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Early voting begins October 11 and voters will choose who will represent them in the U.S. House of Representatives. In District 1 Republican challenger Michelle Garcia Holmes and independent write-in candidate Victoria Gonzales are running against Democratic incumbent Melanie Stansbury.

Following redistricting last year, CD1, which has been in Democratic hands since 2009, now includes parts of Rio Rancho, along with central and southeastern parts of the state, like Santa Rosa, Fort Sumner and Carrizozo and there will be a slight increase in Republican voters.

Stansbury won a six-way race for the CD1 seat in the 2021 special election when then-Rep. Deb Haaland became U.S. Interior Secretary. In her re-election campaign, Stansbury has focused on her support of abortion rights and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which will bring $3.7 billion dollars to help improve New Mexicos broadband, water and roads.

"Over the last year Ive co-sponsored over 300 bills to address public safety, healthcare, education and community well-being," said Stansbury. "And Ive introduced over a half dozen pieces of legislation to tackle drought, education and protect our sacred lands."

Michelle Garcia Holmes said her top priorities would be tackling crime such as human trafficking and fentanyl-related deaths. She said she wants to provide more funding for the police and implement a stricter immigration policy.

"Because our families deserve safe cities, a secure border and lower gas prices," said Garcia Holmes.

She calls herself "pro-life" and said during the primary she opposes taxpayer-funded abortion. Garcia Holmes is a retired Albuquerque Police Department detective and a former chief of staff in the New Mexico Attorney Generals Office under Gary King, where she established the first statewide corruption division.

Back in May, the Albuquerque Journal gave its endorsement to Garcia Holmes stating that, shes tough as nails but compassionate.

Victoria Gonzales, the independent write-in candidate, is the director of School and Community Initiatives at Special Olympics New Mexico.

Read this article:
Stansbury seeks to retain seat in CD1 against Republican challenger and write-in candidate - KUNM

A major GOP House caucus has released a Family Policy Agenda that expresses opposition to federal marijuana legalization and attempts to link its use to suicide and violencebut the cannabis criticism is leading to pushback within the group, with staff for two members openly telling Marijuana Moment that the lawmakers disagree with the prohibitionist rhetoric.

The 156-member Republican Study Committee (RSC) unveiled the agenda late last week. It details 10 ideological principles and more than 80 legislative recommendations to guide conservatives work to restore the American family.

Under a section titled Protecting Children from Dangers of Drugs, the committee, which counts nearly three out of four House Republican lawmakers as members, says that cannabis remains federally prohibited, but that has not stopped more and more states and localities from legalizing it under their own laws.

This has led to an explosion of marijuana use among children, which is having a hugely negative impact on their health, the report says, misconstruing data that shows underage cannabis use declining or remaining stable following the implementation of legalization. Congress should not legalize marijuana, while also taking steps to constrain this new industrys ability to harm children.

At the very least, Congress should direct the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] to gather data and conduct studies on the health impacts of THC use during childhood and early adolescence with a special focus on deaths by suicide and those involved in violent crime to provide Congress and the public with further information about these dangers, the agenda continues.

It further calls for the passage of a bill that would increase criminal penalties for manufacturing or selling Schedule I drugs like marijuana in the form of candy or beverages if there is reasonable cause to believe they will be sold to minors.

More than one-forth of the Senate is cosponsoring broader legislation filed in August that contains that punitive language on cannabis edibles, and RSC Chairman Jim Banks (R-IN) introduced a companion bill titled the Protecting Kids from Candy-Flavored Drugs Act last month with 30 GOP cosponsors.

The Biden presidency has failed Americas families, Banks said in a press release about the overall agenda. Over the past two years, families have lost savings, flexibility, and control over childrearing to increasingly hostile and far left ideologues. Republicans need to position themselves as the party of families.

Next Congress we need to focus on reforming the tax code to create more families, passing pro-life legislation, protecting parents pocketbooks, and giving them back control over their kids education, he said, previewing a push that could include anti-cannabis legislation should Republicans take back control of Congress in next months midterm elections.

If Republicans can contrast our efforts with Democrats record of intrusion and control then I think parents will play a pivotal role in 2022 and 2024, he said.

Of the more than 150 House members who are part of the committee, two voted for a comprehensive, Democratic-led marijuana legalization bill in April: Reps. Tom McClintock (R-CA) and Brian Mast (R-FL), a co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus.

Theres never going to be 100 percent agreement on any issue, in any party, a Mast spokesperson told Marijuana Moment on Monday. Rep. Mast shares the Committees desire to protect kids from dangerous substances, but believes that, ultimately, marijuana legalization is an issue that should be left up to the states.

He would like to see Congress focus its efforts on national security issues including securing the border and keeping drugsespecially those laced with fentanyl and other deadly substancesfrom making their way into our communities, the Mast staffer said.

A spokesperson for McClintock simply said her boss disagrees with that provision of the RSC agenda.

Meanwhile, the House also passed bipartisan legislation in July thats meant to streamline research into the risks and benefits of cannabis. But while Senate leadership tried to bring it to the floor under unanimous consent last week, at least one GOP member raised an objection to the expedited process, delaying its consideration until after the midterm elections.

Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Andy Harris (R-MD) sponsored the measure in the House, which is substantively identical to a separate Senate bill from Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA)that previously cleared that chamber.

Researchers and other advocates associated with the prohibitionist organization Smart Approaches To Marijuana (SAM) sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) last week, imploring him to bring the research measure to a vote.

Legislation to loosen marijuana research barriers might stand a chance of passage even if Republicans reclaim the majority in either or both chambers, but the new RSC agenda signals that enacting broader reform may face significant resistance in the next Congress if Democrats lose their majorities.

As it stands, Senate leadership is working to finalize a package of incremental cannabis reforms thats expected to contain bipartisan proposals such as protecting banks that work with state-legal marijuana businesses, facilitate cannabis-related expungements and promote research into the plant.

Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), the House sponsor of the standalone marijuana banking bill, said herecently spoke with Schumer at an event at the White Houseand discussed the need to enact the bipartisan reform this session.

Meanwhile, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has taken steps in recent years to approve new cultivators of marijuana to be used in studies, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) recently publisheda solicitation for applications from those authorized growersas it looks for new contractors to supply the agency with cannabis for research purposes.

Large-scale infrastructure legislation that was signed by Biden last November contains provisions aimed at allowing researchers to study the actual marijuana that consumers are purchasingfrom state-legal businesses instead of having to use only government-grown cannabis.

NIDAs Volkow told Marijuana Moment last year that scientists have beenunnecessarily limited in the source of cannabistheyre permitted to studyand it makes sense to enact a policy change that expands their access to products available in state-legal markets.

Separately, a bipartisan duo of congressional lawmakers filed a bill in July toset a federal marijuana research agendaand create a designation for universities to carry out cannabis studies with federal grant money.

The legislation from Reps. Scott Peters (D-CA) and Dave Joyce (R-OH) is titled the Developing and Nationalizing Key Cannabis Research Act. The bill text doesnt abbreviate the title, so its not clear if the intent was to play into cannabis consumer nomenclature with the introduction of theDANKCannabis Research Act.

Senators File NDAA Amendments To Legalize Medical Marijuana For Military Veterans And Protect VA Home Loan Benefits

Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen.

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House Republican Group Releases Agenda Opposing Legalization Of Marijuana, Linking It To Suicide And Violence - Marijuana Moment

Symbols for red states (left) and blue states (right).

When a state is called a "red state", it means that it has traditionally voted in favor of Republican candidates. The terms "red state" and "blue state" have been in familiar lexicon since the 2000 US presidential election. If a state is not a red state or a blue state, it might be a swing state.

A map showing red states, blue states, and swing states as of the 2016 Election.

Here is a list of the strongest red states in the country:

Alaskan voters traditionally veer Republican and have voted that way in all but one election since they first began participating in presidential elections in 1960. Republican presidential candidates typically win with well over 50% of the vote. The 2016 was no exception, with the Republican candidate receiving 51.3% of the vote.

Idaho is another state known for having a Republican winning streak. The last 4 presidential elections here ended with a strong 60% or higher Republican vote. In 2016, Republican support was just under 60%, at 59.3%.

Kansas currently holds 6 electoral votes though once had 10, at the beginning of the 20th century. This drop is due to a decrease in population (on which electoral votes are based). In the last 5 elections, the Republican candidate for president has won with no less than 54.3% of the vote and as high as 62% in 2004.

Nebraska is worth 5 electoral votes that historically leans strongly Republican. As seen in the previous states, this support has dropped from previous levels of between 56% and 66%. The 2016 election saw 58.8% Republican support in Nebraska.

North Dakota is considered a safe state for Republicans meaning that the party garners strong majority support during elections. In 2012, the Republican nominee won by 20% of the vote, 9% in 2008 and over 20% in 2004 and 2000. All of these elections were won with between 53% and 62.9% popularity.

Oklahoma has exhibited some of the strongest Republican support of any of the previously mentioned. Currently in its 12th consecutive Republican streak, the last 5 elections have been won with over 60% popularity. In the 2016 election, the Republican presidential candidate won with 65.3% of the vote.

South Dakota has historically voted Republican. Throughout the past five election cycles, Republican support in South Dakota sat at at least 50% support. In 2016, 61.5% of the population of South Dakota voted Republican.

Utah has voted Republican in the last 12 election cycles and in the last 4, this has been with over 60% of the vote. 2016 saw a slight wavering in Republican support in Utah, at 45.5% of the vote. 27.5% of the state voted Democrat.

Wyoming is the last state on the list of longest running Republic streaks. In 2016, Wyoming voted 67.4% Republican. This is actually a decrease from both the 2012 and the 2008 elections, when Wyoming voted 68.6% Republican and 69% Republican, respectively.

Read the rest here:
List of Red States (Republican States) - WorldAtlas

A Republican Party primary took place on September 6, 2022, in Massachusetts to determine which candidate would earn the right to run as the party's nominee in the state's gubernatorial election on November 8, 2022.

Geoff Diehl advanced from the Republican primary for Governor of Massachusetts.

This page focuses on Massachusetts' Republican Party gubernatorial primary. For more in-depth information on Massachusetts' Democratic gubernatorial primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Republican primary election

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from three outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, and Sabato's Crystal Ball. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[2][3][4]

This race was featured in The Heart of the Primaries, a newsletter capturing stories related to conflicts within each major party. Click here to read more about conflict in this and other 2022 Republican gubernatorial primaries. Click here to subscribe to the newsletter.

Massachusetts voted for the Democratic candidate in all six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.

More Massachusetts coverage on Ballotpedia

Click the tabs below to view information about demographics, past elections, and partisan control of the state.

How a state's counties vote in a presidential election and the size of those counties can provide additional insights into election outcomes at other levels of government including statewide and congressional races. Below, four categories are used to describe each county's voting pattern over the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections: Solid, Trending, Battleground, and New. Click [show] on the table below for examples:

Following the 2020 presidential election, 100.0% of Massachusettsans lived in one of the state's 14 Solid Democratic counties, which voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every election from 2012 to 2020. Overall, Massachusetts was Solid Democratic, having voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2012, Hillary Clinton (D) in 2016, and Joe Biden (D) in 2020. Use the table below to view the total number of each type of county in Massachusetts following the 2020 election as well as the overall percentage of the state population located in each county type.

Massachusetts presidential election results (1900-2020)

This section details the results of the five most recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections held in the state.

The table below details the vote in the five most recent U.S. Senate races in Massachusetts.

The table below details the vote in the five most recent gubernatorial elections in Massachusetts.

The table below displays the partisan composition of Massachusetts' congressional delegation as of August 2022.

The table below displays the officeholders in Massachusetts' top four state executive offices as of August 2022.

The tables below highlight the partisan composition of the Massachusetts General Court as of August 2022.

As of August 2022, Massachusetts was a divided government, with Democrats controlling the governorship and Republican majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. The table below displays the historical trifecta status of the state.

Massachusetts Party Control: 1992-2022Eight years of Democratic trifectasNo Republican trifectasScroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

The table below details demographic data in Massachusetts and compares it to the broader United States as of 2019.

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Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2022 (September 6 Republican ...

Republicans will try to impeach Joe Biden every week if they retake the House in November, a rare anti-Trump Republican congressman predicted.

Remembering repeated attempts to defund the Affordable Care Act under Barack Obama, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said: Thats going to look like childs play in terms of what Marjorie Taylor Greene is going to demand of Kevin McCarthy.

Theyre going to demand an impeachment vote on President Biden every week.

Kinzinger was speaking to David Axelrod, a former Obama adviser, on his Axe Files podcast.

Kinzinger is one of two Republicans on the House committee investigating the Capitol attack Trump incited. He will retire in November. The other, Liz Cheney of Wyoming, lost her primary to a Trump-backed challenger.

Greene, from Georgia, is among far-right Republicans who have already introduced or threatened impeachment articles against Biden, on issues including Covid, immigration, Afghanistan and the alleged misdemeanors of Hunter Biden, the presidents surviving son.

If McCarthy is to be speaker in a Republican House, the expected outcome of the midterms in November, he must corral his unruly party.

Kinzinger said: I think itll be a very difficult majority for him to govern unless he just chooses to go absolutely crazy with them. In which case you may see the rise of the silent, non-existent moderate Republican that may still exist out there, but I dont know.

Democrats impeached Trump twice. Kinzinger voted against the first impeachment, over the blackmail of Ukraine for political purposes, but for the second, over the Capitol attack. He told Axelrod he regretted the first vote.

You can always look back 12 years, theres different regrets, different votes. Thats my biggest.

At the time, Ill say to my shame, youre looking for a way out. It is tough to take on your party. It is tough to know youre gonna get kicked out of the tribe. And its tough to make a decision that you know will cost you re-election.

And so I was looking for a reason out. There were moments where I was like, I may end up voting for this first impeachment. And then I found a reason out.

At the time, he said: Since the day President Trump was elected, many Democrats in Congress have been searching for any means by which to delegitimise and remove him from office.

And since then, weve seen them jump head first from one investigation to another hoping something so treacherous would be uncovered that wed have no choice but to throw him out. And at that theyve failed miserably.

Nine other House Republicans voted for Trumps second impeachment, making it the most bipartisan in history. At trial in the Senate, seven Republicans found Trump guilty, not enough for conviction.

Discussing Kinzingers work on the January 6 committee, Axelrod pointed to a recent poll which said 72% of Republican voters still back Trumps lie about election fraud and say Biden is not the legitimate president.

Tribalism is deeply ingrained, Kinzinger said, adding: I think people, in many cases, more than they fear death, they fear being kicked out of the tribe.

See the article here:
Republicans will try to impeach Biden every week, Adam Kinzinger says - The Guardian US