Politics

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy has won reelection, becoming the first governor in the state since 1998 to win back-to-back terms.

Dunleavy received over 50% of the vote after final tallies were released Wednesday, and the race did not go to ranked choice voting.

Dunleavy said he was “relieved that it’s over and behind us and now we can focus on the next four years.”

He attributed the victory to effective communication he says he had with Alaska residents, a practice that started with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We told the people of Alaska on the first press conference we had on that virus that we were going to communicate consistently, constantly, and we were going to be transparent in everything we reported to the people, and that became the norm,” Dunleavy said in a phone interview after the win.

“I think that strengthened the relationship between myself and the people of Alaska,” he said.

Dunleavy, who during his first term faced a recall effort, overcame challenges in the Nov. 8 election from former Gov. Bill Walker, an independent; Democrat Les Gara, a former state lawmaker; and Republican Charlie Pierce, a former borough mayor who rejected calls to suspend his campaign after he was sued in October by a woman who said he sexually harassed her.

Gara and his running mate, Jessica Cook, congratulated Dunleavy and Lt. Gov.-elect Nancy Dahlstrom.

“Both of us wish Mike and Nancy strength as they address daunting problems that face all of us, from struggling schools that impact student opportunity to silent but damaging crises, including the lack of affordable and accessible childcare, affordable housing, and a vastly inadequate mental health workforce that’s needed by children and adults living in crisis,” he said in a statement.

Dunleavy kept a low profile during the campaign, with Walker and Gara lamenting his decision to appear in just a handful of debates.

Dunleavy’s first term was marked early on by tensions with lawmakers in both parties and by a recall effort fueled by public anger over vetoes and budget cuts he had proposed. Recall backers abandoned their push last year, with the governor’s race looming.

Dunleavy touted as significant the dividend paid to residents this year from Alaska’s oil-wealth fund, which combined with a one-time energy relief payment of $662 totaled $3,284 per person. He said the money would provide relief to Alaskans amid high inflation and energy costs. Last year’s dividend was $1,114. There is a yearly application process and residency requirements to qualify for a dividend.

Walker said he thought the payout, approved by lawmakers earlier this year amid a spike in oil prices, benefited Dunleavy’s candidacy.

“It’s hard to argue with money being sent out,” he said in an interview after the election.

The amount available for dividends for years was determined by a formula. But Walker, while governor in 2016 and facing deficits, cut the amount of funds available for checks. The size since has been set by lawmakers, who have been using earnings from the oil-wealth fund, long used to pay dividends, to also help pay for government expenses and limiting what can be withdrawn each year from earnings.

Dunleavy for years pushed unsuccessfully for a dividend in line with the old formula. He later proposed dividing the annual withdrawal from earnings 50/50 between dividends and government expenses. This year’s dividend was in line with that approach.

Two public interest groups in September filed a complaint with the agency that enforces Alaska campaign finance rules, alleging improper coordination between Dunleavy’s campaign and a third-party group that supported Dunleavy’s reelection. The campaign denied any coordination. An investigation report was expected sometime after the election.

This year’s state elections were the first since a divided federal appeals court panel last year struck down certain contribution limits, including limits on what an individual can give to candidates.

Gara was especially critical of the decision and blamed the Dunleavy administration for not challenging the ruling. He said on social media that he would “be there to work on a voter initiative to put limits back on Alaska campaign donations, so your voices are not treated less importantly than the voices of outside donors.”

Dunleavy ran on a ticket with Dahlstrom, a former state lawmaker who led the state corrections department during much of Dunleavy’s first term. The lieutenant governor, among other responsibilities, oversees elections in Alaska.

Dunleavy’s new term begins the first Monday in December.

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Associated Press writer Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska, contributed to this report.

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Democrats hope to use their newfound political control in some states to guarantee that women have access to abortion, while some GOP strongholds may temper their efforts to deepen restrictions after poorer-than-expected results in the midterms.

Even after their gains this month, Democrats lack the power to codify abortion rights into federal law. That puts the abortion debate squarely on the states to navigate and rework the patchwork of laws that have been in place since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

There will still be a patchwork of policies: In Minnesota, Democrats are planning to add the right to abortion into state law. In the GOP stronghold of Florida, leaders are talking about more restrictions but haven’t settled on a plan. In Pennsylvania, pickups for Democrats mean they can likely stop Republicans from adding anti-abortion language to the state constitution, and in divided states such as Wisconsin, a legislative stalemate remains.

“The real uncertainty is how far states go” with abortion bans, said Mary Ziegler, a professor at the University of California, Davis, School of Law and an expert on the politics of reproduction. Post-midterms, some states might think twice before forging ahead with strict bans.

But, she said, some conservative lawmakers might say: “I don’t see a problem here. We’re fine. We won our elections and our voters want abortion bans.”

The reversal of Roe, which enshrined the right to abortion nationwide, was broadly unpopular among voters. According to VoteCast, a survey of more than 94,000 voters conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago, about 6 in 10 say they are angry or dissatisfied by the decision, while about 4 in 10 were pleased. Among Democratic voters, about 6 in 10 say the ruling made them angry.

“Whatever people’s personal feelings are on abortion, they are very clear they don’t want the government and politicians monkeying around with their health care,” said Megan Peterson, executive director of Gender Justice, a Minnesota nonprofit that advocates for equal rights.

Minnesota doesn’t have any laws guaranteeing access to abortion, but abortion is protected under a 1995 state Supreme Court ruling that cites a woman’s right to privacy. After an election that will put Democrats in charge of both legislative chambers and the governor’s office for the first time in eight years, House Speaker Melissa Hortman said a priority when the session begins in January will be to codify abortion rights into state law.

In battleground Michigan, voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment that enshrines abortion rights in the state constitution and affirms a person’s right to make pregnancy-related decisions about abortion and other reproductive services without interference.

Nevertheless, one priority is to remove a 1931 law that criminalizes abortion from the books, said state Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks. Democrats took control of the House and Senate this month. When the new legislature is sworn in, it’ll be the first time since 1983 that the party had full control of the state government.

Brinks said Democrats want to eventually advance other legislation focused on reproductive rights.

“The people were very clear that they value their reproductive freedoms at a very high level and we want to make sure that we affirm that as well,” she said.

Elsewhere, a legislative stalemate could be on the horizon.

In Wisconsin, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers won reelection while Republicans increased their majorities in the state Legislature, but fell short of their goal of reaching a supermajority capable of overriding vetoes.

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos renewed his call to pass a bill allowing for rape and incest exceptions and other changes to the 1849 law, to ensure that the state ban withstands court challenges. But Evers, voicing confidence in a court challenge, said he would veto any bill that keeps the ban in place.

“I don’t see a way to solve this legislatively,” Evers said.

Pennsylvania voters flipped about a dozen seats to Democrats in the state House, which could block Republican efforts to add anti-abortion language to the state constitution.

Nebraska Republicans want to ban abortion, but the GOP appears to have fallen short of securing the 33 seats it needs in the officially nonpartisan, one-house state Legislature to overcome filibusters. That could make it harder for them to ban abortion, even though they control the Legislature and hold every major statewide office.

Other GOP strongholds are seeing roadblocks to bans.

In Kansas, the Legislature retained its strong anti-abortion majorities, but abortion opponents are constrained by a 2019 state Supreme Court decision declaring access to abortion a “fundamental” right under the state constitution.

Voters in August decisively rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to overturn that decision. Abortion opponents instead are looking to other proposals.

Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican who is expected to become House speaker in January, said lawmakers may pursue a law requiring health providers to take all reasonable steps to save the life of an infant born alive, including after an attempted abortion.

“You have to do something that you think has a chance of passing muster,” Hawkins said.

Voters in Montana, where Republicans hold a super majority in the Legislature, rejected a similar ballot measure Nov. 8. Five days later, a lawmaker there requested a bill be drafted to “establish that an infant born alive is a person.” It has yet to be drafted, but another bill already drafted for next year calls for a ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy.

Kentucky voters rejected a Republican-backed ballot measure aimed at denying any constitutional protections for abortion — highlighting an apparent gap between voter sentiment and expectations of the GOP-dominated Legislature, which imposed a near-total abortion ban.

“The people of Kentucky have spoken and their answer is no — no to extremist politicians banning abortion and making private medical decisions on their behalf,” said Amber Duke, interim executive director for the ACLU of Kentucky.

A judge in Georgia this week overturned a ban on abortion starting at about six weeks gestational age, ruling it violated the U.S. Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court precedent when it was enacted in 2019 because Roe was still in effect. But the judge left the door open for the Legislature to revisit the ban.

In Florida, which further cemented its GOP control, the issue was also murky. Florida passed a ban on abortion after 15 weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest during the 2022 legislative session.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis won by a landslide and the House and Senate went from firmly Republican to GOP supermajorities in each chamber. The governor and legislative leaders have all said they support new abortion restrictions, but no specific language has been proposed.

Christine Matthews, a pollster who has worked for Republicans, said even among conservative lawmakers, there could be more debates on how far restrictions should go, as there were this year in Indiana and West Virginia, where laws were passed banning abortion throughout pregnancy but with exceptions in cases of rape and incest.

“For the first time, some of these particularly male legislators were grappling with the fact that this is hard, not everything goes one way,” Matthews said. “People who support it as being between a woman and a doctor are like, ‘Yeah, no kidding.’”

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Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Also contributing were Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan; Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Montana; Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, and Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Florida.

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PHOENIX (AP) — Outgoing Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said Wednesday his Republican administration will ensure an orderly transition to Democrat Katie Hobbs, his first public statement on her victory.

Ducey met with Hobbs in his office more than a week after her victory became clear and days after the last ballots were counted. However, defeated Republican Kari Lake has not conceded and has worked since the election to draw attention to voters who say they were affected by a problem with ballot printers at some polling places in Maricopa County.

“All of us have waited patiently for the democratic process to play out,” Ducey said in a statement. “The people of Arizona have spoken, their votes have been counted and we respect their decision.”

Ducey called to congratulate Hobbs the day after The Associated Press and other news outlets called the race, but he had not made a public statement about the outcome before Wednesday.

Ducey was co-chairman of the Republican Governors Association, which spent more than $10 million on television ads attacking Hobbs, but he was not an enthusiastic supporter of Lake. He endorsed her rival in the GOP primary and, though he endorsed the entire GOP ticket for the general election, he did not campaign with Lake.

Hobbs, currently secretary of state, has formed a transition team that is vetting potential staff and preparing for her to become the first Democrat to hold the state’s top office since Janet Napolitano stepped down to be U.S. Homeland Security secretary after the 2008 election.

The Ducey-Hobbs meeting came a day after the Republican National Committee and the GOP candidate for Arizona attorney general, Abraham Hamadeh, filed an election challenge in his race, which is slated for an automatic recount with Hamadeh trailing by 510 votes.

That challenge, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, alleges a variety of problems affected the outcome of the extremely tight race. It says some ballots were counted that should not have been while others were rejected when they should have been counted. It alleges election workers made mistakes in duplicating ballots that could not be read by electronic tabulators and in determining the intent of voters when ballots were ambiguous.

The suit also claims some voters in Maricopa County were denied an opportunity to vote because of a widely publicized problem at some vote centers where printers produced ballots with markings that were too light to be read by on-site tabulators. Some voters experiencing problems left without voting and didn’t check out with poll workers, so they were unable to vote elsewhere because the county’s computer system shows them as voting.

The suit says Hamadeh and the RNC are not “alleging any fraud, manipulation or other intentional wrongdoing that would impugn the outcomes of the November 8, 2022 general election.”

“The voters of Arizona demand answers and deserve transparency about the gross incompetence and mismanagement of the General Election by certain election officials,” Hamadeh said in a statement.

Democrat Kris Mayes will ask a judge to dismiss Hamadeh’s complaint, Mayes attorney Dan Barr said.

“Abe Hamadeh’s complaint is devoid of actual facts,” Barr said in a statement. “It does not plausibly allege that mistakes in the administration of the election actually occurred, and if they did occur, that they would have made any difference in the result.”

Election Day votes went overwhelmingly for Republicans, but Democrats dominated mail ballots.

Maricopa County officials have acknowledged that some voters were inconvenienced by issues with printers, which were resolved in the early afternoon of Election Day. Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates has said the problems were made worse by prominent Republicans who led their supporters to fear ballots would not be counted.

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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has won reelection, defeating Donald Trump-endorsed GOP rival Kelly Tshibaka.

Murkowski beat Tshibaka in the Nov. 8 ranked choice election. The results were announced Wednesday, when elections officials tabulated the ranked choice results after neither candidate won more than 50% of first-choice votes. Murkowski wound up with 54% of the vote after ranked choice voting, picking up a majority of the votes cast for Democrat Pat Chesbro after she was eliminated.

“I am honored that Alaskans — of all regions, backgrounds and party affiliations — have once again granted me their confidence to continue working with them and on their behalf in the U.S. Senate,” Murkowski said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing the important work ahead of us.”

Tshibaka in a statement posted on her website congratulated Murkowski but took fault with ranked choice voting.

“The new election system has been frustrating to many Alaskans, because it was indisputably designed as an incumbent-protection program, and it clearly worked as intended,” she said.

The race also included Republican Buzz Kelley, who suspended his campaign after the August primary and endorsed Tshibaka.

Murkowski was the only Senate Republican who voted to convict Trump at his impeachment trial last year who was on the ballot this year. Trump was not convicted. But her vote was a sore point for the former president, who vowed to campaign against her.

In 2020, before that year’s election and far before Tshibaka jumped into the Senate race, Trump announced plans to campaign against Murkowski after she criticized him: “Get any candidate ready, good or bad, I don’t care, I’m endorsing. If you have a pulse, I’m with you!”

He appeared at a rally in Anchorage in July for Tshibaka and Sarah Palin, whose run for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat he endorsed. He more recently participated in a tele-rally for Tshibaka in late October. Tshibaka, who worked in federal inspectors general offices before leading the Alaska Department of Administration for two years, credited Trump with helping to raise her name recognition and give her candidacy a boost.

Meanwhile, Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy has won reelection, becoming the first governor in the state since 1998 to win back-to-back terms.

Dunleavy received over 50% of the vote after final tallies were released Wednesday, and the race did not go to ranked choice voting.

Dunleavy said he was “relieved that it’s over and behind us and now we can focus on the next four years.”

He attributed the victory to effective communication he says he had with Alaska residents, a practice that started with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We told the people of Alaska on the first press conference we had on that virus that we were going to communicate consistently, constantly, and we were going to be transparent in everything we reported to the people, and that became the norm,” Dunleavy said in a phone interview after the win.

“I think that strengthened the relationship between myself and the people of Alaska,” he said.

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Associated Press writer Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska, contributed to this report.

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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola has been elected to a full term in the House, months after the Alaska Democrat won a special election to the seat following the death earlier this year of longtime Republican Rep. Don Young.

Peltola defeated Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich, as well as Libertarian Chris Bye in the Nov. 8 election. Results of the ranked choice election were announced Wednesday. Palin and Begich also were candidates in the special election.

“It’s a two-year contract,” Peltola told the Anchorage Daily News after her victory — a 55%-45% margin over Palin in the final tabulation round — was announced. “I will be happy to work for Alaskans again, as long as they’ll have me.”

Peltola, who is Yup’ik, with her win in August became the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress and the first woman to hold Alaska’s House seat. The win also buoyed her fundraising, outpacing those of her rivals in the lead-up to this month’s election.

Messages were sent to Palin’s campaign Wednesday.

Begich congratulated Peltola in a statement, adding: “Our nation faces a number of challenges in the coming years, and our representatives will need wisdom and discernment as they work to put America on a more sound path. My message to Alaskans is to continue to be involved and engaged.”

Peltola embraced Young’s legacy as she sought the two-year term and was endorsed by his daughters, one of whom presented her with a bolo tie of Young’s at an Alaska Federation of Natives conference where Peltola was treated like a rock star. Young held the seat for 49 years.

“Now, I’m a real congressman for all Alaska,” she said. Young often referred to himself that way. Peltola has described his legacy as one of bipartisanship and building support for Alaska interests in Congress.

Peltola was a state lawmaker from the small rural hub community of Bethel for 10 years, ending in 2009. She surprised many with her fourth place finish in the June special primary, in which she emerged from a field of 48 candidates that included current state and local officeholders. That finish was enough to send her to the special election.

During the campaign, she cast herself as a coalition builder, emphasized a desire for more civility in politics and sought to stay out of the sniping between Palin and Begich. Peltola, who most recently worked for a commission whose goal is to rebuild salmon in Alaska’s Kuskokwim River, raised concerns with ocean productivity and cited a need to preserve struggling fisheries.

She also stressed her support of abortion rights.

During a speech in October, she talked about the need for unity and lamented what she said have become pervasive messages in politics “about hate and fear and self-pity. And yes, those resonate, those are compelling motivators. But they’re destructive, they’re acidic, they tear us down.”

She said her priorities for the new term included committee assignments and “working very hard on getting our inflation rates down, our shipping costs down, getting costs down for working families and all Alaskan households.”

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Associated Press writer Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska, contributed to this report.

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ATLANTA (AP) — Casting his vote this month in one of the most politically competitive states in the U.S., Seung Lee happily backed Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s reelection. But when it came to the other top Republican on the ballot, Senate candidate Herschel Walker, he was uneasy.

Walker “doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” said Lee, a software tester in the Atlanta suburb of Decatur who ultimately backed Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock.

He was just one of hundreds of thousands of voters across the U.S. who split their tickets this year in critical contests for governors’ mansions and congressional seats.

Voters deciding to split their tickets or buck their party altogether may have helped Democrats mount a stronger-than-expected performance in the midterm elections. AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of this year’s electorate, underscores how voters were selective in their choices in spite of today’s starkly polarized political climate, often rewarding candidates seen as mainstream while rejecting those viewed as too extreme.

In Georgia, Kemp won more than 200,000 more votes than Walker, a former football star who faced difficulties throughout his campaign, including his exaggerations about his business record, accusations of violence toward his first wife and allegations from two former girlfriends that he paid for their abortions. His underwhelming vote count forced him into a runoff with Warnock.

While 7 in 10 Georgia voters for Kemp said they enthusiastically backed him, only about half of fellow Republican Walker’s voters said that, according to VoteCast. Among Walker supporters, about 4 in 10 said they backed him with reservations and about 1 in 10 said they were simply opposing the other candidates.

The dynamics were even clearer elsewhere.

In Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro won the governor’s race by a larger margin than John Fetterman in the Senate race, earning nearly 280,000 more votes. Fetterman, who experienced a stroke in May, battled concerns about his health in a tight race with Republican celebrity surgeon Mehmet Oz.

VoteCast showed 8% of voters in Pennsylvania split their tickets. Among voters identifying as Republicans, a notable 9% went for Democrat Fetterman, and even more — 18% — went for Shapiro.

Ticket splitting in this election was especially notable given that it has been less evident in recent cycles “as voters have become more polarized and more partisan,” said G. Terry Madonna, senior fellow in residence for political affairs at Millersville University of Pennsylvania.

VoteCast shows voters for Oz and Doug Mastriano, the Republican candidate for governor, were less enthusiastic than voters for Fetterman and Shapiro.

Shapiro’s voters outpaced fellow Democrat Fetterman’s in enthusiasm. Still, despite many voters lacking confidence in Fetterman’s health, VoteCast shows Pennsylvania voters were somewhat more concerned about Oz’s familiarity with the state.

About 4 in 10 voters for Republican Mastriano said they supported him with reservations, and about 1 in 10 supported him in order to oppose other candidates. Overall, about two-thirds of Pennsylvania’s voters were concerned that Mastriano, who commissioned buses for people to attend the rally that preceded the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, had views that are “too extreme.” Only about 4 in 10 said that of Shapiro.

Mastriano “had a base among (former President Donald) Trump’s most loyal supporters, that’s why he got the nomination, but he could not expand that base,” Millersville University’s Madonna said. “Establishment Republicans also moved away from him.” Madonna suggested many were content to do so given some of Shapiro’s more moderate issue positions, including on fracking.

In Wisconsin and Michigan, incumbent Democratic governors overcame Republican challengers who were endorsed by Trump and repeated his denial of 2020’s outcome.

Sixty-three percent of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ voters but only 47% of Republican Tim Michels’ supporters said they backed their candidate enthusiastically. About as many Michels voters said they supported him with reservations. By contrast, in the race for U.S. Senate, 54% of voters for victorious Republican incumbent Ron Johnson were enthusiastic about him.

Michels was a weaker candidate — “he had some liabilities,” said Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School poll in Wisconsin. And in the Senate race, though Johnson won reelection over Democrat Mandela Barnes, the margin was narrower than his 2016 or 2010 victories.

“I think there’s a strong case here that the Democratic advantage in turnout boosted the governor’s race a little over two points from where it was four years ago, and also in the process tightened the Senate race to just that one point margin for Johnson,” Franklin said.

In Michigan, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was more enthusiastically supported than her Republican competitor Tudor Dixon. More were concerned that Dixon was “too extreme” in her political views than said that of Whitmer, 62% vs. 46%. About 1 in 10 Republican voters backed the Democrat.

Arizona stands out from the rest in measures of enthusiasm. Democrat Katie Hobbs defeated Republican Kari Lake in the race for governor despite Lake’s voters being more enthusiastic about the former television news anchor.

Forty-six percent of Hobbs supporters said they enthusiastically supported her, compared to 56% of Lake supporters. Forty-one percent of Hobbs voters backed her with reservations, while 12% were voting against the other candidates.

Lake, who more than once suggested to “ McCain Republicans” that they weren’t at home in her coalition, may have turned off the more moderate members of the party.

As in the other states, voters in Arizona were more likely to be concerned that Lake’s political views were “too extreme”, compared with Hobbs’, 59% vs. 51%. Eleven percent of voters who identified as Republicans backed Democrat Hobbs, including 25% of Republicans who identified as moderate or liberal.

“I think what you see is that this weird coalition has developed … we call it the pro-democracy coalition,” said Reed Galen, co-founder of The Lincoln Project, a GOP group that opposes Trump. “A combination of Democrats, independents and Republicans who move to the Democratic candidate, because that’s the person they see as most accessible.”

“But we shouldn’t underestimate how close a lot of these races were,” he added. “That’s why we call these things the game of small numbers.”

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Fingerhut reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2022 midterm elections at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections. Find more details about AP VoteCast’s methodology at https://www.ap.org/votecast.

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ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia counties will be allowed to hold early voting this Saturday in the U.S. Senate runoff election between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker, under a Wednesday ruling from the state Supreme Court.

The court issued a unanimous, one-sentence ruling declining to review or stay a ruling by the state’s intermediate appellate court. Republicans had objected to the Saturday voting.

Warnock and Walker, the former University of Georgia and NFL football star, were forced into a Dec. 6 runoff because neither won a majority in the midterm election this month. Early in-person voting ends on Dec. 2, the Friday before Election Day, which means that Nov. 26 would be the only possible Saturday when early voting could be held.

At issue is a section of Georgia law that says early in-person voting is not allowed on a Saturday if the Thursday or Friday preceding it is a holiday. The state and Republican groups argued that means voting shouldn’t be allowed this Saturday, Nov. 26, because Thursday is Thanksgiving and Friday is a state holiday. Warnock’s campaign and Democratic groups argued that the prohibition applies only to primaries and general elections, not runoff elections.

Georgia’s 2021 election law compressed the time period between the general election and the runoff to four weeks, and Thanksgiving falls in the middle. Many Georgians will be offered only five weekdays of early in-person voting beginning Nov. 28.

Eighteen of the state’s 159 counties — including six of the 10 most populous — planned to offer voting on Saturday, interim Deputy Secretary of State Gabriel Sterling said on Twitter late Tuesday. Some counties plan to offer early voting Sunday, ahead of the required start Monday.

After initially saying in a television interview that voting would be allowed Nov. 26, Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger then issued guidance to county election officials saying it is not allowed. Warnock’s campaign, along with the Democratic Party of Georgia and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sued last week to challenge that guidance.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox issued an order Friday saying state law does not prohibit early voting this coming Saturday. The state appealed that ruling Monday and asked the Georgia Court of Appeals to stay the lower court ruling. The Court of Appeals issued a single-sentence order late Monday declining to stay the lower court’s order.

State officials accepted that ruling and said they would not pursue further appeals. But the Georgia Republican Party, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Republican National Committee, which had been allowed to join the case as intervenors, on Tuesday appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court.

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HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A Montana man who was among the first people to illegally enter the U.S. Capitol while Congress was certifying President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election has been sentenced to just over three years in federal prison.

Joshua Hughes of East Helena was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly in Washington to 38 months in prison for his actions during the approximately 38 minutes he was inside the Capitol during the insurrection carried out by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.

Hughes, 39, was also ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.

Kelly called the events of Jan. 6, 2021 a national disgrace, Hughes’ attorney, Palmer Hoovestal, told the Independent Record in an email.

“Without the peaceful transfer of power in a democratic form of government, you have nothing,” Hoovestal wrote. ”He therefore wanted to send a message of general deterrence to the people that if you interfere with the peaceful transfer of power to newly elected-leadership, then you do so at your peril.”

Hughes and his brother, Jerod Hughes, 37, pleaded guilty in August to obstruction of an official proceeding.

The brothers climbed through a broken window and Jerod Hughes helped kick open a door to allow other rioters into the Capitol while Congress was certifying the 2020 Electoral College vote, the FBI said in charging documents.

The brothers were near the front of a group that pursued Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman while he backed up a flight of stairs and was able to lead the mob away from the Senate floor. The brothers later made their way into the Senate chamber, court records said.

Jerod Hughes is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 6, 2023, the two-year anniversary of the insurrection.

The brothers are among the at least 880 people who were charged with federal crimes relating to the riot.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A former Tennessee state senator accused of violating federal campaign finance laws pleaded guilty to two charges on Tuesday after initially calling the case against him a political witch hunt.

Former Republican state Sen. Brian Kelsey, who previously pleaded not guilty, changed his plea in front of a federal judge in the case related to his failed 2016 congressional campaign. The move came after his co-defendant, Nashville social club owner Joshua Smith, pleaded guilty last month to one count under a deal that requires him to “cooperate fully and truthfully” with federal authorities.

In October 2021, a federal grand jury in Nashville indicted Kelsey and Smith, who owns The Standard club, on several counts each. The indictment alleged that Kelsey, Smith and others violated campaign finance laws by illegally concealing the transfer of $91,000 — $66,000 from Kelsey’s state Senate campaign committee and $25,000 from a nonprofit that advocated about legal justice issues — to a national political organization to fund advertisements urging support of Kelsey’s 2016 failed congressional campaign.

Prosecutors allege that Kelsey and others caused the national political organization to make illegal and excessive campaign contributions to Kelsey by coordinating with the organization on advertisements, and that they caused the organization to file false reports to the Federal Election Commission.

Kelsey pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election Commission as well as aiding and abetting the acceptance of excessive contributions on behalf of a federal campaign. He faces up to five years in prison for each count.

Kelsey ignored reporters’ questions on the way in and out of court Tuesday. He and Smith are scheduled to be sentenced in June, though Kelsey’s attorney indicated that his team and Smith’s would like the sentencing moved up.

Initially, Kelsey met the charges with a defiant tone, saying in an October 2021 online announcement to reporters that he was “totally innocent,” calling the charges “nothing but a political witch hunt” and blaming President Joe Biden’s administration. He repeated that he was “totally innocent” during a state Senate floor speech days later.

Then in March, Kelsey announced on Twitter that he would not seek reelection. Without mentioning his indictment, he tweeted that he had been influenced by “a recent, exciting change to my personal life, and I look forward to spending more time with my family.” In September, his wife gave birth to their twin sons.

Kelsey, a 44-year-old attorney from Germantown, was first elected to the General Assembly in 2004 as a state representative. He was later elected to the state Senate in 2009.

After Kelsey’s guilty plea, Tennessee Republican Senate Speaker Randy McNally said in a statement: “Brian Kelsey has always been a friend and served the Senate well. I appreciate his willingness to take responsibility and accept punishment. I will be keeping he and his family in my prayers as he faces the consequences of his actions.”

Smith pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the solicitation and spending of at least $25,000 of so-called “soft money” — or funds not subject to federal limitations and reporting requirements — in connection with a federal election.

Within about a week of Smith’s plea, Kelsey’s attorneys asked a judge for a hearing about changing his plea, without specifying how it would change.

The claims in the indictment resemble a complaint against Kelsey’s campaign filed with the Federal Election Commission and the Department of Justice in 2017 by a nonprofit, the Campaign Legal Center.

That complaint claimed that independent expenditures made by the American Conservative Union in the 2016 race were coordinated with Kelsey’s congressional campaign. A spokesperson for the prominent nonprofit conservative organization said at the time of the indictment that it had been “fully cooperating with this investigation since 2018” and that “neither ACU nor any member of the board is a subject or target of this investigation.”

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Road to New Netanyahu Government Passes Through Washington

In addition, Binyamin Netanyahu has been busy juggling the different demands of his presumed coalition partners

Israel’s former and presumed incoming prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has been working hard this month to form his sixth government.

The country’s longest–serving prime minister, Netanyahu is a seasoned politician who has spent scores of hours in coalition negotiations.

This time, he leads a steadfast right-wing majority. Barring a major upset, Netanyahu will be the head of an ultra-right–wing government that includes extreme nationalists and ultra-Orthodox parties.

Since his victory in national elections at the beginning of this month, Netanyahu has been busy juggling the different demands of his presumed coalition partners.

“The current situation is supposed to coerce everyone into a coalition,” according toMaoz Rosenthal, senior lecturer at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at Reichman University. “They all agree on the same policy and the same leader. This creates a mutual dependence.”

Members of Netanyahu’s Likud party may have expected a swift coalition negotiation because of the clear victory at the polls. Yet, reports emerging from the negotiating table paint a more complex picture.

The Likud lawmakers are concerned they will be handed the political leftovers, after their party leader pays back the politicians who secured his victory.

“Netanyahu has complete control over his party, it is clear to everyone. This means even senior party members do not have any leverage to use against him,” Rosenthal said.

Further complicating matters is concern from the United States over the extreme elements of the incoming government.

Several of Netanyahu’s coalition partners have vowed to change the way Israel handles its conflict with the Palestinians, and also to change how the country’s large Arab minority is treated.

Itamar Ben–Gvir, one of the leaders of the Religious Zionist party, said an “iron fist” is needed in order to clamp down on Palestinian attackers. Frequently referring to Arabs as “terrorists,” Ben–Gvir is touted to be named minister of public security. Another leader of the party, Bezalel Smotrich was clamoring to be named defense minister. The option appears to have been tabled, perhaps because of Netanyahu’s attempt to avoid confrontation with the White House.

“Netanyahu’s main consideration is who gives him less of a headache,” said Dr. Ilana Shpaizman of the Department of Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University. “It is a matter of how much he can control any problems, even in terms of foreign relations. He is most certainly taking this into consideration.”

Smotrich is now poised to become finance minister. His right-wing economic ideology has Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox partners on edge. The majority of their constituents bank on increased state subsidies, while Smotrich champions a highly non-socialist economy.

“This will be a major headache for Netanyahu,” said Shpaizman. Previously transport minister, Smotrich is considered a strong-minded, active politician who may be a contrarian to the incoming prime minister. Still, Netanyahu apparently prefers butting heads with Smotrich on the economy, rather than on contentious issues that may put him at odds with the White House.

US officials have voiced their concern over the policies expressed by Smotrich and Ben–Gvir, according to reports in Israeli media. Ben-Gvir has been convicted in Israel of racist incitement against Arabs and has been a staunch supporter of the Kach movement, which appeared on the US terrorist organization blacklist. In the run up to the current election, Ben–Gvir tried to soften his image. Smotrich, on the other hand, has remained steadfast in his positions. Arrested for allegedly planning violent protests against Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2005, he was not charged. Yet, his extreme views are worrisome to the current US administration. Smotrich also has been a vociferous opponent of gay pride parades and in 2006 organized a so-called beast parade to march in parallel as a protest.

“We hope that all Israeli government officials will continue to share the values of an open, democratic society, including tolerance and respect for all in civil society, particularly for minority groups. We have certain interests and values of ours,” Ned Price, a US State Department spokesperson, said the day after Israel’s November 1 election. It was meant as a subtle hint to Netanyahu.

The Religious Zionist party has also promised its supporters that it will drastically reform the judicial system, restricting its authority.

“If Israel is heading in a direction which erodes its democracy, the ideological connection between Israel and the US will also erode and could create a distance between the two,” Rosenthal said. “Netanyahu is well aware of this and understood how this looks on the outside.”

Since the election, Netanyahu has adopted a more moderate tone. Last week, as parliament members were sworn in, he vowed to work for all sides of Israel’s public, even those who did not vote for right-wing parties.

“We have serious disagreements, but they too have to be handled with responsibility and consideration,” he said days after the election.

One of the portfolios still being negotiated is the foreign ministry. Netanyahu is reported to prefer Ron Dermer, Israel’s former ambassador to the US and a confidant of the incumbent premier. Dermer was envoy to Washington at times of heightened tension between Netanyahu and the Obama administration. He is believed to be behind Netanyahu’s address to Congress in 2015 in which he tried to sway public opinion against the Iran nuclear deal which Obama was working on. It was a major breach of protocol on the part of the Israeli leader, which led to a further souring of relations between Jerusalem and Washington.

Israeli media reports on Monday suggested Dermer is off the list of candidates for the portfolio, however.

“It is not over until the coalition agreements are final and even after that, we may see surprises,” said Rosenthal. “This is especially true for Netanyahu.”

The reports are not only indicative of the fluidity of the negotiations, but also testament to Netanyahu’s predicament. The current name being floated to serve as foreign minister, the openly gay Amir Ohana, might help Netanyahu present a more liberal image to Israel’s allies abroad.

Negotiations are not only underway to determine the personalities who will fill the positions and serve as the face of the Israeli government. There is also a debate on the guidelines of the incoming government. From increasing construction in the West Bank to introducing the death penalty for those convicted of terrorism, there are a range of hot topics which could cause internal friction and tensions with the US.

Another one of those issues could be the Law of Return, under which people with one Jewish grandparent can acquire Israeli citizenship. The plan by Netanyahu’s right-wing partners to amend the law to remove the grandchildren clause and thus limit the number of people eligible for citizenship could put the government at odds with the large Jewish community in the US.

“I expect Netanyahu will stop this, knowing the price to pay may be very heavy,” said Shpaizman.

Both Netanyahu and his partners in the right-wing bloc do not have better options. The battered opposition is too fragmented to pose an alternative and any elements whichcould cooperate with Netanyahu have ruled such cooperation out. Even though Netanyahu’s current partners could threaten him with yet another election, it is highly unlikely they will risk doing so.

“The road for Netanyahu back to power is paved,” Shpaizman said. “It takes time to formulate the agreements, the disagreements are not that deep and there are no real bumps along the way.”

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