The showdown for Alabama's top Senate seat
Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen was one of the first to announce his candidacy for Lieutenant Governor. Allen said his work on elections, and previously in the legislature, makes him well equipped for the top Senate seat.
'We're extremely proud of our record,' Allen said. 'We have to cut red tape. We have to cut fees and been a business-friendly office. And we expect to take that to the Lieutenant Governor's role as well.'
Also vying for that role is Agriculture and Industries Commissioner Rick Pate. Pate said there's still more he wants to do for the people of Alabama.
'I have such good relationships with so many of the Senators. There's different friends, Republicans and Democrats,' Pate said. 'In fact, I talked with Bobby Singleton yesterday about running for Lieutenant Governor. And I think that they're excited.'
Running alongside Pate and Allen is Huntsville native Dr. Nicole Wadsworth. With years of experience in commercial real estate, she said she wants to bring more businesses to Alabama.
'Just to help create an environment where people want to live,' said Dr. Wadsworth. 'The worst thing I hear from companies is people losing talent to other states. We need to learn how to put Alabama first and keep it at home.'
Alabama AG Steve Marshall to run for U.S. Senate
Republican Party Chairman John Wahl said he also wants to put Alabama first. He's still deciding on whether or not to run.
'If I pull the trigger on this and I run for Lieutenant Governor, I want to be an ambassador for the state of Alabama. I want to be a statesman that fights for our people and raises our profile on the national level,' he said.
Dean Odle, a pastor from Opelika, has also announced his run for Lieutenant Governor among others.
The primary election is on May 19, while the general election is scheduled for November 3 of next year.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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New York Post
44 minutes ago
- New York Post
Miranda Devine: Russiagate lies are being exposed — and everybody is watching, even the Dems
Despite the best efforts of Russiagate-complicit media to dismiss as 'Russian disinformation' the latest revelations in this escalating scandal implicating Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in the treasonous 'years-long coup' against President Trump, the public is paying attention and wants heads to roll. According to a Rasmussen poll released Monday, two-thirds of voters (65%) are following declassified releases over the past month by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Sen. Chuck Grassley 'very closely' (32%) or 'somewhat closely' (33%), repudiating the calculated media silence about the Obama administration's fake narratives and manipulation of intelligence to frame Donald Trump as a Kremlin stooge to cover up Hillary Clinton's wrongdoing. 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Men are more concerned than women, with 74% vs. 59% following the revelations closely; 60% vs. 49% believing there is serious criminality; and 72% vs. 66% favoring accountability. It's a demonstration of the impotence of Democrat-allied media, like The New York Times, Washington Post, ABC, NBC and CBS, who showered themselves with praise and Pulitzer Prizes for their since-debunked stories about Russiagate and are hoping their audience is willing to be duped again. But like the boy who cried wolf, no one is listening anymore. According to Gabbard's office, ABC, CBS and NBC spent a total of 2,284 minutes covering Russiagate, yet they have devoted only 2 minutes and 17 seconds on the disclosures of the last couple of weeks. Even when they mention the story, it's to try to debunk it. 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Every week, Post columnist Miranda Devine sits down for exclusive and candid conversations with the most influential disruptors in Washington. Subscribe here! What followed Ratcliffe's bombshell was a systematic release by Gabbard and Grassley of evidence that exposed the Obama and Biden administrations' weaponization of law enforcement and intelligence agencies against Trump. July 18: Gabbard releases a declassified report that finds that at a meeting in the Oval Office on Dec 9, 2016, Obama directed top national security officials, including Clapper, Brennan, Comey, Andrew McCabe, Susan Rice, John Kerry, Loretta Lynch and Avril Haines, to create a new intelligence assessment saying Russians meddled in the election on behalf of Trump, contradicting multiple intelligence assessments to the contrary released previously. 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July 30: Brennan and Clapper write an op-ed in The New York Times branding as 'patently false' allegations from Gabbard and Ratcliffe 'that senior officials of the Obama administration manufactured politicized intelligence, silenced intelligence professionals and engaged in a broad 'treasonous conspiracy' to undermine the presidency of Donald Trump.' Gabbard responds by releasing a whistleblower's account detailing the pressure applied to him to agree to a bogus assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump. 'I was pressured to alter my views,' the intelligence analyst-turned whistleblower claimed. Keep up with today's most important news Stay up on the very latest with Evening Update. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters His boss told him in January 2017: 'There is reporting you are not allowed to see, if you saw it, you would agree . . . Isn't it possible Putin has something on Trump, to blackmail and coerce him? . . . You need to TRUST ME on this.' The whistleblower tried repeatedly to report his concerns about the fraudulent ICA to multiple government officials, including the inspector general for the intelligence community and former special counsel John Durham, but was rebuffed and ignored. 'Consequences' 'There must be consequences,' White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday. 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CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Texas Democrats leave the state to prevent vote on GOP-drawn congressional map
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Two-thirds of the Texas House is required for a quorum, the minimum amount of legislators to vote on bills. Democrats in the legislature attempted the same move in 2021 to block a bill that would have imposed new voting restrictions. After that unsuccessful effort, new rules were put in place to fine members $500 a day if a member is absent, including 'for the purpose of impeding the action of the House.' Ken Paxton, Texas' attorney general and a candidate for US Senate, said Sunday evening that 'Democrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately.' 'We should use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law,' he continued in a post on X, though he did not specify which tools could be used. Texas Republicans argue the redistricting is necessary over concerns that the current maps are unconstitutional and racially gerrymandered. Democrats have said it would suppress the votes of people of color. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott 'is using an intentionally racist map to steal the voices of millions of Black and Latino Texans, all to execute a corrupt political deal,' Wu said in a statement. 'Apathy is complicity, and we will not be complicit in the silencing of hard-working communities who have spent decades fighting for the power that Trump wants to steal.' Democrats nationwide have threatened to respond to the GOP's efforts at redistricting in Texas with the same tactics in Democratic-controlled states like California and New York. National Democratic Redistricting Committee Chairman Eric Holder, a longtime critic of partisan gerrymandering, says it may be time for Democrats to change their approach. 'We have to understand that the nature of the threat that has been put upon the country through what they're trying to do in Texas has really increased the danger to our democracy. And as a result of that, we've got to do things that perhaps in the past, I would not have supported,' he said on ABC's 'This Week' on Sunday. Holder, a former attorney general, said Democrats would still pursue avenues including raising voter awareness and bringing litigation against the state. The Texas Democrats' departure comes as Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has plotted for more than a month with party officials in the Lone Star State to potentially provide safe harbor for the lawmakers, a source with knowledge of the Democratic governor's involvement told CNN. Pritzker quietly met with the chair of the Texas Democratic Party at an event for the Oklahoma Democratic Party on June 28. There, the two discussed rumors that Abbott could include calls to redraw the state's congressional map in a newly announced special legislative session, the source said. Pritzker at the time said Texas lawmakers could come to Illinois if they fled to block a quorum. In mid-July, Pritzker hosted eight Texas lawmakers and held a meeting to further discuss the planning. In the background, Pritzker's staff was working with Texas Democrats to provide logistical support, including finding places where they could stay and work while in the state, the source added. Pritzker will join Texas Democrats arriving in Illinois at a news conference later Sunday evening. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is set to hold an event Monday with the lawmakers who left for her state, said in a statement to CNN that 'We won't sit on the sidelines while Republicans try to rig the system to give Donald Trump more unchecked power. Texas Democrats are standing up for the future of democracy and I'm proud to stand with them in the fight against disenfranchisement.' Former US Rep. Beto O'Rourke said his fellow Texas Democrats are doing 'exactly what the country needs.' 'If Trump succeeds in stealing these five congressional districts, if he holds on to the House of Representatives, then the consolidation of authoritarian power in America may be unstoppable,' O'Rourke told CNN on Sunday after he held a rally in Indianapolis. O'Rourke said his political action committee, Powered By People, will raise money to support the House Democrats, who could face $500-per-day fines and are barred from using campaign funds to pay them. Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin also praised the Texas Democrats, saying in a statement Sunday, 'We will fight alongside them to stop this anti-democratic assault. And, after this fight is done, we're coming full force for the Republicans' House majority.' CNN's Gloria Pazmino and Eric Bradner contributed to this report. This story has been updated with additional developments.

Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Texas Democrats leave the state to block vote on gerrymandered congressional map
Democrats in the Texas House left the state Sunday in a last-resort bid to block new congressional maps sought by President Trump that would give Republicans a better chance of preserving their narrow U.S. House majority in the 2026 midterm elections. The dramatic revolt came before the GOP-controlled House was set to vote Monday on the proposed maps, which would give Republicans five more winnable congressional seats. In response to Texas' rare mid-decade political gerrymander, Democratic governors in other states have floated the possibility of redrawing their own maps in retaliation, but their options are limited. Many of the Texas Democrats were bound for Illinois and a welcoming from Gov. JB Pritzker, a potential 2028 presidential contender, who in recent weeks has offered them support. It was unclear how long they were prepared to stay out of Texas or whether the maneuver would succeed. Four years ago, House Democrats left Texas for 38 days in protest of new voting restrictions that still wound up passing once the holdout ended. 'This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity,' Rep. Gene Wu, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement. Lawmakers can't pass bills in the 150-member Texas House without at least two-thirds of them present. Democrats hold 62 of the seats in the Republican-majority chamber, and at least 51 were leaving the state, said Josh Rush Nisenson, spokesperson for the House Democratic Caucus. In addition to the Illinois group, five lawmakers headed to New York and another group went to Boston, Rush Nisenson said. Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows said the chamber would meet as planned Monday afternoon. 'If a quorum is not present then, to borrow the recent talking points from some of my Democrat colleagues, all options will be on the table,' he posted on X. Republican Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton, who is running for U.S. Senate, said on X that Democrats who 'try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately.' A refusal by Texas lawmakers to show up is a civil violation of legislative rules. The Texas Supreme Court held in 2021 that House leaders had the authority to 'physically compel the attendance' of missing members, but no Democrats were forcibly brought back to the state after warrants were served that year. Two years later, Republicans pushed through new rules that allow daily fines of $500 for lawmakers who don't show up for work. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday. The quorum break will also delay votes on flood relief and new warning systems in response to last month's catastrophic floods in Texas that killed at least 136 people. Democrats had called for votes on the flooding response before taking up redistricting and have criticized Republicans for not doing so. Texas Republicans last week unveiled their planned U.S. House map that would create five GOP-leaning seats. Republicans currently hold 25 of the state's 38 seats. Pritzker, who has been one of Trump's most outspoken critics during his second term, had been in quiet talks with Texas Democrats for weeks about offering support if they chose to leave the state to break quorum. Last week, the governor hosted several Texas Democrats in Illinois to publicly oppose the redistricting effort, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom held a similar event in his state. Pritzker also met privately with Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder in June to begin planning for the possibility that lawmakers would depart for Illinois if they did decide to break quorum to block the map, according to a source with direct knowledge who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations. Now, with many Texas Democrats holed up in Illinois and blocking the gerrymandered map proposal, the stage may be set for a high-profile showdown between Pritzker and Trump. The Republican president is looking to avoid a repeat of his first term, when Democrats flipped the House two years into his presidency, and he hopes the new Texas map will aid that effort. Trump officials have also looked at redrawing lines in other states, such as Missouri, according to a person familiar with conversations but unauthorized to speak publicly about them. Cappelletti and DeMillo write for the Associated Press. AP writer Nadia Lathan in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.