Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert held a press conference on Tuesday after her attorney filed a motion to dismiss the legal petition calling for her to be removed from office.
In her remarks, Halbert reasserted her stance that the Shelby County Clerk’s office should be given the majority of the money it collects for the betterment of the office and declared she will not apologize.
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A Wednesday report revealed the existence of a “group chat” that includes eight female Democratic governors, including Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, who befriended other influential Democrats including Governors Kathy Hochul of New York and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.
The gubernatorial group chat additionally includes Governors Maura Healey of Massachusetts, Laura Kelly of Kansas, Tina Kotek of Oregon, Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, and Janet Mills of Maine, according to the 19th News report.
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The Pennsylvania National Guard confirmed on Wednesday the 26th Infantry Division of the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team is preparing to train soldiers from Ukraine at a military base in Germany.
A news article by the Pennsylvania Guard confirmed soldiers are “preparing for mobilization to the Joint Multinational Training Center to train the Armed Forces of Ukraine” on combat tactics in the German state Bavaria.
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Republican U.S. Senate nominee Dave McCormick on Tuesday announced a plan to “shake up” Washington, D.C. that will include relocating the Department of Energy (DOE) to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
McCormick on Tuesday stressed his two decades of experience in the private sector in an editorial published by Real Clear Pennsylvania. He confirmed his plans to achieve permanent change in Washington include moving federal agencies away from the capital.
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The Massachusetts-based asset management company which owns the Sonesta Nashville Airport hotel currently under threat of legal action over its decision to cancel the use of its venue for the 2024 Israel Summit did not respond to a Wednesday press inquiry by The Tennessee Star.
The hotel company’s silence comes amid conflicting claims by the Sonesta Nashville Airport hotel’s general manager, Troy Carver, and the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD).
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Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Tuesday argued Syracuse University should lose its federal funding after a man convicted of manslaughter was arrested at an anti-Israel encampment constructed on the university campus.
Eural Warren was arrested by the Syracuse University of Public Safety on Friday, according to The National Desk, after the outlet previously confirmed the convicted killer was staying at the anti-Israel encampment constructed at the university despite officials declaring only students would be allowed access to the protest.Â
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced over $54 million in awards last month for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Shelter and Services program to Arizona entities to offset “costs incurred” due to the influx of illegal immigrants into the country.
According to funding awards posted publicly by FEMA last month, two Arizona-based charitable entities, Pima County and Maricopa County will collectively receive $54,573,093 to support illegal immigrants in the 2024 fiscal year.
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Governor Josh Shapiro introduced updates on May 8 to his administration’s code of conduct that prohibits “scandalous or disgraceful” acts from state employees, a Tuesday Spotlight PA report revealed.
The report noted that Shapiro quietly signed an executive order that changed his administration’s code of conduct for all state employees amid intense public debate over the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
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Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, described in the press as rising star within Democratic Party politics, is set to headline a Nashville abortion event and fundraiser in June, it was reported Monday.
A website advertising the Tennessee Freedom Circle event reveals Beshear will appear with “survivor and advocate, Hadley Duvall,” for the “Championing Reproductive Freedom” event on June 21.
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The Goldwater Institute filed a lawsuit against Pima County in late April over a new ordinance that levies fines against gun owners who fail to report stolen weapons within 48 hours after learning they are missing, it confirmed Monday.
Pima County’s ordinance requires gun owners to report guns lost or stolen within Pima County to local authorities under penalty of a $1,000 fine should gun owners take longer than 48 hours.
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Voter registration reveals Republicans continue to gain ground in Pennsylvania, with Democrats losing a number of registered voters to the opposing party, a Monday report citing Pennsylvania Department of State data.
The Republican Party of Pennsylvania (PAGOP) between the end of March and May 13, gained 10,152 new registered voters, according to Politics PA.
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A new report reveals two Democratic state senators in Pennsylvania reported receiving Super Bowl tickets as gifts from a Lackawanna County insurance executive who regularly donates to Republicans but appears to have recently donated to independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy.
Citing public disclosures by Pennsylvania State Senators Marty Flynn (D-Lackawanna) and Jimmy Dillon (D-Philadelphia), Spotlight PA reported the senators attended the Super Bowl in 2023 with tickets furnished by Charles Volpe, the president of Excalibur Insurance Management Service.
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A law set to take effect before the 2024-2025 school year will require juvenile courts to revoke driver’s licenses from juvenile offenders who are convicted of threatening schools or school property.
SB 1664 by State Senator Dawn White (R-Murfreesboro) will mandate juvenile offenders who are found guilty of threatening mass violence on school property or during school activities must have their driving privileges suspended for one year.
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Video surfaced on Friday of U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) declaring in a political event that it will be “impossible” to lower prices that have increased since President Joe Biden entered the White House.
“I’m not proposing that we’re going to be able to bring these prices down. That’s impossible,” Casey acknowledged in a video posted by Donald Trump Jr. to the social media platform X.
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Police successfully removed another anti-Israel encampment from the University of Arizona (UA), university administrators confirmed on Friday.
University President Robert Robbins confirmed police dispersed the camp early on Friday after graduation events were “successfully held” on the UA campus in Tucson “without any incident on Thursday.”
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The recent arrest of McKenzie McClure, the biological female and former Christ Presbyterian Academy (CPA) student federal authorities accused of cyberstalking following alleged threats to CPA in Nashville, shares concerning similarities with the circumstances which preceded the tragic Covenant School shootings by Audrey Elizabeth Hale last year in which the former Covenant School student killed 3 students and 3 staff members before she, in turn, was killed by Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) officers.
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The University of Pennsylvania confirmed on Friday it called the Philadelphia Police Department to disperse the anti-Israel encampment constructed on its campus, declaring it a threat to public safety for students.
Signed by Interim President Larry Jameson, Provost John Jackson, and Senior Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli, the letter highlighted threats posed by the encampment to normal university operations, including commencement for graduating students.
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Wanda Halbert, the embattled Shelby County Clerk currently facing a legal petition for her removal from office, confirmed in Tuesday remarks to a Memphis media personality that she will not resign amid court proceedings.
Halbert currently awaits a court date following a 49-page petition submitted by Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp which alleged the clerk demonstrated “willful neglect to perform” duties associated with her office.
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Dave McCormick, Pennsylvania’s Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, estimated there are about 500 protesters who remain at at the anti-Israel encampment constructed at the University of Pennsylvania on Wednesday.
McCormick made the remarks following his visit to the Penn campus last week, telling The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show what he witnessed was a “disgrace” and a “travesty.”
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Republicans in the Arizona State Legislature are preparing the Secure the Border Act for a public referendum in November following vetoes of border security measures by Governor Katie Hobbs, allowing lawmakers to circumvent the governor should Arizona voters agree.
Both State Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) and House Majority Leader Ben Toma (R-Peoria) have confirmed their support as of Wednesday for HCR 2060, the Secure the Border Act ballot initiative that would strengthen penalties for submitting false information to E-Verify and require new safeguards to keep illegal immigrants from receiving public welfare benefits.
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Both U.S. Senate nominee Dave McCormick and incumbent Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released campaign ads on Thursday, with the Republican challenger calling his opponent “dangerous” and Casey highlighting his ties to steel workers.
The campaign advertisements dropped after three recent polls showed McCormick just four points behind Casey, placing the candidates in a statistical tie.
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Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell described his “Choose How You Move” transportation referendum as “very progressive” in a Wednesday interview, highlighting the endeavor as one of the most progressive acts of his administration.
O’Connell was asked by The Guardian, which describes itself as “the world’s leading liberal voice,” to what level he views himself “as a progressive leader in a state that is not politically progressive” following the 2022 redistricting process that split Nashville between multiple congressional districts.
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Two polls of Pennsylvania voters released on Wednesday showed former President Donald Trump defeating President Joe Biden. They also showed a statistical tie in the race between U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and his Republican challenger Dave McCormick.
The Muhlenberg College poll released Wednesday found Trump has the support of 44 percent of Pennsylvania voters, giving him a four-point lead over Biden at 41 percent.
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Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne announced the creation of a new Arizona Department of Education (ADE) task force to educate students about the dangers posed by the synthetic opioid fentanyl and provide emergency Narcan for school staff to reverse potentially fatal overdoses.
Horne announced the formation of the School Training Overdose Preparedness and Intelligence Taskforce (STOP-IT) on Tuesday, revealing the new effort will educate children about the dangers of fentanyl and other opioids while providing schools with resources to save lives.
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University of Pennsylvania protesters supporting the anti-Israel encampment constructed at the university declared the university’s administration “nefarious” as well as “antagonistic and ableist” on Monday ahead of a third meeting between organizers and the university administrators.
In a social media post directed at the university, issued jointly by Penn student protest groups Up Against the Occupation and Drexel Palestine Coalition, made the claims about the university following an update on the institution’s anti-Israel encampment by Interim President Larry Johnson.
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The Republican National Committee (RNC) and Republican Party of Pennsylvania (PAGOP) have filed to intervene in a Butler County lawsuit brought by two voters who want to enable the curing of mail-in ballots returned to election officials without a security sleeve.
The lawsuit was brought by two Pennsylvania voters who submitted mail-in ballots without the required security sleeve. According to their lawsuit, the voters apparently later sought to cure their ballots, but were instead allowed to cast provisional ballots that were ultimately not counted. They filed suit against the Butler County Board of Elections on April 29.
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on Monday the arrest of an illegal immigrant from Brazil. The agency explained the man has been wanted in Brazil for attempted murder since October.
ICE additionally confirmed the man, whose identity the agency withheld, entered the United States through Arizona’s southern border and was eventually apprehended for deportation in Massachusetts. He will remain in the agency’s custody until he is removed from the country.
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A 49-page complaint was filed against Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert on Monday, demanding she be suspended then removed from office over alleged incompetence and bad management decisions that cost the county hundreds of thousands.
The complaint was filed by Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp in the Shelby County Circuit Court and makes the case that Halbert should be removed due to alleged “willful neglect to perform a duty” assigned to her office.
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The Tennessee Eagle Forum on Monday announced State Senator Kerry Roberts (R-Springfield) was awarded the Tennessee Eagle Forum Award for 2024 due to his successful legislation that “effectively repealed” a 2022 law which enabled some illegal immigrants to receive state-issued commercial and professional licenses.
Roberts’ legislation, according to a Tennessee Eagle Forum press release, removed key language from Public Chapter No. 11, the 2022 legislation that allowed illegal immigrants to obtain professional or commercial licenses if they are “either a United States citizen or authorized under federal law to work in the United States as verified by the SAVE program.”
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A survey released Monday found abortion is not among the top five issues for Arizona voters, who instead are primarily concerned with the southern border and illegal immigration.
The Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA) revealed its 2024 Arizona Voters’ Agenda found the majority of the state’s voters named immigration and border security as their most important issue.
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Emory University declared on Monday it will not hold its 2024 commencement ceremony on the university’s campus, instead relocating all events to the Gas South District in Duluth, Georgia amid the anti-Israel protests at the school.
University President Gregory Fenves confirmed the move in a Monday announcement to the university’s website, confirming Emory would hold its commencement despite protests, but nonetheless acknowledging “concerns about safety and security” prompted a total relocation of all commencement events.
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Governor Josh Shapiro authorized more than 100 flights on the private airplane owned by the State of Pennsylvania in 2023, exceeding the controversial amount of air travel by his predecessor, a Spotlight Pennsylvania report revealed on Tuesday.
The state-owned Beechcraft King Air 350i, which generally sells for between $4.3 million and $6.7 million, was used for 113 separate trips in 2023. According to Spotlight Pennsylvania, the flight time amounted to more than 200 hours and cost the state’s taxpayers $410,000.
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Alex Soros, the son of Hungarian-American financier George Soros, confirmed in a Tuesday posts to social media that he attended the 2024 Sedona Forum held by the McCain Institute in Arizona and discussed former President Donald Trump with at least one high profile attendee.
The theme the McCain Institute chose for the 2024 Sedona Forum was “Securing Our Insecure World,” and a website for the event claims speakers and attendees “examined the greatest challenges to democracy, human rights, and global security,” while panel topics included “challenges posed to by autocracies to the international order and U.S. values and interests.”
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Former President Donald Trump was held in contempt on Monday by New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan over remarks the former president made on April 22 to radio and television host John Fredericks during an appearance on Outside the Beltway.
Merchan previously gagged Trump with an order preventing him from discussing prosecutors, witnesses, jurors or the judge, with the fines and potential jail time listed as potential repercussions.
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Biden administration Secretary of State of State Antony Blinken on Friday visited Tuscon to participate in a “roundtable on synthetic drugs.” Despite visiting an emergency services call center and a passport office, he did not visit the southern border.
A State Department itinerary of Blinken’s schedule on Friday reveals he was slated to arrive at the Tucson Passport Center at 11:20 a.m. for a “meet and greet” with local employees.
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The Sierra Club will hold a demonstration at Lipscomb University in Nashville on Wednesday to protest the use of fossil fuels by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which is slated to hold a listening session earlier the same day.
A TVA web page explains the controversial group’s “Rally for the Valley” will feature a musical performance Nashville-based country music artist Jonathan Singleton and remarks by Representative Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville).
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Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr sent a letter to the City of Savannah on Friday which declared their new gun ordinance “void” due to its failure to adhere to state laws precluding local governments from establishing their own firearm regulations.
The Savannah firearms ordinance in question, which reportedly had the support of Moms Demand Action, legally mandated firearm owners to report stolen or missing firearms within 24 hours, keep guns under lock and key while when they are transported in generals and required guns be kept out of sight and locked up if left in an unattended vehicle.
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The Dave McCormick for U.S. Senate campaign released a Friday statement castigating U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) for his failure to condemn the antisemitic encampment at the University of Pennsylvania, deriding the Democrat for engaging a children’s television character on social media rather than condemn the anti-Israel protests.
McCormick’s campaign explained their challenge to Casey in response to “Casey’s continued silence on the antisemitic encampments rocking college campuses across Pennsylvania and the country.”
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State Senator Doug Mastriano on Thursday introduced legislation that would strip state funding from Pennsylvania colleges and universities that become a “safe harbor” for antisemitism in the months since the October 7 attack by Hamas against Israel.
Mastriano introduced SB 1185 in response to the “pro-Hamas and anti-Israel protests and encampments” his office noted “recently took root at the University of Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh and other Pennsylvania colleges and universities that benefit from tax dollars.”
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Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy was joined on Thursday by Memphis Mayor Paul Young and Interim Police Chief C.J. Davis to call on Tennessee lawmakers to increase the state’s penalties for criminals who make handguns fully automatic using converter devices known as “switches.”
Mulroy said the “so-called Glock switches” are “relatively cheap and easy to maintain and they basically turn handguns into effective machine guns.”
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The Government of Mexico is planning a lawsuit against George Alan Kelly, the southern Arizona rancher who was accused of murdering an illegal immigrant from Mexico, after prosecutors decided against pursuing the case further following a mistrial.
Attorney Brenna Larkin, who represented Kelly at trial, confirmed Mexico’s plans to participate in civil litigation to NewsNation reporter Ali Bradley. Kelly was accused of murdering Gabriel Cuen-Butimea, and the rancher admitted to firing warning shots while a group of armed Mexican nationals trespassed on his ranch near Nogales, Arizona.
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Following his visit to the anti-Israel encampment constructed at the University of Pennsylvania, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick told The Pennsylvania Daily Star Thursday that he will urge senators to “revisit” federal support and tax breaks afforded to top schools if Pennsylvanians send him to Washington, D.C. in November.
McCormick noted that Pennsylvania taxpayers subsidize many schools that boast anti-Israel encampments, either through federal funding or the “huge benefit” of an “enormous endowments” that remain tax exempt.
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A federal civil rights investigation into Emory University was confirmed on Thursday, with Biden administration officials asked to determine whether the university discriminated against Muslim students following the devastating October 7 surprise attack by Hamas fighters against civilians in Israel.
The Department of Education is now investigating Emory University to determine whether it violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in its treatment of Muslim students following the October 7 attack.
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The Georgia State Ethics Commission referred Fulton County Commissioner Khadijah Abdur-Rahman to Attorney General Chris Carr after the commission determined she likely used campaign money for personal expenses, a Tuesday report exposed.
Abdur-Rahman, who is an ally of District Attorney Fani Willis, allegedly made purchases or payments with campaign funding to Dollar Tree, Title Max, Georgia Power, and a chiropractor, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.
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State Senator Amanda Cappelletti (D-Philadelphia) claimed as part of a Monday push to create a federal law to enshrine abortion access that 80 Pennsylvania abortion clinics have closed “in a relatively short period of time” since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Cappelletti made the remarks to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, and additionally claimed abortion access has fallen in the commonwealth since the landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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The University of Arizona (UA) reportedly called police to clear protesters and disperse the anti-Israel encampment that formed on its Tucson campus, with authorities arresting demonstrators and clearing their debris just after 2 a.m. on Wednesday. University President Robert Robbins reportedly told police to “immediately enforce campus use policies and all corresponding laws without further warning” early on Wednesday morning, resulting in what Arizona’s Family described as multiple arrests “by authorities in riot gear” before the camp was cleared. Though it remains unclear how many protesters were arrested, the outlet reported “there were about 70 protesters inside the encampment and around 300 supporters outside the police line” prior to the police action. Ellie Wolfe, a higher education reporter for Arizona’s Daily Star, reported on the social media platform X that Robbins ordered police to end the protest at 2:02 a.m. PROTESTERS AND POLICE CLASH, ORDERED BY UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA PRESIDENT ROBERT C ROBBINS pic.twitter.com/5M2NBQcGJP — Ellie Wolfe (@elliew0lfe) May 1, 2024 Wolfe later reported that demonstrators ultimately retreated from the encampment as officers followed them, and the tents were completely cleared by 2:50 a.m. Video that surfaced an hour earlier showed police attempting to gain access to the anti-Israel encampment,…
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U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn debunked a series of claims about Israel and Jewish students made by Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) after the Democrat claimed her rhetoric was “insanely dangerous” to anti-Israel protesters on college campuses.
Following a nationwide spate of anti-Israel encampments on university campuses, Blackburn posted to the social media platform X on Monday that students who have “promoted terrorism” or engaged in terrorist activities “on behalf of Hamas should be immediately added to the terrorist watch list and placed on the TSA No Fly List.”
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Former President Donald Trump has now pulled ahead of President Joe Biden in seven battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona, according to polling released Tuesday.
Pollsters found Trump beat Biden by two percent in Pennsylvania, with the former president garnering the support of 47 percent of those polled compared to Biden’s 45 percent. Eight percent of Pennsylvania respondents told pollsters they are undecided.
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Metro Nashville Councilwoman Courtney Johnston has yet to offer her positions on top issues to voters nearly one month since declaring her primary challenge to U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional district.
Johnston declared her candidacy on April 4, but the website for her campaign remains devoid of issues statements and policy positions at press time. Without policy positions, the only campaign information available on Johnston’s campaign website are a donation link, her announcement video and a form to submit contact details.
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Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake is statistically tied with Representative Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) in the first New Emerson College poll of the contest since the Arizona Supreme Court enacted a 19th century law that bans abortion without exceptions for rape or incest.
The pollsters found Lake has the support of 43.1 percent of Arizonans, leaving her just behind Gallego, who polled at 45.3 percent. In the wake of the confirmation Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) will not seek another term, an additional 11.6 percent of respondents told pollsters they remain undecided.
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