On Thursday, the Cuyahoga County Republican Party censured state Representative Tom Patton (R-Strongsville) for voting in favor of newly elected House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill).
The Cuyahoga County Republican Party Disciplinary Committee previously recommended that Patton be censured for disregarding his obligation to the party and public by voting for Stephens.
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Gov. Josh Shapiro’s first state budget proposal perpetuates unsustainable spending and fails to address the most promising ideas he put forward during his campaign. For starters, his budget calls for $45.9 billion in ongoing General Fund spending – but the state has only $43 billion in net revenues, so the governor is positioning us for a nearly $3 billion annual deficit.
Spending that exceeds revenue is unsustainable and fiscally irresponsible for individuals, businesses, and certainly for government.
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Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D) is already claiming high-ranking Republicans “are praising” his first budget. Those Republicans’ actual remarks tell a different story.
A press release from the governor selectively quotes eight GOP state lawmakers’ reactions to the budget he unveiled last week. While the snippets accurately capture areas of agreement, they leave out decidedly negative sentiments the Republicans voiced about the $45.9 billion plan which would hike state spending by about four percent over the current level.
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Last month, all three Scottsdale legislators called for the termination of Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) Superintendent Scott Menzel after “racist” comments he made about white people in 2019 were reported in the media. Since no action has been taken, the Arizona Freedom Caucus (AFC) held a press conference last Thursday demanding the school board fire him.
State Sen. Joseph Chaplik (R-Scottsdale), said, “Superintendent Menzel has chosen to publicly conduct himself in such an unbecoming manner that a critical mass of parents in the district do not have confidence in his ability to be responsible and effectively lead our children.”
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The Lucas County Republican Party voted unanimously this week to censure the Republican representatives who voted in favor of newly elected House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill).
Last month, lawmakers elected moderate Republican Stephens as the new speaker to succeed State Representative Bob Cupp (R-Lima) despite the Republican Caucus‘ previous selection in November of State Representative Derek Merrin (R-Moncolva) as the new speaker. Although the GOP caucus voted for Merrin as Speaker of the House in December, Stephen fought in collaboration with the Democrats to collect votes and garner a win.
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Stephen Curry is quite the guy. Professional athlete, philanthropist, and social justice advocate—is there anything he can’t do? Apparently there is, seeing as how the NBA player has difficulty practicing what he preaches.
Curry came under fire this week after it was revealed that he and his wife oppose the construction of multifamily housing near their $31 million Atherton mansion. Yet this shouldn’t surprise us. Hypocrisy is a defining trait for many wealthy liberals.
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The BadgersVote initiative “strives to provide University of Wisconsin–Madison students with everything they need to know in order to participate in their elections,” according to organizers. But is the campus-wide “public service” campaign really just a Democratic Party Get-Out-the-Vote effort underwritten by a taxpayer-funded university, a nonprofit research center, and liberal activist groups?
For some, the university-nonprofit partnership feels a lot like the Zuckerbucks scandal of 2020.
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Amalgamated Bank, with just five branches across three cities, and a market value lower than the net worth of many an individual hedge fund honcho, would seem an unlikely mover and shaker in the world of Wall Street, let alone Washington, D.C.
Yet last fall, it successfully pressured colossal credit card companies Visa, Mastercard, and American Express to use the financial system to track and report gun purchases. Amalgamated is “more than a bank,” says Michael Watson of the Capital Research Center. “It’s a bank for an ideological movement.”
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During his second State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Joe Biden called out Tennessee U.S. Representative Andy Ogles’ (R-TN-05) recently-introduced bill that would repeal the inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
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Lt Governor Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) and Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) have announced the list of member appointments to the education committees for the 113th General Assembly. It’s a list populated by both old stalwarts and new blood.
In the Senate, there is one education committee that will continue to be filled with familiar faces. McNally appointed only two new members – Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) and Senator Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) – for the upcoming session. Senator John Lundberg (R-Bristol) remains chair, with Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) as the 2nd Vice-Chair. Sen. Senator Bill Powers (R-Clarksville) assumes the role of 1st Vice-Chair.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio- The Ohio Republican Party has named Alex Triantafilou, longtime leader of the Hamilton County Republican Party, as its next chairman.
Following a vote Friday by the Ohio Republican Party’s Central Committee Triantafilou will replace Bob Paduchik who has led the state party since February 2021.
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As of January 3, 2023, the Republicans were supposed to control the United States House of Representatives by a slim majority. On that date, many expected that the task of electing a new Speaker and moving forward with the business of “the people” in the House would start under Republican party control. But as of January 6, 2023, those elected to serve in the House have not selected a Speaker and so the House has not been organized nor undertaken regular operations. National news reports indicate that the presumptive Republican Speaker so far has fallen short in getting the required number of votes in part because approximately 20 Republicans who were elected in November have refused to vote for McCarty and no other individual has demonstrated enough votes to get the position.
One of the issues that is being discussed is whether any of those who have refused to support McCarthy in the 11 votes taken as of January 5th have broken a promise, perhaps a campaign promise, to do so. It is an active discussion over what was promised and whether there are any valid justifications for withholding support if a promise was made. Indeed, at least in Nashville, the talk radio shows are expending a great amount of time reviewing this issue because there is a Congressman-elect from Tennessee who is part of the story.
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Summit County Republican Party Chairman and statewide party Vice-Chair Bryan Williams officially announced his candidacy for chairman of the Ohio Republican Party on Wednesday in a letter to state central committee (SCC) members.
The Ohio Republican Party’s central committee is meeting on January 6th to consider selecting a replacement for current Chairman Bob Paduchik who announced after the November 8th general election that he would not be seeking another term.
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At Intellectual Takeout, we strive to offer not only commentary on current events but also tangible advice for engaging with our increasingly chaotic world. That’s why we’re proud to present this new, biweekly series of literature recommendations.
These works have helped us and many others deepen their understanding of both the state of the world today and how it got there. We hope they prove engaging and informative for you as well.
This week’s recommendations cover current and recent world events.
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Turning Point USA, an organization for young conservatives launched in 2017 in Phoenix, now rivals CPAC for attendance at its annual December AmericaFest. With over 10,800 purchasing tickets, AmericaFest 2022 launched Saturday evening featuring speeches by TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson, then followed by country music concerts.
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The Maricopa County Republican Committee (MCRC) is holding its biannual election for the board in January, and two slates of candidates have declared their candidacies for the five slots. One slate has labeled itself “America First,” while another is calling itself “Arizona First.”
The America First slate, which is also going by #TeamTruth and emphasizing election integrity, consists of Craig Berland for chair, Shelby Busch for 1st vice chair, Jeff Greenspan for 2nd vice chair, Diana Jones for secretary, and Lawrence Hudson for treasurer. The slate promises, “We promise to put the GOP clearly on the side of True Reform of Arizona Election Laws: mail-ins limited to true absentees, and precinct hand counts. Empower PCs to make the party grassroots, not top down.”
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After completing six hearings a Republican-backed bill to make changes in Ohio voting laws passed out of the Ohio House Government Oversight Committee along partisan lines 7-5 on Monday.
House Bill (HB) 294 sponsored by state Representatives Bill Seitz (R- Green Township) and Sharon Ray (R-Wadsworth) aims to require a photo ID for nearly all Ohio voters.
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It is time. It is time for new leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives.
People are thrilled that Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s reign of Leftist extremism is ending. The question is whether we will be treated to the status quo that will move us along the same path, though perhaps more slowly.
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Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s (D) church reportedly received key funding from the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) for a climate change-related project shortly after he campaigned for Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid in 2016.
Warnock, who is facing a runoff election against Republican Herschel Walker, has served as pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, which reportedly was the recipient of a $550,000 grant from CGI soon after he stumped for Hillary Clinton during her 2016 campaign for president, Fox News reported Friday.
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PALM BEACH, Florida – As the November 8, 2022, election night results rolled in to Mar-a-Lago, the resort membership club and primary residence of 45th U.S. President Donald J. Trump, he was uncharacteristically reserved in his comments and interactions with those in attendance.
With some polls closing as early as 7 p.m. Eastern time, including the swing state of Georgia, it became evident early on in the evening that the forecasted “red tsunami” was going to fall well short of predictions.
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The Arizona race for governor is taking a red turn Wednesday morning after a blue night Tuesday. Republican Kari Lake now sits within one percentage point of her opponent Katie Hobbs, and Lake’s campaign is confident their candidate will continue to outperform her Democrat rival, Katie Hobbs.
“We are confident that every drop moving forward will be a net positive for [Kari Lake]. It’s a marathon not a sprint,” said her campaign.
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By midnight on election night in Arizona, mostly only early ballots had been counted, which skewed towards Democrats due to large numbers of conservative voters voting in person on election day. The Trump-endorsed slate of candidates was behind, with Democrat Katie Hobbs ahead of Kari Lake 56.7 percent to 43.3 percent, and 69 percent of precincts reporting.
Lake spoke to the crowd at the massive Arizona Republican Party event in Scottsdale late in the evening after the results came out, declaring, “It’s early” and reassuring Republicans, “I want you to know we are going to monitor the ballots. We will not stop counting until we have every legal ballot counted.”
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Over the last few months the four icons of the Democratic Party – Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Nancy Pelosi – have hit the campaign trail.
They’ve weighed in on everything from “right-wing violence” and “election denialists” to the now tired “un-American” semi-fascist MAGA voter – and had nothing much to say about inflation, the border, crime, energy, or the Afghanistan debacle. In this, they remind us just how impoverished and calcified is this left-wing pantheon.
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The 2022 midterms are less than a month away. With Election Day rapidly approaching, races in Arizona, Georgia, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin have taken the spotlight, and according to most pundits, control of the Senate comes down to these five states. Conspicuously, political analysts in the Beltway have all but stripped North Carolina, a purple, perennial swing state, and its Senate race between Congressman Ted Budd and state Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley of its toss up status, and Democrats seem prepared to cede the state to Republicans.
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Aliquippa, Duquesne, Greenville, New Castle, and Rankin: western Pennsylvania has no shortage of economically distressed municipalities that seem to have been left by the wayside and forgotten. But the town of Braddock got something different: a political figure standing 6-foot-8, draped in gym shorts and a Carhartt hoodie. He promised to turn around a persistent economic depression, and he brought national media attention to the small town, which had seen a population decline from a peak of 20,000 in the 1920s to under 1,800.
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Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Aaron Gulbransen in studio to discuss right to work, left-leaning labor unions, and the importance of voting for constitutionally conservative Amendment One in Tennessee.
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Odessa Kelly, who is challenging incumbent U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-7) for reelection, is touting the backing of three of Congress’s most left-wing members.
Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-MN-5), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-7) and Cori Bush (D-MO-1) issued the endorsements on Monday. The congresswomen are members of what many observers call “The Squad,” a six-member coalition of far-left U.S. House members who advocate for such causes as police defunding, Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.
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“Every government intervention creates unintended consequences, which lead to calls for further government interventions,” observed the great Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. He was being generous by describing interventionism’s nasty side-effects as “unintended.” Some younger interventionists are naïve, and know not what they do, but the older, street-smart captains of progressive politics understand the harms their policies entail. For them, the adverse consequences are features, not bugs. The only downside is the risk of political retribution at the polls.
That’s the predicament in which the Biden administration now finds itself. It is also the theme of “Energy Inflation Was by Design,” a new report by supply-chain consultant Joseph Toomey.
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Although there are many telling differences between Michigan’s 2022 gubernatorial candidates, energy policy may be the most significant from an economic perspective for families.
Democrat incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has led the charge to close the Line 5 dual pipeline that has spanned the Straits of Mackinac since 1953, whereas Republican challenger Tudor Dixon has pledged to keep the hydrocarbons flowing through the five-mile stretch of pipeline positioned on the lakebed of Lake Michigan.
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Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) Commissioner Penny Schwinn met First Lady Jill Biden and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to the University of Tennessee (UT) on Monday as the pair kicked off the Road to Success Back to School Bus Tour.
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Reports about ESG — “environmental, social, and governance” scores that progressive activists, money-management firms, and government agencies (namely, the Securities and Exchange Commission) assign to corporations — have become nearly ubiquitous in the news. There is even a website, esgnews.com, that keeps track of the latest ESG-related developments.
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“And whatever interpretive force one attaches to legislative history, the Court normally gives little weight to statements, such as those of the individual legislators, made after the bill in question has become law.” Barber v. Thomas, 560 U.S. 474, 486 (2010).
“The Court has previously found the post-enactment elucidation of the meaning of a statute to be of little relevance in determining the intent of the legislature contemporaneous to the passage of the statute.” Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U.S. 578, 596 n.19 (1987).
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Maybe Vladimir Putin SHOULD get the Nobel Peace Prize after all.
To be sure, Putin’s bloody invasion of Ukraine is an affront to humanity, given his targeting of civilians. Russia even fired upon medical and humanitarian aid convoys and is using a nuclear power plant as a shield for his military operations.
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Michigan voters in November will decide whether state legislators will have a shot at longer terms in office.
Proposal One, the Michigan Legislative Term Limits and Financial Disclosure Amendment, was approved by the Michigan legislature for inclusion on the Nov. 8 ballot. If voters approve, term limits for state legislators would expand to 12 combined years in both the Senate and House of Representatives.
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Republican members of Arizona’s congressional delegation are calling for accountability after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home Monday.
“There are good, hardworking people at the Department of Justice and FBI who keep our nation safe and uphold our nation’s laws. Unfortunately, bad actors in these agencies have weaponized the Department of Justice to attack political opponents on the right and have declined to investigate political allies such as Hunter Biden,” Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08) told The Arizona Sun Times. “If Republicans win back the Majority in the U.S. House, we will be investigating those who have abused our system of justice for political purposes, and we will hold them accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
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After over a week of counting the votes, another of the ten pro-impeachment Republicans in the House of Representatives has lost their primary to a challenger backed by President Donald Trump.
Fox News reports that Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) conceded the race to former Green Beret Joe Kent on Tuesday, with a lengthy statement defending her record in office. Beutler was first elected to Washington’s 3rd congressional district in 2010.
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The America Rising PAC (ARPAC), a group dedicated to exposing the truth about Democrats, recently shared critical information regarding current Senator Mark Kelly (D) for Arizonans to know before the General Election in November.
“Contrary to his rhetoric on the campaign trail, Mark Kelly has been nothing but a rubber stamp for Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer’s devastating agenda,” shared ARPAC Press Secretary Whitney Robertson with the Sun Times via email. “If Arizonans are looking for a Senator who will actually put the people over politics, it’s time to send Kelly packing.”
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Sparks have been flying between Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) and challenger Gary Humble in the GOP nomination contest for Senate District 27, which is set to take place Thursday.
Mail pieces have flooded mailboxes with attack messages against Humble, and social media attacks on Johnson have been posted by Humble and his nonprofit, Tennessee Stands.
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Last week, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten tweeted the results of a poll of teachers showing “nearly 9 out of 10 respondents say schools have become too politicized.” As she put it, “AFT members were on the frontlines of the first wave of the pandemic, but in many ways the last year was even harder” due to “mask wars, culture wars, the war on truth, or the devastation in Uvalde.”
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Michigan GOP gubernatorial frontrunner Tudor Dixon attacked Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as “vindictive” and unresponsive during an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Dixon, who leads the pack of Republicans running for governor, is a conservative media personality, manufacturing businesswoman and mother. Dixon told the DCNF that Whitmer has not listened to the needs of the people.
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“It’s time to retire Dick Blumenthal,” Leora Levy states on the home page of her campaign website, but the Republican U.S. Senate candidate from Connecticut says she is ready not only to take on the career Democrat politician, but also the “timid” members of her own party “who will abandon or betray us when it comes down to the important votes.”
“Drawing a strong contrast with Dick Blumenthal is the only way to win this Senate seat,” Levy says as she campaigns toward the Connecticut primary on August 9.
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Tennessee Senator Jack Johnson’s (R-Franklin) annual “Boots and Jeans, BBQ and Beans” fundraising event will feature several prominent leaders from across Tennessee.
According to Johnson’s website, a host of political leaders will attend the event: Governor Bill Lee, Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty, and Congressman Mark Green.
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Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed official guest host Aaron Gulbransen in studio to highlight Monday night’s Maury County Reagan Dinner in Columbia, Tennessee.
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The first Republican primary debate for the U.S. Senate race in Arizona took place Thursday night in downtown Phoenix, organized by Freedomworks. Three candidates polling in the lead participated; Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, solar billionaire businessman Jim Lamon, and Trump-endorsed, Thiel Foundation President Blake Masters. Two candidates who are lagging in the polls also debated; former Adjutant General of the Arizona National Guard Mick McGuire, and former Arizona legislator Justin Olson.
The debate got quite heated at times, with the candidates calling each other out and the audience often wildly cheering or loudly booing (even though they had been asked to remain silent at the beginning). Lamon and Masters, the candidates with the most money in the race, have been running TV ads attacking each other the last few weeks, and those attacks played out throughout the evening.
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GOP candidate for VA-07 Prince William Supervisor Yesli Vega launched her first ad in several months on Monday, with the primary just over a week away on June 21.
“I was leaving church with my family when I received the worst phone call of my life, that my brother had been gunned down and nearly killed by MS-13 gang members. I knew than that I would join law enforcement to protect others in need and defend our community,” Vega says in the ad.
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A new survey released Thursday by the Commonwealth Foundation (CF), a Harrisburg-based think tank, suggests Pennsylvanians broadly support free-market reforms the institute urges policymakers to embrace.
CF publicized its Better Pennsylvania 2023 Plan, a list of 23 such recommendations, in conjunction with the poll. Executive vice president Jennifer Stefano said the foundation plans to distribute the agenda to state lawmakers and candidates for public office. She believes the ideas’ implementation will “restore hope to our citizens across the commonwealth and set us on a better path that allows all Pennsylvanians to flourish.”
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Morgan Ortagus, a disqualified candidate in the race for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat, announced to German-owned Politico her participation in an organization called Polaris National Security.
Politico reported, “Morgan Ortagus, the State Department’s chief spokesperson during the Trump administration, has launched a new group called Polaris National Security. The organization, chock-full of former Trump administration and campaign aides on staff and other Republicans on the advisory team, will have a 501(c)(4) and PAC arm.”
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The Trump-endorsed David Perdue for Georgia Governor campaign issued a statement on Wednesday that says Perdue is surging and Trump voters are turning out in an unprecedented way.
“Our Trump-endorsed campaign is experiencing a surge in early-voting MAGA voters that the public polls aren’t picking up. Our internal models show this MAGA surge keeping Kemp below the threshold to avoid a runoff, and our position is strengthening with each day of early voting,” said the campaign.
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Attorney General Keith Ellison is suing several solar panel companies for lying about the benefits of solar panels in their sales to Minnesotans.
Ellison’s office last week sued four solar panel companies based in Utah for selling expensive solar panels to Minnesota citizens through “deceptive and fraudulent practices,” according to a press release from Ellison’s office.
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Speaking at a rally in Greensburg, Pa., former President Donald Trump touted his endorsement of Republican Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz.
“I just think he’s gonna win. He’s a great gentleman. I’ve known him so long,” Trump said of Oz.
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