Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) announced in a video that she is undergoing treatment for recently-discovered lung cancer, CNN reports.
Said Ivey: “The good news is I am one of the fortunate ones where this was discovered early, and it is very treatable. The better news is Alabama is home to some of the world’s leading physicians. My team of doctors have assured me this treatment has a very high rate of success and will have a minimal impact on my schedule.”
“Kentucky State Police seized a computer Tuesday from the Office of the Secretary of State as part of an ongoing investigation into how Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes and her aides used voter data,” the Lexington Herald Leader reports.
Pennsylvania state Sen. Michael Former (R) “is facing child pornography possession charges after authorities say a social media website told them the user had uploaded an image using its service,” the Pittsburgh Tribune reports.
“The attorney general’s office’s Child Predator Section, Lebanon city police and U.S. Department of Homeland Security executed a search warrant at Folmer’s home, and reportedly found child porn images on his phone.”
“A new lawsuit seeks to have Republican attorney general nominee Daniel Cameron’s name removed from the Nov. 5 election ballot, arguing that he lacks the eight years of experience as a ‘practicing attorney’ required for the office by Kentucky’s constitution,” the Lexington Herald Leader reports.
“The Kentucky Bar Association admitted Cameron on Oct. 21, 2011, which means the election will be held eight years after he was licensed to begin practicing law. But Cameron, who is 33, spent the next two years serving as a clerk… Judicial clerks may not practice law during their clerkships, as explained to them in their formal ethics guidelines.”
Former Idaho gubernatorial candidate Steve Pankey (R) told the Idaho Statesman that he is under investigation in the cold-case killing of a 12-year-old girl in Colorado 35 years ago.
Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) filed a $400 million defamation suit against CBS News on Thursday, claiming broadcast interviews with two women accusing him of sexual assault caused him “emotional distress,” WTKR reports.
“I think it is the last gasp of a dying majority here. And every single one of those House members and state senators are going to be up for election next year along with me running for re-election for governor. And there will be a judgment day in North Carolina.”
— North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D), quoted by the Raleigh News & Observer, on Republicans calling a surprise budget veto override vote with few Democrats present.
“In a surprise move Wednesday morning, the N.C. House of Representatives voted to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the state budget with just over half of the 120 members present to vote,” the Raleigh News & Observer reports.
“Democrats in the chamber objected to the bill being brought up, saying they were told there would be no votes during the 8:30 a.m. session and that it was just a formality so work could begin. Rep. Jason Saine (R) made the motion to reconsider the state budget and chaos in the chamber quickly ensued.”
Slate reports Democrats were at a 9/11 ceremony and had been promised no votes would be scheduled.
Tennessee state Rep. Rick Tillis (R), the majority whip, “has resigned from House leadership” following “scrutiny for his alleged role in an anonymous Twitter account that attacked his fellow Republicans,” the Tennessean reports.
West Virginia state Sen. Mike Maroney (R) “has been charged with soliciting prostitution, and now faces calls from the state’s Democratic party to resign from office,” CNN reports.
“A new Missouri ban on abortions at or after eight weeks of pregnancy won’t take effect Wednesday after a federal judge temporarily blocked it from being implemented,” the AP reports.
“The law includes exceptions for medical emergencies, but not for rape or incest. If courts don’t uphold the eight-week ban, the measure includes a series of less-restrictive bans ranging from 14 weeks up to 20 weeks.”
“Joe Arpaio, the tough-guy former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, announced that he’s running for his old job on Sunday, exactly two years after President Trump pardoned him for a federal contempt-of-court conviction,” NBC News reports.
“A persistent lawsuit seeking to do just that with West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) was back in a courtroom Wednesday,” NBC News reports.
“The Republican billionaire has frequently been criticized by members of both major parties for being absent from the Charleston statehouse as his business empire of more than 100 companies bogs down in litigation.”
“But perhaps the most forceful condemnation has come from a Democratic lawmaker whose lawsuits have accused Justice of violating a passage of the state Constitution that says the governor ‘shall reside at the seat of government.'”
Washington state Rep. Matt Shea (R) “connected close allies with a group offering training to young men in ‘biblical warfare’ that includes how to use knives, pistols and rifles, with lessons based in part on the teachings of a Georgia-based neo-Confederate pastor,” the Guardian reports.
“Shea later made videos in support of the group, and appeared alongside them at a gathering at a religious community in remote eastern Washington. He also paid the founder of the group money from his campaign fund in 2018.”
The Spokane Spokesman-Review says that Shea and some of his closest supporters “have made physical preparations for a holy war, one that would help them establish their long-envisioned 51st state, their Redoubt, their Christian homeland.”
“Twenty-three Texas towns have been struck by a ‘coordinated’ ransomware attack,” CNBC reports.
“Ransomware is a type of malicious software, often delivered via email, that locks up an organization’s systems until a ransom is paid or files are recovered by other means. In many cases, ransomware significantly damages computer hardware and linked machinery and leads to days or weeks with systems offline, which is why it can be so costly to cities.”
Illinois State Senator Martin Sandoval (D) has apologized after someone posted photos of a mock assassination of a man wearing a Donald Trump mask and a mariachi suit at one of his fundraisers, WCIA reports.
The photo series shows the profile of a man with a large toy weapon pointed at and then shooting the Trump figure.
Indiana state Rep. Dan Forestal (D) was charged with drunken driving and impersonating an officer after he tried to buy cocaine “party favors” at a local bar, CNN reports.
Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jenean Hampton (R) filed suit against Gov. Matt Bevin (R) on Thursday, asking for court orders that would restore her two fired staff members to their jobs, the Louisville Courier Journal reports.
“The 12-page lawsuit, filed in Franklin Circuit Court, argues the Bevin administration illegally dismissed Hampton’s chief of staff, Steve Knipper, in late January and her deputy chief of staff, Adrienne Southworth, in late May.”
Associated Press: “The dispute threatens to complicate Bevin’s efforts to win a second term in a state that has tilted heavily toward the GOP.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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