Tag: mid-term election

Russian woman charged with interfering in midterm elections

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday charged a Russian woman with participating in a conspiracy to influence next month’s midterm elections, underlying the degree to which Moscow is seeking to interfere in the United States.

The timing of the complaint, which was unsealed as U.S. intelligence officials issued a warning on foreign influence campaigns, sends a dire message to voters on the scope of the efforts to sway U.S. opinion, even as no evidence points to interference with U.S. election infrastructure.

“We are concerned about ongoing campaigns by Russia, China and other foreign actors, including Iran, to undermine confidence in democratic institutions and influence public sentiment and government policies,” the joint statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Justice Department, FBI and Department of Homeland Security said. “These activities also may seek to influence voter perceptions and decision making in the 2018 and 2020 U.S. elections.”

View the complete October 19 article by Jacqueline Thomsen on the Hill website here.

The state of the battle for the House of Representatives, explained

Republicans are playing whack-a-mole in their struggle to keep the chamber.

Paul Ryan at the Capitol on September 13, 2018. Credit: Astrid Riecken, Getty Images

Three weeks before the 2018 midterms, more than a dozen Republican-held House seats appear to have tipped toward Democrats — and dozens more are in play too, according to polls and expert race ratings. Meanwhile, only a handful of Democrat-held seats appear to be in danger of flipping to the GOP.

The magic number for Democrats is 24: that is, they need to pick up, on net, 24 seats from Republicans to cement a House majority.

Currently, there are not yet that many individual contests in which Democrats are believed to have a solid advantage over GOP candidates. If we exclude toss-up contests and look only at how many races are at least leaning toward flipping, the Cook Political Report currently has Democrats favored to gain 15 seats on net. FiveThirtyEight has them clearly favored to net around 22, which would be agonizingly close.

Yet here’s the thing: There are many more remaining toss-up and other competitive contests — and they’re overwhelmingly in Republican-held districts.

View the complete October 16 article by Andrew Prokop on the Vox.com website here.

Paulsen is not Mr. Nice Guy

To the Editor:

Political candidates should talk about what they are going to do for our district instead of trashing their opponent. I am disgusted by Erik Paulsen’s negative TV ads opposing Dean Phillips. They constitute a Trump-worthy, personal smear campaign.

I cringe and mute the TV or change channels every time they come on. Based not on factual information but partial truth and innuendo, I see traces of antisemitism at the margins of these ads. I hope my district will not be fooled by the special interests funding them. We are smart enough to see through the tactics of using character assassination to get votes.

The Minnesota I know and love deserves representation for all of us in the 3rd Congressional District, regardless of party. We deserve and should demand a representative with civility who examines the issues, listens to all sides of an argument and builds consensus. Erik Paulsen won’t meet with his constituents, publishes strategic photo ops with veterans and makes school visits to court the 18-year-old vote. These are all superficial attempts to portray himself as Mr. Nice Guy. He is not. He votes the conservative Republican agenda 97.8 percent of the time, according to ABC’s FiveThirtyEight. We do not need Donald Trump representing the 3rd District. Please vote for Dean Phillips.

Mary Jane Miller, Minnetonka
MInnetonka Sun-Sailor, October 15, 2018

High stakes as 2-month sprint to Election Day begins

The following article by Julie Pace was posted o the Associated Press website September 10, 2018:

The U.S. flag flies in front of the Capitol Dome. Credit: AP/Susan Walsh.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Control of Congress and the future of Donald Trump’s presidency are on the line as the primary season closes this week, jump-starting a two-month sprint to Election Day that will test Democrats’ ability to harness opposition to Trump and determine whether the Republican president can get his supporters to the polls.

For both parties, the stakes are exceedingly high.

After crushing defeats in 2016, Democrats open the fall campaign brimming with confidence about their prospects for retaking the House, which would give them power to open a wide swath of investigations into Trump or even launch impeachment proceedings. The outcome of the election, which features a record number of Democratic female and minority candidates, will also help shape the party’s direction heading into the 2020 presidential race.

View the complete article here.