“Conservative activists are launching another attempt to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom, seeking to capitalize on anger over the state’s yawning budget deficit and arguing that the top White House surrogate must be stopped before he can make a presidential run of his own,” Politico reports.

“You are a bought and paid for, pathetic narcissist. If you had any honor, you would challenge me, or any of my Republican colleagues to a duel instead of strutting around posting pictures with a rifle threatening to shoot RINOS… Kiss my ass!”

— Texas state Rep. Glenn Rogers (R), quoted by the Texas Tribune, to Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller (R), who backed his GOP primary opponent.

A West Virginia bill is moving forward that would allow librarians and teachers to be criminally liable if minors obtain books with “obscene material,” USA Today reports.

“Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s (R) criminal trial appears poised to begin in two months after a judge on Friday denied his request to dismiss charges,” the Dallas Morning News reports.

“Paxton’s long-awaited trial is set to begin April 15 in Houston on nearly 9-year-old charges of felony securities fraud. He has pleaded not guilty.”

“After years of violent threats and harassment for accepting the results of the 2020 election in Arizona’s largest county of Maricopa, the Republican who led the Board of Supervisors during the last presidential election said Thursday that he will not run for reelection,” the Washington Post reports.

“Clint Hickman (R), 59, an egg farmer and former Trump supporter who twice refused to answer phone calls from the former president after his loss and has provided information to special counsel Jack Smith’s investigators about his experience, said his time will be better spent with his wife and kids.”

Kentucky state Rep. Jennifer Decker (R) “sparked outrage and ridicule after trying to rewrite the past during Black History Month by saying that her father—a white man born in the 1930s—was a slave,” the Daily Beast reports.

“Decker attempted to redefine the meaning of American chattel slavery while claiming that diversity and equity programs are unnecessary because her father was able to rise up from his alleged humble beginnings.”

“Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz (R), who has made increasing trust in government a focus of his tenure as a legislative leader, is giving conflicting reasons for keeping his calendar of speaking engagements from the public after speaking at a Christian nationalist event last month,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

“While the Utah House of Representative staff claim Schultz’s calendar is not a public record, a response to an open records request from The Salt Lake Tribune seeking a copy of Schultz’s schedule now says the elected leader’s calendar does not exist.”

After Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) blasted Democrats in a political speech over the weekend, state Senate Democrats put his proposed $2 billion development for a professional basketball and hockey arena on ice — at least for now, the Richmond Times Dispatch reports.

“An Idaho lawmaker wants to expand a law that bans cannibalism over fears about a rise in human composting,” the Idaho Statesman reports.

“Rep. Heather Scott (R) introduced a bill Thursday to expand the state’s cannibalism ban and told a legislative committee that she’s worried about the possibility that people are eating other people.”

Said Scott: “This is going to be normalized at some point, the way our society’s going and the direction we’re going.”

Kyle Biedermann (R), who is running to unseat a fellow Republican in a March primary, blasted the state House for expelling former Rep. Bryan Slaton (R), “who had sex with a 19-year old intern after plying her with alcohol,” the Texas Tribune reports.

Said Biedermann: “Was he convicted? What was his crime? Is it a crime to have sex with a 19-year-old woman? In your house, not at the Capitol.”

Every member of the GOP-dominated House voted to remove Slaton last year after an ethics investigation.

“Kansas is set to nearly double state legislators’ pay at the start of next year, making their compensation better than it is for their counterparts in a majority of states, including more populous ones like Georgia and Texas,” the AP reports.

Rolling Stone: “Dusty Deevers is a fundamentalist preacher. He’s also a state senator. And he insists he doesn’t see ‘any firewalls’ between his two roles — as he crusades to outlaw porn, end what he decries as the ‘abortion holocaust,’ and abolish no-fault divorce in Oklahoma. He argues that the sole purpose of government is to ‘promote what is good in accordance with the will of God…'”

“Unlike many Christian nationalists who seek to ghostwrite legislation, or covertly sway candidates, Deevers is operating in the open. He holds a position of direct political power, and he is able to shape the GOP agenda in Oklahoma and craft legislation in the Sooner State. He represents the bleeding edge of a far-right Christian movement that seeks to put the force of law behind its fundamentalist theology — and woe be to any nonbelievers…”

“The state senator has only been on the job for a few weeks, but he’s already grabbed national notice for another effort to legislate his morals: by criminalizing porn. Deevers’ anti-smut bill would subject porn creators — and even viewers — to felony prison sentences of up to 20 years. The bill would create a bounty system, similar to what Texas instituted in its infamous abortion bill, that would allow those who rat out their horny neighbors to collect civil penalties of up to $10,000.”

Texas Tribune: “The calls for Texas to defend itself and defy the federal government have set fire to a long-simmering fight over states’ rights, emboldening right-wing figures small and large, from secessionists… to far-right militias and a convoy of protesters from across the country that are currently en route to the border.”

“This week, the Texas Military Department — which oversees the Texas state and national guard — also began flying the ‘Come and Take It’ flag from the Battle of Gonzales outside its Austin headquarters.”

Joyce Vance: Texas ignores the Constitution and the rule of law.

“A judge dismissed a lawsuit Disney filed against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that alleged he retaliated against the company for publicly criticizing a controversial parental rights law in the state that the governor backed,” CNBC reports.

“The judge ruled that Disney lacked legal standing to sue DeSantis.”

Donald Trump endorsed David Covey (R) in his challenge to Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) after the former president accused Phelan of overseeing a “fraudulent impeachment” of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R).

He acknowledged that Phelan is a supporter, but called him an “embarrassment.”

Salt Lake Tribune: “A bill creating a process to give legislators the power to order state officials and agencies to ignore federal laws and regulations was approved by the Utah House of Representatives on Friday.”

“The House passage follows Gov. Spencer Cox’s endorsement of Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to defy the Supreme Court and supplant federal authority over the southern border.”