ST. PAUL, Minn. — President Donald Trump will use Tax Day on Monday to visit Minnesota, an erstwhile Democratic stronghold he hopes to flip in 2020 after nearly winning it in 2016. Questions remain, however, about just how much he's politically benefiting from his signature legislative accomplishment. Minnesota, which gave...
Buttigieg, Once Cordial to Pence, Now Critical Amid Campaign
WASHINGTON — On the campaign trail, Democratic presidential contender Pete Buttigieg blasts Vice President Mike Pence's cultural and religious conservatism. But as the mayor of Indiana's fourth largest city, his tone toward the state's Republican former governor was more muted. During the four years in which they overlapped in Indiana...
Walters: Three Months in, Newsom Has Only Tepid Approval
Gavin Newsom coasted into the governorship last year, defeating his Republican rival by more than a 3-2 margin. It seems a little odd, therefore, that three months into his governorship, he enjoys only tepid popular support. A new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found that just 45...
AP Fact Check: Trump Misleads on Health Care, Russia Probe
WASHINGTON — Rallying in Michigan, President Donald Trump bragged about a surging auto industry that isn't surging, a Republican rescue for health care that has yet to take shape, a "total" exoneration in the Russia investigation that was not offered. And Trump, as he routinely does, took credit for a...
Arizona Lawmaker Resigns Amid Probe of 1983 Sex Charges
PHOENIX — Arizona Rep. David Stringer resigned Wednesday amid an ethics investigation of 1983 sex charges and his comments on race and immigration. The Prescott Republican lawmaker stepped down as he faced a 5 p.m. deadline to hand over documents demanded by the House Ethics Committee. Earlier in the day...
Arkansas Governor Signs 18-Week Abortion Ban Into Law
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas' Republican governor has signed into law a measure banning most abortions 18 weeks into a woman's pregnancy, enacting one of the strictest prohibitions in the country. Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Friday signed the measure, which includes exceptions for rape, incest and medical emergencies. Arkansas already...
Judicial Commission Throws the Book at Republican AG Candidate
SACRAMENTO — The Republican judge who ran unsuccessfully for California attorney general last year has been barred from the bench or working in state courts for using his position to help his campaign, accepting gifts and aiding his son's employer. Republican Steven Bailey was censured Wednesday by California's Commission on...
New Election Ordered in Disputed North Carolina House Race
RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina's elections board Thursday ordered a new election in the nation's last undecided congressional race after the Republican candidate conceded his lead was tainted by evidence of ballot-tampering by political operatives working for him. The State Board of Elections voted 5-0 in favor of a do-over...
Anti-Abortion Bills: Odds Good in GOP States, not Congress
President Donald Trump's call for a ban on late-term abortions is unlikely to prevail in Congress, but Republican legislators in several states are pushing ahead with their own tough anti-abortion bills that they hope can pass muster with the Supreme Court. Two bills proposing to outlaw abortions after a fetal...
Trump Campaign Takes Steps to Prevent a Challenge Within GOP
WASHINGTON — Worried about a potential Republican primary challenge, President Donald Trump's campaign has launched a state-by-state effort to prevent an intraparty fight that could spill over into the general-election campaign. The nascent initiative has been an intense focus in recent weeks and includes taking steps to change state party...