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In November there will be few close U.S. House races in North Carolina.

The only real swing district is the 1st Congressional District in eastern North Carolina, which is represented by freshman Rep. Don Davis.

On March 5 voters will choose the Republican nominee to run against him.

The newly drawndistrict is a rural area that includes the cities of Rocky Mount and Goldsboro.

The Republican primary features a political newcomer and an experienced candidate.

Sandy Smith, who describes herself as a business executive, was the Republican nominee in the district in 2020 and 2022. She lost to former Rep. G.K. Butterfield in 2020 and Davis in 2022.

In those runs, the district had more Democratic voters, but this year it has been redrawn by state Republican lawmakers and is closer to being a swing district.

Had we run under this map last cycle, I would have run,"Smith said. "It takes three cycles to build the name ID, build the trust and understand the district."

Shes running against Laurie Buckhout, a retired Army colonel who founded a consulting business.

As someone who's served the country, and as someone whos concerned about the future of the country, especially as a parent I realized it was time to stand up and do something, Buckhout said.

The candidates have similar stances on the issues.

Both name border security as their top priority but said they would not have voted for the recent bipartisan Senate deal, which they called misguided, to reduce illegal crossings.

Buckhout and Smith also said they want more accountability on Ukraine funding before supporting any additional aid.

They differ on the question of a federal abortion ban. While they both support North Carolinas current restrictions, Buckhout said federal limits should be discussed, while Smith doesnt support a ban.

In 2022, though, Smith told Spectrum News 1she would support a bill restricting abortion if it included exceptions.

Smith accuses Buckhout, whos from Virginia and moved to North Carolina permanently in 2021, according to her campaign, of not understanding the district.

I have not made my life fortune. in the military industrial complex. Ive been here in the trenches, in the district, with the folks. I know the folks, Smith said.

Buckout said her military experience is what sets her apart.

I have actually served our country... having seen the world, and lived all over the world, have a very intimate understanding I think of the preciousness of American freedom."

Smith attended the Jan. 6, 2021, rally in Washington, D.C., but said she left before rioters stormed the Capitol building. She is running on the debunked claim that voters elected Donald Trump in 2020.

Buckhouts campaign didnt respond when asked whether she agrees with Smith.

The victor of the March primary will have to win over independent and potentially more moderate Democrats in November.

We have seen what happens when the Republican Party nominates more moderate candidates. We lose in the general [election], people want a fighter, Smith said.

In terms of breaking with Republicans on any issues, I seek to impact the issues that are really impacting my constituents right now. Thats the economy. Thats the concern about the open border, Buckhout said.

Buckhout has the support of the Congressional Leadership Fund, which is a super PAC supported by House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republican leaders in Washington.

While Trump has not endorsed anyone in the race, he did endorse Smith two years ago, but it was after the Republican primary.

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2 Republicans vie to take on vulnerable Democrat in November - Spectrum News

A Republican senator on Wednesday blocked quick passage of a bill that would establish federal protections for in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments in the wake of a ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos should be considered children.

Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, Republican of Mississippi, objected to approval of the measure, which would establish a federal right protecting access to I.V.F. and fertility treatments, scuttling its chances for now.

Senator Tammy Duckworth, Democrat of Illinois, sought to pass the bill on Wednesday under a procedure that allows any one senator to object and stop it in its tracks, effectively daring Republicans to oppose it and highlighting divisions within the G.O.P. on how to handle the issue.

The bill before us today is a vast overreach that is full of poison pills that go way too far far beyond ensuring legal access to I.V.F., Ms. Hyde-Smith said on the Senate floor, adding that she supported access to I.V.F. but that this bill misses the mark.

The legislation states that people have a right to access assisted reproductive technology and that doctors have the right to provide it and insurers the right to cover it without fear of prosecution.

Democrats orchestrated the attempt to pass the bill as they sought to point out the hypocrisy of Republicans who have rushed to voice support for I.V.F. after the Alabama ruling, even though many of them have sponsored legislation that declares that life begins at the moment of fertilization. Such a bill could severely curtail or even outlaw aspects of the treatments.

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Senate Republican Blocks Bill to Protect I.V.F. Treatment - The New York Times

Registered Idaho Republican voters will gather at caucus sites across the state Saturday to help pick the GOP nominee for president.

The presidential caucus is new this year because the Idaho Legislature seemingly unintentionally eliminated the presidential primary election last year and then did not restore it by passing a trailer bill or calling a special session.

That means elections will be different this year for Idahoans, who will vote in both a party presidential nominating caucus and a separate statewide party primary election.

Voters need to be present at their caucus site to participate; there is no option for absentee voting in the Republican Presidential Caucus.

The caucus is run entirely by the Republican Party from setting up the rules, to selecting the caucus sites, to verifying voter eligibility, to counting the ballots by hand and announcing results.

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Across the state, there are 210 local caucus sites, and voters must attend the local caucus site assigned to them based on their precinct. That local caucus site is probably going to be different than the local polling place Idaho voters are used to because the caucus is run by the party, not the state and county elections offices.

Primary election poll locations will differ in most cases from the caucus locations of both the Idaho GOP and Idaho Democrat presidential caucuses, Canyon County Clerk Rick Hogaboam said in a written statement Thursday. Dont assume that your normal poll location is the same location for the caucuses, nor assume that your caucus location will be the same poll location for the May 21 primary election.

Idaho Republican Party officials told the Idaho Capital Sun they mailed hundreds of thousands of postcards to registered Republicans earlier this month that identify each voters local caucus site.

If voters did not receive a postcard or lost theirs, they can follow a two-step process to find their caucus site.

In order to participate in Saturdays Republican Presidential Caucus, voters must have registered and affiliated with the Republican Party by the partys Dec. 31 deadline.

In order to prove their identity at the polls, voters will need to produce either an Idaho drivers license or state ID card, a U.S. passport or federal photo ID, a tribal ID card or a concealed weapons license.

Once voters enter their caucus site and register, they will be given a paper ballot and participate in one round of voting, Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon told the Sun in February.

There are six candidates on the ballot to choose from:

Although all of the candidates besides Trump and Haley have dropped out of the race, all six candidates still appear on the ballots in Idaho because they paid their $50,000 filing fee, Moon said.

Up for grabs are 32 delegates in Idaho, which candidates hope to win as they seek their partys nomination for president. If one candidate wins a simple majority of votes in the caucus, they will win all 32 delegates. If not, delegates will be split proportionally among all candidates who receive at least 15% of the vote.

News reporters and independent observers who are not registered Republican voters will not be allowed inside the caucus sites or Idaho GOP headquarters to observe the process or observe the vote, Moon said in February.

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The Idaho Republican Presidential Caucus is Saturday. Here's what to know. Idaho Capital Sun - Idaho Capital Sun

In May 2023, Senator Charles E. Grassley, a chief antagonist of President Biden, strode to the Senate floor with some shocking news: He had learned, he said, of a document in the F.B.I.s possession that could reveal a criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden.

Mr. Grassley, an Iowa Republican, suggested to any Americans listening that there was a single document that could confirm the most sensational corruption allegations against Mr. Biden and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was engaging in a coverup.

Did they sweep it under the rug to protect the candidate Biden? he asked conspiratorially.

Over the next few months, Mr. Grassleys quest to make public the allegation laid out in an obscure document known as an F.B.I. Form 1023 became a fixation, and a foundation of the growing Republican push to impeach Mr. Biden as payback for Democrats treatment of former President Donald J. Trump.

At the center of it all was the unsubstantiated accusation that Mr. Biden had taken a $5 million bribe from the executive of a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma.

But what neither Mr. Grassley nor any of the other Republicans who amplified the claims said in their breathless statements was that F.B.I. officials had warned them repeatedly to be cautious about the accusation, because it was uncorroborated and its credibility unknown.

All that the form proved, federal law enforcement officials explained, was that a confidential source had said something, and they had written it down. And now federal prosecutors say the claim was made up.

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Ignoring Warnings, G.O.P. Trumpeted Now-Discredited Allegation Against Biden - The New York Times

President Biden on Wednesday compared the current generation of Republicans in Congress to racist lawmakers of the past, arguing that todays crop was worse because it had sought to undermine the legitimacy of elections.

Ive served with real racists, he said at an evening fund-raiser in California. Ive served with Strom Thurmond. Ive served with all these guys that have set terrible records on race. But guess what? These guys are worse. These guys do not believe in basic democratic principles.

Mr. Biden, who gave a warm eulogy at Mr. Thurmonds funeral in 2003 and apologized during the 2020 campaign for having fondly reminisced about working with Southern segregationists, offered a degree of praise for Mr. Thurmond, the long-serving senator from South Carolina and fierce opponent of integration.

By the time Strom left, he did terrible things, Mr. Biden said, according to a pool report. But he added that Mr. Thurmond ended up having more African Americans in his staff than any other member in Congress. He voted to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act.

Mr. Biden went on: Im not making him more than he was. But my point is, at least you could work with some of these guys.

House Republicans have been holding up an aid package for Ukraine and Israel passed by the Senate, with Speaker Mike Johnson resisting Mr. Bidens calls to bring the bill to a vote.

During his 2020 presidential bid, Mr. Biden faced fierce criticism from Democratic opponents for invoking two Southern segregationist senators, James O. Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia, both Democrats, as he spoke of the Senates civility in decades past.

Weeks later, he retreated. Now, was I wrong a few weeks ago to somehow give the impression to people that I was praising those men who I successfully opposed time and again? he said. Yes, I was. I regret it. Im sorry for any of the pain and misconception I may have caused anybody.

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Biden Calls Republicans in Congress 'Worse' Than Strom Thurmond - The New York Times