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The only congressional district in Los Angeles County to be represented by a Republican is a natural focal point for Democrats who recognize control of the U.S. House is on the line. But on a recent Saturday morning in Palmdale with fewer than nine months until the midterm elections, only four Democrats showed up to talk to voters. One of them, who drove for over an hour from Sherman Oaks, was not even from the district.

The low turnout, organizers and volunteers say, is not unusual for the Antelope Valley, which includes the cities of Palmdale and Lancaster. Its a reflection of a community that is heavily commuter-based and hardly engaged in efforts to turn out the vote, even with the slight advantage Democrats have gained after redistricting the once-a-decade process of redrawing the lines of congressional districts.

There are people that want that change, but they have to be activated, Christian Green said while getting his canvassing materials ready at Transplants Brewery in Palmdale, where Democrats met before heading out to knock on doors that day. Green is a Lancaster native, college professor and political activist in the community.

Two women teamed up with Green to canvas in East Palmdale that morning. Its a majority-minority neighborhood where most people live in single-story homes and small apartment complexes. Its also located right off the 14 Freeway, which people use to commute from the high desert to Los Angeles. Heading southbound on the 14 from Palmdale, a billboard advertising the districts Rep. Mike Garcias reelection campaign with his signature red, white and blue Top Gun style logo was on display. The freeway also relates to one of the volunteers talking points when canvassing.

Im bringing information to voters this morning about our congressman Mike Garcia, Tiffany Countryman says after introducing herself at voters doorsteps. She is heavily involved in the political sphere of the district, including her role as vice president of the Democratic Club of the High Desert. Recently they had a vote to bring in money to our district for fixing the 14 [Freeway] and infrastructure, and he voted against it.

The message sometimes goes over voters heads.

So, is he good or bad? asked Gloria Ortiz, a registered Democrat who lives in an eight-unit complex in the area.

Hes bad, Countryman responded. We wanted to give you some information and say hes voted against money for our district. Shes referencing Bidens bipartisan infrastructure bill, which Garcia voted against along with 200 Republicans in his party last November.

Garcia is the target of Democrats early canvassing efforts. They are hoping to elect Democrat Christy Smith to represent the newly drawn 27th District, which no longer includes the more conservative Simi Valley.

Smith, a Santa Clarita native, served two terms on the Newhall School Board and represented Californias 38th Assembly District from 2018 until 2020, when she first ran for Congress. Smith and Garcia are likely to run against each other for a third time in Novembers general election, in what will be Smiths second attempt at flipping the competitive district.

The new 27th is a majority-white district stretching from west of Santa Clarita to the east part of a 12,000-person town called Lake Los Angeles. Californias Independent Redistricting Commission, which is now in charge of the states redistricting process, added more Democratic areas of the San Fernando Valley to make up for the population lost through Simi Valley. All of these changes, however, have only given Democrats a little over a two point advantage over Republicans, keeping the district nearly as competitive as it was in the last election.

Nico Padron, the DCCCs organizing director in CA-25, meets with activists after their day of canvassing in Palmdale (Photo by Cassie Esparza)

For the small group of canvassers hoping to oust Garcia, its worth spending their Saturdays knocking on doors this early in the race because theyve experienced the repercussions of not doing so for the 2020 election per the Democratic Partys COVID-19 restrictions. Countryman believes thats the reason Garcia prevailed by the 333 votes that earned him his first full term in Congress in a district that Biden won by more than 35,000 votes.

And even though the historically close race and a newly drawn district have not yet galvanized many Democrats to action, the ones on the ground are trying to make the most of the small advantage theyve gained in the redistricting process primarily because Simi Valley has been drawn out.

We know that Simi Valley interests are not the same as ours, Green said. This allows us to really home in on the Democrats that are here.

This sentiment was echoed long before the independent commission finalized the map that moved Simi Valley to the Democratic 26th District, represented by Rep. Julia Brownley. In a public comment forum sent to the commissioners who draw congressional and state legislative districts, eight people expressed support for Simi Valley to be drawn out of the 25th, with some suggesting it would fit better with the rest of Ventura County, where its been relocated.

Redistricting and the reapportionment forces some compromises and certain lines that kicks people out of a district they thought was a good district before, Maria Blanco said. Shes a civil rights lawyer who was a member of the first California Citizens Redistricting Commission, which redrew congressional maps back in 2011. I think theres no way to redistrict LA County going up toward Ventura without somebody being unhappy.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Simi Valleys median household income nears $100,000, with its poverty rates at less than 7%. The Antelope Valley has a median household income of just over $50,000 and a poverty rate of nearly 25%. Democrats who recently went canvassing thought this disparity alone was a reason to draw the area out of the district.

Theres just nothing in common economically, said Raquel Derfler, an Antelope Valley Democrat and political activist in the district. And then obviously, we are a majority minority [area], Simi Valley is majority white.

Simi Valley Republican Jenniffer Jones argues although there is a notable difference between the two areas, Simi Valley is not much different from Santa Clarita, which remains in the district.

We have a lot more in common with Santa Clarita than we did the other cities, but now were in the 26th, Jones said.

The long-time Simi Valley resident and stay-at-home mom has volunteered for Garcias campaign since he ran in the 2020 special election. She wishes the redistricting commissioners had kept Simi Valley in the new 27th.

Of course we wanted to be with Garcia, Jones said. But it is what it is.

Garcia has represented the 25th Congressional District since May 2020 when he won a special election against Smith to replace Katie Hill, who resigned less than a year into her first term following a scandal and allegations of inappropriate relationships in the workplace. Hill a Democrat flipped the district in 2018, ousting Republican Rep. Steve Knight who was elected in 2014. Before Knight, the seat was held by Republican Howard Buck McKeon for 22 years.

But even with the possibilities that come with a new district, people in the 27th are wary of how a member of Congress from either side could truly represent the interests of a community so divided.

Theres two separate worlds, Derfler said walking back into Transplants Brewery to return her canvassing materials. So then which constituents do you fight for in Congress?

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There's one congressional Republican left in Los Angeles County. Meet the activists trying to give him the boot. - uscannenbergmedia.com

Despite public tensions with Donald Trump, GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said this week that he is fine with Republican candidates who support the former president as long as they can win their elections.

Trump has repeatedly attacked McConnell in public statements since McConnell condemned the former president last year for inciting his supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. "There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day," McConnell said in a Senate floor speech on February 13, 2021.

The former president then responded with a statement, describing the Senate minority leader as "a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack." Since then Trump has dubbed McConnell an "old crow" and called him a "disaster." McConnell has largely shrugged off the criticism, while also not shying away from rebuking controversial staunchly pro-Trump Republicans like Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina.

Regardless of the public feud, McConnell said he is fine with GOP candidates and lawmakers supportingor not supportingTrump in an interview with Punchbowl News on Thursday.

"I don't have an ideological test. For example, how you feel about former President Trump is irrelevant," McConnell said. "There are ways of measuring a credible candidateand that's what I want. This is not an ideological litmus test, or how you feel about the former presidentit's can you win in November."

McConnell said "he could" get involved in the GOP primaries this year in support of Republican candidates he believes can win in the midterm election in November.

Newsweek reached out to Trump's spokesperson for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

While McConnell may only care about Republicans winning in November, Trump has made it clear that he expects loyalty, as well as support for his false claims that the 2020 election was "stolen" in favor of President Joe Biden, in order to receive his backing. The former president has endorsed a number of controversial GOP candidatessome of whom are challenging Republican incumbentsthat some are concerned could hamper their party's odds of winning the majority in November.

Trump this month withdrew his endorsement of Representative Mo Brooks, an Alabama Republican, who was running in his state's GOP Senate primary. Although Brooks was a staunch supporter of the former president and his lies about the 2020 election, he drew Trump's ire after he said voters should "look forward" and "put" the last presidential election "behind you."

"Mo Brooks of Alabama made a horrible mistake recently when he went 'woke' and stated, referring to the 2020 Presidential Election Scam, 'Put that behind you, put that behind you,' despite the fact that the Election was rife with fraud and irregularities," the former president said in a March 23 statement withdrawing his support for Brooks.

Regardless of McConnell's or Trump's strategies for endorsements, Republicans currently appear well-positioned to retake control of the House and possibly the Senate as well in the November election. Historical precedent is on the GOP's side, as the party of the president in power generally loses a substantial number of congressional seats during the midterms of their first term in the White House. Multiple recent polls show that a majority of voters prefer Republicans to control Congress after the 2022 midterms.

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McConnell Says He Only Cares About Winning, Fine With Pro-Trump Republicans - Newsweek

During Judge Ketanji Brown Jacksons confirmation hearing, Republicans reiterated many of the attack lines theyve been using on Democrats when it comes to the issue of crime.

The Biden administration is committed to these soft-on-crime policies, said Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR). Liberal judges who have more sympathy for the victimizers than for the victims are a big part of the problem.

[The best way to deter people viewing child porn] is to put their ass in jail, said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) as he criticized Jacksons sentencing decisions in such cases.

Throughout the hearing and increasingly everywhere else in recent months many have embraced a tough on crime stance. That comes in response to an uptick in violent crime during the pandemic and corresponding voter concerns about it.

Under one-party Democrat rule in Washington, American families are facing a crime crisis, House Republicans posted in a March tweet. Crime is surging across the country, Senate Republicans emphasized in February. The results of Democrats soft-on-crime policies are clear.

The rhetoric in Jacksons hearing and in broader GOP messaging have seemed like a departure from the focus on criminal justice reform that the party had as recently as 2018, when the majority of Senate Republicans backed sentencing changes for nonviolent offenders in the First Step Act. The party back then was eager to show it had made progress on an issue that arose from Congresss efforts to crack down on crime decades ago. (Many of these efforts notably excluded violent offenders or sex offenders that Jackson was spuriously accused of going easy on.)

There are some Republicans who are reluctant to evangelize criminal justice reforms now, advocates say, since increases in crime have become a GOP talking point. According to a study from the Council on Criminal Justice, the homicide rate across 22 major cities was up 5 percent in 2021 compared to 2020, and up 44 percent compared to 2019.

I think your average conservative, or average Republican, may have supported the First Step Act, but I have the impression that the average conservative has backed off from where they were, says Clark Neily, a senior vice president of legal studies at the Cato Institute.

Experts emphasize, however, that the most aggressive moments in the hearing are not indicative of how open a segment of Republicans still is to important but limited criminal justice reforms.

Just last week, 10 Republicans signed on to cosponsor the Equal Act, legislation that would reduce the sentencing disparities between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. The legislation which would make penalties the same for the two substances has yet to be considered on the floor but could pass with the GOP support it has. Currently, sentencing standards are far more severe for crack cocaine, a disparity that disproportionately affects Black offenders.

The fact of the matter is that all who work in DC politics understand that congressional hearings basically exist for political grandstanding, and thats pretty much it, says Jason Pye, a director at the criminal justice reform group Due Process, who lobbied Republicans on the First Step Act. There are plenty of Republicans in the Senate who will vote for bills like this because they think its the right thing to do.

The rhetoric at Jacksons hearing revealed divides within the party on the issue and the subjects that Republicans arent interested in addressing via reforms.

For years, the party has been fractured on the subject with senators like Tom Cotton (R-AR) opposed to virtually any reforms, while others like Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Tim Scott (R-SC) have led efforts for sentencing reforms for nonviolent drug offenses and police reforms.

There are upwards of 20 Republicans who are gettable, but there are going to be the ones who always oppose you. You start with the list of the no votes on these bills, says Pye.

These differences were on full display at the hearing, with Cotton, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) among the most vocal critics of Jacksons sentencing record on child porn cases. (While Cruz voted for the First Step Act, it took key tweaks for him to ultimately do so.)

And even among those supportive of reforms, like Lee and Graham, a focus on child porn cases echoed where theyve stood on violent crimes and sex crimes related to children. Even though they back sentencing changes for nonviolent drug offenders, they take a very different approach to violent crimes.

Even in the First Step Act, you had a lot of carveouts, says Brett Tolman, the head of the conservative advocacy group Right on Crime. They spent a lot of time carving out crimes of violence, of child porn.

Reforms on drug sentencing that Republicans do back didnt come up as much, since they didnt relate to the chief line of attack from committee members on Jacksons sentencing. Notably, though, a sizable group of Republicans continues to support them. Those cosponsoring the Equal Act, for example, include Sens. Paul, Rob Portman (R-OH), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Jerry Moran (R-KS), and Richard Burr (R-NC).

Republicans have been less vocal about reforms in general given the attention on crime rates, says Tolman. At the state and local level, many Republican officials have also pushed back on progressive prosecutors, policies like changes to cash bail, and reduced prosecutions for low-level offenses.

I think theyre often scared that if crime continues to increase, no one wants the blame placed on them, says Jillian Snider, the policy director for the criminal justice and civil liberties team at R Street Institute.

Theres also the Trump factor. During his presidency, Trumps support of the First Step Act helped to get Republicans who were on the fence on board. Without his advocacy on the issue now, some lawmakers are likely less open to this idea.

Its certainly true that President Trump, when he was in office and told McConnell to put it on the floor, that helped us out, and got us votes we otherwise wouldnt have had, says Pye.

Recent progress on criminal justice reform indicates that theres still bipartisan interest in narrower policies.

Republicans backing for the Equal Act a pretty limited bill is still significant. Its not yet clear if the legislation will move forward in the Senate, though it now has sufficient Republican support.

In the past, Republicans have similarly been open to very targeted policies.

The First Step Act, for example, enables just a subset of federal inmates to shorten their sentences. Other more ambitious reforms, meanwhile, have floundered.

Previous discussions on police reform collapsed because Democrats were pushing for a more expansive bill that eliminated qualified immunity, legal protections that police have that shield them from liability. Republicans, meanwhile, were not interested in removing these protections.

The Next Step Act, legislation sponsored by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) to reduce mandatory minimums for nonviolent drug offenses and provide more police training, has failed to get any traction, either.

Republicans openness to the Equal Act signals that theres enduring bipartisan potential for reforms, even though the partys overall rhetoric doesnt always reflect this support.

Originally posted here:
What Ketanji Brown Jacksons hearings revealed about Republicans and criminal justice reform - Vox.com

A circuit judge on Thursday found the Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican, in contempt of court for refusing to turn over documents relating to the state's recount of the 2020 presidential election.

"Robin Vos had delegated the search for contractors' records to an employee who did nothing more than send one vague email to one contractor," wrote Dane County Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn. "Putting aside for the moment the impropriety of making a contractor responsible for a records request Robin Vos did not tell [sic] that contractor which records to produce, did not ask any of the other contractors to produce records, and did not even review the records ultimately received. Still worse, the Assembly did nothing at all."

Bailey-Rihn has ordered Vos to release the materials within fourteen days or pay a daily fine of $1,000 any time after that, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Bailey-Rihn established that, if the documents aren't provided, Vos must provide an explanation.

RELATED: Trump campaign avoids $8M bill by limiting Wisconsin recount to cities with large Black populations

Wednesday's ruling stems from an inquiry Vos launched back in May off the back of Donald Trump's baseless claims of election fraud. According to The Washington Post, Vos' sham audit, which has a taxpayer-funded budget of $700,000, has enlisted the help of retired police officers and an attorney. Thus far, Vos has also subpoenaed scores of election officials across the state in metropolitan areas like Green Bay, Racine and Milwaukee.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

In October, nonpartisan watchdog American Oversight filed a lawsuit against Vos and the Wisconsin State Assembly demanding that the judge release records detailing the investigation a request that Bailey-Rihn has now affirmed.

"Speaker Vos and the Assembly have had ample opportunity to comply with the court's order and produce records," Bailey-Rihn wrote.

RELATED: Dear Wisconsin: If Trump wants a recount, make him pay up front

Still, Bailey-Rihn's ruling only deals with one of three suits filed by American Oversight.

Vos, for his part, has suggested that Bailey-Rihn's ruling is part of a politically-motivated smear campaign.

"It's a liberal judge in Dane County trying to make us look bad. I don't know about you, but when you have deleted emails, how do you get deleted emails back if they're from Gmail?" he said, according to Madison.com. "We already have an expert saying they can't be done. You have a judge who's focused on making a name for herself, and that's all she's doing."

Thus far, no substantive evidence has emerged to justify the Vos' recount, for which he is being paid $11,000 a month. President Biden defeated Trump by a margin of 21,000 votes in Wisconsin, a result that a conservative law firm confirmed in December after a ten-month review of the election.

RELATED: "Crazy conspiracy theory": Wisconsin GOP investigator pushes illegal effort to "decertify" election

The ruling against the GOP speaker comes amid another outrage over the Republican takeover of the state's Natural Resources Board, which, like Vos' sham audit, is benefiting from a highly partisan State Assembly willing to defy the norms of good government.

On Friday, the Wisconsin State Journal editorial board called on Fred Prehn to resign from the Natural Resources Board over his refusal to step down eleven months after his term expired. Prehn will theoretically be able to continue serving until his replacement is confirmed by the State Assembly, whose Republican caucus is indefinitely delaying the transition.

"Prehn seems to think he can serve for life, like an emperor," the Wisconsin State Journal editorial board wrote. "If that's true, then good government in Wisconsin is further eroded along with the public's ability to hold government officials accountable."

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The Republican takeover of Wisconsin: GOP officials defy the courts and the voters - Salon

FARGO Democrats are going to get wiped out this fall, according to the polls. Republicans are likely to take control of Congress and strengthen themselves in state legislatures. America continues its political whipsaw, throwing the bums out every couple of years no matter the tribe to which the bums belong. We are an angry, scared nation.

Despite the sense that we are careening toward the cliff of losing our democracy and nobody quite knows what to do about it, if they even care (Republicans think the end of attaining power is worth the means), the parties swapping power is normal. If gas and hamburger prices seem too high, the party in power gets blamed. Tale as old as time.

But one recent poll included a number that was double-take worthy, even if it wasn't completely surprising after further review.

59%.

That, according to a Harvard University/Harris poll, is the number of Republican voters who would support Donald Trump in a GOP primary for president.

Specific wording of the poll question: "If the Republican presidential primary for the 2024 election was held today, who would you vote for?"

Trump got 59%. His closest competitor was former Vice President Mike Pence, who received 11%. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis got 10%. The rest of the field received low single-digits.

Six of 10 Republicans support the former president, who clearly helped instigate (if not orchestrate) the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol and continues to praise and favor Vladimir Putin above the current United States president.

What do you think that number would be among North Dakota Republicans? It would certainly be more than 59%, perhaps as high as 90%.

That's why when "moderate" Republicans or media pundits say it's time for the party to move on from Trump, or that Trumpism reflects only a shrinking sliver of the GOP, it is beyond laughable. The Former Guy is The Current Guy for Republicans.

He is the face, the voice, the conscience of the Republican Party.

Trumpism and all it entails is the bedrock of the GOP. There's no separating the two. North Dakota U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, a longtime fanboy, recently dismissed the former president playing footsie with Putin as "Trump being Trump," as if that somehow excuses him.

That's the line Republicans have tried to walk with Trump, that his seditionist, pro-Russian tendencies are annoying glitches while his policies are the real substance. It allows GOPers to justify Trump's stench while supporting him.

As has been scribbled in this space before, multiple times: Trump is the Republican Party and the Republican Party is Trump. Period. There's no space between the two. The cult of personality is real.

And as we inch closer to 2024 and "moderate" Republicans and pundits who've been saying Trump no longer holds sway over the masses begin to realize he will win the GOP nomination for president, they'll change their tune.

Leading an insurrection? Big deal. Being besties with Putin? Meh. Trying to extort Ukraine? Yawn.

Trump remains the Republican Party. It can't quit him, nor does it want to.

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McFeely: To repeat, Trump is the Republican Party and the Republican Party is Trump - INFORUM