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Year: 2026

April showdowns: 4 key races to watch this month that will test Trump, GOP grip on power

April showdowns: 4 key races to watch this month that will test Trump, GOP grip on power

After kicking off in March, the 2026 primary calendar takes a break this month before returning with a vengeance in May. But that doesn’t mean there’s a dearth of consequential elections in April. Special U.S. House contests in Georgia and New Jersey, a state Supreme Court election in battleground Wisconsin, and a Virginia referendum that is the latest face-off between President Donald Trump and Republicans and Democrats in the high-stakes congressional redistricting wars — with the House majority on the line — will all draw national attention this month. Here’s a closer look at the four ballot box showdowns. TRUMP-BACKED FULLER ADVANCES IN RACE TO FILL MTG’S CONGRESSIONAL SEAT Trump-backed Republican House candidate Clay Fuller faces off with Democratic candidate Shawn Harris to fill a vacant congressional district in solidly red northwest Georgia that was once held by MAGA firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene. Harris, a retired brigadier general and cattle farmer, and Fuller, a local prosecutor and Air National Guard member, were the top two finishers in a field of 17 candidates, including 12 Republicans, in the early March special election. With no candidate topping 50%, Harris and Fuller advanced to a runoff. SPECIAL ELECTION TO FILL MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE’S OLD SEAT IN CONGRESS HEADS INTO OVERTIME The special election comes as Republicans cling to a razor-thin 218–214 majority in the House. That means the GOP cannot afford any surprises or allow Democrats to pull an upset in a district that extends from Atlanta’s northwest exurbs to Georgia’s northwestern border with Alabama and northern border with Tennessee, which Trump carried by 37 points in his 2024 presidential victory. Fuller, who is expected to consolidate the Republican vote that was divided in the first round, is considered the clear frontrunner in the race. But if Harris holds Fuller’s margin to the mid-teens or less, national Democrats will argue the election is the latest in the 14 months since Trump returned to the White House in which they’ve overperformed. The congressional seat was left vacant when Greene stepped down at the beginning of January. Greene quit Congress with a year left in her term, after a very public falling out with Trump mostly over her push to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. While officially a non-partisan contest, state Supreme Court elections in the Midwestern battleground have become extremely partisan in recent years. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL With the court’s majority on the line in last year’s contests, outside money poured in and out-of-state door knockers blanketed Wisconsin. One of the biggest spenders was Trump ally Elon Musk, who headlined a rally days before the election and donned a cheesehead hat worn by fans of the Green Bay Packers. Democrats won that election by a larger-than-expected margin and currently hold a 4-3 majority on Wisconsin’s highest court. With a conservative justice retiring, the majority isn’t at stake in this year’s election, although liberals with a win could expand their majority to 5-2. But if the conservative candidate wins, or keeps it close, the GOP may claim a moral victory. Republican Joe Hathaway, a local mayor, is hoping to pull off an upset in the special election to fill the congressional seat left vacant after now-Gov. Mikie Sherrill stepped down after winning last November’s gubernatorial election. Hathaway, who was unopposed in February’s primary, faces off in the election against Democrat Analilia Mejia, a progressive organizer backed by left-wing champions Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Mejia pulled off an upset, narrowly edging out front-runner former Rep. Tom Malinowski in a field of 11 candidates. The face-off was one of the latest between progressives and more mainstream Democrats. The 11th Congressional District in northern New Jersey‘s New York City suburbs was once the kind of seat where Republicans excelled at the ballot box. Hathaway, who has pointed out his differences with Trump, is the type of Republican who could attract crossover voters. Add in that Mejia may be too far to the left for some voters in the district, and there’s a chance for some intrigue on Election Day. Voters in Virginia are casting ballots on a Democrat-pushed referendum that would give the competitive state up to four more left-leaning U.S. House districts in time for this year’s midterm elections. That could result in a 10-1 advantage for Democrats in the state’s U.S. House delegation, up from their current 6-5 edge.  With three weeks until Election Day, early voting is surging, according to officials, with turnout outpacing early voting from last autumn’s general election. Despite being vastly outraised by Democrats, Republicans see positive signs in early turnout. Republicans call the Democrats’ redistricting effort an “unconstitutional power grab.” Democrats counter that it’s a necessary step to balance out partisan gerrymandering already implemented in other states by the GOP. Virginia is the latest redistricting battleground, with Florida on deck, to alter congressional maps ahead of November’s elections. Republicans are defending their razor-thin House majority in the midterms, and Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to win back control of the chamber. That means the redistricting efforts in Virginia and other states may very well decide which party controls the House next year.

Trump admin unlawfully terminated legal status of migrants who used Biden-era app, judge rules

Trump admin unlawfully terminated legal status of migrants who used Biden-era app, judge rules

A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration unlawfully terminated the legal status of thousands of migrants who had been allowed to temporarily live in the U.S. after using an app expanded by the Biden administration to schedule appointments with immigration officials. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston ordered the administration to reverse its move last year to revoke the legal status of migrants who used the CBP One app. The app was used under former President Joe Biden starting in 2023 to address the crisis at the border by allowing some migrants to make appointments to seek asylum, with many paroled into the country for up to two years, but President Donald Trump moved to shut down the app when he returned to the White House last year. Burroughs found that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security acted unlawfully in April of last year when it sent mass emails to many of the roughly 900,000 people who entered the country using the app, informing them that it was “time for you to leave the United States.” VENEZUELAN MIGRANTS, PROGRESSIVE GROUP SUE TRUMP AFTER NOEM NIXES BIDEN-ERA ‘PROTECTED STATUS’ “The regulations do not give the agency unfettered discretion to terminate parole,” Burroughs wrote. “When Defendants terminated the impacted noncitizens’ parole without observing the process mandated by statute and by their own regulations, they took action that was ‘not in accordance with law,’” the judge added. The Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, one of the plaintiffs in the case, celebrated the ruling, saying it “brings long-awaited relief after months of fear and uncertainty.” Democracy Forward, another group that helped bring the legal challenge, also praised the judge’s decision. FEDERAL JUDGE UPHOLDS TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR HAITIAN IMMIGRANTS “Today’s ruling is a clear rejection of an administration that has tried to erase lawful status for hundreds of thousands of people with the click of a button,” the group’s president, Skye Perryman, said in a statement. “Our clients followed the law: they waited, registered, were inspected, and were granted parole under the law. The Trump-Vance administration’s effort to tear that status away overnight was unlawful and cruel — and today, the court rejected that harmful and destabilizing policy,” the statement added. A DHS spokesperson said the ruling was an example of “blatant judicial activism” that interfered with Trump’s authority to determine who remains in the country. “Canceling these paroles is a promise kept to the American people to secure our borders and protect our national security,” the spokesperson said in a statement. The ruling came after a class-action lawsuit filed in August by three individuals from Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti who argued the Trump administration’s effort to remove them from the country represented an abrupt, unlawful move to pull parole status and work authorization from migrants. The Trump administration had argued that Biden overstepped parole authority by broadly awarding the status instead of granting it on a case-by-case basis. Burroughs said when DHS sent out termination notices to migrants, it failed to comply with requirements to provide a record showing an official had determined that the purposes of parole had been served. “Accordingly, the parole terminations exceeded the agency’s statutory authority and contradicted the procedures set forth in its own regulations,” the judge wrote. Reuters contributed to this report.

Alabama Gov Kay Ivey hospitalized following minor procedure, says she is determined to make speedy recovery

Alabama Gov Kay Ivey hospitalized following minor procedure, says she is determined to make speedy recovery

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, was hospitalized on Tuesday after undergoing a minor procedure to remove fluid that was pressing against her lung, according to her office. Ivey, 81, will be monitored at Baptist Medical Center South in Montgomery in the coming days out of an abundance of caution, a spokesperson for the governor said in a statement. The fluid was discovered on Tuesday when the governor went to her doctor because she was feeling discomfort in her left side and recently experienced some shortness of breath. “For the last three weeks, Governor Kay Ivey has experienced some discomfort in her left side,” the statement said. “After monitoring the pain and recently feeling slightly short-of-breath, she made the decision to be seen again by her primary care physician earlier today.” MCCONNELL RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL AFTER HEALTH SCARE, TO WORK FROM HOME AS KEY DHS VOTE LOOMS While Ivey’s medical issue wasn’t urgent, she wanted it taken care of quickly so she could recover before the legislative session ends. “While it was not emergent, Governor Ivey wanted to get the procedure done as soon as possible so she can quickly get back to 100% to wrap up the 2026 Regular Session,” the statement said. Ivey’s office did not specify how long she would be in the hospital. “We are in touch with Governor Ivey, and she says she is determined to make a very speedy and full recovery,” her spokesperson said. WH CHIEF OF STAFF SUSIE WILES DIAGNOSED WITH EARLY STAGE BREAST CANCER, PROGNOSIS ‘EXCELLENT,’ TRUMP SAYS Officials in Alabama and other states offered support for Ivey as she recovers from the procedure. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, a Republican, said he was thankful Ivey was “receiving excellent care from some of the finest medical professionals. She is in good hands, and I join so many Alabamians in praying for her swift and full recovery.” Georgia GOP Gov. Brian Kemp said he and his family were praying for Ivey and wished her a speedy recovery. “She has always been a fighter and we know she’ll fight through this too,” Kemp wrote. The Alabama governor announced in 2019 that she was undergoing radiation for lung cancer, describing it as a small localized spot. Her office said the following year that scans indicated the treatment was successful, and she was free of disease. Ivey is term-limited and cannot run for re-election this year. The Associated Press contributed to this report.