UN agency for Palestinians facing its ‘darkest hour’, UNRWA chief says
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is facing its “darkest hour” and requires ongoing support from UN members after Israel’s decision to ban the organisation, its chief has said. “Without intervention by member states, UNRWA will collapse, plunging millions of Palestinians into chaos,” Philippe Lazzarini, the agency’s commissioner-general, told the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday. He called on the UN – which created UNRWA in 1949 – to prevent implementation of the ban on the organisation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. In a statement on Monday, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it cancelled a cooperation agreement from 1967 which provided the legal basis of the country’s relations with UNRWA. “UNRWA – the organisation whose employees participated in the October 7 massacre and many of whose employees are Hamas operatives – is part of the problem in the Gaza Strip and not part of the solution,” said Israel Katz, the country’s newly appointed defence minister, who was foreign minister at the time. In January, Israel claimed that a dozen of UNRWA’s Gaza employees were involved in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas. At the time, the UN launched an investigation into Israel’s allegations and terminated the contracts of nine staff members who were accused. However, Lazzarini said that despite multiple requests, Israel has not provided any evidence to support its claims. UNRWA said it takes measures to ensure its neutrality. But the Israeli ban has raised fears that UNRWA employees will lose their ability to coordinate with Israeli authorities to cross checkpoints and move from one place to another in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. UNRWA provides education, healthcare and other basic services to Palestinian refugees displaced in 1948 during Israel’s creation, and their descendants, who now number nearly six million. Refugee families make up the majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million population. “In Gaza, dismantling UNRWA will collapse the UN humanitarian response, which relies heavily on the agency’s infrastructure,” Lazzarini said. “In the absence of a capable public administration or state, only UNRWA can deliver education to more than 650,000 girls and boys in Gaza. In the absence of UNRWA, an entire generation will be denied the right to education,” he said. ‘Time to move on’ Since Israel’s war on Gaza began last October, UNRWA itself has suffered heavy losses, with at least 223 of its staff killed and two-thirds of its facilities in Gaza damaged or destroyed. Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer for the State of Palestine at the UN, told the General Assembly that the ban on UNRWA “is proof of the Israeli genocide in Gaza”. Meanwhile, Hadi Hashim, the interim representative for Lebanon at the UN, said Israel’s ban was a “war crime” and noted that UNRWA was crucial not only in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, but also in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. “We call on the General Assembly to take the necessary and urgent measures legally and politically to stand against this attack not only against UNWRA, but against us all,” he said. Jordan, South Africa and the European Union also condemned the Israeli government’s decision to ban the UN agency. But Israeli ambassador Danny Danon called the agency “a failure”. “UNRWA is shielded by a misconception that it is the backbone of humanitarian efforts in Gaza,” he said. “It is time to move on and build a new path so the UN can regain its integrity and deliver on its promise to support peace and security.” Israeli authorities have long called for the agency to be dismantled, arguing that its mission is obsolete and it fosters anti-Israel sentiment among its staff, in its schools and in its wider social mission. UNRWA strongly disputes this characterisation. In the past, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also called on the United States, Israel’s top ally and the agency’s biggest donor, to roll back its support. Adblock test (Why?)
Kamala Harris calls Donald Trump to concede defeat in US election
DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY, Democrat congratulates Republican during phone call, discusses importance of peaceful transfer of power, aide says. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has called her rival, Republican Donald Trump, to concede defeat in the United States presidential election, a senior aide has said. In Wednesday’s phone call, Harris congratulated Trump and also “discussed the importance of a peaceful transfer of power” and being a president for everyone in the country,” her aide said. Harris is due to deliver remarks in Washington, DC later on Wednesday, her first public speech since her projected loss to Trump in the November 5 race. She was supposed to address the throng of supporters on the campus of her alma mater, Howard University, last night, but late in the evening her campaign director told the tearful crowd waiting outside that she would speak the next day after more results were in. Trump, who has been convicted of felony charges, has comfortably cleared the 270 Electoral-vote threshold required to clinch the White House. Harris, 60, took over the campaign after President Joe Biden stepped down after stumbling badly in a presidential debate with Trump and amid ongoing concerns about his ability to serve until the age of 86. He dropped out of the race on July 21 , endorsed his vice president , and Harris quickly took over the campaign. She was seen among many Democrats as a potential saviour for her party, the first Black woman and the first person of South Asian descent who could reach the Oval Office. Four years ago she broke the same barriers in national office by becoming Biden’s second in command. Harris ran an energetic campaign focused on moving away from Trump’s dark message of economic ruin and immigrants flooding the country. A key platform was women’s reproductive freedom that resonated with many young voters who flocked to her rallies. In the first presidential campaign since the US Supreme Court struck down constitutional protection for abortion rights, the Harris campaign was looking for a surge of support from women. But it wasn’t enough to overcome the deep anger among US voters over high inflation, the cost of basic necessities like food and affordable housing , and worries over undocumented immigration, according to exit polls. Trump’s promise to return to a “golden age” of America saw the key battleground states move decisively away from the Democrats. He is due to take office on January 20, 2025, returning to power as the 47th US president four years after refusing to accept defeat to the incumbent Biden. As the sitting vice president , Harris is expected to oversee Congress’s ceremonial certification of Trump’s win. Biden has also said he will attend the inauguration , unlike Trump in 2021 who snubbed his successor. Adblock test (Why?)
Germany’s far-right AfD to expel members over links to ‘militant’ groups
The political party that made gains in regional polls is defended by its leaders while labelled ‘right-wing extremist’ by Germany’s security services. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party has said it will throw out three of its members who have been arrested on suspicion of having joined an “extremist” paramilitary group. The political party’s announcement comes after eight people were arrested and at least 20 properties were searched during a police operation on Tuesday. The operation targeted the Saxonian Separatists, a group authorities consider a domestic “terrorist organisation”. It was founded in November 2020 and is driven by racist ideology and conspiracy theories. Members had been training in warfare for the downfall of the modern German state before hundreds of police swooped on locations linked to it in eastern Germany, neighbouring Poland, and also in Austria. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on Tuesday that the police operations had thwarted “early stage militant coup plans” and investigators noted that the group was planning to establish a new system in the country’s east inspired by Nazism. Der Spiegel magazine reported on Wednesday that Tuesday’s police raids had also uncovered unregistered weapons, munitions – including Kalashnikov cartridges – and silencers, as well as the shell of a mortar grenade. The AfD leadership in the eastern state of Saxony confirmed the exclusion of three party members and partially named them in a statement as Kurt H, Hans-Georg P and Kevin R. A statement from the party said: “No matter on whose behalf the Saxonian Separatists have been operating, there is no place for them in our party of freedom, peace and national sovereignty.” AfD co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla added that an extraordinary meeting of the party leadership would be held on Wednesday with the sole purpose of excluding the three men. In Germany, political parties need to demonstrate a serious violation in order to expel a member. Weidel and Chrupalla said that the AfD stands for “the liberal democratic order and has nothing to do with this suspected neo-Nazi grouping”. Meanwhile, the party’s leader in Saxony, Joerg Urban, said the AfD “rejects any form of violence in political debate” and that “preparations for violent acts or coups are also unacceptable”. In September, the anti-immigrant AfD won regional elections in the eastern state of Thuringia, a first for a far-right party since World War II. It also performed strongly in neighbouring Saxony. But German security services have labelled the party’s local branches in Thuringia and Saxony as “right-wing extremist” and its leader Bjorn Hocke has been fined twice for using Nazi slogans. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Liberation Day’: What to expect from President-elect Trump on border security, immigration
When President-elect Trump enters the Oval Office in January 2025, he will likely transform how the United States conducts immigration policy – with a historic deportation operation, a crackdown on foreign gangs, an end to the broad use of parole to allow in migrants, and renewed border wall construction at the top of his agenda. “We’re going to fix our borders,” Trump said Wednesday as he declared victory. “We’re going to fix everything about our country, and we’ve made history for a reason tonight.” Trump made immigration and ending the crisis at the southern border a central part of his campaign, as he had in his initial 2016 White House bid. LIVE BLOG: DONALD TRUMP ELECTED AS THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES Those calls were fueled in part by a historic crisis at the border that exploded under President Biden’s watch and just months after Trump left office. While the Biden administration blamed a lack of funding and a broken immigration system, Trump and Republican allies pointed instead to the rolling back of Trump-era policies by the administration. Whatever the cause, millions of migrants flooded into the United States as numbers skyrocketed in 2021 and remained at record highs through 2022 and 2023. Numbers dropped sharply in June after Biden limited entries into the U.S., although migrants have continued to come into the U.S. via a broad use of humanitarian parole. While numbers are now down at the border, 2024 has seen a series of high-profile crimes by illegal immigrants, some of whom were allowed into the U.S. under the administration. Trump has made clear his intention to turn the clock, promising during his campaign to end “every open borders policy of the Biden administration.” TRUMP SAYS HE WILL CARRY OUT THE ‘LARGEST DOMESTIC DEPORTATION OPERATION IN AMERICAN HISTORY’ IF ELECTED He has promised to continue building the wall at the southern border, over 450 miles of which was built during his first administration. He has also promised to launch the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history” to deport millions of illegal immigrants. “Following the Eisenhower Model, we will carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history,” Trump said. He has also promised to shift enormous parts of federal law enforcement to immigration enforcement, and will invoke the Alien Enemies Act to target cartel members and members of violent gangs like the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua. He said in Auroro, Colorado, last month that Election Day would be known as “Liberation Day” for the U.S. from a foreign occupation. “We’re being occupied by a criminal force, and we’re an occupied state that refuses to let our great law enforcement profession do the job that they so dearly want to do,” he said in Aurora. “But to everyone here in Colorado and all across our nation, I make this pledge and vow to you, Nov. 5, 2024, will be Liberation Day in America.” In terms of actions taken by the Biden administration, a future Trump administration will likely roll back the broad use of humanitarian parole that has seen hundreds of thousands of migrants brought in using the CBP One app – both at the ports of entry and by a controversial travel authorization program for nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela that allowed 30,000 in each month from those countries, CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS Republicans have also called for a tighter use of Temporary Protected Status, which grants foreign nationals from certain countries protection from deportation and work permits if it is deemed unsafe for them to return. The incoming administration will likely end the Biden administration’s interior ICE enforcement limits, limit refugee admissions and restore its public charge rule – which limited the ability of immigrants to claim green cards if they are deemed likely to be reliant on welfare. Other Trump-era policies that could come back include a form of the Remain-in-Mexico policy, which saw migrants stay in Mexico while they wait for their asylum cases to be heard, and travel bans from countries deemed to be national security threats. In the last week, Trump also raised the possibility of a tariff on Mexican goods to force Mexico to get tighter control of the numbers coming north. “I’m going to inform [the Mexican president] on day one or sooner that if they don’t stop this onslaught of criminals and drugs coming into our country, I’m going to immediately impose a 25% tariff on everything they send into the United States of America,” he said. Meanwhile, it is unclear if Trump’s election will dissuade migrants from attempting entry into the U.S., or if it might trigger a final surge to attempt entry before he takes office in January.
Fox News projects Democrats hold onto key seat in battleground Michigan
The Fox News Decision Deck projects that Democrats will hold onto a crucial open Senate seat in battleground Michigan, in a highly competitive and expensive race that drew plenty of national dollars and attention. Three-term Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin will defeat former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in the race to succeed Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat who has held the seat for nearly a quarter-century. “Congratulations to Congresswoman Slotkin on her victory, I wish her the best as she serves the people of Michigan in the Senate,” Rogers said in a statement minutes after Fox News, other networks, and the AP called the race for Slotkin. CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS 2024 ELECTION RESULTS And pointing to former President Trump’s White House victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, Rogers added he was “proud to have run on the ticket with our President-elect, Donald J. Trump, and I have no doubt that he is going to help move Michigan and America forward.” Rogers is a one-time FBI special agent who later served as chair of the House Intelligence Committee during his tenure in Congress. A one-time GOP critic of former President Trump who mulled a White House run of his own in 2024, Rogers became a strong supporter of the Republican presidential nominee and won his endorsement. Slotkin also has a national security background. She worked for the CIA and in the Pentagon before winning election to Congress. With a competitive contest in Michigan, both campaigns, the party committees and outside groups shelled out millions of dollars in the race. And it was one of the top potential picks up for the GOP, as they won back the Senate majority for the first time in four years, thanks to pickups on other states across the country. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Harris now the second Dem candidate to lose to Trump and not speak to supporters election night
Vice President Kamala Harris standing up her devastated Democratic supporters last night is drawing attention to a similar choice by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in November 2016. Both Democrats would have become the country’s first female president if they beat Trump. In 2016, when the race was called for Trump, Clinton did not address her supporters until the following morning. Harris will speak to supporters Wednesday evening. At the time, some critics blasted Clinton for not giving a consolation speech that same night at the Javits Center in New York. Clinton instead allowed her campaign manager, John Podesta, to briefly speak to supporters. CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE 2024 ELECTION On the following day, Clinton urged her supporters to “accept this result, and then look to the future.” “Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead,” she said. Likewise, on Tuesday night, Harris supporters trickled out of the watch party at Howard University once they learned from a Harris spokesperson she would not be addressing the crowd. Users on social media quickly took note and critiqued the VP for not showing face after supporters waited hours for her to come out. “Kamala Harris had like 10,000 people at her watch party and didn’t even show up,” one user on X wrote. “Apparently their time meant nothing to her. That final act is so reflective of why she lost.” Another user wrote, “Harris didn’t even show up to her own campaign party last night to greet her supporters. It just goes to show what an elitist she is and messed up the party is to think this is ok.” Harris called Trump on Wednesday to formally concede the race. Clinton called Trump on election night in 2016 to concede. According to a staff memo sent out by Harris’ campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon obtained by Fox News, Dillon said, “Losing is unfathomably painful” on Wednesday. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS ELECTION RESULTS “Just a few moments ago, the Vice President connected with President Trump to concede the race,” the email read. “In the call, she told him that she would work with President Biden to ensure a peaceful transfer of power, unlike what we saw in 2020. She also made clear that she hopes he will be a President for all Americans.” Harris was selected by the DNC during the summer after President Biden dropped out of his re-election bid following his poor debate performance against Trump, and just one week after an assassination attempt against him. Harris previously ran for president in 2020, but her campaign was short-lived. She dropped out in December 2019, citing lack of campaign funds. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Harris concedes presidential race, sends message to campaign staff: ‘Losing is unfathomably painful’
Vice President Kamala Harris has connected with former President Donald Trump and conceded the race in a letter to her campaign staff stating that “the work of protecting America from the impacts of a Trump Presidency starts now.” In a letter obtained by Fox News, Harris said she had called Trump “to ensure a peaceful transfer of power, unlike what we saw in 2020.” The letter continues, “I don’t have words to express the gratitude I have for everyone getting this email. You left everything on the field. You built a first-rate, historic Presidential campaign in basically 90 days. You navigated things that no one has ever had to navigate, and likely no one will ever have to again.” Harris said she also made clear that she hopes he will be a “President for all Americans.” SUPER BOWL CHAMP T.J. WARD TAKES SWIPE AT HARRIS AFTER ELECTION DEFEAT: ‘WE ARE BETTER OFF’ “You stared down unprecedented headwinds and obstacles that were largely out of our control. We knew this would be a margin of error race, and it was. And, your work mattered: the whole country moved to the right, but compared to the rest of the country, the battleground states saw the least amount of movement in his direction,” Harris wrote. “It was closest in the places we competed. That speaks to both the work you did, and the scale of the challenge we ultimately couldn’t surmount.” LIBERAL TEARS AFTER HARRIS LOSS CONJURES UP MEMORIES OF 2016 CLINTON DEFEAT Harris is expected to make public comments later Wednesday afternoon during a speech at Howard University in Washington, D.C. “I’ll leave you with this: losing is unfathomably painful. It is hard. This will take a long time to process. But the work of protecting America from the impacts of a Trump Presidency starts now,” Harris vowed. HARRIS WORLD BLAME GAME BEGINS AFTER CRUSHING LOSS TO TRUMP “I know the Vice President isn’t finished in this fight, and I know the very people on this email are also going to be leaders in this collective mission. View this as the beginning, not the end. It will be hard work. But as the boss says: hard work is good work. And I look forward to standing beside you.” Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung released a statement mentioning Harris’ call with Trump. “President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone earlier today where she congratulated him on his historic victory,” Cheung said. “President Trump acknowledged Vice President Harris on her strength, professionalism, and tenacity throughout the campaign, and both leaders agreed on the importance of unifying the country.” President Biden reached out by phone and spoke with Vice President Harris and congratulated her on a historic campaign, Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy reported. Following his call with Harris, Biden also spoke by phone with Trump and congratulated him on his victory. During their call, Biden expressed his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition and emphasized the importance of working to bring the country together. He also invited President-elect Trump to meet with him in the White House. The staff will coordinate a specific date in the near future. Biden is expected to address the nation on Thursday to discuss the election results and the transition. Trump defeated Vice President Harris, who entered the presidential race just over 100 days ago after Biden, who won the Democratic primaries, was convinced to stand down. Trump will be the only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms other than Grover Cleveland, who was elected in 1884 and again in 1892. Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Harris waiting to address base after loss shows ‘lacking a grasp of American democratic tradition’: analysts
Vice President Kamala Harris’ abiding silence following President-elect Trump’s victory suggests an inability to step up as a leader for her base, legal scholars say. The Democratic nominee has not yet spoken to her supporters, nor encouraged them to accept the election results, since Trump was named the victor of the 2024 presidential race early Wednesday morning. Two sources confirmed to Fox that the Harris campaign was radio silent Wednesday morning and did not provide talking points to surrogates, donors or influencers. The vice president is expected to deliver remarks at Howard University at 4 p.m. EST on Wednesday, where she will address Americans for the first time since losing the presidential race to Trump. However, analysts say she should not have waited until the afternoon after the election to address her base. Jonathan Turley, a legal scholar and a Fox News contributor, said Trump’s clear path to victory should have prompted her to concede sooner. HISTORIAN WITH STREAK OF ACCURATE FORECASTS SINCE 1984 FALLS SHORT AFTER 2024 TRUMP VICTORY “The true test of leadership is to step forward when it is most needed. Half of this population is deeply aggrieved by this decision. Part of that angst and anxiety was fueled by the rage rhetoric and panic politics on the left, including the Harris campaign,” Turley told Fox News Digital. TRUMP VOWS TO LEAD ‘GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA’ IN VICTORY SPEECH: ‘FIX EVERYTHING’ “Just as voters were going to the polls, the New York governor declared a majority of voters to be ‘unAmerican.’ This is the call of leadership to step forward and acknowledge the victory. There are no major challenges or questions. The election is over,” Turley added. “The only remaining matter is a concession. It has to be more than an afterthought in the late afternoon the following day. It needs to be rendered when it is most needed.” Legal analyst Andy McCarthy, a FOX News contributor and a senior fellow at the National Review Institute, suggested that remaining out of sight since the election results is a “graceless” misstep. “I’d just conclude that this is yet another indication – among countless indications – that she was neither substantively nor temperamentally up to the presidency,” McCarthy told Fox News Digital. “There is no apparent legal strategy at work. She is simply being graceless and suggesting that she and her team do not know what to do… even though what to do is obvious: concede, congratulate the new president, and pledge to cooperate in an efficient transition.” “I think this has less to do with democracy per se than with Harris’s lacking a grasp of American democratic tradition,” McCarthy continued. “Perhaps she figures Trump doesn’t rate consideration due to his refusal to accept the 2020 election results. But if that’s the case, it’s not sensible, it’s spiteful.” Harris was not present at her victory event at Howard University on Tuesday night, which came to an abrupt end ahead of Trump being named the winner of the presidential race. Despite not making any public appearances or remarks since election night, Harris reportedly called Trump to congratulate him on winning the race ahead of her speech Wednesday afternoon, according to a senior Harris aide. Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich contributed to this report.
Election night winners and losers: 2024 edition
In the wake of former President Donald Trump’s historic win projected by the Fox News Decision Desk, several winners and losers of the 2024 election have become clear. Here are those who came out on top on Election Day and those who didn’t quite meet expectations. MITCH MCCONNELL SINGS TRUMP CAMPAIGN PRAISES: ‘SHARPER OPERATION THIS TIME’ Trump Trump defied all expectations, even some of the more conservative-leaning estimates of the 2024 election. By notable margins, Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in several key battleground states, being projected by the Fox News Decision Desk to win the election by amassing the necessary 270 electoral votes before a number of other top swing states had been called. Republicans Trump’s top of the ticket projected victory was followed by significant victories for Republicans across the board. Senate Republicans were projected by the Fox News Decision Desk to retake the majority in the Senate in 2025, racking up wins in West Virginia, Ohio and Montana, which were previously blue. There are still multiple outstanding Senate races in swing states, giving the party hope for an even larger majority. FOX NEWS DECISION DESK PROJECTS GOP TAKES BACK SENATE MAJORITY IN DEVASTATING BLOW TO DEMS Chuck Schumer Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is one of the biggest losers in this particular election, as voters decisively removed his party from the majority in the upper chamber. He will instead lead the minority in the new Congress. Democrats suffered projected losses in West Virginia, Ohio and Montana, effectively killing any chance they had of keeping the majority. They also failed to flip any of their Republican targets, such as Texas or Florida. There are still several Senate races in swing states yet to be called that could increase the GOP’s majority over them. FOX NEWS PROJECTS TRUMP BEATS HARRIS IN WISCONSIN, FLIPPING ‘BLUE WALL’ STATE BACK TO RED Pollsters Political polls failed to accurately predict the projected decisive victory Trump saw in the 2024 election. The RealClearPolitics polling averages under-estimated the former president, putting him behind Harris in swing states that he was projected to win and showing Trump leading by a smaller margin than he ultimately did in other battlegrounds. A respected Iowa pollster’s results predicted the state would be led by Harris, and ended up being off by double digits as Trump took Iowa. FOX NEWS DECISION DESK PROJECTS REPUBLICAN DEB FISCHER HOLDS SENATE SEAT DESPITE INDEPENDENT CHALLENGE Democrats As a whole, the Democratic Party was dealt a devastating blow by voters across the country. Not only was their presidential nominee categorically rejected by the American people, but the implications of that loss further dragged down candidates across the board, per the Fox News Decision Desk’s projections. Incumbent senators in some swing states are in battles for their political lives that could take days to resolve. This comes as the party has already lost two blue-held seats in Ohio and Montana. Republicans in the House are also feeling bullish that they could complete the GOP trifecta in Washington, D.C. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub
House Dem projected to hold onto seat in closely watched race eyed by GOP as potential flip
Democratic Rep. Emilia Sykes is projected to survive her closely watched re-election bid by defeating her GOP challenger. The Associated Press called the race for Ohio’s 13th Congressional District for Sykes over former Ohio state Sen. Kevin Coughlin on Wednesday just before 3 p.m. ET. Sykes, a first-term Democrat who won in 2022 by five points, was defending her seat in a district that includes parts of two counties that former President Trump comfortably won in 2020. “This is as 50/50 of a district as it comes,” Sykes said. “It has been rated as such all across the country and there are all eyes on Ohio’s 13th Congressional District.” LEAKED VIDEO EXPOSES DEM STAFFER ADMITTING ‘QUIET PART OUT LOUD’ IN FIERY TIRADE: ‘OPEN THE F—ING BORDER’ Sykes comes from a well-established political family in Akron. Both her parents served as state lawmakers and her father, Vernon Sykes, currently serves as a state senator in Ohio. VULNERABLE HOUSE DEM DODGES QUESTION ON VP HARRIS’ RECORD AS ‘BORDER CZAR’: ‘DON’T KNOW WHO KAMALA HARRIS IS’ Coughlin has served in Ohio as both a state representative and state senator and has spent over 10 years since leaving office in the business sector. The Sykes campaign criticized Coughlin for his time as a lobbyist and accused him of being a “self-serving politician” who would legislate as extreme on the issue of abortion. Coughlin has accused Sykes of not living in the district, an allegation she denies, and the Summit County Board of Elections recently deadlocked along party lines investigating a complaint about her residency and voting status. Ohio’s 13th District was a race that Republicans had focused time and money on after identifying it as one of their best opportunities to flip a seat and maintain control of the House.