Category Archives: Republican

I used to describe myself as a life-long conservative Republican. I do so no longer. In fact, I became a far more independent political thinker during the thankfully shortened reign of Donald J. Trump. Tragically, my former party is today led by those who favor pale skin over people of color, and those who prefer Christianity over other religious choices, or none. Any number of individual Republicans may not be racist, but the partys policies undoubtedly are. Any number of Republicans may not be hard-core Christian evangelicals, but the party prostrates itself before their altar.

Both positions are antithetical to our republic and founding instruments, the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Neither document mentions the superiority of either skin color or religious preference as essential to our governments proper functioning. In other words, the American Republican party has become anti-democratic. President Abraham Lincoln would have been horrified at this turn of events.

There were many reasons why the Framers did not establish any of the many permutations of Christianity as a state religion. The most important is that when one religion is given ascendancy over all others, it inevitably becomes a tool of the state. Look no further than modern-day Iran or Saudi Arabia for the near-perfect example and clear warning. Theocracy is not a form of democracy. However, it is often joined-at-the-hip with various forms of government involving hereditary nobility and vicious dictatorships, which were despised by the Framers. They strove for something better: The worlds first constitutional republic a noble aspiration that we have yet to fully realize.

I am stunned at the numbers of Republicans who are either barely closeted or vociferous white supremacists. I am also stunned at how many of these same people profess association with the Christian evangelical movement. Despite the inherent and startling contradictions, racism and messianic Christianity have somehow taken-up residence within the same arch-conservative movement. There is little doubt that Jesus of Nazareth would have been horrified.

The embrace of such obvious inconsistencies creates a sharp departure from reality. The truth is sacrificed on the tabernacle of belief, serving the self-image of the believers. Nothing could be more self-serving, and at the same time, more emotionally comforting for the acolytes. Also, nothing could be more insidiously hazardous to the country.

The Republican Party seems all but lost to reason. Their tribalism and twisted slogans were on fullest display on the 6th of January at the U.S. Capital Building. Wrapped in the American flag, and with God on their side, the insurrectionists attacked the heart of our democracy the Peoples House. And they did it at the behest of the most self-serving individual to ever occupy the White House the progenitor of the Big Lie that he won the election that he so clearly lost.

One persons vanity and ego have never been more prominent in the long history of our nation. Yet, Republican Party stalwarts continue to say, Trump represents our values. If so, we are indeed in big trouble. The Republican Party today despite all denials is not only racist in character, but massively invested in multiple forms of voter suppression, militarism, the primacy of one religion, serving the best interests of the wealthy 1 Percent, and perpetuating an in-your-face false patriotism that possesses a clear predilection for violence.

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I have never in my life been more concerned for our Republic. More than anything else, the likes of Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Adams, and Madison were persons of reason. They created a secular government as the best hope for their progeny: us. Secularism and reason are the twin pillars that have sustained our nation for well over two centuries. The Republican Party has all but abandoned both. The Framers would be horrified to see what has happened to a major American political party. I know that I am.

Robert Bruce Adolph is a retired senior Army Special Forces soldier and UN security chief. He formerly taught university classes in both U.S. Government and American History. He is a frequent guest columnist to the Tampa Bay Times, Atlantic Perspectives Magazine of the Netherlands and the Military Times. He is also author of his publishers number one best-selling book, Surviving the United Nation: The Unexpected Challenge.

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Why this conservative veteran quit the Republican Party | Column - Tampa Bay Times

Marissa Selvig, a candidate for Wyomings U.S. House seat in 2022, announced Monday that she will be campaigning as a member of the Constitution Party and leaving the Republican Primary.

But because theres no Constitution Party primary, no one can officially be a Constitution Party candidate until the group nominates a candidate in April after a vetting process.

Selvig said she has been in contact with members of the Constitution Party and she is not aware of any other candidates vying for the partys nomination.

After spending many months as a Republican candidate, Selvig said shes leaving the primary because the other candidates and many inside the party ...endorse big money, negative politics, finger-pointing and talking behind closed doors about who they really support.

Rep. Liz Cheney and former President Donald Trumps bad blood has made this race the weightiest House race in Wyomings recent history. Their opposition toward each other was spurred by Cheneys vote to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. Cheney was one of only 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump, as well as the highest-ranking Republican to do so.

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Cheneys decision to impeach Trump and her continued criticism of the former president has brought on a number of outspoken critics in the federal and state Republican party. She ultimately was forced out of her leadership role in the House and has been formally unrecognized as a Republican by the Wyoming GOP.

What is going on in America is more important than just getting Liz [Cheney] out, Selvig told the Star-Tribune on Tuesday.

The notion that Selvig puts forward of principle superseding party affiliation or specific people is something that Cheney has relied on as a major campaign platform as well. Ever since she has started getting pushback for voting to impeach Donald Trump and putting some of the onus of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol on him, she has relied on the idea that principles are more important than sticking with members of your own political party.

This race has become about Cheney, particularly unseating her. Trump endorsed Harriet Hageman, a former gubernatorial candidate and lawyer from Fort Laramie who splits her time between D.C. and Cheyenne. Trump also continues to put out statements espousing Cheney and the viability of her candidacy.

There are other indicators, outside of Trump, that this Wyoming House race is unprecedented in many regards.

Hageman launched a page of her campaign site intended to invite super PAC money to aid her candidacy. This has never happened before in the state, according to experts.

The Constitution Party used to be considered a major party and therefore was able to hold a primary. The party has since lost that status because of poor voter turnout for their candidates.

The Constitution Party of Wyoming was organized in 2010. Taylor Haynes ran for governor of Wyoming as a write-in candidate for the Constitution Party, as the group did not have ballot access yet. Haynes finished third with 7.3% of the vote.

In 2012 and 2014, Constitution Party candidate Daniel Clyde Cummings campaigned for Wyomings House seat and received 2.05% and 4.1% respectively. That 4.1% was less than the Libertarian, Democratic and Republican candidates.

The party fielded eight candidates for local, state and congressional offices in 2014, according to Ballotpedia. Wyoming Secretary of State candidate Jennifer Young received 12.1% of the vote, which allowed the party to gain recognition as a major political party in the state for the 2016 election cycle because they broke the 10% threshold needed to gain that status.

In 2020, Jeff Haggit achieved 2.9% of the vote as a Constitution Party candidate.

I think its time we start voting on our preferred candidates and not just the lesser of two evils. I intend to prevail, Selvig said. Im going to continue campaigning as hard as possible.

The standing theory is that the more Republican candidates join the field, the easier it will be for Cheney to win, because candidates do not need a majority, only a plurality. With Selvig out of the primary, Hagemans chances should be better in theory.

Wyomings Republican primaries with many candidates have a history of handing the victory to one candidate, while the rest of the field splits the vote, getting only small portions of the electorate.

Trump acknowledged this trend in a statement from earlier this year.

Remember though, in the end we just want ONE CANDIDATE running against Cheney, Trump said in his statement. Ill be meeting with some of her opponents in Bedminster next week and will be making my decision on who to endorse in the next few months. JUST ONE CANDIDATE.

This is not the first time Trump has referenced the issues that come along with a wide campaign field.

[Cheney] is so low that her only chance would be if vast numbers of people run against her which, hopefully, wont happen, he said back in early May.

At a forum in the early summer, all of the candidates who attended other than Marissa Selvig and state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne said that they would throw their support behind the leading candidate come May 1, 2022. In a state that voted 70% for Trump in the 2020 general election, the leading candidate and Trumps choice could be synonymous.

Since Hageman was endorsed, three candidates have dropped out. First, Cheyenne businessman Darin Smith and Bryan Miller, chairman of the Sheridan County Republican Party, announced they were ending their campaigns. A few days later, Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Casper, said he would be suspending his campaign. Bouchard remains in the race.

Selvig has so far raised roughly $7,000 and has about $3,000 in the bank as of the last day of September. Out of the candidates still in the race who have raised money, Selvig is at the bottom of the pack.

There is another quarterly fundraising deadline coming up at the end of this month which will provide a better picture of how the newly shaken up candidate field stands.

The beginning of the quarter went well, the last part of the quarter was a little slow, Selvig said.

Despite the historical lack of success Constitution Party candidates have had in the past, Selvig remains sturdy

Im really looking forward to the next step in this process and fighting for the people of Wyoming.

Follow state politics reporter Victoria Eavis on Twitter @Victoria_Eavis

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US House candidate leaves Republican Primary in an attempt to gain the Constitution Party's nomination - Casper Star-Tribune Online

Nashville will bid to host both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions for the upcoming 2024 election cycle.

Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. CEO Butch Spyridon said Monday it will bid on both conventions at the "request of and support from the Governor's Office."

"The NCVCs primary role is to book convention business for Nashville without bias," Spyridon said in an emailed statement. "We work daily with clients to book conventions and with individuals who want assistance in recruiting meetings and events. Its not appropriate for the NCVC to pick and choose which groups get to meet in Nashville."

NCVC confirmed Monday it submitted a response to the Republican National Committee's request for proposals on Dec. 8, andrequested an RFP from the Democratic National Committee on Nov. 2.

Weve got a lot to show off in Tennessee and are always willing to play host," Casey Black, Lee's press secretary, said in an email Monday. "Wed be glad to welcome either partys convention to Nashville.

Tennessee Republicans in 2017courted RNC officials for early consideration for the 2020 convention, but Nashville ultimately decided not to proceed in 2018.In 2020, Nashville was in the mix as the RNC scrambled to find a last-minute host city amid a stand-off with North Carolina over restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Major convention events, slated to move to Jacksonville, Florida, were later canceled.

As RNC leaders planned to visit Nashville, some city leaders expressed concerns over cost and safety as the searchfor a new location occurred just months into the pandemic on a short timeline. A spokesperson for Mayor John Cooper said the city had no plans to use its "limited public funds" to recruit the convention at the time.

Cooper's office has not yet returned request for comment regarding the 2024 conventions.

RNC: Republican National Convention could give Nashville's economy a major boost. But risks loom.

Political conventions are mammoth undertakings for host cities, which must be able to accommodate thousands in appropriate meeting spaces and hotel rooms. Philadelphia, host of the 2016 Democratic National Convention, estimated 50,000 visitors descended on the city, which also drew thousands for political demonstrations.

Economic researchers in Ohio, where the 2016 Republican convention was hosted in Cleveland, found the convention resulted in $142 to $188 million in economic impact for the city, depending on the study. Organizers spent more than $110 million, WKYC reported in 2017.

Reach Melissa Brown at mabrown@tennessean.com.

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Nashville will bid to host 2024 Republican, Democratic National Conventions - Tennessean

Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday criticized a map for new congressional districts proposed by Pennsylvania House Republicans, accusing them of partisan gerrymandering to skew the map to favor the GOP.

The [Pennsylvania] Constitution invites us to do what we can to make sure the election process is a fair one, Wolf wrote to the top two House Republican leaders, Speaker Bryan Cutler (R., Lancaster) and Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R., Centre). It is not an invitation to make cynical deals aimed at diminishing the importance of the vote. It is a recurring test of our commitment to the core principles of a healthy democracy. It is a test that [the GOP proposal] fails.

Wolfs comments set up a high-stakes showdown over the maps, which are based on population data from the 2020 federal census and will be used for the next decade. A spokesperson said Wolf opposes the bill in its current form and encouraged Republicans to work with Democrats to revise the map.

Wolf has refused to directly negotiate with lawmakers, saying its not his job to do so. He instead created a Redistricting Advisory Council, which laid out principles he says he will use in approving or vetoing any map he is sent.

In a letter, Wolf said the proposed congressional map violates several of those principles, including that the district populations vary too significantly without clear reason; that districts split communities, seemingly only to give Republicans an unfair edge; that the mapmaking process has been opaque with the public left in the dark about its choices; and that the map gives a structural advantage to Republican candidates that far exceeds the partys voter support.

An analysis of the map, he says, found it would consistently deliver a disproportionate number of seats to Republican candidates when compared with Pennsylvania voters preferences. This appears to be the result of intentional line-drawing choices that favor Republican candidates.

His veto would mean Pennsylvanias map for next years midterm elections, in which Republicans are hoping to win back control of Congress, could be decided by state courts. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which drew the current map in 2018, has a Democratic majority.

Wolf also took issue with the House committees process for negotiating and advancing the maps, saying he has been asked to negotiate a map with Republicans behind the scenes and would prefer that the issue be hashed out in public.

Grove on Tuesday issued a short and pointed response to Wolfs letter, saying he has taken the liberty of reserving a room in the Capitol for he and Wolf to hold a public meeting on Jan. 6.

If it is your intent to not negotiate congressional maps behind closed doors, let us meet in public, Grove wrote in a letter of his own.

Wolf swiftly declined.

The governor has already publicly provided his comments so he has no plans to accept this invitation, Wolf spokesperson Elizabeth Rementer said.

States must redraw their congressional maps every 10 years to reflect population changes. Those maps help determine the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives and the influence of local communities at the federal level. And because Pennsylvania is losing one of its 18 seats, one party will always have an edge going forward.

The committees map favors Republicans, with more districts likely to produce GOP representatives than Democratic ones. Republicans could gain one, if not more, congressional seats if the map becomes law.

The map is enacted as legislation, meaning it must be passed by both chambers of the Republican-controlled legislature before being approved by Wolf.

In the Senate, the Republican and Democratic chairs of the Senate State Government Committee have been negotiating for months on a separate map that they planned to introduce last week. Sen. David Argall (R., Schuylkill), the chair of the committee, said Tuesday that map was still pending with no specific timeline. The governors latest partisan rhetoric doesnt help move the process, he said.

Pennsylvania has a history of partisan gerrymandering, or drawing district boundaries for partisan advantage. In 2011, a Republican-drawn congressional map consistently elected 13 Republicans and five Democrats from the same districts, even as the state voted for Barack Obama and then Donald Trump for president and Democrat Bob Casey and Republican Pat Toomey for U.S. Senate.

In 2018, the state Supreme Court threw out the map, declaring it an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander and imposing its own map, under which Democrats and Republicans have won nine seats each.

Time is running out to have a map finalized for the May 17 primary elections, and a breakdown of the proper legislative process for enacting a congressional map would again send the issue to court.

The Pennsylvania Department of State has said maps must be in place by Jan. 24 for the state and counties to meet their election deadlines, including the Feb. 15 start of the nomination petition period for Democratic and Republican candidates to gather signatures to get on the primary ballot.

Wolf said he has significant concern about the timeline, noting that the legislature currently has only four voting days scheduled in January, including one on Jan. 24.

This is an extraordinarily compressed schedule for passage of a congressional map, presentment for my review, and resolution of any legal challenges which may be brought, and further increases my concerns about the transparency with which this process is being conducted, he wrote in the letter. It is not clear why the General Assembly did not move the process along more quickly despite an abundance of time to do so.

The legislature can reschedule the primary or change election deadlines it worked with Wolf to do so last year at the start of the pandemic, rescheduling the April 28, 2020, election for June 2 instead and some lawmakers, including Sen. Jake Corman (R., Centre), the top Republican in the chamber, have previously expressed willingness to do so.

But Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland) told the Associated Press that she would consider moving the primary only as a last resort.

In a tweet last week, Grove said: We arent moving the primary.

A group of plaintiffs, represented by national Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias, sued the state earlier this month, saying it was clear the legislative process would fail and asking the Commonwealth Court to step in and draw a congressional map instead. (The court had dismissed an earlier lawsuit from the same plaintiffs, saying it was too early for such a challenge, but deadlines are much closer now.)

In an order last week, the court gave the legislature and Wolf until Jan. 30 to enact a congressional map. If the legislature doesnt pass one, or Wolf doesnt approve it, the court said it would instead select a plan from those submitted by the parties in the lawsuit.

The court order also said it would consider changing the 2022 election schedule if a map is not enacted by Jan. 30.

In the meantime, the plaintiffs have also asked the state Supreme Court to take up the issue itself and draw a map again, skipping the Commonwealth Court process altogether.

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Pennsylvania congressional redistricting fight heats up as Gov. Wolf pushes back on House GOP proposal - The Philadelphia Inquirer

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President Biden on a call with governors Monday said he agrees with two GOP state executives that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to mitigate COVID-19, even as his administration is pushing major federal solutions to the pandemic that's nearly two years old.

Biden made the comment after Arkansas Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who is the chair of the National Governors Association, cautioned the president against taking actions that may step on states' toes as they aim to fight the virus.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the debt ceiling during an event in the State Dining Room of the White House, Monday, Oct. 4, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

FAUCI SAYS TO CANCEL NEA YEAR'S EVE PARTIES, AS MILLIONS STRUGGLE FOR NORMALCY NEARLY TWO YEARS INTO PANDEMIC

"One word of concern or encouragement for your team is that as you look towards federal solutions that will help alleviate the challenge, make sure that we do not let federal solutions stand in the way of state solutions," Hutchinson said. "The production of 500 million rapid tests that will be distributed by the federal government is great, but obviously that dries up the supply chain for the solutions that we might offer as governor."

"There is no federal solution. This gets solved at the state level," Biden responded, before mentioning another Republican governor.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson speaks to the Arkansas Legislature in Little Rock. Hutchison is now the chairman of the National Governors Association. (AP Photo/Brian Chilson, File)

"I'm looking at [New Hampshire] Gov. [Chris] Sununu on the board here. He talks about that a lot," Biden said. "And it ultimately gets down to where the rubber meets the road and that's where the patient is in need of help, or preventing the need for help."

Biden, however, has put the federal government in a central role on pandemic mitigation measures. The Education Department opened civil rights probes into several states for banning school mask mandates. The president continues to mandate masks in airports, airplanes and on public transportation and his administration increased fines for those who don't comply.

And the administration is currently going to the Supreme Court to defend its vaccine mandate for any private businesses with more than 100 employees.

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The president during the call Monday projected confidence in the United States' ability to handle the omicron variant, saying that it "is a source of concern, but it should not be a source of panic."

"This is not like March of 2020, the beginning of the pandemic. We're prepared and we know what it takes to save lives, protect people and keep schools and businesses open," Biden added. "My message to the governors is simple. If you need something, say something."

Fox News' Sam Dorman contributed to this report.

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Biden says he agrees with Republican governors: There's 'no federal solution' to pandemic - Fox News

Always remember the First Law of Fiscal Policy: "Wasteful" government spending is only the spending that goes to other people not to me.

When Democrats passed their $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan in the spring, it received zero GOP votes. At the time, Republican politicians decried the stimulus package as "wasteful" and a "parade of left-wing pet projects" that was "bankrupting our children." In the months since, however, Republicans have been touting projects in their states and districts financed by that very same bill.

This unearned credit-hoarding began almost immediately. Before the bill even hit President Biden's desk, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., trumpeted its benefits for restaurant owners (while omitting mention of his own "no" vote, naturally).

Similar boasts soon followed from Republican Reps. Madison Cawthorn (N.C.), Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), Troy Balderson (Ohio), Beth Van Duyne (Tex.) and others.

Republican state officials who once derided the bill as irresponsible, mistargeted or unfair are also now eagerly hoovering up its money. Even so, some still claim to oppose it.

In her recent budget address, South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem, R, blamed Biden's agenda for "horrifically high inflation" and called the stimulus package a "giant handout." She then indicated she was happy to stick her own hand out: Noem urged state lawmakers to spend South Dakota's covid-relief allotment on investments in water infrastructure, public health, workforce development, child care and many other issues that . . . sound a lot like Democratic priorities.

Noem said she considered refusing the funds. But she changed her mind, she said, because the money might then go to "California, to New Jersey, maybe Illinois, Michigan or Minnesota." That is: bluer states, where politicians are presumably less capable fiscal stewards.

Over in Ohio, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine also initially opposed the American Rescue Plan; then he signed GOP-sponsored state legislation appropriating billions of the federal package's funds toward Ohio's unemployment system, water and sewer management, pediatric behavioral health and other purposes.

In Texas, federal funds went to the unemployment system, hospitals, the tourism industry and food banks. Some dollars have also been reserved for tax cuts, though there are ongoing legal challenges about whether the money can be used this way.

This "money for me but not for thee" approach is hardly unique to the American Rescue Plan. Consider a recent plea for disaster relief from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.

Paul fumed when his Republican colleague Sen. John Neely Kennedy (La.) asked for hurricane relief in July.After tornadoes devastated Kentucky this month, he asked Biden to "expeditiously" deploy federal assistance to his constituents. (Biden agreed and sent federal aid.)

Constituents are entitled to relief funds and public investments, even if the Republicans they elect sometimes claim otherwise. But it might be helpful if voters, on occasion, noticed that Republicans are having their cake and gorging on it, too: condemning unspecified "Biden policies" as irresponsible and inflationary, while gobbling up credit for those same policies whenever they prove popular.

Catherine Rampell writes for The Washington Post.

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On Biden initiatives, Republicans like to have their cake and eat it, too - Palm Beach Post

Nearly six months in, "The View" has yet to settle on a permanent replacement for Meghan McCain. And now, the longtime co-hosts are upping the pressure to pick a successor. | Todd Anderson/Disney Resorts via Getty Images

Before taking off for the holidays, the four long-standing hosts of The View had a message for executive producer BRIAN TETA: Were tired of the rotating cast of Republican guest hosts.

When MEGHAN MCCAIN departed in August, Teta initially told the Wrap that he was taking a little time to find a replacement. Since then, ABC has tried out a variety of conservative fill-ins, including S.E. CUPP, ALYSSA FARAH, MORGAN ORTAGUS, CONDOLEEZZA RICE, CARLY FIORINA, and GRETCHEN CARLSON.

Nearly six months in, the show has yet to settle on a permanent replacement. And now, the longtime co-hosts JOY BEHAR, WHOOPI GOLDBERG and SUNNY HOSTIN are upping the pressure to pick a successor, and voicing their displeasure at having to introduce new guest hosts week after week in a seemingly endless process that they find disruptive to the flow of the show.

Right now, we still do need a really conservative voice, Hostin told New York Magazine in November. And we need someone thats not duplicative of anyone else on the panel.

According to a spokesperson for The View, the program will continue to audition potential hosts in the new year, bringing some women back for a second turn. Farah will return in January, and the show will bring in other big names, like BARI WEISS and LISA LING neither of whom exactly fit the conservative label while the network continues to conduct focus groups on the audiences reaction.

Sources close to the show said that the search has stalled as executives struggle to find a conservative cast-member who checks all the right boxes. They will not consider a Republican who is a denier of the 2020 election results, embraced the January 6 riots, or is seen as flirting too heavily with fringe conspiracy theories or the MAGA wing of the GOP. But at the same time, the host must have credibility with mainstream Republicans, many of whom still support DONALD TRUMP.

The problem is that they bring people on under the mantle that this woman is a conservative, when theyre Never Trump, so they dont represent the country, said one of the rotating guest hosts.

At the same time, the anti-Trump conservative cant be seen as too chummy with the other co-hosts, as the networks market-research shows that the audience wants to see the women spar. Sources said that this has hurt the chances of ANA NAVARRO, a regular fill-in on the conservative chair who worked as a surrogate for JOE BIDEN in 2020: She is perceived by the producers as too friendly with the other hosts and not a traditional Republican.

They are really looking for a unicorn, said a former show staffer. They want someone who is going to fight but not too hard, because they dont want it to be ugly and bickering.

It doesnt help that theres a perception that whoever sits in the conservative host slot is on borrowed time, with prominent Republican former co-hosts like NICOLLE WALLACE, ELIZABETH HASSELBECK, ABBY HUNTSMAN and McCain leaving the show with claims of being bullied by their co-hosts and ABC executives on-set and off, while veterans like Goldberg and Behar have thrived.

Sources said that the show was eager to recruit young libertarian KAT TIMPF, but she turned them down because of the shows reputation for treating conservatives poorly and her contract with Fox. Timpf declined to comment to Playbook. Others have said that the show has a responsibility to fill the conservative chair with a strong Republican co-host ahead of the midterms if they are going to be a credible political talk show.

Our plans are on track as we continue to look for the right person to join our panel of smart, dynamic women, said a View spokesperson. We look forward to welcoming guest co-hosts for return appearances and introducing new names into the mix in the new year.

Good Monday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri.

A message from Google:

This year, the world searched to support nurses. For the length of the pandemic, nurses around the world have been heroesand in 2021, the world searched to recognize them. when is nurses week was searched at an all-time high around the globe. Explore Google Year in Search 2021.

IN MEMORIAM Our illustrious colleagues at POLITICO Magazine have put together a package of obituaries and remembrances of the political players, agitators, chroniclers and pioneers who died this year and why they mattered. Among those profiled: COLIN POWELL, BOB DOLE, BOB MOSES, RICHARD TRUMKA, bell hooks, RUTH ANN MINNER, DONALD RUMSFELD, SHELDON ADELSON, RUSH LIMBAUGH, LEE HART, VERNON JORDAN, G. GORDON LIDDY, ROSE OCHI and CARL LEVIN.

Clockwise from top left: Vernon Jordan, Sheldon Adelson, Ruth Ann Minner, and Walter Mondale. | Todd Heisler/The New York Times/Redux Pictures; Ethan Miller/Getty Images; Dee Marvin/AP Photo; Stephen Voss/Redux Pictures

Click here for all 33 profiles, written by the likes of CONDOLEEZZA RICE, Reps. TOM MALINOWSKI (D-N.J.) and JUDY CHU (D-Calif.), former Rep. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN (R-Fla.) and more.

BIDENS YEAR IN REVIEW WATCH: Biden got by with little help from his friends: A Beatles remix

During the first year of the Biden presidency, the nation just seemed to want to double down on divisiveness. Biden thought his first year was going to be like a happy Beatles song. The country needed help. It was time to get back and come together over him. We could get by with a little help from our friends! Please enjoy a very Beatles parody of Bidens hard days night and year, 2021.

A message from Google:

As the year comes to a close, see the people, stories, and events the world was searching for. Watch Google Year in Search 2021.

BIDENS MONDAY:

10:05 a.m.: The president will receive the Presidents Daily Brief.

11:30 a.m.: Biden will join the White House Covid-19 response teams regular call with the National Governors Association to discuss the pandemic.

12:15 p.m.: Biden will depart the White House en route to Rehoboth Beach, Del., where he is scheduled to arrive at 1:15 p.m.

2:30 p.m.: The president will virtually receive his weekly economic briefing.

THE HOUSE and THE SENATE are out.

PHOTOS OF THE YEAR

Supporters of President Donald Trump climb the west wall of the the U.S. Capitol in Washington as they try to storm the building on Jan. 6. | Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo

Police with guns drawn face off against rioters trying to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

A rioter hangs from the balcony in the Senate Chamber on Jan. 6. | Win McNamee/Getty Images

THE PANDEMIC

THE OMI-CHRONICLES

Coronavirus cases are being reported at record levels across the world surpassing even last winters devastating peak in some places, write WaPos Bryan Pietsch and Annabelle Timsit. The UK, Italy, Ireland and France are among those nations that broke their previous records over the weekend. Here in the U.S., health officials warn that the country could soon see more than 1 million new cases per day, far beyond last winters peak of 248,000.

Sunday travel plans got totally derailed. As of Sunday evening, more than 1,300 flights with at least one stop in the United States, and over two times as many around the world, had been canceled, NYTs Marc Tracy writes.

Health experts are urging city and state officials to do more to ensure that the most vulnerable particularly nursing home residents get boosters quickly, NYTs Sharon Otterman and Joseph Goldstein write. New York, like much of the country, was slow to push boosters before the new variant arrived a few weeks ago, and has largely left administering third doses to the long-term care facilities themselves, some of which are struggling with the task.

Business leaders are asking Congress for another dip into the national piggy bank. The question Congress will face when it returns in January is whether the latest Covid-19 wave justifies a new rescue beyond the $1 trillion of emergency small business assistance lawmakers have approved since March 2020. Most of the programs have been tapped out or are winding down, Zachary Warmbrodt writes.

Meanwhile, Bidens plan to use USAID to help vaccinate the world in 2022 is running out of money, Erin Banco reports. Over the past year, the agency has largely relied on more than $1.6 billion allocated through the American Rescue Plan to help facilitate the shipment and administration of Covid-19 vaccine doses internationally. The agency has either used that money or already earmarked it for several months into the new year to help countries prepare to receive and distribute the doses, the officials said.

THE WHITE HOUSE

BEHIND-THE-SCENES BACKBITING Daniel Lippman has the scoop on an explosive whisper campaign that tried to sink STEVEN BONDYs appointment as U.S. ambassador to Bahrain. This is one such story youve not read before. It features a decorated diplomat with an unblemished record, about to claim a career-defining prize: an ambassadorial posting to a key Middle East ally. It involves serious accusations and counter-accusations of racism, none of which were made publicly. Hidden not far beneath the surface are personal histories and policy disagreements in this case between appointees of former President Donald Trump and the Deep State bureaucracy that havent been put to bed with the advent of a new administration. To tell the tale properly, we need to go back three years and start in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

THE ECONOMY

HOLIDAY SHOPPING UP BIG Despite many worries that the new surge coupled with headache-inducing supply chain woes would stunt holiday sales this year, data says that doesnt seem to be the case. American consumers spent at a brisk pace over the shopping season, as an early rush to stores amid worries about supply and delivery problems muted the effects of a Covid-19 surge that disrupted some businesses and crimped spending before Christmas, WSJs Suzanne Kapner and Paul Ziobro report.

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POLICY CORNER

THE NEW RULES OF MONOPOLY A new breed of antitrust activists say its time to rewrite the rules that have long protected competition in the American economy, reports Leah Nylen. And unlike many of the hottest issues embroiling Washington, the antitrust debate doesnt break down along neat partisan or ideological lines. Supporters of sweeping change include progressive Democrats like Massachusetts Sen. ELIZABETH WARREN and Federal Trade Commission Chair LINA KHAN, as well as conservative Republicans like Missouri Sen. JOSH HAWLEY and Colorado Rep. KEN BUCK, all of them facing resistance within their own parties.

ALL POLITICS

MAGA MOVES Trumps staunchest allies in Congress are aiming to grow their ranks in the midterms by primarying establishment Republicans. The goal, organizers of the effort say, is to supersize the MAGA group in the House from its current loose membership of about a half-dozen and give it the heft that, combined with its close alliance with Trump, would put it in a position to wield significant influence should Republicans win the House majority, WaPos Colby Itkowitz writes. A number that jumped out at us: In 2020, Trump won 45 [House] districts by more than 15 percentage points. Under new maps already finalized in more than a dozen states, he would have won 78 districts by that margin.

THE NEW GOP WINSOME SEARS road to becoming Virginias lieutenant governor and the first Black woman elected to statewide office in the commonwealth was unlikely. Now, she wants to change the conversation among Black Republican voters. This is the question that Ms. Sears embodies: whether she is a singular figure who won a surprise victory or the vanguard of a major political realignment, dissolving longtime realities of race and partisan identification, NYTs Campbell Robertson writes in Richmond, Va. Democrats say there is little evidence for the latter, and that Ms. Sears won with typical Republican voters in an especially Republican year. But Ms. Sears insists that many Black and immigrant voters naturally side with Republicans on a variety of issues and that some are starting to realize that. The only way to change things is to win elections, she said. And who better to help make that change but me? I look like the strategy.

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK PBS In Their Own Words series will debut a new episode on former German Chancellor ANGELA MERKEL on Tuesday, Dec. 28. The special will feature interviews with HILLARY CLINTON, GEORGE W. BUSH and others to explore how Merkel overcame fierce opposition, a vicious press and rampant sexism to lead Germany and Europe with a steady focus on peace and freedom. In an exclusive clip shared with Playbook, Clinton and Bush talk about Merkels dealings with world leaders like Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN. Bush even tells a story about when he introduced his dog, Barney, to Putin. The 2:49 clip

ON THE GROUND In Ukraine, the military is training civilians as a precaution if Russia takes the extraordinary step to attack the country, drawing on a lesson from the United States wars in Iraq and Afghanistan of the past two decades, when guerrillas provided enduring resistance in the face of vastly superior American firepower, NYTs Andrew Kramer writes in Kyiv.

JUDICIARY SQUARE

LAW OF THE LAND Federal prosecutors are increasingly using racketeering statutes to go after a broader array of criminal activity, applying them in ways that deviate from the laws original goal of dismantling organized crime, WSJs Deanna Paul reports.

Alexander Vindman portrayed himself on Sunday nights season finale of Curb Your Enthusiasm. While on book tour in the episode, Vindman overhears Larry David on the phone asking a Santa Monica city councilwoman for a favor while dangling a large donation in front of her.

IN MEMORIAM via APs Jake Bleiberg: Sarah Weddington, a Texas lawyer who as a 26-year-old successfully argued the landmark abortion rights case Roe v. Wade before the U.S. Supreme Court, died Sunday. She was 76.

via NYTs Vimal Patel and Azi Paybarah: Richard Marcinko, the hard-charging founding commander of Navy SEAL Team 6, the storied and feared unit within an elite commando force that later carried out the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, died Saturday at his home in Fauquier County, Va. He was 81.

TRANSITION Jon Selib will be managing director and global external affairs leader at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. He previously was SVP of global policy and public affairs at Pfizer, and is a Max Baucus alum.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD Michael Ly, director of public policy at the American Kidney Fund, and Katie Leesman, an associate at Ballard Spahr, welcomed Vinh Michael Ly last Monday. Pic

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) Laura Lott of the American Alliance of Museums Shhrazade Semsar Emily Murphy Julie Benkoske NBCs Savannah Guthrie Mercedes Schlapp Kurt Volker Andi Lipstein Fristedt Gray Televisions Jacqueline Policastro Osaremen Okolo Jessica McCreight Brown Marc Smrikarov of Chatham Strategies James Burnham Andi Pringle Emily Hytha Googles Jeff Murray Kamau Marshall Tierney Sneed Joe Harris Josh Litten BCW Globals Karen Hughes POLITICO Europes Tim Ball and Nick Vinocur Arthur Kent Benji Backer of the American Conservation Coalition Hemanshu Nigam Mike Thomas Barclay Palmer Joseph Collins Andrew Chesley Catherine Marx former Reps. Abby Finkenauer (D-Iowa) and Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) (6-0) James King

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Send Playbookers tips to [emailprotected]. Playbook couldnt happen without our editor Mike Zapler, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Allie Bice, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross.

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POLITICO Playbook: 'The View' struggles to find a Republican - Politico

2021 was the year that Americas democracy came under attack from within.

Donald Trumps effort to overturn the election results, an endeavor that culminated in the 6 January assault on the Capitol, ultimately failed. But the lies the former president spread about fraud and the integrity of the 2020 results have stuck around in a dangerous way. False claims about the election have moved to the center of the Republican party.

Republican lawmakers have seized on the fears created by those baseless claims and weaponized them into new laws that make it harder to vote. Between January and October, 19 states enacted 33 laws to restrict voting access, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

But Republicans havent stopped there. There is now a concerted effort to take more partisan control of election administration. Trump is supporting election deniers in their efforts to take control of key offices that control the rules of elections and counting of ballots. That effort has elevated fears that Trump is laying the groundwork for another coup in 2024, when supporters in those roles could help overturn the election results.

All these actions are taking place against the backdrop of the once-per-decade redistricting process, which Republicans dominate in many states. Republicans are taking full advantage of that power, drawing districts that will entrench their control of state legislatures and win congressional seats for the next decade.

Joe Biden has described this attack as the most significant test of our democracy since the civil war. But Democrats in the US Senate have been unable to pass two bills with significant voting rights protections. Whether Biden and Senate Democrats can find a way to get those bills through Congress looms as a major test of his presidency.

Here are the ways that voting rights emerged as the most important story in American politics in 2021:

When state legislatures convened at the start of 2021, many moved quickly to enact new laws making it harder to cast a ballot. Many of these new measures targeted voting by mail, which a record number of Americans used in 2020.

One of the most high profile battles was in Georgia, a state Trump targeted with baseless claims of fraud after a surprising loss to Biden there. Republicans enacted a law that requires voters to provide additional identification information on both absentee ballot request forms and the ballot itself. They also restricted the availability of absentee ballot drop boxes, a popular method of returning ballots in 2020. The law also criminalized providing food and water to people standing in line within 150ft of a polling place.

In Florida, Republicans enacted a new law that also restricts the availability of ballot drop boxes, imposes new rules around third-party registration groups, and requires voters to more frequently request absentee ballots.

The fight over new voting restrictions exploded in July, when Democrats in the Texas legislature fled the state for several weeks, denying Republicans the quorum they needed to pass new voting restrictions. Republicans eventually succeeded in passing a law that banned 24-hour voting, established regular citizenship checks for voter rolls, made it harder to assist voters, and empowered partisan poll watchers.

A staggering number of Americans continue to deny the results of the 2020 election. A September CNN poll found 36% of Americans do not believe Biden was the legitimate winner of the election.

Trump has fed that disbelief by continuing to make claims of irregularities that have already been debunked. Republicans in several states continue to call for the decertification of elections, something that is legally impossible.

Republicans in some places have gone even further, authorizing unusual post-election inquiries into election results.

The most high-profile of those reviews was in Arizona, where Republicans hired a firm with no election experience, called Cyber Ninjas, to examine all 2.1m votes cast in Maricopa county, the most populous in the state. That monthslong effort, which included a hand count of every single ballot, was widely criticized by election experts, who noted that the firm had shoddy methodology and its leader had embraced conspiracy theories about the election. Ultimately, the Cyber Ninjas effort affirmed Bidens win in Maricopa county.

Republicans elsewhere have embraced similar reviews. In Wisconsin, Republicans in the legislature have hired a former Republican supreme court justice to examine the election, but that effort has been marked by sloppiness and accusations of partisan bias.

This is a grift, to be clear, Matt Masterson, a former top official at the Department of Homeland Security, who works on election administration, said in December.

These efforts have been coupled with an even more alarming effort in Republican legislatures to empower lawmakers to alter election results. Lawmakers in seven states, including Michigan, Arizona, Missouri and Nevada, introduced 10 bills this year that would empower them to override or change election results, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Some of the bills would allow partisan lawmakers to outright reject election results, while others would allow for post-election meddling in the vote count.

Over the last year, theres been a surge in election administrators who have left their positions because of threats and harassment. Experts are deeply concerned about that exodus and say that it could make room for more inexperienced, partisan workers to take over the running of elections. Ben Ginsberg, a longtime Republican election lawyer, said earlier this month the effort was an attempt to take election administration from the pros and give it to the pols.

Trump has endorsed several candidates who have embraced the myth of a stolen election to be the secretary of state, the chief election official, in many states. So far, hes made endorsements in GOP primaries in Michigan, Arizona, Georgia and Nevada all swing states that could play a determinative role in 2024.

At the start of each decade, state lawmakers across the US draw new congressional and state legislative districts. In 2020, Republicans dominated the down-ballot races that determine who gets to control the redistricting process. And this year, theyve used their power remarkably powerfully.

In Texas, where 95% of the states population growth was from non-white people, Republicans drew maps blunting the political power of minorities. They drew no new majority-minority districts, instead giving Republicans an advantage at winning the states two new congressional seats. Republicans have also moved to shore up their advantage in politically competitive states like North Carolina, Ohio and Georgia. Democrats are gerrymandering the states where they have power, like Illinois and Maryland, but control the redistricting process in far fewer places than Republicans do.

These rigged districts will insulate Republicans from threats to their political power for the next decade.

One of the biggest frustrations of the first year of Bidens presidency has been that Democrats have not been able to pass two crucial pieces of voting rights legislation through Congress. One bill would set a minimum of access across the country, guaranteeing things like 15 days of early voting, as well as prohibiting partisan gerrymandering. The second bill would re-establish a critical piece of the 1965 Voting Rights Act requiring states where there is repeated evidence of voting discrimination to get voting changes approved by the federal government before they go into effect.

There is growing frustration that Biden has not pushed hard enough to get rid of the filibuster, which Republicans have relied on to stall those bills. Democrats have pledged to find a way around the filibuster next year.

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Democracy under attack: how Republicans led the effort to make it harder to vote - The Guardian

Nearly a decade ago, former Sen. Rick Santorum ran a surprisingly competitive presidential campaign, before ultimately coming up short against former Gov. Mitt Romney. As the 2016 cycle approached, the Pennsylvania Republican saw himself as a national frontrunner since he was the next in line, which in GOP politics, often has real meaning.

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is apparently thinking along the same lines. Politico reported:

Sen. Ted Cruz on Wednesday argued he is particularly well-positioned to win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, citing his second-place finish behind then-candidate Donald Trump in the party's 2016 primary. The remarks from Cruz (R-Texas) came in an interview with The Truth Gazette, a conservative news service operated by 15-year-old Brilyn Hollyhand.

"You know, I ran in 2016," the senator said. "It was the most fun I've ever had in my life. We had a very crowded field. We had 17 candidates in the race a very strong field. And I ended up placing second.... There's a reason historically that the runner-up is almost always the next nominee."

Asked whether he'd consider another White House bid, Cruz replied, "Absolutely. In a heartbeat."

So, is he right? Is the most recent runner-up "almost always" the party's next presidential nominee? In Democratic politics, no. In fact, in recent decades, it's only happened once (Hillary Clinton came in second in 2008, before winning the nomination in 2016).

But in Republican politics, it's a very different story. Ronald Reagan won the GOP nomination in 1980 after finishing second in 1976; George H.W. Bush won the nomination in 1988 after finishing second in 1980; Bob Dole won the nomination in 1996 after finishing second in 1988; John McCain won the nomination in 2008 after finishing second in 2000; and Mitt Romney won the nomination in 2012 after finishing second in 2008. As patterns go, that's quite a few data points.

So, does Cruz have a point? If Donald Trump doesn't run, should the Texas senator be seen as the likely 2024 nominee?

He probably shouldn't start writing his acceptance speech just yet.

The pattern is interesting, but there are exceptions. For example, Pat Buchanan came in second in 1996, but he was crushed by George W. Bush in 2000 and ended up running on the Reform Party's ticket. Santorum came in second in 2012, but when he tried again four years later, the former senator finished in 11th place in Iowa and promptly quit.

The runner-up is "almost always the next nominee"? Not exactly. The next-in-line thesis works, except when it doesn't.

I won't pretend to know what the GOP's 2024 field will look like, or who the top contenders will be. But I think it's safe to say historical patterns like these should be seen more as fun trivia than reliable predictors of future events.

Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics."

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Ted Cruz and the Republican Party's next-in-line problem - MSNBC

RICHMOND, Va. On a December afternoon, Winsome Sears, Virginias lieutenant governor-elect, stood at the podium in the State Senate chamber where she will soon preside. It was empty but for a few clerks and staffers who were walking her through a practice session, making pretend motions and points of order. Ms. Sears followed along as the clerks explained arcane Senate protocols, though she occasionally raised matters that werent in the script.

What if theyre making a ruckus? Ms. Sears asked her tutors.

Then, a clerk said, pointing to the giant wooden gavel at Ms. Searss right hand, you bang that. Ms. Sears smiled.

That she was standing here at all was an improbability built upon unlikelihoods. Her campaign was a long shot, late in starting, skimpily funded and repeatedly overhauled. The political trajectory that preceded it was hardly more auspicious: She appeared on the scene 20 years ago, winning a legislative seat in an upset, but after one term and a quixotic bid for Congress, disappeared from electoral politics. She briefly surfaced in 2018, announcing a write-in protest against Virginias Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, but this earned her little beyond a few curious mentions in the press.

Yet just three years later she is the lieutenant governor-elect, having bested two veteran lawmakers for the Republican nomination and become the first Black woman elected to statewide office in Virginia history. She will take office on Jan. 15, along with Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin.

The focus on Ms. Searss triumph, in news profiles and in the post-election crowing of conservative pundits, has been on the rare combination of her biography and politics: a Black woman, an immigrant and an emphatically conservative, Trump-boosting Republican.

The message is important, Ms. Sears, 57, said over a lunch of Jamaican oxtail with her transition team at a restaurant near the State Capitol. But the messenger is equally important.

This is the question that Ms. Sears embodies: whether she is a singular figure who won a surprise victory or the vanguard of a major political realignment, dissolving longtime realities of race and partisan identification. Democrats say there is little evidence for the latter, and that Ms. Sears won with typical Republican voters in an especially Republican year. But Ms. Sears insists that many Black and immigrant voters naturally side with Republicans on a variety of issues and that some are starting to realize that.

The only way to change things is to win elections, she said. And who better to help make that change but me? I look like the strategy.

Ms. Sears dates her own partisan epiphany to her early 20s. She already had plenty of life experience by that point: moving at the age of 6 from Jamaica to the Bronx to be with her father, who had come seeking work; joining the Marines as a lost teenager and learning to be a diesel mechanic; becoming a single mother at 21. When she listened to the 1988 presidential campaign, hearing the debates over abortion and welfare, she realized, to her surprise, that she was a Republican.

More than a dozen years passed before Ms. Sears, then a married mother of three who had run a homeless shelter and gone to graduate school, began her political career. At the urging of local Republicans, she ran in 2001 for the House of Delegates in a majority Black district in Norfolk. The seat had been held by Billy Robinson Jr., a Democrat, for 20 years; his father had held it before him. Weeks before the election, Mr. Robinson spent a night in jail on a contempt of court charge. Ms. Sears won in the surprise of the election season.

In the Legislature, she adjusted to the political architecture and her unusual place in it: joining, then leaving, the legislative Black caucus; voting dependably as a Republican but calling earlier than many colleagues for the resignation of the Republican House speaker when news broke of his sexual harassment settlement.

She did not run for re-election, instead launching an underdog campaign against Democratic U.S. Representative Bobby Scott. Mr. Scott returned to Congress, where he remains, and the House of Delegates seat returned to Democratic hands for good. Ms. Sears was done with politics, she said.

Her family moved to the small city of Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley, where Ms. Sears and her husband ran a plumbing and electrical repair shop. She held a few posts on the state board of education and on a committee at the Department of Veterans Affairs and wrote a book, Stop Being a Christian Wimp! Much of her focus was on caring for a daughter struggling with mental illness. In 2012, the daughter, DeJon Williams, was killed in a car accident along with her two young children.

While Ms. Sears was absent from politics, Barack Obama won the presidency, Trayvon Martin was killed, the Black Lives Matter movement rose up, Donald Trump was elected and neo-Nazis marched on Charlottesville, Va. Ms. Searss political example, as a Black woman Republican representing a majority Black district in Virginia, went unrepeated.

Republicans, she said, rarely even tried to sever the old ties between Black voters and the Democratic Party. This is partly why she decided to run this year.

I just took a look at the field, and said, My God, were gonna lose again, she said. Nobody was going to reach out to the various communities that needed to be heard from: women, immigrants, you know, Latinos, Asians, Blacks, etc.

She stood to the right of much of the field and was arguably the furthest right of the three Republicans nominated for statewide office. She favors strict limits on abortion, calling Democratic abortion policies wicked; she is an advocate of vouchers to help students pay for private school tuition and of tighter restrictions on voting; and she insists that gun control laws do not deter crime gun ownership does. A photo that went viral last spring, showing her holding an AR-15 while wearing a blazer-and-dress outfit suitable for a Chamber of Commerce luncheon, propelled her as much as anything to the Republican nomination.

Ms. Sears derides the left as too concerned with race but often explains her politics as rooted in Black history, stressing Marcus Garveys rhetoric on self-reliance as a Jamaican immigrant in Jim Crow America, emphasizing that Harriet Tubman carried a gun and referring to the infamous Tuskegee experiments in explaining her opposition to Covid-19 vaccine mandates. If the Democrats are always going to talk about race, then lets talk about it, she said.

She rejects the notion that the problems Republicans have attracting Black voters might run deeper than mere neglect. She was angered when Republicans nominated Corey Stewart, who had a history of associating with Neo-Confederates, for the 2018 U.S. Senate race in Virginia. But she said this didnt give her qualms about the party. She remains a champion of Mr. Trump, who openly endorsed Mr. Stewart; indeed, she was the national chairwoman of a group called Black Americans to Re-elect the President.

Jennifer McClellan, a Democratic state senator from Richmond, agreed that Democrats could not assume that Black people would show up for them at the polls, saying that Black voters, like any voters, choose candidates based on who they believe is going to help solve their problems. But, she continued, little that Ms. Sears has said suggests she would be that person in office.

The vast majority of Black voters disagree with her on abortion, on school choice, on guns, Ms. McClellan said. Those arent necessarily the issues driving Black voters anyway. Its the economy, its health care, its broader access to education.

The evidence that this years elections scrambled the fundamentals of race and partisanship is mixed at most. If anything, some Republicans worried that Ms. Searss hard-right politics might jeopardize the campaign strategy of appealing to more moderate voters. This risk was largely mitigated, said John Fredericks, a conservative radio host, by the fact that Ms. Searss general election campaign, which he called a train wreck from start to finish, never raised enough money to really broadcast her politics.

In any case, the attention was overwhelmingly directed to the top of the ticket.

The election this year was all about the gubernatorial candidates, said Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington. There were few big surprises in the exit polls, several political experts said, and Ms. Sears won her race by a margin that would have been expected of just about any Republican this year.

But there were some warning signs for Democrats, outlined in a postelection survey by the Democratic Governors Association. While Black Virginians overwhelmingly voted for Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic nominee for governor, the analysis found a drop in Democratic support among Black men, compared with the 2020 presidential election. There was notable erosion in Democratic support among Asian and Latino voters as well.

We dont need to be tied or beholden to one particular party, said Wes Bellamy, a Black political activist and a former vice mayor of Charlottesville. He will be watching Ms. Sears closely, he said.

Lieutenant governors in Virginia are fairly limited in their responsibilities, but they have a public profile and they almost always run for governor. If Ms. Sears advocates for policies that improve the day-to-day lives of Black people and, more crucially, if she can persuade her Republican colleagues to go along, Mr. Bellamy said, I think shes gold.

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Winsome Sears Wants Black Voters to Rethink the G.O.P. - The New York Times