Former Afghan refugee wins New Hampshire primary, ousting 4-term incumbent in state legislature

Safiya Wazir, a 27-year-old former refugee from Afghanistan who is now an American citizen, beat out four-term New Hampshire state Rep. Dick Patten (D) in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday night.

If she defeats her Republican opponent in November, Wazir would become the first refugee to ever serve in public office in the state. She immigrated to Concord, New Hampshire about 11 years ago, as the Taliban consolidated power in Afghanistan.

Patten ran a negative campaign against ...

Trump team succeeds in freezing progress on health insurance enrollment, poverty

Years of progress on health insurance enrollment halted abruptly in 2017 as Trump administration officials intentionally unplugged the policy machines that pushed the uninsured rate below 10 percent over the previous half-decade.

New Census Bureau figures on poverty released Wednesday show the uninsured rate held steady at 8.8 percent last year, marking the first failure to improve enrollment levels since at least 2013. Changes to Census data collection that year make comparisons to...

Roe v. Wade is on the ballot in Rhode Island

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — State Rep. Marcia Ranglin-Vassell (D) on Tuesday knocked on the door of a voter with a campaign sign for her opponent Holly Taylor Coolman, an anti-choice Democrat who ended up winning the state party’s support.

A middle-aged white woman answered and Ranglin-Vassell introduced herself to her neighbor: She’s a Jamaican immigrant who’s lived in the Providence for decades; she’s a high school teacher who’s made improving pu...

Inside Kevin de León’s quest to topple Dianne Feinstein, the queen of California

CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA — Kevin de León is cool in that way your dad is cool, which is to say he’d be insanely cool for the United States Senate. This particular Sunday, he’s sporting bright white Adidas sneakers, which are somehow scuffless even after the morning’s Central American independence parade. He’s wearing jeans; he left his tie at home.

De León is running late, but the 40 or so people gathered at a Persian restaurant in Claremont, California, are unbothered. When he ...

Bernie voters look for an incumbent upset in Rhode Island with progressive candidate Matt Brown

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Matt Brown has never met former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (D), but the Rhode Island gubernatorial candidate has managed to win over the Vermont senator’s base.

On Monday, Sanders-turned-Brown supporters walked 12 miles from North Kingstown to beach-town Narragansett in high wind and rain (thanks to Hurricane Florence) to canvas for the progressive underdog.

One of those supporters was 71-year-old Bob Rafael. The retiree was h...