When California Sen. Mike McGuire takes over as leader of the state Senate on Monday, it will be the first time in decades that the state’s top two legislative leaders aren’t from a major urban center. But McGuire says the issues that most afflict rural districts like his — including childhood poverty, opioid addiction and housing shortages — resonate with the 39 million people living across the state....

President Biden’s support among Black voters has dropped significantly since 2020, and his supporters are beginning to blame the change on “disinformation.” The Democratic Party in South Carolina, where the Black vote essentially saved Biden’s candidacy in the 2020 primary, launched a program seeking to “educate” the state’s Black voters this month. Party officials went on a 30-stop bus tour of the state in an effort to close...