SRN - US News

Trump backs Kevin McCarthy protege in California special election for former speaker’s seat

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California legislator backed by former President Donald Trump and a sheriff who promises to harden the nation’s porous borders are facing off in a special U.S. House election to complete the remaining term of deposed former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which runs through January.

State Assembly member Vince Fong, a onetime McCarthy aide who also has his endorsement, and Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, both Republicans, are among a cluster of candidates in the solidly conservative district hoping to fill the seat the speaker left vacant when he resigned last year.

Because of Trump’s involvement, the race will be watched as a possible proxy vote on the former president’s clout as he heads toward an all-but-certain matchup against President Joe Biden in November.

McCarthy’s dramatic fall in the House — he is the only speaker in history to be voted out of the job — left behind a messy race to succeed him that has included an ongoing lawsuit and exposed rivalries within the GOP.

Republicans are expected to hold the seat easily, and the party’s fragile majority in the chamber is not at stake. The district, which cuts through the Central Valley farm belt including parts of Bakersfield and Fresno, is the most strongly Republican seat in heavily Democratic California.

Republicans occupy only 11 of the state’s 52 House seats, with the one held by McCarthy currently vacant.

The election is likely to leave many voters befuddled and draw a sparse turnout, because they just saw some of the same names on the March 5 primary ballot for the full 20th Congressional District term that begins in January. Fong and Boudreaux have advanced to the November election in that contest.

The special election only covers the time remaining in McCarthy’s term, running through early next year. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, the top-two finishers would be matched in a May 21 election.

With nine names on the ballot, it appears unlikely any candidate will surpass that threshold to claim the seat outright Tuesday. Democrats on the ballot include public schoolteacher Marisa Wood, who also sought the full term.

It’s possible voters could see Fong and Boudreaux on four different ballots between March and November.

Boudreaux’s campaign has been texting voters to remind them that a separate election is taking place Tuesday after getting calls from supporters trying to sort it out. Similarly, Fong’s campaign is alerting voters to the second election just two weeks after the primary.

“This is an unusual process,” Fong adviser Ryan Gardiner said. Given the circumstances, the campaign just kept operating after the primary, he said.

Trump endorsed Fong in February, calling him “a true Republican.” Boudreaux’s supporters include Ric Grenell, a former acting director of national intelligence in the Trump administration, and Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove of Bakersfield, Fong’s home turf.

Fong and Boudreaux occupy much of the same policy terrain, and both are Trump-supporting conservatives.

But there is an insider-outsider aspect to the race: Fong is McCarthy’s handpicked choice and a product of his political operation, while the sheriff is not.

Their backgrounds also offer a contrast.

Fong is a legislator coming out of McCarthy’s orbit who says he is offering “trusted, tested leadership.” He has dominated the race in fundraising. Boudreaux, who is the son of a detective, spotlights his decades of law-and-order experience and says he has “the know-how to keep us safe.”

The top issue in the race is the nation’s border crisis.

Fong is anchored in Kern County, the most populous swath in the district, while Boudreaux is a familiar name in Tulare and Kings counties. The race could be decided in Fresno County, where the two were narrowly divided in the March 5 primary, according to incomplete results.


Brought to you by www.srnnews.com


Ohio Supreme Court primary with 2 Democrats kicks off long campaign over court’s partisan control

Tuesday’s Democratic primary for one of three contested seats on the Ohio Supreme Court will kick off a high-stakes battle for partisan control of the court this fall.

The court, which currently has a 4-3 Republican majority, holds sway over how to implement an amendment to the state constitution protecting abortion rights that voters overwhelmingly approved last year.

Ohio is one of 33 states with supreme court races this year and among the few where voters have an opportunity to flip partisan control of the court.

To do so, Democrats must sweep all three races in November, retaining two incumbents — Justices Michael Donnelly and Melody Stewart — and winning an open seat. That will be a difficult task, given that the state Supreme Court has been under Republican control since 1986 and the former swing state’s overall politics have tacked right in recent years.

But Democrats see an opening after 57% of Ohio voters backed a reproductive rights measure last fall. They plan to draw attention to the court’s influence over the amendment’s future and see the races as a possible way to chip away at the Republican Party’s longstanding control of all three branches of government in Ohio.

Only one seat is contested in Tuesday’s primary. In the Democratic primary, Lisa Forbes, a judge on the 8th District Court of Appeals, faces Judge Terri Jamison, who sits on the 10th District Court of Appeals.

The winner will face Dan Hawkins, a Republican judge of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, for the one open seat in November. Before becoming a judge of that court, Hawkins worked in the Franklin County prosecutor’s office and as a judge in the Franklin County Municipal Court.

Forbes, who is endorsed by the Ohio Democratic Party, has served on the 8th District Court of Appeals since 2020. Before then, she was a partner at a Cleveland office of a national law firm, where she focused on business and consumer class-action law.

Jamison, who won 43% of the vote in a 2022 race against Ohio Supreme Court incumbent Pat Fischer, a Republican, has served on the 10th District Court of Appeals since 2020. She also served two terms as judge of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Domestic Relations and Juvenile Division, was a public defender in Franklin County and started her own law firm. If elected, Jamison would be the third Black woman to serve on the Ohio Supreme Court.

During their campaigns, both candidates have hinted at the importance of building a Democratic majority on the court.

“The Supreme Court needs to be an effective firewall to protect our democracy, our constitutional rights and the rule of law,” Forbes said in a campaign ad. “I will never bend to political pressure, and I will always stand up for your rights.”

Jamison said in a campaign ad that the Ohio Supreme Court “should be accessible to everyone, not just the wealthy or powerful.”

“It can provide checks and balances to those who overreach or abuse power,” she said.

Besides abortion, redistricting, public education, health care, the environment and criminal justice may also arise as campaign issues.

Forbes and Jamison are seeking their party’s nomination for the seat to which Republican Joe Deters was appointed by the governor in 2022.

Deters has decided to challenge Justice Melody Stewart, a Democrat, for her seat instead, where the term runs through 2030 — four years longer than what’s available on his current seat. The incumbent-versus-incumbent primary would tend to favor the Republican, given the state’s politics.

In the third court race, Democratic Justice Michael Donnelly will face Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Shanahan, a Republican, in November’s general election. Stewart and Donnelly were elected to the then-all-Republican court in 2018.

__

The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.


Brought to you by www.srnnews.com


Trump is making the Jan. 6 attack a cornerstone of his bid for the White House

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Donald Trump has launched his general election campaign not merely rewriting the history of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, but positioning the violent siege and its failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election as a cornerstone of his bid to return to the White House.

At a weekend rally in Ohio, his first as the presumed Republican Party presidential nominee, Trump stood onstage, his hand raised in salute to the brim of his red MAGA hat, as a recorded chorus of prisoners in jail for their roles in the Jan. 6 attack sang the national anthem.

An announcer asked the crowd to please rise “for the horribly and unfairly treated January 6th hostages.” And people did, and sang along.

“They were unbelievable patriots,” Trump said as the recording ended.

Having previously vowed to pardon the rioters, he promised to help them “the first day we get into office.”

Initially relegated to a fringe theory on the edges of the Republican Party, the revisionist history of Jan. 6, which Trump amplified during the early days of the GOP primary campaign to rouse his most devoted voters, remains a rally centerpiece even as he must appeal more broadly to a general election audience.

In heaping praise on the rioters, Trump is shifting blame for his own role in the run-up to the bloody mob siege and asking voters to absolve hundreds of them — and himself — over the deadliest attack on a seat of American power in 200 years.

At the same time, Trump’s allies are installing 2020 election-deniers to the Republican National Committee, further institutionalizing the lies that spurred the violence. That raises red flags about next year, when Congress will again be called upon to certify the vote.

And they’re not alone. Republicans in Congress are embarking on a re-investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack that seeks to shield Trump of wrongdoing while lawmakers are showcasing side theories about why thousands of his supporters descended on Capitol Hill in what became a brutal scene of hand-to-hand combat with police.

Five people died in the riot and its aftermath.

Taken together, it’s what those who study authoritarian regimes warn is a classic case of what’s called consolidation — where the state apparatus is being transformed around a singular figure, in this case Trump.

Jason Stanley, a philosophy professor at Yale, said in history the question comes up over and over again: How could people not have taken an authoritarian leader at his word about what was going to happen?

“Listen to Trump,” he said.

“When a coup against the democratic regime happens and it’s not punished, that is a very strong indicator of the end of the rule of law and the victory of that authoritarian movement,” he said.

“Americans have a hard time understanding that what happens in most of the world can happen here, too.”

Trump is facing a four-count federal indictment over Jan. 6 — charges he conspired to defraud Americans over his 2020 election defeat and obstructed the official proceeding in Congress to certify the vote for Joe Biden. As the Supreme Court considers Trump’s claim that he should be immune from prosecution, it’s unclear when the case will go to trial, raising the possibility it might not be resolved until after the election.

The initial House Select Committee on Jan. 6 found that Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol and beating police.

More than 1,200 people have been charged in the riot, including far-right Oath Keepers and Proud Boys extremists, with hundreds convicted. Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and attorney John Eastman face legal challenges over their work on the 2020 election.

Trump’s campaign, in response to an inquiry from The Associated Press, pointed to the work from the House investigators who are trying to show inconsistencies in the Select Committee’s probe and its star witness Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide who had a front-row seat to inner workings at the White House.

Trump’s national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Justice Department has spent more time prosecuting the former president and “targeting Americans for peacefully protesting on January 6th” than other criminals.

“President Trump will restore justice for all Americas who have been unfairly treated,” she said.

Even as Republicans worry privately that Trump risks turning off women and independent voters he would need in the general election rematch against Biden, top aides have said there is only so much they can do as Trump is going to be Trump.

Over the weekend, Trump focused his attention on Liz Cheney, the former Republican congresswoman, who was vice chair of the Select Committee and personally secured Hutchinson’s blockbuster 2022 testimony.

“She should go to Jail along with the rest of the Unselect Committee!” Trump posted on social media.

Cheney posted in response — “Hi Donald: you know these are lies” — as she makes dispelling falsehoods about Jan. 6 her singular focus in 2024.

“If your response to Trump’s assault on our democracy is to lie & cover up what he did, attack the brave men & women who came forward with the truth, and defend the criminals who violently assaulted the Capitol,” she said in one post, “you need to rethink whose side you’re on. Hint: It’s not America’s.”

Many Republicans are willfully ignoring the issue, especially in Congress, despite lawmakers having run for their lives and taken shelter as the rioters stormed the Senate chamber and ransacked Capitol offices.

Senators who sharply criticized Trump after the Jan. 6 attack, like Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and South Dakota’s John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, have now reluctantly endorsed him.

Others are still declining to endorse Trump, including Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment on the charge of inciting the insurrection for the Jan. 6 attack. But the holdouts are in the minority.

Appearing on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” Cassidy would only say, “I plan to vote for a Republican for the presidency of the United States.”

One Republican willing to speak out is Mike Pence, the former vice president, whom rioters shouted they wanted to “hang” that day as a makeshift gallows stood on the Capitol’s West Front.

“I was there on January 6th. I have no doubt in my mind … that some people were caught up in the moment,” Pence said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

“But the assaults on police officers, ultimately an environment that claimed lives, is something that I think was tragic that day,” Pence said. “And I’ll never diminish it.”


Brought to you by www.srnnews.com


Open seat for Chicago-area prosecutor is in voters’ hands after spirited primary matchup

CHICAGO (AP) — An open race to lead the nation’s second-largest prosecutor’s office is in voters’ hands after a heated primary campaign in the Chicago area.

The Democratic matchup for the Cook County state’s attorney primary features Eileen O’Neill Burke, a former appellate judge with a large campaign war chest, versus Clayton Harris III, a professor and attorney who’s held government posts. The winner of the primary in the Democratic stronghold is expected to win outright in November.

The race is open because Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx didn’t seek a third term. She was among several progressive prosecutors elected in the past decade in major U.S. cities including Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Many have been criticized as being soft on crime, but in Chicago, both Democratic candidates have been more careful of their critique of Foxx, saying that they’ll continue her approach on some issues.

Harris says penalties for crimes should take racial disparities and communities into account. He often talks about his personal experiences as a Black man raising children in Washington Park, a neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. He says the office needs to beef up its special prosecutions unit and improve communication with police.

“We hear gunshots sometimes, and nobody wants to live like that,” he said. “I understand how safety and justice affect our communities.”

O’Neill Burke says harsher punishments should be in place, particularly for those who contribute to the flow of illegal guns.

“Our justice system is not working right now, but I don’t think anyone living in Chicago living right now would disagree,” she said.

She’s called for more attorney training and a unit to protect abortion rights, while continuing Foxx’s restorative justice efforts. Harris has said he’ll continue Foxx’s controversial policy not to prosecute retail theft as a felony unless the value of the stolen goods is over $1,000. State law sets a $300 felony threshold.

When it comes to fundraising, O’Neill Burke is ahead with roughly double the amount of Harris, just under $2 million compared to roughly $750,000. Her sum includes money from top Republican donors.

But Harris has picked up hefty endorsements from labor unions, progressive leaders and the Cook County Democratic Party.

The state’s attorney’s office has more than 700 attorneys and is the country’s largest after Los Angeles.

Also running are Republican former Chicago Alderman Bob Fioretti, who lost a 2020 bid for the office, and Libertarian Andrew Charles Kopinski.


Brought to you by www.srnnews.com


4 things to know from Elon Musk’s interview with Don Lemon

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Former CNN reporter Don Lemon mixed it up with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in an interview Lemon posted on Musk’s X social network Monday. The interview was supposed to kick off Lemon’s new talk show on X, formerly known as Twitter, at least until Musk canceled the show shortly after the interview was recorded.

Over the course of slightly more than an hour, the two men jousted over subjects ranging from the political consequences of immigration and the benefits and harms of content moderation to Musk’s symptoms of depression and his use of ketamine to alleviate them.

Here are some of the more notable moments.

THE X GAMES: PLAYER VS. PLAYER

Musk said he thinks of X as the “player versus player platform,” using a term for video games that pit players against one another, typically in fights to the pixelated death. While he wasn’t particularly clear about what he meant by likening X to a death match, he did bring it up in the context of the occasional late-night posts in which he appears to be spoiling for an argument.

The subject arose when Musk described how he relaxes by playing video games and his preference for these PvP contests — what he considers “hardcore” gaming. It’s one way to blow off steam, he said — and agreed, at least to a point, when Lemon suggested that taking on X opponents served the same purpose. Though not always, he said.

“I use it to post jokes, sometimes trivia, sometimes things that are of great importance,” Musk said of his X posts.

MUSK USES KETAMINE TO TREAT POSSIBLE SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION

Musk is “almost always” sober when posting on X late at night, he told Lemon. “I don’t drink, I don’t really, y’know….” he said, his voice trailing off. Then Lemon asked about a subject Musk has previously discussed publicly — his use of the drug ketamine, a controlled substance that is also used in medical settings as an anesthetic and for treatment-resistant depression.

When Lemon asked, Musk said he has a prescription for ketamine, although he pushed back, calling it “pretty private to ask someone about a medical prescription.” He described “times when I have a sort of a negative chemical state in my brain, like depression, I guess,” and said that ketamine can be helpful for alleviating “a negative frame of mind.”

Asked if he thinks he ever abuses the drug, Musk said he doesn’t think so. “If you’ve used too much ketamine, you can’t really get work done,” he said. “I have a lot of work.”

MEETING WITH TRUMP

Musk said he met with Donald Trump in Florida recently — totally by chance. “I thought I was at breakfast at a friend’s place and Donald Trump came by,” he said. “Let’s just say he did most of the talking.” The conversation didn’t involve anything “groundbreaking or new,” he said. And Trump didn’t ask him for a donation, he added.

“President Trump likes to talk, and so he talked,” Musk said. “I don’t recall him saying anything he hasn’t said publicly.”

Musk has said he isn’t going to endorse or contribute to any presidential candidate, although he suggested he might reconsider his endorsement later in the political system. He’s not leaning toward anyone, he said, but added that “I’ve been leaning away from Biden. I’ve made no secret about that.”

IMMIGRATION AND THE GREAT REPLACEMENT THEORY

Musk said he disavows the so-called “ great replacement theory,” a racist belief that, in its most extreme form, falsely contends that Jews are behind a plot to diminish the influence of white people in the U.S. But in his interview with Lemon he did argue, on shaky evidence, that a surge of undocumented immigrants has skewed U.S. elections in favor of Democrats.

Lemon pointed out that undocumented immigrants can’t vote and thus can’t really favor either political party. Musk replied that such people are included in the U.S. Census and thus boost the recorded population of U.S. states with large immigrant populations. In some cases that could theoretically increase the number of congresspeople those states can send to the House of Representatives in Washington, although such reapportionment only occurs once a decade.


Brought to you by www.srnnews.com


High-profile elections in Ohio could give Republicans a chance to expand clout in Washington

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republicans are watching a pair of high-profile elections in Ohio on Tuesday that could determine their chances of picking up critical seats this fall and expanding their power in Washington.

One is a contentious and expensive Republican primary for the chance to face third-term Sen. Sherrod Brown this fall. The second is a GOP matchup in the 9th Congressional District held by Rep. Marcy Kaptur, of Toledo, the longest-serving woman in Congress.

Both Brown and Kaptur are considered among the year’s most vulnerable Democrats, amid Ohio’s tack to the political right in recent years. With Democrats holding a narrow voting majority in the Senate and Republicans maintaining a thin margin in the U.S. House, both races have already drawn outsized attention from national party leaders.

Of highest interest Tuesday is the outcome of a three-way Senate contest for the chance to run against Brown in the fall. The race is testing the depth of GOP allegiances to former President Donald Trump in a state that voted for him convincingly twice.

Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno, running as a “political outsider,” failed to parlay Trump’s endorsement into the type of runaway lead over his two rivals — Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Matt Dolan — that author and venture capitalist JD Vance experienced two years ago. Trump held a campaign rally for Moreno on Saturday.

The Associated Press reported on Thursday that in 2008, someone with access to Moreno’s work email account created a profile on an adult website seeking “Men for 1-on-1 sex.” The AP could not definitively confirm that it was created by Moreno himself. Moreno’s lawyer said a former intern created the account and provided a statement from the intern, Dan Ricci, who said he created the account as “part of a juvenile prank.”

Questions about the profile have circulated in GOP circles for the past month, sparking frustration among senior Republican operatives about Moreno’s potential vulnerability in a general election, according to seven people who are directly familiar with conversations about how to address the matter. They requested anonymity to avoid running afoul of Trump and his allies.

Also last week, Dolan — a largely self-funded candidate who did not seek Trump’s backing — won the support of two of the state’s best-known Republican moderates: Gov. Mike DeWine and former U.S. Sen. Rob Portman. LaRose, meanwhile, heads into primary day as the only contender who has previously won statewide office.

Trump issued a last-minute endorsement of state Rep. Derek Merrin on Monday in the Toledo-area congressional primary, the latest twist for a months-long roller coaster ride of a primary that’s included swift entries and exits, candidate gaffes and bouncing endorsements. At one point, Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Rep. Jim Jordan, a vocal Trump ally, were aligned with three competing campaigns.

Things settled down when Trump-aligned candidate J.R. Majewski, who lost badly to Kaptur in 2022, abruptly left the race earlier this month amid pushback for remarks he made disparaging Special Olympics athletes.

That left three candidates in the race: Merrin, backed by Johnson — and, as of Monday, Trump; former state Rep. Craig Riedel, backed by Jordan; and former Napoleon Mayor Steve Lankenau. Trump’s endorsement came as Riedel was airing searing Merrin attack ads, referencing the legislator’s ties to convicted former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder.

Merrin, 37, is a term-limited fourth-term state representative who led an intraparty rebellion in the Ohio House last year after losing a bitter battle for speaker. He joined the congressional race on the filing deadline after audio that surfaced of Riedel criticizing Trump began raising concerns inside the party about Riedel’s electability.

Riedel, 57, was among candidates who lost the nomination to Majewski in 2022. He raised more than $1.1 million headed into primary day, the highest of any candidate and some 10 times more than Merrin. But Merrin has benefited from help from national Republicans, with the Congressional Leadership Fund spending more than $750,000 on his behalf.

___

Associated Press writer Brian Slodysko in Washington contributed to this report.


Brought to you by www.srnnews.com


Illinois voters to decide competitive US House primaries around the state

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois voters are set to decide competitive U.S. House races around the state in Tuesday’s primary election.

The most closely watched races in Illinois include a downstate Republican matchup and two Chicago-area Democratic primaries.

Here’s a closer look:

In southern Illinois, Republican Rep. Mike Bost faces only his second intraparty challenge in seeking his sixth term in Congress. Former state Sen. Darren Bailey, the unsuccessful 2022 GOP nominee for governor, is hoping to unseat the 63-year-old incumbent.

Bailey, 57, has maintained that Bost is not conservative enough. Illinois’ 12th Congressional District, redrawn after the 2020 Census, now includes a large chunk of southeastern Illinois that gave Donald Trump more than 70% of the vote in both 2016 and 2020. Bailey’s hopes to win the endorsement in this race from the former president were dashed when Trump, the presumptive 2024 presidential nominee, gave his backing to Bost.

The issues are clear in the race: Rebuffing any regulation on the possession of guns, reducing inflation, opposing abortion and sealing the U.S. southern border, a particular problem for Illinois, which has received roughly 36,000 migrants who have largely crossed into Texas and have been sent to Chicago.

Bailey contends Republicans in Congress should fight Democrats’ agenda on these and other issues and cooperate only when they abandon “extreme” positions. Bost opposes Democrats’ policies but calls himself a “governing conservative,” seeking compromise to get things done.

Locked in a five-way primary, Rep. Danny Davis faces one of the most competitive reelections of his decades-long political career.

The Democrat, who first won office in 1996, has faced questions about his fitness for office at age 82. He says those questions are fair but that his experience is valuable, particularly for leadership on key committees. He’s a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means.

“I’m one of the most active elected officials I know,” he said.

Davis has enthusiastic party backing. Still, the Democrats challenging him hope there’s enough dissatisfaction among voters to help them. Davis was able to fend off a 2022 primary challenge from progressive anti-violence activist Kina Collins, who received about 45% of the vote in the district that includes downtown Chicago and neighborhoods on the south and west sides, along with some suburbs.

The 33-year-old is giving it a third try, though she trails the other candidates in fundraising.

The other well-known candidate in the race is Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, a former Davis ally who says it’s time for him to be voted out. She has backing from prominent Black pastors and the powerful Chicago Teachers Union.

The winner of the Democratic primary is expected to win in November.

Also running are Chicago educator Nikhil Bhatia and Kouri Marshall, a former deputy director for Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Three-term Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia faces a spirited challenge from Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez.

The congressman, who dominates in funding and endorsements, is facing his first primary challenger since 2018, when he won congressional office.

Lopez says Garcia is no longer the right fit for the district, which is predominantly Hispanic and includes working-class communities and neighborhoods on the city’s southwest side as well as wealthy suburbs.

The 45-year-old Lopez is one of the most conservative members of City Council, often backing police. He has called Garcia an “extreme Democrat.”

Meanwhile, Garcia, 67, says voters have repeatedly put him in office, including in 2022 after a remap added new territory to the district. He’s also a former state legislator and city alderman.

Garcia dominates in fundraising, raising $376,000 last year compared to Lopez’s $46,000 in the same time period, according to federal election records. He’s picked up endorsements from labor groups, while Lopez has support from the Chicago police union.

There’s no Republican running in the heavily Democratic district. Tuesday’s winner is expected to win outright in November.

___

Associated Press political writer John O’Connor contributed to this report from Springfield.


Brought to you by www.srnnews.com


Tuesday’s primaries include a key Senate race in Ohio and clues for the Biden-Trump rematch

NEW YORK (AP) — Five states will hold presidential primaries on Tuesday as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump continue to lock up support around the country after becoming their parties’ presumptive nominees.

Trump is expected to easily win GOP primaries in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio. Biden is expected to do the same in all those states except Florida, where Democrats canceled their primary and opted to award all 224 of their delegates to Biden. That’s not an unusual move for a party with an incumbent in the White House seeking reelection.

Other races outside of the presidency could provide insight into the national political mood. Ohio’s Republican Senate primary pits Trump-backed businessman Bernie Moreno against two challengers, Ohio Secretary of State Frank Frank LaRose and Matt Dolan, whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians baseball team.

Chicago voters will decide whether to assess a one-time real estate tax to pay for new homeless services. And voters in California will move toward deciding a replacement for former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who resigned his seat after being pushed out of Republican leadership.

Trump and Biden have for weeks been focused on the general election, aiming their campaigns lately on states that could be competitive in November rather than merely those holding primaries.

Trump on Saturday rallied in Ohio, which has for several years been reliably Republican. But there are signs the state could be competitive again in 2024. Last year, Ohio voted overwhelmingly to protect abortion rights in its constitution and voted to legalize marijuana.

Biden, meanwhile, is set to visit Nevada and Arizona on Tuesday.

Both men are running on their records in office and casting the other as a threat to America. Trump, 77, has portrayed 81-year-old Biden as mentally unfit. The president has described his Republican rival as a threat to democracy after his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results and his praise of foreign strongmen.

For the last year, Trump has synthesized his campaign with his legal challenges, including dozens of criminal counts and civil cases in which he faces more than $500 million in fines.

His first criminal trial was scheduled to start Monday in New York on allegations he falsified business records to cover up hush money payments. But a judge delayed the trial for 30 days after the recent disclosure of new evidence that Trump’s lawyers said they needed time to review.


Brought to you by www.srnnews.com


Rules that helped set real estate agent commissions are changing. Here’s what you need to know

The cost of hiring a real estate agent to buy or sell a home may soon change, along with decades-old rules that have helped determine broker commissions.

The policy changes could help spur price competition for agents’ services and lower the cost for sellers who now typically cover the commission for the buyer’s agent, as well as that of their own.

In turn, more homebuyers could face pressure to pay for their agent’s commission out of pocket. That could be a challenge, especially for buyers already stretching financially to make a down payment and cover other upfront costs involved in buying a home.

Still, housing market watchers say it can’t be immediately determined how significantly any changes that potentially shift the cost of hiring an agent to a homebuyer will affect home sales. An adjustment period is likely as buyers, sellers and agents figure out how to navigate what comes next.

“I just think it’s too soon to tell,” said Greg Kling, an associate professor at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business who has taught and written about real estate taxation. “We’re going to either see prices are going up for buyers, or the market is going to correct itself.”

As part of a settlement announced Friday, the National Association of Realtors agreed to make some policy changes in order to resolve multiple class-action lawsuits brought on behalf of home sellers across the U.S.

The trade group agreed to change its rules so that brokers who list a home for sale on any of the databases affiliated with the NAR are no longer allowed to include offers of compensation for a buyer’s agent.

This change is meant to address a central assertion in lawsuits brought against the NAR and several major real estate brokerages: that homeowners are being forced to pay artificially inflated agent commissions when they sell their home.

The trade group also agreed to require agents, or others working with a homebuyer, to enter into a written agreement with them. That is meant to ensure homebuyers know going in what their agent will charge them for their services.

If the court signs off on the settlement, the NAR would implement the rule changes in mid-July. Meanwhile, several real estate brokerage operators, including Anywhere Real Estate and Keller Williams, have reached separate settlement agreements that include provisions for more transparency about agent commissions for homebuyers and sellers.

“The residential real estate marketplace will take some time, perhaps several years, to fully process the implications of this settlement,” said Stephen Brobeck, senior fellow at the Consumer Federation of America. “But over time more, agents will feel free to offer different types of compensation and more consumers will comparison shop and negotiate commissions in a more transparent marketplace.”

The key potential change centers on who foots the bill for real estate agents who represent homebuyers.

Currently, an agent or broker representing a home seller typically splits a commission — often around 5% to 6% of the home’s sale price — with the agent working on behalf of the homebuyer. Such an arrangement is known in the industry as “cooperative compensation.”

Under the proposed NAR settlement, a broker who represents a seller would no longer be allowed to include a blanket offer of cooperative compensation to a prospective buyer’s agent when they advertise the property on NAR-affiliated Multiple Listings Services, where a majority of U.S. homes are listed for sale. This is meant to remove any incentive from a buyer’s agent to steer their client away from home listings that don’t include a cooperative compensation offer.

However, the proposed rule change leaves it open for individual home sellers to negotiate such an arrangement with a buyer’s agent outside of the MLS platforms, essentially creating a loophole for agents to keep things as they are now.

Homebuyers could also ask the home seller for a concession that includes money to help cover the buyer’s agent compensation.

What happens if a seller doesn’t want to offer to pay the buyer’s agent commission? Homebuyers would be on the hook to shop around for an agent they can afford. They’d also have to sign a contract with an agent before they enlist their services, spelling out how much the agent’s compensation will be.

Having to factor in another expense into their homebuying budget could be challenging for homebuyers without a lot of savings or financial flexibility, making it tougher for them to navigate the housing market.

Still, many variables are at play when it comes to buying or selling a home, not the least of which is how motivated each party is to close the deal.

“If I’m a buyer and I know this seller is not going to reimburse my agent, then I may make a lower offer,” said Kling. “Now, obviously in a hot market, that strategy’s not going to work. But then in a hot market, I would have paid over listing price anyway.”

The biggest change for homeowners looking to sell is they could push back against paying for buyer-agent commissions, which could translate into considerable savings.

Consider a seller who agrees to pay a 3% commission for their listing agent — instead of potentially twice that to cover the buyer’s agent, too — and sells their home for February’s national median sale price of $379,100. That homeowner would save roughly $11,373 paying only their agent’s commission.

“The settlement will also encourage more sellers to negotiate the compensation of their listing agents,” said Brobeck.

Still, sellers may still face some pressure to cover buyer-agent commissions.

The NAR built in an exception to its proposed rule change that would allow a buyer’s agent to see offers of cooperative compensation on home listings being advertised by their own brokerage.

That workaround could tempt buyer agents to “steer” clients away from any listings that don’t come with an upfront compensation offer, which could prompt sellers to offer more competitive commissions to be split between their agent and the buyer’s, analysts with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods wrote in a research note Monday.

“So long as steering incentives still exist, home sellers may be compelled to offer supracompetitive commissions to buyer agents in order to avoid steering,” the analysts wrote.

One concern is that by making it easier for sellers to opt out of making a cooperative compensation offer to buyer agents, some buyers will opt against hiring an agent or only doing so toward the end of the process after they’ve gone through most of the home hunt themselves. That could end up weeding out some “lower-performing brokers,” Kling said.

Another scenario is that alternative types of real estate business models will become more popular. This includes using discount brokers that will list a home for a flat fee of $500.

“They don’t offer any compensation to the buyer agent because the buyer agent negotiates their own conditions if they want more,” said Mike Downer, a broker associate with Coldwell Banker Realty in Naples, Florida. “That business model has been around for a long time.”


Brought to you by www.srnnews.com


Federal court rules firearm restrictions on defendants awaiting trial are constitutional

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Court orders that prohibited two criminal defendants from possessing firearms while they awaited trial were constitutional because they were in line with past restrictions on firearms, a federal court ruled Monday.

Judge Gabriel P. Sanchez, writing for a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, found that U.S. laws have historically sought to disarm dangerous criminal defendants, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Sanchez said those previous prohibitions justified the restrictions placed on John Thomas Fencl and Jesus Perez-Garcia, defendants in California whose challenges to the law were consolidated in Monday’s order.

“Here, the historical evidence, when considered as a whole, shows a long and broad history of legislatures exercising authority to disarm people whose possession of firearms would pose an unusual danger, beyond the ordinary citizen, to themselves or others,” Sanchez wrote. “The temporary disarmament of Fencl and Perez-Garcia as a means reasonably necessary to protect public safety falls within that historical tradition.”

Katie Hurrelbrink, an attorney for both men, told the Times she intended to “continue litigating this” by asking for a review by a larger, en banc appellate panel and, if necessary, the U.S. Supreme Court.

U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said in a statement that the ruling “recognized the long history of keeping firearms out of the hands of those who refuse to abide by the law.”

The Times cited court records that show Fencl was arrested and charged with various crimes after law enforcement officials discovered more than 100 guns in his home near San Diego. Perez-Garcia was arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border when a customs inspection of a vehicle in which he was a passenger uncovered about 11 kilograms of methamphetamine and half a kilogram of fentanyl, court records show.

Both Fencl and Perez-Garcia argued that while detained defendants had historically had firearms taken away from them, there was no historical record of detainees who had been released from detention being precluded from possessing firearms.

Sanchez wrote that the decision to take their guns was “consistent with our nation’s long history of temporarily disarming criminal defendants facing serious charges and those deemed dangerous or unwilling to follow the law.”

Both men were released from custody pending trial and subsequently challenged the terms of their release under a “history and tradition” test the U.S. Supreme Court established in 2022 for assessing the constitutionality of gun laws nationwide. In New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. vs. Bruen, the high court said that gun laws are legitimate only if they are rooted in U.S. history and tradition or are sufficiently analogous to some historic law.

The Bruen decision led to a surge in challenges to gun laws.


Brought to you by www.srnnews.com


Townhall Top of the Hour News

Local Weather - Sponsored By:

CLINTON WEATHER

Local News

DeWittDN on Facebook