Free Republic

Abortion politics is threatening to roil Florida Republicans’ chances in competitive state Legislature races amid widespread voter backlash. The Florida Supreme Court upheld a 15-week limit on abortion earlier this month, paving the way for a six-week ban passed by the state Legislature last year to soon go into effect. Now, a handful of vulnerable Republican state lawmakers who supported the six-week restrictions could be imperiled in November as anger over the ban grows.

Republicans are increasingly looking to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) to play a leading role in the party’s bid to take back the White House in 2024 and beyond following his decisive victory in last year’s midterm election. Coming off a year that saw him easily shut down a primary challenge backed by former President Trump before routing Democrat Stacey Abrams in the general election, Kemp is having a political moment. Republicans downplay his interest in a presidential bid, but point to him as a potential running mate for the eventual nominee or, at the very least, a highly sought-after...

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) political brand is facing a potential setback after a series of disappointing GOP losses in the commonwealth. The latest blow came earlier this week, when Democrat Aaron Rouse flipped a GOP seat in Virginia’s Senate, bringing the Democratic majority to 22-18 in the chamber. Youngkin had thrown his endorsement behind Republican challenger Kevin Adams, who lost the state’s 7th Senate district, previously held by now-Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) by 348 votes. That followed the party’s underwhelming performance in the state during November’s midterms. “He’s yet to be successful in transferring his popularity around the state,”...

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) was projected to advance from the state’s Republican Senate primary, setting her up to compete in November’s midterm general election. The Associated Press made the call at 1:41 p.m. ET. The incumbent senator was widely expected to advance from the all-party primary in which the top four vote-getters advanced to the general election. The primary was seen as a test for former President Trump’s endorsement. Trump backed Murkowski’s primary challenger Kelly Tschibaka in the wake of Murkowski’s vote to convict him in his second impeachment trial. Tschibaka was also projected to advance early Wednesday morning.

The debate over gun control is taking center stage in the Texas governor’s race after 21 people, 19 children and two adults, were killed in a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde earlier this week. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke made headlines on Wednesday when he confronted Gov. Greg Abbott (R) at a press conference, telling the Republican candidate that the mass shooting is ultimately “on him.” The incident, as well as a mass protest also attended by O’Rourke outside the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) annual event in Houston on Friday, has raised questions about whether the debate...

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) is set to take part in a fundraiser for Jennifer Strahan, who’s challenging Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) in a GOP primary early next month. According to a flier first obtained by Punchbowl News, Cassidy will attend a reception for Strahan hosted by the Republican women’s group VIEW PAC on May 3.

Ohio Republican leaders are calling on President Trump to not endorse J.D. Vance in the state’s Senate primary in a letter that surfaced on Thursday. The letter, which was signed by more than 30 signatories from various county GOP chairs as well as state central steering committee members, cites Ohio Republicans’ support for Trump in 2016 and 2020 and Vance’s past anti-Trump comments. “While we were working hard in Ohio to support you and Make America Great Again, JD Vance was actively working against your candidacy,” the Republicans wrote. “He referred to your supporters as ‘racists’ and proudly voted for...

The gubernatorial election landscape in 2022 is shaping up to be competitive as Republicans look to flip a number of governors' mansions across the country. Republicans are feeling momentum after Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin's victory in November, when he became the first Republican to win a statewide race in the blue-leaning state since 2009. The party says the political environment is prime for Republicans to oust a number of vulnerable Democratic governors this year, including Gov. Laura Kelly in Kansas and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan. However, Democrats say they see opportunities in states with contentious GOP primaries, particularly in...

Former Vice President Mike Pence delivered remarks ahead of oral arguments in a Supreme Court case that could overturn Roe v. Wade, urging justices to send the ruling legalizing abortion in the United States to the “ash heap of history.” “Today, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments in those hallowed halls, we are here to declare with one voice ‘no more,’” Pence said to applause. The former vice president expressed optimism that momentum was turning in favor of the anti-abortion movement, particularly among younger Americans.

Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) conceded to Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin (R) on Wednesday, hours after Youngkin declared victory. "Congratulations to Governor-Elect Glenn Youngkin on his victory," McAuliffe said in a statement. "I hope Virginians will join me in wishing the best to him and his family." Youngkin narrowly defeated McAuliffe by roughly 2 points on Tuesday. In the same statement, McAuliffe pushed for a number of the liberal initiatives he highlighted during the campaign. "While last night we came up short, I am proud that we spent this campaign fighting for the values we so deeply believe in. We...

Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin are separated by one point among likely Virginia voters ahead of next week's gubernatorial election, according to a new poll released on Friday. Forty-nine percent of likely voters in the state backed McAuliffe, while 48 percent said they supported Youngkin, according to a Washington Post/Schar School survey. McAuliffe's lead over Youngkin falls well within the poll's four percentage point margin of error for likely voters. This result paints a slightly different picture compared to other recent polls that show Youngkin leading with likely voters. A Fox News poll released on Thursday found Youngkin...

Former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is set to hit the campaign trail with former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) in his bid for a second term as governor of the Old Dominion. Abrams will campaign with McAuliffe on Sunday, where the two will attend three churches in Norfolk, Va., and take part in a "Souls to the Polls" event in the city. McAuliffe and Abrams are then slated to host a grassroots event in Northern Virginia in the afternoon. The Georgia Democrat's visit comes as polls show the governor's race, viewed as a bellwether for next year's midterm...

Democratic Virginia gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe rolled out a new ad on Friday tying his Republican opponent, Glenn Youngkin, to former President Trump's stances on coronavirus restrictions. The ad, titled "Seriously," was first seen by The Hill. "Like Donald Trump, Glenn Youngkin refuses to take coronavirus seriously," the ad's narrator says, citing Youngkin's opposition to vaccine and mask mandates.

Wisconsin Republicans are waiting anxiously for Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) to make a decision on whether he will run for reelection and are quietly considering backup plans in case he doesn't run. Johnson made national headlines last week when he told conservative commentator Lisa Boothe that he did not think he was the best candidate for 2022, leading many to ask whether this was foreshadowing a retirement. “I believe that he, in his heart I’m not so sure he wants to run, but at the end of the day he doesn’t want to turn everything over to [Senate Majority Leader]...

Fifty-nine percent of voters say they approve of President Biden’s job in office, according to a new Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey released exclusively to The Hill on Monday. Thirty-three percent of respondents said they “strongly approved” of the president’s job in office so far, while 26 percent said they “somewhat approve.” Thirty-eight percent said they disapproved of Biden’s job in office, with 29 percent saying they “strongly disapproved” and 9 percent saying they “somewhat disapproved.”

Democrats’ hopes of capturing statewide office in Georgia may have been dashed in 2018, but this year the party appears on the cusp of a breakthrough. The state’s two Republican senators are facing increasingly competitive reelection bids, and President Trump’s poll numbers are suffering there as he scrambles to get a handle on the coronavirus pandemic and respond to ongoing civil unrest over racial injustice and police brutality. Democrats, meanwhile, say that changing demographics in Georgia have made the state ripe for political change. Some 322,000 new voters joined the state’s rolls last year, including many young voters and people...

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said Friday that he found it a little unsettling that President Trump is dreaming about him. “It did bother me when he said he dreams about me," the South Bend, Ind., mayor quipped during a Washington Post Live event. "I don’t know exactly what goes on in this president’s dreams, but I’m certain that I want nothing to do with them." Trump said at a rally in Hershey, Pa., on Tuesday that he had dreamed of Buttigieg. He also compared the White House hopeful to Mad magazine mascot Alfred E. Neuman. “I mean, you have...

Bloomberg bets 2020 campaign on unprecedented strategy BY JULIA MANCHESTER - 11/27/19 03:32 PM EST Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s unconventional campaign strategy is panning out to be one of riskiest experiments in primary politics, testing the limits of personal wealth and name recognition. Bloomberg, who officially threw his hat in the Democratic primary ring last week, will not accept donations nor fund his own campaign, automatically disqualifying himself from the primary debates. The billionaire politician also says he plans to focus on the Super Tuesday states, and won’t compete in the crucial early contest states of Iowa...

Former Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday there was "zero, zero, zero evidence" behind President Trump's allegations regarding the 2020 candidate's behavior with Ukraine. Trump is claiming Biden used his influence as vice president to push Ukraine to fire a senior prosecutor who at one point had investigated an energy company where his son, Hunter, had served as a board member. "There is zero, zero, zero evidence of any assertion being made," Biden said at the 2020 Gun Safety Forum in Las Vegas. "Look, the issue is this President of the United States engaged in something apparently that is...

Robert Hockett, who worked as an outside adviser to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on the green new deal, said Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-Calif.) viral exchange with young activists over the proposal was "unsurprising" and "sad." Hockett described the 85-year-old Feinstein as "elderly" and an "old timer" in his comments to Hill.TV's Buck Sexton and Krystal Ball on "Rising," saying the young people who confronted the senator have much at stake in the battle over climate change. "When we're younger we tend to have much bigger ideas as to what's possible. We're more energetic, we're less tired when we're younger, and...