Author: Reporter

Anti-abortion groups hoped and strategized for decades for a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that was delivered last June, ending a court-protected right to abortion after nearly 50 years. The fallout was immediate and far-reaching, and it is not over yet. The midyear ruling in 2022 overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which established the right to abortion, shaped the national political agenda for the rest of the year and put abortion access in flux. The shifts are expected to keep coming as lawmakers, voters and judges weigh in. After the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling that left abortion up...

As Republican Tyler Kistner’s closing ad aired before the 2022 midterm elections in one of the most competitive congressional districts in the United States, Vickie Klang felt that something was missing. The 58-year-old veterinary technician and self-described independent voter watched as the 30-second spot showed grainy black-and-white images of President Joe Biden with two-term Democratic Rep. Angie Craig superimposed alongside him. The narrator ominously described life in America as “dangerous and unaffordable” because of an alliance between the two Democrats. Absent from the ad, Klang thought, was anything close to a solution beyond electing Kistner. “You’re never telling me...

Black voters have been a steady foundation for Democratic candidates for decades, but that support appeared to show a few cracks in the 2022 elections. Republican candidates were backed by 14% of Black voters, compared with 8% in the last midterm elections four years ago, according to AP VoteCast, an extensive national survey of the electorate. In Georgia, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp more than doubled his support among Black voters to 12% in 2022 compared with 5% four years ago, according to VoteCast. He defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams both times. If that boost can be sustained, Democrats could face...

With its brutality, technological accomplishments and rigid ideology, the Soviet Union loomed over the world like an immortal colossus. It led humankind into outer space, exploded the most powerful nuclear weapon ever, and inflicted bloody purges and cruel labor camps on its own citizens while portraying itself as the vanguard of enlightened revolution. But its lifespan was less than the average human’s. Born 100 years ago, it died days short of its 69th birthday. The Soviet Union both inspired loyalty and provoked dismay among its 285 million citizens. The dichotomy was summarized by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who served...