Politics

The Houston Chronicle reports: A pregnant Dallas-area woman made national headlines after she argued last month that she was allowed to drive in the high-occupancy (HOV) lane because under Texas’ new abortion law her unborn baby counted as the second passenger—and the law may indeed be on her side. Brandy Bottone, 32, originally received a traffic citation for using the …

The Mississippi Free Press reports: Jackson’s water system is failing and water across the city is entirely unsafe to drink, officials said at an emergency briefing Monday night. State leadership have warned all residents of Mississippi’s capital city to boil water before drinking or even brushing their teeth. “We need to provide water for up to 180,000 people for an …

Gothamist reports: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is defending the text message to state E-ZPass users that urged them to publicly comment against the MTA’s congestion pricing program proposal. The message, which was sent this weekend and which made the rounds on social media, simply said congestion pricing “will increase cost and congestion for NJ drivers.” The MTA is in …

ABC News reports: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Friday will host a fundraiser with Senate candidates in key battleground states a week after appearing to criticize the “quality” — of some GOP Senate candidates. Herschel Walker, running for Senate in Georgia, Dr. Mehmet Oz, a Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, and Rep. Ted Budd, running for Senate in North Carolina, …

Florida Politics reports: Vandals sprayed a hateful, vulgar message on a window and damaged door locks at the Seminole County Republican Party headquarters. Someone sprayed the words “Eat Sh** Fascists” on the storefront window of the Seminole Republicans’ office in Casselberry. A symbol for anarchists was added. The door locks were damaged with glue, preventing officials from being able to …

Atlanta’s ABC affiliate reports: A judge ruled Monday that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp must testify before a special grand jury that’s investigating possible illegal attempts by then-President Donald Trump and others to influence the 2020 election in the state — but not until after the November midterm election. Lawyers for Kemp had argued that immunities related to his position as …

The Texas Tribune reports: Beto O’Rourke said Sunday that he will be off the campaign trail for an unspecified period after being diagnosed with a bacterial infection. The Democratic nominee for governor checked into Methodist Hospital in San Antonio on Friday, and he was given IV antibiotics. O’Rourke is now recuperating at home in El Paso. O’Rourke’s campaign declined to …

CBS News reports: Republicans head into the fall still in position to gain enough House seats for a majority, but a tumultuous summer has made their advantage appear a little smaller today — with a trend so far pointing toward narrow gains instead of a wave. Our CBS News Battleground Tracker estimates Republicans at 226 seats today, down from 230 …

The BBC reports: Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said September’s EuroPride parade in Belgrade will not go ahead. Mr Vucic’s announcement comes after thousands of people marched in protest against the event earlier this month. The president said he was not happy with the decision, but that Serbia had to concentrate on other issues, including trouble in Kosovo. The parade …

Florida Politics reports: Florida’s Governor has spent much of the summer yoking his campaign to the reboot of “Top Gun: Maverick.” But for one group of critics, it’s been more like “Flop Gun” instead. A new 30-second spot from the Lincoln Project, pithily titled “Poser,” unfavorably compares DeSantis to leaders in bygone times and their efforts in wartime, using the …

Florida Politics reports: A new poll shows Gov. Ron DeSantis may be in trouble with independent voters. Impact Research released new polling that shows Gov. Ron DeSantis remains a favorite for re-election. He leads Democratic nominee Charlie Crist by 5 percentage points. But that 51% to 46% advantage is within the poll’s 3.5 percentage point margin of error, which applies …

Via press release: The Crenshaw Youth Summit is back for its third annual conference of more than 2,000 young conservatives from across the country. Hear from an all-star lineup of speakers October 8 – 9 in Downtown Houston. If you’re a teenager or young adult who is fired up for conservatism and protecting America’s future, you’re going to want to …

Detroit’s ABC affiliate reports: Incumbent Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has a strong lead over Republican challenger Tudor Dixon in the race for Michigan governor, a new poll shows. The EPIC-MRA poll released Friday morning shows that if the election were held immediately, 50% of respondents would vote for Whitmer, while 39% would vote for Dixon. Eleven percent were undecided. Sixty-seven …

The Texas Tribune reports: A federal court in Fort Worth on Thursday struck down a Texas prohibition that limited adults under 21 from carrying handguns. Texas law bars most 18- to 20-year-olds in the state from obtaining a license to carry a handgun or carrying a handgun for self-defense outside their homes. Two plaintiffs, who fall within that age range, …

The Daily Beast reports: A judge in Florida appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis has been ousted by voters following his high-profile decision in an abortion case earlier this year. Back in January, Hillsborough County Circuit Court Judge Jared Smith denied a 17-year-old access to an abortion, citing her 2.0 GPA as the reason for his decision. Despite numerous major endorsements, …

The Pennsylvania Capital-Star reports: A new Franklin & Marshall College poll shows Democrats Josh Shapiro and John Fetterman with double-digit leads over their Republican rivals, even as President Joe Biden’s approval ratings remain underwater with voters in a key 2022 battleground state. In the state’s nationally watched U.S. Senate race, Fetterman, the current lieutenant governor, leads Republican Mehmet Oz, a …

ABC News reports: Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is headed to Harvard this fall as a teaching fellow at the university’s schools of government and public health. De Blasio, a Democrat who served as mayor from from 2014 to 2021, will take part in “a variety of discussions, events, and programming” at the Institute of Politics at …

Bloomberg News reports: The Biden administration won a judge’s order ensuring women in Idaho can get abortions in medical emergencies, less than a day after losing a similar fight in Texas. The mixed outcomes in preliminary rulings point to hotly contested court battles ahead over state limitations after the US Supreme Court overturned a federal right to the procedure. The …

NBC News reports: Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo was fired Wednesday by the Texas city’s school board. The board voted unanimously to oust the embattled chief after a recommendation from the school district superintendent. Arredondo’s removal caps three months of outrage over the botched law enforcement response to the shooting at Robb Elementary School, which killed 19 children and …

The Texas Tribune reports: Texas hospitals will not be required to provide emergency abortions after a federal judge ruled the Biden administration was unauthorized to enforce such a rule. U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix in Lubbock ruled that the guidance by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services went beyond the text of a related federal law, Reuters …