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CBS News
23-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Balance of power on the line in Minnesota Senate with planned resignation of Nicole Mitchell
A guilty verdict for one state senator and the sudden death of another could reshape who's in charge in the Minnesota Senate. On Monday, 75-year-old GOP Sen. Bruce Anderson died unexpectedly on the same day DFL Sen. Nicole Mitchell announced, through her attorney, that she would resign from office following a burglary conviction last week. Democrats only have a one-seat majority in the chamber right now and losing Mitchell means that power is on the line. Special elections for those seats — the dates for which have not been set — come as there is another contest planned for September for the late Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman's House district, after she was killed last month in a politically motivated attack. Gov. Tim Walz told reporters Monday, before the news broke about Anderson's death, that the goal is to have special elections wrapped up before the next legislative session. "The goal would be to do that as timely as possible, give people time to get a campaign together, run, and then have all of that done by February when we come back into session," Walz said. Anderson's Wright County district leans heavily Republican. Mitchell won her race handily in 2022, defeating a Republican challenger by more than 17 percentage points. Her district covers Woodbury and parts of Maplewood. But special elections have lower turnout than general elections. Amy Koch, the former GOP Senate majority leader who herself won a special election, said Mitchell's race in particular will likely have outsized importance — and draw a lot of campaign spending — because of both the reason she resigned and how she represents the key vote for Democrats in the closely divided Senate. "The spotlight that will be on Woodbury and how important Sen. Mitchell [is] and what she did is going to play into this election," Koch said. "All bets are off in a special. Unusual people can win specials. There can be upsets as a result of just sort of the nature of — it's fast, it's furious, and it's low turnout." With Anderson's passing and Mitchell's resignation, the chamber will be at least temporarily at 33-32 in favor of Democrats. Most bills need 34 votes to pass. Senate DFL Majority Leader Erin Murphy said in a statement following Mitchell's announcement that she would resign that "with the clarity brought by the resolution of this case, the Senate DFL Caucus will continue to focus on issues that improve the lives of Minnesota families and communities." Two House Democrats — Rep. Ethan Cha and Rep. Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger — whose districts are part of Mitchell's Senate district, announced that they intend to run for her seat. If they prevail, there would be yet another special election for their House district. All told, there will be at least six special elections this year alone. There were three others during the legislative session, including for the districts of the late DFL Sen. Kari Dziedzic, who died of cancer, and former GOP Senator Justin Eichorn. He was arrested and criminally charged for allegedly soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Japan Times
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
In Upper House race, younger voters in Tokyo turn to DPP for new direction
A growing drive among younger voters to find an alternative to the traditions of the Liberal Democratic Party is taking center stage in Tokyo ahead of Sunday's Upper House election, where it has 32 candidates in the running for seven seats. One party receiving increased interest amid such a shift is the Democratic Party for the People (DPP), which appears to be drawing in noticeably bigger and younger crowds to their speeches on the streets in the heart of Japan. 'The DPP strongly believes in bringing back a strong Japan — at the same time, we are firmly committed to pursuing policies that shed light on those people who have been dismissed up until now as being on their own,' said the Tokyo district's DPP candidate Mayu Ushida to a crowd in Shibuya Ward on Friday. Although 40-year-old Ushida's youthful energy and public persona as a former NHK announcer is alluring, many in the crowd at her speeches say it's not just about her — they are supporters of what her party stands for and are looking to help the DPP gain more seats in parliament. DPP candidate Mayu Ushida, along with party leader Tamaki Yuichiro, waves to supporters at Shibuya Scramble crossing on Jul. 11. | Yukana Inoue At Ushida's speech held near Shibuya's famous scramble crossing last Friday, she was accompanied by party leader Yuichiro Tamaki, who spent more than three times longer than Ushida talking to passers-by. 'When I say (enrich the working generation), people ask me, 'Are you cutting off the elderly?' — but that's fine,' said Tamaki to an enthusiastic crowd. 'We want to first and foremost offer thorough support to the working generation — all of you who are currently working and young people — because unless we strengthen the power of those who support it, we will ultimately end up reducing pension funds.' The DPP, which runs on the primary campaign promise of increasing take-home pay, resonates with many in Tokyo, where the cost of living is the highest in the country, with supporters highly regarding the party's realistic and seemingly tangible policies. 'Since last year's Lower House election, I was struck by (the DPP's) policies that targeted the current working generation,' said a 23-year-old man, who asked to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, in the crowd in Shibuya. Prior to that, he said he used to support the LDP. '(The DPP's promise of) increasing take-home pay and protecting our own country by ourselves — I really feel that those are necessary (for our future).' With the speech held in Shibuya, an area typically full of younger people, Tamaki strategically addressed college students, emphasizing the DPP's success in raising the tax-free income threshold for dependent children with part-time jobs from ¥1.03 million to ¥1.5 million, following through on its promise during the Lower House election. 'This was something that no one has done for 30 years — no party even paid attention to it — but we fought the election by incorporating the voices from university students in our policy and negotiated with the ruling party, and we were able to raise the amount to ¥1.5 million,' said Tamaki on Friday. 'This is what I mean — it may be a small change, but we create change with specific suggestions.' A 21-year-old college student listening to Ushida, who was accompanied by the DPP secretary-general Kazuya Shimba the previous day in Hamura city, Tokyo, said she became interested in the DPP after taking an online party-matching questionnaire during last year's Lower House election and finding her beliefs aligned closest to it. 'Back then, I didn't really know them, but when I did more research I was surprised to find that there was a party that was doing everything I wanted — since I'm a college student, I really wanted them to raise the tax-free income threshold from ¥1.03 million,' said Sato, who asked to go by her last name. 'Since there are no DPP candidates in the Ibaraki district, I can only vote for the party under the proportional representation,' said Sato, who attends university in Tokyo but resides in Ibaraki Prefecture. In the district, media polls suggest, candidates from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Sanseito are vying for the DPP supporters, but neither interest her. 'I'm from Ibaraki, so cars are an absolute necessity, so I really want them to pay the gasoline tax .' One of the DPP's campaign promises for this election is cutting the tax on gasoline to bring down gas prices — a lifeline for many like Sato. A crowd gathers to hear DPP candidate Mayu Ushida, accompanied by DPP secretary-general Kazuya Shimba, in front of Hamura station on Jul. 10. | Yukana Inoue Elsewhere in Tokyo, another DPP candidate — albeit with less backup — is also attempting to garner votes by vouching for topics relevant to the working generation. 'When I began working after graduating from college, the issue I was confronted with was repaying my scholarship,' said Yoshihiro Okumura in front of Jiyugaoka Station in the capital's Meguro Ward on Friday. At 31, he is one of the youngest candidates in the Tokyo district and spoke on the increasing number of working-generation people struggling to repay student loans, an issue that speaks to many in their 20s to 40s. 'A number of factors have combined to create this situation, including the economic issue that a family's take-home pay is not increasing while college tuition and living expenses are rising,' he said. Aside from the DPP's pocketbook campaign, some constituents straying from the LDP have found a new home in far-right Sanseito , where a singer and candidate who goes by the name Saya has gained mass support running on the party's platform of 'Japanese first,' according to polls by major news agencies. These alternatives in the district stand in jarring contrast to the LDP's Keizo Takemi, who is seeking to be re-elected for a sixth time at 73 years old. The former health minister has taken a contrasting approach to the DPP's grassroots tactics, appealing to seasoned supporters with speeches mainly held indoors with backing by big names including Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, and former prime ministers Fumio Kishida and Taro Aso. However, the district continues to be led by celebrity LDP candidate Daichi Suzuki — a former sports agency chief and Olympic swimmer who won gold for Japan in 1988 — with 30% of LDP supporters surveyed saying they will vote for him and also favored by a portion of voters unaffiliated with a party. Others trail closely behind, including incumbent representatives from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan Ayaka Shiomura and the Japanese Communist Party's Yoshiko Kira, as well as Komeito's newcomer Yudai Kawamura, according to polls. Among voters in their 30s, Ushida is receiving the most support, and is favored by 40% of DPP supporters. Early voting for the Upper House election began on July 4.
New York Times
03-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Should Republicans Have Won in a Landslide?
Could Kamala Harris have won if she had more time? What if she had stayed focused on the economy over the final month? Did Joe Biden's age cost Democrats the election? I've read articles on all of these topics over the last few weeks, and they're all reasonable questions. It's natural to wonder whether any election could have gone differently, especially in a contest as close and consequential as this one. But since the election, I've often asked myself a very different question, one that ought to be kept in mind as people re-litigate the race: Should Republicans have won the 2024 election by a much wider margin? While the history books will rightfully dwell on whether Democrats could have forestalled another Trump presidency, the question of whether Mr. Trump cost conservatives a more decisive victory might be the more useful one to understand American politics today. Voters wanted change, badly. They were repelled not just by Mr. Biden's faltering condition, but also by rising prices and perceived failures of Democratic governance on everything from immigration to energy. While it didn't yield a more decisive Republican victory, the backlash against pandemic-era restrictions, rising prices and 'woke' all help explain why a close election felt like a conservative 'vibe shift.' The race was close for one reason: Donald J. Trump. He was an unpopular felon who had alienated millions of Americans with his comments and actions over nearly a decade. Obviously, President Trump possesses important political strengths, but his weaknesses plainly made a landslide victory more challenging. To the extent the election offered the Republicans an opportunity to win big, he was not the candidate to capitalize on it. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
