Associated Press: “The state’s attorney general said he asked to file a lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court in what is considered a long-shot attempt to assert state powers on U.S. Bureau of Land Management property across about one-third of Utah.”

“The number of registered Republican voters in Florida officially surpassed Democrats by more than 1 million on Sunday, a milestone reflecting political shifts in the Sunshine State and the largest margin for the GOP since the late 1980s,” the Orlando Sentinel reports.

“That means Republicans make up nearly 37% of Florida’s voters, compared to about 29% for Democrats.”

“Michele Morrow, the Republican nominee to run K-12 public education in North Carolina, filmed a video after attending the January 6 riot at the US Capitol urging then-President Donald Trump to put ‘the Constitution to the side’ and use the military to stay in power,” CNN reports.

“In a deleted Facebook livestream she filmed from her hotel room, Morrow called for mass arrests of anyone who helped certify the 2020 election.”

California state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil is leaving the Democratic Party to become a Republican, the Sacramento Bee reports.

“In other states, Alvarado-Gil’s move would be notable. In California, it’s highly unusual. The 50-year-old legislator representing California Senate District 4 will give up being the chair of the Senate Human Services Committee to join a Republican Senate caucus deep in the minority.”

Former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) sent his son to a disciplinary school in Jamaica that was raided for abusing the teenagers, the Times of London reports.

Then he apparently failed to pick up his son, allowing him to become a ward of Jamaica.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), who has been dogged by controversy since recounting how she chose to shoot dead a puppy and a goat, attracted new questions when it was noted that some of her official social media accounts appeared to have been deleted, The Guardian reports.

“Some prominent conservative lawmakers and commentators are advocating for ending no-fault divorce, laws that exist in all 50 US states and allow a person to end a marriage without having to prove a spouse did something wrong, like commit adultery or domestic violence,” The Guardian reports.

“The socially conservative, and often religious, rightwing opponents of such divorce laws are arguing that the practice deprives people – mostly men – of due process and hurt families, and by extension, society. Republican lawmakers in Louisiana, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Texas have discussed eliminating or increasing restrictions on no-fault marriage laws.”

“Two years ago, California was so flush that Gov. Gavin Newsom was moved to make a bold declaration about the state’s estimated $100 billion budget surplus,” the Washington Post reports.

Said Newsom: “Simply without precedent. No other state in American history has ever experienced a surplus as large as this.”

“In those heady days, the state’s record-setting surfeit of cash seemed like a resounding endorsement of the California way, bolstering Newsom’s rising national profile and presidential bona fides.”

“But fast-forward to 2024 and the situation has swung wildly in the opposite direction: The state — still the wealthiest and most populous in the nation — is facing a nearly $50 billion budget shortfall in the coming fiscal year, testing its commitment to the increasingly liberal agenda advanced in recent years.”

Michigan State Rep. Neil Friske (R) could face three felony charges, following his arrest early Thursday morning, the Michigan Advance reports.

According to a records obtained through the Michigan State Police Internet Criminal History Access tool, Lansing Police have requested charges of felony sexual assault, assault and a weapons-related offense against Friske.

Michigan state Rep. Neil Friske (R) was arrested early Thursday morning in Lansing on undisclosed charges, the Detroit News reports.

Friske is considered one of the more conservative members of the state legislature.

“A Republican lawmaker publicly apologized to a Democratic colleague before the Vermont House of Representatives after she was caught on video pouring water into his bag multiple times over the course of five months,” Boston.com reports.

Said state Rep. Mary Morrisesey (R): “I am truly ashamed of my actions.”

“Videos of Morrissey pouring cups of water into a personal bag belonging to Rep. Jim Carroll (D), who also represents Bennington, were first acquired by Seven Days. The news outlet obtained the videos via a public records request after Carroll mounted a camera above where he hung his bag to find a culprit for the frequent soakings his belongings were getting.”

“Maryland Gov. Wes Moore will issue a mass pardon of more than 175,000 marijuana convictions Monday morning, one of the nation’s most sweeping acts of clemency involving a drug now in widespread recreational use,” the Washington Post reports.

“The pardons will forgive low-level marijuana possession charges for an estimated 100,000 people in what the Democratic governor said is a step to heal decades of social and economic injustice that disproportionately harms Black and Brown people. Moore noted criminal records have been used to deny housing, employment and education, holding people and their families back long after their sentences have been served.”

Pennsylvania state Rep. Stephanie Borowicz (R) argued on the House floor that free menstrual products at public schools is a step towards communism.

Said Borowicz: “It is just another step by the governor and Democrats to have government provide everything for you, which leads to communism.”

“A wave of Republican incumbents were swept out of the Texas House in Tuesday’s primary runoffs, including a handful who opposed school vouchers last fall, handing Gov. Greg Abbott a tentative majority in the lower chamber on his signature issue,” the Texas Tribune reports.

“With most ballots counted across the state, six of the eight GOP House members who were forced into overtime appeared to lose their runoffs, continuing a surge of anti-establishment energy that had already led to the ouster of nine House Republicans in the March primary.”

“Republican Party of Texas delegates voted Saturday on a platform that called for new laws to require the Bible to be taught in public schools and a constitutional amendment that would require statewide elected leaders to win the popular vote in a majority of Texas counties,” the Texas Tribune reports.

“Under current voting patterns, in which Republicans routinely win in the state’s rural counties, such a requirement would effectively end Democrats’ chances of winning statewide office.”

Judd Legum: “Training materials produced by the Florida Department of Education direct middle and high school teachers to indoctrinate students in the tenets of Christian nationalism, a right-wing effort to merge Christian and American identities.”

Gov. Chris Sununu (R) said “almost all the governors get along” but there were two over the years “who nobody likes.”

He called former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) “just a jackass” and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) “just a prick.”

Longtime Idaho Senate leader Chuck Winder (R) was ousted in the Republican primary election, the Idaho Press reports.