Traditionally Dem leaders in key Michigan voting bloc ditch Harris, endorse Trump
Some Arab leaders in southeast Michigan have heard enough from Vice President Kamala Harris and are now encouraging their community to throw their support behind former President Trump. “Just look where we’re at right now and look where we were before,” Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi told reporters during an online call Monday. Bazzi’s comments represent a growing sentiment among some Arab leaders in Michigan, where there has been increasingly negative sentiment around the Biden administration’s handling of the conflicts in the Middle East. In Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit with the largest per capita Muslim population in the United States, a movement bubbled up earlier this year to “Abandon Biden” during the state’s Democratic primary. While President Biden was still able to secure the nomination, leaders of the campaign against him hailed its success, noting that over 100,000 people failed to support the president and arguing they would continue to use their influence as the general election drew near. FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: VOTER OUTREACH, BALLOT EFFICIENCY AND A LITTLE HOUSEKEEPING The Democrats’ disconnect with many Arabs and Muslims in Dearborn has failed to improve since, even after Biden’s decision to drop out of the race and Harris’ quick ascent to the top of the ticket, leaving Democrats with a possible large hole in their typical coalition of support in a state that could make or break their chances at winning this year’s election. However, questions remained whether members of a community who have traditionally voted Democrat for so long and where Trump was deeply unpopular could suddenly turn around and support his latest bid for the White House, something Bazzi is now encouraging them to do. “I can tell you, a lot of people are actually swaying to voting for Trump because they really don’t like what going on,” Bazzi said. “They think their future doesn’t look bright with the administration and the way they’re heading.” Bazzi was joined on the call by Hamtramck, Michigan, Mayor Amer Ghalib, who leads the nation’s only Muslim-run city and made waves last month by announcing his endorsement of Trump. ‘MISLEADING’ DEM CONTRACEPTION BILL FAILS KEY VOTE AS GOP SLAMS BROAD PROPOSAL “The current administration has done nothing, and the war is expanding to other countries, and it could be a regional war and maybe even World War Three,” Ghalib said. “President Trump keeps saying that he will end the chaos in the Middle East, and I talked to him personally, I told him ‘your strength is that no wars happened during your term, so we want it to stay that way.’” While Ghalib acknowledged that some of Trump’s past rhetoric offended those in the community, his outreach since has made a difference. That outreach has worked, the mayor argued, noting that there is a “portion of the community that’s considering supporting Trump, and historically, those people used to vote Democrat.” One of those people is Dearborn’s Karbalaa Islamic Educational Center founder and Imam Husham Al-Hussainy, who told reporters on the call that he is now leaning towards support for Trump. “I lean towards Mr. Trump because I found him closer to the Bible, the Torah, and the Quran. Because I support peace, no war,” he said, adding that the country “deserves to have a strong leader where he can bring peace in this world.” Meanwhile, Ghalib had a message for those in his community thinking about voting for a third party or sitting out, arguing that nothing could be worse than keeping Democrats in power. “Some people are trying to vote for a third party because they predict that President Trump may do the same thing or even worse,” he said. “What could be worse than what’s going on now? There’s nothing worse.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
‘Polarizing’ way of picking party nominees targeted in ballot questions in these 6 states
A ballot initiative to implement open primary voting across six states is gaining momentum, according to advocates of the proposal who say it will eliminate “polarizing” and “extreme” candidates from making it onto the ballot, allowing a more diverse group of candidates to represent voters. Proponents hope this year’s success is indicative of future changes to U.S. elections. Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, South Dakota, Montana and Nevada qualified for an open primary initiative for the 2024 ballot, Unite America – a philanthropic venture fund – found. Other states across the country already have an open primary system, including Alaska, Texas, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Virginia, among others. Research from the Unite America Institute reveals that just 8% of voters elected 83% of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022. In 2024, 7% have already elected 84%. Unite America attributed this “primary problem” to the polarization and gridlock hindering Congress and state legislatures from addressing key issues important to voters that often go unnoticed come election season. Nick Troiano, executive director of Unite America, told Fox News Digital that an open primary system “would literally enfranchise millions of Americans closed out, and that includes independents.” CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE 2024 ELECTION In an open primary system, voters can choose which party’s primary to participate in, regardless of their own party affiliation. This allows registered voters, including independents, to vote in any party’s primary, promoting broader participation. By contrast, a closed primary system requires voters to be registered with a specific party to vote in that party’s primary. This approach ensures that only party members can influence the selection of their candidates, often leading to more ideologically consistent nominees but potentially excluding independent voters from the process. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub. “So this gives voters a lot more freedom to vote for whom they want, you know, regardless of party. And that’s the belief at the end of the day is that our election system should serve voters, not parties as private organizations,” Troiano told Fox News Digital. Another advocate of the open primary system is former Colorado Congressman Ken Buck. Buck, who retired as a representative earlier this year to work behind-the-scenes on election reform projects, said that many American voters are currently frustrated with their presidential choices. He noted that recent election reforms in various states are primarily focused on Senate and gubernatorial races, rather than the presidential election. This discontent may create an opportunity for meaningful reform in the electoral system, he said. TRUMP OPENS UP LARGEST BETTING LEAD SINCE DAYS AFTER BIDEN’S DROPOUT “AOC beat a member of leadership in the Democratic primary, and she did it again with a very small percentage,” Buck, who endorsed the open primary ballot inititative in his state, told Fox News Digital. “It’s like 12% of the overall registered voters in the in her district, voted for her in that primary, and then, because it’s a blue district, she becomes the member. That’s the example.” Buck believes that these changes could lead to higher-quality candidates, as current primary systems often allow candidates to win with a small percentage of the vote—sometimes as low as 38%—due to a crowded field. He suggested that such candidates often lack broad support among voters and may prioritize social media appeal over addressing the pressing issues facing constituents. Buck and Troiano said so far, typically the party that is most in control of the state are opposed to the ballot measure. “So in Nevada, the Democratic Party, and Idaho, it’s the Republican Party,” Troiano said. “But we make the case that this is good for voters today and is good for democracy.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Obama claims Trump ‘did not solve’ immigration ‘problem.’ The numbers tell a different story
Former President Barack Obama stumped for Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in Detroit on Tuesday, where he asserted that her Republican rival, former President Trump, failed to address the immigration “problem.” Immigration consistently polls as a top issue for voters in the 2024 election. The Biden-Harris administration has come under withering attack from Trump for reversing his border policies and permitting record high numbers of migrants to cross the southern border unlawfully. At a rally for the Harris-Walz ticket, Obama acknowledged that “immigration is a real issue at our borders.” But he pushed back on criticism of Harris for neglecting to address rampant illegal immigration in her four years as vice president and claimed that Trump’s promise to start “the largest mass deportation in the history of our country” isn’t a real plan. “Wasn’t Donald Trump president for four years?” Obama said. “Wasn’t he in charge before you? If rounding up and deporting millions of desperate people, many of them who are women and children, if that’s the answer to everything, why is it that the number of undocumented immigrants basically stayed the same when he left office?” ‘UTTER BETRAYAL’: NEW REPORT REVEALS DHS OFFICIAL USED SOCIAL MEDIA TO PROMOTE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION “When [Trump] took office, he did not solve the problem,” he added. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Obama’s claim that the number of illegal immigrants “basically stayed the same” when Trump left office is not true. During Trump’s first term, the highest number of illegal border crossings occurred in 2019, when 851,508 people were apprehended or found inadmissible at the southern border, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That number dropped to 400,651 in 2020, when Trump invoked authority under Title 42 to expedite deportations because of public health concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic. When President Biden took office in 2021, he immediately set about reversing Trump’s immigration policies. On his first day, his administration paused most ICE arrests and deportations from the interior U.S. – a move that was blocked by a federal judge following a lawsuit from Texas. Later, the Biden administration rolled out new guidelines to ICE in 2021, prioritizing national security threats, violent criminals and recent border crossers for deportation. Biden also halted construction of Trump’s border wall and ended his “Remain in Mexico” policy, which required asylum seekers to wait outside the country for their claims to be processed. MIGRANTS CAUGHT AT BORDER BUSED, FLOWN OUT OF SAN DIEGO IN POSSIBLE ‘COVER UP’ BEFORE ELECTION: OFFICIAL Following these actions, illegal border crossings soared to 1.6 million in fiscal year 2021. They hit a record high of 2.2 million the next year, before falling slightly to just over 2 million in FY 2023. Most recently, border crossings have steeply declined after the Biden administration announced tighter restrictions on immigration over the summer. The president issued an executive order that suspended the entry of migrants across the border once it reached a certain level. The policy has led to a more than 50% drop in border encounters. Looking forward, Trump has vowed, if elected, to relocate military troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and authorize ICE to raid workplaces and round up criminal illegal aliens for deportation. Harris, on the other hand, has not articulated a specific plan for immigration. She has instead criticized Trump for lobbying Republicans against a bipartisan border security bill that failed to advance in the Senate. The bill would have increased funding for border agents, detention facilities and fentanyl detection technology. It also would have restricted entries to the U.S. when border encounters reached a certain level. WHAT VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS LEFT OUT ABOUT BIDEN ADMIN’S ROLE IN BORDER CRISIS: A TIMELINE Conservatives opposed the legislation, arguing that it set a floor for high levels of illegal immigration. Some liberals also objected to the emergency border authority contained in the legislation. Harris has said that any solution to the illegal immigration problem must come from Congress. “I was just down at the border talking with border agents, and they will tell you… we need more judges. We need to process those cases faster. We need this support for those cases that should be prosecuted. They need more resources, and Congress, ultimately, is the only place that that’s going to get fixed,” Harris said last week. “We worked on supporting what was a bipartisan effort, including some of the most conservative members of the United States Congress, to actually strengthen the border. That border bill would have put 1500 more border agents at the border, which is why I believe the Border Patrol agents supported the bill,” she continued. “It would have allowed us to stem the flow of fentanyl coming into the United States, which is a scourge affecting people of every background, every geographic location in our country, killing people. It would have allowed us to put more resources into prosecuting transnational criminal organizations, which I have done as the former attorney general of a border state.” “Donald Trump learned about that bill and told them to kill it because he preferred to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.” Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
2 swing districts in New York split as GOP incumbents fight to hold seats
Two swing districts in New York appear to be split, as GOP first-term incumbents fight to hold their House seats. Republican Rep. Nick LaLota holds a three-point lead over Democrat challenger, former CNN anchor John Avlon, in New York’s 1st Congressional District, which includes most of Suffolk County on eastern Long Island. LaLota has 47% support, while Avlon has 44%, according to a new Newsday/Siena College poll. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, the first-term Republican representing New York’s 4th Congressional District encompassing central and southern Nassau County on Long Island, is behind by 12 percentage points. The poll found 53% of likely voters in the district support Democrat challenger, former Hempstead Town Supervisor Laura Gillen, while 41% support D’Esposito, who previously served on Hempstead Town Council. NEW JERSEY BATTLEGROUND HOUSE DISTRICT POLL FINDS TIGHT RACE AS GOP SEEKS TO RETAIN SEAT Their race is a rematch from 2022, when D’Esposito edged a slim victory over Gillen by four points. The majority of voters in the 1st Congressional District, which includes the Hamptons and rural farmland, supported former President Donald Trump in 2020 and 2016, and Avlon has faced questions over the extent of his residency in the district. The race moved from leaning Republican to likely Republican, according to the Fox News Power Ranking. According to the Newsday/Siena College poll, Vice President Kamala Harris is ahead of Trump by one percentage point in LaLota’s district. In D’Esposito’s district, the poll shows Harris ahead of Trump, 54-42%. TRUMP, HARRIS CAMPAIGNS MAKE PENNSYLVANIA MOST EXPENSIVE BATTLEGROUND, SPENDING $538M COMBINED: REPORT Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat who has represented New York since 2009, is leading in both districts. The poll also showed that 55% of likely voters in New York’s 1st District and 49% of likely voters in New York’s 4th District view Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul as unfavorable. Hochul is not up for re-election until 2026. Eleven districts within a 90-mile drive of Manhattan are expected to be among the country’s most closely contested House races on Election Day and could decide which party controls the U.S. House. The nearly contiguous circle starts in the Long Island suburbs, cuts through Connecticut and New York’s Hudson River Valley, then carves through eastern Pennsylvania before curling back into New Jersey. Trump struggled in the area outside of New York City in 2020, but Republicans picked up wins there in the 2022 midterm elections. Fox News’ Remy Numa and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Last-minute hearing could determine whether vulnerable House Dem can vote for herself in key race
Democratic Rep. Emilia Sykes, who is running for re-election in one of the most closely watched House races in the country, is facing questions about her ability to vote for herself in November amid a probe into whether her primary residence is in her district. The controversy stems from a complaint filed by Republican activist Tom Zawistowski citing a financial disclosure form from Sykes’ husband, Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce, listing Sykes as living with him in Columbus, Ohio, outside of Ohio’s 13th Congressional District, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. The Summit County Board of Elections, made up of two Democrats and two Republicans, deadlocked on party lines in a vote on whether to investigate that complaint. The tie-breaking vote went to Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who voted in favor of an investigation, and a hearing will be held on Thursday morning on the issue of Sykes’ eligibility to vote in her Akron district. “Here, the Democratic members of the Board submitted a four-page position statement laying out arguments that would be presented and considered at a formal hearing,” LaRose wrote in a letter to the board outlining his decision to vote with the Republican members. VULNERABLE HOUSE DEM DODGES QUESTION ON VP HARRIS’ RECORD AS ‘BORDER CZAR’: ‘DON’T KNOW WHO KAMALA HARRIS IS’ “They conclude that ‘[t]he challenger has not alleged that Congresswoman Sykes has abandoned or failed to maintain her Summit County residence, nor has he alleged that she has chosen to make a habitation (i.e., residence) elsewhere her residence for voting purposes.’ Reaching this conclusion prior to a hearing negates the very purpose of the hearing itself, before which the challenged voter is notified of the meeting and afforded a ‘right to appear and testify, call witnesses, and be represented by counsel.’ In advance of a hearing, the Board also would have the opportunity to seek guidance from its own legal counsel, the county prosecuting attorney, regarding the statutory residency requirements of voter registration.” LaRose added, “Based on my review of the evidence presented to me and the relevant laws applicable to this matter, I have determined that the Board has not fully complied with the challenge process required by state law and administrative directive. Therefore, I join the two Board members who sought to pursue that process and hereby break the tie in favor of the motion to conduct a hearing on the challenge.” Sykes, whose family history in Akron politics goes back decades, is not legally required to live full-time in her district to run and serve in Congress, but Republicans argue that Sykes is not eligible to vote for herself in Akron, which could mean having to place a provisional ballot. OHIO STATE SECRETARY SAYS 100 NON-US CITIZENS VOTED IN RECENT ELECTIONS, BEGINS PROCESS TO PROSECUTE Democrats were presented a sworn statement from Boyce that Sykes was listed on the form out of “an abundance of caution” over uncertainty about what the form specifically required, and the election board reportedly saw a lease in Columbus without Sykes’ name on it. Additionally, Fox News Digital reviewed two documents showing Sykes with an Akron address, including a direct deposit slip from a congressional paycheck in September and a bill from a physical therapy office. In her 2022 disclosure form, Sykes reported owning property in Columbus. Records also show that since 2018, the Sykes family trust has benefited from an owner occupant tax credit in Columbus. Ultimately, Republicans and LaRose decided to vote in favor of having Sykes explain to the board where she resides on Thursday morning, although she is not required to attend in person and is allowed to send legal representation. “Career politicians like Emilia Sykes think the rules don’t apply to them,” former Ohio GOP State Sen. Kevin Coughlin told Fox News Digital in a statement. “She may not even be able to legally vote for herself. Why should we trust her to vote on our behalf in Congress? Voters want true representation for Northeast Ohio, and that’s why they’ll vote Emilia Sykes out this November.” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella told Fox News Digital, “Northeast Ohioans are dealing with the unfortunate consequences of Sykes’ extreme policies that have led to open borders, unsafe communities and a crippled economy — but she would never know because she’d rather be selling out her constituents with her elitist liberal friends in Columbus and Washington. Northeast Ohio deserves better.” The Sykes campaign released a statement calling the hearing a “sham partisan hearing” and blasted her opponent, Coughlin. ‘”Emilia Sykes lives in Akron and this desperate lie is an example of how Kevin Coughlin represents everything the voters of Ohio’s 13th Congressional district hate about Politics,” Sykes campaign manager Maddie Summers said. “Whether it’s the ethics investigation for awarding a government contract to his friend, his obstruction of public record requests or using taxpayer dollars to pay a campaign supporter, it’s no wonder his own colleagues have called him ‘personally repugnant.’ Northeast Ohioans will reject Coughlin’s pathetic attempt to rob them of their voice.” Democrat board members in the meeting made the case that the complaint from Zawistowski did not sufficiently show that Sykes did anything wrong and state law permits multiple residences and has been interpreted in the past as allowing individuals to state they “intend” to return to their registered address in order to vote. “People who are married have the ability to maintain separate residences, and people do that,” Democratic board member William Rich said in the meeting which was posted online. “When someone has more than one residence, it’s essentially their choice about which one to use as their voting residence,” Rich said in an interview, according to the Akron Signal. “And there was no allegation that she either didn’t have a residence in Summit County or had chosen to make a residence in Franklin County her residence for voting purposes.” Sykes, a first-term Democrat who won in 2022 by five points, is defending her seat in a district that includes parts of two counties that
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Maharashtra Elections 2024: NCP releases 1st list of 38 candidates; Ajit Pawar to contest from…
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