Archive for the ‘Tea Party’ Category

Alaska Native corporations endorse Sweeney for Congress, and form super PAC to boost her campaign – Anchorage Daily News

Tara Sweeney at the Arctic Encounter Symposium on Thursday, April 7, 2022 at the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center in Anchorage. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Alaskas biggest Native-owned corporations have endorsed Tara Sweeneys bid for U.S. House, and have set up a super PAC to boost the former Trump administration official and Arctic Slope Regional Corp. executive.

Alaskans for TARA True Alaska Representation Alliance was registered as a super PAC Tuesday with the Federal Elections Commission.

It will campaign on behalf of Sweeney, a Republican. She is one of 48 candidates running in the June 11 special primary election to temporarily fill the U.S. House seat previously held by Don Young; she will also run in the regular election for a full two-year term.

Sweeney is Iupiaq and grew up in Utqiagvik, on Alaskas North Slope. She served as assistant secretary for Indian affairs in the Interior Department in former President Donald Trumps administration.

Before that, she worked as executive vice president of external affairs at Arctic Slope Regional Corp., and co-chaired the Alaska Federation of Natives. Her mother, Eileen Panigeo MacLean, served in the Alaska Legislature.

The new super PAC can raise and spend unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions and individuals on Sweeneys behalf, though its barred from coordinating its efforts with Sweeneys campaign.

The ANCSA Regional Association, a group that consists of the chief executives and presidents of the states 12 regional Native corporations, is leading the effort.

The regional Native corporations, including companies such as ASRC, Sealaska, Nana and Bristol Bay Native Corp., are major political and economic forces in Alaska. They are six of the states eight largest companies when ranked by gross revenue, according to Alaska Business magazine.

Its unusual, though not unprecedented, for the association and its members to get involved in congressional races. In 2010, its members gave $1 million to Alaskans Standing Together, a super PAC backing GOP U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowskis write-in campaign in the general election against tea party Republican Joe Miller.

Alaska Native corporations are economic and political powerhouses. Just as important, they are able to communicate with their shareholders in a more authentic way than traditional political campaigns, said Sarah Erkmann Ward, an Anchorage communication and strategy consultant. So, ARAs involvement is significant in that it provides not only financial backing, but also on-the-ground support that can result in votes.

Sweeney understands rural and urban Alaska and knows how to work effectively both in Washington, D.C. and Alaska, said Kim Reitmeier, ARAs president.

[Santa is running. And Santas serious.]

The super PAC, she added, will try to boost Sweeneys name recognition and educate Alaskans about the states new system of voting: a nonpartisan, open primary where the top four candidates advance to a ranked choice general election.

We have a lot of work to do in a very short amount of time, Reitmeier said in a phone interview.

Reitmeier would not discuss the details of her groups pre-endorsement deliberations, nor would she say whether the decision was unanimous.

Several political insiders will be involved in the super PAC, according to Reitmeier. Those include lobbyists Mike Pawlowski and Jerry Mackie, along with attorney and political strategist Scott Kendall.

[As some question her commitment, Palin says shes never left Alaska]

The super PAC does not have a defined budget, but Reitmeier said she hopes it will reach at least six figures, if not seven. The group is also soliciting support from entities beyond Alaska Native corporations, she said.

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Alaska Native corporations endorse Sweeney for Congress, and form super PAC to boost her campaign - Anchorage Daily News

What increasingly partisan and venomous Wisconsin school board races reveal about American elections – MPR News

This story was originally published by ProPublica.Reporting by Megan OMatz.

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week.

About a month ago, three conservative candidates for school board seats in the west Wisconsin city of Eau Claire stoked controversy about a teacher training program that they claimed could exclude parents from conversations about their childrens gender identity or sexual orientation.

Right-leaning groups across the country seized on the issue, portraying it as another example of schools usurping the role of parents. A few weeks later, the school board president received a death threat.

I am going to kill you and shoot up your next school-board meeting for promoting the horrific, radical transgender agenda, an anonymous email read.

Farther south in Holmen, in the scenic Driftless Area of Wisconsin, local police are investigating a social media post showing a postcard left on cars at a shopping center that read: Keep Holmen Schools White and Christian.

The postcard urged support for two board candidates. Neither candidate has been connected to the incident, and both decried the postcard on social media, calling it a disgusting and vile fake political ad.

I really dont want to make more statements on it. Its been really exhausting, Josh Neumann, the father of six said of the attention paid to the card. His running mate Chad Updike could not be reached for comment.

Voters in Wisconsin and three other states head to the polls Tuesday in what are some of the nations earliest school board elections this year. In a harbinger of what voters across the country will see in coming months, many of the traditionally nonpartisan school board races have become increasingly polarized.

Outsiders who have traditionally stayed out of local races are now trying to influence school board contests across the country, using tactics more typical of elections with higher stakes.

Republicans, and particularly the wing of the party that still supports former President Donald Trump, have come to see local races as a way to energize their base and propel voters to the polls part of what some leaders have called a precinct strategy.Sen. Ron Johnson, the Wisconsin Republican, last year encouraged residents to take back our school boards, our county boards, our city councils.

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, speaking on his War Room podcast last May, said: The path to save the nation is very simple. Its going to go through the school boards.

Its the precinct committees. Its you. Its upon your shoulders, he added, warning that cultural Marxism is being introduced in schools and promising a Tea Party-like revolt by parents of schoolchildren.

In Wisconsin, as elsewhere, some school board members and other school officials have quit without finishing their terms, saying that the anger directed their way has made serving untenable. Others have declined to run for reelection.

In Eau Claire, school board President Tim Nordin, who received the death threat, is standing firm and running for reelection. This is Eau Claires election, he said in a statement. Others want to control this election by inciting fear in you and driving votes with outside money and news coverage. They, quite literally, are trying to threaten us into submission. I remain unbowed.

The three conservative candidates did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Michael Ford, an associate professor of public administration at the University of Wisconsin in Oshkosh who studies school board races, said its not surprising that the state, the birthplace of school vouchers and home to one of the most robust open-enrollment public school choice programs in the country, would be a focus for school board elections.

We always, traditionally, are on the front lines of the changes in education policy, especially those that are highly premised on parental engagement, he said. I think its logical other states that have looked at Wisconsin as a pioneer on these things would look again.

Parents, who during the pandemic saw their children struggle with remote learning and other issues, are demanding more control over school management and curriculum decisions. The backlash against mask-wearing by students has played neatly into conservative themes of parental freedom.

Some political observers and academics worry that the politicization of local offices will make it harder to deliver essential school services.

It makes progress impossible, Ford said.

Wisconsin school board races at times have had partisan undertones, but the issues at play have largely centered on controlling taxes and paring the benefits educators received.

Things began to change about a decade ago. Thats when Wisconsin school board candidates who had signed petitions to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker over his push to limit collective bargaining for public employees became targets of conservative talk radio. On the other side, the states largest teachers union typically vetted and endorsed candidates it believed would support its aims at the bargaining table.

Today, school board elections are more heated and personal framed in terms of saving schools, saving children and saving America. Also mentioned: COVID-19 protocols, critical race theory, equity, divisive curriculum,library book bansand parental rights.

Rebecca Kleefisch, the former lieutenant governor under Walker who is running for the GOP nomination for governor, recently endorsed 115 local candidates she calls conservatives, including 48 school board candidates a product of two years of work recruiting and training people for local races. Her campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

Political experts say it is highly unusual for gubernatorial candidates to endorse school board candidates, except perhaps in their hometown. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has not done so. The governor generally has not gotten involved in nonpartisan races in Wisconsin, his communications office said in an email.

Another sign this spring that the school board races are taking on a more partisan tone: Rather than campaigning as individuals, candidates in many of the states population centers are running on slates with common platforms and talking points.

Attention Conservative Voters Dont Stay Home: Vote For all Four Candidates, a flyer for the village of Sussex states. Paid for by the Republican Party of Waukesha County, it features the names and photos of two candidates for village trustee and two for the school board.

A particular focus for Wisconsin Republicans has been the traditionally conservative communities ringing Milwaukee known as the WOW counties: Washington, Ozaukee and Waukesha.

The counties have shown some liberal leanings of late. In much of the area, Trumps support slipped from 2016 to 2020. Biden even won the city of Cedarburg, in Ozaukee County, though by just 19 votes.

Campaign finance records filed to date show the Republican Party of Waukesha County has funneled at least $10,000 into elections in nine school districts in that county alone.

The Patriots of Ozaukee a newly formed organization dedicated to promoting conservative values and asserting our Constitutional rights is endorsing candidates in school board and municipal races.

The Patriots of Ozaukee did not respond to requests for comment.

National conservative advocacy groups, with members in Wisconsin and elsewhere, also are having an influence on local school district races in the state. They include Moms for Liberty, which has a chapter in Kenosha and on its Facebook page has recommended three of the six candidates running for school board.

Our mission is preserving America through unifying, educating and empowering parents to preserve their rights at every level of government, said Amanda Nedweski, the organizations co-chair in Kenosha and an outspoken critic of the Kenosha Unified School Districts board.

We attend meetings. We do research. We do a lot of public record requests, she said. The tax-exempt organization only recently started asking for dues of $25 per year.

Another group urging greater activism is the Phoenix-based Turning Point USA, which has conservative political clubs on high school and college campuses nationwide. It does not endorse or fund candidates, but has a school board watchlist that names districts across the country it says push Leftist, racist and anti-American propaganda. Its website lists nine Wisconsin districts.

The group uses its watchlist to highlight mask mandates, diversity and other matters, Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet said. Those types of issues are obviously massively important to parents and other stakeholders in the community, and its not always easy to find out who supports what, he said.

In Ozaukee Countys Mequon-Thiensville School District in the suburbs north of Milwaukee, one of the organizers of an unsuccessful recall election last fall that targeted four school board members is again seeking a board seat. Scarlett Johnson, the former vice president of theWisconsin chapter of No Left Turn in Education, has said that she wants to bring a fresh perspective to the board.

I think education has changed, she said. I think the way that parents look at education has changed. I think teachers are very frustrated as well. And so thats why I say the status quo is just not going to work anymore. And I dont get the feeling that our current board and our administrators really understand that.

The recall effort was notable because it drew contributions from two out-of-state billionaires: $6,000 from Illinois billionaire Richard Uihlein, a Trump supporter and founder and CEO of Uline, a Wisconsin shipping supplies company, and $1,650 from the Chicago hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin. Johnson said members of the recall effort simply wrote letters to the two men asking for donations.

Representatives for Uihlein and Griffin did not respond to requests for comment.

Altogether, the recall effort brought in more than $58,000 in contributions.

A coalition of parents opposing the recall raised more than $36,000, according to campaign finance reports.

Both sides spent money largely on Facebook ads, direct mail, radio ads and yard signs.

Nicole Angresano, a leader in the coalition that turned back the recall, resents the coordinated attacks on the top-rated district. I dont think infuriating is hyperbole, she said. Its infuriating to me.

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What increasingly partisan and venomous Wisconsin school board races reveal about American elections - MPR News

Chatham Playhouse to Hold Staged Reading of THE TEA PARTY – Broadway World

The new play The Tea Party will come to the Chatham Playhouse on Saturday, April 23rd at 7pm for a one-night-only staged reading. The production is a collaboration between TSquared Production Company and Unidentified Stages, two NJ-based companies supporting local new works.

The Tea Party delves into the facts behind one of the United States' most famous myths. Americans all know the story of the Boston Tea Party... how the Sons of Liberty valiantly threw British Tea into Boston Harbor after a vicious tax hike on England's favorite beverage. But legends tend to crown their own "winners," don't they? What happens when a playwright decides to tell the unadulterated story, where the Sons of Liberty got so drunk they nearly killed a man and sent another one home naked in the middle of a Boston winter? (Yes, that is all true.) Penned and directed by Angelle Whavers, get ready for a night of colonial partying like you've never witnessed before. Trust us. Drunk History's got nothing on this.

This production of The Tea Party will feature a cast of local talent including Tess Ammerman, Donniee Barnes, Madison Couture, Jackie Matthews, Emily Miller, Jessica Pendleton and Alicia Whavers.

The performance will take place at 7pm on Saturday, April 23rd at Chatham Playhouse. Open seating reservations are required. Suggested $10 donation at the door, cash or credit.

About TSquared Production Company

TSquared Production Company was born in 2018 when Tess Ammerman waved a toothbrush at T. Michael Vest lamenting the lack of humor in stodgy classical revivals. Since then, it has grown into a pioneer in philanthropic and innovative theatre. TSquared exists to bring fresh, funny, and honest stories to the stage. We strive to build communities that support and inspire through live performance and artistic fellowship.

Previous productions from TSquared Production Company are available on the company's Youtube channel (TSquared Production Company). For more information, visit the company's Instagram (@therealtsquared).

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Chatham Playhouse to Hold Staged Reading of THE TEA PARTY - Broadway World

Northallerton jubilee tea party for heroes of the community | Darlington and Stockton Times – Darlington and Stockton Times

PEOPLE are being invited to nominate someone in the community who has been their hero to join the Mayor of Northallerton and other guests at a celebratory Jubilee Tea Party during the afternoon of SundayJune 5, 2022.

Northallerton Town Council wants to recognise people in thelocal community who have, at any point throughout the Queen's reign, helped, supported and been instrumental to the wellbeing of localresidents.

Nominations are now open through thewebsite, Facebook or Instagram pages or throughthe nomination form, or contact the town council if a printed form is needed.

Councillors are also encouraging any local community groups wishing to organise a Jubilee Big Lunch in the Applegarth to come forward.

The Town Council can be contacted on northallertontowncouncil.gov.uk/

To nominate your local hero, fill out this form.

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Northallerton jubilee tea party for heroes of the community | Darlington and Stockton Times - Darlington and Stockton Times

#HighTeaWithBNS: Everything To Know About The BellaNaija Style Womens Month High Tea Party – BellaNaija

BellaStylistas, we are excited to announce that we will be hosting an exclusive event tomorrow tagged High Tea with BellaNaija Style to close our BellaNaija Style Womens Month 2022 activities!

Now in its second year, the BNS Womens Month digital festival is known for celebrating women in the fashion, beauty and lifestyle industry who are game-changers and trailblazers. From the in-depth#BNSConvosto the amplification of female-led business throughweekly Shoutoutsplus many other unique activations, we were very intentional about making the most impact simply put, the four weeks in March were dedicated to women!

This exclusive event will celebrate the incredible women who made our #BNSWomensMonth22 festivities a great success as we host an intimate group to a stylish Sunday Funday with cocktails and chic conversations at a scenic location.

As each of the women to attend are key figures in the media, fashion and lifestyle industries,there will be conversationalists to a key discussion on the trending topic, The Importance of Collaborating & Fostering Communal Growth. This engaging conversation will be hosted by BellaNaija Styles Head of Content, Mary Edoro.

Stay tuned as we bring to you all the must-see moments from this event. You can follow the event with the hashtag #HighTeaWithBNS

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#HighTeaWithBNS: Everything To Know About The BellaNaija Style Womens Month High Tea Party - BellaNaija