Latest news with #RepublicanNomination
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
July 13, 2024: How Trump's near miss coincided with Biden's last stand
The following is excerpted from the book '2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America,' to be published on July 8. It was the Saturday before Donald Trump would officially accept the Republican nomination at the GOP convention in Milwaukee, and he still had not picked his running mate.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
SC Attorney General Alan Wilson kicks off bid for governor. 5 things to know
Attorney General Alan Wilson launched his bid Monday for the Republican nomination for governor, as the state's top prosecutor looks to become the state's top executive. 'Today is a pivotal moment for our state,' Wilson said in his remarks. 'The future of South Carolina depends on leadership that is battle-tested and committed to conservative values.' Wilson is the second of the top potential Republican candidates to formally jump into the race, following state Sen. Josh Kimbrell's announcement, for the GOP nomination to succeed Gov. Henry McMaster, who can't run for reelection in 2026. Wilson is South Carolina's attorney general. He was first elected in 2010. His adoptive father is U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson who adopted Alan Wilson when he was four years old. Joe Wilson had married Alan's mother Roxanne. Alan Wilson's biological father Michael McCrory died in a military helicopter training accident when Alan was two-years-old. Alan Wilson has served in the Army National Guard for nearly 30 years, which includes a combat tour in Iraq. He has the rank of colonel. He is currently paid $208,000 a year to be the state's top prosecutor. He is now seeking a job that pays $106,000 a year, but comes with a mansion in Columbia. Wilson, 51, and his wife, Jennifer, have two children. He has good name recognition in the state and moving to the governor's office is a natural step. A Winthrop University Poll found 44% of Republican voters were familiar with him. Wilson is in his fourth term as attorney general. Being attorney general gives him a bully pulpit to weigh in on national issues from time to time. 'The attorney general really is somebody who's exposed to and has a built-in understanding of a whole host of host of issues affecting the state,' said Alex Stroman, the former executive director of the South Carolina Republican Party, who doesn't plan to work for any campaign this cycle. He also has the experience of running a state agency and his office serves as the state's top prosecutor. 'It makes sense for Alan Wilson to jump into the governor's race because it is an open race, and like every attorney general, he has secured executive experience, had the chance to prosecute criminals and partner with the administration on public safety issues that people care about,' said Rob Godfrey, a longtime Republican operative in South Carolina, who also won't work for any candidate this cycle. Wilson backed Trump's 2024 reelection bid ahead of the South Carolina Republican presidential primary. The president's campaign rolled out Wilson's endorsement in September 2023 ahead of Trump's visit to Summerville. Wilson also traveled to New Hampshire before the Granite State's primary and spoke at a news conference about immigration policy touting Trump's work and criticizing Biden. During the Biden administration Wilson repeatedly challenged the administration by joining lawsuits to stop administration initiatives. Wilson also traveled to New York during Trump's hush money trial to speak out against the charges. 'I proudly sat behind President Trump in the courthouse during his trial, and I fought with him every way that I knew how to,' Wilson said. 'He's had our back, and I've got his.' He also is defending the president's use of the national guard in response to ongoing anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles. He has a fundraising base he can turn to for this race. Wilson reported more than $528,000 cash on hand in his last ethics filing. However, how much of that amount can be transferred to a new account has yet to be determined. He's also a name voters are used to seeing in the last four midterm elections. 'That muscle memory for voters is something that he has that I think is a real strong benefit, combined with his ability to fund raise and his outspokenness on issues of national concern, whether it be border security, immigration, boys in girls sports or transgender issues, he's really articulated a vision for that, in addition to the criminal prosecutions that his office has successfully handled, including high-profile cases,' Stroman said. As attorney general, his office sends out news releases showing efforts to defend conservative policies and Trump initiatives. Although news releases out of the attorney general's office will most likely not encourage people to back Wilson's campaign, they will have the secondary affect of promoting Wilson. 'He has a record of statewide service about which I'm sure we'll hear in the weeks and months and year ahead,' Godfrey said. Wilson has been repeatedly been hit by U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who also is considering a run the GOP nomination for governor, over whether he is effective as an attorney general in defending women and children, and how well Wilson has fought against illegal immigration. Wilson may have a strong record, but Mace has sought to turn a potential strength into a weakness for the attorney general. He may also have to answer criticisms after being linked to the investigations into political consultant Richard Quinn Sr. A state grand jury report, which was released several weeks before the 2018 election, said Wilson impeded the investigation into Quinn. Still, voters reelected Wilson in 2018 and he was never charged with any wrongdoing. The Quinn investigation contributed to Wilson having his only true challenging reelection campaign in 2018 as he was forced into a runoff for the GOP nomination. His other reelection bids have been relatively easy. 'When you jump in the fray of a competitive primary things are a bit more spirited, and your record comes into closer focus for voters than it may have before,' Godfrey said. 'The stakes are a bit higher and so that means you're going to have to do a lot more work than you did in some of your prior races.' Some elected officials may even joke that 'A.G.' stands for aspiring governor. But history may not be on Wilson's side. The last time South Carolina elected a sitting attorney general directly to the governor's office was in the 1940s. McMaster, who served as attorney general finished third in the 2010 GOP primary, and only became governor after he was elevated from the lieutenant governor's office after Gov. Nikki Haley was appointed to ambassador to the United Nations. Attorneys general may fight initiatives on the federal level if they're from the opposite party, but 'a lot of that doesn't really translate into governor's races,' Stroman said.
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Dan Miller holding meetings to consider Republican nomination for Harrisburg Mayor
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – Harrisburg City Treasurer Dan Miller (D) will meet with volunteers this week to gauge interest in running for Harrisburg Mayor on the Republican ticket. Miller finished second to incumbent Mayor Wanda Williams in last month's Democratic primary, losing by 80 votes. However, with no Republicans on the primary ballot, Miller received enough write-in votes on the Republican side to clinch the nomination. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now In a statement to abc27 on Tuesday, the longtime Democrat Miller said he is holding meetings to 'gauge interest in a run' on the Republican ticket. 'I'm not making any announcement yet, but many folks have encouraged me,' Miller said. According to Miller's campaign Facebook, he will meet with volunteers at Historic Harrisburg (1230 N. 3rd Street) on June 18 at 1:30 p.m. and June 19 at 6 p.m. 'Bring your skills, ideas, and enthusiasm,' Miller's social media post said. 'Let's organize. Let's energize. Let's win. If you want real change in Harrisburg, now is the time to act.' Five Democrats ran in the May primary, with three candidates – Williams, Miller, and Lamont Jones – each receiving at least 22%. Harrisburg Mayor candidates on the attack in feisty debate Pennsylvania's general election is on November 4. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 20, 2025, and the last day to request a mail-in or absentee ballot is Oct. 28, 2025. This is a developing story. Stay with abc27 News as more information becomes available Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Irish Times
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Maureen Dowd: Trump is a pro at quid pro quo
When Donald Trump was headed for the Republican nomination in the summer of 2016, I took Carl Hulse, our chief Washington correspondent, to Trump Tower to meet him. Trump didn't know anything about the inner workings of Washington. He proudly showed us his 'Wall of Shame' with pictures of Republican candidates he had bested. His campaign office had few staffers, but it overflowed with cheesy portraits of him sent by fans: one of him playing poker with Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon and Teddy Roosevelt, and a cardboard cut-out of him giving a thumbs-up, flanked by Reagan and John Wayne. As we were leaving, Hulse warned Trump drily, 'If you ever get a call from our colleague Eric Lipton, you'll know you're in trouble.' 'Eric Lipton?' Trump murmured. READ MORE The president probably knows who Lipton is now, because the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times investigative reporter is tracking Trump on issues of corruption as closely as the relentless lawman in the white straw hat tracked Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Lipton and the Times' David Yaffe-Bellany were on the scene at Trump's Virginia golf club on Thursday night as the president held his gala dinner to promote sales of $TRUMP, the meme coin he launched on the cusp of his inauguration. (Melania Trump debuted hers two days later.) Trump has been hawking himself in an absurdly grandiose way his whole life. But this time, he isn't grandstanding as a flamboyant New York business-person. He's selling himself as the president of the United States, staining his office with a blithe display of turpitude. Protesters at the golf club shouted, 'Shame, shame, shame!' but there is no shame in Trumpworld. Trump asked guests, who were whooping with joy at the president who allowed them to purchase such primo access by essentially lining the pockets of Trump and his family, if they had seen his helicopter. Protesters outside a private dinner with president Donald Trump and buyers of his cryptocurrency at his golf course in Virginia. Photograph: Elizabeth Frantz/The New York Times 'Yeah, super cool!' gushed a guest. Buyers flew in from China and around the world, scarfing up a fortune in $TRUMP — some had millions of dollars worth — to procure the 220 seats at the dinner. 'It was a spectacle that could only have happened in the era of Donald J Trump,' Lipton and Yaffe-Bellany wrote. 'Several of the dinner guests, in interviews with the Times, said that they attended the event with the explicit intent of influencing Trump and US financial regulations.' Pan-seared influence peddling with a citrus reduction. The prez is a pro at quid pro quo. Trump Inc.'s money grabs were taking place against the background of the president pushing through his 'big, beautiful bill' extending a tax cut for the rich while slicing billions from programmes that help poor people stay alive Trump's press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, rebutted criticism on Thursday, saying, 'The president is attending it in his personal time. It is not a White House dinner.' But he flew to Virginia on Marine One. He gave his remarks from a lectern with the presidential seal. And some of the crypto crowd Friday got a tour of the White House (Lipton took his post outside the fence). With more than a dozen lucrative deals for his family and partners, the Times article said, 'Mr Trump is estimated to have added billions to his personal fortune, at least on paper, since the start of his new term, much of it through crypto.' The corruption is seeping across the Potomac. Donald Trump Jr and investors are opening a pricey private club in Georgetown called Executive Branch, where business and tech moguls can cozy up to administration big shots. [ Trump and the Irish tech bros: How the 'crypto president' is winning over Silicon Valley Opens in new window ] The notorious $400 million (€351 million) gift for the president from the Qataris, a luxury jumbo jet, has arrived in San Antonio. This alluring 'pre-bribe,' as Saturday Night Live dubbed it, instantly wiped out Trump's old concerns that 'the nation of Qatar, unfortunately, has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level.' (Accepting the plane was sort of like a terrorist fist-bump, the same kind a Fox News host bizarrely accused the Obamas of making with each other.) Other foreign leaders got the message that emoluments were welcome. In an Oval Office meeting where Trump continued to relish his role as protector of the white patriarchy, the South African president jokingly told the American president, 'I'm sorry I don't have a plane to give you.' (This might be the line that best sums up the Trump presidency in the history books.) Trump replied breezily, 'I wish you did. I'd take it.' Trump Inc.'s money grabs were taking place against the background of the president pushing through his 'big, beautiful bill' extending his obscene tax cut for the rich while slicing billions from programmes that help poor people stay alive. 'The guy promised to make American families more prosperous,' Barack Obama's former chief strategist David Axelrod said. 'He just decided to start with his own.' In a galaxy long ago and far away, there was shame attached to selling your office. Sherman Adams, president Dwight Eisenhower's chief of staff, lost his job and ruined his reputation after he accepted a vicuña coat from a Boston textile manufacturer doing business with the federal government. Trump has no reputable reputation to ruin. He's a snatch-and-grab artist. 'I think social media and Donald Trump's persona have numbed people to the idea that certain forms of behaviour are off-limits,' said Tim O'Brien, a Trump biographer. 'No institution has been able to rein in Donald Trump. He got impeached twice. Didn't matter, so Congress couldn't rein him in. He had all sorts of federal and state prosecutions that ended up going nowhere, so law enforcement couldn't rein him in. The media has been covering him as close as anyone could ever be covered, and the media couldn't rein him in. I think it makes people just sort of turn away and accept it as inevitable.' Before he did his YMCA dance and scrammed early, the scamming Trump told the crypto enthusiasts at his golf club that he wasn't pushing crypto and bitcoin for himself. 'I really do it because I think it's the right thing to do,' he said. In Trump's moral universe, the right thing to do is always the thing that makes him richer. This article originally appeared in The New York Times
New York Times
24-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Dance$ With Emolument$
When Donald Trump was headed for the Republican nomination in the summer of 2016, I took Carl Hulse, our chief Washington correspondent, to Trump Tower to meet him. Trump didn't know anything about the inner workings of Washington. He proudly showed us his 'Wall of Shame' with pictures of Republican candidates he had bested. His campaign office had few staffers, but it overflowed with cheesy portraits of him sent by fans: one of him playing poker with Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon and Teddy Roosevelt, and a cardboard cutout of him giving a thumbs up, flanked by Reagan and John Wayne. As we were leaving, Hulse warned Trump dryly: 'If you ever get a call from our colleague Eric Lipton, you'll know you're in trouble.' 'Eric Lipton?' Trump murmured. The president probably knows who Lipton is now, because the Pulitzer Prize-winning Times investigative reporter is tracking Trump on issues of corruption as closely as the relentless lawman in the white straw hat tracked Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Lipton and The Times's David Yaffe-Bellany were on the scene at Trump's Virginia golf club Thursday night as the president held his gala dinner to promote sales of $TRUMP, the memecoin he launched on the cusp of his inauguration. (Melania debuted hers two days later.) Trump has been hawking himself in an absurdly grandiose way his whole life. But this time he isn't grandstanding as a flamboyant New York businessman. He's selling himself as the president of the United States, staining his office with a blithe display of turpitude. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
