Category: Elections

DeSantis Campaign Memo Reveals New Strategy to Catch Donald Trump

Minnesota Sun Staff

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign has a new strategy to bolster the governor’s movement in the 2024 GOP primaries and catch up to former President Donald Trump, according to a July 6 campaign memo obtained by NBC News.

Trump continues to lead DeSantis in both state and national polls, and the campaign memo labeled “Confidential Friends and Family Update” details the governor’s plans to shore up support in key early primary states, insisting a large swath of the electorate is still up for grabs. As DeSantis remains particularly focused on New Hampshire, the campaign intends to delay efforts in Super Tuesday states to the fall.

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Tucker Carlson Grills GOP Candidate Senator Tim Scott on War in Ukraine, Biden’s Cluster Bombs

M.D. Kittle

U.S Senator Tim Scott said there shouldn’t be American military “boots on the ground” in Ukraine. But the South Carolina Republican campaigning for president remains supportive in the U.S., providing the weapons and resources Ukraine needs to push back Russia’s invasion.

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Commentary: One Illegal Vote Can Change the Outcome of an Election

Minnesota Sun Staff

Most people in the media don’t want you to believe that election crimes are committed. They say it is easier to find Bigfoot. But election crimes are not a myth, and The Heritage Foundation has been systematically documenting them for years. When those who deny the crimes occur are forced to confront the data, the response sometimes shifts to “It doesn’t matter anyway.”

After all, does it really matter if a single vote is improperly or criminally cast?

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New Morning Consult Poll Shows Trump Dominating, Ramaswamy Rising

M.D. Kittle

Former President Donald Trump continues to crush the competition, but political outsider Vivek Ramaswamy is swiftly rising in the crowded field of Republican presidential candidates, according to a new Morning Consult poll.

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Commentary: GOP Field Braces for Tucker Carlson Iowa Inquisition

RealClearWire

More than one Republican presidential campaign expressed surprise, even trepidation, when RealClearPolitics broke the news in March that Tucker Carlson would moderate a presidential forum hosted by the Family Leader.

In the spring, several candidates accepted Bob Vander Plaats’s invitation to address his influential group of social and religious conservatives. None knew Carlson would be waiting for them on stage in the summer. “This isn’t prepping for an interview,” said a senior aide to one presidential candidate. “It’s an interrogation.”

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Commentary: GOP Split on How to Handle Absentee Votes

RealClearWire

“I can’t begin to understand what ballot harvesting is,” Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the former Republican House Speaker, said in an interview in the wake of a 2018 political upset in Orange County, California. Democrats had swept the congressional seats in one of California’s few Republican strongholds, largely due to a well-executed strategy of harvesting, or the collection and submission of ballots by someone other than the voter.    

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Analysis: Kennedy’s Polling Numbers Trump Biden’s in New Poll

Minnesota Sun Staff

A recent Economist/YouGov poll shows Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with a significantly higher favorability rating than President Joe Biden. The survey found 49 percent of respondents expressed a positive view of Kennedy, while 30 percent held an unfavorable opinion of him, giving Kennedy a net favorable rating of 19 points. Biden on the other hand holds a favorability rating of -11 points.

This comes on top of a recent Emerson Poll showing Kennedy at 15 percent among Democratic Primary voters, up from 10 percent two months ago in another poll.

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Republican US Army Veteran Sam Brown Challenges Nevada Democrat Sen. Jacky Rosen

Just the News

Afghanistan war veteran Sam Brown is launching his Republican Senate bid Monday to unseat Nevada Democrat Sen. Jacky Rosen.

“In the military, no one asks you what party you’re in. They just want to know that they can count on you to fight alongside them,” Brown said Monday on Twitter. “I’m ready to lead and fight for Nevadans again.”

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GOP Targets Three Vulnerable Democrats in Quest to Win Senate, House Control Too Early to Predict

Just the News

Republicans would need to win three of the 2024 toss-up Senate races to retake control of the chamber but appear to be facing a more uphill battle to keep control of the House.

Thirty-three of 100 Senate seats are up for grabs next year. Right now, Democrats have a 51-49 majority, which includes 48 party members and three independents who caucus with them.

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‘Truly Unprecedented:’ Donald Trump Is Dominating the Early Primary Season Like Nothing in Modern History

Minnesota Sun Staff

Former President Donald Trump continues to dominate the early primary season in an unprecedented third bid for the White House, polling experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

This Republican primary cycle is like none other as the frontrunner is a former president, has a massive lead in the polls, his former vice president is running against him and Trump has two federal indictments under his belt. Polling analysts stressed to the DCNF the stark difference between this GOP primary season and previous cycles, arguing that it’s difficult to draw comparisons in modern history.

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‘Off-Year’ Minnesota School Board Elections Offer Challenges, Opportunities for New Candidates

Minnesota Sun Staff

Despite the vibe you may be getting from the national media, the presidential election is still more than a year away. But that doesn’t mean voters won’t have a ballot to fill out this November.

The 2023 election cycle in Minnesota won’t be eventful for most voters. There are no legislative seats or congressional or statewide offices on the ballot. But school district communities representing about 1.7 million residents across the state — which combined, steward well over $4 billion in tax dollars — will be holding elections this fall.

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Tech Mogul Ramaswamy Closing in on DeSantis for Second Place in GOP Primary

Just the News

Tech mogul Vivek Ramaswamy is closing in on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the Republican primary, placing just 6 points behind him in a recent poll. Ramaswamy claimed the support of 10 percent of likely voters in an Echelon Insights poll conducted June 26-29. DeSantis, meanwhile, claimed 16 percent support to former President Donald Trump’s 49 percent.

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Pence Says Trump and DeSantis Are Wrong on Ukraine and America’s Role as Arsenal of Democracy

M.D. Kittle

Former Vice President Mike Pence says his “former running mate,” among others in the Republican Party presidential nomination chase, are missing the significance of the U.S. coming to the aid of Ukraine.

Pence said he recently paid a call on the war-torn European nation and its president to see firsthand “the results of the extraordinary, unprovoked invasion by Russia” as well as the “tenacity and toughness” of the Ukrainian military.

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RFK Jr. Hauls in Millions in Campaign Cash, but Lags Far Behind Biden’s Billion-Dollar Campaign

M.D. Kittle

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may be a long-shot candidate for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, but he appears to be hauling in the kind of campaign cash that could give President Joe Biden and his re-election efforts some heartburn.

The Kennedy Jr. campaign last Friday announced its first million-dollar day just hours before the close of the critical July quarterly reporting period.

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The 2024 Election Could Come Down to These Four States

Minnesota Sun Staff

The upcoming presidential election could potentially come down to Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin, according to the Sabato’s Crystal Ball 2024 Electoral College predictions released Thursday.

The nonpartisan report, facilitated by the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, labels the four states as “toss-ups” based on the 2020 election and 2022 midterms. The 2024 landscape slightly favors the Democrats and will likely be another matchup between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, according to the report.

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Minnesota Voters Alliance Files Lawsuit Challenging New Felon Voting Rights Restoration Law

Admin

A trio of Minnesota residents, along with a conservative voters rights watchdog organization, have filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a new law that restores the right to vote for felons still on probation or parole.

The petitioners in the lawsuit include: the Minnesota Voters Alliance and Anoka County residents Mary Amlaw, Ken Wendling and Tim Kirk. They are being represented by the Upper Midwest Law Center.

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Trump Leans Toward Skipping First GOP Primary Debate, Weighs Holding Counter Event: Report

Minnesota Sun Staff

Former President Donald Trump is leaning toward skipping the first presidential debate in August and holding a countering event instead, NBC News reported Wednesday.

Trump has reportedly been toying with not participating in the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) first two GOP primary debates due to his massive lead in the polls and recent spats with Fox News, the outlet broadcasting the August debate, according to NBC News. Several Trump advisers told NBC News that while the former president is leaning toward skipping the first debate, he hasn’t made a final decision but is exploring options for a competing event.

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Trump, Biden Dominate Latest Granite State Poll, but Many Don’t Want to See a Re-Match

M.D. Kittle

Former President Donald Trump has upped his support over Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the Granite State and President Joe Biden leads his Democratic Party challengers by more than 50 percentage points, according to a new poll conducted by the Saint Anselm College Survey Center at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics.

But the latest poll also finds that a majority of New Hampshire voters believe a repeat of 2020 presidential candidates in 2024 would mark a “broken” U.S. political system.  

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Election Integrity Advocates Fight Against ‘Confusing’ Ranked-Choice Voting Pushed by Left

Just the News

As ranked-choice voting gains momentum, election integrity advocates are fighting back over what the call a “confusing” voting system that they say would give the left more power.

Ranked-choice voting is an election process being introduced across the country, amid pushback from some states, including efforts to ban it.

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Haley Names New Hampshire Campaign Co-Chairs as Presidential Politics Heats Up in the Granite State

M.D. Kittle

Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley recently announced key additions to her presidential campaign in New Hampshire, the “building blocks of a winning campaign in the Granite State.”

Haley is among several GOP presidential hopefuls making the rounds in New Hampshire this week, including the party’s sparing frontrunners. 

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Trump’s Lead Expanding, Ramaswamy Rising in Latest Morning Consult Poll

M.D. Kittle

A new Morning Consult poll shows former President Donald Trump widening the gap against his closest competitors, while former Vice President Mike Pence and Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy make some noise among the crowded field of Republican Party presidential hopefuls.

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DeSantis Lays Out Border Security Plan at Event in Eagle Pass, Texas

The Center Square

In a campaign stop in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis presented his border security plan as part of his platform to win the Republican nomination for president.

The plan includes reinstating several policies implemented by the Trump administration, including ending catch and release, reinstating the Remain in Mexico policy, among others. His plan also includes using the U.S. military to work with Border Patrol agents “on day one, and they’ll continue to help until the [border] wall is finished,” according to a campaign document obtained by The Center Square.

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Trump Says Liberals Are ‘Waging War on Faith and Freedom’ as 2024 Hopefuls Woo Evangelicals

Just the News

The annual Faith and Freedom forum – considered the country’s largest public policy gathering of Christian conservative activists – concluded Saturday evening with a keynote speech from front-running GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump in which he spoke passionately to a key part of a coalition he must rebuild to win the GOP nomination.

But Trump, like the other top-tier 2024 GOP presidential candidates who spoke during the three-day event in Washington, D.C., faces a long road to Election Day in which the nominee will also have to win over independents, the undecideds and other voters for Republicans to retake the White House.

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Poll: Trump Maintains Double-Digit Lead over DeSantis in South Carolina

Minnesota Sun Staff

Among likely South Carolina primary voters, Former President Donald Trump has maintained his lead over Florida Governor Ron DeSantis 41 percent to 18 percent in the multi-candidate ballot, according to the latest National Research poll commissioned by American Greatness.

Last month, Trump led DeSantis 43 percent to 18 percent among likely South Carolina primary voters. This change is well within the survey’s margin of error (+/- 4.38 percent), so it is not considered to be statistically significant.

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Former GOP Texas Rep William Hurd Announces Run for President

Admin

Former Republican Texas Rep. Will Hurd announced Thursday he’s running for president in 2024. Hurd, a frequent critic of former President Donald Trump, is the first Texan to enter the growing GOP primary field. The former congressman released an announcement video Thursday where he touched on illegal immigration and inflation, and argued that “Americans deserve better.”

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Seven Months After 2022 Elections, U.S. Counties Still Uncovering Election Day Problems

Just the News

Following reviews over the past seven months on how their election departments administered the 2022 midterms, several counties across the U.S have found numerous issues that highlight processes and procedures that need to be addressed for future elections.

Such jurisdictions have conducted  audits, reviews, or investigations to determine root causes. Several counties released the reviews in June, seven months after the elections occurred. 

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State Bar of California Begins Trial to Disbar Trump’s Attorney John Eastman Over 2020 Election

Rachel Alexander

The State Bar of California (SBC) began a trial on Tuesday seeking to disbar conservative legal scholar John Eastman over his role advising former President Donald Trump and state legislatures on challenging the 2020 election results. The proceedings arose out of a complaint against him made by the States United Democracy Center (SUDC). SUDC is run by a former Obama appointee, Norm Eisen, and its advisory board includes former Arizona governor and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

The SBC charged Eastman with 11 ethics violations in January. Eastman filed a 100-page response containing thousands of attachments, and published a rebuttal on his Substack. He said the SBC’s complaint “is filled with distortions, half truths, and outright falsehoods.”

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Ramaswamy: Plea Deal Keeping Hunter Biden out of Prison Is a ‘Joke,’ the ‘Perfect Fig Leaf’

M.D. Kittle

GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is blasting a plea deal announced Tuesday that will keep President Joe Biden’s troubled son out of prison on two federal misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his taxes and a separate felony charge of possession of a firearm by a known drug user.

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Commentary: DeSantis’ Plan to Tear Down the DOJ Is What All the Candidates Need

Minnesota Sun Staff

This is, on the surface and even a little below it, a column about Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis and the 2024 GOP primary. But it’s about more than that, and if you’ll leave the partisan preferences at the door for a bit, hopefully we can come to some sort of larger understanding that we’ll need as the next presidential race looms.

All we’re really talking about this week is the indictment of Trump down in Miami and its political ramifications — none of which are good. Is this a pristine example of weaponized government? Did Trump put himself in the position to get indicted? Is this actually a good thing for him? Does it force Republican voters to rally around Trump in a way they might otherwise not do, and is that the design of the Machine that controls our institutions of power? Is the Pump-and-Dump-Trump strategy real? Is it inevitable? 

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Commentary: The Supreme Court’s Ruling on Race-Based Redistricting Is a Real Head-Scratcher

Minnesota Sun Staff

Chief Justice John Roberts made a major error in judgment last week in rejecting the State of Alabama’s 2022 congressional redistricting plan in Allen v. Milligan, an error that, as dissenting Justice Samuel Alito says, puts the Voting Rights Act “on a perilous and unfortunate path.”

Joined by the three liberal justices and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Roberts, writing for the majority, approved race being the driving factor in drawing up the boundary lines of political districts, while glibly denying he was doing that. That violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution.

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Poll: Trump Increases Lead over DeSantis in New Hampshire

Minnesota Sun Staff

Among likely New Hampshire primary voters, Former President Donald Trump leads Florida Governor Ron DeSantis 44% to 12% in a multi-candidate ballot. Trump has increased his lead by 5% since last month where he lead DeSantis 39% to 18%.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and South Carolina U.S. Senator Tim Scott are tied for third with 7% of the vote each. Sununu’s presence on the ballot is not siphoning votes away from DeSantis as some assumed. When Sununu is taken out of the equation in this months survey, DeSantis did not benefit. A majority of Sununu’s vote share went to Scott and Christie.

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Democrats Team Up with Anti-Trump Republicans to Crush Third-Party Org: Report

Minnesota Sun Staff

Democratic strategists and allies of President Joe Biden met with conservatives who oppose former President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. last week to fight the centrist group No Labels’ third-party ticket in 2024, according to The Washington Post.

No Labels has been planning to run a third-party “unity ticket” in the event of a rematch between Trump and Biden in 2024, as the organization believes the two men represent the most extreme ends of their respective parties. As No Labels continues their efforts to gain ballot access in key states, the June 6 meeting attendees worry that such a ticket could take away votes from Biden and enable Trump to win a second term, according to the Post.

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Movement to Decide Presidency by Popular Vote Gains States, Momentum But Also Faces Challenges

Just the News

The effort to change how the United States elects its presidents – from the existing Electoral College process to a national popular vote – is gaining momentum, but critics are questioning its legality and whether it improves the country’s election system. 

Sixteen states and Washington, D.C., have joined the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, with Minnesota being the latest and Michigan and Nevada considering it.

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Commentary: Iowa and Minnesota Are Neighboring States That Show Different Futures for America

RealClearWire

There is no Berlin Wall or 38th Parallel separating Lyle, Minnesota, from Mona, Iowa, just 1.4 miles south along 1st Street, but the two towns are under governments with widely diverging visions. Iowa, once a “purple” state that leaned Democrat is now a “red” conservative state, while Minnesota, long a reliable Democrat state, has taken a radical, leftward turn. These neighbors exemplify the different visions for America that its citizens are likely to be offered in 2024.

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Don’t Be a ‘Disciple of the Donor Class:’ Ramaswamy Calls on Fellow Presidential Candidates to Commit to Pardoning Trump on Classified Records Charges

M.D. Kittle

Political outsider and GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy is calling on all of his 2024 competitors — Republicans and Democrats — to commit to pardoning former President Donald Trump should he be convicted of the federal classified documents charges against him.

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Commentary: Trump Again Widens Lead in GOP Nomination After Indictment

Admin

“I’ve put everything on the line and I will never yield. I never yield. I will never be deterred. I will never stop fighting for you.”

That was former President Donald Trump in Columbus, Georgia on June 10 in his first appearance after being indicted by the U.S. Justice Department on supposed violations of the Espionage Act over documents Trump says he declassified before leaving office, with Trump unsurprisingly using the prosecution to his political advantage in his 2024 election bid to oust President Joe Biden.

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Legal Experts: Politically Motivated, Yes, But Trump Could Be in Trouble with Latest Indictment

M.D. Kittle

While many Americans feel former President Donald Trump is the target of a political witch hunt by the Biden administration and its allies, the latest allegations against the Republican Party’s top presidential candidate are troubling, according to a leading constitutional law expert.

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GOP Presidential Candidate Ramaswamy Files FOIA Request Seeking Biden Communications with Special Prosecutor in Trump Indictment

M.D. Kittle

Ohio entrepreneur and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy says his campaign has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to uncover communications between the White House, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Jack Smith, special prosecutor behind the latest indictment of former President Donald Trump.

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Election Integrity a Top-Tier Issue for Frontrunner GOP Candidates in 2024

Just the News

The 2024 GOP presidential primary season in now in full swing with essentially all of the top, likely candidates having committed and key issues emerging such as the economy and the war in Ukraine – as well as election fraud and election integrity, which remain at the top on front-running former President Trump’s list.

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Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt Endorses Ron DeSantis for President

Admin

Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the Republican presidential nomination on Saturday.

The two-term governor threw his support behind DeSantis during a speech in Tulsa, Oklahoma, following the endorsement from 20 of the state’s legislators and former Oklahoma Congressman and Trump-appointee Jim Bridenstine, according to a campaign press release. Stitt said he endorsed DeSantis because he’s a “strong conservative and principled leader.”

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Pollsters Shift Five House Seats Toward Dems After SCOTUS Ruling

Minnesota Sun Staff

The Cook Political Report updated the ratings of five House races across several states in 2024 on Thursday, shifting them towards Democrats after the Supreme Court ruled against Alabama’s redistricting plan.

The Court struck down Alabama’s GOP-drawn Congressional map for the 2022 midterm elections on Thursday, ruling in Allen v. Milligan that the was racially discriminatory and diluted African-American voting strength in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The decision’s implications mean that more House seats in Alabama are likely to be competitive in the 2024 election, with the Cook Political Report reflecting those changes in its ratings.

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GOP Presidential Candidates Hold Varying Positions on U.S. Involvement in Ukraine

M.D. Kittle

Republican Party Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy recently laid out a plan that he says would end the war in Ukraine while breaking up Russia’s  growing alliance with China.

Newly minted presidential candidate North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum says, “Support for Ukraine is important to stop empowering countries like Russia in the first place by selling US energy to our allies.”

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Republicans See Ballot Harvesting as a Necessary Evil in Some States Ahead of 2024

Minnesota Sun Staff

The Republican National Committee (RNC) unveiled a new election strategy on Wednesday that includes ballot harvesting in states where it’s legal, which conservative activists say is necessary to win elections in 2024.

The RNC’s new strategy, named “Bank Your Vote,” involves helping Republican voters cast their votes “as early as possible, through in-person early voting, absentee voting, and ballot harvesting where legal,” according to an email the RNC sent the DCNF. “Ballot harvesting,” a practice where absentee ballots are collected from voters by political employees and deposited at an election office or ballot drop box, has been strongly criticized by some Republicans in the past, though GOP candidates and activists now say it will be important to winning in 2024.

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North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum Launches Bid for White House, Joining Crowded Field of GOP Contenders

M.D. Kittle

At a Fargo events center packed with family, friends and neighbors, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum stressed his small-town roots, his success in building a multi-billion dollar software business on the Great Plains, governing a growing state, and his vision for an innovative America in announcing his bid for the White House.

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