Free Republic

Rep. David Trone, D-Md., who was recently blasted for using a disparaging term for Black people during a House hearing, is officially the largest self-funded candidate of a Senate primary race in U.S. history. Trone contributed $18.5 million of his own money to his Maryland Senate campaign, Fox News confirmed. And he brought in a total of over $40 million, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). No candidate running in a Senate primary has contributed this amount in recorded Senate primary history. "David Trone has been crystal clear that he’s prepared to do whatever it takes to...

Several prominent House Democrats are jostling to fend off Republican former baseball great Steve Garvey in the yearlong battle to fill the U.S. Senate seat once held by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, with two slots on California’s November ballot at stake. In a state where a Republican hasn’t won a Senate race since 1988, Democrats are expected to easily hold the seat in November, a relief for the party as it seeks to defend a fragile Senate majority. But first-time candidate Garvey, a National League MVP and former star for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, reordered...

Minimum wage is a topic that draws a lot of attention, especially in California, a state that has one of the highest minimum wages in the United States. In a debate Monday night, Rep. Barbara Lee defended her previous advocacy for a $50 minimum wage. “In the Bay Area, I believe it was the United Way that came out with a report that very recently $127,000 for a family of four is just barely enough to get by,” Lee said. “Another survey very recently: $104,000. For a family of one, barely enough to get by low income because of the...

Former U S Senator Barbara Boxer has chosen to turn her back on 2 Women, one of whom is a Woman of Color, and instead is endorsing a wealthy white man for a vacant U-S Senate seat. In endorsing Adam Schiff for the seat, Boxer ignored Katie Porter and Barbara Lee. All 3 candidates are liberal Democrats.

When arguing against a given minimum wage (e.g., $15/hour), late radio giant Rush Limbaugh would sometimes rhetorically ask: Why stop there? If that amount is good, wouldn’t a $50 minimum wage be even better? It’s unknown whether Limbaugh would’ve even suspected that a statist would make his “illustrating absurdity by being absurd” example a serious proposal within 10 years, but here we are: Representative Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who’s running for the Golden State’s open Senate seat, made this very proposal in a Monday night debate with her rivals. “Just do the math!” she exclaimed, alluding to the supposed self-evident legitimacy...

The issue of diversity in California’s upcoming Senate race has taken a contentious turn. The suggestion that two White candidates, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, should step aside in favor of U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, a Black woman, has raised questions about genuine equality and the role of race in politics.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) gave his highly coveted endorsement to Lateefah Simon, who’s running for California's 12th Congressional District in 2024. Newsom and Simon have collaborated closely in the past, representing District 7 on Bay Area Rapid Transit's board of directors since 2016, where Newsom’s political roots lie. “Lateefah is a visionary," Newsom said in a statement to Politico. "But more than a visionary, she is a proven leader who effects the kind of change that makes her vision a reality.” “From working closely with Lateefah and watching her deliver real, progressive change in her community, I have come to...

Democrat Rep. Cori Bush introduced a resolution demanding what is estimated to be $14 trillion in federal reparations. Reps. Cori Bush, Rashida Tlaib, Jamaal Bowman and Barbara Lee unveiled the resolution on Wednesday. Bush said black people ‘continue to live under slavery’ because of the black-white wealth gap. Rep. Bowman said, “Trauma lives in the black body.” “Research has shown this from generation to generation trauma lives in the body and lives in the blood vessels and lives in the DNA and the cells and the mind,” Bowman said, according to the Daily Mail. The Daily Mail reported: A number...

Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), assistant House Democratic leader, is throwing his weight behind Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) in the California Senate race to replace Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.). “Barbara Lee is the voice Americans need now in the U.S. Senate,” Clyburn said in a statement. “She stands by what she believes in, and she doesn’t back down. In the House, she is an extremely accomplished legislator with a record of delivering historical achievement to end poverty, eradicate HIV and AIDS, and work for global peace and security,” he continued. “In the Senate, she will use all of her experiences to...

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) edges Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) in one of the first polls conducted in the race to replace retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who announced her retirement earlier this month. Schiff received 22 percent of support in the University of California, Berkeley-Los Angeles Times poll, with Porter garnering 20 percent — a difference that is within the poll’s 2.5 percent margin of error. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who launched her campaign for the seat earlier this week, polled at 6 percent and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who is rumored to be considering a bid, came in at...

U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee on Tuesday formally launched her campaign for the Senate seat held by the retiring Dianne Feinstein, joining two fellow House Democrats in the race in the nation's most populous state. --Video from previous coverage. In a video posted on Twitter, Lee ran through a list of the personal and professional battles she has taken on in her life, including fighting to be her school's first Black cheerleader, championing protections for survivors of domestic violence and being the only member of Congress to vote against the authorization for the use of military force after the Sept. 11,...

Rep. Barbara Lee on Wednesday told colleagues that she intends to run for the U.S. Senate in 2024, according to a person familiar with the conversation, revealing her plans to join a race that several House Democrats have shown interest in this week. Lee informed fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus of her thinking, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private deliberations. Lee’s remarks did not amount to a formal announcement, said this person, who added that Lee is “getting her ducks in a row and figuring things out” and has spoken...

Republican nominee John Duarte is projected to win the race in California’s 13th congressional district, beating his Democratic opponent, state Assemblyman Adam Gray....The Associated Press called the race at 10:06 p.m. Friday.... ...The district has not elected a Republican since 1974 and Democratic voters outnumber Republicans 42 percent to 24 percent...

Israel must end its evictions of Palestinian families in east Jerusalem, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told US House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi when the two met in Ramallah. Their meeting took place as tensions have flared in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where at least 28 Palestinian families face eviction. Abbas spoke with Pelosi on Thursday about "finally putting an end to Israel’s expulsion of Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem," according to the Palestine News Agency Wafa. He similar called for Israel to respect the "status quo" on Jerusalem's Temple Mount and for it to put an...

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) has tested positive for COVID-19, she said Tuesday in a statement. Lee, who is fully vaccinated and had also gotten a booster shot, said she received her positive test result this week. “Fortunately, I have only mild cold-like symptoms, but I know it could have been much worse had I not been vaccinated and boosted,” she said. “I am isolating and will follow all of the required health protocols to keep my loved ones, my staff, and my community safe.” Lee is at least the fifth member of Congress this week to announce having tested positive...

Rep. Ayanna Pressley just doesn’t want to make sure no murderers are executed, she’s also pushing the immediate release of all … fat prisoners. Yes, it’s right there, in what she proudly calls the “landmark Dismantle Mass Incarceration for Public Health Act” which she filed last year with fellow squad member Rep. Rashida Tlaib and California Rep. Barbara Lee. It would “require States and units of local government to certify a commitment to release certain individuals from jails and prisons,” including those who are “diagnosed with obesity.” Would this have included the pleasingly plump Boston Mafia boss Carmen “the Cheeseman”...

That's why the participants want the secret history of the 2020 election told, even though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream–a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information. They were not rigging the election; they were fortifying it.“

The most left-wing member of the House of Representatives has publicly signaled interest in serving as the next U.S. senator from California, saying that “it would be an honor” if she was selected to finish the term of freshman Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA). Congresswoman Barabara Lee (D-CA), who has represented Oakland since 1998, showed her interest in a Twitter statement Thursday. According to GovTrack, Lee was the “most politically left” member of the House of Representatives in 2019.

WASHINGTON—Today, Rep. Omar, along with U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Congresswoman Deb Haaland (NM-01) and a coalition of grassroots groups; labor unions; Black, Brown and Indigenous leaders from across the country to introduce a bold plan for economic renewal known as the Agenda to Transform, Heal, and Renew by Investing in a Vibrant Economy, or THRIVE Agenda. In the Senate the resolution is led by Senator Markey, Cory A. Booker (D-N.J.), Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeffrey A. Merkley (D-Ore.), and...