Author: Steve Peoples

WASHINGTON • Democrats are pumping an unprecedented amount of money into advertising related to abortion rights, underscoring how central the message is to the party in the final weeks before the November midterm elections. With the most intense period of campaigning only just beginning, Democrats have already invested more than an estimated $124 million this…

SMETHPORT, Pa. • Some Democrats in rural Pennsylvania are afraid to tell you they’re Democrats. The party’s brand is so toxic in the small towns 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh that some liberals have removed bumper stickers and yard signs and refuse to acknowledge publicly their party affiliation. These Democrats are used to being outnumbered…

MOSCOW • Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the U.S. and its allies have ignored Russia’s top security demands but added that Moscow remains open to more talks with the West on easing soaring tensions over Ukraine. Putin argued that it’s possible to negotiate an end to the standoff if interests of all parties,…

ROANOKE, Va. • As Terry McAuliffe made his case for the Democratic nomination for governor of Virginia this summer, he argued the state wanted “seasoned” leadership. The former governor, like the new President Joe Biden, had broad appeal that would keep up Virginians’ enthusiasm for voting against Republicans, his campaign argued. Less than a week…

WASHINGTON • House Republicans decided Wednesday to stand by two GOP lawmakers who have polarized the party, voting to retain Rep. Liz Cheney as their No. 3 leader and saying they’d fight a Democratic push to kick Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene off her committees. In a 145-61 vote by secret ballot, House Republicans overwhelmingly rebuffed…

ATLANTA • Georgia officials counted the final votes of the nation’s turbulent 2020 election season on Tuesday night as polls closed in two critical races that will determine control of the U.S. Senate and, in turn, the fate of President-elect Joe Biden’s legislative agenda. The two Senate runoff elections are leftovers from the November general…

SALT LAKE CITY • Republican Mike Pence firmly defended the Trump administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed more than 210,000 Americans while his Democratic challenger, Kamala Harris, condemned “the greatest failure of any presidential administration” in a Wednesday night debate dominated by the coronavirus. Because of the virus, the candidates were separated…