#redistricting

#redistricting

On Friday, the Missouri Senate gave its final approval to a redistricting plan endorsed by President Donald Trump, potentially allowing Republicans to gain an additional House of Representatives seat in the 2026 midterms. The approved map now heads to Governor Mike Kehoe (R-MO), who is expected to sign it into law. However, opponents of the new map have already launched a campaign to place the new district lines before voters in a referendum.

"When this comedian I was not very familiar with made those horrific comments about punching trans individuals, I obviously am deeply offended by that, just as I've been offended when someone makes comments about hating Indian Americans or telling Indian people to go back to India," he said.

Just over four years ago, Andrew Cuomo resigned from office. Driven from the governorship over a cascading number of sexual-harassment allegations, he entered the political wilderness only to reemerge this year, when he decided to run for mayor. In the meantime, his little-known lieutenant, Kathy Hochul, became governor. A quiet political force in her own right - she has raised tens of millions of dollars and helped to resurrect a once-moribund statewide

On Wednesday, we heard about another killing and wounding of children and adults as their Minneapolis school, Annunciation, began its school year at mass. More dead children, dead because they were shot by what we now know is the classic American mass shooter - our uniquely native-born young person whose craziness, whose need to destroy, won't be contained because Republican legislators make sure he has access to assault weapons.

They are hungry for leaders, for heroes, for national politicians who might, like a young Barack Obama, inspire them anew. The bench, for 2028, is relatively deep - there is no shortage of governors, senators, former Biden-administration officials, and stray outsiders who may enter the primary - but no single man or woman has emerged from the heap to captivate millions.

In 2017, the California Legislature passed the California Values Act ( SB 54), which restricts local law enforcement from using their resources for immigration enforcement, except in limited cases. The law was designed to build trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities so that all residents feel safe reporting crimes and seeking protection. Yet in 2024, the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department notified ICE 132 times.

The veteran Democrat, who represents part of San Jose and a swath of central California, chairs the state's Democratic congressional delegation. That group not Newsom's office, nor state lawmakers tasked with approving the plan this week was responsible for crafting the new, politically slanted maps that voters likely will consider in November. And Lofgren was at the helm of that process this summer,

The proposal would put new congressional maps before voters in November, which are designed to oust at least five of California's nine Republican members of Congress. Democrats say the effort is a necessary counter to Republican-led gerrymandering in Texas, while GOP lawmakers in California have blasted the plan as an abuse of power. In hearings Wednesday, Republicans pressed Democrats for a clear price tag on running the statewide special election. Bill analyses of the proposals provided few details about the cost, saying the special election would cost somewhere in the "low millions" of dollars. "No one has time to figure this out, where the money is going to come from," said Asm. Dianne Dixon, R-Newport Beach.

Gov. Ron DeSantis launched a multi-pronged attack on the state's congressional districts on Wednesday, offering justifications for a mid-decade redistricting that is all-but-guaranteed to send more Republicans to Congress from Florida. DeSantis also made clear the part of the state he wants to concentrate on is South Florida - the region that is home to most of the remaining Democrats in the Florida congressional delegation. The Republican governor's move comes amid unprecedented and spreading efforts to change congressional districts across the country.

Legislators are making fast work on Gov. Gavin Newsom's redistricting proposal this week but not without some procedural hiccups led by Republicans who oppose the effort. Elections committees in both the state Assembly and Senate on Tuesday, Aug. 19, heard the legislation that would call a special election in November over proposed new, partisan congressional maps. The upper chamber's hearing was relatively straightforward albeit some Senate Republicans who are not members of the committee were upset they were not allowed to ask questions.