State of the Race: Six key Senate seats Republicans look to flip in 2024
Republicans are gearing up for what could be an epic showdown for majority control of the Senate with several contentious elections around the country later this year. Democrats control the U.S. Senate with a 51-49 majority, but Republicans are looking at a favorable Senate map in 2024, with Democrats defending 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs. Three of those seats are in red states former Donald Trump carried in 2020 — West Virginia, Montana and Ohio. Five other seats, one of which is held by an independent, are in key swing states narrowly carried by President Biden in 2020 — Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Texas and Florida, where incumbents Ted Cruz and Rick Scott, respectively, are seeking re-election, appear to be the only potentially competitive GOP-held seats up for grabs next year. ‘TOUGHEST UPHILL CLIMB’: RACE FORECASTER REVEALS SHIFT TOWARD GOP IN TOP 2024 SENATE RACE Longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown is the only member of his party to win a non-judicial, statewide election in Ohio in the past decade. As Brown runs in 2024 for a fourth six-year term representing Ohio, he is facing heavy targeting by Republicans in the state that was once a premier general election battleground but has shifted red over the past six years. Trump carried Ohio by eight points in his 2016 presidential election victory and his 2020 re-election defeat. Last year, Trump’s handpicked Senate candidate in Ohio, Sen. JD Vance, topped longtime Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan by six points despite Ryan running what political experts considered a nearly flawless campaign. Brown, who has served as a congressman, state lawmaker and Ohio secretary of state during his nearly half-century career in politics, has reportedly raked in $5.7 million in the first two months of 2024, giving his campaign $13.5 million on hand. Two Republicans who ran unsuccessfully against Vance for the 2022 GOP Senate nomination in Ohio — state Sen. Matt Dolan and businessman Bernie Moreno — are in the race to oust Brown. Dolan, a former top county prosecutor and Ohio assistant attorney general, launched his campaign in January 2023. Dolan, whose family owns Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians, shelled out millions of his own money to run ads for his 2022 Senate bid. He surged near the end of the primary race, finishing third in a crowded field of Republican contenders, winning nearly a quarter of the vote. Moreno, a successful Cleveland-based businessman and luxury auto dealership magnate, declared his candidacy in April. An immigrant who arrived in the U.S. legally from Colombia with his family as a 5-year-old boy, Moreno also shelled out millions of his own money to run TV commercials to try and boost his first Senate bid. But he suspended his campaign in February 2022 after requesting and holding a private meeting with Trump. In July, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose joined the race, launching a much-anticipated Senate campaign. The state’s primary election is scheduled for March 19. Democrats breathed a sigh of relief when Sen. Jon Tester of Montana announced earlier this year that he would seek re-election in 2024 in a state Trump carried by 16 points in the 2020 presidential election. The Democratic incumbent, who’s running unopposed, had hauled in a formidable $15 million in fundraising as of the end of 2023. Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and Purple Heart recipient who notched more than 200 missions in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere around the globe, launched a Republican Senate bid in late June. Sheehy, the CEO of Bridger Aerospace, a Montana-based aerial firefighting and wildfire surveillance services company, enjoys the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s (NRSC) backing and received an endorsement from Trump last month. Sheehy will face off against four other GOP hopefuls, including former Montana Secretary of State Brad Johnson, in the state’s June 4 primary election. Rep. Matt Rosendale, a hard-right congressman, had initially launched a bid for the Senate seat before withdrawing from the race. Following his withdrawal, Rosendale, who narrowly lost to Tester in the 2018 Senate election, said he would seek re-election in Montana’s 2nd Congressional District. That plan, however, was halted last week when Rosendale announced he was suspending his House campaign, citing “current attacks” against him. With Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., not seeking re-election, the race for the Senate in West Virginia is looking brighter for Republicans as they seek to flip the seat from blue to red. Last year, NRSC Chairman Sen. Steve Daines said, “We like our odds in West Virginia.” Right now, the main action is in the Republican Senate primary, where popular Democrat-turned-Republican Gov. Jim Justice has the backing of the NRSC and Trump. Among Justice’s six Republican challengers, the leading rival for the GOP Senate nomination is GOP Rep. Alex Mooney, who represents the state’s 2nd Congressional District and has received support from the fiscally conservative Club for Growth. The first Democrat to jump into the race following Manchin’s departure was 32-year-old Zachary Shrewsbury, a native West Virginian and Marine Corps veteran. Two other Democrats — Don Blankenship and Glenn Elliott — are also running. Manchin announced in November he would not be seeking re-election to his post in the upper chamber, saying in a video posted to X he believes he “accomplished what I set out to do for West Virginia” during his tenure in the Senate. Manchin, who previously served as governor of the state, was first elected to the Senate to represent West Virginia in a 2010 special election. The state’s primary election is slated to take place May 14. In Wisconsin, incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., is looking to retain her post in the upper chamber and clinch a third term in office. Baldwin, who announced her candidacy in the race last April, has represented the Badger State in the Senate since 2013. She previously served in the Wisconsin State Assembly and represented the state’s 2nd Congressional District in the House from 1999 to 2013. Running unopposed, Baldwin has received
California city bans non-government flags, angering LGBTQ groups
Voters in California’s conservative Huntington Beach approved a measure that would restrict all non-government flags from being flown on city property, prompting backlash from LGBTQ advocates. Measure B, authored by Huntington Beach City Councilman Pat Burns, passed with more than half of the city’s vote, according to the latest tally on the county’s registrar website. The measure, for which voters cast their ballots on Super Tuesday, will prohibit breast cancer awareness, Pride, Confederate and all other non-U.S flags on city property. Burns told Fox News Digital in an interview that the measure was not meant to be discriminatory against any group, but to encourage residents to unite under a common American identity. Most of the backlash Burns said he has received has been from LGBTQ advocates. ‘HORRIFIED’ HOSPITAL EMPLOYEE LEAKS DEI TRAINING PUSHING 3-YEAR-OLDS IDENTIFYING AS TRANSGENDER “I’m against the identity politics, I think it’s divisive,” Burns said Friday. “I think it’s demeaning to be honest, that flag, that I find is so insulting to LGBTQ. And I know that they support it, but in my mind, it’s demeaning that they need some kind of special recognition to feel like they’re part of our community. People are equal and those kinds of things are divisive.” The city has previously flown the rainbow flag during Pride month over the last two years, Burns said. He added it had not been a major part of the city’s aesthetics prior to the measure. Only the U.S. flag, the State of California flag, the County of Orange flag, the City of Huntington Beach flag, the POW-MIA flag, the six Armed Forces flags and the Olympic flag during the Summer Olympic Games can be mounted on city property under the new measure. KATIE PORTER BLAMES BILLIONAIRES, CAMPAIGN ‘LIES’ IN CONCESSION SPEECH EVEN THOUGH BIG DONORS BACKED HER “I love differing opinions. I love checks and balances. That’s what makes us so great that we can have different voices, in society, but I just don’t think it’s our place as a city government, like, to play those identity politics,” Burns said. Progressive groups in the community fired back at the measure’s passage. Peg Coley, the executive director of the LGBTQ Center Orange County, said in a statement to the media that the Huntinton Beach City Council is “run by a hateful majority whose only interest is advancing an agenda of intolerance for minority communities, including LGBTQ+ individuals.” “The pendulum always swings back and history is the harshest judge, but informed votes are the very best prevention,” the statement read. However, the council can still vote to approve certain flags to be flown through a unanimous vote. Last year, a city in Michigan also banned Pride flags on city property. Several other cities in New York and Connecticut enacted similar policies in 2022.
Deadly blast hits Pakistani city of Peshawar
DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY, The blast in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, wounded one person believed to be in a critical condition. At least two people have been killed in a blast in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar, according to police officials. The blast near the Board Bazaar area of the city, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, wounded one person who has been admitted to Lady Reading Hospital. He is believed to be in a critical condition. Local media reported that explosives were planted on a motorcycle, but it has yet to be confirmed by officials. Counterterrorism officials have arrived at the scene of the blast as an investigation has begun to determine the nature of the explosion. More details to follow. Adblock test (Why?)
US opens criminal probe into Boeing 737 MAX mid-flight blowout
Investigation comes amid heightened scrutiny of Boeing’s safety record following fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019. Prosecutors in the United States have opened a criminal investigation into the mid-flight blowout involving a Boeing 737 MAX operated by Alaska Airlines, according to US media reports. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has interviewed witnesses including aircrew as part of the probe into the January 5 incident in which a portion of the fuselage blew off mid-flight, the Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post reported on Saturday. Alaska Airlines said it was cooperating with authorities. “In an event like this, it’s normal for the DOJ to be conducting an investigation. We are fully cooperating and do not believe we are a target of the investigation,” Alaska Airlines said in a statement to Al Jazeera. Boeing declined to comment. The investigation comes as Boeing is under scrutiny over its safety record following a series of incidents, including two fatal crashes involving the Boeing 737 MAX in 2018 and 2019. The DOJ probe will inform authorities’ assessment of whether Boeing has complied with the terms of a $2.5bn settlement to avoid prosecution in relation to those crashes, the Wall Street Journal reported. On Monday, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it had identified “non-compliance issues in Boeing’s manufacturing process control, parts handling and storage, and product control” following an audit of the company that included interviews with employees and a visit to its production line. The FAA said Boeing would have 90 days to come up with a plan to correct the issues. A separate FAA report, released last month but launched before the blowout incident, found serious problems with Boeing’s safety culture, including fears of retaliation among employees with safety concerns. Boeing said in a letter to the US Congress on Friday that it was unable to locate records for work carried out on the door panel that fell off the Alaska Airlines plane. The Seattle-based aircraft manufacturer has said it believes that records about the panel were never created despite company rules requiring such documentation. Adblock test (Why?)
At least 19 killed, 7 missing in flash floods in Indonesia
Disaster management agency says more than 80,000 people have fled to temporary government shelters. Flash floods and a landslide on Indonesia’s Sumatra island have left at least 19 people dead and seven others missing, officials have said. Mud, rocks and uprooted trees rushed down a mountainside and engulfed villages in the Pesisir Selatan district of West Sumatra province late on Friday following torrential rains, Doni Yusrizal, who heads the local disaster management agency, said on Sunday. Yusrizal said rescuers recovered seven bodies in the village of Koto XI Tarusan and three others in two neighbouring villages. “Relief efforts for the dead and missing were hampered by power outages, blocked roads covered in thick mud and debris,” Yusrizal said. Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency said six bodies were found in Pesisir Selatan and three bodies were found in the neighbouring district of Padang Pariaman, bringing the death toll so far to 19. The agency said at least two villagers were injured and seven others were still missing, with more than 80,000 people fleeing to temporary government shelters. Flash floods and landslides are a common occurrence in Indonesia, where millions of people live near floodplains, especially during the rainy season. In December, at least two people were killed when a landslide and floods swept away dozens of houses and destroyed a hotel near Lake Toba on Sumatra. Adblock test (Why?)
Farmers to start ‘Rail Roko’ protest amid Dilli Chalo protest, know which routes will be affected
Farmers led the national capital campaign to pressure the government to grant their demands, which included a legally-mandated MSP guarantee for all crops.
Biden makes contradictory remarks on ‘red lines’ for Israel in Gaza
US president says Israel’s Netanyahu is ‘hurting Israel’ more than helping in his handling of the war. United States President Joe Biden has warned that there are “red lines” Israel should not cross in its war in Gaza while insisting he would never abandon the US ally. In a contradictory and confusing interview with MSNBC aired on Saturday, Biden said that an Israeli invasion of the city of Rafah would be his “red line” for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but he would also never “leave Israel”. “The defence of Israel is still critical, so there’s no red line [where] I’m going to cut off all weapons so they don’t have the Iron Dome to protect them,” Biden said, referring to Israel’s missile defence system. “But there’s red lines that if he crosses them…”, Biden said without finishing his chain of thought, adding that his administration “cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead”. In some of his most pointed criticism of the Israeli leader yet, Biden also said that Netanyahu was “hurting Israel more than helping Israel” and should “pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost” in Gaza. While Biden has firmly backed Israel in its campaign to destroy Hamas, his administration has been increasingly at odds with Netanyahu over the scale of civilian casualties in Gaza and restrictions on humanitarian aid into the enclave. Biden’s administration has repeatedly urged Netanyahu not to launch a planned offensive in Rafah until Israel can ensure the safe evacuation of some 1.3 million Palestinians sheltering in the city. On Thursday, Biden announced plans to build a temporary port in Gaza to allow the delivery of aid by sea amid severe Israeli restrictions on the transport of supplies by land. Biden last month expressed hope that Israel and Hamas could agree to a temporary pause in fighting before Ramadan, but expectations of a deal by then withered after mediators left Cairo last week without an agreement. Biden said during his interview on Saturday that a deal is “always possible” and that CIA Director Bill Burns was still in the region facilitating negotiations after meeting with David Barnea, his counterpart from Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad, the previous day. Mossad said on Saturday that discussions on a ceasefire were taking place “all the time” despite dimming hopes for a breakthrough. Israel’s war in Gaza has killed more than 30,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to health authorities in the enclave. Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel killed 1,139 people, according to Israeli authorities. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Govt doesn’t want free and fair election’: KC Venugopal on Election Commissioner Arun Goel’s resignation
KC Venugopal, expressed shock over the abrupt resignation of the Election Commissioner ahead of the Lok Sabha polls
Biden says US has no ‘red line’ on Israel in Hamas war where ‘they don’t have the Iron Dome to protect them’
President Biden on Saturday said that the U.S. doesn’t have a “red line” with Israel over its actions in the war with Hamas that would leave the Middle Eastern country unprotected. “I am never going to leave Israel,” the president told MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart in a wide-ranging interview. “The defense of Israel is still critical. There’s no red line [where] I’m going to cut off all weapons, so they don’t have the Iron Dome to protect them.” Biden was clarifying a hot mic comment from Thursday night after delivering the State of the Union address in which he was caught saying he planned a “come-to-Jesus” talk with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of the war. BIDEN SAYS HE REGRETS USING ‘ILLEGAL’ TO DESCRIBE LAKEN RILEY MURDER SUSPECT DURING STATE OF THE UNION “He has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas, but he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken,” Biden told Capehart. He said in “his view” that Netanyahu is “hurting Israel more than he’s helping Israel … It’s contrary to what he stands for. I think it’s a big mistake so I want to see a ceasefire.” The president added that he was aiming for a “major, major” exchange of hostages over a six-week period heading into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts Monday. That appears increasingly unlikely as Hamas has balked at a deal pushed by the U.S. and its allies that would have seen fighting paused along with the release of additional hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, and a surge in humanitarian aid into Gaza. BIDEN UNDER FIRE FOR MIDDLE EAST POLICY; CRITICS CHARGE HE’S PREVENTING ‘ISRAEL FROM WINNING’ The president added, however, there would be “red lines that if he crosses – you cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead.” He said there’s “other ways to deal with the trauma caused by Hamas” while avoiding civilian casualties. He said he told the Israeli war cabinet to not make the same mistake the U.S. did decades ago when it went into Iraq and Afghanistan on the hunt for Osama bin Laden after 9/11. “It wasn’t necessary, and it just caused more problems than it erased.” He added that the U.S. plans to do “everything it can” to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza for civilians suffering in the war. Biden has for months warned that Israel risks losing international support over mounting civilian casualties in the region. The president also said he “understands” Pro-Palestinian Democrats who protest voted “uncommitted” against him in some Democratic primary states over his support of Israel. “I don’t blame them for being upset. Their family’s there, there are people who are dying. They want something done about it, and they’re saying, ‘Joe, do something, do something.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP He continued, “I can fully understand, can’t you? You have a family member there or come from a family that is still isolated there and maybe victimized. It’s understandable they feel that way and that’s why I’m doing everything I can to try to stop it.”
Incumbent SC Rep Timmons hit with resurfaced videos of apparent support of DEI in Congress
An incumbent South Carolina Republican lawmaker is under fire after resurfaced videos show his apparent support for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the halls of Congress. In the newly resurfaced videos from 2021, Rep. William Timmons, R-S.C., is heard touting his support and promotion of DEI in a hearing titled, “Recruiting, Empowering and Retaining a Diverse Congressional Staff.” “Since the establishment of this committee, we have made staff retention and diversity a top priority,” Timmons said. “When we talk about modernizing Congress, we don’t just mean updating the technology in the House but investing in and developing a talented and diverse workforce that accurately reflects the communities we represent.” SENATE DEMS, REPUBLICANS CLASH OVER FEDERAL IVF PROTECTIONS: ‘THEY’RE COVERING THEIR A—S’ WATCH: Timmons argued that DEI should influence the hiring process in Congressional members’ offices and that “every member’s office should be representative of the people they represent.” “I want to start with an objective. So, in my mind, our objective should be that every Member’s office — well, let’s start with Congress,” the South Carolina Republican said. “Congress should be representative of the country, and then within Congress, every Member’s office should be representative of the people they represent.” “So it should be diverse based off of race, gender, geography, socioeconomic background, lifestyle, and it should be proportional based off of the population they represent,” Timmons said. “Can we start there?” Following the resurfaced video, Timmons’ wrote on Saturday on X that the clips were “selectively edited and taken out of context.” When Fox News Digital reached out to Timmons’ office for comment, a spokesperson directed attention to the tweet. SOUTH CAROLINA BECOMES 29TH STATE IN NATION WITH CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY LAW: ‘HARD-FOUGHT VICTORY’ “Something we should all be able to agree on is that Congress would be better served if the staff wasn’t made up of the children of DC insiders who grew up in the Swamp. Someone from the Upstate of South Carolina should have the same opportunity to serve in our nation’s capital as someone from Arlington, VA,” Timmons wrote. “The 2019 ModCom recommendation (which passed unanimously) has nothing to do with 2024 DEI,” Timmons said. “The purpose of the recommendation has been warped by former Speaker Pelosi and woke Democrats, and our Republican majority has now appropriately defunded it in this year’s budget.” Timmons said that he has “always advocated” for hiring based on ability. “I have always advocated for hiring the best and brightest, which is clearly not the same as implementing quotas,” he said. “I fully believe DEI is anti-American, and have opposed it every turn. I will continue to push back on the radical left’s woke agenda.” Timmons’ challenger and South Carolina State Representative Adam Morgan told Fox News Digital that his opponents’ apparent DEI support is “appalling” and “anti-American.” “It’s appalling that my opponent, an alleged Republican, is in support of anti-American indoctrination and racist affirmative action quotas — and even wants taxpayers to fund it,” Morgan said. “Meanwhile, I’ve been working to get this leftist indoctrination out of classrooms and to cut funding from universities that push these discriminatory practices. He’s everything wrong with the swamp. The difference between us is stark — he works for the Left, I oppose them.”