Category: Black Elected Officials

Jennifer McClellan Wins in Virginia and Will Be State’s First Black Woman in Congress

Jennifer McClellan, a veteran Democratic state senator, won a special election for Virginia’s Fourth Congressional District on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, making her the first Black woman to represent the state in Congress.Ms. McClellan, 50, will fill the seat formerly held by Representative A. Donald McEachin, who died Nov. 28 of colorectal cancer.

Kamala Harris Is Trying to Define Her Vice Presidency. Even Her Allies Are Tired of Waiting.

WASHINGTON — Kamala Harris was frustrated. The text of a speech she had been given to deliver in Chicago to the nation’s biggest teachers’ union was just another dreary, scripted talk that said little of any consequence.As Air Force Two made its way to the Midwest over the summer, the vice president told her staff

Leader Hakeem Jeffries Defying Kevin McCarthy

Hakeem Jeffries Challenges Kevin McCarthy on Intelligence Committee Appointments House Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) took on Speaker McCarthy by nominating Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell to continue serving on the Intelligence Committee. Hakeem Jeffries Submit Committee Assignments Jeffries wrote to McCarthy: I write today to submit for renomination two eminently qualified legislators

Dr. Bandy Lee Saw It Coming – The Violence Foretold in Donald Trump’s Election – BillMoyers.com

 ANNOUNCER: Welcome to Moyers on Democracy. Dr. Bandy Lee saw it coming – the violence foretold in Donald Trump’s election.  While millions of Americans were still trying to figure out if Trump was just a crude playboy and fast-talking con man she felt a duty to warn the country about dangerous possibilities stemming from

Black man arrested on $100K bond for voting, and Texas GOP advances bill making it harder to vote

“The arrest and prosecution of Mr. Rogers should alarm all Texans,” said Andre Segura, legal director of the ACLU of Texas. “He waited in line for over six hours to vote to fulfill what he believed to be his civic duty, and is now locked up on a bail amount that most people could not afford. “He

The US Supreme Court Just Authorized More Voter Suppression

The United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) dealt several blows to the Voting Rights Act last week. In a majority conservative 6-3 ruling, SCOTUS upheld two Arizona restrictions. The first prohibits individuals other than close family members or caregivers from collecting mail-in ballots. The second requires elections officials to reject votes from people who report to incorrect precincts

50 years since the 26th amendment

Rock the Vote?Does anyone remember this? Or this? Okay. Videos and efforts to turn out youth voters have existed for as long as I can remember, going back to my middle school age—which is before that Madonna video above. The truth is, Democratic efforts are built on young people. We know and have known for quite

America Is Undergoing Seismic Changes. Its Politics? Hardly.

In another age, the events of this season would have been nearly certain to produce a major shift in American politics — or at least a meaningful, discernible one.Over a period of weeks, the coronavirus death rate plunged and the country considerably eased public health restrictions. President Biden announced a bipartisan deal late last month

This Supreme Court session was bad, but wait until you see what they have on tap for the next one

The court will hear Carson v. Maine, which asks whether the Constitution requires that states spend public money on explicitly religious education. This is a First Amendment case that should be clear cut—that whole establishment clause business of prohibiting government from “unduly preferring religion over non-religion, or non-religion over religion.” Plaintiffs are challenging Maine’s ban on

Puff piece on Barr shows once again what an amoral, power-hungry snake Mitch McConnell is

According to Barr—and confirmed by McConnell himself—McConnell repeatedly urged him to publicly dump cold water on Trump’s claims that the election had been stolen. As McConnell was asking Barr to speak out, he himself stayed silent about the outcome of the election even after Joe Biden had widely been called as the winner. Why wouldn’t McConnell

Mitch McConnell Says Voter Suppression Doesn’t Exist in Any US State

At this point in time, Republicans have realized that their platform is not very popular. There is a clear reason why they have stopped talking ideas and have gone all the way in on the culture war. No leader has ever tried to suppress the vote quite like Donald Trump did. He even had his

OAN Correspondent Calls for Executions of Thousands Over Fake Voter Fraud Claims

Pearson Sharp, a correspondent for the far-right One America News (OAN), has called for the executions of thousands of Americans over fake voter fraud claims. “How many people were involved in these efforts to undermine the [2020 general] election?” Sharp said on the air, pushing conspiracy theories that the election was fraudulent. “Hundreds? Thousands? Tens

Republicans In Georgia Are Targeting And Removing Black Election Officials

Georgia Republicans are using new voter suppression laws to target and remove black local election officials. The New York Times reported: Across Georgia, members of at least 10 county election boards have been removed, had their position eliminated, or are likely to be kicked off through local ordinances or new laws passed by the state

Biden to Sign Law Making Juneteenth a Federal Holiday

President Biden on Thursday signed legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, the day after the House voted overwhelmingly to enshrine June 19 as the national day to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States.The Senate rushed the measure through with no debate earlier this week after clearing away a longstanding Republican objection,

Garland Pledges Renewed Efforts to Protect Voting Rights

Republican-led legislatures in several states including Georgia, Florida and Iowa have passed laws imposing new voting restrictions, and Texas, New Hampshire, Arizona and Michigan, among other states, are considering changes to their electoral systems. At the same time, hopes have dimmed on the left that Congress will pass two major election bills after Senator Joe

CNN’s Kaitlin Collins Rips Trump For Attempting to Sabotage Biden’s Meeting With Putin

It should have been pretty clear to Donald Trump who the country’s allies were. Instead, the former president treated the country’s enemies like friends and alienated long term supporters. And while Trump is out of office, he isn’t done hurting US foreign policy. Joe Biden is currently on his first major overseas trip and will

The new guy? Biden debuts at democracy’s most exclusive club

WASHINGTON — Angela, Boris, Emmanuel, Justin, Mario, Yoshihide and a relative newcomer: Joe. They’re the board of global democracy’s most exclusive club, and they’re meeting this week after four years of US disruption and a two-year coronavirus interruption. Already on a first-name basis with relationships that range from just months to years, the leaders of

Woman mistaken for Univision reporter asks Kamala Harris question

During her trip to Mexico on Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris took a question from a woman introduced as a “Univision reporter” — before it was revealed that she was not a reporter at all, exposing a vetting hiccup by the VP’s staff. Harris, who had just met with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, was

How Joe Manchin Survives as a Democrat in West Virginia

With the fate of the progressive agenda depending on the support of Senator Joe Manchin III, who said again on Sunday that he would not abandon the filibuster to pass an expansive voting rights bill, interest groups and activists are gearing up for a full push to try to sway the moderate Democrat. It would

Manchin rejects voting rights bill; Meadows pushed Rosen to validate election hoaxes

Grasping at every straw: Trump administration efforts to overturn election results included asking the Justice Department to probe whether Italy used ‘satellites’ to alter vote totals In the news today: Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin released a pomp-rich but substance-thin editorial announcing his opposition to a Democratic voting rights bill because … Republicans don’t like it.

U.S. Aid to Central America Hasn’t Slowed Migration. Can Kamala Harris?

SAN ANTONIO HUISTA — An American contractor went to a small town in the Guatemalan mountains with an ambitious goal: to ignite the local economy, and hopefully even persuade people not to migrate north to the United States.Half an hour into his meeting with coffee growers, the contractor excitedly revealed the tool he had brought

Kamala Harris and a High-Risk, High-Reward Presidential Résumé

Hi. Welcome to On Politics, your wrap-up of the week in national politics. I’m Lisa Lerer, your host.Is Kamala Harris drawing the shortest straws in the White House?This week, President Biden announced that Ms. Harris would lead the administration’s effort to protect voting rights, a task he immediately said would “take a hell of a

U.S. Economy Continues to Recover, Adding 559,000 Jobs in May

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that employers added 559,000 workers during the month of May, continuing the nation’s economic recovery. “In May, the unemployment rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 5.8 percent, and the number of unemployed persons fell by 496,000 to 9.3 million. These measures are down considerably from their recent highs

VP Kamala Harris Asked to Lead on Voting Rights, and It’s a Challenge

“I think that Vice President Harris herself personifies the need for voting rights to be extended,” the Rev. Al Sharpton, who attended the speech in Tulsa, said in an interview. “When she’s on the phone or walks into an office, we’re looking at the reason we need voting rights.”Michael Waldman, the president of the Brennan

Republican swindlers vexed by failure to profit off Teflon Joe

Then came the revelation that House Republicans were rerunning Donald Trump’s fundraising scam—automatically inflating a donor’s intended donation or making it recurring unless the giver opted out of doing so. Perhaps they’ve forgotten the Trump campaign had to refund tens of millions in donations.  Now it appears Republicans have almost entirely stripped Biden out of

Mike Flynn Uses Memorial Day To Call For A Military Coup To Overthrow Biden

Convicted felon Gen. Mike Flynn advocated for a military coup in the United States to overthrow President Biden. Video: Here is video of former general and National Security Advisor Mike Flynn calling for a Myanmar-like coup to replace the sitting U.S. president with Donald Trump. The talk of war is very real. pic.twitter.com/1GoP5OG1He — justin

Democrats stage mass walkout, prevent vote on Texas election law bill

Texas Democrats staged a mass walkout late Sunday night as a last-ditch effort to stave off a vote on a GOP “election integrity” initiative that would overhaul the state’s voting laws, reports said.  “Members, take your key and leave the chamber discreetly,” state Rep. Chris Turner, the Democratic caucus chair of the house, wrote in

Fox News Attacks Kamala Harris For Memorial Day Weekend Tweet Then Shoots Itself In The Foot

Fox News attacked Vice President Harris for wishing everyone a happy long weekend and then promptly did the same thing. Here is the tweet that Fox News tried to gin up into a controversy: Enjoy the long weekend. pic.twitter.com/ilGOrod4AW — Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) May 29, 2021 Aaron Rupar caught what Fox did next:

Texas Republicans Finalize Major Bill of Voting Limits

Texas lawmakers on Saturday finished drafting a bill that would impose a raft of new voting restrictions, setting up the likely passage of what would be among the most far-reaching laws in Republicans’ nationwide drive to overhaul elections systems and limit voting.The bill would tighten what are already some of the country’s strictest voting laws,

Biden’s jobs and family plans are broadly popular—but only if people know about them

A Politico/Morning Consult poll this week highlighted one of the challenges the White House still faces in both passing President Joe Biden’s agenda and then getting credit for it with voters next year. The survey found that 61% of respondents were not familiar with the “American Jobs Plan” and 62% were not familiar with the