Latest news with #StateSenate
New York Times
4 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Ken Paxton Claimed Three Houses as His Primary Residence, Records Show
Attorney General Ken Paxton of Texas and his now-estranged wife, Angela, declared three separate Texas homes as their primary residence in mortgage documents, according to records obtained by The New York Times. The possible misrepresentation could have allowed the couple to secure more favorable loan terms and save hundreds of thousands of dollars. The issue, first reported by The Associated Press, emerged Thursday, two weeks after his wife, a state senator, filed for divorce, accusing him of adultery, and a little more than three months after Mr. Paxton announced that he would challenge Senator John Cornyn in what could be the Republican primary season's toughest, most expensive race in 2026. The Paxtons did not respond to questions about their real estate holdings. The Paxtons reside in a home worth more than $1 million in McKinney, a suburb of Dallas, according to their voter registration records. That house is in the State Senate district that Ms. Paxton represents and the one Mr. Paxton represented as a state senator before he was elected attorney general in 2014. The couple also holds mortgages on two houses in Austin, each of which they also called their primary address. Those houses appear to be rental properties, based on online listings. Mr. Paxton has disclosed rental income from two Austin sources on his financial disclosure documents. Properties that generate rental income are considered investment properties and can be more difficult to finance than owner-occupied homes because they are considered riskier investments. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democrat announces campaign for Kansas governor
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Kansas State Senator Ethan Corson announced on Tuesday that he is running for governor. Corson is a Democrat from the Kansas City area. According to his campaign, Corson earned a reputation in the Senate as a bipartisan problem solver focused on kitchen table issues – including stronger public schools, lower taxes for working and middle-class families, and recruiting new businesses to Kansas. 'I've always been laser-focused on the kitchen table issues that matter to Kansans: strong public schools and lower taxes for working and middle-class families,' Corson said in a news release. 'I'm not interested in the partisan battles you see on cable news – Kansans want leaders who work together – regardless of political party – to get things done. That's exactly what I've done in the State Senate, and that's the kind of common-sense, bipartisan leadership I'll bring to the Governor's Office. Other Republican candidates who have announced include Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson, Secretary of State Scott Schwab, former governor Jeff Colyer, Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt, former school board member Joy Eakins, former Johnson County Commissioner Charlotte O'Hara, business owner Stacy Rogers, and conservative podcaster Doug Billings. Senator Cindy Holscher is running on the Democratic side. KDHE adds nine lakes to its blue-green algae advisory list For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news by downloading our mobile app and signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track 3 Weather app by clicking here. To watch our shows live on our website, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kansas Sen. Ethan Corson joins Democratic primary for Kansas governor
Kansas State Sen. Ethan Corson, D-Fairway, announced July 22 he's running for governor, becoming the third Democrat to seek the office. In a press release, Corson said his campaign will focus on "kitchen table issues" like decreasing taxes, recruiting new businesses to the state and improving public schools. 'I've always been laser-focused on the kitchen table issues that matter to Kansans: strong public schools and lower taxes for working and middle-class families,' Corson said. 'I'm not interested in the partisan battles you see on cable news — Kansans want leaders who work together — regardless of political party — to get things done. "That's exactly what I've done in the State Senate, and that's the kind of common-sense, bipartisan leadership I'll bring to the Governor's Office.' Corson won his Senate seat in 2020 and was reelected in 2024. He was the first Democrat to win the district. He is the Democrats' ranking minority member in the transportation, judiciary and assessment and taxation committees. In his announcement, his campaign highlighted bipartisan bills he worked on that eliminated the sales tax on groceries, cut property taxes and removed taxes on Social Security payments. Corson is a lawyer and previously worked at the U.S. Department of Commerce and was the chief of staff at the International Trade Administration. Kansas governor releases statement on Corson Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly posted on social media supporting Corson. The statement was short of a full endorsement but did call him "the type of leader Kansas will need to keep us on the path to prosperity." "When I think about the type of leader Kansas will need to keep us on the path to prosperity — it's someone laser focused on the issues Kansans really care about. Someone who understands how to bring people together to get good things done for Kansas. That's exactly who Ethan Corson is," Kelly posted on X. She went on to call him an advocate for attracting jobs to the state, funding public schools and affordable housing, child care and health care. "Ethan also played a critical role in axing the food sales tax and lowering property taxes. He'll be a very strong candidate," Kelly said. Kelly didn't make a similar statement about Kansas Sen. Cindy Holscher, D-Overland Park, who announced her campaign last month. More than 10 candidates are running for Kansas governor Corson faces Holscher and fitness trainer Marty Tuley in the August 2026 Democratic Primary. On the Republican ticket, at least eight candidates have announced campaigns, including Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson, Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, Kansas Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt and former Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer. This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas Democratic State Senator joins governor race
The Hill
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Pennsylvania cracks down on deepfakes, AI impersonation
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) signed a new law that defines deepfakes as digital forgeries and establishes criminal penalties for nonconsensual digital impersonation. On July 7, Shapiro signed SB 649, making nonconsensual digital impersonation a first-degree misdemeanor. Anyone doing so with fraudulent intent will now be subject to a third-degree felony. The bill passed with unanimous bipartisan support in the State Senate and overwhelming support in the House. 'By signing this bill into law, we're sending a clear message that if you use AI to defraud or exploit Pennsylvanians, you will be held accountable,' Shapiro said in a statement. The bill expands on SB 1213, legislation passed last October to ban deepfake pornography in the state. That law resulted in Pennsylvania's first artificial intelligence (AI)-related sexual abuse charges. Pennsylvania joins a national trend of AI deepfake regulation, with over 38 pieces of legislation being introduced in 18 states this year. Additionally, 80 laws were passed in 2024 to push back on deepfakes, and another 15 were enacted in 2023.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is a Republican who voted against state budget in one of Wisconsin's most flippable seats?
It's fair to say election season is never really over in Wisconsin. Democrats are already looking ahead to the fall 2026 elections, when they'll have more chances to pick up seats in the state Legislature, and perhaps flip control of the state Senate. The State Senate Democratic Committee is already eyeing one competitive seat, held by Republican state Sen. Rob Hutton of Brookfield.'Senator Hutton is in the most flippable Senate seat in Wisconsin,' the SSDC, which works to get Democrats elected to the chamber, posted on X on June 27, 2025. This is all in the context of the state's two-year budget and speculation at the time that Hutton might vote against it. Hutton ultimately voted 'no' on the budget, joining three Republicans and 10 Democrats in the Senate who rejected the full plan because it either spent too much or didn't invest enough in areas like K-12 education. In a statement after his vote, Hutton said the budget would create a deficit, 'putting Wisconsin families in a worse spot for the future.' 'In a time of economic uncertainty, when our spending decisions warrant further restraint and discernment, we need a budget that creates proper spending priorities and puts taxpayers first,' Hutton said. Wisconsin voters are likely to hear lots about toss-up legislative seats and how incumbents voted on policies in the budget. Let's determine whether Hutton's district, which includes communities west of Milwaukee like Brookfield, Wauwatosa, Pewaukee and West Allis, is truly the most competitive. We contacted the SSDC, which said it ran the math based on voting results from the 2024 presidential and Senate elections. Democrats see two other seats as competitive, those held by Sen. Howard Marklein of Spring Green and Sen. Van Wanggaard of Racine. Both Republicans voted for the budget. The question for us is whether Hutton's seat is more competitive than the other two. Based on the committee's math, former Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin carried Hutton's district by a higher percentage than they carried the other two districts. In Hutton's district, about 6,500 more voters cast ballots for Harris than President Donald Trump, compared to around 1,000 in the two other districts. And around 5,400 more voters in Hutton's district voted for Baldwin over Republican candidate Eric Hovde, significantly more than in the other two competitive districts. The SSDC didn't provide a breakdown of the district's voting pattern in the state Supreme Court race, but said liberal Justice Susan Crawford's performance in Hutton's district added to its conclusion. John Johnson, a research fellow at Marquette University, did a similar analysis. His findings confirmed that Harris and Baldwin performed better in Hutton's district than in three other battleground districts. Meanwhile, Johnson found Crawford carried Hutton's district by double digits – Crawford actually had a higher margin in Marklein's district. We're getting way into the details, but all this supports Democrats' claim that Hutton's district is at least one of the two most flippable in Wisconsin. Of course, races for the state Legislature are different than those for president, Senate and state Supreme Court. We can't look at how much Hutton won by in 2024 in his new seat, because he wasn't on the ballot last year. In 2022, when his district lines were different, he won by about seven percentage points. Democratic candidate Sarah Harrison is running against Hutton this time around. She ran for state Assembly in 2024, losing to Republican Rep. Adam Neylon from Pewaukee by about 18 points. PolitiFact Wisconsin asked Hutton for further comment but didn't hear back. The State Senate Democratic Committee said Hutton 'is in the most flippable Senate seat in Wisconsin.' Hutton was one of 53 lawmakers, including Republicans and Democrats, who voted against the state budget. Calculations from the SSDC and an independent researcher confirm Harris and Baldwin carried Hutton's district by a higher percentage than two other competitive districts held by Republicans. And while Crawford performed slightly better in one of those other battlegrounds, she still carried Hutton's district by a significant margin. None of this confirms Hutton's seat will turn blue next year, but it is likely the Senate's most competitive seat. We rate the claim True. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, After an intense election season, the political focus shifts to state races in Wisconsin, Nov. 11, 2024. X, Wisconsin Senate Democrats, June 27, 2025. MacIver Institute, Budget Delay Is an Opportunity for Reform, Sen. Rob Hutton, June 27, 2025. Wisconsin State Legislature, 2025 Senate Vote 81, July 2, 2025. Wisconsin State Senator Rob Hutton, Statement on Budget, July 2, 2025. Wisconsin State Legislature, Senate District 5. Email exchange, Will Karcz, State Senate Democratic Committee communications director, July 1, 2025. Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog, John Johnson, What the Supreme Court Election tells us about Wisconsin's Legislative Districts, June 4, 2025. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2022 Wisconsin State Senate - District 5 Election Results. WisPolitics, Harrison campaign: Announces bid for Wisconsin State Senate district 5, June 13, 2025. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2024 Wisconsin General Elections Results - State Assembly District 15. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Legislature passes and Evers signs budget after sprint to get ahead of Trump big bill, July 3, 2025. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Does GOP state budget holdout have most competitive seat in Wisconsin?
