Republicans

Roll Call reports: Rep. Barry Moore defeated fellow GOP Rep. Jerry Carl [photo] in the primary in Alabama’s 1st District Tuesday, bringing to a close a contentious member-vs.-member election. A Republican in his second term, Moore campaigned as a loyal supporter of Trump, touting his votes against supplemental funding for Ukraine and his support for a border wall. Moore and …

Law & Crime reports: Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake failed to keep Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer’s (R) defamation lawsuit on hold Tuesday, meaning the case move towards discovery and trial. In an orders list, the Arizona Supreme Court, having denied Lake’s petition for review, rejected the attorneys’ fees request and ordered the stay lifted. The allegedly defamatory Lake …

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports: The State Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday it will not charge former Florida Republican Party chairman Christian Ziegler with video voyeurism in connection with an alleged rape that authorities also declined to prosecute. Three assistants in State Attorney Ed Brodsky’s office explained the decision in a memo released Wednesday morning. The memo capped a protected investigation launched …

Mediaite reports: Republicans often campaign on their commitment to supporting law enforcement, but during a press conference on Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) declared that he will push for cuts to several federal law enforcement agencies. He lamented crime rates — even though crime rates are down — seconds before announcing that he’d push for cuts to agencies that exist …

The Texas Tribune reports: Houston Rep. Lacey Hull has prevailed in the Republican primary against Jared Woodfill, a prominent anti-gay activist who was backed by Attorney General Ken Paxton and other Republican leaders despite his role in an ongoing sex abuse scandal. Woodfill’s campaign — and its endorsement by Paxton, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and Texas GOP Chair Matt Rinaldi …

The Charleston City Paper reports: A state Senate committee will soon consider legislation that would dramatically curtail the authority of state health officials during future public health emergencies, such as pandemics or biological terror attacks. Dubbed the Medical Freedom Act by supporters, the bill would prohibit the state’s health department from securing and distributing vaccines or other drugs during a …

The Washington Post reports: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) endorsed Donald Trump for president on Wednesday after years of acrimony between the two men, cementing Trump’s continued hold on the Republican Party. “It is abundantly clear that former President Trump has earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee for President of the United States,” McConnell …

The Greenville News reports: Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will drop out of the 2024 presidential race in a Wednesday address. Haley will make the announcement in a 10 am speech from Charleston, S.C. where her campaign has been based for the last year. She will not immediately endorse former President Donald Trump, who has been losing a not …

The Daily Beast reports: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) lashed out at a British reporter on Tuesday night who asked her about Jewish space lasers, telling the broadcaster to “fuck off.” MTG was approached by former BBC journalist Emily Maitlis at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Super Tuesday. What started out as a fairly amicable exchange rapidly went …

Florida Politics reports: The Senate has passed a House bill creating a new financial obligation on localities by banning homeless people from sleeping in public, setting the stage for a Gov. Ron DeSantis priority becoming law. The measure from Rep. Sam Garrison (HB 1365), passed by a 27-12 vote after being substituted for the Senate version, would ban counties and …

The Hill reports: The Republican National Committee (RNC) failed to earn enough support from states to bring a resolution to ban paying former President Trump’s legal bills to a vote. Henry Barbour, who serves as Mississippi’s national committeeman, confirmed to several news outlets that the resolutions he drafted that would have prohibited the committee from covering the former president’s growing …

The Washington Post reports: Nikki Haley, a former U.N. ambassador and governor of South Carolina, will suspend her presidential campaign Wednesday morning, according to several people familiar with her plans, leaving Donald Trump with no major opponents left on his path to becoming the 2024 Republican nominee. Haley does not plan to announce an endorsement Wednesday, the people said. Instead, …

NBC News reports: In a Monday email obtained by NBC News, No Labels co-executive director Liz Morrison invited recipients to a Zoom call Tuesday evening with Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who is running in a heated Republican Senate primary scheduled for March 19. LaRose, a former state senator, has been involved with No Labels programs in the past, …

The Denver Gazette reports: Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) led a group of Colorado Republicans in threatening to recall Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold on Tuesday over her decision to remove former President Donald Trump from the state ballot. “Instead of fulfilling her oath of office to encourage Coloradans to make their voices heard, she abused her office for selfish …

The Argus Leader reports: A state senator has been banned from the House of Representatives floor and lobby for the last week of the 2024 legislative session for placing a bottle of syrup on another lawmaker’s desk. Sen. Tom Pischke, R-Dell Rapids, was informed of the action Monday in a letter from Speaker of the House Hugh Bartels, R-Watertown. Pischke’s …

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis is still fielding questions about whether he wants to jump back in the presidential race even as Donald Trump is close to locking up the Republican nomination. “Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt,” DeSantis said in response to a friendly question from commentator Chris Nelson in Miami Beach. Looking back on a campaign …

The Associated Press reports: On Monday, North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley said about 2,000 state emails of his late predecessor, Wayne Stenehjem, were recovered in a backup from Stenehjem’s personal cellphone. They were found as investigators were preparing for the trial of former state Sen. Ray Holmberg, a Republican. Holmberg, 80, of Grand Forks, is charged with traveling to …

Florida Politics reports: The facilities run by The GEO Group — Blackwater River Correctional, Moore Haven Correctional and South Bay Correctional — will receive $1.6 million the Legislature for the sole purpose of raising correctional officer salaries “commensurate with salary increases for state correctional officers.” The chambers also both directed individual supplements for contract extensions at three prisons, two of …

The Huffington Post reports: Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) on Monday held a meeting with former President Donald Trump as he is reportedly mulling entering the race to succeed Mitch McConnell (Ky.) as GOP Senate leader. He has said that he would “absolutely” stand by the former president even if he was convicted of a felony. The Florida Republican, who launched …

The Washington Post reports: A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a ruling that blocked Florida from enforcing a law, backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, that restricts how private companies teach diversity and inclusion in the workplace. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled Monday that the “Stop Woke Act” “exceeds the bounds” …