02c U.S. Politics – Election

Utah gerrymander struck down by judge in a win for voters– www.latimes.com
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It’s been more than 60 years since Utah backed a Democrat for president. The state’s last Democratic U.S. senator left office nearly half a century ago and the last Utah Democrat to serve in the House lost his seat in 2020.

But, improbably enough, Utah has suddenly emerged as a rare Democratic bright spot in the red-vs.-blue redistricting wars.

Late last month, a judge tossed out the state’s slanted congressional lines and ordered Utah’s GOP-run Legislature to draw a new political map, ruling that lawmakers improperly thumbed their noses and overrode voters who created an independent redistricting commission to end gerrymandering.

It’s a welcome pushback against the growing pattern of lawmakers arrogantly ignoring voters and pursuing their preferred agenda. You don’t have to be a partisan to think that elections should matter and when voters express their will it should be honored.

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Tragically, Mamdani is gaining momentum: Ironically, it is being made possible, made to happen, but the very people who benefited the most from capitalism. You can make this stuff up,  Imagine, a billionaire funding a communist who says there shouldn’t be billionaires. Deadly stupidity.

Big Tech workers are top Mamdani campaign donors, far exceeding Andrew Cuomo

NY Post reports;

Big Tech workers, including from Google and Meta, were among the biggest group of donors to Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign — creating a fresh headache for companies in the Big Apple that could feel the brunt of the self-proclaimed Democratic socialist’s policies, The Post has learned.

The 33-year-old upstart has spooked New York business and tech leaders — many of whom fear that his vow to raise taxes on the wealthy and past calls to defund the police will spark a mass exodus similar to what San Francisco experienced under progressive leaders in recent years.

However, their underlings have thrown their financial support behind the front-runner for City Hall.

Rank-and-file Google employees donated nearly $40,500 to Mamdani’s campaign through July 11 — more than any other company or institution, according to NYC campaign finance data reviewed by The Post.

Meta workers chipped in more than $10,500, ranking seventh on the list, followed by Amazon employees, who donated nearly $9,000.

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A federal appeals court on Tuesday voided a Pennsylvania law requiring proper dating of mail-in ballots. The law required the rejection of mail-in ballots improperly dated by voters. The Pennsylvania Attorney General, now a Republican, defended the law on appeal after his predecessor, a Democrat, had declined to defend it in a lower court.

Numerous types of dating errors could result in ballot rejection, the appeals court noted:

Pursuant to this “date requirement,” if a return envelope’s date field contains a mistaken additional digit, a stray pen mark, or missing information (including a year) then the ballot contained within that envelope may not be counted. (citations omitted)

The law led to 10,000 discarded ballots in the 2022 General Election. Only 4,500 ballots were discarded in the 2024 General Election after Pennsylvania redesigned the return envelope to reduce the number of discarded ballots.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that while the dating requirement only minimally burdened voters, the consequences of an improperly dated ballot outweighed any purported benefit of the requirement.

The challenge came after the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania interpreted a part of the state election code requiring voters to “fill out, date and sign” their mail-in ballot. The state supreme court held that the dating requirement mandates discarding ballots that are improperly dated.

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Utah 3rd District Judge Dianna Gibson told Utah to redraw its congressional district map before the 2026 midterms.

The new map must “align with what voters approved in 2018.”

Utah has 30 days to submit four new maps that match Proposition 4.

Gibson will hold a conference with parties on Friday to discuss the next steps. A hearing on the proposed maps is scheduled for October.

Republicans could appeal Gibson’s decision, which would likely keep the current map until 2028.

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The redistricting war is officially on.

After weeks of bluster from dueling governors and state lawmakers, California and Texas raced forward with parallel action this week to draw new congressional maps, setting into motion a national redistricting fight that could upend the midterms and determine control of the House.

Texas Republicans on Saturday passed a new map that will help the GOP flip as many as five House seats — a partisan play at the hand of President Donald Trump. On Thursday, California Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom preemptively agreed to send a retaliatory ballot measure to voters — the first step in potentially offsetting Texas’ maneuver by creating new Democratic-leaning seats.

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President Donald Trump has been warning for years that mail-in ballots and voting machines are riddled with vulnerabilities that invite fraud and undermine trust in elections. We’ve discussed these vulnerabilities here at PJ Media extensively, and now Trump is taking action on them. On Monday morning, President Trump announced on Truth Social that he will issue an executive order to put an end to mail-in ballots before the 2026 midterms and restore “honesty and integrity” to America’s elections.

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President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he would work to “get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS.” Democrats and their media allies reflexively attacked the president, insisting that mail-in voting is secure — as if repeating it often enough makes it true.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said on CNN that “Mail ballots are secure.” ABC News’ Hannah Demissie dismissed Trump’s claims as “without … evidence” before later conceding fraud does occur, but that it’s “rare” (as if any amount of voter fraud should be tolerated). ABC7 Eyewitness News said Trump “falsely” claimed mail-in ballots “lead to voter fraud.”

MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace said Trump’s comments are “completely false” and claimed there is “zero evidence” to support his voter fraud claims in U.S. elections.

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Avowed socialist and New York City mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani garnered attention with his pledge to allocate tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to gender-affirming medical care, but far less publicized is his proposal to fund LGBTQIA+ “educational liaisons” in every public school.

Mamdani’s LGBTQIA+ policy memo states that only two LGBTQIA+ liaisons cover the 1,800 schools and 900,000 students under the purview of the NYC Department of Education. Under Mamdani’s plan, an Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs would be created, costing taxpayers $3 million to expand staffing and place at least one liaison in every NYC school district.

Given Mamdani’s views on gender ideology, these positions would inevitably push affirmation-only “gender-affirming care,” embedding the “student-to-trans pipeline” and placing children at the center of trans activism.

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Now, the Democratic Party is for elite, college-educated women angered by President Donald Trump and MAGA, such as the white-haired Virginia woman who went viral last week with a racist protest message against black GOP Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.

“As a party of mostly college-educated females, they’re drastically alienating everyone else,” Cygnal pollster Brent Buchanan said this week, alluding to his latest survey showing the Democratic image sinking, now twice as bad as the Republicans.

He suggested that it’s the issues the Democratic base is choosing that are driving away its core. For example, the base is angered at Trump’s efforts to boost safety in cities by deploying the National Guard, but others aren’t worked up about it.

“It’s college-educated women driving the ‘threats to democracy’ increase in ‘top priority,’” Buchanan said. “The Left has become an echo chamber out of touch with the majority of the country.”

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The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has poured $15 million into paying off debt from the failed presidential candidacy of former Vice President Kamala Harris.

The organization faces a shortfall after the Harris campaign spent $1.5 billion in her doomed 15 weeks as the Democrat hopeful, Breitbart reported.

Harris was crushed in the 2024 presidential election, and now a record-setting debt has forced the DNC to shell out millions in the first half of the year.

This figure comes as the Republican National Committee (RNC) is working with a cash surplus of $80 million after President Donald Trump’s historic win.

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Fulton County BOC Members who refuse, under Court order, to appoint the GOP Nominees. From Left to Right: Commissioners Marvin Arrington Jr, Mo Ivory, Dana Barrett

Last week, a judge ordered the Fulton County Board of Commissioners to seat two Republican Party nominees: Jason Frazier and Julie Adams.  The two were nominated in May but have yet to be seated.

Two of the Democrat members, Dana Barrett and Mo Ivory, were able to thwart Commissioner Bridget Thorne’s motion to confirm the two Republican appointees.  Because of the absence of three other members on the seven-member board, the motion was blocked in a 2-2 vote.

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The California Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a petition filed by state Republican legislators seeking to halt Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) plan to redistrict California’s congressional map.

“Petitioners have failed to meet their burden of establishing a basis for relief at this time under California Constitution article IV, section 8,” reads a brief order posted to the docket.

Newsom has hit back at Republican redistricting efforts in Texas by pushing for a special election this November to get voters’ approval on a more favorable House map for Democrats in California in time for the 2026 midterms.

The ruling paves the way for the California legislature to proceed with voting as soon as Thursday on a package that would set up the special election.

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As if Republicans didn’t have enough problems trying to hold on to the House majority, along comes Utah to give them a whole new problem.

Republicans once again tried to ignore the will of the people and the state’s constitution, and the matter went to court.

The Campaign Legal Center explained what happened:

The court determined that the Utah state legislature violated the people’s right to alter or reform their government when they repealed Proposition 4, or Prop 4 – a ballot initiative that aimed to prohibit partisan gerrymandering by establishing the Utah Independent Redistricting Commission and creating fair, neutral criteria and procedures for adopting district maps.

Prop 4, which was passed by Utah voters and unconstitutionally repealed by the legislature, is now the law again. The current gerrymandered congressional map passed by the legislature may not be used in future elections. The Utah state legislature now has a chance to pass a new, fair map that complies with Prop 4, and if it does not, the court will order a new map, which will be used for the 2026 election.

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At the end of June, the DNC had just $15 million on hand compared to the Republican National Committee’s $80 million, according to Politico. The DNC has less cash on hand at this point than at any point in the last five years. The DNC has reportedly spent this year helping to pay off $15.8 million in coordinated expenses with former Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign. Harris spent over $1 billion in a futile effort to beat President Donald Trump.

One critical aspect of Democratic fundraising woes is the lack of support from large donors, who have shied away from giving the maximum amount. Forty-seven donors, about a third of the number who gave in the same period in 2021, gave the maximum amount.

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Democrats released a congressional map for California Friday that could give them five more districts more favorable to Democrats.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has been pushing to redistrict California as President Donald Trump demanded Texas Republicans redraw the state’s map mid-decade in an effort to create a cushion to retain the GOP’s razor-thin House majority.

California, as the most populous state, has the largest congressional delegation. Democrats currently hold 43 of the state’s 52 House seats, and the new map could give Democrats a 48-4 advantage.

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The far-left failure Governor Newsom is forcing a special election in an already very gerrymandered state into a utterly one party state. Newsom is a threat to democracy. Newsom claims gerrymandering is evil so he is going to super-gerrymander California’s existing gerrymandered congressional districts. Think about that.

Newsom wants to increase Democrat representation by five more, which would give Democrats 92% representation, while 40% of California votes Republican.

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Of course, Trump made waves by questioning former President Barack Obama’s claim to birthright citizenship in 2011. But he didn’t become a true political force until he savaged low energy Jeb Bush (Jeb!), Little Marco Rubio, and the rest of the Republican establishment in the 2016 primaries. That’s when America realized something new was happening.

Trump’s dynamic rebellion catapulted not only him into the national spotlight, but also the Republican Party, whose national relevance had faded since former President George W. Bush’s fall from grace, with approvals dipping to the mid-20s by the time he helicoptered back to his Texas ranch. In the years that followed, the Tea Party’s groundswell fueled GOP congressional victories, but it failed to produce strong national leaders during the Obama era.

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Former President Barack Obama is supporting California’s mid-cycle redistricting effort as a “responsible approach” to Republicans drawing new maps in Texas.

Obama praised California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ballot measure proposal to redraw congressional districts and tilt at least five congressional districts in the state towards Democrats at a fundraiser on Tuesday for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.

“I believe that Governor Newsom’s approach is a responsible approach,” he said, according to excerpts obtained by POLITICO. “I think that approach is a smart, measured approach, designed to address a very particular problem in a very particular moment in time.”

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Elon Musk is quietly slowing down his effort to create a third party and is considering backing Vice President JD Vance in 2028, sources familiar with the billionaire’s plans told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in a Tuesday report.

After a public blow-up with President Donald Trump over the “Big, Beautiful, Bill,” Musk announced he was creating a third party called the “America Party.” Since, Musk has hardly mentioned the third party effort on X. Sources told the WSJ that Musk has told allies he has been focused on maintaining a relationship with Vance while he weighs going all in on the “America Party.”

Vance has never spoken with Musk about 2028, but the VP has encouraged him to support Trump and Republicans in the 2026 midterms, sources familiar with the situation told the Daily Caller. 

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Conservative activists are taking a core election-integrity initiative on the road in a rallying attempt to save the SAVE Act.

On Monday, Tea Party Patriots Action will roll out its inaugural Only Citizens Vote Bus Tour, a trek covering more than a dozen states — from California to Maryland — to champion the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act. The bill amends the flawed National Voter Registration Act to require individuals registering to vote to provide documentary proof of citizenship before casting ballots in federal elections.

Proponents say the SAVE Act is an additional layer of election security that does not currently exist in current law. Opponents, including the vast majority of Democrats in Congress, insist there are already protections in federal law that make falsely claiming U.S. citizenship on voter registration forms a felony.

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There’s been a lot of discussion lately about the growing political and cultural divide between men and women, particularly among young people. Of course, the top-line narrative is that young men are becoming more conservative and turning to faith, while young women are growing more secular and liberal.

It’s a generalization to be sure, but it stems from what our culture has done to boys and girls. Society teaches our girls to be “grrrrrrl bosses” and be powerful, but it erases boys, medicating them to oblivion if they exhibit any sign of boyishness and teaching them that they’re less than valuable.

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A hypothetical matchup for governor of New York is tightening, according to results showing a MAGA congresswoman coming closer to striking distance against Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.

If the election were held today, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) would finish 14 points behind Hochul. However, the contest is 15 months away, and the gap represents the smallest since news first emerged that Stefanik was considering a bid for the state’s corner office.

The Siena College poll also asked about Lee Zeldin, President Trump’s energy secretary, who ran for governor of New York in 2021. He trails Hochul by 11 points, the smallest margin of any Republican candidate on record.

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President Trump has given his coveted endorsement in Georgia’s gubernatorial race.

In a post on Truth Social, President Trump announced he has endorsed Republican Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones.

Jones has been a firm Trump supporter for the past five years and was one of the few electors in Georgia who signed documents claiming Trump was the winner of the 2020 election.

Read Trump’s full endorsement here:

Highly Respected and very popular Lieutenant Governor, Burt Jones, is running to be the next Governor of the Great State of Georgia, a very special place to me in that we had a BIG Presidential Election Win just eight short months ago,

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Senator Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) favorability rating in New York has dropped to its lowest level since Siena College began polling two decades ago. The longtime Senate Democrat leader is now receiving more negative than positive ratings statewide and, for the first time, among New York City voters.

A new Siena College poll shows Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) registering a 38 percent favorable rating and 50 percent unfavorable rating among New York voters, his lowest numbers recorded by the pollster since it began tracking his standing in February 2005. That marks a decline from June, when his favorability stood at 41 percent and unfavorable rating at 47 percent.

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The election criminals Mohammed Kamrul Hassan and Muhtasin Rahman Sadman are blaming, wait for it……. islamophobia.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel recused herself over perceptions of bias against Muslims.

Background: Hamtramck, Michigan is the first American city to elect Muslim majority city council.

New Muslim Majority City Council in Michigan Warns, “Today we show the [non-Muslims] and everybody else….”