Free Republic

A Republican Hispanic leader, Lydia Maldonado, organized what seems to be a Democrat Hispanic rally opposing Governor DeSantis’ bill signing for legislation to crack down on illegal immigration, and she’s running for chair of the local Palm Beach County Republican Party (REC). Maldonado claims to be against illegal immigration and supports SB 1718, ensuring that illegal immigrants will not be encouraged to come to Florida. Still, she was part of a group that tried to prevent DeSantis from signing the bill into law. It didn’t work. On May 10th, Governor DeSantis signed the bill, just in time for the end...

A Secaucus woman whose son made national headlines in 2017 has been charged with stealing a donation jar from a town business, authorities said. Police say Kristie Maldonado, 44, walked into Hudson Bread, a cafe that specializes in artisan breads, on May 29 and left with the jar that was estimated to contain $200. Carla Campos, manager of the cafe, said Thursday that Maldonado had been a regular customer and then all of sudden stopped coming into the store on Riverside Station Boulevard. After watching the surveillance video from that day, Campos knows why, she said. While the theft occurred...

In truly progressive fashion, Chicago renamed one of its streets after a terrorist. Earlier this month Alderman Robert Maldonado submitted a proposal to name three blocks of a city street after Oscar Lopez Rivera, the founder of the Puerto Rican terror group FALN, which was responsible for 120 bombings and armed robberies in the U.S. during the ‘70s and ‘80s that killed nine and injured hundreds of others. On Wednesday, aldermen approved the measure honoring Lopez Rivera, the terrorist whose 70-year sentence was recently commuted by Barack Obama. Aldermen also voted to approve an honorary street re-naming for Puerto...

President-elect Donald Trump is considering former California Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado to lead the Agriculture department, a move that would bring greater diversity to the Republican’s Cabinet. Maldonado will meet with Trump on Wednesday at his Palm Beach, Fla., estate. Trump spokesman Sean Spicer noted that Maldonado, owner of Runway Vineyards in the Santa Maria Valley, comes from three generations of farmers and has “strong roots in the agriculture industry of California.” Trump will also meet with Dr. Elsa Murano, the former president of Texas A&M; University and a former Agriculture undersecretary for food safety, in connection to the post,...

Cuban dissident artist Danilo “El Sexto” Maldonado, who was detained by authorities on Saturday after mocking Fidel Castro’s death, was severely beaten, according to relatives who saw him at the detention center in Guanabacoa. “Danilo's mom saw him,” the artist’s girlfriend, Miami resident Alexandra Martinez, 24, said late Tuesday. “He was badly beaten upon entering Guanabacoa and suffered a severe asthma attack.” Authorities also confiscated his cell phone, she said. Martinez said Maldonado’s mother, Maria Victoria Machado, was allowed to visit her son at a Guanabacoa police station, on the outskirts of Havana, for the first time since he was...

Explanation: What kind of cloud is this? A type of arcus cloud called a roll cloud. These rare long clouds may form near advancing cold fronts. In particular, a downdraft from an advancing storm front can cause moist warm air to rise, cool below its dew point, and so form a cloud. When this happens uniformly along an extended front, a roll cloud may form. Roll clouds may actually have air circulating along the long horizontal axis of the cloud. A roll cloud is not thought to be able to morph into a tornado. Unlike a similar shelf cloud, a...

NOTE The following text is a quote: Superseding Indictment Charges Two Men with Conspiring to Provide Material Support to a Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization BOSTON, MA—Two men were charged today in a superseding indictment with one count each of conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Division, announced today that TAREK MEHANNA, 27, of Sudbury, Massachusetts, and AHMAD ABOUSAMRA, 28, who currently resides in Syria, were charged in a superseding indictment with one...

California GOP rejects divisive open primary plan SACRAMENTO, Calif.—California Republicans on Sunday approved a compromise that leaves in place the current nominating system for GOP candidates in 2012 and will let party members use mail-in balloting to endorse candidates for office starting in 2014. The party was beset by infighting at its weekend spring convention in Sacramento over how to respond to Proposition 14, the voter-approved ballot measure that was intended to produce more moderate candidates for office from both political parties. Under that system, the top two candidates advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. The GOP...

Sparks flew on the opening day of the California Republican Party convention Friday as party officials and delegates debated competing proposals to address the party's role in candidate nominations under the new top-two primary system. Outgoing party Chairman Ron Nehring is pushing a proposal to force pre-primary candidate endorsements under the new election system created by voter-approved Proposition 14. Instead of party primaries, the top two vote-getters in an all-party primary now advance to a runoff election.

State GOP convention: Blowup, outgoing chair accused of "thuggery" Republican State Sen. Sam Blaskeslee of San Luis Obispo, leading the charge against a conservative move to revise the party's endorsement of candidates, sharply criticized the outgoing GOP chair Saturday as a failed leader who has "resorted to thuggery." Blakeslee made the comment after walking out of a heated meeting of the state GOP Rules Committee at the start of a 3-day day statewide Republican Convention which brought 1,000 delegates to the Sacramento Hyatt. His comments come on the heels of efforts by outgoing GOP chair Ron Nehring, who has lead...

Former Republican lieutenant governor and state legislator Abel Maldonado may run for Congress next year against longtime incumbent Democrat Lois Capps of Santa Barbara. The Federal Elections Commission confirmed Friday that Maldonado, who represented Monterey County as state senator from 2004-10, has filed the paperwork that will allow him to form a committee and collect money. The contest between the two veteran state politicians should ensure a lively race in a district that has been safely Democratic. Capps is "prepared for a competitive race regardless of who her opponents will be," said her spokeswoman, Ashley Schapitl. Capps will run on...

Californians approved a measure Tuesday that will dramatically change how voters choose candidates in elections - and could mean that two Republicans or two Democrats would end up as voters' only choices in a general election. Proposition 14, known as the open primary measure, will give every voter the same ballot in primary elections for most state and federal races, except the presidential contest. The two candidates with the most votes would advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. Prop. 14 had the strong backing of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado, who said it could...

If only this were a coalition of the left and the right working out differences. But alas, it’s just a coalition of mostly liberal politicians who used to label themselves by a political party and now would rather fly stealth. Sigh. If you are not familiar with “No Lables”, no worries, it’s brand new and they certainly deserve a Hat Tip for brevity. Here’s their declaration: We are not labels – we are people. We care deeply about our country. We are frustrated and concerned about the tone of politics. We are passionate about addressing America’s challenges. We are Democrats,...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The state Supreme Court allowed California on Wednesday to go ahead with a voter-approved overhaul of primary elections, putting all candidates on the same ballot in the first round and matching the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, in the runoff. The justices unanimously denied a request to block the measure, Proposition 14, which takes effect in January.Prop. 14, which passed with a 54 percent majority in June, eliminates party primaries and instead requires all state and federal candidates, except those for president, to run in a single primary for each office. The top two finishers, who...

Outgoing Republican Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado said today that he has contacted GOP members of California's congressional delegation and urged them to vote for a bill that would offer a path to legal status for undocumented youth. "Don't make this a political football. Get it done. California needs it," Maldonado, one of California's few high profile Republican Latinos said he told members. Maldonado, who is Mexican American and owns a farm, was appointed lieutenant governor this year but lost his bid for election in November. . . .

alifornia Republicans woke up Wednesday with a political hangover. Nationally, they celebrated the GOP's taking control of Congress, but their dismal showing in California gave them a lingering headache. Many of them wondered how they missed the national wave - and differed on which direction to go next. They lost nearly every statewide office, drubbed by double digits in most of the races. Meg Whitman couldn't win the governorship despite straddling the political middle and spending a record $160 million. Carly Fiorina couldn't roust Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, despite tacking right and exploiting Boxer's low approval ratings.For months, party officials...

The races for lieutenant governor and attorney general are too close to suggest that any candidate has a firm edge going into Tuesday's election, according to the latest Field Poll released Friday. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, is hanging onto a slim five-point edge of 42 percent to 37 percent over Republican Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado. The survey also found that Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley – the GOP candidate for attorney general – has dipped to a one-point lead over Democratic rival Kamala Harris, San Francisco's district attorney. The latest survey, which was conducted Oct....

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, announced Friday the endorsement of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- a former Democrat and former Republican who's now an independent. "I've admired Mayor Bloomberg's approach to governing for many years -- .. " Newsom said in a prepared statement from his campaign committee.

It's November 3, 2010. You think you are waking up to a sunny California morning only to realize it's a dark, dark day. Jerry Brown is governor, Gavin Newsom is lieutenant governor, Kamala Harris is attorney general, and the rest of the Democrat ticket has prevailed. California is going to be controlled by San Francisco politics. Got your attention now? Tea Party folks have brought a refreshing candor to the conservative scene, demanding from conservative candidates a return to conservative principles. But we don't live in a perfect world. And in California, we live in a deeply skewed political landscape...

Cassandra Lieurance runs a home-based business using eBay. But, she’s no fan of Meg Whitman , a former CEO of eBay and Republican candidate for governor. Frustrated with Whitman and Democratic rival Jerry Brown, Lieurance decided to run herself. On Friday, the Escondido mother was certified by the secretary of state as an official write-in candidate for governor of California. She is one of eight hoping voters pencil in their name next to the governor’s spot. “It seems to me like no regular people run for anything. I am tired of having poor choices,” said Lieurance, who is making her...