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Though 2023 is an off year for American politics, largely dominated by the emerging Republican presidential primary race and a series of scandals and controversies, there are still critical elections this year, offering an early window into the mood of voters in both parties before 2024.

In Kentucky, a divisive Republican primary for governor will come to a close on Tuesday. Two pillars of the states Republican apparatus have escalated attacks on each other as they seek to challenge Gov. Andy Beshear, a rare Democratic leader of a red state who also happens to be one of the most popular governors in the country.

In Philadelphia, the nations sixth most populous city and a liberal stronghold in purple Pennsylvania, voters will pick the Democratic nominee for mayor, who is all but certain to become the citys next leader and has the potential to become a high-profile player in next years presidential election. And two special elections in the state could determine control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where Democrats have a slim majority.

And in Delaware County, one of the suburban collar counties outside Philadelphia, a surprisingly close special election for an open State House seat in a once reliably Democratic district will determine who controls the Pennsylvania legislature.

There is also a notable mayoral contest unfolding in Jacksonville, Fla., the most populous American city to have a Republican mayor. The candidates to succeed Mayor Lenny Curry are Donna Deegan, a Democrat who has the support of abortion rights groups, and Daniel Davis, a Republican who has emphasized his partys messages on crime and policing.

First test of a rising star: Daniel Cameron was already a trailblazer as the first Black man elected attorney general in Kentucky and the first Republican elected to the post in nearly 50 years. But his political celebrity skyrocketed after he delivered a prime-time speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention.

Mr. Cameron is a close ally of Senator Mitch McConnells; some in the state call him Mr. McConnells protg. The Republican nomination for governor appeared to be his to lose after he announced his candidacy a year ago.

But what was once a double-digit lead over the rest of the field dwindled significantly during the spring as Kelly Craft, a former ambassador to the United Nations and part of a Republican megadonor family, poured millions of her own money into an aggressive ad campaign, attacking Mr. Cameron and heightening her own name identification. Though she has not completely closed the gap in polling, Republican operatives in the state have deemed it a race that is suddenly too close to call.

Less a fracture than a freeze: The heated primary in Kentucky hasnt fractured the party like similarly contentious primaries last year, mostly because the top candidates belong to the conservative wing of the party yet do not embrace its more fringe issues, like voting machine conspiracy theories.

And of course, money plays a role. Though no Republican in the state is eager to dampen Mr. Camerons trajectory, they also dont want to be on the wrong side of the Crafts, who are some of the most prolific donors in Republican politics.

The friendly wild card: Attention in the race has largely focused on Mr. Cameron and Ms. Craft. But there is a third candidate with a viable path to victory: Ryan Quarles, the agricultural commissioner and a longtime fixture in Frankfort.

Rather than splashy ads or television appearances, Mr. Quarless campaign has instead focused heavily on local endorsements, earning the backing of more than 230 mayors, magistrates and county officials. Those endorsements, coupled with significant support from the farming community, could give Mr. Quarles enough of a base to win an election in which support is splintered among all three.

What scandals? Even as he faces mounting legal challenges and an unfavorable verdict in the civil case in which he was successfully sued by E. Jean Carroll, former President Donald J. Trump remains the most popular and influential figure in a Republican primary election, especially in a state like Kentucky, which he carried by more than 25 points in 2020.

When asked during a debate about a jurys finding Mr. Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Ms. Carroll, Mr. Cameron reiterated that he was honored to still have the support of the former president.

No, he endorsed me. Both candidates can claim the affection of the former president. Ms. Craft served in his administration, has donated to his campaigns and was joined by Mr. Trump at the Kentucky Derby in 2022. She has run several ads comparing her style to Mr. Trumps.

But Mr. Trump endorsed Mr. Cameron (granted, that was before Ms. Craft had officially entered the race), a fact Mr. Cameron mentions several times in his stump speeches and ads.

Despite what some others might tell you, Mr. Cameron told a crowd at a Republican dinner in Meade County last month, President Donald J. Trump has endorsed this campaign for governor.

2017 redux? Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican in light-blue Virginia, built his surprise victory in 2017 through a relentless focus on education. He portrayed Democrats as intent on introducing inappropriate material to young students and argued that a schools curriculum was something parents, and not teachers, should decide.

Both Mr. Cameron and Ms. Craft have made education reform the bedrock of their campaign speeches. Mr. Cameron said that it was the No. 1 issue he had heard about from voters, and he has pledged to fire the Democratic-appointed commissioner of the education department. Ms. Craft, during her stump speeches, holds up copies of books she would ban.

Woke wars: Both candidates repeatedly blast woke ideology in their pitches. For months, visitors to Ms. Crafts website were greeted with a video denouncing woke policies.

This loosely defined conservative catchall a term frequently used by Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida as well has certainly taken root in the Republican base. It is often the biggest applause line for both Ms. Craft and Mr. Cameron.

But beyond the primary, it remains to be seen how voters in a general election will respond to an explicitly anti-woke campaign, even in deeply red Kentucky.

A test of left-wing strength: In the crowded Democratic mayoral contest, the former City Council member Helen Gym has emerged as the most prominent progressive candidate, bolstered by national left-wing leaders including Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

Both of them rallied with her on Sunday, and Brandon Johnson, who won the Chicago mayors race last month, has endorsed her and raised funds for her.

A win for Ms. Gym, a veteran community organizer who is especially focused on schools, would be celebrated by national progressive leaders as the latest in a stretch of left-leaning victories in major cities, though their success at the national level in recent years has been far more mixed.

But whatever the outcome, many political observers in Pennsylvania caution against drawing sweeping conclusions about the mood of the city from a race that may have low turnout or could be decided by a narrow margin or both. Sparse polling has suggested a tight and unpredictable contest.

Public safety debates dominate: Like many major American cities, Philadelphia has struggled with gun violence and other crime in the wake of the pandemic. The full picture of safety in the city is complex, but there is no question that it has been the defining issue in the mayors race.

The Democrats running for mayor have differed on issues like police stops of citizens and in particular, the use of stop-and-frisk and whether to emphasize adding more police officers to the force.

But across the ideological spectrum, they have stressed their commitment to making the city safer, and there is broad agreement on the need to both fill police vacancies and denounce police abuse.

Concerns for Democrats: Democrats have a single-vote majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, but there are two special elections on Tuesday that could flip control back to Republicans.

One empty seat is in the 108th Legislative District in north-central Pennsylvania, where voters will most likely elect a Republican.

The race for the 163rd Legislative District in southeast Delaware County should be a layup for Democrats. It was vacated by former State Representative Mike Zabel, who resigned in March after being accused of harassment. But Mr. Zabel won his district by roughly 30 points in November, and the seat is in a reliably Democratic area.

Yet there are growing concerns that the seat may not be as safe as it has seemed, and Democrats across the state are mobilizing voters in the area to turn out to the polls. Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, recently made a 30-second video highlighting the race.

Abortion rights: Democrats are framing the race as critical to protecting abortion rights in Pennsylvania, where abortion is still legal. If Republicans take control of the House, they could, along with the Republican-controlled Senate, put a potential abortion ban on the ballot as a constitutional amendment.

But such bans largely failed in 2022, and were often a galvanizing force for Democratic candidates or causes most notably in deep-red Kansas, where voters rejected an abortion ban months before the 2022 midterms.

Reid J. Epstein contributed reporting.

Excerpt from:
Kentucky and Philadelphia Hold Crucial Elections: What to Watch - The New York Times

With the COVID-19 public health emergency now officially concluded, congressional Democrats are pushing to revive pandemic-related powers that allowed the Department of Veterans Affairs to expand support services for homeless veterans.

At a news conference Friday at the Washington, D.C., chapter of a nonprofit that provides housing and employment assistance to veterans, Democrats on the House Veterans Affairs Committee and advocates for homeless veterans warned that fewer veterans will be able to find help now that emergency authorities have ended and called on Republicans to move forward with a bill to renew the aid.

"The rate that we receive for servicing a homeless veteran went from, last night, $164.67 to $64.52," said Clifton Lewis, executive director of U.S. Vets D.C., where the press conference was held. "How can you provide services to a veteran with just $64.52? Housing, food, case management services -- all the things that we do to service homeless veterans."

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Organizations that help homeless veterans nationwide are now "stuck with the decision [of] what resources do I cut," Lewis added.

First declared 1,195 days ago, the COVID-19 public health emergency in the United States formally ended just before midnight Thursday. While the virus continues to circulate -- the VA reported 2,200 active cases at its facilities as of Friday morning -- the Biden administration has said the crisis phase of the pandemic is over and allowed the emergency declaration to expire amid GOP pressure to end it.

For the VA, the public health emergency allowed the agency to provide homeless veterans with free rides from services such as Uber and Lyft so they could get to medical appointments, jobs or support programs. The pandemic authorities also gave the VA flexibility to redirect funding aimed at other programs to food, shelter, clothing, hygiene products, communications devices and other necessities for homeless veterans, as well as the ability to provide larger grants to community groups caring for homeless veterans in transitional housing.

Those extra authorities have been credited as one of the reasons veterans homelessness dropped 11% during the pandemic despite the economic hardships that most of the country faced.

The VA has pleaded with Congress to extend the pandemic authorities, but there has been little progress on doing so.

Bills have been introduced in both the House and the Senate that would extend the VA's pandemic authorities, but the House bill was voted down in committee along party lines last month.

The Senate bill, which is sponsored by Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, was just introduced last week, not enough time for the infamously slow upper chamber to act before the emergency expired.

In voting against the House bill, Republicans said they supported the underlying goal of extending the ability for the VA to provide more aid to homeless veterans. But they insisted the measure ran afoul of House rules prohibiting increases in so-called mandatory spending without some form of offset because of accounting complications caused by the sweeping toxic exposure bill passed last year.

"I support providing this type of assistance to homeless veterans," House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., said at the April 28 committee meeting. "I will say it again, I support the assistance for homeless veterans. My concern is how this proposal would be funded. Unfortunately, this proposal is impacted by the toxic exposure fund that was created by the passage of the PACT Act."

In a brief interview with Military.com after Friday's press conference, Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, rejected Republicans' arguments that the math on the bill, which Democrats offered as an amendment to an unrelated measure, would not work. The bill costs an estimated $6 million, and the measure Democrats sought to attach it to had an extra $3 million in offsets to work with, Takano said, adding that he's "sure we could have found the other $3 million someplace."

"Americans care a lot about homeless veterans," Takano said. "They find it abhorrent, the idea that anyone who wore a uniform is on the streets. How can we call ourselves a decent nation if we allow that to happen? I just know that if enough of the American people knew about this situation, that the Republicans would come back to the table and say we have to do something."

-- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel.

Related: Free Uber, Lyft Rides for Vets Program Will End in May. The VA Is Pleading with Congress to Extend It.

More:
Homeless Veterans Will Receive Less Help as Pandemic Aid Dries Up, Democrats and Veterans Groups Warn - Military.com

Dozens of Democrats in the House and Senate proposed legislation this week that would give all students from pre-school through high school three free meals a day plus a snack regardless of income, a move they said is needed to cope with the "record numbers" of American kids who are struggling with hunger.

The bill makes no mention of how the program would be funded or what it would cost. Many bills include language saying that Congress will appropriate whatever money is needed to fund a new program, or that funding will come from spending offsets or higher taxes.

"It is an international embarrassment that today, in the richest country in the history of the world, we are seeing record numbers of children and youth struggling with hunger on a daily basis,"said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the sponsor of the Senate legislation.

"Universal school meals is not just commonsense policy; it is also extremely popular," said Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., the lead sponsor of the bill in the House. "Nearly 75% of Americans support permanent universal school meals including the majority of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Its time to listen to the demands of our constituents and at long last make school meals free and universal for all kids."

HOUSE DEMS PUSH LEGISLATION TO KEEP SERVING SCHOOL LUNCH EVEN WHEN SCHOOLS CLOSE

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., are proposing free school meals for all students.

Democrats say their bill, the Universal School Meals Program Act, would help put an end to the "school lunch shaming" that is seen under the current program, which requires kids to show they are eligible for a free meal.

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"Children have been publicly shamed for not being able to afford lunch, and as USDA reported, lunch shaming is a problem throughout the country, including withholding grades for school meal debt," according to a description of the bill. "Some schools resorted to heinous scare tactics to collect school meal debt; one school threatened to take away parents children and another school marked childrens skin with an I Need Lunch Money stamp."

Story continues

USDA HOPES $50M CAN MAKE SCHOOL LUNCH MORE APPETIZING, APPEALING

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., has also proposed legislation to ensure school meals are served even when schools are closed.

The bill also reimburses all schools for any delinquent school lunch debt that has accrued under the current system.

Democrats argue that by providing universal free meals to all students, the cost of providing these meals would fall. "Our bill puts an end to the burdensome application paperwork by no longer requiring a Free and Reduced Lunch Program application in order to participate in the program," according to the summary of the bill.

BIDEN ADMIN HOLDING SCHOOL LUNCH MONEY HOSTAGE TO FORCE TRANSGENDER POLICIES, ACTIVIST PARENT SAYS

Democrats say COVID showed that universal and free school meal programs are possible and should be made permanent.

Staff for both Omar and Sanders did not reply to questions about funding from Fox News Digital.

Democrats said the COVID-19 pandemic showed it makes sense to create a universal program that feeds all children, regardless of their economic circumstances. A statement from sponsors of the bill said offering schools the flexibility to deliver school meals to a wider range of kids helped tens of millions of kids stay fed and warned that the end of pandemic threatens that increased access.

"What weve seen during this pandemic is that a universal approach to school meals works," Sanders said. "We cannot go backwards. It is time for Congress to pass this legislation to ensure no student goes hungry again."

Read more here:
Democrats demand universal free breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack for kids in school - Yahoo News

I think that appetite has turned more into a raging starvation, said a Democrat who worked for multiple campaigns in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas last cycle.

But taking aim at a 10-term incumbent is a massive gamble for progressives. The Democratic establishment is trying to conserve resources for the larger battle to seize the House from Republicans. Democratic officials are exasperated by yet another attempt to find a challenger from the left particularly since Cuellar has defeated one twice before.

Progressive activists in the Rio Grande Valley say the desire to get Cuellar out of office hasnt waned. Cuellar is often the only Democrat to vote with Republicans on abortion in the House an affront to activists who think the issue is a winner for Democrats. They see him as being in the pocket of the oil and gas industry. And he has been highly critical of President Joe Bidens border enforcement policies.

Cuellar beat Jessica Cisneros, an immigrant lawyer, by fewer than 300 votes in a runoff election last cycle. And there is a sense on the ground that grassroots progressive organizing in the district is even stronger now.

There is a vibrant progressive scene. Its just less visible, said Tory Gavito, president of Way to Win, an up-and-coming hub of progressive groups, and an experienced Texas strategist. She said that younger Latinos in particular have effectively been organizing in the region.

Cuellar didnt comment for this story, but in an interview about immigration with POLITICOs Playbook Deep Dive podcast, he defended his centrist instincts. We need to have centrist policies, especially when it comes to border security, but still be respectful of immigrants rights, he said.

The lawmaker hasnt drawn a primary challenger yet, and Cisneros did not respond to POLITICOs inquiries about whether she was planning to run again. (The deadline for primary candidates to file is in December.) Cuellar is not on the Republican target list for 2024, but POLITICO ranked the district as competitive last year.

Hes not the only member at risk in South Texas. When it comes to the general election, both parties are looking to make gains.

Republicans want to oust four-term Democrat Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, and Democrats think they can take out first-term Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz.

The three Rio Grande Valley districts, Texas 28th, 15th and 34th, are majority Hispanic, have an immediate proximity to border policies and are majority working class, with about one in five people living in poverty. Both parties are working to campaign authentically and more effectively in these districts, especially when it comes to voters who prefer to speak Spanish.

Youre seeing a transformation among the Republican voters, particularly folks in the Rio Grande Valley, who share Republican values: faith, family, hard work, said National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Richard Hudson (R-N.C.). The Republican electorate has changed, and its going to continue to grow.

Democrats think they can take out first-term Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz.|Mariam Zuhaib/AP Photo

Gavito said she didnt see Republican gains in the Valley in the most recent cycle, but she also added that the GOPs plans for long-term investment to win over these voters shouldnt be underestimated.

Both parties have spent heavily in the three South Texas districts. Cuellar received the fourth highest independent expenditure investment from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in his general election race. And $18 million was spent by outside groups making it the ninth most expensive House race when comparing outside spending, according to Open Secrets.

Gonzalezs race was not far behind, drawing in more than $13 million from outside groups.

De La Cruzs race attracted $4 million from outside groups, according to Open Secrets. But more than $3.3 million of that benefitted the Republican side, mostly with negative spending against Democratic first-time candidate Michelle Vallejo.

Our party did not make the financial commitment to Michelle that they should have and until theyre willing to make that commitment, its very difficult for us to take back that seat, said Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa. That seat is winnable.

Hinojosa said national Democrats need to make the serious investment needed to keep the Rio Grande Valley safe for Democrats. There are several potential Democrats eyeing a run against De La Cruz, he said, including a potential second run from Vallejo, but no one has officially declared yet.

In last cycles match up, Vallejo won the counties closest to the U.S.-Mexico border. Meanwhile, De La Cruz won the others, including the more rural parts of the district. Former President Donald Trump won it by nearly 3 points in 2020.

Republicans see an opportunity to build on trend lines among voters in rural areas in South Texas.

Look, if youre a Hispanic guy and you drive a pickup truck, and you work in the oil field and you go bird hunting on the weekends, you voted for Donald Trump, said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is up for reelection next year. And so I think South Texas is headed red.

Cruz donated to and campaigned with the Republican candidates in the Valley last cycle, and he said he plans to do so again next year, when hes running for reelection. Cruz won about 30 percent of the Hispanic vote in his last election in 2018 against former Democratic Rep. Beto ORourke, according to AP Vote Cast.

Gavito, the Democratic Texas strategist, said that Cuellar and Gonzalez won reelection last year because of their authentic connections with their districts and more conservative-leaning voters. Cuellar, in particular, gets bipartisan recognition for his ubiquitous presence in his district.

But his positions butt up against Democrats strategy of appealing to the growing liberal vote.

Henry Cuellars voting record is so close to Republicans hes aiding momentum around Republicans. And eventually those voters are going to want the real deal, not coca lite, Gavito said.

Continue reading here:
The nastiest Democratic primary of 2022 may be heading for another round - POLITICO

Opinion

Ask the public: do you want more jobs and higher wages, or huge companies making fatter profits by raising prices?

Fri 12 May 2023 06.12 EDT

The economic goal should be more jobs at higher wages. Right?

Yet the Federal Reserve, corporate economists and the Republican party have turned the goal upside down into fewer jobs and lower wages. Otherwise, they say, well face more inflation.

Rubbish.

This upside-down logic is pushing the United States economy toward a recession, which could hit about the same time as the next presidential election which will make Joe Biden a one-term president, just as Fed-induced recessions made Jimmy Carter and George HW Bush one-term presidents.

None of this is necessary.

The Fed has raised borrowing costs at 10 consecutive meetings, pushing its benchmark rate to over 5%. Yet inflation has barely budged. In April, it dropped to 4.9% (year-over-year) from 5% in March according to Wednesdays Labor Bureau data.

Why are the Feds rate hikes having so little effect?

Because inflation is not being propelled by an overheated economy. Its being propelled by overheated profits.

Wage gains still lag behind price increases. Average hourly earnings grew by just 0.3% in March, with year-over-year growth of only 4.2%. Wages and salaries in the Employment Cost Index, a broader measure of worker compensation, have been trending downward for a year.

Supply chains have returned to normal. Freight-trucking prices peaked in spring 2022 and since then have tumbled close to pre-pandemic levels. In March, the Federal Reserve Bank of New Yorks global supply-chain-pressure index fell to its lowest level since 2008, and it has been dropping since December 2021. Prices for raw goods have also dropped from mid-2022 highs.

Meanwhile, consumers have used up whatever extra money they accumulated during the pandemic.

So, whats causing inflation? Corporations with enough monopoly power to raise their prices and fatten their profits which the Feds rate hikes barely affect.

Even the Wall Street Journal (in a lead article last week headlined Why Is Inflation So Sticky? It Could Be Corporate Profits) spotlights corporations boosting profit margins.

Corporate profit margins were around 10% in 2019. Last year, they reached over 15% their highest level since 1950 rising 6.6% year over year. By the end of 2022, profits were still near 14%.

Prices remain sky-high because corporations got hooked on price-gouging and wont give it up.

Corporate economists argue that businesses couldnt possibly be padding their profits; if they could, they would have done it before the inflation of the last two years.

Baloney. Businesses have been using the cover of inflation to justify price increases, so consumers accept them.

According to Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, businesses are betting that consumers will go along with the price hikes because they assume prices are being driven by supply bottlenecks and higher energy prices. Corporations are confident that they can convince consumers that it isnt their fault, and it wont damage their brand.

Last month, Procter & Gamble said in an earnings call that it had boosted its profit margins in the first three months of the year by raising its prices.

Last Thursday, Budweiser-owner Anheuser-Busch reported a jump in profit margins for the first quarter by raising its prices.

Chipotles chief financial and administrative officer, Jack Hartung, said in the firms first-quarter earnings call that menu prices have risen by about 10%, and chairman and CEO Brian Niccol said they were staying the course on pricing despite the fact profits were up 17% for the quarter. Were in a really strong position that when were ready and we believe its necessary to pull that pricing lever, we can.

Big corporations have enough monopoly power to raise prices. With just a handful of companies dominating each market, its easy to implicitly agree theyll all raise their prices.

What to do about this? Put the burden of fighting inflation on corporations rather than on workers and consumers.

Instead of relying on the Fed to tame inflation via fewer jobs and lower wages, Congress should pass legislation that:

Allows the justice department to bust up monopolies (and prevent further consolidation through mergers and acquisitions) when three or fewer corporations have more than half the sales of a particular market.

Directs the Federal Trade Commission to find that any such corporation has engaged in unlawful price gouging whenever it has raised prices higher than the rate of inflation and impose a fine that would claw back those unlawful gains.

Permits the treasury department to impose a windfall profits tax on large corporations, above a specific reasonable rate of return or profit margin.

Republicans wont go along with any of this, of course.

Which presents Biden and the Democrats with a clear opportunity.

Make this a major campaign theme for 2024. Ask the public: do you want more jobs and higher wages, or do you want large corporations making fatter profits by raising prices?

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Original post:
The Democrats have a powerful campaign issue: price-gouging corporations - The Guardian