Notices of rising health insurance premiums are landing in voters’ mailboxes and sending some to town halls to vent their frustration. Republicans have offered few answers, saying they won’t negotiate until Democrats end the shutdown. The moment revives a familiar dynamic in a the Republican Party that is united in opposing the Affordable Care Act but still without a clear plan to replace it. The lack of a plan to address to rising costs risks political backlash for Republicans in next year's midterms. Democrats have said tax credits that kept the costs lower should be extended and refused to reopen the government until they are.
Polling places open Saturday for in-person voting in two of the year’s most closely watched elections: The New York City mayor’s race and the contest to pick New Jersey’s next governor. New Yorkers are choosing between Democrat Zohran Mamdani, Republican Curtis Sliwa and former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is on the ballot as an independent. The New Jersey governor’s race features Republican state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli against Democratic U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill. Experts say the races have spotlighted affordability and cost of living issues as well as ongoing divisions within the Democratic Party. Election Day is Nov. 4.
Trump allies, undeterred by setbacks in courts and Congress, push anew for citizenship proof to vote
President Donald Trump’s attempts to impose a proof-of-citizenship requirement to vote in the U.S. have stalled in Congress and been blocked by the courts. Now Trump's allies are trying through a little-known independent federal commission that's typically worked with states to set election and voting machine standards. The independent Washington-based U.S. Election Assistance Commission received 380,000 public comments reacting to a petition to add the requirement to the federal voter registration form. The proof-of-citizenship effort is being pushed by America First Legal, a conservative group co-founded by the Republican president's deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller. Voting rights groups say it's unnecessary and a potential tool for voter disenfranchisement.
Frontrunner Zohran Mamdani was attacked over his thin resume. Republican Curtis Sliwa strove to prove his seriousness as a candidate. And former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was pressed on the sexual harassment allegations that drove him from office in a contentious final debate in New York City’s mayoral race. They candidates met just days before early voting begins in the country's largest city. While Mamdani began the debate accusing his rivals of being too consumed by fighting, he quickly joined the fray, including inviting one of Cuomo’s accusers to appear in the studio audience. Cuomo is now running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani.
New York City mayoral candidates Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa tried to blunt Democrat Zohran Mamdani’s momentum during a highly contentious first general election debate Thursday evening. Mamdani is a 33-year-old democratic socialist who defeated Cuomo in the Democratic primary this summer and is now the front-runner to lead America’s biggest city. The Republican Sliwa and newly independent candidate Cuomo spent much of the debate trying to paint Mamdani as inexperienced. They characterized his agenda as unrealistic in one of their last opportunities to try to change the trajectory of the race.
The Supreme Court seemed ready to revive a Republican challenge to an Illinois law that allows the counting of late-arriving mail ballots, which have been a target of President Donald Trump. The justices on Wednesday considered the narrower issue of whether a GOP congressman has the legal right to challenge the law that allows ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if they are received up to two weeks later. Lower courts threw out the lawsuit from Rep. Mike Bost finding the late ballots likely had little effect on the race in his safe GOP district. Illinois argued that allowing the suit would open the legal floodgates and “cause chaos” for election officials.
Georgia's ruling party claims victory in local elections across the country despite a boycott by the main opposition blocs. On Saturday, tens of thousands marched in Tbilisi against the government's crackdown on dissent and Georgia's perceived drift toward Moscow. Riot police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse protesters from the presidential palace. Five activists, including opera singer Paata Burchuladze, were detained. Protests have rocked Georgia since November when the ruling party halted talks on joining the European Union. Critics say the government's crackdown mirrors Russia's approach to stifling dissent.
Some Democratic lawmakers believe Illinois should be the first state to require voting for all eligible residents.
Social media users, including some Republican elected officials, are falsely claiming that Democrats are suing the Trump administration to allow noncitizens to vote in American elections. The Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Governors Association and Senate and House Democratic leaders, have sued to stop Trump's executive order to overhaul U.S. elections, but the challenge is about separation of powers, not voting by noncitizens. Casting a ballot as a noncitizen in federal elections is illegal.
President Donald Trump has signed a sweeping executive action to overhaul elections in the United States. Tuesday's order demands documentary proof of citizenship be added as a requirement for federal voter registration. It also requires that all ballots be received by Election Day throughout the country. The move is consistent with Trump's long history of railing against election processes. He often claims elections are being rigged, even before the results are known, and has waged battles against certain voting methods since he lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden and falsely blamed it on widespread fraud. Trump said Tuesday that more election actions would be taken in coming weeks.