Archive for the ‘Republican’ Category

Wood River Township Assessor sued for allegedly targeting ‘Republican’ employee – Alton Telegraph

WOOD RIVER A former employee of the Wood River Township Assessors Office has filed suit, claiming the assessor fired her because she protested a policy of buying or selling tickets to a Democratic fundraiser.

Sheena Howard named Assessor Sandy Shaw, a Democrat, claiming Shaw convened a meeting of her employees and told them that they were expected to sell a certain number of tickets or to buy at least two.

Plaintiff reasonably believed that it was illegal for defendant Shaw to require or otherwise instruct public employees to engage in political activity while working, including, but not limited to, the sale of fundraiser tickets.

On March 30, 2017, during an office meeting, plaintiff expressed her opposition to the practice of requiring, requesting or demanding that public employees sell tickets to fundraisers, the suit claims.

Howard then went to see Township Supervisor Mike Babcock, a Republican, and informed him of the allegedly illegal activities, the suit claims.

Shaw then allegedly put a note in Howards file, noting that Howard had met with Babcock, according to the complaint.

On April 26 and May 18, Howard was warned of excessive time off for sick days. Howard claims she took no more days off than were allotted to her.

Howard was terminated on June 1 for excessive days off and other disciplinary actions, the suit claims. Howard claims she was paid for nine hours unused sick pay.

She claims that she was perceived as a Republican at worst, or not a Democrat at best and terminated based on her perceived political affiliation. The claim that she took excessive days off was patently false, the suit claims. The stated reasons were merely a pretext, Howard claims.

Defendant Shaw terminated plaintiff in retaliation for plaintiffs speaking to Mike Babcock and to the general public about the matter of a public interest in violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, the suit claims.

She is asking for at least $50,000 in damages. Howard is represented Keith Short and Jack Daugherty of Collinsville.

Reached by phone Tuesday evening, Shaw declined comment.

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Reach reporter Sanford Schmidt at 618-208-6449.

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Wood River Township Assessor sued for allegedly targeting 'Republican' employee - Alton Telegraph

Moderate mayor wins Republican primary to replace Rep. Chaffetz in Utah – ABC News

John Curtis, the mayor of Provo, Utah, won the Republican primary in his state's third congressional district Tuesday, capping a campaign that will see him advance to November's general election after he collected over 15,000 signatures from party members simply to make the primary ballot.

The Associated Press projected Curtis to be the winner at 11:45 p.m. ET with 77 percent of precincts reporting.

Curtis' victory comes in the course of the district's special election to replace Rep. Jason Chaffetz who officially resigned from his seat in May. He will face Democrat Kathie Allen and a collection of third party candidates in the general election on November 7.

The heavily conservative district, which Chaffetz represented from 2008 until this year, is widely expected to remain in Republican hands, but voters across Utah have previously registered their hesitations about President Donald Trump, who failed to receive a majority of the vote in the district in 2016, and earlier lost the statewide caucus to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, by a wide margin. Curtis admitted during his campaign to having not voted for Trump in November.

Former Utah state Rep. Chris Herrod finished second to Curtis Tuesday. Herrod secured the Republican nomination for the seat via the party's convention, but still faced a primary challenge after Curtis and businessman Tanner Ainge collected enough signatures to earn a spot in the race, according to The Salt Lake Tribune

While Curtis' campaign had its roots in the signature-collection effort, he received a number of high profile endorsements in recent weeks to bolster his reputation, including from Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and the Tribune, the state's largest newspaper. Despite that support, Curtis has faced questions about his conservative credentials. Curtis once headed a county Democratic party committee, and was a registered Democrat until 2006, when he switched his registration to Republican.

He has served as mayor of Provo, the district's largest city and home to Brigham Young University -- the alma mater of all three of Tuesday's candidates -- since 2010.

Herrod had the backing of two sitting U.S. senators, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. and Sen Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the latter for whom Herrod worked as Utah state director during the 2016 presidential race.

Ainge, the son of Boston Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge ,who is well known in Utah for his time as a college basketball player at BYU, was the political newcomer of the group, though had earned the support of 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

Chaffetz resignation in the Spring took some in the Republican party by surprise. Thought to be a rising star in the party, the representative made a name for himself as the chairman of the House Oversight Committee and gained political visibility after the panel pursued aggressive investigations of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Internal Revenue Service and former Attorney General Eric Holder.

In November, Chaffetz won reelection to his fifth term by a 73.5 to 26.5 percent margin over his Democratic competitor. The winner of the general election this November will complete Chaffetz's term and be up for reelection in 2018.

ABC News' Dakshayani Shankar contributed to this report.

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Moderate mayor wins Republican primary to replace Rep. Chaffetz in Utah - ABC News

Republican Sen. Johnson says he’s uncomfortable with Trump – SFGate

Scott Bauer, Associated Press

Republican Sen. Johnson says he's uncomfortable with Trump

MADISON, Wis. (AP) Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said Wednesday that he doesn't think President Donald Trump is a racist or should be impeached, but that he's uncomfortable with Trump's repeated comments saying white supremacists and protesters should share the blame for deadly violence at a Virginia rally.

Gov. Scott Walker called for all white supremacists to be denounced, without commenting specifically on Trump, while other Republicans took a much sharper stand.

U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, a former Marine in his first term representing northeast Wisconsin, had harsh words for Trump.

"The president needs to be crystal clear that hatred has no place in our society, but he is currently failing," said Gallagher, a Republican.

Assembly GOP Majority Leader Jim Steineke denounced Trump for twice saying "both sides" shared the blame for violence at the rally where a 32-year-old woman was killed by a white supremacist. Trump has faced bipartisan criticism for not immediately condemning violence by white supremacists at the rally.

"When you see evil, you have to condemn it and do it in no uncertain terms," Steineke said. "I don't believe (white supremacists) have any place in any political party and we shouldn't legitimize their views by making a moral equivalent argument."

Johnson told reporters Wednesday that Trump's comments are a distraction from his broader agenda, including tax reform, and that he wishes the president would focus more on unifying the country.

But Johnson also said he did not think the remarks indicate Trump is unfit for office. Democratic U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, Wisconsin's only African-American representative in Congress, called for Trump to be impeached hours after his comments on Tuesday.

Johnson said "I see no grounds" for impeachment.

"The American people elected Donald Trump and I'm not sure he's changed much from what he was during the campaign," said Johnson, who was an early and vocal supporter.

Asked if he thought Trump was a racist, Johnson said: "I don't think so."

When pressed why, he grew testy: "Because I just don't think so ... I think we've covered this one well enough."

Walker said after a round table event in Green Bay that he denounces all hate, echoing his tweet on Saturday condemning violence at the rally.

"I think any of the white supremacist groups or other groups just need to be unilaterally dismissed and denounced," Walker said.

Johnson said it was "depressing" that Heather Heyer was killed when a car rammed into a crowd of people protesting white nationalism, saying "all political officials need to speak out against that."

House Speaker Paul Ryan tweeted Tuesday that "white supremacy is repulsive," but did not specifically address the president's comments.

Republican state Rep. Adam Jarchow, of Clear Lake, set off a heated exchange on Twitter when he said: "As a reminder, @GOP is the party that ended slavery and led the civil rights fight. Dems on wrong side of both."

When questioned to explain if he was saying Trump was on the right side of the issue now, Jarchow tweeted: "Every single member of the @GOP I know deplores racism and denounces it. It's disgusting and wrong. That's the GOP I know."

Even conservative Wisconsin talk radio host Jerry Bader denounced Trump in response to Jarchow, saying the president's words are "vile, repugnant and clearly illustrate he is not fit to hold the office of president."

___

Follow Scott Bauer on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sbauerAP

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Republican Sen. Johnson says he's uncomfortable with Trump - SFGate

Republican Fox & Friends pundit, overcome with emotion, says he can’t defend Trump anymore – ThinkProgress

Gianno Caldwell, a Republican pundit, was skeptical of Donald Trumps original run for president, but he came to be one of Trumps most outspoken supporters. During an interview Wednesday morning on Fox News about President Trumps outrageous press conference, his outlook changed dramatically.

Caldwell was identified as a Republican political analyst, and he was introduced to the segment with a question about the good people on both sides of the debate about the fate of Confederate statues, but he did not take the bait. I come today with a very heavy heart, he started. Last night, I couldnt sleep at all because President Trump, our president, has literally betrayed the conscience of our country.

Caldwell started to tear up as he continued to speak:

The very moral fabric in which weve made progress when it comes to race relations in America? Hes failed us, and its very unfortunate that our president would say things like he did in that press conference yesterdaywhenhe says, There are good people on the side of the Nazis. They werent all Nazis and they werent all white supremacists.Mr. President, good people dont pal around with Nazis and white supremacists. Maybe they dont consider themselves white supremacists and Nazis, but certainly they hold those views. This has become very troubling and for anyone to come on any network and defend what President Trump did and said at that press conference yesterday is completely lost and the potential to be morally bankrupt. Im sorry no, I believe that and Im being very honest as one who has been talking about these issues for a very long time. Im sorry that this is where we are right now. I hope the president learns a lesson from his press conference on yesterday. Its disturbing.

Host Abby Huntsman tried to steer the conversation back to monuments, but Caldwell continued to lambast Trump for failing to be a moral leader on issues of race.

At Trumps fiery press conference Tuesday, he blamed both sides for violence in Charlottesville, including the alt-left, a term that seems to have beeninvented by Fox News Sean Hannity and used by conservatives over the past week to demonize liberals. Trumpestablished a moral equivalency between the white supremacists and the counter-protesters who responded to their gathering. He evendefended the very fine people he thought were there to simply protest the taking down of a statue of Robert E. Lee, who led the Confederate Armys fight to preserve slavery. White nationalists were thrilled by what he said.

Caldwells response to the conference was a significant shift from his usual support for the president.

Following his appearance Wednesday morning, his Twitter feed looked a bit different.

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Republican Fox & Friends pundit, overcome with emotion, says he can't defend Trump anymore - ThinkProgress

The 53rd Republican Senator? – The American Prospect

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie speaks during a news conference in Trenton.

If Robert Menendez, the New Jersey Democratic senator who is set to go on trial for bribery and conspiracy next month, resigns or is expelled from office after August 31, the states governor, Republican Chris Christie, could appoint his successor. Assuming Christie would appoint a Republican (possibly himself), that would give the GOP an additional seat in a closely divided U.S. Senate where nearly every vote has been a cliff-hanger.

Should Menendez leave office by August 30, the vacancy would instead be filled in the states November 7 general election, since New Jersey law requires a special election to take place at the next possible general election unless that election is less than 70 days away. If Menendez leaves office after noon on January 16, the next governorset to be elected on November 7would be able to appoint his successor. That governor is likely to be Democrat Phil Murphy, who currently holds a commanding lead of 20 percent to 30 percent in opinion polls.

While New Jersey law states that the governor may make a temporary appointment of a senator even if a vacancy is filled quickly in an election, the political impact of Christie appointing a senator who would serve until November 2018 could be far greater than if he appointed a senator who served only one or two months, as would be the case if Menendez were to resign before August 30. Any senator appointed after August 30 would serve until December 2018, following the 2018 election, unless the appointing governor called a special election, a course of action that would be at the governors discretion. It is unclear if a new governor could call a special election even if a previous governor had already appointed a new senator. Division of Elections spokesperson Jennifer Stringfellow declined to answer the Prospects inquiries, citing state policies that forbid the issuing of legal advice. While New Jersey law lacks a provision that explicitly allows a special election being called after a temporary senator is appointed, there is also no provision that forbids it.

Christie could appoint himself if he so chose, an eventuality seen as likely, since he is term-limited out of the governors office on January 16 and, as the nations least-popular governor, with just a 15 percent approval rating, has limited prospects of attaining statewide office in an election. The governors two recent headline-generating forays were his familys much photographed beach visit at a time when state governments failure to pass a budget closed the beach to the general public, and his threatening a baseball fan with nachos.

A Republican appointee could prove critical to GOP efforts in the Senate, including any renewed attempts to cut the scope of health coverage and efforts to alter the tax code. One more Republican vote would have meant the bill to repeal and replace Obamacare would have passed. Then again, if a Republican appointee chose to run for a full term at the 2018 election or a special election, he or she might toe a moderate line. New Jersey has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972, and Menendez won his last re-election campaign by 20 percentage points.

Menendezs trial is set to begin September 6, so the only set of circumstances that would lead him to resign before the August 31 cut off for a November vote on his successor would be if prosecutors offered and he accepted a plea deal. Attorneys for the senator had tried to get charges thrown out, arguing that the 2016 Supreme Court ruling in McDonnell v. United States, which set a higher bar for corruption convictions, invalidates the charges against the senator. Menendez stands accused of accepting lavish gifts and campaign funds in exchange for promoting the business interests of his friend Salomon Melgen, a Floridian physician who has already been convicted of fraud for improperly billing the government for more than $100 million in medical insurance payments. (Melgens sentencing has been delayed, pending Menendezs trial, in which he is a co-defendant. While there has been speculation that he could strike a deal with prosecutors that would help win a conviction against Menendez, no indication of such an arrangement has yet surfaced.)

But Menendez contends that none of the actions he allegedly took, including pressuring then-Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius on Melgens behalf and advocating for a Melgen-owned company with the Dominican Republics government, were official acts, a standard set in McDonnell last year. That ruling, revolving around corruption charges against Virginias former Republican Governor Bob McDonnell, found that the governors conviction was invalid because calling other public officials, setting meetings, and hosting events did not qualify as official acts.

U.S. District Court Judge William H. Walls opted not to rule on Menendezs motion to have the governments case dismissed on the grounds that his work on Melgens behalf did not amount to official acts. The judge ruled that the trial will move forward and the merits of the motion will be reconsidered after the government has presented its case. Menendezs actions in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in 2012, in which the senator pushed officials from the departments of Commerce and State to take positions on a pending contract with the Dominican Republic that benefited one of Melgens companies, could be critical. Advocating for Melgenwho had given the senator lavish gifts and campaign fundsin an official setting like a committee hearing could meet a definition of official acts that phone calls or meetings might not.

I dont think the motion was frivolous but the Supreme Courts decision will probably need further decisions by the appellate court to pin down what official action is, Anthony Capozzolo, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, says. Capozzolo was primarily assigned to the Public Integrity Section while he was a federal prosecutor.

If he were bribed to cast a vote in a certain way, that would fall clearly under the federal bribery statute, Capozzolo said. If Menendez exerted pressure through meetings or calls, however, that would be a gray area in the post-McDonnell era. Im sure the defense was not happy with the Courts decision denying the motion, but I would be surprised if part of their strategy into the trial is not to try to shoehorn the governments case in a way that makes it more likely that the definition of official action becomes an issue. I certainly think it will effect the way the defense handles witnesses during the trial because I think theyll want a record to base a motion on if theres a conviction.

Prosecutors could offer Menendez a deal before the trial, and that would likely require him to step down. If such a deal were accepted by August 30, Christie would not have the chance to appoint a successor. Capozzolo says that Menendezs trial is unlikely to last more than a month. Following any conviction, Menendezs attorneys could re-submit a motion based on McDonnell, and Judge Walls could take a lengthy period to consider any ruling if he felt it held merit.

While most senators convicted of crimes have resigned immediately, Menendez, rather than hand the seat over to the GOP, may well prove the exception to this rule. Consideration of a post-trial motion to vacate could result in Menendez holding onto his seat for a longer period, and should the judge not vacate a guilty verdict, Menendez could still appeal to higher courts over the applicability or meaning of McDonnell.

Even if such motions were rejected, there would be no requirement for Menendez to step aside, which could open the possibility that Senate Republicans would move to expel him. By forcing a vote on Menendezs expulsion while Christie is still governor, the GOP could not only pick up one additional colleague, but also put Democrats in a politically embarrassing situation.

Expulsions are rare. The last attempt to expel a sitting senator came in 2011, when Nevada Republican John Ensign resigned before a final vote could be taken on expulsion. The last successful expulsions were in 1861 and 1862, when numerous senators were expelled for supporting the secession of their states into the Confederacy. The only successful expulsion not related to the Civil War was that of William Blount in 1797. A Democratic-Republican from Tennessee, he was expelled for attempting to incite a military action by Creek and Cherokee tribes to assist Britain in an invasion of Spanish-controlled Florida.

Prosecutors are more likely to offer a deal if they think they could lose during the trial itself or if they believe the case could be overturned, possibly due to an appeal based on McDonnell, Capozzolo says. They know what risks they may have, he says. If they view their evidence as very clear that it crosses the lines of official action then they may be confident enough that theyre not concerned about it [an agreement].

Even if Menendez is exoneratedor if a conviction is vacated for another reasonhis trials and tribulations may not be done. He is up for re-election in 2018, and, while he has expressed an intention to run again, New Jersey Democrats may smell blood in the water. Menendez has appeared scandal-prone since right-wing media outlets paid three women to claim they had had sexual relations with Menendez in 2012, while they were underage, according to interviews with the women conducted by Dominican Republic police that revealed they had been paid off.

Menendez is one of the least-popular senators in the country, possibly due to his legal issues. A Morning Consult poll found that just 40 percent of New Jersey voters approve of his job performance, the third-lowest in the nation. Though no prominent Democrats have filed to run against Menendez in the primary, speculation has arisen that at least half a dozen key figures in the partyincluding four current or former House members, a former senator, a former governor, and the president of the state Senatecould challenge him.

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The 53rd Republican Senator? - The American Prospect