2023-2024 Presidential, senate, house, state and city election thread

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Larry Elder drops out of 2024 GOP primary, backs Trump

Source: CNN

Republican presidential candidate Larry Elder is suspending his 2024 campaign for the White House and has endorsed former President Trump for the party nominee.

“As I look at the path forward, and after careful consideration and consultation with my campaign team, I have made the difficult decision to suspend my campaign,” Elder said in a statement announcing the end of his campaign.

“Now that I am exiting the race,” he continued. “I am proud to announce my endorsement of Donald Trump for President of the United States.”

The conservative radio host jumped into the GOP primary with his longshot bid in April, citing a “moral, religious, and a patriotic duty” to run for the Oval Office.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4 ... ald-trump/

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RFK Jr. Demands Secret Service Protection After Alleged Trespasser is Arrested Twice on the Same Day
by Alex Henderson
October 27, 2023

Introduction:

(Alternet) After leaving the 2024 Democratic presidential primary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is now running for president as an independent. Kennedy, the son of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy Sr. and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, is not receiving U.S. Secret Service protection — but believes that he should in light of an alleged intruder entering his property in California.

The alleged intruder, according to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is Jonathan Macht — who was arrested twice on suspicion of trespassing. Macht, a 28-year-old real estate agent, was first arrested on Wednesday morning, October 25, the LAPD says, and was arrested a second time after returning to RFK Jr.'s property later that day.

Politico's Christopher Cadelago reports that Gavin de Becker & Associates, RFK Jr.'s security firm, has told the U.S. Secret Service about the arrests and described Macht as an "obsessed individual."

On X, formerly Twitter, RFK Jr. posted, "Yesterday an intruder climbed the fence at my home and was arrested. After being released from police custody later in the day, he immediately returned to my home and was arrested again."

In a separate tweet, the presidential hopeful — whose anti-vaxxer views have drawn widespread criticism from medical experts — complained, "DHS Secretary Mayorkas has twice refused to grant Secret Service protection for our campaign. For full transparency, here are all the details, including the 3rd formal submission letter to Sec. Mayorkas."

Read more here: https://www.alternet.org/msn-uk/rfk-jr-2666086083/

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Arizona's Presidential Election Timeline Doesn't Work
by Jen Fifield
October 23, 2023

Introduction:

(Alternet) Election officials in Arizona are pushing Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and state lawmakers to hold a special legislative session to correct what they see as a potentially impossible timeline for next year’s presidential election resulting from new federal and state laws.

County election directors and officials with the Arizona Association of Counties have been meeting with Hobbs’ staff and Republican legislative leaders, asking them to convene a special session by mid-November to consider fixes such as moving up the primary election date, condensing the timeline for counting and recounting ballots, and changing certification deadlines, Jen Marson, AACO’s executive director, told Votebeat on Wednesday.

Republican legislative leaders said in statements on Wednesday that they will work in coming months to address the issue. House Speaker Ben Toma has told AACO that the issue will be expedited during the regular session beginning in early January, likely in a concurrent special session, according to House spokesperson Andrew Wilder. A concurrent special session would allow lawmakers to address it quickly.

If the timeline is not fixed before the election cycle begins, the election directors warned in a Sept. 11 letter first reported by the Washington Post, any statewide recount in the primary election could result in military and overseas voters not getting their ballots on time. And any statewide presidential recount in the general election could mean that the state misses the federal deadline to send in the state’s presidential electors.

Coconino County Elections Director Eslir Musta said without a change for the general election, “quite frankly I don’t see a path forward in meeting the statutory deadline.”

Read more here: https://www.alternet.org/az-election-timeline/

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What to Know about Democratic Presidential Candidate Dean Phillips
by Torey Van Oot
October 27, 2023

Introduction:

(Axios) Rep. Dean Phillips has launched his long-shot presidential primary challenge against President Biden.

The big picture: The Minnesota Democrat has for months been calling on fellow Democrats to put forward an alternative candidate, citing concerns about Biden's age and popularity.

• On Friday, he filed for the New Hampshire primary ballot and kicked off his campaign with a bus tour through the state.
What is Dean Phillips' background?

Phillips, 54, was born and raised in the Twin Cities. His biological father, Artie Pfefer, died in the Vietnam War when he was a baby. His mother later married the heir to the Phillips Distilling Company.

Additional Extract:

Of note: His late grandmother Jeanne Phillips wrote the "Dear Abby" advice column under the pen name Abigail Van Buren.

Read more here: https://www.axios.com/2023/10/27/demo ... en-2024

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339,396 votes have been cast in New Jersey mid-term election

New Jerseyans have cast 339,396 votes in advance of the November 7 general election, including 326,128 vote-by-mail ballots and 13,268 in-person early votes, according to an analysis by Ryan Dubicki, an election researcher for the Associated Press.

That brings New Jersey’s voter turnout for next week’s off-off-year election to 5.24%.

Nearly two-thirds of all votes cast so far are from Democrats (65%), while 22% of the electorate are Republicans and 13% are unaffiliated voters.

Democrats and Republicans are dead even at their rate of return of mail-in ballots (40%), but Democrats statewide have returned 144,815 more ballots than Republicans after 357,796 more Democrats than Republicans requested VBM ballots.

In key legislative districts, Democrats have a significant edge in advance votes:

https://newjerseyglobe.com/campaigns/33 ... -election/

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Biden supporters launch New Hampshire write-in campaign after president forgoes ballot

Source: Washington Post

Dozens of key Democrats are launching a write-in campaign for President Biden in New Hampshire’s primary election next year after the president declined to add his name to the ballot — the latest in a standoff between the Granite State’s election officials and the Democratic National Committee.

“Writing in Joe Biden for President in the 2024 New Hampshire Presidential Primary is important because our democracy matters more than petty party politics,” the group, “Write-In Biden,” states on its website. “While misguided DNC rules will leave Joe Biden off the primary ballot here in 2024, New Hampshire Democrats and Democrat-leaning Independents overwhelmingly support Joe Biden and plan to write him in.”

The group includes more than 100 prominent New Hampshire Democratic and independent figures, including state lawmakers and former party leaders.

Earlier this year, the DNC approved a plan to reshuffle the order in which states would appear in its 2024 primary calendar, moving South Carolina to the first spot, followed by New Hampshire and Nevada a week later, then Michigan. Proponents of the plan — including Biden himself — argued that South Carolina was much more diverse than Iowa and New Hampshire, which traditionally have held the first-in-the-nation caucus and primary election, respectively.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... re-ballot/

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