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      Pope Leo XIV Voted in Democratic and Republican Primaries, Records Show

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      Pope Leo XIV voted in Democratic primaries in 2008 and 2010 and in three Republican primaries in the years that followed, state records show.Pope Leo XIV has voted fairly regularly in general elections over the last two decades, and has chosen to participate in both Republican and Democratic primary elections over the years, state and local records in Illinois show.The new pontiff, a Chicago native, has voted in at least 10 general elections since 2000, the records show, most recently in November when he cast an absentee ballot in the presidential election. In primary elections in Illinois, voters may choose any party’s ballot at the polls, and Pope Leo has varied in his selection, picking Democratic ballots years ago and Republican ones more recently.Will County, in suburban Chicago, released records on Thursday showing that the pope had voted in several elections there since 2012, including three Republican primaries between 2012 and 2016.Records viewed on Friday at the Illinois State Board of Elections office in Springfield showed that Pope Leo, who was born Robert Francis Prevost, voted with regularity in Cook County between 2000 and 2010. During that time, he voted in two primaries, selecting Democratic ballots in 2008 and 2010.In Illinois, where Democrats dominate in statewide elections, voters do not register as members of a political party. American citizens living outside the country remain eligible to vote.Pope Leo was born in Chicago and grew up in nearby Dolton, Ill., in a family that was deeply involved in its local parish. Though his career has included long stints in Peru and Rome, he has returned to Illinois several times as an adult, including for graduate school and for postings with the Midwest Augustinians.Susan C. Beachy More

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      A New Trend in Global Elections: The Anti-Trump Bump

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      In voting in Canada and Australia, right-wing parties that borrowed from the MAGA playbook were punished. Elsewhere, President Trump is having a more complex impact.The Trump factor is shaping global politics, one election at a time — just not necessarily to the president’s taste.In major votes in Canada and Australia over the past two weeks, centrists saw their fortunes revived, while parties that had borrowed from the MAGA playbook lost out.President Trump has been back in power for only three months, but already his policies, including imposing tariffs and upending alliances, have rippled into domestic political battles around the world.While it is too soon to say that anti-Trump forces are on the rise globally, it is clear that voters have Mr. Trump somewhere on their mind as they make decisions.Political cousinsCanada and Australia share a lot in common: a political system, a major mining industry, a sovereign in King Charles. Now they also share a remarkable political story.In both countries, before Mr. Trump was inaugurated, the center-left ruling parties had been in poor shape and appeared poised to lose power. The front-runners in polls were the conservative parties, whose leaders flirted with Trumpian politics both in style and in substance.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Romanian Nationalist Wins First Round of Presidential Voting

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      George Simion bucked a recent trend of voters around the world punishing candidates seen as friendly to President Trump.George Simion, a right-wing nationalist who has promised to “Make Romania Great Again,” won the first round of his country’s presidential election on Sunday, bucking the recent trend of voters punishing candidates seen as friendly to President Trump.With more than 98 percent of the votes cast inside Romania counted, Mr. Simion was far ahead of 10 rival candidates, garnering more than 40 percent. A partial count of the votes of Romanians living abroad, who generally tilt hard right, also gave Mr. Simion a big lead.The results, though incomplete, ensured Mr. Simion a slot in a runoff on May 18 against the likely second-place finisher, Nicusor Dan, the centrist mayor of Bucharest, Romania’s capital.Unlike voters in Canada and Australia who in recent elections favored parties openly opposed to Mr. Trump, Romanians, by supporting Mr. Simion, rewarded one of Europe’s most vocal admirers of the MAGA movement.Romanian voters also gave a strong rebuke to a decision in December by the country’s Constitutional Court to annul an earlier first round of the presidential ballot and to cancel the victory of Calin Georgescu, an ultranationalist. He was charged in February with various crimes, including illegal campaigning and involvement in the establishment of an organization “with a fascist, racist or xenophobic character.”Mr. Georgescu, who was barred from competing in the rescheduled vote, voted on Sunday alongside Mr. Simion. Both men have cast themselves as champions of ordinary Romanians against a corrupt establishment.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Voters Approve Incorporation of SpaceX Hub as Starbase, Texas

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      A South Texas community, mostly made up of SpaceX employees, voted 212 to 6 in favor of establishing a new city called Starbase.Members of a South Texas community that has served as the hub of Elon Musk’s rocket launch company, SpaceX, voted on Saturday to formally establish a new city called Starbase, fulfilling one of Mr. Musk’s long-held dreams.All but six of the 218 people who voted supported incorporating the city of Starbase, according to Cameron County, which administered the vote.There were 283 eligible voters, said Remi Garza, the elections administrator for the county.The community, known to locals as Boca Chica, covers about 1.5 square miles on a spit of land that brushes up against the Mexican border.SpaceX broke ground in the area in 2014, and it has since become the company’s central hub and launch site, as well as home to hundreds of its employees.On his social media platform, X, Mr. Musk has referred to the area as Starbase more than a dozen times in the past four years.“My primary home is literally a ~$50k house in Boca Chica / Starbase that I rent from SpaceX,” Mr. Musk wrote in June 2021. “It’s kinda awesome though.”In December, people living around the company offices and launch site filed a petition to officially establish the city of Starbase, Texas. More

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      In Singapore’s Election, All Eyes Are on the Margin of Victory, Not the Winner

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      The People’s Action Party is widely expected to continue its six-decade reign. But discontent with its policies is fueling a growing opposition.The last time Singapore held elections, it was in the throes of a global crisis. That’s also true today.Five years ago, the governing party portrayed itself as the steady hand to guide the nation through the coronavirus pandemic. The pitch is the same this time, only with a different catalyst: President Trump’s upending of the world’s trade order.And, like last time, there is no doubt that the People’s Action Party, which has been in power since 1959, will retain power. But Saturday’s election will be a test of the popularity of the P.A.P., which had a near record-low showing in 2020, even as it garnered a clear majority. It was growing evidence of a desire for a competitive democracy in the city-state.When polls opened on Saturday morning, people stood in line to cast their ballot as heavy rain fell in parts of Singapore. The voting age is 21 here, and all citizens are required to vote. Polling stations close at 8 p.m. local time, and a final result is not expected until after midnight.Many political analysts agree that the opposition is gaining clout in Singapore, with voters unhappy about the P.A.P.’s response to the rising cost of living. During the campaign, rallies for the country’s main opposition party, the Workers’ Party, were packed, and its merchandise sold out. Still, Pritam Singh, the party’s leader, took pains to assure the public that his party was not contesting enough seats to form a government, merely that Singapore needed a more balanced political system.“When you have opposition in Parliament, your alternative voice is heard by the government,” Mr. Singh said at his party’s first rally last week.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Reform UK Surges as Conservatives Lose Seats: 4 Local Elections Takeaways

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      Britain’s two main parties suffered significant losses in municipal and mayoral votes as Reform U.K., a right-wing populist party, surged ahead.While the votes in England’s local elections were still being counted on Friday, Nigel Farage’s Reform U.K. party emerged as the biggest winner of the first major polls since Labour swept into government last summer.Voters have been selecting councilors for about 1,600 municipal seats in 23 areas, as well as six regional mayors.Here are four takeaways from a night that saw Britain’s two major political parties suffer significant losses.Reform U.K. is a serious force in British politics.The right-wing populist party headed by Mr. Farage won a special election in Runcorn and Helsby, in northwestern England, giving it five lawmakers in Parliament. The party also won the mayoralty in Greater Lincolnshire, a new position, and is gaining council seats across the country.The party was initially called the Brexit Party but rebranded itself after Britain formally withdrew from the European Union.Results on Friday indicated that Reform’s efforts to shed its image as a single-issue party and appeal to a broader range of voters were bearing fruit. Brexit is now rarely discussed by its politicians, who have been focusing on a hard line on immigration.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Mark Carney Has to Deliver on Trump and the Economy After Canada Election Win

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      The Canadian prime minister achieved a stunning political upset, running on an anti-Trump platform and promising to revive the economy. Now, he needs to deliver. Canada’s banker-turned-prime-minister pulled off a political miracle, leading his party from polling abyss to a rare fourth term in power, and securing the top government job after entering electoral politics just three months ago.Mark Carney, the country’s new leader, told Canadians that he was the right person to stand up to President Trump and that, with his economics expertise, he knew how to boost the country’s lackluster economy and fortify it in turbulent times. Now he has to actually do all of that, and quickly, as his country moves from a prolonged period of political turmoil and faces the fallout of a trade war with its closest ally and economic partner: the United States. Mess at HomeWhen Mr. Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, announced in January that he would resign after 10 years leading Canada, he created a rare opportunity that Mr. Carney jumped at. But after Mr. Carney won the race to replace Mr. Trudeau in March as prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party, he also inherited a messy situation at home that he must now urgently take on. The Canadian Parliament has not been in session since before Christmas, after Mr. Trudeau suspended its activities to be able to hold the Liberal leadership election that elevated Mr. Carney. We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Pierre Poilievre Raised Canada’s Conservative Party, Only to Be Tossed From His Seat

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      Pierre Poilievre lost the vote for a constituency he has held for 21 years to a Liberal political neophyte. His populist approach may have been to blame.When protesting truckers rolled toward downtown Ottawa and proceeded to occupy the Canadian capital for four weeks, they got a welcome from a man waving to them from a highway overpass, his hands covered in knitted red mittens with white maple leaves on the palms.The man was Pierre Poilievre, who would become the leader of the Conservative Party and who until just recently was widely referred to as Canada’s next prime minister. Soon he will have a new title: ex-Member of Parliament.In a stunning upset, voters in Mr. Poilievre’s district (or riding, as it is known in Canada) turned him out of office on Monday. His embrace of the so-called Freedom Convoy of 2022, appears to have played a significant role in the defeat.Voters in this part of Canada have memories of that time — and not fond ones.With Ottawa paralyzed, local businesses forced to shut down and residents struggling to sleep amid the round-the-clock air horn blasting, Mr. Poilievre brought coffee and doughnuts to the truckers, who were protesting pandemic restrictions and the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.On Tuesday, his support for the convoy, some leaders of which recently received criminal convictions, was a recurring complaint among voters in his district, Carleton.“Populist politics is not for me,” declared one voter, Rick Pauloski, who said he had supported Conservatives in the past.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More