AZ: House Speaker punishes Republican who voted to repeal 1864 abortion law.

Hamas releases video of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin in proof he survived Oct. 7 injuries

CNN — Hamas released a video of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin on Wednesday, the first proof that he survived being badly wounded during his capture on October 7.

Goldberg-Polin, then 23, was kidnapped from the Nova music festival during Hamas’ attacks on Israel when more than 1,200 people died and more than 200 people were taken hostage.

He is shown in the undated video with part of his left arm missing several inches above the hand.

Video filmed on October 7 showed Goldberg-Polin being taken hostage with his arm severely injured. A firsthand account from a young woman, who was in a bunker with him when Hamas attacked, said he had helped to throw grenades out, before his arm was blown off from the elbow down.

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https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/24/middleeast/israeli-american-hostage-hersh-goldberg-intl/index.html

FL Democrats insist: 'Florida continues to be a battleground'

Florida Democrats asserted a claim for political relevance Wednesday, one day after President Joe Biden made his first campaign stop in this former swing state that increasingly has been moving toward Republicans.

Led by Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried, Democrats with seats in Congress, the Florida Legislature, and local government insisted the ground is shifting in their direction.

Especially on abortion rights, which will be up to the voters in November via the proposed Amendment 4 to the Florida Constitution. The measure would block government interference with access to the procedure before fetal viability, overriding a law banning the procedure before six weeks’ gestation with almost no exceptions, which takes effect May 1.

“Florida continues to be a battleground,” Fried insisted during a Zoom conference with reporters, saying Amendment 4 could draw swing voters who might be more inclined to vote for Biden and other Democrats.


https://floridaphoenix.com/briefs/fl-democrats-insist-florida-continues-to-be-a-battleground/

The Gateway Pundit, Infamous Conspiracy Blog, Declares Bankruptcy After Suit From Election Workers

The founder of the Gateway Pundit, the infamous conspiracy theory site, announced on Wednesday that the company had declared bankruptcy.

Jim Hoft published a message on the website that read, “TGP Communications, the parent company of The Gateway Pundit, recently made the decision to seek protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the Southern District of Florida as a result of the progressive liberal lawfare attacks against our media outlet.”

Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss, sued the Gateway Pundit in December of 2021, alleging that Jim and Joe Hoft, twin brothers, behind the conspiracy theory site engaged in “a campaign of lies” that “instigated a deluge of intimidation, harassment, and threats that has forced them to change their phone numbers, delete their online accounts, and fear for their physical safety.”

The Gateway Pundit saw its traffic soar surrounding the 2020 presidential election as it published story after story parroting then-President Donald Trump’s roundly debunked allegations of election fraud that led to the Jan. 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. In January 0f 2020, the Gateway Pundit had some 1.7 million unique readers. In January of this year, that number had dropped some 54 percent to 813,000 users, according to Comscore data.


https://www.mediaite.com/news/the-gateway-pundit-infamous-conspiracy-blog-declares-bankruptcy-after-suit-from-election-workers/

AZ House has voted to repeal the 1864 abortion ban upheld by the Supreme Court

After three weeks of trying, the Arizona House of Representatives has voted to repeal a near-total abortion ban that was written in 1864 after the state Supreme Court earlier this month ruled that it could be enforced, setting the stage for the end of abortion services in the Grand Canyon State.

The 32-29 vote came after three Republican legislators, Reps. Tim Dunn, Matt Gress and Justin Wilmeth, crossed party lines to join Democrats in backing the bill. Dunn and Gress supported parliamentary maneuvers that brought the repeal legislation to the House floor for an immediate vote.

Wednesday marked the third straight week there was a push to force a vote on House Bill 2677. The previous two attempts, on April 10 and April 17, were thwarted after Republicans — except Gress — refused to allow the bill to come to the floor. But this time, Dunn joined Gress in bucking House Speaker Ben Toma and the rest of the GOP caucus, allowing the vote to occur.

“I’m proud of my caucus for having fought this off for as long as we have,” House Speaker Pro Tem Travis Grantham said. “I hope people are happy now.”


https://azmirror.com/2024/04/24/az-house-has-voted-to-repeal-the-1864-abortion-ban-upheld-by-the-supreme-court/

With Anchorage election results certified, runoff for mayor officially begins

The Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday certified the results of the April regular city election, officially setting off the final leg of the race for mayor.

Incumbent Mayor Dave Bronson (R), who is running for a second term, and challenger Suzanne LaFrance (D), the Assembly’s former chair, are vying for the city’s top elected office. Runoff election ballots will be mailed to voters on April 30, and the final day to vote is May 14, according to the city election calendar.

Because none of the 10 candidates for mayor in the regular election reached the 45% threshold necessary to win outright, Bronson and LaFrance, as the top two vote-getters, are advancing to the runoff. LaFrance received 36.2% of the vote and Bronson 35.6%, according to the official regular election results.

During Tuesday night’s Assembly meeting, Mark Littlefield was sworn into office to represent District 2, Eagle River/Chugiak, after winning his Anchorage Assembly race unopposed. Littlefield replaces former member Kevin Cross, who resigned two years into a three-year term.




https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2024/04/24/with-anchorage-election-results-certified-runoff-for-mayor-officially-begins/

Three Texas Supreme Court seats eyed by Obama-backed redistricting group

An Obama-backed Democrat redistricting group has announced it is focusing on three Texas Supreme Court seats and will vie to turn those blue. Brad Johnson of the Texan says this is a long con essentially, with long term sights on the 2031 redistricting cycle.

"The strategy is to try and get ahead of that...they want to get some of their allies on the court and try to wreak havoc on the Republican redistricting maps that get released," he says.

The group is called the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC) and is led by former Obama U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. They have had success in this line of work too. In 2023 in Wisconsin, they achieved a pro-democracy majority on that state's high court, and immediately issues new redistricting rules.

As Texas is one of 24 states that elect their Supreme Court seats, it makes it an easy target for them. But even all this effort, and the ungodly amount of money they are sure to pump into it, it may not matter once again.



https://ktrh.iheart.com/featured/houston-texas-news/content/2024-04-22-three-texas-supreme-court-seats-eyes-by-obama-backed-redistricting-group/

SD: Group says it's filing petition signatures to put grocery tax repeal on ballot

South Dakota and Mississippi are the only states that have a full state sales tax rate on groceries, but that could change in November.

Circulators of a petition to repeal the state sales tax on groceries said they planned to turn in enough signatures Wednesday to the South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office to place the measure on the Nov. 5 ballot. The office must still verify that enough of the signatures are from registered South Dakota voters.

The ballot initiative would repeal the state sales tax on anything sold for human consumption, except alcoholic beverages and prepared food. It does not prohibit cities from taxing groceries. Currently, the state has a 4.2% sales and use tax, and cities can tack on an additional 2% tax.

The state sales tax rate was 4.5% before state legislators reduced it during the 2023 legislative session. Legislators included a sunset clause to make the tax reduction expire in 2027, in part out of caution in case voters approve the grocery tax repeal. The reduction in the sales tax rate was estimated to cost the state more than $100 million in annual revenue, and the grocery tax repeal would cost an estimated $124 million in annual revenue.



https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2024/04/24/grocery-food-sales-tax-petitions-filed-ballot-measure-south-dakota/

CLC Uncovers Two "Scam PACs" Defrauding Donors

Nobody likes robocalls, but they’re an effective way to raise money for political campaigns. Yet some of the groups behind these calls aren’t actually using donations to support political causes.

Instead, these committees, often referred to as “scam PACs,” pretend to fundraise for major candidates or issues while secretly diverting almost all of their donors’ money back into fundraising or the fraudsters’ own pockets.

On April 22, 2024, CLC filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) urging investigations of two scam PACs that fraudulently used former President Trump’s voice to con unsuspecting Americans out of millions of dollars that they were falsely told would be used to support Trump and Republicans.

The robocalls from “Patriots for American Leadership” (PAL) and “Campaign for a Conservative Majority” (CCM) began with a clip of former President Trump’s voice before proceeding to ask callers to donate to help support him.

“President Trump needs your emergency support right now,” a PAL call intones. “With no time to waste and results coming in by the minute, do your part to help the campaign until the very end by pressing 3 right now to contribute to elect President Trump.”


https://campaignlegal.org/update/clc-uncovers-two-scam-pacs-defrauding-donors

Federal court blocks Montana voter suppression law.