mr. Rose, a combat veteran who was wounded in Afghanistan and awarded the Bronze Star, has sought to tie Ms. Malliotakis to the extreme elements of the Republican Party, including Mr. Trump, and to the Capitol riot by the presidents supporters, saying he is running to protect the soul of America.

Everything that our country was built upon wasnt just spit at: They tried to destroy it, he said during a campaign walkabout on July 11 in Bay Ridge. And even after even after Nicole, and everyone else in Congress who were almost killed, they still voted to decertify.

He is also openly derisive of Ms. Malliotakiss seeming duality on some hot-button issues, mocking her limited embrace of gun control, for example, as nothing more than a few ceremonial votes.

When it came time for the package to be voted on, as she always does, she played both sides, he said, referring to the omnibus bill. Voted for it before she voted against it. Who knows whats going on here?

Mr. Rose has also held a handful of public events after the Supreme Court ruling on abortion including one at Ms. Malliotakiss Brooklyn district office in Bay Ridge to portray her as out of touch with her district, even on Staten Island, saying the congresswoman is on the wrong side of history.

I generally do believe that when it comes down to it, people are on the side of women having the opportunity to make those decisions for themselves, he said.

In recent weeks, Mr. Rose continued that line of attack, saying the congresswoman had tweeted over 180 times and issued 13 press releases since the Dobbs decision, but has said nothing about millions of women losing control over their bodies.

When asked specifically about the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe, Ms. Malliotakis demurred.

My constituents, they know that nothing is going to change in New York, she said. The Supreme Court interprets the Constitution, so we have to accept the Supreme Courts decision regardless.

Ms. Malliotakiss comments have also given fodder to her opponents on the right, including Mr. Matland, a health care worker who lost his job for refusing to be vaccinated, and who is seeking to oust Ms. Malliotakis in the Aug. 23 primary with a low-budget, anti-establishment campaign.

Mr. Matland, who is making his first run for public office, said that Ms. Malliotakis has often alienated the Republican base, and that she has only been voted into office because of her name recognition she served five terms in the State Assembly and ran unsuccessfully in 2017 for mayor of New York City and her districts aversion to Democratic candidates.

People say I only voted for her and Im guilty of this myself because I thought she was a much better option than Max Rose, Mr. Matland said, adding, And thats the exact reason we have primaries: so we can get a better option.

Considering the likelihood of a tough year for Democrats nationally, most observers think that Mr. Rose will have an uphill battle in November, assuming he wins his primary in August against two challengers: Brittany Ramos DeBarros, a progressive community activist, and Komi Agoda-Koussema, an educator.

Mr. Roses campaign was also dealt a setback earlier this year when a state judge threw out new Democrat-drawn congressional lines that could have tilted the district heavily in his favor. The refashioned lines, drawn by a redistricting expert in May, left the district looking largely the same, though its section of Brooklyn about half as populous as the Staten Island portion did favor President Biden over Mr. Trump by about 12 points in the 2020 election.

Ms. Malliotakis accused Mr. Rose of entering the race only because he thought they were going to change the lines in his favor.

The good news about reruns is we know how they end, Ms. Malliotakis said of her rematch against Mr. Rose.

Vito Fossella, the Republican who serves as the Staten Island borough president, echoed that sentiment, saying he didnt see how the dynamics of the race have changed much since 2020, and suggesting that abortion and guns would not be major issues for Staten Island voters.

On balance, what people care about is Are we safe? Are we comfortable economically? Do we have a brighter future? said Mr. Fossella, who is a supporter of Ms. Malliotakis.

A path to re-election for Ms. Malliotakis, 41, will likely include a big win on the islands South Shore, a Republican stronghold, to offset the more liberal neighborhoods in the north. And for South Shore residents like Edward Carey, a retired banking executive who winters in Florida but has a house in the Eltingville neighborhood, Ms. Malliotakis is already a sure thing. He noted the backing of Mr. Fossella, as well as other factors.

Shes a Republican, shes a woman, shes young, said Mr. Carey, 83, a registered Republican who said the last Democrat he voted for was John F. Kennedy. Thats good enough for me.

Still, State Senator Diane J. Savino, a moderate Democrat who has represented the north part of Staten Island for nearly two decades, said you cannot pinpoint Staten Island voters.

Its not that theyre Republican or Democrat, left-leaning or right-leaning: Its whether or not that candidate speaks to what touches Staten Islanders, she said, noting the islands recent history of vacillating between parties. Anybody who thinks that they can put their finger on the pulse of Staten Island voters doesnt know what theyre talking about.

She also criticized Ms. Malliotakis for being wishy-washy on critical issues, but noted that voters dont seem to care.

Up until now, Nicole has skirted on this, Ms. Savino said, referring to Ms. Malliotakiss anti-abortion votes in Washington and Albany. No one ever holds her accountable. So I dont think thats going to drive voters here. Whats going to drive voters is whether or not they think theyre going to have someone who is going to fight for them in Washington.

Vin DeRosa, a patron at Jodys Club Forest, a popular bar near the North Shore where Mr. Rose has been known to drink, is a registered Democrat but said he considers himself an independent who votes for the person rather than the party line.

Mr. DeRosa, a retired telecommunications professional, said that he had voted for Mr. Rose in 2020, and that he likely would again, if only because of Ms. Malliotakiss association with Mr. Trump.

Im not sure I want a congressperson who has to call Mar-a-Lago, Mr. DeRosa said, to find out what to do.

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A New Yorkers Opposition to Abortion Clouds Her House Re-Election Bid - The New York Times

WASHINGTON (AP) A congressional candidate whose compelling personal story of military valor and tragic loss helped him win former President Donald Trumps support has connections to right-wing extremists, including a campaign consultant who was a member of the Proud Boys.

Republican Joe Kent, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington state in the Aug. 2 primary, has also courted prominent white nationalists and posed recently for a photograph with a media personality who has previously described Adolf Hitler as a complicated historical figure who many people misunderstand.

An Associated Press review of internet postings, court records and campaign finance disclosures depict a candidate with a more complicated biography than the compelling personal story that turned the 42-year-old Kent into a favorite of conservative media.

Square-jawed with wavy black hair and sleeve tattoos, the former Green Beret served 11 combat deployments before retiring from Special Forces to join the CIA. He also endured unspeakable tragedy: His wife, Shannon, a Navy cryptologist, was killed by a suicide bomber in 2019 while fighting the Islamic State group in Syria, leaving him to raise their two young sons alone.

Many [Republican] politicians play footsie with [right-wing extremist]. Kent is just unabashed.

But taken broadly, Kents recent relationships and activities reinforce concerns about the GOPs ties to extremist groups. The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has drawn attention to the role such organizations, particularly the Proud Boys, played in the effort to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power after Trumps re-election loss in 2020.

Theres a through line, said Dave Neiwert, an author and journalist who has covered right-wing extremism in the Pacific Northwest for decades. Many [Republican] politicians play footsie with it. Kent is just unabashed.

Kents campaign declined to make him available for an interview.

Joe Kents platform of inclusive populism rejects racism and bigotry and invites all Americans to support his aggressive America First agenda of rebuilding our industries, ending illegal immigration, and stopping stupid military interventions that dont directly support our national interest, Matt Braynard, a Kent strategist, said in a statement.

Ahead of the final slate of primaries that unfold in August, Kent is not the only House candidate worrying some Republicans who fear an otherwise favorable political climate to regain control of the House could be threatened by candidates seen as too extreme.

From the archives (December 2020): We just have to limit the damage that hes causing: Republican governor on risk Trump poses to a party that otherwise teems with 2022 confidence

In Michigan, John Gibbs, a former Trump administration official challenging Republican Rep. Peter Meijer, once spread false claims that Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign chairman participated in a satanic ritual that involved bodily fluids.

In New York, Carl Paladino, a former GOP candidate for governor now running for the House, praised Hitler last year as the kind of leader we need today and once emailed racist comments about Michelle Obama to a Buffalo newspaper for publication. And former Trump administration official Max Miller, the Republican nominee for an Ohio congressional seat, was accused of physical abuse by his ex-girlfriend, Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham. Miller denies the allegations and has sued Grisham for defamation.

A representative for the National Republican Congressional Committee, the organization responsible for helping the GOP regain control of the House, declined to comment, citing a policy of not interfering in primaries. A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

Of those soon facing elections, Kent stands out for the breadth of his ties to a deep-seated extremist fringe that has long existed in the Pacific Northwest but is often obscured by the regions overwhelming liberal politics.

Campaign-finance disclosures reveal Kent recently paid $11,375 for consulting over the past four months to Graham Jorgensen, who was identified as a Proud Boy in a law enforcement report and was charged with cyber stalking his ex-girlfriend in 2018. The charges were dismissed in late 2019. But a judge in Vancouver, Wash., issued an order of protection requiring Jorgensen to stay away from her, records show.

Kents campaign said Jorgensen was a low-level worker who hands out literature and puts up signs and denied he has any current affiliation with outside organizations. They declined to make Jorgensen available for an interview.

Kent is also a close political ally of Joey Gibson, the founder of the Christian nationalist group Patriot Prayer. Since establishing the group in 2016, Gibson has organized demonstrations in Portland, as well as the citys Washington state suburbs, where he and his followers have clashed with left-wing groups. Many of the demonstrations were coordinated with the Proud Boys.

The often violent rallies organized by Gibson drew anti-government activists, extremists as well as white supremacists to unite in common cause namely fighting left-wing activists.

Photos from the events archived online by the group Rose City Antifa demonstrate how in some cases Kents allies have associated with people who have expressed white supremacist views. In numerous instances, Gibson as well as Jorgensen, the Proud Boy on Kents payroll, were recorded standing next to Jacob Von Ott, who has posted racist and antisemitic views online and expressed admiration for the founder of the American Nazi Party.

Von Ott did not respond to a request for comment sent to an email address listed to him, but he has previously denied that hes a white supremacist.

The danger with these groups is it can be an initial foray into this extremist space. And once youre in this extremist space, you can become further radicalized, said Emily Kaufman, an Anti-Defamation League researcher who tracks extremist activity in the Pacific Northwest.

Gibson regularly promotes Kents campaign on social media and spoke at a Kent fundraiser last year. When it was Kents turn to speak at the event, he lavished Gibson with praise, explaining that Gibson defended this community when our community was under assault from antifa.

Gibson was acquitted last week on felony riot charges after an altercation with left-wing activists at a Portland bar.

Kents ties to extremism arent limited to the Pacific Northwest.

Braynard, one of Kents top advisers, was the architect of a Washington, D.C., rally last year that sought to build sympathy for those arrested during the insurrection by rebranding them as political prisoners. Kent spoke at the rally, which was poorly attended.

And his candidacy is endorsed by far-right Arizona state lawmaker Wendy Rogers, who has identified herself as a member of the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia group that played an outsize role in the storming of the U.S. Capitol. Kent publicly thanked Rogers for her endorsement and has raised doubts about the circumstances that led to the arrest of Oath Keepers over their role in the attack.

Kent has also sought support from figures associated with the white nationalist Groyper Army movement led by Nick Fuentes, an internet personality who has promoted white supremacist beliefs and attended the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., as well as the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

Kent has acknowledged that a political consultant set up a call early in his campaign that Fuentes was part of, where expanding his campaigns reach on social media was discussed. But he denied that there was any sort of formal arrangement and distanced himself from Fuentes in March after their affiliation became broadly known. Kent tweeted at the time that he did not want want Fuentess endorsement due his focus on race/religion.

After the rebuke, however, Kent appeared on a far-right YouTube channel where he echoed sentiments similar to those held by many white nationalists.

I dont think theres anything wrong with there being a white people special interest group, Kent said during the YouTube interview with a group called the American Populist Union. He also said the immigration situation between the U.S. and Mexico wasnt as bad as in Europe because their version of Mexico is Africa and the Middle East.

In April, Kent was photographed at a fundraiser giving a thumbs-up with Greyson Arnold, a Groyper-aligned commentator who identifies as a Christian American Nationalist. Like Fuentes, Arnold was also at the U.S. Capitol during the insurrection.

Arnold has shared memes online that refer to Nazis as a pure race and has called Hitler a complicated and misunderstood historical figure. He also hosted a White Boy Summer celebration in Lake Havasu, Arizona, in June 2021, drawing the events title from a popular meme that was circulating among white nationalists and racist groups.

Arnold did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Braynard, the Kent strategist, said the candidate does not know Arnold and the campaign does not do background checks on the thousands of people whove asked to take selfies with Joe.

Tom Davis, a former Virginia congressman who led House Republicans campaign arm during George W. Bushs first term, said GOP leadership in Washington, D.C., faces a difficult set of choices when deciding what to do about candidates like Kent.

You dont want to go too heavy on this guy because if hes nominated you want to hold the seat, said Davis. The problem for Republicans is you can probably get away with this in 50 districts in the country. But this does not strike me as the kind of district where you dont pay a price.

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Links to extremism moving out of the shadows in these Republican primaries - MarketWatch

Republican election officials in at least three states have refused to certify primary votes, in a sign of things to come amid the party's baseless election fraud crusade.

Numerous allies of former President Donald Trump have echoed his lies about voter fraud on the campaign trail. Trump-backed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Nevada U.S. Senate candidate Adam Laxalt both claimed evidence of "election stealing" before any votes were cast. Colorado secretary of state candidate Tina Peters has twice demanded recounts of her Republican primary race after losing by double digits. Nevada gubernatorial candidate Joey Gilbert filed a lawsuit alleging that his GOP primary loss was a "mathematical impossibility," even after a recount he requested confirmed the results.

While candidates are free to challenge the results of their elections under various state guidelines, Trump-allied election officials pose a more insidious threat. Echoing the same false narratives as Trump and his endorsed candidates, county officials in New Mexico, Nevada and Pennsylvania have tried to circumvent state laws and refused to sign off on primary results.

Republican commissioners in Otero County, New Mexico last month refused to certify primary results in their GOP-dominated jurisdiction, citing unspecified concerns about Dominion voting machines. These apparently stem from TrumpWorld's crusade to stoke baseless allegations that the machines had "flipped" votes from Trump to Joe Biden. The Otero County commissioners ultimately relented and certified the votes amid concerns that they could go to jail after state officials took them to court.

Republican commissioners in rural Esmeralda County, Nevada, likewise refused to certify the 317 votes cast in the county last month, citing unspecified concerns about the election from residents. County officials ultimately relented after spending more than seven hours counting the 317 ballots by hand.

Three Republican-led counties in Pennsylvania Berks, Fayette and Lancaster have refused to count all valid votes from the May 17 primary election for Senate, Congress, governor and the state legislature for weeks over opposition to the state's rules regarding undated mail-in ballots.

Officials in all three counties informed the state last month that they would not count mail-in votes that had not been properly dated, according to the Associated Press.

Pennsylvania mail ballots instruct voters to write a date next to their signature on the outside of mail-in return envelopes, although these dates do not determine whether voters are eligible or if votes were cast on time. A federal appeals court ruled in May that undated mail-in ballots must be counted, ruling that the dates are "immaterial." The U.S. Supreme Court, even with three Trump-appointed justices,allowed the ruling to stand last month. A state court similarly ruled in the Republican Senate primary that undated ballots should be counted.

The Pennsylvania Department of State earlier this month sued the three counties, asking a state court to order them to include all valid ballots "even if the voter failed to write a date on the declaration printed on the ballot's return envelope."

The department said in the lawsuit that the handwritten date "is not necessary for any purpose, does not remedy any mischief and does not advance any other objective," and that "allowing just three county boards to exclude votes that all other county boards have included in their returns creates impermissible discrepancies in the administration of Pennsylvania's 2022 primary election."

"Interpreting Pennsylvania law to allow a county board of election to exclude a ballot from its final certified results because of a minor and meaningless irregularity, such as a voter omitting a date from the declaration on a timely received ballot, would fail to fulfill the purpose of the Pennsylvania Election Code and would risk a conflict with both the Pennsylvania Constitution and federal law," the lawsuit said.

"It is imperative that every legal vote cast by a qualified voter is counted," Molly Stieber, a spokeswoman for state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, told theNew York Times. "The 64 other counties in Pennsylvania have complied and accurately certified their election results. Counties cannot abuse their responsibility for running elections as an excuse to unlawfully disenfranchise voters."

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Berks County Commissioner Christian Leinbach said during an appearance in court on Thursday that he does not have "discretion to determine whether a date is material or immaterial."

"I simply am obligated to look at the clear language of the law that says undated and/or unsigned ballots will not be counted," he said during a hearing, claiming that rulings on the ballots have been "anything but clear."

Leinbach said he "could not in good conscience vote to certify undated ballots," adding that "this type of issue is what is causing a lack of trust in the system."

Lancaster County officials told the Philadelphia Inquirer the county had "properly certified" its results in accordance with state law and court orders.

"The Commonwealth's demand is contrary to the law or any existing court order," the county said. "The County will vigorously defend its position to follow the law to ensure the integrity of elections in Lancaster County."

Fayette County officials argued in a court filing that the state did not have the authority to force it to count the undated ballots, according to the AP, adding that the state had missed a deadline to appeal a county board decision. The county also cited ongoing litigation before the Supreme Court, which has yet to rule on the merits of the appellate court ruling.

It's unclear which way the Supreme Court may rule. Only Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch dissented in the earlier emergency order, arguing that the lower court ruling was "very likely wrong."

The American Civil Liberties Union defended the appellate court ruling after Alito's dissent.

"Every vote matters, and every valid vote should be counted. Voters may not be disenfranchised for a minor paperwork error like this one," ACLU attorney Ari Savitzky said in a statement. "The Third Circuit was correct in unanimously reaching that conclusion. We are thrilled for these voters that their ballots can finally now be counted, consistent with the requirements of federal law."

The dates on the absentee ballot envelopes neither help determine whether a voter is eligible nor whether the ballot was cast by the deadline, Matthew Weil, the director of the Elections Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said in a statement.

"Exploiting inconsequential errors or omissions to invalidate otherwise eligible ballots received by the deadline is poor policy and bad for democracy," he said. "The fact that the state already accepts ballots with incorrect or invalid dates only demonstrates how inconsequential this requirement is to determine the voter's and the ballot's eligibility."

Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias warned that the situation in Pennsylvania is "far more disturbing than those we have seen elsewhere."

The three counties have a combined population of over 1 million people, he noted, and the issue causing the counties to contest the results has "been fully litigated in both federal and state courts."

"Most importantly, these counties did not refuse to submit any election results at all. Worse, they submitted results that intentionally exclude lawful votes," he said, adding that "this is how Republicans are planning to steal elections in the future."

Nonpartisan election law experts agreed that the trend could cause chaos on a larger scale.

"Had this unfolded on this kind of timeline in 2020, it really could have created problems, because there would have been questions about whether the state could have actually named a slate of electors," Robert Yablon, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School, told the Times. "You could imagine there being disputed slates of electors that were sent to Congress, and it could have been a big mess."

Read more

about the GOP's election crusade

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GOP officials refuse to certify primaries: This is how Republicans are planning to steal elections - Salon

One is a school choice activist who worked in the steel industry. Another is a chiropractor who led protests against the pandemic lockdown. A third is a business executive whose campaign is largely self-financed .

Each hopes to challenge incumbent Democrat Gretchen Whitmer in the November gubernatorial election, but first will face each other and two other candidates in the primary election Tuesday that pollsters are calling a complete tossup.

Here is where Republicans Tudor Dixon, Kevin Rinke, and Garrett Soldano stand on key education issues. Soldano provided written responses while Dixon and Rinke responded by phone. Some of their responses have been trimmed for length.

Ryan D. Kelley declined to be interviewed or to provide written responses to questions. Ralph Rebandt, who is trailing far behind the other candidates in recent polls, did not respond to inquiries from Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan.

What are the biggest threats to school safety? How would you address them?

Dixon: We have a safety plan from our state police that we never implemented. We need to look at the measures that are in that safety plan from 2018. There are measures to harden schools, but there are also measures to help mental health.

COVID was harsh for our students. Our students were out of school in some cases for more than a year. That, in some cases, causes anxiety. We have all these consultants on DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), but isnt it more important to keep our kids safe and put that money toward hardening our schools?

Rinke: From a military perspective, your perimeter needs to be safe when you look at access to schools. Access points (need to be) restricted for people coming into the building.

I believe in having what we used to call Youth Services Bureau representatives, which were undercover police officers at the schools on a daily basis. Or I propose we look at former military [personnel] as an option. The strongest step thats going to eliminate the vast majority of [problems is to] let people know that school zones are protected.

Soldano: As a result of Gretchen Whitmer's disastrous policies, our great state is suffering from a mental health crisis that is threatening our schools and students. Under a Soldano administration, funding will be directed to address the mental health crisis created by Gretchen Whitmer. I will ensure that a mental health professional is on every campus and our counselors have the resources they need to address this crisis.

What role should the state play in addressing pandemic-related learning loss and mental health?

Dixon: The state should play a big role. On learning loss, Gretchen Whitmer already had the opportunity to provide reading scholarships and she [vetoed] them.

We have to figure out how to get everybody back on track. Its going to take funding, its going to take resources, and its going to take people.

Weve talked to parents across the state who have children who are stressed. Weve had suicides because when you take kids out of school thats where they have structure. We took them out of school and we didnt tell them what we thought was going to happen because we didnt know.

Rinke: We should require that the schools take the appropriate actions to get their students up to speed. The school system and the teachers the Michigan Education Association ultimately created [a problem] by refusing to go to in-person learning when we knew that children were not at high risk of serious consequences of COVID.

Id love to hear how theyre going to fix it instead of looking back at the state and saying, Send money our way, or You need to fix this.

Soldano: Gretchen Whitmer effectively stole two crucial years of education from our next generation. I will launch a Back in the Game initiative, consisting of extracurricular opportunities for students, who were left behind due to mandated virtual learning.

What role should the state play in helping schools attract and retain enough teachers?

Dixon: We really need to start treating teachers like valued professionals. We need to be funding the teachers and making sure they are getting the salaries they need so they dont have to go out of the teaching profession to get the salaries they deserve.

We could have master teachers.. At a certain level they [should be able to] make the same kind of money as an administrator. If youre great in the classroom, wed like to keep you in the classroom.

Rinke: The cost structure within our school districts and how it filters down to teachers needs to be looked at.

Whats gone up unbelievably is the cost of administration. When we talk about how teachers are compensated, it seems to me that maybe some of those administrative funds could and should be used to reward teachers who are getting results, and to respread some of that funding and ensure that those teachers that get great results and those schools that get great results have an incentive system that rewards them for that.

Soldano: The state needs to do everything it can to attract the best talent in the union, instead of pandering to teachers unions.

How do you differentiate yourself from the other primary candidates on education issues?

Dixon: Ive got a policy-based platform. We hear the other candidates talk about education being important, but were not seeing the level of policy that were talking about.

Rinke: Im the only candidate that brought up literacy right at the inception of my campaign and identified what the core problem is. We have an education proposal and we have solutions that will bring our kids to literacy.

We will reintroduce skilled labor options into our public education system and well have very unique private business partnerships that we will introduce to the public school systems in an attempt to offer kids learning opportunities and internship opportunities that can be paid as well as unpaid. Those internships will increase kids' desires to enter certain fields.

Soldano: I have pledged to not only ban CRT (critical race theory), but withhold funding from schools who would continue to teach these radical Marxist ideologies.

As governor, what steps would you take to ensure Michigan schools are funded sufficiently to provide a high quality education for all students?

Dixon: We should fund the students and not necessarily the schools. Michigan spending on education has gone up year after year but the achievement levels are not there.

Even though were spending all this money, why are kids still not able to read? We have this third-grade reading law. Weve got to enforce it. We need to make sure they dont get passed on. From kindergarten to third grade theyre learning to read, and after fourth theyre reading to learn. They cant miss that skill.

Rinke: I dont think we have a funding problem in Michigan. We have record spending. What we have is an accountability problem within that. Thats the area I want to focus on.

The third-grade reading law appears to be a failure. The premise is great but theres a problem. Theres an appropriate way to ensure that kids are literate. We (should) baseline test them in kindergarten, then do a third-grade standard test, and if they are deficient in third grade, we simply apply a process that gets them up to literacy.

Soldano: Our schools absolutely need sufficient funding, however the funding must be directed towards benefitting the student, not towards teaching inherently racist and Marxist topics such as critical race theory, which I will ban on my first day in office.

What would you do to ensure that state funding is equitable across all Michigan schools?

Dixon: Weve been in the midst of a slow-moving education crisis for decades, and Im taking a full-view approach to how were getting our education system back on track. Dollars need to follow the child. Parents need to be making those decisions about what they need to get their kids out of this crisis.

When you make sure we have equity in education, parents get to say, My kid is really struggling here, but if Im able to get them tutoring here or into this specialized school there then they would have the same level of education as the neighbor.

Rinke: Candidly, I am not an expert on the process for how they break down the amount thats applied for children, but it seems to me that funding needs to be equitable for all children. Some peoples definition of equity is I pay more where I live and so my kid should get more but the government has got to represent all the people and not pick winners and losers.

We have a system that supports a government-sponsored school program, and if we are going to allocate funds to children, it seems to me those dollar funds should be equal.

Soldano: I will ensure that school funding is fair to our students as a whole, including withholding funding from schools that violate my ban on teaching radical gender theory and Marxist belief systems such as critical race theory.

Do you support vouchers? If so, how would you ensure public schools are still sufficiently funded?

Dixon: My program is different than a voucher system. Its dollars following the child. If theres a mass exodus from our public schools, if we allow dollars to follow the student, we need to be concerned about what it is about our public schools that parents dont want to be there anymore. We need to take corrective action to make sure we dont have failing public schools.

Rinke: I dont like the term vouchers because theres connotations to them. I prefer to say our children are our customers, and the money should follow the customers. The school system needs to look at those kids as customers and say, We need to be able to provide quality for those folks that come to us. They need to earn the childs business, not be given it because of where they live.

Soldano: I 100% support school vouchers. As governor, I will ensure that our public schools receive the funds they need to provide a quality education for Michigan's next generation.

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

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Here is where Michigan Republican governor candidates stand on education - Bridge Michigan

Only peace can offer a solution to all aspects of the tragic situation that developed as a consequence of the war in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Pter Szijjrt told an event organised by Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) in Esztergom on Saturday.

Szijjrt told MCC Feszt in a speech broadcast on Facebook that the war had a profound effect on the maneuvering space, the domestic policy and the foreign policy of every country, including Hungary. Hungary condemns military aggression and stands on the side of the victims, also supporting Ukraines territorial integrity, he added.

At the same time, Szijjrt said the Hungarian government had the greatest responsibility for the Hungarian people and must by all means prevent the country from getting involved in the war. The cabinet must not allow Hungarian people getting forced to pay for the price of the war, he added.

Relations with Russia must be maintained even in the current situation partly because the vicinity of Russia is a reality in central Europe and also because cutting communications channels would only hinder the possibility of finding a diplomatic settlement, he said. In the long term, only a Russian-American agreement could guarantee the end of the war, he added.

Szijjrt said that energy supplies were not an ideological-philosophical matter but hardcore physical reality. Europes annual natural gas demand is 170 billion cubic metres and within that Hungarys demand is 8.5 billion cubic metres a year, he said. Acquiring this volume is impossible without the involvement of Russian energy sources, he added.

Szijjrt said his response to opposition journalists accusing him of being friendly with Russia was what are we going to use for heating in the winter if I dont buy gas from the Russians?

He said that Hungarian gas storage capacities were 30 percent full which was better than the European average but the cabinet must buy an additional 732 million cubic metres of gas. Szijjrt added that Hungary will have no problem with natural gas supplies in the winter.

Hungary is getting 89 percent of the contracted volume of gas thanks to the fact that three-quarters arrive from Serbia and only one quarter from Austria. From the southern direction, Hungary will receive every molecule of gas, he added.

Szijjrt condemned the European Unions sanctions policy, saying that it had caused more harm to European countries than to Russia.

He reiterated that instead of sanctions, the EU should be focusing on peace and welcomed recent talks between the American and the Russian foreign ministers. Szijjrt criticised plans for the EUs common foreign policy to change the rule that instead of unanimity, majority support should be sufficient.

Commenting on Hungarys refusal to support the introduction of a global minimum tax, he said that by introducing it Europe would kill off its own continental economy and take away Hungarys advantage in the competition. He added that tax policy belonged to national competence and we must not allow impairing this.

Commenting on Transcarpathia, he said the issue of past Ukrainian decisions that had a negative effect on the ethnic Hungarian community and were condemned by Hungary has been put on hold during the war. Hungary must continue supporting Transcarpathia and Ukraine as a whole, he added. He noted that 860,000 refugees had arrived from Ukraine so far in the largest humanitarian scheme in Hungarian history and praised good relations with the governor of Transcarpathia Viktor Mikita.

Commenting on Hungarian-US relations, he said relations were always qualitatively different between Hungary and the US when the latter had a Republican president. Relations were best during the presidency of Donald Trump, he said and added that the Republican majority victory expected at the US midterm election in November will bring a new era in bilateral relations.

He expressed resentment about remarks by US ambassador nominee David Pressman made at his hearing in front of Senate stating that democracy was in decline in Hungary.

Excerpt from:

Republican midterm victory will bring new era in US-Hungary relations? - dailynewshungary.com

Republicans tried to overturn the 2020 election results, butthe guardrails held, if just barely. As a result of Donald Trumps relentlessattacks on the outcome, roughly 70 percent of Republicans did not believe that JoeBiden won legitimately, and still do not. The January 6, 2021, insurrection was adirect attempt to invalidate a legitimate election result, yet Republicanslargely went along with it: Roughly two-thirds of House Republicans voted to give the insurrectionistswhat they wanted mere hours after they stormed the Capitol.

The GOP isnt even bothering to hide its goals to seizepermanent minoritarian power anymore. Republican candidates for various stateoffices in all the swing states are promising to deliver their Electoral College votes to the GOP presidential nominee in2024, regardless of whom people in the state cast their ballots for. Republicanleadership also isnt even bothering to hide its ambition to turn the U.S. into a competitive authoritarian theocracy: The 2022Conservative Political Action Conferencewas heldin Hungary to celebrate and learn what can begained by killing democracy as Viktor Orbn has.

Republicans brazenness can be attributed to the knowledge thatthere is a vanishingly small chance Democrats can prevent them from achievingtheir goals. The path to avoiding this is extremely narrow and requires black swans toaccomplish. First, Democrats must retain the House and win all five toss-upseats in the Senate. This is highly unlikely given thatoff-year elections are usually wipeouts for whichever party holds the WhiteHouse. Bidens approval ratings are as bad as Trumps were at the same point,or worse. Democrats have gained on generic ballots since the hideous Dobbsdecision overturning Roe v. Wade, but they still have an uphill climb.After the 2020 census and another round of gerrymandering, the House tiltsabout 3.4 points toward the GOP. The Senate has a seven-point lean. To break the filibuster with 60votes in the Senate, Democrats would need to win the national vote by at least16 points three times in a row. Its true that if Democrats win every toss-up Senaterace in 2022, they might have the 50 votes to eliminate the filibuster withoutManchins and Sinemas support, though this only matters if they hold onto theHouse as well, which right now is a long shot.

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Its Going to Take Several Miracles to Stop the Republican Party From Turning America Into Hungary - The New Republic