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Editors note: A previous version of this story ran in the Daily Lobos print edition on Monday, Oct. 12, 2020. That story has been updated with quotes from one of the candidates that came in after deadline.

Editors note: This story has been updated to more accurately represent legislation referenced within.

One of the closest congressional races in the country is taking place in southern New Mexico: House District 2, contested between incumbent Democrat Xochitl Torres Small and Republican and former state legislator Yvette Herrell.

The race is a rematch of the 2018 election, which Torres Small won by only about 4,000 votes and polling indicates the race is tight once again.

After two years in Congress, the Torres Small campaign has experience and a voting record which they believe demonstrates the representatives understanding of the district and its unique policy needs.

Voters can look at the bipartisan work shes done to secure the border, expand rural health care, and to protect New Mexicos public lands, the Torres Small campaign told The Daily Lobo. (She) approaches all legislation from the impact it would have on her constituents.

Herrell, meanwhile, has touted her new campaign team and the fact that President Donald Trump is the Republican presidential nominee as evidence that she has momentum on her side.

I am a better, stronger candidate this time, Herrell said. Republican enthusiasm in New Mexico is also sky high with President Trump at the top of the ticket.

Trump endorsed Herrell via Twitter on Oct. 10 as the Republican Party continued their push to flip New Mexico red, which began with Trumps Sept. 2019 rally in Rio Rancho.

Polling suggests the states other federal congressional seats are likely to remain in Democratic hands, but the 2nd District is in question.

The 2nd District has historically leaned Republican and is diverse, covering all of Las Cruces as well as a number of rural cities and towns throughout the southern half of the state.

Representative Torres Small has been, in my view, a true representative of the people because she has been able to represent the interests of her constituents (across the district), said Dr. Magdaleno Manzanarez, professor of political science and vice president of external affairs at Western New Mexico University, which is located in the 2nd District. Its not a monolithic district. To me, she has proved she can do the job very well.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, nearly four times more money has been raised in this race than either of the other House races in the state. By the most recently available data, Torres Smalls campaign has raised $4.5 million nearly four times more than Herrells $1.2 million but the Herrell campaign has raised slightly more within the district than Torres Small.

Much of this money has gone to advertising, where the candidates have sparred over key issues, including Second Amendment rights and the oil and gas industry.

Both candidates have run ads depicting themselves shooting weapons, in a nod to the importance of gun rights in the district.

One of the Herrell campaigns advertisements accuses Torres Small of selling out pro-Second Amendment constituents by voting for HR-8, a resolution meant to close gun show sale loopholes.

The ad has received pushback. KOB wrote that the claim was misleading, saying that the bill would not have prevented anyone from buying a gun.

Torres Small issued a statement shortly after the vote on HR-8, touting the resolution as common-sense and bipartisan. However, the vote in the House largely went along party lines.

Rep. Torres Small is a gun owner and a hunter who knows the importance of protecting our Second Amendment rights while also protecting our communities, the Torres Small campaign said. Thats why, like 87% of New Mexicans, she supports comprehensive background checks and voted for (HR-8), making sure it had reasonable exceptions.

Herrell has maintained that the resolution was out of line with the Second Amendment, pointing to a statement released by the Trump administration opposing it.

The Herrell campaign has adopted the slogan Stop Xocialism. However, Torres Small has ranked as one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress according to DW-NOMINATE, a metric developed by political scientists which ranks members of Congress on how liberal or conservative they are according to their voting record.

One of the topics on which Torres Small has broken at times from the rest of the Democratic Party is on subjects of oil and gas, an industry which makes up an enormous portion of New Mexicos economy.

If we shut down oil and gas drilling in New Mexico today, wed have to shut our schools down tomorrow, Torres Small said in a February statement. I will continue to support responsible energy production in the district, including one of our countrys largest sources of oil and gas in the Permian Basin.

The executive director of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, Ryan Flynn, has been complimentary of Torres Smalls record while simultaneously emerging at the center of a rift between the fossil fuel trade group and the states Republican Party.

Flynn praised Torres Smalls record and said she had been an advocate for oil and gas. Several prominent New Mexican Republicans, including party chair Steve Pearce, rebuked his statement in an op-ed in the Santa Fe New Mexican, accusing Flynn of using the trade group as a political tool.

The Torres Small campaigns statement was in opposition to the fracking ban proposed by U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14).

You have to be pragmatic, Manzanarez said. In District 2, a true representative has to walk the line. From the progressive side, sometimes (Torres Small) has been criticized assuming she (goes) against oil interests ... what do you do with people who make a living out of that industry?

However, Herrell says Torres Smalls advocacy for the industry is unreliable.

Herrell has claimed the representative changed her vote on a measure preventing future presidents from banning fracking, saying Her flip flop demonstrates she will cave to environmental extremists when it counts.

However, the Albuquerque Journal said in Aug. that the vote that Herrell is referencing (House Resolution 844) was on a procedural motion, not a fracking ban. Torres Small has stated that she would oppose a ban on fracking.

Asked about whether the Congresswoman supports an eventual transition to renewable energy, the Torres Small campaign stated she favors a negotiated approach.

Rep. Torres Small knows climate change is real and New Mexicans are already feeling its effects, the campaign said. She believes New Mexico must be part of the solution - but we can only do it by having all parties at the table.

In-person voter registration is open until Oct. 31. Absentee ballots can be requested until Oct. 20.

William Bowen is a beat reporter at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @BowenWrites

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Guns, oil and outside money: The expensive race for southern New Mexico - UNM Daily Lobo

(WBNG) -- The U.S. Department of Education is investigating Binghamton University for a possible violation of freedom of speech and the Higher Education Act.

In November of 2019, College Republicans were hosting a tabling event in a common space on campus. They say they were distributing information about a visiting speaker.

The Department of Education says in this report, another unaffiliated group was nearby, displaying signs of support for the second amendment. This caused approximately 200 students to protest, and destroy material from the College Republicans.

The report says Binghamton University allegedly did not protect freedom of speech rights for College Republicans, and knew that protests would disrupt events hosted by the group.

You can read the statement sent to 12 News from Binghamton University below:

"As an institution of higher education, Binghamton University iscommitted to freedom of speech, academic inquiry, and the exchange ofideas as part of our mission. Binghamton University maintains that weacted consistently with this mission and with the requirements of theFirst Amendment and the Higher Education Act, and we will respond tothe investigation accordingly."

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Binghamton University to be investigated by the US Department of Education - WBNG-TV

North Carolina is once again a presidential battleground, but there are also other races on the ballot, including the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

With early voting kicking off Oct. 15 in North Carolinaincluding an on-campus early voting place at the Karsh Alumni and Visitors CenterThe Chronicle has pulled together information on other national and statewide races that youll find on your ballot if voting in Durham.

The ballot will also include judicial races in North Carolina, county offices and candidates for the states General Assembly. Information on General Assembly candidates can be found in One Vote N.C.s voter guide.

All eyes are on the Senate race, where Republican incumbent Thom Tillis, a first-term senator, is running against Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham, a former state senator. With millions raised by both sides, the race has become one of the most expensive and closely watched contests in the countryand for good reason.

The outcome could determine whether Democrats gain control of the Senate. If the Democratic presidential ticket loses, denying Democrats the vice presidency, they need at least four seats to flip the chamber.

A self-described common-sense fiscal conservative, Tillis has emphasized his record of cutting taxes, supporting small businesses and increasing jobs. Cunningham, an Army Reserve veteran, has promised to tackle corruption in the capital and to extend healthcare coverage.

On Oct. 2, the race was thrown into turmoil when Tillis announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus and Cunningham admitted to sending sexually explicit text messages to a woman who is not his wife. Still, in an era of sharp political polarization, its uncertain whether the sexting scandal will sway votersthe latest polls largely still show Cunningham with a single-digit lead. After being cleared from isolation by a doctor, Tillis returned to Washington on Tuesday to attend the hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.

Also running are Constitution Party candidate Kevin Hayes and Libertarian Party candidate Shannon Bray:

Durham County is split between North Carolinas 1st and 4th Congressional Districts. Both districts are rated Solid Democratic by the Cook Political Report and are seen as unlikely to swing right.

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The 1st is currently represented by Democrat G.K. Butterfield, who has served in the House since a special election in 2004. Hes being challenged by Sandy Smith, whose website describes her as a Pro-Trump and Pro-America conservative.

The 4th is represented by Democrat David Price, who has served in the House since 1987 with the exception of one term in the 1990s, when he won back the seat two years after losing it to a former Raleigh police chief. Republican challenger Robert Thomas lists three main issues on his website: the Second Amendment, the Constitution and the wall.

1st district

4th district

Democrat Roy Cooper, the incumbent governor, is being challenged by Republican Dan Forest, the current lieutenant governor, as well as Libertarian Steven DiFiore and Constitution Party candidate Steven J. Fiore. In recent polls, Cooper has led Forest by 5 to 8%. The gubernatorial debate is Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m.

While in office, Cooper has issued a Clean Energy Plan and executive orders implementing paid parental leave and banning workplace discrimination. He also worked with bipartisan congressional leaders to repeal House Bill 2, the controversial bathroom law that played a major role in Coopers election, also according to his campaign site.

Forests platform includes defending the Second Amendment, putting armed security guards in schools, combating illegal immigration and raising teacher pay.

Coopers coronavirus response plan features prominently in the dialogue regarding the election, with Forest hosting numerous in-person campaign events and promising to loosen restrictions if elected. Forest has called for the reopening of all public schools without a mask requirement.

There is no incumbent in the race for lieutenant governor, with Forest stepping down to run for governor against Cooper.

Republican Mark Robinson, a former small-business owner and manufacturing worker, rose to prominence as a gun-rights activist in 2018 and is only the second Black Republican candidate for statewide office in North Carolina in the past 120 years, according to records reviewed by The News & Observer.

Robinson has been criticized in recent days for Facebook posts in which he makes derogatory comments about transgender people, Muslims and others. He has said he will not apologize for comments posted to Facebook in the past several years and has denied that the posts are offensive.

Democrat Yvonne Holley, if elected, would be only the second woman to serve as N.C. lieutenant governor. She has served in the state House of Representatives since 2013 after working in state government.

Either would become the first Black lieutenant governor in state history, and an East Carolina University poll from early October found the two in a dead heat, tied at 45% each.

The main roles of the North Carolina secretary of state are to foster economic growth, ensure adequate levels of corporate transparency and provide infrastructure for business transactions.

The NC Office of the State Auditor is responsible for conducting account inspections for all state government bodies.

The responsibilities of the N.C. Department of the State Treasurer include the administration of health-care and retirement programs for state employees, as well as the provision of fiscal advising to local governments.

The attorney general represents the state government in legal affairs, serves as the primary legal counsel to the General Assembly and the governor and manages criminal appeals from state trial courts.

The superintendent of public instruction oversees the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and works with policymakers to promote the interests of the states public school systems.

The state labor commissioner is responsible for regulating workplace conditions, conducting health and safety inspections and otherwise promoting the wellbeing of North Carolinas workforce.

For more election coverage from across North Carolina, visit One Vote North Carolina, a collaborative between The Chronicle and six other student newspapers that aims to help college students across the state navigate the November election.

Originally posted here:
The Chronicle's guide to national, statewide races on the ballot in Durham - Duke Chronicle

Gun-rights groups understandably are upsetthat a Louisiana public school punished a fourth-grade student after a teacher saw a BB gun in the boy's bedroom during a video classroom session. That was an absurd case of political correctness, given that the gun merely was in the background. It reflects infuriating anti-gun bias.

Now contrast many gun activists' reactionor apparent lack thereofto a more significant gun-related issue that grabbed headlines the same week. A grand jury in Louisville gave a wrist slap to officers who killed Breonna Taylor during a raid at her home. The African-American medical worker hadn't done anything wrong. The drug-related warrant, which spurred the raid, apparently involved her former boyfriend.

I scoured the internet and found little outrage from gun-rights groups and supporters. Yet the Taylor caseas well as the issue of police raids and police militarization, in generalposes a real risk to Americans' Second Amendment rights. They also pose risks to our other constitutional rights, such as protection against government searches and seizures, and the requirement for due process.

Heavily armed, black-clad SWAT officers conduct thousands of these raids each year, with many of them botched and some even taking place at the wrong address. As The New York Times recently explained, Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were in bed and heard banging. Police say that they announced themselves before busting down the door with a battering ram, but Walker said he didn't hear that announcementand feared the intruder was Taylor's ex-boyfriend.

Walker fired his gun, hitting a sergeant in the thigh. One officer reportedly fired 10 rounds blindly into the apartment, while others fired five rounds at Taylor, killing her. Dispatch logssuggestthe officers waited 20 minutes before providing medical assistance to Taylor. Police found no drugs in the apartment, according to the family lawyer. The grand jury indicted one officer for "wanton endangerment," but filed no charges against the others. One officer was fired.

Authorities dropped attempted-murder charges against Walker, but they typically file such charges against citizens who use firearms when the intruders turn out to be officers.

"In theory, no-knock raids are supposed to be used in only the most dangerous situations," per a 2015 Voxreport. "In reality, though, no-knock raids are a common tactic, even in less-than-dangerous circumstances." It noted that 80 percent of them involve the execution of a simple search warrant. (A judge had issued a no-knock warrant in the Taylor raid, even though it later was amended to a knock-and-announce warrant.)

Gun-rights supporters argue correctly that Americans should be free to own firearms to protect themselves. When the government employs these police-state tactics, how can you reasonably know that the people plowing through your door aren't criminals who want to kill your family? In my view, such raidswhether "no knock" or "knock and announce"also pose a grave risk to Americans' Second Amendmentprotections (as well as to police who conduct them).

The late San Jose police chief, Joe McNamara, worried that police agencies increasingly send SWAT teams to homes to deal with relatively minor incidents if they suspect that the person owns a firearm. With California'sreporting system, any gun owner could be subject to a SWAT raid solely because they have availed themselves of this legal right. After all, it's easy for the authorities to know if you own a weapon.

During a 2018 hearing about proposed gun restrictions at the Maryland House of Delegates, one gun-rights advocatetoldUSA Today, "The Second Amendment is not about hunting. It is not about competitiveshooting. The Second Amendment is about self-defense. It's about being able to stop people who would do you harm, whether that's a criminal or the government."

Gun-rights supporters are on point with this argument, which one can easily confirm by perusing the Founding Fathers' statements about gun ownership. Yet in most of these police-shooting cases, the loudest Second Amendment supporters go silent. Few of them issued any substantive comment after a Minnesota police officer in 2016 shot to deathPhilandro Castile, who had told the officer he had a licensed firearm in his possession.

The fundamental problem is rooted in the nation's endless drug war, which in turn has led police agencies to behave more militaristically. "Simply put, the police culture has changed,"wroteMcNamara in a 2006 Wall Street Journal column. "An emphasis on 'officer safety' and paramilitary training pervades today's policing, in contrast to the older culture, which held that cops didn't shoot until they were about to be shot or stabbed."

Racial disparities certainly matter, but I believe that cultural change is the impetus for ongoing police-brutality protests. Those Americans who support the right to private firearms ownershipand the groups that claim to speak for usneed to speak out about this threatto our liberties. Quite frankly, it's a far bigger problem than schools that foolishly suspend kids for having a BB gun within view of the video camera.

This column was first published in The Orange County Register.

The rest is here:
The Police Tactics That Caused Breonna Taylor's Death Should Infuriate Second Amendment Advocates - Reason

Layers and details involved in the plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer are still unfolding 24 hours after the federal case was announced.

We are learning more about the men arrested in Antrim County.

Some of the men involved in that investigation were part of the April Second Amendment rally in Lansing.

The picture below was posted by a downstate senator back on April 30.

The first, third and fourth men in this picture were arrested for their roles in the plot against the governor.

The man on the far right is William Null, one of the four men charged in Antrim.

The April rally ended with many storming the Capitol building to protest the governors response to the coronavirus crisis.

The investigation spans 18 communities with 13 people arrested.

Court documents show this investigation took months of work by investigators and informants inside the two militia groups.

The federal complaint shows the group had several plans to kidnap Governor Whitmer.

Those plans included:

The FBI says they were communicating through an encrypted group chat and using code words to avoid detection.

The group had this all planned to happen before the November election.

They wanted to try her in Wisconsin for treason because they were upset with her actions during the coronavirus pandemic.

See more here:
Man Charged in Antrim Co. for Plot to Kidnap Governor Attended 2nd Amendment Rally in Lansing - 9&10 News