Republicans

From the editors of the conservative National Review: On Tuesday, Jo Rae Perkins won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Oregon. The Oregon GOP says it will back her candidacy notwithstanding her associations with the “QAnon” movement. That’s a mistake. Perkins is an unreconstructed exponent of a batty and corrosive conspiracy theory running a longshot campaign that carries only …

The Dallas Morning News reports: Wylie, Texas, Mayor Eric Hogue says he believes women can do “anything and everything” — so long as they don’t lead public displays of religion. Hogue is defending his beliefs after the release of an email in which he requests that only male members of a Christian missionary group say a prayer before a City …

San Antonio’s CBS News affiliate reports: Bexar County Republicans on Friday afternoon set up camp outside San Antonio City Hall to call out local leaders for some of the mandates they’ve established during the ongoing pandemic. Republican Party Chair Cynthia Brehm, along with many others, took to the mic, claiming their constitutional rights have been infringed upon by Mayor Ron …

Law & Crime reports: CNN won a minor court battle against Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) on Friday. The network successfully moved to have Nunes’s defamation lawsuit transferred from a Virginia federal court to a much closer venue in New York City. “Only CNN is listed as a named defendant,” the filing states. “For reasons neither explained nor readily apparent, the …

ABC News reports: Republicans in Oregon this week nominated a Senate candidate with a deep history of promoting and vowing support for the QAnon conspiracy theory, providing the fringe movement its largest electoral platform yet and roiling Republicans over having a candidate who openly embraces baseless conspiracy theories. When asked about supporting Perkins in the general election, the Republican National …

“Not only am I not dropping out, but I’m gonna win. And no one’s going to intimidate me into thinking that that’s the right course for our party, for our state, for our country. I’m working hard to help reelect the president. “I’m working hard to win my seat and keep the Senate in Republican hands. This is the liberal …

The Washington Post reports: The “Lindsey Must Go” ad spends 81 seconds pummeling Graham with his greatest hits against and then for Trump. For instance, in one breath, you hear Graham moan in a 2015 interview, “Every time I turn around I’m being asked about Donald Trump saying one dumb thing or another. And I’m tired of it.” Then, in …

Sacramento’s Fox News affiliate reports: The California Republican Party has pulled its endorsement of congressional candidate Ted Howze as he faces sharp criticism over past posts on his social media accounts. Earlier in May, the Republican candidate apologized for the “ugly ideas” in the posts and claimed they were written by other people who had access to his accounts. “Like …

Politico reports: Republican congressional candidate Darrell Issa and a conservative group are suing to block California’s move to an all-mail November election. They are legally challenging Gov. Gavin Newsom’s directive that elections officials mail every registered voter a ballot for the November election, making California the first state to switch to vote by mail due to coronavirus concerns. The conservative …

“I’m disheartened that less than 24 hours after my win, my words were already being spun through the fake news machine and taken out of context. I was not endorsing QAnon, but rather stating that I appreciate the fact that there is still free speech in this country that allows for voices—including whistleblowers from both sides of the aisle—that may, …

Chicago’s NBC News affiliate reports: Illinois Rep. Darren Bailey was removed from the state legislature Wednesday after refusing to comply with a rule requiring all lawmakers to wear masks during the special session. After the State House voted overwhelmingly to adopt the rule, Democratic Rep. Chris Welch made a motion to remove Bailey from the House proceedings. After Bailey refused …

Seems like somebody doesn’t want to be prosecuted: Jeff Sprecher, the husband of Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), sent a $1 million check to the leading pro-Trump super PAC even as she been fending off criticism around her family’s stock trading. Sprecher, the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, donated to America First Action on April 29, according to a …

The New York Post reports: It’s a prank that would make Bart Simpson proud. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves was duped into congratulating a curiously named student — Harry Azcrac — during a virtual graduation ceremony. In the video, streamed on Facebook Live, Reeves sends his well wishes to the school’s valedictorian before running down the list of newly minted graduates. …

Jared Holt reports at Right Wing Watch: Republicans in the state of Oregon have voted to nominate someone who believes in the QAnon conspiracy theory as their candidate for U.S. Senate in November’s ​election showdown​. Jo Rae Perkins, whom Right Wing Watch profiled in January, won her primary election yesterday in a blowout, stomping her next​ closest opponent by more …

The Sarasota Herald reports: Facing an explosive charge that his administration is manipulating coronavirus data to help make the case for reopening Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis played down the controversy today as a “nonissue.” Rebekah Jones, a data expert at the Florida Department of Health, told FLORIDA TODAY that she was fired on Monday. And she said in an email …

Courthouse News reports: A pair of Republican lawmakers in California say they’re prepping a bill aimed at restricting the unprecedented power wielded by Governor Gavin Newsom during the Covid-19 health emergency. The bill by Assemblymen James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, and Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin [photo], seeks to end Newsom’s emergency powers by enacting a resolution that overturns the state’s declaration of …

The Texas Tribune reports: A federal judge opened a path for a massive expansion in absentee voting in Texas by ordering Tuesday that all state voters, regardless of age, qualify for mail-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic. Days after a two-hour preliminary injunction hearing in San Antonio, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery agreed with individual Texas voters and the Texas …

The Associated Press reports: Republican political operatives are recruiting “extremely pro-Trump” doctors to go on television to prescribe reviving the U.S. economy as quickly as possible, without waiting to meet safety benchmarks proposed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. The plan was discussed in a May 11 conference call …

The Washington Examiner reports: In the special election for appointed Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s seat, again, none of the rivals attract the 50% support needed to skip a runoff. Loeffler’s campaign in the so-called jungle primary has been derailed by allegations she and her New York Stock Exchange chairman husband Jeffrey Sprecher made favorable trades after she received a private …

Florida Today reports: Late last Friday, the architect and manager of Florida’s COVID-19 dashboard — praised by White House officials for its accessibility — announced that she had been removed from her post, causing outcry from independent researchers now worried about government censorship. The site was created by a team of Florida Department of Health data scientists and public health …