Latest news with #CongressionalDistrict7
Axios
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Recorder's mail ballot plan deepens GOP rift in Maricopa County
MAGA-aligned Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap's plan to mail ballots to some voters who didn't request them in an upcoming special election has elevated tensions among him, the GOP-controlled county board of supervisors and Republican County Attorney Rachel Mitchell. Why it matters: The effort was unexpected from Heap, who has historically opposed mail-in voting and prompted questions about election integrity from other county Republicans. Catch up quick: Maricopa County is responsible for administering the July Congressional District 7 primary for the roughly 57,000 eligible voters who reside in the county. (The vast majority of CD7 voters live in Pima County.) On Monday, Heap's team presented an election plan that included a proposal to mail ballots to registered voters who live in rural areas more than a two-hour drive from an early-voting location, regardless of whether the voters had requested ballots. Heap's chief of staff Sam Stone said during the presentation that the plan had been vetted by the county attorney's office. The Board of Supervisors, which shares election responsibilities with the recorder, rejected that portion of Heap's plan, questioning its legality and calling it bad precedent. The latest: Mitchell sent a letter to the recorder and county supervisors on Tuesday saying her office never approved the plan nor was ever asked to review it. In the three-page letter obtained by Axios, Mitchell also provided state statutes and case law that show Heap's plan is "unlawful." The intrigue: Heap's 2024 campaign was backed by people who pushed conspiracies about mail ballot fraud, and while serving in the Legislature he supported bills that would have eliminated mail and early voting, which makes this strategy counterintuitive. The recorder's office did not respond to Axios' questions about why he wanted to mail the ballots. During Monday's meeting, Stone said the goal was to better serve the small number of voters in very rural areas that would otherwise face a long drive to vote. The other side: Republican Supervisors Tom Galvin, Kate Brophy McGee and Debbie Lesko criticized Heap's plan and suggested that future recorders could use it to justify sending ballots to all registered voters, which would undermine election integrity. "I was surprised and disappointed to see that the recorder offered this option. I do believe that this opens up a can of worms. I have seen this county repeatedly get attacked from folks on the outside regarding mail-in ballots, regarding election security," Galvin said. Flashback: Former Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, attempted to mail ballots to all registered Democrats for the 2020 Democratic Presidential Preference Election during COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. The plan was quickly challenged by then-Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich and was blocked in court. What we're watching: Heap and the board were already at odds over how to split the county's election responsibilities — and this scuffle is unlikely to improve relations.
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hundreds gather in Hands Off! rally and DFL town hall in Willmar, Minnesota
Apr. 6---- The Willmar town hall hosted by the Congressional District 7 was standing room only. Attendees packed the cafeteria of Lakeland Elementary on Saturday evening, with many wrapped around corners leaving little view of the stage where invited speakers answered questions. "The chaos and confusion coming out of Washington really has people concerned, and I think scared. What they are doing is they're finding a space and a place where they can come together and talk to one another about what is going on and how to make sense of it," Minnesota DFL Chair Richard Carlbom said in an interview with the West Central Tribune. The town hall in Willmar, also held in conjunction with one of many Hands Off! demonstrations across the country, was described by organizers as a response to U.S. Rep. Michelle Fischbach not appearing at in-person town halls in the Minnesota 7th District she represents. According to event organizers, they had personally reached out to Fischbach, a Republican from Regal, to invite her. "She is making decisions in Washington that are incredibly hurtful to the people of Willmar. She refuses to show up and explain herself when she chooses to vote to support Medicaid cuts," Carlbom said in an interview. Fischbach in denied that the House budget resolution cuts any provisions to "Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, or anything else." She called it a "blueprint instructing committees to identify better investments and more savings." The Republican budget resolution calls for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which oversees Medicaid, to find $880 billion in spending cuts. Democrats and others say that figure cannot be reached without cutting Medicaid. A projected the budget outlays for those 10 years, excluding Medicaid, would total $581 billion through 2034. U.S. Rep. Fischbach has hosted a telephone town hall with 14,000 people tuned in, according to from her office, saying constituents by and large agree with efforts to "eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse from the federal government and think that this country is headed in the right direction." The absence of in-person town halls by the congresswoman was not the only grievance discussed at the event Saturday in Willmar. Speakers included Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, Minnesota Farmers Union President Gary Wertish and Carlbom. These three took time to talk about the impact of the current administration. In their speeches, they argued that the actions of President Donald Trump have weakened the public services available to citizens. Calls for continued action went out to the crowd as attendees were asked to contact their elected representatives to tell them their thoughts on what is happening at both the state and federal level. "No matter what side of the aisle you are on, let them know. That helps them do their job too. Tell them your stories. A lot of times the stories make a difference in getting legislation changed or adopted. That does make a difference," Wertish said in an interview. Prior to the town hall, many gathered in the parking lot of the school in one of scores of Hands Off! rallies conducted nationwide. that Hands Off! organizers said more than 1,300 rallies of varying sizes took place on Saturday across the country. Hands Off! website posts described the events as a protest against "the destruction of our government and our economy for the benefit of Trump and his billionaire allies." Decorated signs at the Willmar rally stood out from the crowd alongside American and Ukrainian flags. Attendees joined in chants like "hands off," which called for an end to federal interference in public funding and services. "I see a lot of damage being done to some of the programs that have benefited the kinds of farming practices that I want to have and the kind of society that I want to live in and I want my kids to be able to live in," farmer, artist and musician Malena Handeen, of Milan, said. Rally speakers included Dr. Kathryn Nelson-Hund, a retired doctor who said she had done research at the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C., and at the EPA Freshwater Lab in Duluth. Nelson-Hund called for maintaining funding for medical research. "Because of the recent slashing of money and personnel across all institutes, research has been devastated. Scientists are leaving for other countries, graduate programs are being canceled," Nelson-Hund said in her rally speech. NIH is the largest source of funding for medical research in the world. The Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division laboratory in Duluth, as it is formally known, is part of the Environmental Protection Agency. It is known for developing scientific protocols used worldwide to measure how toxic chemicals affect the environment, according to about the lab's uncertain future amid proposed staffing and other cuts. Other speakers at Saturday's outdoor rally, like Minnesota DFL Senate District 16 Chair Fernando Alvarado and Morris nurse Erik Stoeckeler, called out potential cuts to federal programs like Social Security and Medicare. "You can't chase the American dream if your retirement is at risk, your health care is uncertain, your rights are under attack, or the sacrifices of our veterans and women are ignored," Alvarado said in his speech. The Willmar town hall was the third and final event of the day hosted by the 7th District DFL, which had gathered earlier in Detroit Lakes and Alexandria. Across the three events in District 7, more than 1,000 people gathered in protest and to ask questions of people in power, according to event organizers. As some 700 people like Handeen attended the event in Willmar, the Kandiyohi County DFL estimated, more than 25,000 people gathered around the State Capitol building in St. Paul, according to that attributed the figure to Minnesota Capitol Security. More protests took place across the state in several cities including St. Cloud, Bemidji and Brainerd.
