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       'Great guy': Trump endorses Dr Mehmet Oz in Republican primary for Senate race

       With almost all the results now in from Tuesday’s key primary elections, Donald Trump has taken to Truth Social to baselessly suggest mail-in ballots were fraudulent in Pennsylvania, where his chosen Senate candidate Dr Mehmet Oz is locked in a tight battle with former hedge fund executive David McCormick.

       With only a small portion of the vote yet to be counted, the two men are just a tiny number of votes apart, putting them within the 0.5-point margin that triggers an automatic recount – and raising the possibility that mail-in votes could put Mr McCormick ahead.

       Elsewhere, strong performances by several Trump-backed candidates indicate the former president still has plenty of clout within the party, but it was far from a perfect scorecard. North Carolina Republicans threw out the far-right congressman Madison Cawthorn in his primary.

       That result met with celebration even within the Republican Party, whose establishment increasingly wanted to see the congressman removed from office because of his extreme statements and outlandish behaviour.

       Recommended From Madison Cawthorn to Dr Oz, who really won and lost on Trump’s big primary night Defeated GOP primary candidate blames Sean Hannity for her loss accusing him of ‘flat out lies’ I was kicked out of Madison Cawthorn’s primary party. Here’s what I saw beforehand Do Republicans like ‘Big Lie’ supporter Doug Mastriano suddenly now believe in legitimacy of elections?

       Key points Why we won’t know the outcome of the GOP Senate primary in Pennsylvania just yet Fetterman wins Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania Senate race Election denier Doug Mastiano wins Pennsylvania Republican primary for governor Trump-backed Ted Budd wins GOP nomination in North Carolina Senate primary Madison Cawthorn loses re-election bid

       Show latest update 1653027107 Report: On being kicked out of Madison Cawthorn’s election night party

       The Independent’s John Bowden took a trip to North Carolina this week to witness what turned out to be the downfall of Madison Cawthorn, the young far-right congressman who lost his primary this week after a long string of astonishing scandals.

       In the end, the finale of Mr Cawthorn’s campaign mirrored his entire House career: Contempt for journalists, who were not allowed inside the building for the entirety of his watch party Tuesday evening and ushered out when it ended, amid a stunning and sudden desertion of his closest supporters and allies.

       Failing even to limit Mr Edwards to a runoff in June, the first-term congressman will now serve out the next six-and-a-half months of his two year House tenure as a lame duck, while a state-level lawmaker previously completely unknown outside of North Carolina just proved to the nation that defeating a Trump-anointed champion is possible, albeit under very specific circumstances.

       Read his full dispatch below.

       Stuti Mishra 20 May 2022 07:11

       1653022844 With more primaries on the way, progressive Democrats face a stark choice

       Progressives had plenty to smile about after Tuesday’s primary contests, writes Eric Garcia.

       But thanks to a few upcoming primaries, progressive Democrats still have their work cut out for them.

       Read more:

       With more primaries on the way, progressive Democrats face a stark choice An all-out blood feud is brewing between progressives and Democratic leadership in New York

       Stuti Mishra 20 May 2022 06:00

       1653019200 Most Americans disapprove of Biden, Congress, and Supreme Court performance, new poll finds

       Nearly two-thirds of Americans give Biden negative marks on his handling of the US economy, while seven in 10 now want Supreme Court justices to serve term limits, according to a newly released Quinnipiac University poll.

       Andrew Feinberg dives into the numbers:

       Majority of Americans disapprove of Biden, Congress, and Supreme Court performance The Quinnipiac University poll found Americans disapprove of the job performance of all three branches of the federal government

       Stuti Mishra 20 May 2022 05:00

       1653015602 Oz and McCormick are in a virtual tie with thousands of ballots still to count

       Where things stand in the Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary:

       Dr Oz’s margin has narrowed in the past day, as county election officials continue to count mail-in ballots, but election workers still have thousands of left to count.

       Pennsylvania’s Department of State, which oversees elections, reported roughly 51,000 mail-in and absentee ballots – including 17,000 in the Republican primary – yet to be tallied up.

       Alex Woodward 20 May 2022 04:00

       1653013138 “I was kicked out of Madison Cawthorn’s primary party. Here’s what I saw beforehand"

       Two days before he invoked far-right violent rhetoric to describe what’s coming from his lame duck term in Congress, Madison Cawthorn’s campaign party was off to a rocky start.

       The Independent’s John Bowden reports from North Carolina:

       I was kicked out of Madison Cawthorn’s primary party. Here’s what I saw beforehand Asked to leave the premises, reaching rock bottom with the Madison Cawthorn campaign

       Alex Woodward 20 May 2022 03:18

       1653005216

       A baseless narrative that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from Donald Trump has fuelled a wave of state-level efforts to subvert democratic elections with legislation that makes it easier for partisan officials to undermine voters, according to a new report.

       Pro-democracy groups found more than 200 attempts to change the rules of election administration and strip oversight from election officials, efforts that democratic advocates have warned could invite bogus fraud investigations or try to overturn results entirely.

       GOP pushed dozens of ‘election subversion’ bills to hijack results, report finds Republican state lawmakers filed more than 200 bills in 2022 to change election rules and strip oversight from officials in response to a ‘crisis that doesn’t exist’

       Alex Woodward 20 May 2022 01:06

       1652997643 SCOTUS opinion on abortion rights could energize Democratic voters, poll suggests

       The results of a NPR-PBS NewsHour-Marist poll released on Thursday shows that 66 per cent of Democratic voters say the leaked draft opinion of a US Supreme Court case that could overturn constitutional protections for abortion rights has made them more likely to vote in November.

       That figures compares to only 40 per cent of Republicans.

       Twenty-one per cent of respondents said they haven’t heard about the opinion.

       The poll also found that 47 per cent of respondents would cast their vote for the Democratic candidate in their district if the election were held today, compared to 42 per cent who would support the Republican.

       Alex Woodward 19 May 2022 23:00

       1652995223 Fetterman raised $1.6m after primary victory

       After carrying every Pennsylvania county in the Democratic Senate primary, John Fetterman’s campaign hauled in more than $1.6m within 24 hours.

       “Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your support,” he said in a statement. “I am deeply honored to be your nominee, and I am looking forward to turning this seat blue in November.”

       Fetterman will face the victor in the GOP primary – likely either Dr Oz or David McCormick – in the general election in November.

       Alex Woodward 19 May 2022 22:20

       1652991637 In first post since election loss, Cawthorn invokes violent far-right ‘dark MAGA’ aesthetic

       In his first post on Instagram since his election loss in Tuesday’s primaries, Madison Cawthorn says his remaining time in office will allow for “Dark MAGA to truly take command,” invoking the name of a violent fringe, far-right online aesthetic that depicts a vengeful Trump-fuelled movement.

       He says he is on a mission to “expose those who say and promise one thing yet legislate and work towards another, self-profiteering, globalist goal.”

       “Their days are numbered. We are coming,” he writes.

       Alex Woodward 19 May 2022 21:20

       1652990137 ‘Election subversion’ bills – and candidates who are counting on them – are all the rage

       Candidates who denied the outcome of the 2020 presidential election are running for contests across the US. One of them, Doug Mastriano, won the GOP nomination for Pennsylvania’s next governor, a position that appoints the secretary of state, who can confirm the state’s slate of electors and certify the results.

       Meanwhile, Republican state lawmakers have filed dozens of bills to change the rules of election administration and undermine the workers who run the nation’s elections.

       At least 33 states are considering at least 229 such bills, according to a new report from States United Democracy Center, Protect Democracy and Law Forward.

       Since 2021, a total of 50 bills have been enacted or adopted.

       “This report should sound an alarm for anyone who cares about free and fair elections,” said Victoria Bassetti, Senior Advisor, States United Democracy Center. “It shows that state legislatures are becoming bolder and more creative in their attempts to interfere with the trusted public servants who administer our elections. These bills are responses to a crisis that doesn’t exist. We know the 2020 election was free, fair, and accurate.”

       Alex Woodward 19 May 2022 20:55

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