EL PASO, TEXAS — Democrat Beto O’Rourke came close in his bid to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz but lost Tuesday by a narrow 3-point margin. Even so, O’Rourke’s race proved candidates in the Lone Star State can run on a serious progressive platform and draw a substantial following.
Beto fans were devastated by the loss, but took heart in what he and his supporters were able to do. Texas — one of the nation’s worst voter turnout states — was...
Senate
The US just elected its first openly gay governor
Jared Polis, the Dem...
A guide to how Democrats can take back the House in the midterms
Two years after President Donald Trump’s stunning upset win (despite receiving nearly three million fewer votes than his opponent), Democrats finally have a chance to regain control of one (or both) chambers of legislature. This would mean an opportunity for Congress to finally offer meaningful checks and balances on the Trump administration after the midterm elections, this Tuesday, Nov. 6.
Democrats need to flip 24 seats to win the House. Twenty-five GOP-controlled districts...
Republican Attorney General reportedly let his Senate campaign consultants direct his state office
Missouri Attorney General and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Josh Hawley allowed “out-of-state political consultants” to give “direct guidance and tasks to his taxpayer-funded staff,” according to a report by The Kansas City Star.
Among other things, The Star reports that Hawley’s political consultants helped oversee the attorney general office’s rollout of “Missouri’s lawsuit against opioid manufacturers, which Hawley announced in June 20...
Lawmakers’ scores plummet on LGBTQ congressional scorecard
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has released its Congressional Scorecard for the 115th Congress — and it’s revealed some shocking drop-offs.
With Republicans in control of both Congress and the White House, lawmakers showed far less concern for the LGBTQ community, voting against their interests and ignoring legislation that would protect them.
Unlike in previous sessions, lawmakers over the past two years didn’t vote on a single bill that would have directl...
John McCain, longtime senator and Trump antagonist, dies of brain cancer
Relatives for US Senator John McCain, 81, the Republican stalwart from Arizona, announced on Friday that he would no longer be receiving treatment for terminal brain cancer. Late Saturday, he succumbed to his illness.
Family and friends had gathered to be near him in his final hours as tributes poured in from both Republicans and Democrats for McCain, who in 2008 was his party’s presidential nominee.
John McCain was an American hero, a man of decenc...
Rand Paul proposes Planned Parenthood ‘poison pill’ to Senate funding bill
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is continuing his years-long crusade against Planned Parenthood, filing an amendment to a massive Senate appropriations bill last week that would cut federal funding from the organization, as well as others that perform abortion procedures.
In a statement released Friday, Paul said his amendment to the Senate appropriations package for Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education is “our chance to turn our words into action, stand up for the sancti...
GOP Senate candidates no longer want to talk about killing Obamacare
Once upon a time, Republicans made Obamacare an albatross for Democrats and made their vow to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act a centerpiece of their 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016 campaigns. Then they got control of the government and repeatedly failed to keep that promise — as the law’s popularity hit all-time highs.
Now, suddenly Republican lawmakers and candidates are on the defensive for their desire to strip an estimated 23 million Americans of ...
Louise Slaughter, 88, 16-Term Liberal Congresswoman, Is Dead
A House member from upstate New York, Ms. Slaughter championed women’s rights, food safety and the Affordable Care Act.
Here’s the pricetag Senate Dems are charging Mitch McConnell to leave DACA out of the budget deal
In exchange for leaving out a key program protecting about 800,000 undocumented immigrants, Senate Democrats have pried several billion dollars in funding increases for other domestic policy priorities out of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
A document circulating among House Democrats and outside ally groups like NDD United labels the total haul of the deal as “a $131 billion increase for non-defense programs.” That figure is calculated based on how spending leve...