Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds’ Pre-Caucus Endorsement of DeSantis Could Prove Costly to Kickoff Caucus State

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds’ endorsement this week of Ron DeSantis for president a little more than two months before the Iowa caucuses could give the Florida governor a bit of a lift, but it very well could hurt the state GOP’s future prospects.

Former President Donald Trump, who leads DeSantis by nearly 30 percentage points in the latest Iowa poll, has clearly expressed his dissatisfaction with Reynolds’ rallying around DeSantis — especially after he accused Iowa’s popular governor of playing political footsie with DeSantis earlier this year.

Read the full story

Ohio Voters Pass Statewide Issues 1 and 2

Ohio voters passed both statewide issues on the ballot Tuesday, according to unofficial election results published by the Ohio Secretary of State’s office.

With the passage of Statewide Issue 1, a constitutional amendment, Ohio will now allow for late-term abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, nullifying the state’s current law, which permits abortions up until 22 weeks of pregnancy for any reason.

Read the full story

Ohio State University Doubled DEI Staff in Five Years, Payroll Costs Almost Tripled

Ohio State University has more than doubled its diversity staff in just five years, hiring more than 100 new DEI-related employees between 2018 and 2023, swelling the headcount from 88 to 189, a College Fix analysis found.

In 2018, Ohio State employed 88 diversity-related staffers at a cost of $7.3 million annually, according to research conducted at the time.

Read the full story

Commentary: Indianola Independent School District Voters Must Vote to Counter an Anti-Conservative Smear Campaign

Conservatives in the Indianola Independent School District need to vote in the school board election on Tuesday, November 7th. Both Rob Keller and Patty Alexander are school board candidates who realize that sexually explicit materials are not appropriate for school libraries. Please vote for them.

Please do not vote for Aaron Labertew and Eric Christensen, who are opposed to SF496, the new legislation that bars books from school libraries, such as “Gender Queer,” “Push,” and “A Court of Silver Flames,” which have explicit descriptions or visual depictions of sex acts. Labertew is also opposed to school vouchers.

Read the full story

Biden Admin Collaborates with Left-Wing Donors Bankrolling Censorship in AI ‘Safety’ Initiative

President Joe Biden’s administration is enlisting left-leaning philanthropies that have supported efforts to suppress content online as part of an initiative to advance the administration’s priorities in the field of artificial intelligence (AI).

Ten largely liberal organizations, featuring George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and Pierre Omidyar’s Omidyar Network and Democracy Fund, are allocating $200 million collectively to help promote the administration’s AI agenda, according to the White House fact sheet detailing the project. However, these same organizations have funded groups who have worked to censor and demonetize conservative content online.

Read the full story

Iowa Voters Using Israel Litmus Test for 2024 Republican Presidential Candidates

Evangelical voters in Iowa have bumped support for Israel to one of their top priorities when considering a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, according to The Associated Press.

In the wake of Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israel, many presidential candidates expressed their support of Israel’s right to defend itself but others cautioned against the U.S. getting too involved and launching another long war in a foreign country. The issue has come front and center in the key primary state, and many evangelical leaders are pushing their congregations to get “behind” Israel’s goal to wipe out Hamas from the Gaza Strip, according to the AP.

Read the full story

PUCO Rules New York Energy Company Cannot Do Business in Ohio

A New York-based green energy company plans to appeal a Public Utilities Commission of Ohio ruling that ended its ability to do business in the state.

A PUCO investigation said RPA Energy, also know as Green Choice Energy, forged Ohio customer signatures and altered recorded sales calls. The commission ruled Wednesday the company can no longer do business in the state and faces a $1.44 million fine for 159 violations.

Read the full story

Poll: Ohioans Show Strong Support for Abortion Rights and Recreational Marijuana

Less than three weeks before Election Day a new poll shows Ohio voters favor constitutional amendments on enshrining abortion rights and legalizing recreational marijuana.

The Baldwin Wallace University poll of 850 registered voters, with 750 identified as likely voters, showed 58% favor Issue 1, which says every individual has a right to make and carry out their reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility, treatment, continuing one’s pregnancy, miscarriage care and abortion.

Read the full story

Lawmakers: Ohio Fentanyl Bust Shows Need for New Law

Ohio lawmakers pushing to increase penalties for fentanyl trafficking point to a recent drug seizure as proof new laws are needed.

House Bill 230, which has had three committee meetings since being introduced earlier this month, would increase trafficking charges for cocaine, fentanyl-related compounds, heroin and methamphetamine. It would also raise the charges for human trafficking to a first-degree felony and expand the definition of human trafficking.

Read the full story

Ohio Business Group Energized by Planned Hydrogen Hub

A nearly $1 billion federal investment of taxpayer dollars in the Appalachian region has business leaders in Ohio excited about the potential for clean energy.

The Appalachian Hydrogen Hub, part of a larger $7 billion announcement late last week from the Biden administration, plans Ohio nodes in Ashtabula, Canton and Hopedale, all linked to nodes in West Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

Read the full story

Trump Rallies in Iowa as Democrat-Appointed Federal Judge Slaps Gag Order on Biden’s No. 1 Political Enemy

Former President Donald Trump was back in the first caucus state Monday afternoon, still dominating in the polls and still spoiling for a fight.

“Crooked Joe Biden and his radical left Democrats … have weaponized law enforcement to arrest their leading political opponent, me,” Trump told hundreds of supporters at a rally in suburban Des Moines just 91 days before Iowa Republicans hold the first-in-the-nation 2024 presidential caucuses.

Read the full story

Ohio House Passes Bill Focused on Providing Property Tax Relief

The Ohio House of Representatives passed a bill this week focused on providing property tax relief to Ohioans.

If enacted, the Ohio Homeowners Relief Act would modify the procedures used by the tax commissioner to conduct property tax sales assessment ratio studies. Specifically, the bill would require the commissioner to work alongside local elected officials and weigh the past three years of a county’s property values in order to determine property taxes instead of just one.

Read the full story

U.S. Senator JD Vance Renews Calls for Passage of the Railway Safety Act

Senator JD Vance (R-OH) renewed calls for the passage of his Railway Safety Act on Thursday after a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine on February 3.

“Two hundred and fifty days have passed since the disastrous train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Yet Congress has still not passed commonsense railway safety legislation to prevent something like this from happening again,” Vance said in a statement. “Enough is enough – it’s time for the Senate to pass the Railway Safety Act.”

Read the full story

Ohio Bill Would Require Porn Companies to Get Age Verification

Disregarding age restrictions for pornography and creating sexual “deepfakes” may soon trigger criminal charges in Ohio.

A proposal offered in the state legislature makes distributing sexually explicit material without verifying a customer’s age a third-degree felony. Likewise, minors caught lying about their identity to access porn would face a fourth-degree misdemeanor.

Read the full story

Poll Shows Trump Beating Biden in Michigan

Former President Donald Trump is leading President Joe Biden in the key battleground state of Michigan by 7 points, according to a poll reported by The Detroit News on Wednesday.

In the state that Trump won in 2016 but lost to Biden in 2020, he beat the president 42% to 35%, with 20% saying they’d vote for someone else and 3% opting not to pick a candidate, according to a Marketing Resource Group (MRG) survey. When the Democratic candidate was changed to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, she beat Trump 46% to 40% — a 13-point swing from the matchup with Biden.

Read the full story

Former Iowa Democratic Party Chair Says Giving Up First Caucus Status Is a ‘Dark Day’ All Around

After signing the 1938 Munich Agreement that gave Nazi Germany the Sudetenland in western Czechoslovakia in exchange for Adolph Hitler’s promise that he had “no more territorial demands to make in Europe,” British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain said the deal had secured “peace in our time.”

Dave Nagle says Chamberlain’s spirit of appeasement lives on in the leadership of the Iowa Democratic Party.

Read the full story