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    The Guardian view on America’s new speaker: the right gets its man | Editorial

    With the election of Mike Johnson of Louisiana as the new House speaker, the US has now got its federal government back. Without a speaker, Congress cannot function. For the past four weeks, the House of Representatives has been a phantom legislature. It has been absent without leave at a time of global crisis. The return to business is therefore better than a continuation of the paralysis on Capitol Hill.But it has been obtained at a very high price. In September, the former speaker Kevin McCarthy made a deal with House Democrats to avoid a government shutdown. In revenge, eight implacable Republicans voted for Congressman Matt Gaetz’s motion to oust him, which passed with Democrat support. The Republican caucus then immobilised Congress through several failed attempts to elect a new speaker. Mr Johnson has now succeeded as he has accumulated fewer enemies, because pragmatists want an end to the impasse and because the right thinks that he is their man.In other words, Mr Gaetz has won. He has orchestrated the removal of an establishment Republican House leader who was prepared, up to a point, to work with Democrats to keep government alive and to pass legislation, in favour of a relatively little-known rightwing Conservative who may not be. With a 17 November deadline looming for the renewal of government funding, Mr Johnson’s readiness to make the deals that a narrowly divided Congress like this one normally relies on will be put to the test soon. But making deals is not the culture of the Republican party today. And Mr Johnson knows that Mr Gaetz will be watching his every move.Mr Johnson’s profile may be less confrontational than that of other possible candidates. But his record is the opposite of encouraging. He has strong religious conservative views on issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. He does not believe that human beings cause climate change. He has voted against aid to Ukraine. Above all, he supports Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 presidential election being rigged and stolen. He helped lead legal efforts to reverse the results of the election in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. He opposes attempts to bring Mr Trump to justice.The speakership is powerful, but Mr Johnson is relatively inexperienced and there are big issues that need to be decided very quickly. They include the terms for the continuation of government funding, aid to Ukraine and military support for Israel. With Mr McCarthy now gone, it is possible that the right will cut Mr Johnson some slack. Certainly, the US cannot afford another month like this one. If nothing else, it should end the system that gives a single member of Congress, like Mr Gaetz, the power to bring the system to a halt.Yet an even larger question stalks the coming months. The shambles of the last four weeks has been the exclusive responsibility of a dysfunctional Republican party, in hock to its dysfunctional former leader, and which no one can grip effectively without risking their career. At national level, the Republican party is now the institutional abnegation of good government. It will take more than Mr Johnson to change that. More

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    Jamaal Bowman calls Republicans who compared him to Capitol rioters ‘crazy’

    Pleading guilty to a misdemeanour charge and pledging to pay a fine for pulling a fire alarm in a congressional building as a crucial vote loomed, the Democratic New York congressman Jamaal Bowman hit out at Republicans for making “crazy” comparisons to rioters who attacked Congress on January 6.“That’s crazy,” Bowman told reporters outside court in Washington on Thursday, laughing as he did so.“Yeah, that’s crazy, immediately likening me to insurrectionists, what happened on January 6. I mean, this is what they do. They weaponise any opportunity they can … so we don’t focus on their own dysfunction and destruction of their own party.”Kevin McCarthy, then speaker of the House, and the extremist Marjorie Taylor Greene were among Republicans to make the January 6 comparison after the 30 September incident, in which Bowman was captured on camera pulling the alarm in the Cannon office building as a vote on a stopgap funding measure, which ultimately staved off a government shutdown, drew near.Claiming Bowman had reached “a new low”, McCarthy said: “We watched how people have been treated if they’ve done something wrong in this Capitol. It would be interesting to see how he is treated and what he was trying to obstruct when it came to the American public.”On 6 January 2021, a mob told to “fight like hell” by Donald Trump attacked Congress in an attempt to stop certification of Joe Biden’s election win. The effort failed but nine deaths have been linked to the riot, including law enforcement suicides. Thousands of arrests have been made and hundreds of convictions have been secured, some for seditious conspiracy. Trump was impeached.Bowman immediately denied seeking to delay the vote, saying: “As I was rushing to make a vote, I came to a door that is usually open for votes but today was not open. I am embarrassed to admit that I activated the fire alarm, mistakenly thinking it would open the door. I regret this and sincerely apologise for any confusion this caused.”This Wednesday, the office of the DC attorney general confirmed that Bowman would “plead guilty and has agreed to pay the maximum fine”. A spokesperson said: “Congressman Bowman was treated like anyone else who violates the law in the District of Columbia. Based on the evidence presented by Capitol police, we charged the only crime that we have jurisdiction to prosecute.”In a statement, Bowman said he was “thankful for the quick resolution from the District of Columbia attorney general’s office on this issue and grateful that the United States Capitol police general counsel’s office agreed I did not obstruct nor intend to obstruct any House vote of proceedings.“I am responsible for activating a fire alarm, I will be paying the fine issued, and look forward to these charges ultimately being dropped.”He also predicted that Republicans would “attempt to use this to distract everyone from their mess”, a reference to the three-week standoff over electing a speaker to succeed McCarthy which finally ended on Wednesday with the installation of Mike Johnson of Louisiana, a Trumpist hardliner.Summoned to court on Thursday, Bowman spoke to reporters.“You remember that day,” he said of 30 September. “It was like, it was a lot going on. It was difficult to keep the government open. There was a motion to adjourn. So I was just in a rush, man, you know, trying to get downstream. I was actually running to the Capitol at one point. So I was just in a hurry and … so that was all my bad.”As a leading and combative progressive, Bowman, a former school principal in the Bronx in New York City, has often being a target for Republican invective.On Wednesday, Lisa McLain, a Michigan Republican, introduced a resolution to formally censure Bowman and “remove him from all committee assignments for the remainder of the 118th Congress”.Bryan Steil, the Republican chair of the House administration committee, called for an ethics investigation. Bowman’s excuse “does not pass the sniff test”, Steil said, adding: “After pulling the fire alarm, Representative Bowman fled the scene, passed by multiple Capitol police officers and had every opportunity to alert USCP of his mistake.”Bowman said: “I look forward to putting this behind me and to continue working hard to deliver for New Yorkers.” More

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    Conservative Mike Johnson wins House vote to become next speaker – as it happened

    House Republicans have voted for Mike Johnson to be the newest speaker.The vote came out to 220-209 with every House Republican voting for him.The vote marks a breakthrough in a three-week limbo after House Republicans voted to oust Kevin McCarthy from the seat earlier this month.Following the vote, House Republicans erupted into cheers and applause as the Louisiana representative was elevated to one of the highest offices in the US government.After weeks of political infighting and unsuccessful speaker nominations, the Louisiana Republican representative Mike Johnson has become House speaker.The vote came out to 220-209 with every House Republican voting for him. The vote marks a breakthrough in a three-week limbo after House Republicans voted to oust Kevin McCarthy from the seat earlier this month.
    Johnson has already faced questions over his history of supporting Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election
    Groups advocating for human rights, including LGBTQ+ and womens’ rights have said that Johnson’s speakership is a threat, condemning his far-right views and voting record.
    Democrats believe Johnson’s central role in refuting the 2020 election results and his conservative views on many social issues could help them win back the House next year.– Chris Stein, Joan E Greve, Maanvi Singh
    Now that the House has a speaker, it’s right onto business. Once the speaker is sworn in, the House will consider a resolution to stand with Israel.The broad resolution affirms Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas. It also calls for sanctions and aid. It will be interesting to see how Johnson and other Republicans land on the issue.Last month, Johnson was among 93 Republicans who supported an amendment to cut off military assistance to Ukraine, proposed by hard-right congressman Matt Gaetz.The progressive advocacy organization Stand Up America has called Johnson’s speakership “a threat to our democracy”.Following Johnson’s win, Stand Up America’s founder and president Sean Eldridge said:
    “Today is a dark day for American democracy. Mike Johnson’s record of election denial and his attempts to overturn the will of the people make him totally unfit to be second in line to the presidency. Those who have spent years trying to undermine our democracy cannot be trusted to lead it.
    Entrusting the House of Representatives to a man the New York Times called ‘the most important architect of the electoral college objections’ is proof of House Republicans’ contempt for our freedom to vote. The American people deserve a speaker who will stand up for our democracy and our fundamental freedoms, but sadly, House Republicans have embraced Maga extremism instead.”
    The Democratic Women’s Caucus has also condemned Mike Johnson’s win, citing his history of supporting legislation that targeted women’s rights including the 2022 US supreme court overturning of Roe v Wade.
    House Republicans’ new speaker of the House, Rep. Mike Johnson, is a MAGA extremist through and through. While Democrats have worked to lower costs for working women, Mike Johnson has opposed efforts to make child care more affordable, and wants to cut Medicare and Social Security and ban abortion nationwide,” the caucus said.
    “The Democratic Women’s Caucus unanimously voted no – because a vote for speaker Johnson was a vote against women,” it added.
    Johnson has previously voted against the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the Pump for Nursing Mothers Act, bipartisan legislations that offered to give expecting and new mothers increased workplace protections.He also voted against bipartisan legislation to protect victims of sexual assault and harassment, including the Speak Out Act and the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harrassment Act.The Human Rights Campaign, the country’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy group, has condemned Mike Johnson’s new House speakership position.In a statement released on Wednesday, the president of HRC, Kelley Robinson, said:
    “The Maga House majority has selected the most anti-equality speaker in US history by elevating Mike Johnson – this is a choice that will be a stain on the record of everyone who voted for him.
    Johnson is someone who doesn’t hesitate to express his disdain for the LGTBQ+ community from the rooftops and then introduces legislation that seeks to erase us from society. Just like Jim Jordan, Mike Johnson is an election-denying, anti-LGBTQ+ extremist, and the lawmakers who appeared to stand on principle in opposing Jordan’s bid have revealed themselves to be just as out-of-touch as their new leader.”
    Joe Biden has congratulated Mike Johnson on becoming the House’s newest speaker and called for lawmakers across the aisle to move quickly to address national security needs.In a statement released on Wednesday, Biden said:
    “Jill and I congratulate Speaker Johnson on his election.As I said when this process began, whoever the Speaker is, I will seek to work with them in good faith on behalf of the American people …
    We need to move swiftly to address our national security needs and to avoid a shutdown in 22 days.Even though we have real disagreements about important issues, there should be mutual effort to find common ground wherever we can.This is a time for all of us to act responsibly, and to put the good of the American people and the everyday priorities of American families above any partisanship.”
    In other news, Minnesota representative Dean Phillips is expected to launch a 2024 Democratic presidential primary challenge against Joe Biden.Phillips, 54, will reportedly launch his campaign on Friday, Fox News reported, citing people familiar with his campaign.From there, Phillips will travel to New Hampshire and file his name for the state’s primary ballot.Several Democrats have discouraged Phillips from running, in response to the expected announcement.“He ought to go home to Minnesota,” Democratic senator Peter Welch said to the Huffington Post.“It’s a distraction and he’s going to be hounding on the president not because of policies – the Democrats support the policies and accomplishments of Biden – so he’s going to try to unravel that. It’s not helpful,” Welch added.The Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren told the Post that she also disapproves of Phillips’s run.“It just doesn’t make sense,” Warren said to the Post. “I’m all for President Biden getting re-elected. He has delivered for America’s middle class and he’s going to win.”Despite the ire, Phillips’s campaign seems all the ready to launch. A tour bus for Dean Phillips was spotted in Ohio, CBS News reported.The bus reading, “Dean Phillips For President”, was seen driving through Ohio on Tuesday, presumably headed towards New Hampshire. The bus also featured Phillips’s slogan: “Make America Affordable Again”.Johnson is now delivering remarks in his first speech to the House after being elected as the 56th House speaker on Wednesday.After walking up to the podium, Johnson and the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, hugged as Jeffries handed Johnson the House speaker gavel.During his speech, Johnson vowed to decentralize power in the House and have members more involved in the process, the Hill reported.“We owe that to the people,” he said.Johnson has also said that the first bill he will bring to the floor on Wednesday is a resolution in support of Israel.From Punchbowl News’ Mica Soellner:More reactions are pouring in after Mike Johnson becomes the 56th House speaker, following weeks of House electoral chaos.The Congressional Integrity Project (CIP), a liberal activist group, said those who supported Johnson “voted For Election Denial and Radical Extremism”.“All of the House Republicans who supported Mike Johnson for Speaker voted for election denial, a national abortion ban, and gutting Social Security and Medicare,” CIP said in a statement.“Johnson will use the Speaker’s power to continue to undermine our democracy, restore Trump to power, and pursue a Maga Republican agenda that throws working families under the bus,” the group said.CIP was relaunched by Democrats in 2022 as a counterpoint to House Republicans, particularly following the January 6 insurrection and the belief in the Republican party that the 2020 election results were falsified.Mike Johnson has published a statement to social media following his win as the House’s newest speaker. In a statement posted to X, Johnson acknowledged the “arduous” House speaker election process that has dominated the Republican party for weeks.“It has been an arduous few weeks, and a reminder that the House is as complicated and diverse as the people we represent,” Johnson said.“The urgency of this moment demands bold, decisive action to restore trust, advance our legislative priorities, and demonstrate good governance,” he said.Johnson further said that, as House speaker, he will work to restore “trust” in the House and “sanity” within the government more broadly.“We will restore trust in this body. We will advance a comprehensive conservative policy agenda, combat the harmful policies of the Biden Administration, and support our allies abroad,” Johnson added.“And we will restore sanity to a government desperately in need of it. Let’s get back to work,” he said.The Republican National Committee has congratulated Mike Johnson as the House’s newest speaker.In a statement released following the House vote, RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said:
    “Congratulations to the new speaker of the House, Mike Johnson! In eight months, the Republican House majority passed bills to lower energy costs, secure the border, defend parents’ rights, improve public safety, and more. When Republicans come together, we deliver results, and that’s what we need to showcase ahead of 2024. We delivered this majority to bring solutions to the American people. It’s time for Republicans to unite behind speaker Johnson and get back to work.”
    House Republicans have voted for Mike Johnson to be the newest speaker.The vote came out to 220-209 with every House Republican voting for him.The vote marks a breakthrough in a three-week limbo after House Republicans voted to oust Kevin McCarthy from the seat earlier this month.Following the vote, House Republicans erupted into cheers and applause as the Louisiana representative was elevated to one of the highest offices in the US government.Steve Scalise, once a top contender of the House speaker race only to then drop out, has voted for Mike Johnson.As with Kevin McCarthy and Patrick McHenry’s votes for Johnson, Republicans stood up and applauded the Louisiana Republican for his vote.Patrick McHenry, the House speaker pro tempore, has cast his vote for Mike Johnson as the next House speaker.Republicans stood and applauded the North Carolina Republican representative.Former House speaker Kevin McCarthy has voted for Mike Johnson as the next House speaker.In response, House Republicans stood up around him and clapped.The Democratic National Committee has criticized Mike Johnson’s House speaker nomination, calling the Louisiana representative the “new Maga speaker-designate”.In a statement released on Wednesday, a DNC spokesperson, Sarafina Chitika said:
    “Many Americans are waking up this morning wondering – who is Mike Johnson? We’re here to help: Maga Republicans’ new speaker-designate supports extreme nationwide abortion bans. He led the charge for Donald Trump denying president Biden’s legitimate election win and tried to overthrow the votes of 81 million Americans.
    He’s a leading proponent of slashing Social Security and Medicare. Mike Johnson is a carbon-copy of the Maga extremism that is deeply unpopular with Americans across the country. House Republicans will have to answer for their support for their new Maga speaker next November. Make no mistake: the American people will hold them accountable for this choice.” More

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    Virginia Democrats defend Susanna Gibson after sex-livestream revelation

    Democrats in Virginia are defending their candidate for a competitive statehouse seat against “desperate” efforts by Republicans to exploit her appearances on an adult porn website.The state’s Republican party has admitted it sent out several thousand “explicit” flyers to voters in House district 57 containing still images reportedly of Democrat Susanna Gibson engaged in livestreamed sex acts with her husband.The nurse practitioner and first-time candidate denounced as “gutter politics” the publication of a report last month that the couple had performed on the pornographic website Chaturbate in exchange for electronic “tips”. Videos of their encounters were archived last year, according to a Washington Post report, although it is unclear when they were shot.The mailings, marked “Warning: explicit material enclosed” and “Do not open if you are under the age of 18”, also contain censored quotes from Gibson, according to Richmond’s NBC12 news channel.A statement from her campaign denounced both the messaging and timing of the mailings, barely two weeks before election day in her closely contested race with the Republican David Owen.“David Owen and the Virginia GOP are trying to distract voters from their extreme agenda to ban abortion, defund schools and allow violent criminals to access weapons of war,” it said.“Voters are tired of these desperate attacks, and they will not be fooled by them. Nothing will ever deter her commitment to our community.”The seat could prove crucial in Republicans’ efforts to secure a majority in both houses of the commonwealth’s general assembly, and embrace the extremist policies of Virginia’s Republican governor Glenn Youngkin, who favors a 15-week abortion ban.Currently, Democrats hold a narrow advantage in the state senate. Republicans recaptured a slim advantage in the house of delegates in 2021.The Virginia Democratic party’s house caucus issued its own defense of Gibson, questioning Republicans’ motives.“The Maga [Make America Great Again] Republicans can’t help themselves from showing their true colors. This is a desperate attempt to distract and deflect from how many of their candidates are on the record wanting to ban abortion,” it said in a statement.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“Let’s not forget, David Owen is the same guy who was caught on camera saying he wanted to change the makeup of the general assembly to institute said ban. The VA GOP can’t be trusted and this continues to make that clear.”Owen’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment, NBC12 said.Rich Anderson, the chair of the Virginia Republican party, told the outlet: “Gibson’s campaign has falsely alleged that the videos of her publicly engaging in sexual activity on publicly accessible pornography websites were ‘leaked’ by Republicans. In reality, the opposite is true.“The mail piece corrects her false statements using already published mainstream media news accounts and Gibson’s own public words as documented via her videos.”Youngkin told the station he had not seen the mailers, but felt Gibson should be held accountable. “This candidate’s personal life is something that that candidate needs to explain to people, and the Democratic party needs to have an opinion on this,” he said. More

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    The California town that could hold the key to control of the House in 2024

    When customers come in for a cut and a conversation at Miguel Navarro’s barbershop, there’s one topic they raise more than any other: gas prices.A gallon of regular goes for about $5 in Delano, a farming town in California’s Central Valley where in 1965, grape pickers staged a historic strike over bad pay and working conditions that led to the creation of the United Farm Workers (UFW) union, led by Cesar Chavez. Today, everyone in the city who can afford to do so drives, which means feeling the pain of California’s pump prices, the highest in the nation.“You kind of think about it twice before you go out,” said Navarro as he cut a customer’s hair in his eponymous barbershop on Delano’s Main Street. His shop sits among a strip of tax preparers, taquerias and leather goods stores, in an area that also happens to be some of the most fiercely contested political territory in the nation.The city of nearly 51,000 is in the middle of a California congressional district where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans, Joe Biden won overwhelming support in 2020, but despite its apparent blue lean, voters have repeatedly sent the Republican David Valadao to be their voice in the House of Representatives over the past decade.Next year, Democrats hope to change that as part of their campaign to seize back control of Congress’s lower chamber, which hinges on flipping 18 districts won by Biden in 2020 that are represented by Republicans like Valadao, a dairy farmer who is one of just two Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump and managed to keep their seats.That battle, which will play out alongside Biden’s re-election campaign and Senate Democrats’ defense of their small majority in the chamber, may well be the easiest for the party to win in 2024.Though the numbers appear to favor Democrats in California’s 22nd congressional district, several hurdles stand between the party and victory. Nearly a year and a month before the general election, the down-ballot races that are crucial to deciding the balance of power in Washington DC are far from the minds of many in Delano.“People here are just living day by day, and if you do not remind them about elections, they might not remember,” said Susana Ortiz, an undocumented grape picker who lives in Delano and has campaigned for Rudy Salas, Valadao’s unsuccessful Democratic opponent in last year’s election.Democrats must gain five seats to win a majority in the House, and Valadao’s district – encompassing dozens of farming communities and half of Bakersfield, California’s ninth most-populous city – is one of 33 targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2024.Beyond campaigning, Democrats are expected to benefit from a supreme court decision that has forced Alabama, and potentially Louisiana, to redraw its congressional map. The party also has a good shot of gaining a seat in New York City’s Long Island suburbs, where voters are reeling after discovering their Republican congressman George Santos is a fabulist who is now facing federal charges.The GOP has its own redistricting advantages, particularly in North Carolina, where new congressional maps could knock at least three Democrats out of their seats. The National Republican Congressional Committee is targeting Democratic lawmakers in 37 seats, five of whom represent districts that voted for Trump three years ago.“I think the House is going to come down to redistricting fights, candidate recruitment and, probably, most importantly, the top of the ticket and what that does to down-ballot races,” said David Wasserman, an election analyst who focuses on the chamber at the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter.No race has a dynamic quite like the contest to unseat Valadao, whose spokesperson declined to comment. The 46-year-old won election to the California state assembly in 2010, and then to the US House two years later. Valadao defeated successive Democratic challengers in the years that followed, until TJ Cox ousted him in a close election in 2018, a historically good year for the party.Valadao triumphed over Cox two years later. The January 6 attack on the Capitol occurred just as he was to take his seat in the House, and a week after that, Valadao joined nine other Republicans and all Democrats to vote for impeaching Trump.“Based on the facts before me, I have to go with my gut and vote my conscience. I voted to impeach President Trump. His inciting rhetoric was un-American, abhorrent and absolutely an impeachable offense,” Valadao said at the time. The decision ignited a firestorm among Republicans in his Central Valley district.“It was ugly, man. I mean, it was really, really, really ugly,” said James Henderson, a former GOP party chair in Tulare, one of the three counties that make up Valadao’s district. Donors threatened to withhold their funds, but Henderson said arguments that Valadao was uniquely able to hold the vulnerable seat, and crucial to representing the county’s agriculture interests, prevailed.“The alternative is, if you lose this seat, you lose this seat forever,” Henderson said. It was nonetheless close: styling himself as a Trump-aligned conservative, Chris Mathys, a former city councilman in the Central Valley city of Fresno, challenged Valadao in the primary, and came within 1,220 votes of beating him.Mathys was assisted by the House Majority Pac, which was linked to the then Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi and spent $127,000 on television advertisements boosting his candidacy and attacking Valadao, according to the analytic firm AdImpact.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionIt was one of many instances across the country in which Democratic groups channeled dollars to rightwing Republicans in their primaries, betting that they would be easier to defeat in the general election. Valadao would go on to triumph over state assemblyman Salas, and make an unlikely return to the House.Valadao’s re-election fight is shaping up to be a repeat of what he faced the year prior. Mathys is running again, and has once more put Valadao’s vote against the former president at the center of his campaign. Trump is the current frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination, and California Republicans will vote in primaries for both races on the same ballot.“The big issue, clearly, is the impeachment issue. It looms very large. People remember like it was yesterday,” Mathys told the Guardian in an interview. “With President Trump being on the ballot, it’s going to even resonate stronger, because he’ll be on the same ballot that we’re on.”CJ Warnke, the communications director for the House Majority Pac, said the committee would “do whatever it takes” to defeat Valadao and Mathys, but did not say whether that would include another round of television advertisements supporting the latter.Salas is also challenging Valadao again, and another Democrat, the state senator Melissa Hurtado, is in the primary. Salas believes that next year will be when Valadao falls, due to the presidential election driving up turnout in the majority Latino district.“The fight is making sure that people actually get out to the polls, vote, or that they turn in their vote-by-mail ballots,” Salas said in an interview. “That’s what we fell victim to last year and something that we’re hoping to get correct going into 2024.”Then there is the ongoing mess in the House, which could have direct effects on Valadao. He’s referred to Kevin McCarthy, who represents a neighboring district, as a “friend”, and opposed removing him as speaker. Valadao three times voted to elect the Republican Jim Jordan as his replacement, unsuccessfully, but also supports giving the acting speaker, Patrick McHenry, the job’s full powers.Jordan is a rightwing firebrand, and an advocate of Trump’s baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election. Wasserman said Valadao’s support for him could undercut the reputation he has built for himself as an “independent-minded farmer”, while the downfall of his ally McCarthy may affect Valadao’s ability to benefit from his fundraising.Delano has a reputation as a pivotal community in Valadao’s district, and winning over its voters may come down to money and messaging.A member of the UFW, Ortiz has for several years campaigned for Salas in the spare time she has when she’s not picking grapes for minimum wage. She knocks on doors in Delano’s sprawling neighborhoods, believing Salas is the kind of politician who can bring solutions for undocumented people like herself: she has not seen her father in Mexico since leaving the country 18 years ago, and her oldest son is also undocumented but, for now, protected from deportation by the legally shaky Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) policy.Among the voters who open their doors for her, disillusionment is high, and there’s one phrase Ortiz hears repeatedly: “I don’t even vote because after, they do not help you.”Meanwhile, as an independent, Navarro, the barber, said he would probably vote for Trump next year, as he had in the past, citing his hope the former president would bring, among other things, lower gas prices.“I think we were a little bit more peaceful with him,” Navarro said. But he’s not sure whom to support for Congress, and would probably go for whichever candidate he hears from the most: “We’re meant to vote for whoever has more to offer.” More

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    ‘People are sick and tired’: the man challenging far-right extremist Lauren Boebert

    Adam Frisch is in his second congressional campaign, crossing and re-crossing Colorado’s third US House district, a space bigger than Pennsylvania. Thirteen months out from election day, time is one thing he does not lack. But Frisch has a unique way of counting it anyway: before and after Beetlejuice.“Before Beetlejuice,” the Democrat says, of polling in his Republican-leaning district, “we were up by two points, Trump was up five.”After Beetlejuice, the thinking goes, Frisch’s position may well improve further.Frisch, 56 and a former banker who now lives in Aspen, is the Democratic candidate to challenge Lauren Boebert next year. Boebert, a former restaurant owner and proud grandmother at 36, is the far-right Republican who won the seat in 2020 and has proven relentlessly controversial since – so much so that last year, even in a conservative district, she survived Frisch’s first challenge by the skin of her teeth.Boebert won after a recount, by just 546 votes, then went back to Washington DC to stoke the usual fires.But last month a bigger blaze flared up, when the congresswoman was shown to have behaved outrageously during a performance of the musical Beetlejuice in Denver.On security footage, Boebert sang and danced, took selfies, vaped and even appeared to grope her date as he fondled her in return. Both were ejected. For once, Boebert voiced something close to contrition. But to Frisch, the episode was just further proof that Boebert is there to be beaten.“We’re resonating with a lot of people,” he said, by phone, during another day of meeting and greeting.“In February of 22, when I first launched, there were two themes I started to work on. The Republicans laughed at me, the Democrats laughed at me, the media and the donor class laughed. But the themes are the people want the circus to stop, and they want someone to focus on the district.“And every day since then, [Boebert] has just been one of the national leaders of the circus. And obviously, it’s just gotten worse and worse … it’s just a mess and people are sick and tired.”Boebert is not the only member of Congress Frisch identifies as a purveyor of what the Minnesota congressman Dean Phillips – a high-school friend of Frisch – calls “angertainment”: lucrative playing of the partisan angles in Congress, on social media and on network TV.“When I looked at the data a couple of years ago,” Frisch says, “I saw that Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs are all kind of a part of that Republican chaos crowd, and I would put [Ilhan] Omar and [Rashida] Tlaib [leftwing Democrats from Minnesota and Michigan] on the other side.“They all have safe seats. A billion dollars against them is not going to change the outcome. But I noticed that in 2020, Boebert only won by five points … and so we realised that of all these ‘brand name’ representatives, Lauren Boebert is probably the only person that has any chance and a good chance now of losing.“I thought, ‘This could turn into a big deal.’ And obviously, it’s turned into a big deal.”Frisch has attracted national attention. But the same pre-Beetlejuice poll that put him up 50-48 also said 40% of district voters felt they did not “know” him.Therefore, while Boebert plays to the cameras in Washington – Frisch hits her for having a “mini television studio in her office, where there are supposed to be benches for constituents to sit before they actually have a chance to talk to the congresswoman” – her opponent continues to tour the battleground.“The issues that we face here are a lot more in common with rural Florida, rural Pennsylvania, than with Denver and Boulder and Colorado Springs,” he says. “And I’m just very focused on how small-town America and rural America and working-class America, especially like in Pueblo, which is a very blue-collar working-class town in the district, how that whole group has kind of been left behind. And I know it’s pretty easy to call it a rural-urban divide, but it’s there. I feel it.“I went in to this race eyes wide open. But the one true surprise was, regardless of political affiliation, regardless of political views, left, right or center, everyone in CD3 is frustrated with kind of the urban-centric conversation that is happening at the state level and a little bit at the national level … there is this resentment about how urban-centric the Democratic party has become.”Colorado district three tilts conservative but Frisch sees a “very libertarian” conservatism which he, an aspirant “Blue Dog” or “Problem Solvers” moderate in Congress, can work with.“It’s more of a ‘you be you’ party. They don’t want to really get involved with who you want to love, who you want to marry. They don’t want to get involved in who should be in a hospital room talking about reproductive rights, abortion. You know, ranchers and farmers are incredibly pragmatic. I’ve yet to meet a rancher or a farmer that’s un-pragmatic, because they won’t be in business for longer than eight days if they are.”Boebert has been called many things but pragmatic is rarely one. Frisch attributes her previous wins to opportunism and a libertarianism increasingly not enough for voters turned off by her antics. He also hopes his second attempt to eject Boebert from Congress will capture national attention not just for the drama it might provide.“I want to spend a lot more time trying to figure out how a lot more districts can have competitive races,” Frisch says, “because monopolies are bad in business and they’re bad in politics. I think 85% or 80% of the districts, they’re basically cooked in the primary. And to me, our primary system is ground zero for the dysfunctionality, the yelling and the screaming that’s going on around our country.” More

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    Ilhan Omar fears for family’s safety after barrage of threats over Israel criticism

    Ilhan Omar, one of only two Muslim US representatives, says that she fears for her family’s safety after receiving an onslaught of threats for criticizing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.The Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota opened up in a statement about the increase in Islamophobic remarks and threats she has received, including threats directed at her family. NBC News first reported on the statement, which was later shared with the Guardian.Omar said that she and other Muslim Americans have been negatively affected by a “dishonest smearing” that labels them as a threat for condemning Israel’s treatment of Palestine amid fighting in Gaza.She specifically called out rhetoric used by several far-right lawmakers that equates her and other representatives with terrorist supporters.“It directly endangered my life and that of my family, as well as subjected my staff to traumatic verbal abuse simply for doing their jobs,” Omar said in the statement, referring to the far-right rhetoric.“More importantly, it threatens the millions of American Muslims.”In one voicemail to Omar’s office, an anonymous caller said that an extremist group had been spying on the congresswoman and her children. The caller also claimed that they had obtained all of Omar’s addresses and “handed them out to rapists”, NBC News reported.Another message called Omar a “terrorist Muslim”.In a third voicemail shared to NBC News, a caller claimed to be part of a vigilante group and threatened to “rip your fucking rag off your head”, referring to Omar’s hijab.“I hope the Israelis kill every fucking one of you,” the caller said.“Since assuming office, two men have pleaded guilty to threatening to kill me,” Omar’s statement said. “This is very real. I fear for my children and have to speak to them about remaining vigilant because you just never know.”In a broader statement on fighting in Gaza, Omar denounced Hamas.But she and other progressive members of Congress who have been critical of Israel have faced criticism, particularly from far-right Republicans.Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, labeled her fellow US House member Rashida Tlaib a member of the “Hamas Caucus” and a “terrorist sympathizer” in a post to X, formerly known as Twitter.Tlaib is the only other Muslim representative in Congress.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionColorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert also called Omar a member of the “jihad squad”.Boebert, a Republican, has made Islamophobic remarks about Omar before, including suggesting that Omar was an explosive-carrying terrorist.“This toxic language and imagery has real-world consequences,” Omar said in a statement. “House Republican leaders stay silent as their party unleashes these toxic attacks and refuse to hold extremists in their ranks accountable.”US Capitol police officials and the House sergeant at arms briefed several representatives, including Omar and Tlaib, about potential threats last week.“I hope this culture of prejudice ends,” Omar’s statement said. “Hate speech from political leaders has no place in our government. I will continue to advocate for all Americans, promote understanding despite differences, and promote inclusivity.”Muslim and Palestinian Americans have expressed concern about the increase in harassment and threats many have received, with some comparing the amount to the days following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Religion News Service reported.“This is reminding me a bit of how it felt post-9/11,” the Palestinian activist and policy analyst Laila El-Haddad said to RNS.The latest fears follow the brutal killing of a six-year-old Palestinian boy Wadea Al-Fayoume in Illinois in what police have charged was a hate crime.Wadea’s family’s landlord broke into their apartment and stabbed the boy dozens of times on 14 October while allegedly shouting: “You Muslims must die!” More

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    US supreme court allows delay in redrawing Louisiana map that dilutes Black voters’ power

    The US supreme court said on Thursday it would not immediately lift a lower court’s order blocking a judge from holding a hearing to consider a new congressional map for Louisiana that increases the power of Black voters. The decision could mean that Black voters in Louisiana will have to vote under a map that has been found to illegally weaken their votes for a second time.The decision, which had no noted dissents, is the latest step in an increasingly complex legal battle over Louisiana’s congressional maps. A federal judge last year ordered the state to redraw its six districts to add a second district where Black voters could elect a candidate of their choice. Black voters currently represent about a third of Louisiana’s population but have a majority in just one district.The US supreme court put that decision on hold while it considered a similar case from Alabama. After the court upheld a ruling requiring Alabama to redraw its maps in June, it allowed the Louisiana case to move forward.In a highly unusual move, a split three-judge panel from the US court of appeals for the fifth circuit issued an order in late September blocking a judge from holding a hearing on a remedial map. The two highly conservative judges in the majority, Edith Jones and James Ho, said the lower judge had not given Louisiana Republicans enough of a chance to defend themselves or prepare a legally compliant map.The challengers in the case immediately appealed to the US supreme court, warning that putting off the hearing could mean that Louisiana might not get a new congressional map until after the 2024 election. Such a ruling would mean that Black voters in the state would have to be subject to two federal elections under maps that illegally weakened their votes.“The writ issued by the panel risks injecting chaos into the 2024 election cycle by leaving in place a preliminary injunction barring use of the map the legislature adopted in 2022, while casting doubt on whether or when a lawful remedial map can be promptly developed and implemented,” lawyers for the challengers wrote.Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, part of the liberal wing on the US supreme court, wrote a concurring opinion saying that the court’s decision not to get involved should not be seen as condoning the decision from the fifth circuit panel “in these or similar circumstances”.She also noted that she understood the panel’s ruling to halt proceedings until Louisiana had had an opportunity to draw its own maps. The state, she noted, had conceded in a court filing that it would not draw maps while the case was pending, clearing the lower court to “presumably resume the remedial process” while the full fifth circuit considered an appeal of the case.Michael Li, a redistricting expert at the Brennan Center for Justice, noted that Louisiana won’t hold its congressional primaries until November 2024, so there should still be plenty of time to hold a full trial on the maps and get new ones in place before then. “The real question is whether any appeals after that trial mean that the redrawing gets put on hold pending appeals,” he wrote in an email.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionStephen Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas, said the supreme court’s ruling made it “somewhat less likely” there would be a new map before 2024, but added: “It’s still a real possibility that there’ll be a new map in time.”In addition to Alabama and Louisiana, observers are closely watching Georgia and Florida, where lawsuits seek to give Black voters a chance to elect their preferred candidate. Because voting in the US south is often racially polarized, any districts designed to give Black voters an opportunity to elect their preferred candidate is likely to benefit Democrats. More