Local Government

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Heavier-than-normal turnout is expected Wednesday as early voting begins in Ohio's closely watched off-year election to decide the future of abortion access and marijuana legalization in the state. Of greatest interest nationally is Issue 1, a proposed constitutional amendment giving... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The race to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards tops the list of contests Louisiana voters will decide this Saturday in one of only three gubernatorial elections scheduled for this year. Fourteen candidates are competing to... Read More

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — In the partisan politics of education funding, the school choice movement has pressed states for decades to send taxpayer money to private and religious schools and long had to concentrate its efforts on states where a Republican governor... Read More

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — President Joe Biden's name won't appear on the ballot anywhere in 2023, but you wouldn't know it from the campaigns that Republican candidates for governor are running in Kentucky and Mississippi. GOP nominees in both states... Read More

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrat Russet Perry has knocked on thousands of doors in a swing district outside the nation's capital as she campaigns for a seat that could decide control of the Virginia state Senate in November. The issue that comes... Read More

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Governors from the Southwestern United States are pursuing stronger business ties with Taiwan in hopes of attracting new foreign investments and jobs to their landlocked states. Trade missions this week have taken New Mexico. Gov.... Read More

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — In 2020, North Carolina seemed the model of an evenly-divided swing state. Then-President Donald Trump barely won, beating Democrat Joe Biden by just over a percentage point. Meanwhile, the state's Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, won reelection by a relatively... Read More

WATERBURY, Vt. (AP) — On a recent Sunday afternoon, Vermont’s lieutenant governor was at a local library, reading a book about two male penguins to a crowd of nearly two dozen. This was not the first stop for Lt. Gov.... Read More

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois Supreme Court has upheld the state's ban on the sale or possession of the type of semiautomatic weapons used in hundreds of mass killings nationally. In a 4-3 decision Friday, the high court found that the Protect... Read More

MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) — Gina Thorn's life was uprooted when a monstrous tornado tore through her Kentucky hometown of Mayfield, but her family stuck it out and now they're homeowners for the first time. Thorn says Gov. Andy Beshear deserves... Read More

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A bitter Republican primary for lieutenant governor is one of several races to watch in Mississippi party primaries. Republicans currently hold all eight statewide offices and a majority in the state House and Senate. Polls are open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday. Primary... Read More

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Fueled by election gains, Democrats in Minnesota and Michigan this year enacted far-reaching policy changes that party leaders in other states are looking to as a potential roadmap for what they could swiftly achieve with... Read More

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves barely acknowledges his two challengers in next week's Republican primary — a clear indication that he expects to secure his party's nomination. Reeves is already focusing his energy on defeating Brandon Presley, a utility regulator... Read More

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, who became Democratic heroes as members of the “Tennessee Three,” are hoping to once again reclaim their legislative seats Thursday after they were expelled for involvement in a gun control protest... Read More

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Democrat trying to unseat Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves is pushing hard to tie the Republican incumbent to a welfare misspending scandal that developed while Reeves was lieutenant governor, but the Reeves campaign says challenger Brandon Presley is... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — The explosion early on a June morning ignited a blaze that engulfed a New York City shop filled with motorized bicycles and their volatile lithium-ion batteries. Billowing smoke quickly killed four people asleep in apartments above... Read More

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Former New Hampshire U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte on Monday announced she's running for governor, days after fellow Republican Chris Sununu said he's not seeking reelection to a fifth term in 2024. “Gov. Sununu did a great... Read More

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Disney is asking a Florida judge on Friday to toss out a lawsuit against the company’s efforts to neutralize a takeover of Disney World’s governing district by Gov. Ron DeSantis and his appointees. The hearing scheduled... Read More

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s Legislature convenes Tuesday in a special session focused exclusively on abortion restrictions, where Republican lawmakers will work to push through a new ban on abortion after roughly six weeks of pregnancy. The day will be a... Read More

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A high-stakes August special election with national political implications is upending local election offices across Ohio, as already stressed election workers are suddenly faced with a mountain of logistical challenges after Republican lawmakers backtracked on their own law. Officials have... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Ohio House of Representatives passed two bills on Wednesday regarding transgender youth, including one barring transgender women from competing in female athletic events. House Bill 68, known as the Enact Ohio Saving Adolescents from Experimentation Act, and... Read More

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A handful of Virginia incumbents prevailed over challengers in Tuesday’s primary election, but two of the state’s most controversial political figures — Democratic Sen. Joe Morrissey and Republican Sen. Amanda Chase — lost their party’s nomination,... Read More

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s high court refused Friday to unblock a strict ban on most abortions, rebuffing Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and, for now, keeping the conservative state from joining others that have severely limited access to the... Read More

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York state lawmakers concluded the 2023 legislative session this weekend passing key election and campaign finance bills. On the election front, the most notable bill would move some of the state’s local elections to even-numbered years,... Read More

WASHINGTON — The White House on Wednesday lauded the “important progress” some states are achieving to make their communities safer from gun violence. “With every tragic shooting we see across America, we see the urgency of action at every level... Read More

PETERSBURG, Va. (AP) — On a recent Monday afternoon, Virginia state Sen. Joe Morrissey got a warm reception as he made his way through a neighborhood in Petersburg, knocking on doors, touting his credentials and asking residents for their votes in the... Read More

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada's Joe Lombardo on Tuesday became one of the first Republican governors to enshrine protections for out-of-state abortion patients and in-state providers, adding the western swing state to the list of those passing new laws to solidify... Read More

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — After years of legal and ethical scandals swirling around Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, the state’s GOP-controlled House of Representatives has moved toward an impeachment vote that could quickly throw him from office. The extraordinary and rarely-used... Read More

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The largest LGBTQ+ rights organization in the U.S. joined other civil rights organizations Tuesday in issuing a travel advisory for Florida, warning that newly passed laws and policies may pose risks to minorities, immigrants and gay travelers. The... Read More

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The only five women in South Carolina's 46-member Senate have vowed to resist new abortion restrictions up for debate after the group filibustered a near-total ban last month. But it remains to be seen whether the... Read More