Category Archives: Republican

Blaming wickedness within our organization, Dallas Heard of Roseburg abruptly stepped down as chairman of the Oregon Republican Party.

Heards last day is Friday, he said in a letter sent to party members that was shared online. He wrote that unnamed members of the state party were using communist psychological warfare tactics to derail his leadership.

They have broken my spirit, Heard wrote. I can face the Democrats with courage and conviction, but I cant fight my own people.

Heard, who is also a state senator, didnt respond Wednesday to a voicemail left at the landscaping business he lists as his campaign number or an email sent to his legislative account.

His resignation from the party position comes as Republicans strive to improve their numbers in the Legislature and try to capture another Congressional seat.

Messages to Vice Chairman Herman Baertschiger and the state party office in Salem werent returned Wednesday. The Oregon Republican Party central committee is scheduled to meet in Salem March 25 and 26.

Heard told his hometown newspaper, the Roseburg News-Review, that he blamed Solomon Yue, who has been Oregons Republican National committeeman for the past 22 years. His complaints echoed a letter then-Oregon GOP Chairman Bob Tiernan, who is now running for governor, sent to the Republican National Committee in 2010.

At the time, Tiernan accused Yue of spreading hate and discontent within Republican politics for some time both in Oregon and inside the RNC. He said Yue frequently referred to lessons he learned from the Chinese Communist Party about using lies and smear tactics to distort reality and achieve political aims.

Tiernan didnt respond to a voicemail Wednesday. A publicly available phone number and email address for Yue had both been disconnected.

In his letter to party leaders, Heard wrote that Republicans must focus on winning elections and beating the godless left, but that they cant ignore the wickedness in their own organization.

I hope you find a way to purge this darkness from the ORP and I will be praying for your success and protection, he wrote. He didnt elaborate.

Carla KC Hanson, chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon, called Heards decision to step down just two months before the May primary stunning. She takes it as a sign that the Republican Party isnt on track in Oregon.

Its just indicative of how far away so many of the Republican leaders are from their Republican base, she said. Theres a ton of good, hard-working Republican voters out there, and theyve been fed this line by their party forever of how evil the Democrats are, and how Republicans are going to save the day for them, and that just aint the case.

Oregons House and Senate Republican caucuses run their own political action committees and recruit and fundraise for Republican legislative candidates separately from the state party. House Republicans last year unanimously condemned a statement from the state party that called the violent protest at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a false flag.

Heard was not chairman at the time. He spent Jan. 6 leading a related protest outside the Oregon Capitol.

He skipped every vote in the Senate this year, though he still participated in virtual committee meetings. Over the past two years, Heard staged four separate protests over the Senates mask policy: dramatically ripping his mask from his face in 2020, walking onto the floor without one in 2021 until Senate President Peter Courtney asked him to leave, doing the same in early February while gesturing to an enlarged photo of a maskless Courtney he propped on an easel behind his desk and removing his mask again in late February.

The last time, senators voted along party lines to remove Heard from the chamber and bar him from returning to the Capitol until he dons a mask or the rules change. He did not return, and the Capitol mask rules will expire along with the statewide mask mandate for most indoor public places next week.

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Oregon Republican Party chair quits, blaming 'wickedness' in the state GOP Oregon Capital Chronicle - Oregon Capital Chronicle

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Cal Thomas has a short memory concerning Republican presidents - The Albany Herald

Where do young, smart Republicans want to live more than anywhere else? One of the most Democratic towns in America, naturally.

A new poll of recent college grads from Axios has some interesting results. Seattle is the most-desired destination city for young people looking to get started somewhere new. That's no surprise, as it's a tech hub in a tech-oriented economy. It's when the results are broken down by party affiliation that things become intriguing: New York is the top option for Democrats and Austin, Texas, is the favored target of Republicans.

Travis County Austin is the county seat went 72 percent for Joe Biden in 2020. It's a famously liberal town, birthplace of the "Keep Austin Weird" slogan that other similarly hippie-dippie enclaves have stolen.

And Austin isn't the only Dem-leaning town on the list. Chicago is also a top destination for young GOP grads. So is Nashville like Austin, a very blue city in a big red state.

So what's going on here?

It's tempting to think that for all their party's culture war talk, what many young smart Republicans really want is to live in places that liberals have made: cool cities with brewpubs, art museums, and gay people walking hand-in-hand down the street. And maybe there's something to that.

But the real answer is probably more mundane. Big cities tend to be liberal. But those cities are also where most of the jobs are, especially for college grads. Austin is certainly a boomtown. And for young Republicans, the tension between their personal ideology and the politics of their chosen home might not be that great in a place like Austin or Nashville they can rely on the Republican legislatures of those states to keep local politicians from getting out of hand.

Still, Axios' findings seem to fly in the face of other trends. Americans are increasingly sorting themselves, geographically, by political preference Democrats with Democrats, Republicans with Republicans. But it is also the case that one of the biggest divides in American life right now is the education gap: College grads tend to vote liberal, while those with less education tend to vote Republican.

So you have to wonder what's going to happen to all those newly minted Republican college grads who are choosing to surround themselves with a lot of college-educated liberals in places like Austin. Can they maintain their ideological loyalties? Or will they gradually slip to one degree or another to the other side? It's a conservative truism that "politics is downstream of culture." Maybe all these young GOPers flocking to Austin will change the culture. Maybe they'll be changed.

Originally posted here:

'Keep Austin Weird' and Republican? - The Week

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) In 2016, Donald Trump overtook the Republican National Committee through a shock and awe campaign that stunned party leaders. In 2020, the party was obligated to support him as the sitting Republican president.

Heading into 2024, however, the Republican Party has a choice.

The RNC, which controls the partys rules and infrastructure, is under no obligation to support Trump again. In fact, the GOPs bylaws specifically require neutrality should more than one candidate seek the partys presidential nomination.

But as Republican officials from across the country gathered in Utah this week for the RNCs winter meeting, party leaders devoted considerable energy to disciplining Trumps rivals and embracing his grievances. As the earliest stages of the next presidential contest take shape, their actions made clear that choosing to serve Trump and his political interests remains a focus for the party.

If President Trump decides hes running, absolutely the RNC needs to back him, 100%, said Michele Fiore, an RNC committeewoman who has represented Nevada since 2018. We can change the bylaws.

The loyalty to Trump is a fresh reminder that one of Americas major political parties is deepening its alignment with a figure who is undermining the nations democratic principles. As he fought to stay in the White House, Trump sparked a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. More recently, he has explicitly said that former Vice President Mike Pence could and should have overturned the election results, something he had no power to do.

Away from the ballrooms of the RNC meeting,Pence rebuked Trumpon Friday, saying he had no right to overturn the election and that his former boss was wrong to suggest otherwise.

That kind of dissent was rare in Salt Lake City. In censuring two GOP lawmakers who have criticized Trump and joined the committee probing the Jan. 6 insurrection, the RNC channeled the former president inassailing the panelfor leading a persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.

Pence, whose life was threatened on Jan. 6, is one of a few Republicans making moves toward a 2024 campaign regardless of whether Trump wages a comeback bid. If he were to run for the White House again, Trump is such a powerful force with the GOP base that he probably wouldnt need the partys help to become the nominee.

Some Republicans said thats beside the point.

Theres probably some disagreement there, said Bruce Hough, a longtime RNC member from Utah who lost to a Trump ally in a race for party co-chair last year. The RNC has to provide a level playing field for any and all comers for president. Thats our job. Thats what we have to do.

But a stark divide has emerged between veterans like Hough, who are devoted to the GOP as an institution, and a larger group of Trump-aligned newcomers, who argue theyre bringing new energy to the party. Their chief loyalty, however, seems to be to the former president.

Leading up to 2020, or most of the time Trump was in office, he sent around his minions to populate the committee with very loyal Trump folks in a lot of red states, said Bill Palatucci, an RNC committeeman from New Jersey and frequent Trump critic. And they still enjoy that strong majority.

The RNCs continued embrace of Trump more than two years before the 2024 election is a decided shift from the partys position in past elections.

In 2012 and 2016, for example, Reince Priebus as RNC chair went to great lengths to ensure each of the candidates was treated equally. The party sanctioned 12 debates, including early rounds that featured up to 17 candidates.

Clearly, theres a bias that didnt exist in the past, said Tim Miller, who previously worked for the Republican National Committee and has since emerged as a fierce Trump critic. Its all Trump all the time coming out of there.

A year ago, just after President Joe Bidens inauguration, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel declined to encourage Trump to run again when asked, citing party rules that require neutrality. She also discouraged attacks on those Republicans who voted for Trumps impeachment.

This week, however, she backed an effort by Trump loyalists to censure Reps. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., a move triggered almost entirely by their fight against Trumps enduring influence in the party beyond the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

The censure, which passed on a voice vote Friday, says the two support Democrat efforts to destroy President Trump more than they support winning back a Republican majority in 2022.

McDaniels shift coincides with the RNCs reliance on Trump for fundraising. The party has issued hundreds of fundraising appeals since Trump left office evoking his name. One offered this message to prospective small-dollar donors on Tuesday: YOU must stand with President Trump and YOUR Party.

In speeches made minutes before party leaders voted to censure Cheney and Kinzinger, McDaniel and co-chair Tommy Hicks did not mention Trump and stressed the need to unify for the 2022 midterm elections.

Though the committees moves demonstrated a sustained loyalty to the former president, outside the winter meeting the censure was condemned by opponents as divisive and contrary to frequent appeals from leaders to expand the partys tent.

The RNCs discipline shows more about them than us, Kinzinger said in an interview. It shows that Trump and Trumpism has overtaken the RNC.

Cheney in a statement said the move demonstrated how the party had become hostage to Trump.

Indeed, this weeks focus on debates that wont take place until 2024 and on anti-Trump Republicans overshadowed the partys preparations for the midterm elections. Thats notable because the GOP could reclaim control of at least one chamber of Congress and several governors mansions.

But this week, Trumps grievances with his Republican critics took center stage instead.

We should be focused on what the voters are focused on, said Caleb Heimlich, chair of the Republican Party in Washington state, where two of three Republican House members voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6 insurrection. Ive been talking to voters in Washington state, traveling around and nobody talks about Cheney. Thats a D.C. topic.

Others disagreed.

Harmeet Dhillon, an RNC committeewoman from California, said it was imperative to send a clear message about Cheney and Kinzinger for her and the legions of volunteers working to elect Republicans this year.

The midterms are about a party electing its leaders, and what Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney did here is defy their partys leadership, Dhillon said. I do not want to elect people in the midterms who do what these two did.

On Saturday, Trump weighed in with a statement congratulating the RNC and McDaniel for their great ruling censuring two Horrible RINOs.

Beyond the censure, Republicans set in motion a rules change rooted in another of Trumps longstanding grievances. A measure advanced that would force presidential candidates to sign a pledge saying they will not participate in any debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates advanced. It is expected to be voted on when RNC members convene again in August.

We are not walking away from debates, McDaniel said. We are walking away from the Commission on Presidential Debates because its a biased monopoly that does not serve the best interests of the American people.

The eventual 2024 nominee, however, will have final say on whether to participate.

Another Republican eyeing a White House campaign, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, decried the RNCs push to punish Trumps rivals.

The GOP I believe in is the party of freedom and truth, the frequent Trump critic tweeted Friday. Its a sad day for my party and the country when youre punished just for expressing your beliefs, standing on principle, and refusing to tell blatant lies.

Peoples reported from New York.

Read more here:

Trumps GOP: Party further tightens tie to former president - Fox 59

Many of todays Republicans thus came of age at a time when hawkishness on behalf of liberal values was understood as conservative. Yet the values lying at the foundation of that worldview and shaping our institutions are antithetical to everything conservatives claim to cherish: a ruthless market ideology that puts short-term shareholder gains and the whims of big finance above the demands of the national community; a virulent cultural libertinism that dissolves bonds of family and tradition.

What conservatives revile as woke capital is just this acidic combination of a market-centric economics and liberal cultural arrogance. Yet as conservatives tub-thump for NATO expansion in Europe and hawkishness elsewhere, they seem clueless as to what these things entail: the integration of evermore geographic space into the same socioeconomic order they find so oppressive at home.

From the post-Cold War Washington consensus (the idea that privatization, deregulation and free trade would lead to broad prosperity) to the post-9/11 regime-change wars, crusader foreign policy immiserated ordinary people: Thoughtless NATO expansion bred resentment in a wounded-but-still-strong Russia, setting the stage for recurring crises; economic shock therapy applied by disciples of Milton Friedman empowered predatory oligarchs in post-Soviet lands; the shattering of Arab states in the name of freedom created ungoverned spaces across vast swaths of the Middle East and North Africa, kindling terrorism and sending millions of migrants into Europe.

Like soldiers who havent realized the old war is over, Republicans must grasp the current state of play: Liberal imperialism ought no longer to be mistaken for a conservative cause. It is time to repurpose older conservative foreign-policy values.

The first pillar of such a foreign policy should be a sound restraint, especially where the United States doesnt have formal treaty obligations, and a general retrenchment of the Western alliances ambitions. Senator Josh Hawley, a lawmaker sympathetic to the new right, showed a better path on Wednesday by calling on President Biden to rule out admitting Ukraine into NATO. Mr. Hawley suggested his move would help Washington shift resources to East Asia. But even there, Americans should beware of mindless China hawkism. Yes, the United States has real differences with Beijing. We must punish industrial espionage. We must defend treaty allies. And we must seek a more balanced trade relationship. But we should also find areas of cooperation, exchange and shared interests, seeking to avoid any future wars and instead communicating with mutual respect for a civilizational equal.

Domestic industrial prowess and energy independence should be the second pillar. Without factories manufacturing all sorts of goods, we wont be able to shift production to defense or to P.P.E. and vaccines when a real crisis hits. Moreover, as Michael Lind has emphasized, the industrial-military blocs of the future spheres of influence led by America, Europe, China and India will be only as strong as their regional supply chains and their internal stability allow.

Many G.O.P. leaders couldnt be happier if the impulses toward Republican realignment were limited to mere jingoism. That, after all, has sated the Republican base while keeping economic policy firmly neoliberal. The party establishment would far rather talk about Ukraine than about declining working-class life expectancy and the Fentanyl crisis.

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Opinion | Hawks Are Standing in the Way of a New Republican Party - The New York Times

To the Editor:

Re G.O.P. Calls Riot Legitimate Political Discourse (front page, Feb. 5):

The decision by the Republican Party to declare the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, legitimate political discourse cannot be minimized or ignored. The G.O.P. has declared itself the party of mob rule.

The modern Republican Party was founded on March 20, 1854. I have been an enrolled member and active supporter for more than 50 years. No more.

On March 20, 2022, I will cancel my enrollment and register as an independent. I simply cant have the letter (R) next to my name any longer. I hope it sets a national trend.

Robert S. CarrollStaten Island

To the Editor:

The Republican Party should not be able to get away with its usual bait and switch tactic dog whistling to its extreme elements while pretending some benign purpose. The insurrection is a package. The evidence publicly available exposes it as a coordinated campaign of legal maneuvers, abuse of power, appeals to loyalists and, finally, the raw mob violence that took at least seven lives, desecrated the Capitol and defiled democracy.

There can be no mistake. A cabal intended to override the vote of the people, seize power and impose its rule. The Republican Party must wear its defense of that effort like a scarlet letter until saner minds can prevail.

Sharon MorrisonWhitefish, Mont.

To the Editor:

Since when did killing, desecration of and defecation on national property and racial slurs become legitimate political discourse? How much further can the Republican Party sink?

Nina MillerIthaca, N.Y.

To the Editor:

Now that the G.O.P. Calls Riot Legitimate Political Discourse, the logical next steps are for it to declare that the earth is flat and that the sun orbits around the earth. Of course, none of these pronouncements will change the fundamental truths.

Tom LouisSt. Michaels, Md.

To the Editor:

Re Trump Is Wrong, Pence Says of His Jan. 6 Powers (news article, Feb. 5):

Could Mike Pences speech prove to be an early manifestation of a house of cards thats finally, finally about to collapse? Let us fervently hope so!

Nancy StarkNew York

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Opinion | The Republicans and a Legitimate Riot - The New York Times

Anumber of GOP figures on Sunday said they backed former Vice President Mike PenceMichael (Mike) Richard PenceFormer top Pence aide says he 'did not see a lot of legitimate political discourse' on Jan. 6 Republicans back Pence rebuke of Trump on overturning 2020 election McMaster pushes back on RNC, calls events of Jan. 6 'illegitimate political discourse' MORE in his rebuke of former President TrumpDonald TrumpAbrams fires back at Perdue, Kemp over criticism of maskless photo Biden to visit Israel later this year Manchin crosses party lines in officially endorsing Murkowski MORE's claim that he had the authority to overturn the 2020 election results.

Pence made headlines on Friday when he broke from Trump in the clearest terms yet, saying the former president was wrong in believing he had the right to overturn the election when he oversaw the official count of electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2021. The former vice president called Trumps suggestion un-American.

I had no right to overturn the election. The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone, Pence said at a Federalist Society event on Friday.

His comments came days after Trumpissued a statementsaying he believedPence had the authority to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Trump's favor.

Pence refused to give in to Trumps pressure and block the certification of the Electoral College results in January 2021.Pence has indicated that he did not know if he and Trump wouldever see eye to eye on that day.

Several Republicans on Sunday came to Pence's defense, saying they agreed he had no authority to single-handedly give Trump asecond term.

Sen. Marco RubioMarco Antonio RubioRepublicans back Pence rebuke of Trump on overturning 2020 election Rubio says Putin's 'economy should be crippled and hurt badly' if Russia invades Ukraine Sunday shows - Trump-Pence division in the spotlight MORE (R-Fla.) told CBSs Face the Nation that vice presidents can't simply decide not to certify an election when asked if he agreed with Pence.

Pressed on if he believes the former presidents suggestion was wrong, Rubiosaid he would not want Vice President Harris to overturn the results if Trump were to win reelection in the future.

Sen. John BarrassoJohn Anthony BarrassoRepublicans back Pence rebuke of Trump on overturning 2020 election Sunday shows - Trump-Pence division in the spotlight GOP senator says Pence did his 'constitutional duty' in certifying 2020 election MORE (R-Wyo.) told Fox News Sunday that Pence did his constitutional duty that day.

It's not the Congress that elects the president, it's the American people, he added.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris ChristieChris ChristieRepublicans back Pence rebuke of Trump on overturning 2020 election Christie: RNC resolution noting 'legitimate political discourse' on Jan. 6 a mistake Chris Christie: RNC chair 'carrying water for Donald Trump' MORE (R) said the actions the vice president took on Jan. 6 spoke loudly, adding that he was glad Pence finally put words to it.

I don't know why it took him so long, but I'm glad that he did, Christie said.

Christie, who served as a Trump adviser,called the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol an effort bythe former president to intimidate Mike Pence and the Congress into doing exactly what he said in his own words last week, overturn the election.

And during an appearance on "Face the Nation," H.R. McMaster, who served as national security adviser under Trump,said he "absolutely" agreed with Pence's take on Trump's comments when asked about the remarks.

All Americans should agree with Vice President Pence,McMaster said.

Its time I think, to demand more from our political leaders, demand that they stop compromising confidence in our democratic principles and institutions and processes to score partisan political points. And as you know, this happens across both political parties and it's just time to stop, he added.

Trumps statement in question specifically pointed to Congresss push to reform the Electoral Count Act as proof that Pence had the power to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The 1887 statute outlines how Electoral College votes are counted.

The effort to reform the decades-old law is gaining momentumon Capitol Hill, with members from both parties viewing the initiative as a bipartisan compromise to addressing voting reform a top legislative initiative among Democrats that has since stalled amid internal party clashes regarding Senate rules.

A coalition of Senate Democrats rolled out legislation on Tuesday that would clarify that the vice presidents role in overseeing the electoral vote count is ceremonial andincrease the number of House and Senate lawmakers needed to back an objection before a vote is triggered in the chamber. Under the law now, only one member in each chamber is required.

The legislation also calls forupping the threshold for upholding the objection from a simple majority in both chambers to three-fifths in the House and Senate.

At the same time, a separate, bipartisan group of senators comprised of 16 lawmakers is working on its own proposal to reform the arcane law. That group is led by Sens. Susan CollinsSusan Margaret CollinsManchin crosses party lines in officially endorsing Murkowski Republicans back Pence rebuke of Trump on overturning 2020 election Trump, hurdles loom for Senate election reform talks MORE (R-Maine) and Joe ManchinJoe ManchinManchin crosses party lines in officially endorsing Murkowski Manchin: Social spending bill elements must go through committee process Republicans back Pence rebuke of Trump on overturning 2020 election MORE (D-W.Va.).

Manchin on Sunday told CNNs State of the Union that the true source of the Jan. 6 insurrection was the ambiguity behind the rules for counting of the Electoral College vote, noting that the regulations were not clear.

He said the bill the bipartisan group is working onwould fix that issue.

What really caused the insurrection? They thought there was a kind of ambiguity ambiguity, if you will, and there was an avenue they could go through and maybe overturn the election, because there was. It was not clear, Manchin said.

And when one congressman and one senator can bring a state's authentic count to a halt, it's wrong, and basically not protecting the electors, and you can change electors before you send the here, after the election, all these things. This is what we're going to fix. And we have a group right now that's continuing to grow, he added.

Link:

Republicans back Pence rebuke of Trump on overturning 2020 election | TheHill - The Hill

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Amid the ongoing Republican freakout over Critical Race Theory and the teaching of other supposedly objectionable material in public schools, an Iowa Republican has introduced a bill that would take the policing of the states teachers to a whole new level.

Earlier this week, Republican state Rep. Norlin Mommsen introduced a bill to place cameras at the back of public school classrooms so parents can monitor whats being taught there. The seemingly Orwellian idea would function in a similar way to a body camera on a police officer, Mommsen told The Center Square, a conservative news site.

A camera takes away the he said, she said or he said, he said, type argument and lets parents know hey, we are doing a good job,' Mommsen said.

He is not the first to introduce the idea of recording classrooms, which the Iowa State Education Association president said should not even be considered. In Nevada, a right-wing family alliance promoted this concept in June as a way to ensure teachers stick to traditional teaching.

Mommsens bill, he told The Center Square, was actually intended to address the concerns of Iowa State Senate president Jake Chapman, who has said teachers should be charged with felonies for distributing obscene material to students. One doesnt have to look far to see the sinister agenda occurring right before our eyes, Chapman said last month in an address to the Iowa Senate. The attack on our children is no longer hidden. Those who wish to normalize sexually deviant behavior against our children, including pedophilia and incest, are pushing this movement more than ever before.

Mandatory cameras in the classroom would eliminate this sinister plot chatter because the video shows theres not a sinister plot, Mommsen said.

If the past several weeks are any clue, the sinister plot chatter is actually just beginning. Conservatives have long fought to purge school curriculums of material deemed too critical of the United States. The obsession over critical race theory, a once-niche academic idea that has come to encompass any sprawling focus on racism, has led Republican-led school districts to crack down on the books in school libraries such as Toni Morrisons Beloved.

In November, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott urged the top state education official to investigate the availability of pornography in public schools. Last month, a Tennessee school board bannedMaus, a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust, because of its sexual content. We dont need all the nakedness and all the other stuff, board member Mike Cochran said. (In the book, all characters are represented as animals.) And earlier this week, legislation introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives would require educators to provide a public list of their curriculum, textbooks, planned field trips, and research projects before the start of the school year, part of a curriculum transparency movement already adopted in other states.

The outrage over what materials teachers use and how they use them can obscure other, more pressing problems affecting students in public schools. Instead of wasting public funds on monitoring equipment, we should employ additional qualified professionals, reduce class sizes, and provide more programming that helps students acquire the skills they need, National Education Association president Becky Pringle toldNBC News.

Originally posted here:

Iowa Republican Introduces Bill to Put Cameras in Every Public School Classroom Mother Jones - Mother Jones

There's an old saying in Florida's Capitol that "once a senator, always a senator."But when it comes to changing some Republican votes, one former Republican senator is finding that no longer seems to be the caseat least, when it comes to election law.

More big changes are coming to Florida voting laws, just in time for the 2022 election. But one of the loudest voices of caution is coming from former Senator Alan Hays, who is Lake County's supervisor of elections. Hays recently pleaded with his former Republican colleagues to not make it more difficult for people to vote. It's complicated enough already, he said.

"Getting voters to follow instructions is not easy," Hays said. "Because they [voters] don't simply even follow the instructions -- the illustrated instructions -- to darken the oval."

Hays spent 12 years in the Florida Legislature before term limits forced him out in 2016. He was a dentist in the small town of Umatilla before he won a House seat in 2004, and soon moved to the Senate, where he opposed term limits and political correctness and was known for a blunt, outspoken style. Because of his past ties to the Senate, his new colleagues chose him to represent their views before a Senate committee this week.

"We're here today to say, please, use us as your election information source," Hays said. "Don't depend on the Internet. Don't depend on social media. Don't depend on anybody but the elections professionals here in Florida that inarguably, as far as I'm concerned, executed the best election in the nation in the year 2020."

Hays is one of four former legislators who now oversee local elections. The others are Mike Hogan in Duval County, Mike Bennett in Manatee and Lori Edwards in Polk.

This is the second year in a row that Hays has railed against his former colleagues for their proposed changes to the election laws. Last session he called it, "a travesty for them to crack down on the use of convenient drop boxes during the COVID-19 pandemic." This year it's cumbersome new requirements for returning vote by mail ballots.

Republican politics at the state capitol has changed, but Hays hasn't. When he left the Senate six years ago, a former colleague, Democratic Sen. Maria Sachs of Boca Raton, praised him for his style.

"You are what we need more of in politics," Sachs said. "Political correctness is nice, but people are tired of it. They want to hear what you really believe in, and damn the consequences."

Hays sees very serious problems ahead if Senate Bill 524 becomes law. When he recently testified on the bill he bluntly predicted that angry voters will be calling to complain, and he told the committee chairman, Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, that he will refer calls from angry voters to him.

"When they call me, I'm going to tell them to call you, Senator Baxley, because you're my senator," Hays said.

That's not what senators want to hear, which is why Hays said it.

Read more:

Former Republican lawmaker tries to curb the worst of GOP-led election law changes - WFSU

Republicans didn't need a cash influx to pick up a dozen seats: In 2020, their candidates were outspent on TV and still managed to cut down the Democratic advantage in the House. Not all of those candidates who raised large sums last quarter are in competitive races, but the fact that they have tapped the online fundraising spigot is an ominous sign for the Democratic majority.

Here are the other major takeaways from the latest round of campaign finance numbers in the battle for the House.

House Democratic incumbents still have a large cash-on-hand advantage in many key districts, including those held by Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), who has a whopping $16.1 million; Rep. Antonio Delgado (D-N.Y.), who has $5.5 million; and Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), with $4.5 million.

And only a few of Democrats' most vulnerable incumbents were outraised by a GOP challenger: Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.). Meanwhile, Democratic candidates also managed to raise more than GOP Reps. Nicole Malliotakis in New York and Andy Harris in Maryland two prime pickup Democratic pickup opportunities in blue states.

GOP candidates were the top-raising candidates in many of the most competitive open seats, including Colorado's newly drawn 8th district and the districts held by retiring Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.) and Charlie Crist (D-Fla.).

The reports also made clear that swing-seat retirements have left Democrats in a tough place.

In the northwest Illinois district of retiring Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos, Republican Esther Joy King raised $640,000 but no Democratic candidate cleared $115,000. In Rep. Ron Kinds (D-Wis.) now-open battleground, Republican Derrick Van Orden raised over $830,000, more than double the total of any of the Democratic candidates.

Another problem spot for Democrats: the purple South Texas district that Rep. Vicente Gonzalez left open when he moved to a neighboring district. Republican Monica De La Cruz raised some $560,000 last quarter; no Democrat raised more than $110,000.

None of the seven pro-impeachment Republicans seeking reelection were outraised by a challenger. Many or all will have tough primaries to contend with, but money shouldn't be a problem for them.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) pulled in the most, with a staggering $2 million, nearly five times as much as challenger Harriet Hageman. Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), who still hasnt revealed whether he will retire in 2022 and could be in a member-vs-member race with Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), raised $726,000.

Fellow Michigan Republican Rep. Peter Meijer raised $529,000. Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) was the lowest of the pack, with a $155,000 quarter but hes got some $1.9 million in the bank. Former President Donald Trump endorsed one of his challengers, state Rep. Russell Fry, on Tuesday.

Some 10 incumbents are potentially facing off in member-versus-member primaries, thanks to redistricting drawing them into the same seats and most are not evenly matched financially.

In West Virginia, GOP Rep. David McKinley trounced fellow Republican Rep. Alex Mooney in fourth-quarter fundraising, raising $1.1 million to Mooneys $200,000 though Mooney does still have more cash on hand.

In Michigan, Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens outraised Democratic Rep. Andy Levin and has some $900,000 more in cash-on-hand. In Illinois, Democratic Rep. Sean Casten doubled the haul of fellow Democratic Rep. Marie Newman and has $1 million more in the bank.

And in suburban Atlanta, Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) outraised Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Ga.) by $315,000 and she has about $450,000 more in her campaign account.

Another cash dash to watch: In South Texas, embattled Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar outraised his liberal challenger Jessica Cisneros, $697,000 to $362,000, ahead of their March 1 primary.

Read more from the original source:

House Republicans close money gap in hunt for the majority - POLITICO