State lawmakers left en masse in a bid to block a GOP map that would tilt the playing field in Republicans' favor.
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Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Hebron Republicans, Democrats endorse their slate of candidates
HEBRON — Hebron Democrats and Republicans have endorsed their chosen candidates to run for municipal offices this fall. The town has a town manager style of government, overseen by a five-member Board of Selectmen. Three of the seats on that board are up for re-election. Democrat Tiffany Thiele has been endorsed to run again, and Jan Lawrence was also nominated by the Democratic Town Committee to run for the seat that is currently held by Democrat Claudia Riley. The Republicans nominated Rob McLaughlin to serve on the board. There are currently three Republicans on the Board: Keith Petit, who is the current chair, Daniel Larson, the current vice chair, and Sean Fitzgerald, who was just appointed in June to succeed Peter Kaspar, who had to resign mid-term due to a relocation out of town. Fitzgerald's term, as is Petit's, runs to November of 2027. McLaughlin is running for Larson's seat. Larson was first elected to the Board of Selectmen in 2009, and served a stint as Board Chair, but has been involved in different town roles for decades. 'I've been serving the town and putting my life on the line since 1980,' said Larson, an electrician who has been in the Hebron Fire Company and is a former fire chief. He's also been a fire maintainer, emergency medical technician, burning official, deputy fire marshal and fish and game warden, to name a few roles. He said he's seen a lot of change, arriving in town when the population was approximately 3,500 people and 'there were more cows than people' and watching the town grow to almost 10,000 residents. 'There comes a point in time when you have to bow out gracefully,' Larson said. 'It's time I take care of myself and my family a little bit. It was a hard decision. I've met a lot of fantastic people. It's just time.' However, he will never stop working to make the town better, even if unofficially, saying that one of his goals is to improve cell service in town. 'Service is markedly worse, with more dead zones and more dropped calls,' Larson said, noting he planned to gain aid from state legislators for this problem. 'There are less land lines to fall back on as everyone switched to cell phones. The cell phone companies need to be making upgrades that benefit everyone. If people can't make emergency calls, that's a problem.' Thiele, a public relations manager and former journalist, was first elected as Selectman in 2021. Democratic Town Committee Chair Chris Lawrence said there was a mix of returning Democrats and new faces among the candidates this year. 'It's a good slate,' she said. For the Town Clerk, incumbent Francesca Villani was cross-endorsed by both the Democratic and the Republican caucuses and will return for another term. For the Board of Finance, Democrats endorsed Ryan Herrick and Adam Ockman, while Republicans selected Brian O'Reilly and Michael Beaulieu. For the Board of Assessment Appeals, Maura Curran Baker was nominated by the Republican caucus. For the Planning and Zoning Commission, the Republican Party selected Chad Livernois, Christopher Cyr and Brenda Nicolo; Democrats picked David Sousa. Cyr currently sits on the commission. For Planning and Zoning Commission alternate, Democrats nominated Davis Howell, an incumbent. For the Zoning Board of Appeals, Adam Thiele is the Democratic candidate, while Jason Guidone, Martin Halloran and Brian Tyler are the Republican nominees. Catherine McSweeney, a Democrat, and June Danaher, a Republican, are the candidates for Zoning Board of Appeals alternate; Danaher is an incumbent. For the local Board of Education seats overseeing Hebron and Gilead Hill Elementary Schools, the Republican candidates are Toni Livernois and Alyson Nadeau-Schmeizl; Nadeau-Schmeizl is the incumbent. The Democrats endorsed Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Nicole Matthews and Heather Petit. Matthews and Petit are current incumbents and Petit is now the board chair. For the regional Board of Education, which oversees RHAM Middle/High School, Hebron residents who were endorsed included Republicans Amy D'Amaddio, who previously served on the Board, including a stint as chair; Rudy Dellafiore Jr. and Jessica Hall. Hebron Democrats Michele May, Brandie O'Reilly and Keith Petit were also nominated for seats on the regional school board. Lawrence, the Democratic Town Committee chair, did note some of the candidates were endorsed as place-holders and may not be on the ballot in November. The Democratic party will host a fundraiser on September 13, staff an informational booth at the town's Harvest Moon Festival in October, and is planning an candidate forum ahead of the elections. The Republican Town Committee meets on the fourth Monday of every month.
Boston Globe
34 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Texas dispute highlights nation's long history of partisan gerrymandering. Is it legal?
Who is responsible for gerrymandering? In many states, like Texas, the state legislature is responsible for drawing congressional districts, subject to the approval or veto of the governor. District maps must be redrawn every 10 years, after each census, to balance the population in districts. But in some states, nothing prevents legislatures from conducting redistricting more often. In an effort to limit gerrymandering, some states have entrusted redistricting to special commissions composed of citizens or bipartisan panels of politicians. Democratic officials in some states with commissions are now talking of trying to sidestep them to counter Republican redistricting in Texas. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up How does a gerrymander work? Advertisement If a political party controls both the legislature and governor's office — or has such a large legislative majority that it can override vetoes — it can effectively draw districts to its advantage. One common method of gerrymandering is for a majority party to draw maps that pack voters who support the opposing party into a few districts, thus allowing the majority party to win a greater number of surrounding districts. Another common method is for the majority party to dilute the power of an opposing party's voters by spreading them among multiple districts. Why is it called gerrymandering? The term dates to 1812, when Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed a bill redrawing state Senate districts to benefit the Democratic-Republican Party. Some thought an oddly shaped district looked like a salamander. A newspaper illustration dubbed it 'The Gerry-mander' — a term that later came to describe any district drawn for political advantage. Gerry lost re-election as governor in 1812 but won election that same year as vice president with President James Madison. Advertisement Is political gerrymandering illegal? Not under the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court, in a 2019 case originating from North Carolina, ruled that federal courts have no authority to decide whether partisan gerrymandering goes too far. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote: 'The Constitution supplies no objective measure for assessing whether a districting map treats a political party fairly.' The Supreme Court noted that partisan gerrymandering claims could continue to be decided in state courts under their own constitutions and laws. But some state courts, including North Carolina's highest court, have ruled that they also have no authority to decide partisan gerrymandering claims. Are there any limits on redistricting? Yes. Though it's difficult to challenge legislative districts on political grounds, the Supreme Court has upheld challenges on racial grounds. In a 2023 case from Alabama, the high court said the congressional districts drawn by the state's Republican-led Legislature likely violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the voting strength of Black residents. The court let a similar claim proceed in Louisiana. Both states subsequently redrew their districts. What does data show about gerrymandering? Statisticians and political scientists have developed a variety of ways to try to quantify the partisan advantage that may be attributable to gerrymandering. Republicans, who control redistricting in more states than Democrats, used the 2010 census data to create a strong gerrymander. An Associated Press analysis of that decade's redistricting found that Republicans enjoyed a greater political advantage in more states than either party had in the past 50 years. Advertisement But Democrats responded to match Republican gerrymandering after the 2020 census. The adoption of redistricting commissions also limited gerrymandering in some states. An AP analysis of the 2022 elections — the first under new maps — found that Republicans won just one more U.S. House seat than would have been expected based on the average share of the vote they received nationwide. That was one of the most politically balanced outcomes in years.
San Francisco Chronicle
34 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Trump pressures China and India to stop buying cheap Russian oil
U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing China and India to stop buying oil from Russia and helping fund the Kremlin's war against Ukraine. Trump is raising the issue as he seeks to press Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire. But cheap Russian oil benefits refiners in those countries as well as meeting their needs for energy, and they're not showing any inclination to halt the practice. Three countries are big buyers of Russian oil China, India and Turkey are the biggest recipients of oil that used to go to the European Union. The EU's decision to boycott most Russian seaborne oil from January 2023 led to a massive shift in crude flows from Europe to Asia. Since then China has been the No. 1 overall purchaser of Russian energy since the EU boycott, with some $219.5 billion worth of Russian oil, gas and coal, followed by India with $133.4 billion and Turkey with $90.3 billion. Before the invasion, India imported relatively little Russian oil. Hungary imports some Russian oil through a pipeline. Hungary is an EU member, but President Viktor Orban has been critical of sanctions against Russia. The lure of cheaper oil One big reason: It's cheap. Since Russian oil trades at a lower price than international benchmark Brent, refineries can fatten their profit margins when they turn crude into usable products such as diesel fuel. Russia's oil earnings are substantial despite sanctions The Kyiv School of Economics says Russia took in $12.6 billion from oil sales in June. Russia continues to earn substantial sums even as the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations has tried to limit Russia's take by imposing an oil price cap. The cap is to be enforced by requiring shipping and insurance companies to refuse to handle oil shipments above the cap. Russia has to a great extent been able to evade the cap by shipping oil on a 'shadow fleet' of old vessels using insurers and trading companies located in countries that are not enforcing sanctions. Russian oil exporters are predicted to take in $153 billion this year, according to the Kyiv institute. Fossil fuels are the single largest source of budget revenue. The imports support Russia's ruble currency and help Russia to buy goods from other countries, including weapons and parts for them.
