Republican

Ralph Reed, founder and chair of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, interviewed 2024 presidential candidates at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s fall banquet in Des Moines Sept. 16, 2023. (Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

GOP presidential candidates focus on abortion, Israel, parental rights at evangelical event

BY: - September 17, 2023

Republican presidential candidates emphasized their support for abortion restrictions, parental rights and Israel while working Saturday night to win over evangelical Iowa caucusgoers. More than 1,000 people gathered in Des Moines for the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition annual fall banquet. The conservative Christian organization has played an influential role in the Republican presidential race […]

Protesters march from Woodlane Street to the Arkansas Capitol on Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023, to deliver a letter to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' office detailing the difficulties they have had with the state's Medicaid program. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)

Despite federal warnings, red and blue states aggressively cull Medicaid rolls

BY: - August 28, 2023

Despite federal warnings to slow down, both red and blue states have cut off Medicaid coverage for nearly 4 million people because they lack the proper paperwork. In at least four states, half of all the people who have lost coverage for any reason are children. During the pandemic, the federal government directed states not […]

Republican presidential candidates (L-R), former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum participate in the first debate of the GOP primary season hosted by FOX News at the Fiserv Forum on August 23, 2023 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Trump absent but still dominates as GOP presidential rivals clash at first debate

BY: , and - August 23, 2023

Eight Republican presidential candidates gathered onstage Wednesday night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for a heated first primary debate heavily influenced by former President Donald Trump, though the party’s front runner refused to attend the two-hour event. Trump instead recorded a competing 46-minute interview with former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson that aired on X, formerly known […]

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson speaks at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox Aug. 19, 2023. (Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Arkansas’ Asa Hutchinson calls on Trump to participate in GOP debate

BY: - August 20, 2023

Presidential hopefuls former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Libertarian Chase Oliver held the final political stops at the Iowa State Fair Saturday, finishing out the parade of 2024 candidates who came to campaign in the first-in-the-nation state. As of Friday, more than 800,000 people had walked through the state fair gates. Among attendees have been […]

Presidential candidate Mike Pence — previously the vice president and an Indiana governor — talks states rights at the National Conference of State Legislatures’ summit in Indianapolis on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

Pence defends Georgia election after Trump indictment, announces states’ rights plan

BY: - August 16, 2023

This story has been updated to correct the name of the author. Former Vice President Mike Pence defended Georgia’s elections in a speech Wednesday morning — days after former president Donald Trump was indicted in that state — even as he denounced what he framed as politically motivated attacks on his former boss. “Despite what […]

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson spoke with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds at the Iowa State Fair Aug. 15, 2023. (Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

GOP presidential candidates Hutchinson, Binkley and Scott campaign at Iowa State Fair

BY: - August 15, 2023

Three more Republican presidential candidates spoke to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds Tuesday in the Iowa State Fair’s second week. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Texas pastor Ryan Binkley and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott met with Reynolds for “fair-side chats.” The fair in Des Moines is a must-stop for most presidential candidates. Former President Donald Trump […]

One Person One Vote spokesman Dennis Willard introducing Deidra Reese from Ohio Unity Coalition at the ‘No’ campaign party. Nick Evans/Ohio Capital Journal)

Ohio’s Issue 1, which would have made it harder to amend state constitution, goes down to defeat

BY: and - August 8, 2023

The Republican-led effort to make amending Ohio’s constitution more difficult has failed. As of 11:45 p.m. Eastern, unofficial results for the Aug. 8 special election show voters rejected Issue 1 57% to 43%. The Associated Press called the race at 9:00 p.m. While precincts were still reporting late into the night and absentee ballots will […]

New charges for Trump in classified documents case involve video evidence

BY: - July 27, 2023

A federal grand jury added three felony charges against Donald Trump on Thursday in the case alleging the former president took classified materials from the White House after his term ended. Trump directed employees to destroy video evidence that could aid the prosecution in the criminal case, according to a 60-page superseding indictment filed Thursday […]

Trump makes quick but lucrative campaign stop in Louisiana

BY: - July 26, 2023

METAIRIE, La. — Former President Donald Trump spent a few hours Tuesday evening in Louisiana among well-heeled supporters who want to return him to the White House in the 2024 election. Trump’s state campaign chairmen in his two previous presidential runs — retired shipbuilder Boysie Bollinger and developer and former banker Joe Canizaro — hosted […]

Arkansas AG signs on to letter opposing abortion exception to federal health privacy rule

BY: - July 19, 2023

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin joined 18 of his peers last month in opposing a proposed federal rule that would prohibit the disclosure of personal health information in investigations involving reproductive health care. The proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services expands existing privacy protections to bar sharing personal health information […]

U.S. Capitol on a winter night, as smoke rises from fireplaces. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

US House Dems seek to stiffen penalties for employers violating federal child labor law

BY: - June 29, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee Democrats on Thursday announced the introduction of a bill to increase civil and criminal penalties for employers who knowingly violate child labor laws. The measure would also prevent states from easing federal child labor standards. The bill, The Protecting Children Act, comes as multiple states have passed […]

COMMENTARY
In this photo from a 2022 baseball game in Minneapolis, Minnesota, fans pose for a photo in front of a Pride sign at Target Field. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)

Happy Pride Month. Creepy, bully Republican lawmakers are fixated on assaulting our community

BY: - June 8, 2023

Happy Pride Month, America, where LGBTQ+ people are under constant assault by bully Republican lawmakers who are weirdly obsessed with our community, especially the transgender members of it. Transgender people — especially transgender people of color — have been leading the activist charge toward LGBTQ+ human rights and equality since the beginning, literally throwing the […]