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Nikki Haley picks up Vermont GOP governor endorsement ahead of Tuesday primary in neighboring New Hampshire

Nikki Haley picks up Vermont GOP governor endorsement ahead of Tuesday primary in neighboring New Hampshire

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott has endorsed Nikki Haley ahead of New Hampshire’s GOP primary next week. Scott, a critic of former President Donald Trump, referred to the former leader in a statement released by his campaign on Friday.  “America has a decision to make, and our friends and neighbors in New Hampshire have an opportunity to showcase their deep-rooted independent streak. After years of controversy, violent rhetoric and growing polarization, the very last thing we need is four more years of Donald Trump,” he said.  RON DESANTIS ARGUES TIM SCOTT’S ENDORSEMENT OF DONALD TRUMP ‘IS A BLOW’ TO NIKKI HALEY “Our future is in jeopardy, and Americans deserve candidates with character and integrity, who respect the rule of law, the rights of all people, and the Constitution,” Scott, a Republican, added. “In my view, the Republican Primary is now a two-person race. Governor Haley is our only chance to ensure America has the choice it deserves in November.”  Scott has been at odds with Trump for some time. In 2020, he acknowledged crossing party lines and voted for President Biden.  “Whether you’re a Republican or independent, I encourage you to vote for Governor Haley in the Republican Primary. It is my sincere hope that the good people of New Hampshire will send a clear message. This is not the time for Republicans or independents to sit it out. It’s time to move our country forward,” Scott said.  New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu has also thrown his support to Haley as well.  Haley came in third last week in the Iowa caucuses, being edged out by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who came in second, and Trump, who won by a significant margin.

RI Gov. McKee proposes sending 4 major infrastructure plans to ballot box

RI Gov. McKee proposes sending 4 major infrastructure plans to ballot box

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee wants voters to weigh in on four long-term infrastructure initiatives when they head to the polls in November. The Democrat unveiled the proposals totaling $345 million this week as part of his $13.7 billion state budget plan for the 2025 fiscal year. One of the questions would issue $135 million in bonds for higher education including $80 million for the University of Rhode Island’s Biomedical Sciences Building to help build a facility that will accelerate the life sciences industry in the state, McKee said. ‘CATASTROPHIC’ STRUCTURAL FAILURES FEARED ON PARTIALLY-CLOSED PROVIDENCE BRIDGE The higher education question would also provide $55 million to cover infrastructure costs at Rhode Island College’s Institute for Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies. A second question would let the state borrow $100 million to increase affordable and middle-income housing production, support community revitalization and promote home ownership, according to the administration. “The Team Rhode Island budget that I’m sending to the General Assembly today prioritizes programs and initiatives that will help raise the incomes of our fellow Rhode Islanders,” McKee said in a written statement Thursday. The budget makes key investments in education, small businesses and Rhode Island’s health care system without raising broad-based taxes. McKee said the budget also maintains the fiscal discipline Rhode Island has had over the past two years – using one-time funds for one-time investments. Another of the questions McKee wants voters to decide would spend $60 million for a permanent state archive and history center to store and display historical documents, including copies of the Declaration of Independence and letters from George Washington. A fourth question would ask voters to approve $50 million in borrowing for “green economy” projects, including $20 million for infrastructure improvements at the Port of Davisville; $10 million to help restore vulnerable coastal habitats, rivers and stream floodplains; and $8 million to restore the tourism infrastructure of the Newport Cliff Walk. In Rhode Island, a total of 163 ballot measures appeared on statewide ballots between 1985 and 2021, according to the election tracking organization Ballotpedia. A total of 128 ballot measures were approved, and 35 ballot measures were defeated. Other highlights of the budget proposal include $15 million to improve outcomes in math and English instruction and the addition of 35 pre-kindergarten classrooms totaling 700 seats for the start of the 2024-2025 school year. That brings the total number of seats to 3,000. The state has set a goal of 5,000 pre-kindergarten seats by 2028. The budget plan now heads to the General Assembly. The release of the budget on Thursday came just days after McKee highlighted many of his goals for the new year in his State of the State address, including higher wages, stronger student scores and increased housing production. One pledge McKee made was to boost the buying power of the state’s residents in coming years by setting a goal to raise the per capita income in the state by at least $20,000 by 2030. In a Republican response to McKee’s speech, House Minority Leader Michael W. Chippendale said the state had to do more to get its arms around the fiscal challenges ahead. “It’s not negative to talk about the struggles our state has, and ignoring them certainly won’t make them go away,” he said. “We have to accept that these challenges exist, and that we must work together to find solutions to reverse the course we’re on.”

Wisconsin GOP eyes referendum on 14-week abortion ban

Wisconsin GOP eyes referendum on 14-week abortion ban

Republicans who control the Wisconsin Assembly quietly introduced a bill Friday that would call for a binding statewide referendum on whether abortion should be banned after 14 weeks of pregnancy. The GOP has scheduled a public hearing on the bill for Monday afternoon at the state Capitol. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is almost certain to veto the measure. However, the proposal could still galvanize the conservative base after Democrats parlayed anger over the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn its landmark 1972 Roe v. Wade ruling, which legalized abortion nationwide, into big election wins across the country. Nowhere was that dynamic more evident than in Wisconsin, where Janet Protasiewicz won a seat on the state Supreme Court last year after repeatedly announcing on the campaign trail that she supports abortion rights. Her victory handed liberal justices a 4-3 majority on the court. WISCONSIN LAWMAKERS ADVANCE BILL GUARANTEEING PARENTAL OVERSIGHT OF CHILDREN’S PRONOUNS, EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL To add to Republicans’ woes, a Dane County judge ruled this past summer that Wisconsin’s 174-year-old ban on abortion only prohibits feticide, or an attempt to kill an unborn child. The ruling emboldened Planned Parenthood, which had ceased providing services in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision, to resume operations in September. The case is on appeal, though, and likely will end up before the state Supreme Court. Monday’s hearing is set for the same day Vice President Kamala Harris is set to visit Waukesha County as part of a nationwide tour promoting reproductive rights, promising plenty of headlines for both sides on abortion. Another Wisconsin law bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The bill Friday would outlaw abortions after 14 weeks of pregnancy, or about three months. Forty-three states prohibit abortions after a certain point of viability, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. Two states — Georgia and South Carolina — have laws in effect that ban abortion at six weeks, before many women realize they’re pregnant. Nebraska and North Carolina have laws in effect that outlaw abortion at 12 weeks. Arizona and Florida have laws in effect that prohibit abortion at 15 weeks. The Wisconsin bill comes with a catch, though. The proposal calls for a statewide referendum conducted during April’s election asking voters whether the 14-week prohibition should take effect. If approved, the bill would take effect the day after the results are certified. If the question is rejected, the bill would not take effect. Wisconsin law does not allow voters to place questions on the ballot. Republican lawmakers have rejected Evers’ calls to create a way for voters to repeal the 1849 abortion ban. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said in December that he’d like to let voters decide whether to shrink the window for abortions. He said then that passing a new abortion law would end the uncertainty of waiting for judges to interpret outdated laws. The GOP introduced the bill into the Legislature’s online database Friday morning without distributing a memo to legislators seeking cosponsors, issuing a news release or calling a news conference, which is customary when legislators want to draw attention to a proposal. Asked for comment Friday, Vos spokesperson Angela Joyce referred a reporter to Vos’ December comments. Joyce released a statement on behalf of Rep. Amanda Nedweski, the bill’s chief Assembly sponsor, later Friday afternoon. Nedweski said shrinking the window for an abortion could save lives. Britt Cudaback, a spokesperson for Evers, referred reporters Friday to comments Evers made last month in which he vowed to veto “any bill that makes reproductive health care any less accessible for Wisconsinites than it is right now.” “Which is what this bill aims to do,” Cudaback said. The measure may not even get to Evers. The bill would have to pass both the Assembly and the Senate before going to the governor. The Senate’s Republican majority leader, Devin LeMahieu, said last week that it would be difficult to get his caucus to coalesce around an abortion bill that Evers would veto. LeMahieu spokesperson Brian Radday didn’t immediately return a message Friday seeking comment.

GOP frontrunner Sam Brown in crosshairs after skipping Nevada Senate debate

GOP frontrunner Sam Brown in crosshairs after skipping Nevada Senate debate

Seven Republicans vying for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in Nevada circled the familiar talking points of GOP politics at a debate on Thursday, while also taking shots at the front-runner, who made an apparently strategic decision not to attend. The debate in a Reno casino ballroom focused on increased border security, anti-abortion stances and cutting government spending and size, but candidates spent much of their time criticizing retired Army Capt. Sam Brown, whose backing in Washington, D.C., and formidable 2022 campaign have made him a fundraising juggernaut above the crowded primary field. Nearly every candidate called out Brown for his absence and described him as an establishment candidate not willing to face voters, a combative signal by a group of lesser-known Republicans attempting to gain ground in an otherwise cordial debate. WAR VETERAN SETS MAJOR FUNDRAISING RECORD IN BID TO FLIP CRUCIAL SENATE SEAT FROM DEMOCRATS “Don’t vote for Sam Brown. Look at one of these candidates up here,” said Bill Conrad, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and former deputy mayor of Modesto, California, who co-founded Redmove, the conservative group hosting the debate. Brown’s campaign said the decision to skip the debate reflected his comfortable lead in resources and grassroots support. The non-engagement strategy has been employed by other campaign front-runners, most notably by former President Donald Trump. “The numbers say it all: Sam Brown is the only candidate in this race with the resources, support and grassroots energy to take on Jacky Rosen,” Brown’s campaign said in a statement. “Nevada Republicans are uniting behind Donald Trump and Sam Brown because they are the only conservative champions who can defeat Biden and Rosen in November.” Former U.S. Ambassador to Iceland Jeff Gunter also was not on stage after backing out last month, due to him speaking at another Republican event, according to a campaign spokesperson. “I will debate Scam Brown at any time,” Gunter said in the statement, employing a nickname he often uses to disparage Brown. The other candidates on stage included Jim Marchant, a former candidate for Nevada secretary of state and outspoken election denier; Tony Grady, an Air Force veteran and former candidate for lieutenant governor; Stephanie Phillips, a real estate broker; and Ronda Kennedy, an attorney. Former President Donald Trump has skipped all Republican primary debates in the current presidential campaign, electing to hold rallies or appear on rival television networks in a strategy that has deprived the events of viewership and media attention while he remains the dominant front-runner. The last GOP primary debate between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley drew fewer than 2.6 million viewers. Brown, a Purple Heart recipient, was a heavily recruited candidate for Republicans in Washington looking to avoid a repeat of their lackluster showing in the 2022 midterm elections, when flawed GOP candidates helped Democrats win battleground races and hold the Senate majority. Two years ago, Brown was a longshot Senate candidate who criticized Republican front-runner Adam Laxalt for agreeing only to a pre-recorded debate instead of a live, prime-time broadcast. “He must feel safe at 8 a.m., on a Monday morning, in a closed studio, where working-class Nevadans can’t challenge him,” Brown said of the former Nevada Attorney General, who enjoyed the backing of the Republican Party’s most influential figures, from former President Donald Trump to then-Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell. Laxalt won that primary handily but lost narrowly in the general election to incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto. This cycle, Brown often has brushed past questions about his primary opponents to focus attacks on incumbent Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen. He said the crowded field was a product of Rosen’s leadership, not his. But on Thursday, Rosen was seldom mentioned as Brown weathered attacks from his opponents. “I hope you remember the one that’s not here,” Kennedy said.