Good morning and thank you for checking out the DDHQ Morning News Spotlight. Today we’re looking at the latest on what is happening in the January 6 select committee, as well as the latest on redistricting across the county.
Morning Headlines
- Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) who chairs the Jan. 6 selection committee told Punchbowl News last night that the committee feels it has enough evidence to invite Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, to testify before the committee, and if she refuses, to issue a subpoena. This comes as the committee is also preparing subpoenas for two former top Trump aides, and as they push the DOJ to charge Mark Meadows with contempt for not cooperating with the committee. Yesterday, a federal judge said in a ruling that former President Trump “more likely than not” committed federal crimes in trying to block the outcome of the 2020 election.
- Democrats in Maryland’s General Assembly unveiled a new Congressional map yesterday after a court ordered that the original map must be redrawn. They plan on voting on the new map today and having it on Governor Larry Hogan’s desk by Wednesday. The new map redraws the district of Rep. Andy Harris, the lone Republican in the Maryland delegation who Democrats would like to target in the midterms.
- A Siena Poll yesterday showed former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo just 8 points back of his successor and former running mate Kathy Hochul. Cuomo has not yet filed for the June 28 primary, but still has nine days left to do so. Polling in third and fourth, about 40% back from Hochul, are New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Rep. Tom Suozzi.
- The Ohio redistricting commission abandoned their plan to use outside mapmakers they had spent a week paying $450/hr to create an independent map just a few hours before the court-ordered deadline to have new state legislative maps passed. They instead opted to tweak their third map attempt which had already been struck down by the Ohio Supreme Court.
- Also in Ohio, the debates for candidates hoping to replace Rob Portman in the US Senate took place at Central State University. Ukraine was a big topic in both parties’ debates. Though the Republican primary has seen a recent escalation in attacks between candidates, the biggest points of conflict during the debate were between the candidates and moderator Karen Kasler. The Democratic gubernatorial debate is being held tonight at 7 p.m. (EDT) and can be viewed at www.ohiodebatecommission.org. No Republican gubernatorial debate is scheduled at this time.
- Local election officials in Georgia testified before the state senate yesterday to criticize a new round of voting bills being considered. They argued the news measures are counterproductive, will cause their offices to lose poll workers while gaining more work that would need doing, and cause their offices to lose funding. The new bill could be voted on as early as today.
- Over at Elections Daily, Sarah Stook continues her series on America’s first ladies. If you haven’t been following along, make sure you check out part 1 and part 2 as well.
- We will have the election results from the special election for the vacant seat in South Carolina’s 31st state senate district tonight. You can find the results at analysisdddhq.wpenginepowered.com.
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