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Republicans are zeroing in on Loudoun County, Virginia, ahead of the states competitive gubernatorial race as the affluent, Democratic-leaning area finds itself at the center of Americas culture wars.

School board meetings in the county, an exurb of Washington, D.C., have garnered national media attention amid the contentious and at times raucous debates over critical race theory and transgender issues in the classroom.

Republicans say these concerns will potentially help turn blue areas like Loudoun red in what could be a test case for the power of hot-button cultural issues ahead of next year's midterms. They point to the controversy over critical race theory in particular as an example of something that could sway parents decisions at the ballot box.

Geary Higgins, the chair of the 10th Congressional District Republican Committee, which includes Loudoun County, said organizers have gathered 12,000 out of 17,000 signatures needed in the county to recall six school board members over the issue.

I wish we had 12,000 Republican activists in Loudoun County, we would change things real quick. But these are parents that are concerned about whats going on, Higgins told The Hill.

Critical race theory was developed in the 1970s and 1980s by a number of American legal scholars who argued racism is rooted in the nations founding and that systemic racism continues to have a negative impact on the opportunities and treatment of people of color at all levels of society today.

Opponents of the theory say it teaches American students to disparage the U.S. and sows division in classrooms. Its opponents also argue that their movement is not only about the theory itself, but about parental oversight of schools.

I get emails from people across the country asking how they can stand up to their school board, how they can replicate what were doing here, and its really been nonstop, said Ian Prior, the executive director of Fight For Schools, the conservative group that is leading the effort to recall the school board members.

I think that it is absolutely going to be an issue as it relates to campaigns and elections, he said.

Virginia Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin has spoken frequently about critical race theory, and has tied Democratic nominee and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe to it.

"We've actually seen the McAuliffe-Northam administration try to teach our children what to think, and we know that our schools are supposed to teach our kids how to think," Youngkintold Fox Businesslast week.

A spokesperson for Youngkins campaign told The Hill that the opposition to critical race theory has not only been seen in Loudoun County, but throughout Virginia.

The open question is does critical race theory gain traction beyond the Fox News viewership? Beyond the people who are already on the Republican side, said veteran Virginia political commentator Bob Holsworth.

Polling shows the issue resonates with voters along party lines. A Morning Consult survey released last month found that 42 percent of Republicans said they had a very unfavorable view of critical race theory, while 25 percent of independents and5 percent of Democrats said the same. A total of 23 percent of voters in the same poll said they agreed.

But Republicans point to anEconomist/YouGov pollreleased last month that found 58 percent of voters said they have an unfavorable view of the theory, while 38 percent said they had an unfavorable view.

Its a winning issue for us, said one GOP operative working in Virginia politics. This has fully taken up the oxygen, and like I said, its a winning issue for us with independents and even among Democrats to a certain extent.

Democrats have dismissed it as a distraction from other policy debates, arguing that the outrage is not from the parents themselves, but rather from conservative activists.

That's another right-wing conspiracy," McAuliffe said last month. "This is totally made up by Donald Trump and Glenn Youngkin. This is who they are. It's a conspiracy theory."

Democrats also point to the nationwide GOP strategy of talking about cultural issues, like critical race theory, to energize the conservative base. Trump has repeatedly brought up the issue in his first few campaign appearances since taking office.

This is pretty clearly a culture war issue that I think a lot of folks see very clearly as a Republican attempt to rile people up, said one Virginia-based Democratic operative.

Democrats instead have touted McAuliffes own education plan, in which he pledges to invest $2 billion in Virginia public education and raise teachers salaries.

Youngkin released his academic excellence plan earlier this month, in part focusing on improving school measurement metrics, improving student academic achievement and preventing prolonged school closures.

Loudoun County itself has been subject to political and media attention partly due to its place within the Washington, D.C., media market, as well as it being one of the exurbs Virginia suburban voters largely abandoned Republicans in during the Trump years.

Suburban voters could end up playing a consequential role in the Virginia elections, as well as the 2022 elections, after they went largely for President BidenJoe BidenPoll: Biden approval on coronavirus slips 2 percentage points Overnight Defense: Top US commander in Afghanistan departs | US sends delegation to Haiti after request for troops | Senate Dems propose .3B for Pentagon in Capitol security bill Protests escalate US-Cuba tensions MORE in 2020.

With critical race theory and other cultural hot-button issues, the Republicans think they have something now that can flip those suburban voters who largely abandoned the Republican Party in Virginia during the Trump era, said Mark Rozell, dean and Ruth D. and John T. Hazel chair in public policy at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.

However, analysts warn Republicans risk alienating suburban voters if they make critical race theory central to their education message.

I think if the argument comes down to critical race theory versus paying teachers, paying teachers wins, Holsworth said.

Loudoun went for former President George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004 before former President Obama won the county by8 points in 2008 and by4 points in 2012.

Former President TrumpDonald TrumpOvernight Defense: Top US commander in Afghanistan departs | US sends delegation to Haiti after request for troops | Senate Dems propose .3B for Pentagon in Capitol security bill Fauci and Birx warned Scott Atlas was 'dangerous' Report: RNC chief counsel called 2020 Trump legal efforts 'a joke' MORE appeared to accelerate Loudouns Democratic tilt, losing the county by 17 points in 2016 and again by 25 points in 2020.

Democrats, who frequently tie Youngkin to Trump, say the former presidents double-digit loss in thecounty is evidence that the notion Loudoun County could flip is being overplayed.

Republicans acknowledge that flipping the county back to red will likely be an issue of turnout, but insist that a decent performance in the area could help them statewide.

I think that if there was an issue or a year where that would change a little bit more in favor of Youngkin and Republicans, it would be this year and it would be because of this issue, the Virginia-based Republican operative said.

More here:
Virginia county to test power of GOP culture wars at ballot box | TheHill - The Hill

Do National Guard members report to their governor, or the president? Both, actually. State National Guard members have two commanders: their governors and, above that, the U.S. president.

So whos paying for this? Normally, when Washington requests National Guard members at the border, Washington pays. Otherwise, state taxpayers are on the line for funding their National Guard and law enforcement like highway patrol. Texas has offered to reimburse at least some states who send law enforcement through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, a preexisting resource-sharing agreement between states. But also, in a bizarre and unprecedented turn of events, a billionaire Republican megadonor from Tennessee has paid for some of the deployment. Willis Johnson, through the Willis and Reba Johnsons Foundation, donated $1 million directly to the state of South Dakota to fund National Guard troops on the border.

Is that even allowed? A state lawmaker says its legal, but security experts have called the moved unethical and dangerous. You certainly dont want our national security priorities up to the highest bidder, Mandy Smithberger of the Project on Government Oversight told the Washington Post.

OK. But why is this all happening in the first place? Governors Abott and Doucey might genuinely feel that their states are in crisis. But yes, there are politics: The Republican Partys midterm strategy is clearly going to be hammering Biden on his, in their words, open-border policies. Positioning truckloads of cops and National Guard on the border certainly helps create the appearance of crisis.

So, is there a crisis, or not? Immigration advocates like to say that crisis is a political termpartisans use it when its useful. Right now, we are seeing a higher number than weve seen in the last 20 years of CBP apprehensionsi.e., people who CBP officers have come across on the border and detained. And people are crossing in higher numbers on parts of the border unused to heavy traffic, too. Specifically, Texass Rio Grande Valley has become a much more popular location to cross the border than it has been before. This puts a lot of strain on unprepared local resources.

A stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas on July 5, 2021. | David Peinado/NurPhoto via AP

Why are more people crossing the border? It might sound confusing, but actually theyre not. Even though apprehensions are way up, the actual number of unique individuals crossing the border is believed to be much lower. Not everyone who crosses the border gets caught or apprehended, but many of the people who attempt to cross the border try and get caught multiple times (CBP calls this recidivism). And experts suggest we may be seeing the highest-ever recidivism rate this year.

Why are there so many repeat crossers right now? The simple answer is Title 42. Thats an obscure public-health measure that the Trump administration used to shut the border to asylum-seekers when the Covid pandemic started. Biden has kept Title 42 mostly in place. Before that, people seeking asylum in the U.S. were generally permitted to remain in the country (often in detention) as they awaited the outcome of their asylum case in court. But under Title 42, all of them have been apprehended and either returned to Mexico or summarily expelled to their home country without any legal proceedings. Thousands of the people returned to Mexico have decided simply to try to cross again.

So the border isnt open? Like Trump, Biden has kept the door almost entirely closed on asylum, with only a sliver of people making it in.

Whats all the ruckus from Republicans about then? While recidivism accounts for a significant portion of the high number of apprehensions, even when you account for repeat crossings, there are many more people trying to cross the border at this moment than any time in the past decade besides 2019. So it is an increase, just not an unprecedented oneespecially when compared to the far greater numbers of annual apprehensions made in the late 90s and early 2000s.

Why are more people coming to cross the border? Is that because of Biden? Biden took office with a more welcoming rhetoric towards migrants, and that may very well have encouraged some people to attempt to cross the border. But the current uptick in the number of people arriving actually began months before Biden became president, and there are, of course, many factors: Multiple hurricanes ravaged Central America in November; the Covid pandemic has intensified poverty and gangs efforts at extortion; cartel violence in Mexico is at record-high levels; and political crisis in Haiti has erupted in street violence, to name a few of the root causes.

How will this all end? Eventually, the National Guard members will be sent home. Its unclear when exactly that will be. Some that Trump deployed in 2020 are still at the border. The Guard sent by the federal government will likely be recalled as soon as the number of people crossing goes down. Increases in migration tend to be seasonal, and as we get to the hottest months of summer, it will likely decrease. Also, Biden is expected to phase out Title 42 over the coming weeks and months, which will allow for many waiting at the border to enter the country lawfully. As for the additional state officers sent to the border, the decision for when they will go home will be made by the Republican governors who sent them.

More here:
Why Are Republican Governors Sending National Guard to the Border? - POLITICO

Its no secret that Republicans really distrust the media. In fact, that distrust is increasingly an important part of their political identity.

For a long time, understanding where Republicans primarily got their news was pretty straightforward, too. Unlike Democrats, Republicans, by and large, turn to just one source for all their news: Fox News. But with the advent of news networks even further to the right than Fox News One America News Network and Newsmax thats changing.

OANN and Newsmax still make up just a small sliver of Americans overall media diet, and theres, of course, a lot of overlap in viewership between those two networks and Fox News. But there are some signs that OANN and Newsmax are replacing Fox News as the primary news sources for at least some Republicans. Im the research director at the Public Religion Research Institute, and in a March survey we conducted with Interfaith Youth Core on COVID-19 and conspiracy beliefs, we found that Fox News had fallen in popularity among Republicans, with just 27 percent saying it was their go-to news source versus 40 percent last September. Whats more, 7 percent of Republicans listed a far-right news network they preferred instead. That means they took the time to type in an other response in our text-box field, as it was not provided as a choice. Only a handful did this in September 2020.

To be sure, this shift is small Fox News is still king among Republicans. But the growing popularity of OANN and Newsmax is important: According to our research, Republicans stances on certain issues might be better predicted by their television news habits than by whether they identify as conservative, moderate or liberal.

We found in our survey, for instance, that Republicans who got their news from OANN or Newsmax were generally more extreme in their beliefs around QAnon and in their refusal to get vaccinated than those who got their news from Fox News. Meanwhile, Fox News Republicans were often more in line with Republicans who got their news from other mainstream outlets. Considering Fox News Republicans were once touted as the Republicans with the most extreme views, this signals a real change in the conservative media landscape and suggests that media habits are as important for understanding Republican voters as ideology.

Some of the most substantial daylight we observed between Fox News Republicans and far-right news Republicans was on their beliefs around conspiracy theories especially the core beliefs of QAnon. Overall, 23 percent of Republicans mostly or completely agree with the core QAnon tenet that the government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation. But Republicans who trust mainstream news sources or Fox News were actually the least likely to believe in the main QAnon conspiracy theory, with just 19 percent and 17 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, Republicans who dont watch television news, which notably includes those who get news solely from online sources, were considerably more likely to believe in a system run by Satanist pedophiles (27 percent). But by far, the Republicans who were most likely to believe in QAnon were those who trusted far-right news sources (39 percent).

We found a similar gap in Republicans willingness to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Overall, Republicans were among those most likely to say theyre hesitant or resistant to getting vaccinated. But 58 percent of Republicans who get their news from mainstream outlets and 54 percent of Republicans who get their news from Fox News said they had either already received a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine or would get vaccinated as soon as possible. Just 32 percent of Republicans who get their news from far-right news sources said the same. Whats more, 32 percent of these Republicans said they would refuse the vaccine, versus 11 percent of Republicans who get their news from mainstream outlets and 16 percent of Republicans who get their news from Fox News. That said, all three groups of Republicans expressed similar levels of hesitancy about getting vaccinated 31 percent of mainstream news Republicans and 29 percent of Fox News Republicans said they werent sure if theyd get vaccinated, compared to 37 percent of far-right news Republicans who said the same.

There was also less of a difference between Fox News Republicans and far-right news Republicans when it came to the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump. The vast majority of both groups 86 percent of Fox News Republicans and 96 percent of far-right news Republicans said the election was stolen, compared to 66 percent of Republicans who do not watch television news and only 44 percent of mainstream news Republicans.

This underscores just how central the Big Lie and baseless allegations of election fraud are to Republicans political identity. While media diets explain some differences that Republicans have, there is still an overlap between those who trust far-right news outlets versus Fox News especially where Trump is concerned. That said, we did find differences in how strongly Republicans believed the election had been stolen from Trump based on their media preferences: Forty-six percent of Fox News Republicans completely agreed that the election was stolen (whereas 40 percent mostly agreed), but among far-right news Republicans, 74 percent completely agreed (22 percent mostly agreed).

Media preferences dont explain all the differences we see among Republicans; as noted, on the question of the Big Lie, Fox News Republicans are very much not in sync with Republicans who get their news from mainstream news outlets, even if they do hold this belief less strongly than Republicans who get their news from far-right outlets.

Clearly, though, Republicans are sorting by news sources in a way that independents and Democrats are not, and thats shaping at least some of their beliefs in ways that ideology and partisanship alone dont explain.

We dont yet know whether Republicans are choosing their different media sources based on preexisting views, or whether the media sources are actively shaping those views. Its likely that both forces are at play. But what we do know is that far-right news sources are attracting a small but growing proportion of Republicans many of whom either already held or developed extreme views while Fox News, once the go-to source for many on the fringe of the party, may no longer be a hotbed for some of the GOPs most extreme beliefs.

Link:
Whether Republicans Get Vaccinated Has A Lot To Do With If They Watch Fox News Or OANN - FiveThirtyEight

More than 50 Democratic legislators from Texas are in Washington after having fled the Lone Star State.

They left the state to stop the Republican-controlled legislature from passing bills that the Democratic lawmakers said would severely restrict voting rights.

Republicans said the legislation is needed to restore confidence in the states elections.

Democrats used a similar quorum-breaking move this spring to keep nearly identical bills from becoming law. They are now urging Congress to pass federal legislation the For the People Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Act to supersede any restrictive state measures.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, R, is threatening to have the lawmakers arrested whenever they do return home.

News 9's Alex Cameron will have the latest from D.C. during the 5 p.m. newscast.

Read the original:
Texas Democratic Lawmakers Go To DC To Stop The Passing Of Republicans' Voting Bill - News On 6

That embrace of Trump also means closely identifying the party with his coarse rhetoric, which helped push swing states like Arizona into Democrats' column last fall. Down here in the Rio Grande Valley, however, Republicans see potential payoff against vulnerable border-state Democrats.

Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) visits the U.S. border in La Joya, Texas. | Olivia Beavers/POLITICO

I think youre going to see a surge of voters who are fed up with a lack of security, freshman Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) said in an interview. The Biden administration is not prioritizing American security In 2022, what I think we will see is, people are tired of a lack of a good policy.

Republicans are already starting to invest in the very district where members gathered for the trip: Texas' 15th. The incumbent, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), won this once-safe blue seat by just 3 points in 2020 against his GOP opponent, Monica De La Cruz-Hernandez. She has already launched a second bid against Gonzalez and met Tuesday evening with members of the Republican Study Committee ahead of their border event with Trump to make her case for flipping the seat next year.

When House Republicans appeared alongside Trump on Wednesday, the climate was almost nostalgic. While Trump talked about the migration uptick, he also devoted significant time at a news conference to personally mentioning each of the House Republicans who joined him.

For Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), whose home Trump warned that no one should enter uninvited lest guns will be blazing, the laudatory shoutout was received. As he spoke about his loss to President Joe Biden, calling it a shame, Boebert called back at Trump that "you won."

The former president even welcomed Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), whom he had previously called to face a GOP primary challenge after Roy vied with Trump favorite Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) for a party leadership spot. "Hi Chip. How are you, Chip? Talk to you later, Chip," Trump said.

It didnt take long for some of the House Republicans, who appeared giddy at Trump's news conference, to share online clips of their ex-presidential acknowledgments. A few could be seen taking photos of one another, trying to capture Trump in the background behind them, as they waited to hear him speak.

The visit with Trump caused its GOP attendees to miss a key House vote on Speaker Nancy Pelosis resolution to establish a select committee to examine the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Multiple members either missed the vote or voted by proxy, with members like Boebert, Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), Chris Jacobs (R-N.Y.), Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) citing the pandemic as their reason for taking advantage of a proxy system many in their party have criticized.

It wasnt lost on them that Trump lassoed the attention that they had been trying to bring to the border.

Republicans visited the border repeatedly this year, Banks said in an interview. But it wasn't until Trump announced he would be making the trek to the border that Republicans received the sort of attention we could not get before, he said.

That attention landed on Banks, who chairs the Republican Study Committee, and roughly two dozen Republicans who joined the trip he organized to view border crossings firsthand.

The Republicans briefly accompanied migrants traveling along a gravel road after crossing the Rio Grande. Some were children joined by their mothers, while others traveled alone.

At one point, Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Mary Miller (R-Ill.) exited their vehicles to walk with the migrants, asking them questions that were translated by a Spanish-speaking member of the media who was covering the trip. This group said they were from Guatemala and planned to surrender themselves to border patrol agents.

The Republicans are expected to cite their emotional moment as they hammer the Biden administration for policies they say have escalated a dangerous environment at the border, including empowering drug cartels and putting unaccompanied migrant children at risk. But Democrats aren't shrinking from that fight, pushing back hard against a Trump immigration legacy widely derided for its separation of migrant families at the border.

The trip also allowed roughly two dozen members of the congressional delegation that Banks organized to see the border crossings in action. On Tuesday night, a visit to a path frequently used by migrants crossing the border in La Joya, Texas, afforded a new experience for many GOP members: Talking with migrants traveling along a gravel road after crossing the Rio Grande, who were planning to surrender themselves to U.S. Border Patrol agents. Some children were accompanied by their moms, while others traveled alone.

"If Republicans were serious about addressing issues at the border, they'd join President Biden and Democrats in working to clean up the mess they left behind, create a safe and humane immigration system, and finally pass immigration reform," Democratic National Committee Rapid Response Director Ammar Moussa said in a statement. "Anything less is political theater."

This week's GOP border trip was already in the works when Vice President Kamala Harris announced that she would be visiting El Paso, Texas, to observe the situation. Republicans had repeatedly attacked her for failing to visit the border after assuming a leadership role on immigration for Biden's White House, and they responded to her trip by contending that a visit to El Paso sidesteps the more serious problems visible in the McAllen area.

Biden and Harris "swore they were going to protect and defend the Constitution and obey the law and enforce the law, Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) told reporters after the GOP group arrived Tuesday night. And yet they have absolutely willfully opened our border up, encouraging people to migrate up here and take an extremely dangerous trek.

Several migrant children taking that trek crossed paths with the Republicans on Tuesday night, clutching small backpacks and carrying papers explaining the reason for their travel. The children sat or slept on the wet grass, waiting to be processed and loaded onto a bus. One child, an 8-year-old who lay on the ground, explained to lawmakers through an interpreter that he had crossed the border on his own with the hopes of meeting up with his mother and brother who were already in the U.S.

Miller looked visibly upset as she listened to the boys story.

"Since the administration is saying that they are unable to control this, then by definition, they've owned up to an invasion," Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said. "They have been unable to to meet their Constitutional requirement."

Issa was one of multiple outspoken pro-Trump conservatives who joined the Texas trip organized by Banks, whose caucus is the largest in the House GOP.

A lot of members asked if they could join us" after Trump accepted Gov. Greg Abbott's (R-Texas) invitation to the border, Banks said of fellow House Republicans. We didn't widely publicize it.

The former president attended a briefing with Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday afternoon prior to his scheduled tour of border barriers.

Trump is using his trip to Texas both to serve as a defense of his term in the White House and a dry run for future campaign themes. During the briefing he touted the symbolic and functional utility of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and tied China to illegal drugs being smuggled into the country.

At times Trump veered off topic into his false assertions that the presidency was stolen from him and laments about New York City election officials bungling the Democratic mayoral primary tally, in addition to criticizing Biden for unwinding many Trump-era border and immigration strategies.

We had all these great policies going, and they were all ended, Trump said. Its almost like they were ended because I did it.

Trump yoked the issues together as evidence that the U.S. is in decline under Democratic governance, arguing that "if you dont have good elections and if you dont have a strong border, you dont have a country.

Nick Niedzwiadek contributed to this report.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this reported misstated Rep. Darrell Issa's party affiliation. He is a Republican.

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House Republicans use Trump visit to hammer Dems on the border - POLITICO