Latest news with #election2023
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fisher wins Crockett mayor race in runoff election
CROCKETT, Texas (KETK) – Dr. Ianthia Fisher won her bid for re-election as the Mayor of Crockett on Saturday. Remarkable Woman Ianthia Fisher driving her community forward, giving credit to God Fisher won the election with 669 votes against her challenger Joni K. Clonts, who got 320 votes. Fisher and Clonts faced each other in the May 3 elections along with candidate Jessica James but none of the three candidates received more than 50% of the vote, triggering Saturday's runoff election, which Fisher has now won. In 2023, KETK spoke with Fisher about her career in education, her work in philanthropy and being an ordained minister and mentor. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
4 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Former opponent wins defamation suit against Chicago Ald. Lamont Robinson over attack ads
It's no secret that political campaigns can get nasty — but how far is too far? Chicago Ald. Lamont Robinson (4th) and his team are under fire for mailers and texts during the campaign for the 2023 election. A jury just awarded his opponent more than $1 million in damages in the trial for her defamation lawsuit. Ebony Lucas said her campaign to be alderman of the 4th Ward on Chicago's South Side was going well in the winter of 2023 — but then she got a call. "The biggest thing is I was hurt," Lucas said. Just as early voting began, Lucas said her office got flooded with inquiries about campaign material sent to homes from the 4th Ward Democratic Organization. One mailer called her a "bad landlord," and featured a picture of a rat. Meanwhile, a text message sent to voters asked, "How can we trust her?" and listed several unpaid bills. "I mean, the things that they were saying were horrible — and they weren't true!" Lucas said. Lucas said a simple fact check would prove the attacks were false. CBS News Chicago took her up on that. One allegation involved an IRS tax lien amounting to $18,139. The website for the Cook County Clerk's office said the lien was released almost two years before the election. "They put citations at the bottom of the mailer to different websites to make it seem like the information was true," Lucas said, "and if you looked at the citations, the citations didn't say what they said." Robinson went on to win the aldermanic election. But his campaign, and the 4th Ward Democratic Organization, were not victorious when it came to the defamation lawsuit Lucas filed over the mailers and texts. "You sent out false information about me to 33,000 people — and that's a lot of people," said Lucas, "and now, I still have a business to run, a community to live in." A jury considered that impact, and awarded Lucas a combined $1.475 million. "It's not an insignificant amount," said Robinson. "It sends a message. It sends a message that politics cannot be like it is." No one answered the door at the 4th Ward Democratic Committee office on Thursday, and Ald. Robinson was unavailable for an interview. But statements from both the politician and his campaign partners said they will be appealing the court decision. Robinson himself released this statement: "This lawsuit has always been politically motivated — we will be appealing the decision. Residents of the 4th Ward voted for me because they knew I would fight for them, and that's exactly where my focus remains. With critical funding for programs like Job Corps just being cut, I'm focused on supporting the students who will be impacted and strengthening public safety efforts in our community. My priority is addressing the real challenges we face, not engaging in political theater." This statement was issued by the Lamont Robinson for Alderman Committee and the 4th Ward Democratic Organization: "While we respect the jury system, we cannot allow this decision — which fundamentally changes defamation law as it applies to political organizations — to stand. Under established legal standards, a candidate must prove that a statement was made with actual knowledge of its falsity and with actual malice. "We are committed to providing voters with accurate, well-sourced information so they can make informed decisions. In this instance, we relied in good faith on information provided by our researchers and reported by credible media outlets — none of which were sued for publishing the same material. "We strongly disagree with the verdict and believe it reflects an unprecedented misapplication of the law. Importantly, the jury made no finding that we knowingly or intentionally made any false statements — the threshold required for a defamation claim. We believe this type of verdict for a good faith reliance upon publicly available and published information is in error, unsupported by law, and will be reversed. "We remain confident in our position and will be appealing the ruling." So what will Lucas do with her more than $1 million? She said she will not be using it for a new campaign, and she is done running for election.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Early voting underway in District 3 state House special election
Early voting has gotten underway and the countdown to the June 10 general election to fill the District 3 state House seat vacated last year by Navarre physician Joel Rudman has begun. Voters were given the green light to cast ballots on Saturday and vote early in both Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. every day through June 7. Holt resident and former Okaloosa County Commissioner Nathan Boyles, running as the GOP candidate in an overwhelmingly Republican district that encompasses most of Santa Rosa County and a large section of rural Okaloosa County, is a heavy favorite to win the seat. Boyles said that in a special election, held as the Summer season heats up, turnout will be crucial to helping guarantee his success. "We're excited and hoping one more time to earn the support of the folks in District 3," he said. "We're just asking folks to turn out one more time and go vote." Boyles is opposed by Dondre Wise, a Democrat who moved from Escambia County to Navarre a month ago and hopes to pull off a monumental upset. "I know it's an uphill battle, but it's a closer race than people think," he said. In early April Boyles defeated Jay Mayor Shon Owens and a field of six others to secure the GOP nomination. With voter turn out at about 28% in both counties Boyles secured 8,232 total votes to 7,765 for Owens. Wise did not field competition on the Democratic side of the ticket. District 3 is comprised of all of Santa Rosa County except the southwestern tip that includes the city of Gulf Breeze, the Midway communities and Navarre Beach. State Rep. Alex Andrade represents that portion of the county. Rudman announced in November of 2024 that he was resigning his state House seat to which he had just been elected for a second term. He stepped down to run for the congressional seat left vacant by the departure of Matt Gaetz. Gaetz had resigned to pursue an appointment to the United States Attorney General's job, a position President Donald Trump had nominated him to fill. His nomination was later withdrawn. Jimmy Patronis, who was serving as Florida's Chief Financial Officer when Gaetz's first congressional district seat came open, won the special election to replace the outgoing U.S. House member. Boyles, whose company, Adams Sanitation, serves as the garbage service provider for thousands in Santa Rosa County and employs 75 county residents, campaigned on the message that even as a resident of Okaloosa County he would be better positioned than anyone in the District 3 race to serve as the representative. "Santa Rosa County's success is very important to me. Just as important as Okaloosa County is to me," he said. Wise said whether he wins or loses June 10, he's happy he has made the move to Santa Rosa County and he believes he's opened some eyes to the message he jumped into the statehouse race to communicate. "I most wanted to make people aware of the election process and advocate for voter registration. I want real change and I believe this community does too," he said. "Regardless of the election outcome, I think people are starting to understand." The winner of the special election general election will not be afforded the opportunity to participate in the 2025 legislative session, which was extended into the week of June 2 to resolve disputes between the House, Senate and Governor's Office and pass a balanced budget. Gov. Ron DeSantis waited until Jan. 21 to schedule special elections to replace Rudman and outgoing state Sen. Randy Fine. At that time he issued executive orders setting special primary elections on April 1 and special general elections for June 10. This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: District 3 Florida race: Nathan Boyles and Dondre Wise face off
NHK
19-05-2025
- Politics
- NHK
Australian female lawmakers make their mark
Australia's ruling Labor Party won a majority of seats in a general election earlier this month. With vote counting ongoing, a record-breaking number of women are set to win seats in the House of Representatives. In this report, we look at an election that women helped shape.
National Post
19-05-2025
- Politics
- National Post
22 election candidates were provided private security by the federal government
OTTAWA — The federal government provided private security for close protection or to guard the home of 22 candidates in the last federal election amid a rise in threats and intimidation towards politicians. Article content Article content Throughout the campaign, 15 candidates were granted private security service that acted as their bodyguard during campaign events or daily activities, Privy Council Office (PCO) spokesperson Daniel Savoie told National Post. Article content Article content Another two were provided home monitoring services by an unarmed guard, while five met the threshold to receive both services, Savoie said. Article content Article content This was the first federal election during which the federal government offered private security services to candidates. The program was geared toward politicians who believe their security is at risk during the campaign but where the level of threat does not meet the threshold for police protection. Article content To be eligible, candidates had to have been physically attacked, had their property targeted by protesters or vandalized, felt threatened by a 'disruptive, uninvited individual' at home, or had their personal information posted on the internet, for example. Former CSIS national security analyst Stephanie Carvin said she was surprised by how many candidates applied to receive additional private security from a program that was announced right as the election campaign began. Article content 'I'm glad that resource is there, but it's unfortunate that it's needed,' said Carvin, now an associate professor at Carleton University. Article content Article content 'Individuals who are upset with the politics or politicians are increasingly willing to physically confront the people they see as adversaries or with different point of views. Rather than challenging their ideas, they want to physically confront them,' Carvin added. Article content Article content Savoie declined to identify which candidates were granted additional security or which party they represented over concerns it could compromise their safety.
