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Amid a presidential loss and hand-wringing over the wreckage, congressional gains for Democrats in New York state are one of the small bright spots shining out from the party’s bleak results. The Democratic Party lost five competitive House races in this blue state two years ago — the exact margin by which they lost the House majority. One key ingredient isn’t available everywhere: Democrats redrew the state political maps early this year, though that move gave some Democrats heartburn at the time. In the aftermath of 2022, three top New York Democrats — Gov. Internal polling from the House GOP campaign arm across the seven competitive House districts showed Harris trailing Biden’s margins – and even giving Trump an edge.

Persons: Kamala Harris underperformed, Joe Biden, heartburn, Hochul, Harris, Josh Riley, It’s, they’re, Biden, ” Riley, “ We’ve, ” It’s, Kathy Hochul, Sen, Kirsten Gillibrand, Hakeem Jeffries —, Coke, Syracuse University —, —, “, ”, you’d, aren’t Organizations: Democratic Party, redrew, Democratic, ”, NBC, Congressional, Democrats, New York Democrats — Gov, NBC News, Syracuse University, Pepsi, Republicans, Republican, stoke, GOP, Trump Locations: New York, Riley’s, “, York, Wisconsin, New York City

This year, Kaptur is facing GOP state Rep. Derek Merrin. West VirginiaGovernor: GOP state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is the heavy favorite to fill the seat being left open by GOP Gov. 5th Congressional District: Democratic Rep. Jahana Hayes has a rematch against former GOP state Sen. George Logan in this western Connecticut district. 7th Congressional District (Allentown): Democratic Rep. Susan Wild is running against GOP state Rep. Ryan McKenzie. She is facing Democratic state Rep. Janelle Bynum.

Persons: Anna Paulina Luna, Democrat Whitney Fox, Maria Elvira Salazar, Lucia Baez, Geller, Republican Sen, Mike Braun, Jennifer McCormick, Jim Banks, Braun, Valerie McCray, Frank Mrvan, Joe Biden, Randell Niemeyer, Phil Scott, Esther Charlestin ., Independent Sen, Bernie Sanders, Gerald Malloy, Democratic Sen, Tim Kaine, Republican Hung Cao, Biden, Jen Kiggans, Elaine Luria, Missy Cotter Smasal, Eugene Vindman, Derrick Anderson, Abigail Spanberger, Vindman’s, Alexander Vindman, Trump’s, Spanberger, Josh Stein, Mark Robinson, Robinson, Sen, Rachel Hunt, Jim Hunt, Hal Weatherman, Jeff Jackson, Republican Dan Bishop, Elaine Marshall, Republican Chad Brown, Don Davis, Laurie Buckhout, Davis, Sherrod Brown, Trump, Brown, Bernie Moreno, Greg Landsman, Orlando Sonza, Marcy Kaptur, Derek Merrin, Emilia Sykes, Kevin Coughlin, Patrick Morrisey, Jim Justice, Democrat Steve Williams, Joe Manchin, Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliot, Republican Kris Warner, State Mac Warner, Democrat Thornton Cooper, Caroleene Dobson, Chris Murphy, Matt Corey, Jahana Hayes, George Logan, Hayes, Logan, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Ben Cardin, Republican Eric Hansen, Blunt Rochester, Matt Meyer, Michael Ramone, Sarah McBride, GOP Sen, Rick Scott, Debbie Mucarsel Powell, Scott, Eric Sorensen, Joseph McGraw, Sharice Davids, Prasanth Reddy, Angus King, David Costello, Demi Kouzounas ., Jared Golden, Austin Theriault, Angela Alsobrooks, Prince George’s, Larry Hogan ., April McClain Delaney, John Delaney, Republican Neil Parrott, David Trone, Elizabeth Warren, Republican John Deaton, Hillary Scholten, Republican Paul Hudson ., Tom Barrett, Curtis Hertel ., Dan Kildee, Kristen McDonald, Paul Junge ., John James eked, James, Democrat Carl Marlinga, Roger Wicker, Ty Pinkins, Josh Hawley, Lucas Kunce, Mike Kehoe, Crystal, Kelly Ayotte, Democrat Joyce Craig, Chris Sununu ., Chris Pappas, Republican Russell Prescott, Annie Kuster, Lily Tang Williams, Maggie Goodlander, Jake Sullivan ., Bob Menendez’s, Andy Kim, Republican Curtis Bashaw ., Tom Kean Jr, Kean, Sue Altman, Bob Casey, Republican Dave McCormick, Mehmet Oz, Brian Fitzpatrick, Ashley Ehasz, Susan Wild, Ryan McKenzie, Wild, Matt Cartwright, Rob Bresnahan Jr, Scott Perry, Janelle Stelson, Chris DeLuzio, Rob Mercuri, Sheldon Whitehouse, Patricia Morgan, Marsha Blackburn, Gloria Johnson, Monica de la, Michelle Vallejo, Henry Cuellar, Jay Furman, Vicente Gonzalez, Mayra Flores, Kyrsten Sinema, Ruben Gallego, Kari Lake, David Schweikert, Shah, Juan Ciscomani, Kirsten Engel, Ciscomani, Lauren Boebert’s, Adam Frisch, Republican Jeff Hurd ., Gabe Evans, Mariannette Miller, Meeks, Christine Bohananan, Zach Nunn, Lanon Baccam, Garret Graves, Debbie Stabenow’s, Elissa Slotkin, Mike Rogers, Amy Klobuchar, Republican Royce White, Angie Craig, Joe Teirab, Deb Fischer, Dan Osborn, Pete Ricketts, Ben Sasse’s, Sasse, Ricketts, Democrat Preston Love Jr, Don Bacon, Tony Vargas, Bacon, Martin Heinrich, Republican Nella Domenici, Yvette Herrell, Gabe Vasquez, Vasquez, Kirsten Gillibrand, Mike Sapraicone, Nick LaLota, Democrat John Avlon, Tom Suozzi, George Santos, Suozzi, Mike LiPetri, Anthony D’Esposito, Laura Gillen, D’Esposito, Mike Lawler, Mondaire Jones, Lawler, Sean Patrick Maloney, Pat Ryan, Alison Esposito, Marc Molinaro, Josh Riley, Molinaro, Brandon Williams, John Mannion, Kelly Armstrong, Merrill Piepkorn, Doug Burgum, Kevin Cramer, Katrina Christiansen, Roe, Ted Cruz, Colin Allred, Tammy Baldwin, Eric Hovde, Brian Steil, Peter Barca, Derrick Van Orden, Rebecca Cooke, John Barrasso, Democrat Scott Morrow, Jon Tester, Tim Sheehy, Greg Gianforte, Ryan Busse ., Ryan Zinke, Monica Tranel, Zinke, Jacky Rosen, Republican Sam Brown, Dina Titus, Republican Mark Robertson, Drew Johnson, Susie Lee, Steven Horsford, Republican John Lee, John Curtis, Mitt Romney, Curtis, Caroline Gleich, Spencer Cox, Brian King, Adam Schiff, Dianne Feinstein, Schiff, Republican Steve Garvey, Kevin Kiley, Jessica Morse, Republican Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln, Josh Harder, John Duarte, Democrat Adam Gray, Duarte, David Valadao, Rudy Salas, Mike Garcia, George Whitesides, Young Kim, Joe Kerr, Ken Calvert, Democrat Will Rollins, Michelle Steel, Derek Tran, Republican Scott Baugh, Katie Porter, Dave Min, Porter, San Clemente, Mike Levin, Matt Gunderson, Val Hoyle, Monique DeSpain, Lori Chavez, Janelle Bynum, Andrea Salinas, Mike Erickson, Salinas, Bob Ferguson, Dave Reichert ., Marie Gluesenkamp, Perez, Republican Joe Kent, Dan Newhouse, Republican Jerrod Sessler, Newhouse, Kim Schrier, Carmen, Mazie, Bob McDermott, Mary Peltola, Nick Begich, Eric Hafner, John Howe Organizations: Congressional District, Democrat, Trump, Congressional, Miami, Dade County School Board, Georgia, House, Indiana Governor, Republican, Senate, GOP, District, Democratic, South, Vermont Governor, Republican Gov, Independent, Army, Virginia Senate, Navy, North Carolina Governor, Gov, Ohio Senate, Kaptur, Virginia Governor, GOP Gov, Huntington . Senate, Wheeling Mayor, State, Alabama, Justice Department, Caroleene Dobson . Connecticut Senate, Delaware Senate, District of Columbia, Illinois, Rep, NASCAR, Maryland, Frederick, Commerce Department, Marine, Missouri, White House, Jake Sullivan . New, Jake Sullivan . New Jersey Senate, Alliance . Oklahoma, Democratic Army, Apache, Biden, Freedom Caucus, Rhode, Rhode Island Senate, Tennessee Senate, Tennessee, Monica de la Cruz, Arizona, Democratic Rep, National, U.S . Department of Agriculture, Republicans ’, Minnesota Senate, . Nebraska, New Mexico Senate, . New York Senate, New York Police, CNN, GOP Rep, New York Democrats, North, North Dakota Governor, South Dakota, . Wisconsin Senate, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Montana Senate, Nevada Senate, Nevada, Congressional Black Caucus, Security, Utah, California Senate, California Natural Resources Agency, Republican Stockton Mayor, Capitol, NASA, Virgin Galactic, Air Force, Washington Governor, Hawaii Senate, Alaska, Peltola, Alaskan Independence Party Locations: States, Florida, Clearwater, Miami, Georgia, Indiana, Gary, Kentucky, South Carolina, U.S, Virginia, Virginia Beach, Northern Virginia, Gaston County, Ohio, Cincinnati, Toledo, Akron, Huntington, Montgomery, Alabama, Caroleene Dobson . Connecticut, Connecticut, . Kansas, Kansas, Prasanth Reddy . Maine, Maine, Prince George’s County, Massachusetts, Michigan, Grand, Lansing, Saginaw, Flint, Detroit, Mississippi, Missouri, . New Hampshire, Dixville, Manchester, Portsmouth , Manchester, Jake Sullivan . New Jersey, North Jersey, Philadelphia, Allentown, Scranton, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Rhode Island, Texas, McAllen, Laredo, South Texas, Phoenix, Tucson, Colorado, Denver, Iowa, Davenport, Des Moines, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Black, Twin Cities, Omaha, New Mexico, Albuquerque, ., Long, Queens, Hempstead, New York City, Hudson, New York, Syracuse, North Dakota, . Texas, Racine, La Crosse, Bozeman , Missoula, Nevada, Las Vegas, North Vegas, North Las Vegas, Sacramento, California, Stockton, Central, Los Angeles, Santa Clarita, Southern California, Riverside County, Calvert, Irvine, San, Idaho, United States, Oregon, Eugene, Portland, Salem, Seattle

The only potential competitive congressional race to watch in those states is Indiana’s 1st District, where Democrat Rep. Frank Mrvan is running for re-election. Here are some early bellwethers to watch:Two Virginia districts offer a glimpseTwo congressional districts in Virginia, where polls close at 7 p.m. Both districts may be valuable early indicators of how the election is playing out in the suburbs, which are key to Democratic victories up and down the ballot. North Carolina’s 1st District: Test of Black voteThis district in North Carolina, where polls close at 7:30 p.m. ET, will provide a valuable early gauge of the Black vote, one of the most important questions of the 2024 election cycle.

Persons: Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Frank Mrvan, Randy Niemeyer, Harris, Trump, Jen Kiggans, Missy Cotter Smasal, Cotter, Harris ’, Joe Biden, Biden, Eugene Vindman, Derrick Anderson, Abigail Spanberger, Vindman, Trump’s, Alexander, Anderson, Eugene, that’d, ”, Kyle Kondik, Republicans redrew, Laurie Buckhout, Don Davis, ’, Marcy Kaptur, Derek Merrin, Kaptur Organizations: GOP, Democratic, Republican, Republicans, NBC, University of Virginia, GOP Army, Black, Trump Country, Trump Locations: East Coast, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, Virginia Beach, Fredericksburg, swingy, Northern Virginia, Ukraine, Northern Virginia , Virginia, Carolina’s, North Carolina, Ohio’s, Ohio’s 9th, Toledo

☆ Appeals Court Further Narrows Voting Rights Act’s Scope
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-02 | by ( Michael Wines | More About Michael Wines | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A federal appeals court further narrowed the scope of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, ruling that members of separate minority groups cannot join together to claim that a political map has been drawn to dilute their voting power. The 12-to-6 ruling on Thursday by the full Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned almost four decades of legal precedent, as well as an earlier ruling by a three-judge panel of the same appeals court. It applies only in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, the three states where the court has jurisdiction, but the decision has national implications and may be appealed to the Supreme Court. The redrawn boundaries reduced their combined share of the district’s electorate to 38 percent, and a lawsuit claimed that doing so violated Section Two of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits drawing maps that dilute minority voting power. A lower court and the three-judge appellate panel both ruled that the new map was a clear violation of the law.

Persons: ” Organizations: Fifth, Supreme, Circuit Locations: Louisiana , Mississippi, Texas, Galveston County , Texas, Black

☆ Biden to increase tariffs on $18 billion in Chinese imports in a new warning to Beijing
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Kayla Tausche | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Washington CNN —President Joe Biden is increasing tariffs on $18 billion in Chinese imports across a handful of sectors deemed strategic to national security – an attempt to cripple Beijing’s development of critical technologies and instead prioritize US production. The increases will apply to imported steel and aluminum, legacy semiconductors, electric vehicles, battery components, critical minerals, solar cells, cranes and medical products. That same trade law also requires the effectiveness of such tariff programs to be evaluated every four years, and the Biden administration decision is the result of that study. “China can’t be the only country that produces clean technology for the world we need,” a senior administration official said. The Chinese government, Biden argued, is providing state money to Chinese steel companies to make more steel than the economy demands, pushing down the price and making it impossible for other companies to compete.

Persons: Joe Biden, “, ”, Lael Brainard, “ China’s, Donald Trump, Biden, Wang Wenbin, Trump, Janet Yellen, Antony Blinken, “ They’re, ” Biden, Sam Fossum Organizations: Washington CNN, White, National Economic Council, CNN, Biden, Trade Organization, Brookings Institute, United Steelworkers, Trump, China’s Ministry, Commerce Locations: China, Beijing, Europe, Brazil, Turkey, Pittsburgh, Midwest

Mark Harris has won the Republican nomination for a U.S. House seat in North Carolina, giving the pastor a second chance to go to Washington after a 2018 absentee ballot scandal. Harris will face Democrat Justin Dues in November in a district running from Charlotte east to Lumberton that was drawn to heavily favor Republicans. While the investigation led to charges against several people and some convictions, Harris wasn’t charged, cooperated with investigators and called for a new election. Harris did not run again, however, and the seat was won by Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop. In addition, Republicans Bishop and U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry decided not to run again, opening their Republican-dominated districts to new representation.

Persons: Mark Harris, Harris, Allan Baucom, Justin, Harris wasn’t, Dan Bishop, Bishop, ”, Kelly Daughtry, Brad Knott, Daughtry, Addison McDowell, Mark Walker, Patrick McHenry Organizations: Republican, U.S, Union, U.S . House, State Board, Republican U.S . Rep, Blue Shield, U.S . Rep, Democratic, Republicans, Assembly, Republicans Bishop Locations: North Carolina, Washington, state's, Union County, Charlotte, Lumberton, District, Smithfield, Raleigh, 6th, North Carolina's

☆ The Panama Canal Redrew the World’s Map. A Novel Explores the Lives It Changed.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Celia Mcgee | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As far back as Cristina Henríquez can remember, there has always been the Panama Canal. She visited it every summer on family trips. The questions, however, didn’t occur to her until she was older: Whose lives, and deaths, lay behind a project so massive it redefined countries and redrew the world’s map? “I grew up going to the canal, but I didn’t know what I was seeing,” Henríquez said. And, “Free lodging and medical care.” “Work in paradise!”

Persons: Cristina Henríquez, Teddy Roosevelt’s, ” Henríquez, “, ” Locations: Panama

The new lawsuit says that decision warrants replacing the congressional district maps that were drawn under the “least change” requirement. In 2010, the year before Republicans redrew the maps, Democrats held five seats compared with three for Republicans. “Wisconsin is a purple state, but our current congressional district maps don’t reflect that,” he posted. Doing that “will fulfill this Court’s constitutional duty to independently adjudicate the validity of Wisconsin’s congressional maps,” the lawsuit states. Tony Evers and approved by the state Supreme Court.

Persons: Abha Khanna, Derrick Van Orden, Ron Kind, Bryan Steil, Mark Pocan, ”, “, Brian Schimming, Mike Marinella, Tony Evers, Marc Elias, Elias, John Kerry's, Hillary Clinton's, Joe Biden's, Donald Trump Organizations: Elias Law Group, Democratic, . House, Wisconsin Supreme, Wisconsin, Republicans, Western, Republican U.S . Rep, Republican Rep, Democrats, Democratic U.S . Rep, ” Wisconsin Republican, GOP, Supreme, Wisconsin Supreme Court, National Republican Congressional, Wisconsin Democrats can’t, Democratic Gov, U.S, Elias Law, Democratic National Committee Locations: MADISON, Wis, Washington, Wisconsin, Western Wisconsin's, Wisconsin's, Madison, ”, U.S

WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in Utah’s second congressional district will cast ballots Tuesday in a Thanksgiving-week special election to fill the last remaining vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Political Cartoons View All 1253 ImagesThe second congressional district includes a portion of Salt Lake County, a Democratic area that went for President Joe Biden in 2020. Here’s a look at what to expect on election night:ELECTION DAYUtah will hold a special congressional election on Tuesday. WHAT’S ON THE BALLOTThe Associated Press will provide coverage of the special congressional election in Utah’s second congressional district. WHO GETS TO VOTEAny voter registered in Utah’s second congressional district may participate in Tuesday’s special election.

Persons: Republican Celeste Maloy, Kathleen Riebe, Chris Stewart, Maloy, Becky Edwards, Bruce Hough, Riebe, outspent Maloy, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Stewart, Donald, it’s Organizations: WASHINGTON, —, U.S . House, Representatives, Republican, GOP U.S . Rep, Democratic, Democrat, Libertarian, United, Press, WHO, AP, Statewide Locations: Utah’s, U.S, Riebe, United Utah, Salt Lake County, Utah

☆ US House: Court fights could tip control in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

The state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, will hear arguments this week over whether to order a new map for 2024, as Democrats have asked, or to maintain the current map, as Republicans have argued. The new map was made possible by the state Supreme Court, after two conservative judges won election in 2022. The court's previous Democratic majority had thrown out a Republican map as an illegal gerrymander. UTAH: DEMOCRATS COULD GAIN ONE SEATThe state Supreme Court is weighing whether a Republican-drawn map that divided Democratic-leaning Salt Lake County into four districts violated the state constitution. The Republican state party has appealed.

Persons: Shannon Stapleton, Ron DeSantis, Al Lawson, Steve Jones, Brian Kemp, Jim Cooper, Joseph Ax, Jason Lange, Scott Malone, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: REUTERS, U.S . House, Representatives, Census, Democrats, Democratic, House, SEAT, Republican, Black Democrat, District, Black, U.S, Supreme, NORTH CAROLINA, REPUBLICANS, SOUTH CAROLINA, South, voters, NEW, SEAT Republicans, SEAT Civil, U.S . Department of Justice, Thomson Locations: Queens, New York City, U.S, Alabama, New York, FLORIDA, Florida, Black, GEORGIA, LOUISIANA, ALABAMA, UTAH, Salt Lake County, NEW MEXICO, TENNESSEE, Nashville's, TEXAS

A federal judge ruled last week that some of Georgia's congressional, state Senate and state House districts were drawn in a racially discriminatory manner, ordering the state to draw an additional Black-majority congressional district. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones, in his 516-page order, also ordered the state to draw two new Black-majority districts in Georgia's 56-member state Senate and five new Black-majority districts in its 180-member state House. Legal challenges to congressional districts are also ongoing in Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. State House and Senate Republicans called for an appeal after the ruling. The judge ordered one new Black-majority congressional district in western metro Atlanta, two additional Black-majority state Senate districts in southern metro Atlanta, two additional Black-majority state House districts in and around Macon, two additional Black-majority state House districts in southern metro Atlanta and one additional Black-majority state House district in western metro Atlanta.

Persons: —, Brad Raffensperger, Chris Carr, Steve Jones, Jones, Brian Kemp, Jones ’, ” Jones, Georgia doesn't, that's Organizations: ATLANTA, District, Georgia’s Republican, Assembly, Republican Gov, U.S, Supreme, Republican, State, Republicans, Democratic, GOP Locations: — Georgia, U.S, Georgia's, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Arkansas , Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, South Carolina , Tennessee , Texas, Utah, Atlanta, Macon

☆ Mike Johnson is the first Republican House speaker from the South since Newt Gingrich, putting the region back in the driver's seat of GOP politics
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Rep. Mike Johnson's ascent to the House speakership last week took most in the GOP by surprise. He's now the first House speaker from the South since Newt Gingrich held the gavel in the 1990s. "This happened sort of suddenly," the Louisiana Republican said last Wednesday after succeeding Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California as speaker and as the new leader of the House GOP conference. Rep. Mike Johnson takes the oath of office to become the next House speaker on October 25, 2023. Challenges to Republican-drawn congressional districts across the South could give Democrats a significant opening to flip the House in 2024.

Persons: Mike Johnson's, He's, Newt Gingrich, —, couldn't, Kevin McCarthy of, Johnson, Bill Clinton, Sen, Mitch McConnell, Joe Biden, Mike Johnson, Alex Brandon Cue McConnell, Steve Scalise, Gingrich —, Drew Angerer, Gingrich, Donald Trump, Kim Chandler, McCarthy Organizations: GOP, Service, Louisiana Republican, Southern Republican, Republican, White House, House Republicans, AP, Democratic, Kentucky Locations: Washington, Louisiana, Kevin McCarthy of California, Georgia, Kentucky, Southern, Ukraine, New York, Chicago, Denver, Johnson's, Kim Chandler In Alabama, Black, Alabama's, Florida, Arkansas, South Carolina , Tennessee

☆ Judge says Georgia’s congressional and legislative districts are discriminatory and must be redrawn
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A federal judge ruled Thursday that some of Georgia's congressional, state Senate and state House districts were drawn in a racially discriminatory manner, ordering the state to draw an additional Black-majority congressional district. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones, in a 516-page order, also ordered the state to draw two new Black-majority districts in Georgia's 56-member state Senate and five new Black-majority districts in its 180-member state House. Jones ordered Georgia's Republican majority General Assembly and governor to take action before Dec. 8, saying he wouldn't permit 2024 elections to go forward under the current maps. The move could shift one of Georgia's 14 congressional seats from Republican to Democratic control. GOP lawmakers redrew the congressional map from an 8-6 Republican majority to a 9-5 Republican majority in 2021.

Persons: Steve Jones, Jones Organizations: District, Republican, Assembly, Democratic, U.S, Supreme Locations: Georgia, Atlanta , Georgia, U.S, Georgia's, Alabama

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a surprising 5-4 ruling in favor of Black voters in a congressional redistricting case from Alabama. In Texas, Brown ruled that Galveston County leaders redrew local political districts in a way that violated the federal Voting Rights Act. The U.S. Justice Department also joined in the lawsuit, underscoring the opposition to the maps Galveston County redrew in 2021. How local political districts are drawn has come under increasing attention nationwide. Gavin Newsom this month vetoed legislation that would have required dozens of the state’s largest cities, counties and educational districts to use independent commissions to draw voting districts.

Persons: Juneteenth, Jeffrey Brown, Donald Trump, Brown, Black, ”, Hilary Harris Klein, Gavin Newsom, Newsom Organizations: Republican, U.S, Supreme, Union, U.S . Justice Department, Galveston County redrew, Brown, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, Democratic Locations: AUSTIN, Texas, Galveston, Alabama, In Texas, Gulf, United States, Galveston County, California

Five judges from Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal handed down their decision on Tuesday, following years of legal battles challenging the government’s refusal to let gay people get married or form a civil union partnership. Hong Kong does not allow or grant same-sex marriage or unions, even though homosexuality has been decriminalized in the city since 1991. Jerome Yau, co-founder of Hong Kong Marriage Equality, said he is “cautiously optimistic” as he awaits further details to be hammered out. Polls in Hong Kong have shown growing support for same-sex equality among the public, especially younger people. Raymond Chan Chi-chuen, the first member of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council to come out as gay, is a co-defendant in Sham’s case.

Persons: ”, Kin Cheung, Hong, Jerome Yau, “, Jimmy Sham, Felix Wong, Sham, ” Sham, Hong Kong –, Raymond Chan Chi, Xi Jinping Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Hong, Appeal, CNN, Parade, Civil, Prosecutors, Hong Kong’s Legislative Council Locations: Hong Kong, Hong Kong’s, Asia, Taiwan, Nepal, Beijing, New York, China, Shanghai

☆ Alabama's redrawing of its congressional map defies US Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —It was a legitimate surprise when the conservative-dominated US Supreme Court ordered Alabama’s conservative-dominated state government last month to redraw its congressional map and include either a second majority-Black congressional district or something quite close to it. CNN’s Dianne Gallagher noted in her report that the old congressional map was invalidated by a three-judge federal district court panel that included two judges nominated to the bench by former President Donald Trump. “Outright defiance of the Supreme Court’s order,” is how Janai Nelson, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, described the new map to CNN’s Dana Bash Monday. The Supreme Court’s unexpected decisionAlabama had asked the Supreme Court to essentially nullify Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, something many court watchers thought the conservative majority was primed to execute. The Supreme Court also rejected out of hand the idea that the Gulf Coast area represents a community of interest on par with the Black Belt.

Persons: Milligan, Terri Sewell, Kay Ivey, “, ”, CNN’s Dianne Gallagher, Donald Trump, Alabamians, Gallagher, CNN’s Tierney Sneed, Allen, Janai Nelson, CNN’s Dana Bash, Joe Biden, Nelson, John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, Sewell Organizations: CNN, Supreme Court, Democratic, Alabama, Republican, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Black, Civil Rights Movement, National Heritage Area, Democrat Locations: Alabama, Allen, New York, Gulf

☆ My monthly mortgage went up $1,000 after my Florida home was put in a flood zone. I'd leave the state but my wife's business is here.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( Dan Latu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Florida resident Danny Collins found out that his mortgage went up $1,000 a month. FEMA placed his home in a flood zone, and his bank bought him flood insurance without telling him. Even though we're on the coast, we initially weren't in a flood zone. They just said that there was flood insurance that we had to have, and they had bought it for us. If I could leave Florida I would, but my wife has built her business here.

Persons: Danny Collins, Collins, we're, haven't, it's, I've, That's Organizations: FEMA, Service, Florida Locations: Florida, Wall, Silicon, Sound

☆ Why Crack Became the 1980s ‘Superdrug’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Jonathan Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

WHEN CRACK WAS KING: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era, by Donovan X. RamseyCrack erupted across America’s marginalized urban neighborhoods in the 1980s like a biblical plague torn from the pages of Revelation. It was the perfect “superdrug,” and Black communities, redlined in concrete city blocks, were neglected as their wealthier white neighbors escaped crack’s worst embrace. Donovan X. Ramsey came of age in a crack-era neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, where it was better not to ask questions. “It was like growing up in a steel town where nobody talked about steel,” he writes in “When Crack Was King,” his panoramic social history of the rise and fall of the epidemic. His book offers a needed corrective to the period’s biased media coverage and tropes — “crackhead,” “crack baby,” “superpredator” — the impetus behind some of the country’s most draconian drug legislation.

Persons: Donovan X, Ramsey, Richard Nixon’s, H.R, Haldeman, Nixon “, ” Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Len Bias, Reagan Organizations: Nixon’s, Blacks Locations: Black, Columbus , Ohio

☆ Russia’s war on Ukraine redrew the map of the sky – but not for Chinese airlines
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Xiaofei Xu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

He told the newspaper that airlines flying over Russia were indirectly helping the Kremlin’s war effort. Safety implicationsVirgin's Richard Branson has called for a ban on Chinese airlines flying to Europe via Russian airspace. CNN has reached out to the three main state-owned Chinese airlines – Air China, China Eastern and China Southern – for comments. For now, Chinese airlines have yet to return to full pre-pandemic capacities. But as Chinese airlines gradually return to normal and the war in Ukraine continues to rage on, European airlines could potentially face more fierce challenges on routes between Europe and East or Southeast Asia, creating some interesting choices for passengers.

☆ Eugene Kohn Built Architecture Firm That Redrew Skylines
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( James R. Hagerty | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Eugene Kohn led KPF as president until 2003 and remained chairman until early this year. Eugene Kohn’s timing didn’t seem ideal when he launched a New York-based architecture firm in 1976. Mr. Kohn estimated that nearly 60% of architects in the New York area were out of work. During an economic lull, it also was easy to make appointments with people likely to need his services eventually. After a slow start, his Kohn Pedersen Fox firm established itself within two decades as a major international contender.

REUTERS/Murad Sezer/IllustrationORLANDO, Florida, March 27 (Reuters) - The most extraordinary outcome of the March banking shock would be if the problem dissipated quickly. Many people hope the crisis of confidence infecting global banking this month can be repelled almost as quickly as it appeared. SAVINGS AND LOANS DEBACLEThe easy comparison for any banking or market turmoil is the GFC of 2007-08. But crises don't have to be equal to or worse than the world's most calamitous financial disaster in a century to be extremely damaging. But other banking crises follow the same playbook, even if their outcomes are not as extreme.

ORLANDO, Florida, March 22 (Reuters) - First the record wager on higher U.S. interest rates, now the record wipe out. Their record net short position in three-month Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) futures of 1.17 million contracts was slashed to 329,638 contracts in the week through March 14. chartchartExpectations of a 6% fed funds rate have long faded. In bonds and interest rates, yields and implied rates fall when prices rise, and move up when prices fall. The latest CFTC figures also revealed how the recent surge in volatility has put speculative accounts trading three-month SOFR futures out of the market.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data shows that speculators held the largest ever net short position in three-month SOFR rate futures in the week ending March 7, only a few weeks after amassing a record short position in two-year Treasuries futures. Implied rates then plunged as much as 200 basis points in a week as traders drastically redrew their Fed outlook. Analysts at Deutsche Bank say the huge disconnect between bond and rates volatility over equity volatility recently is partly down to the extreme positioning in fixed income. A short position is essentially a wager that an asset's price will fall, and a long position is a bet it will rise. In bonds and interest rates, yields and implied rates fall when prices rise, and move up when prices fall.

Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs - often a market mover with its big macro calls - is a good example. Last month's Bank of America survey of fund managers around the world still had net 68% expecting recession this year. Rates markets reared up to price Fed rates back above 5% and now expect them higher at yearend than they are today. And yet market volatility gauges have stayed peculiarly serene. Bond market volatility (.MOVE) remains well above its 20-year mean - but it has retreated sharply to two-thirds of last year's peaks.

Republicans won the House on Wednesday when they picked up a 218th seat, the majority needed to control the chamber. How House district results compare with presidential election results in Florida 2022 House margin 2020 presidential margin Voted more Democratic than presidential election 2020 presidential margin 2022 House margin Voted more Republican than presidential electionwon Republicanwonwon Democratwon Notes: Chart shows all districts where there was one candidate from each major party. How House district results compare with presidential election results in Michigan 2022 House margin 2020 presidential margin Voted more Democratic than presidential election 2020 presidential margin 2022 House margin Voted more Republican than presidential electionwon Republicanwonwon Democratwon Notes: Chart shows all districts where there was one candidate from each party. Clinton-Biden districts where Republicans won in 2022 Where Democrats won the presidential vote in 2016 and 2020 and a Republican won the House in 2022 Vote margin Rep. win by ≥10% Rep. win by <10% Dem. Trump-Biden districts where Republicans won in 2022 Where Trump won the presidential vote in 2016, Biden won in 2020 and a Republican won the House in 2022 Vote margin Rep. win by ≥10% Rep. win by <10% Dem.

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