Politics and sexual misconduct may seem related to outsiders. Some politicians resign after scandals, while others ride out the storm.
How does sexual harassment affect voters? Brunel University London and Queen Mary University of London studied whether people are less likely to vote for a candidate accused of sexual harassment and how personal values affect this.
Some people punish politicians for sexual wrongdoing, while others vote for them. Studies show voters care more about corruption than sexual scandals.
According to research, a scandal during an election campaign is worse for a candidate than an earlier disclosure. Whether a scandal surfaces early or late in a campaign might affect support.
Repeating scandal news can worsen its repercussions, but not repeating it can reduce them.
Dr. Manu Savani, Senior Lecturer in Behavioural Public Policy at Brunel University London, said: “Individual values guide people in their decision making in all aspects of life, including politics. We wondered if this explained why some voters were more likely to penalize candidates accused of sexual misconduct at the polls.
The new study, published in Electoral Studies, included 704 American adults who were eligible to vote in the 2020 US elections and participated in an online survey. They were briefed on a possible male governor candidate. Family man from the participant’s preferred party. Based on his policy preferences, participants were asked if they would vote for him. 90% of survey respondents had a positive initial impression and were likely to vote for the governor.
Next, participants were randomly assigned to two groups and given further candidate information. One group was informed about his work with local schools, which was predicted to mainly leave voters’ sentiments unaltered.
The second group received different candidate information. After two former employees accused him of sexual harassment three years earlier, the media covered the matter. The candidate was sued and settled.
The first group’s voting intention improved to 94% after reading the candidate’s good material. After reading about the sexual harassment case, the second group decreased voting intention to 43%.
“A sizeable minority would still vote for a candidate accused of sexual harassment,” said Dr. Savani.
“Personal values appear strongly associated with these outcomes.”
Dr. Sofia Collignon, Queen Mary University of London Lecturer in Comparative Politics, said: ‘We discovered that personal values of universalism and kindness were particularly essential. Voters who valued others over power and ambition were more inclined to move from the accused candidate.
Another intriguing conclusion was that 60-69-year-olds were more favorable to the accused candidate than 18-30-year-olds in both groups. This is good news for scandal-tainted politicians because elderly people vote more.
Dr. Savani added: “As the research involved American participants we are not yet certain if the findings could be applicable to the UK. This online study with a simplified and hypothetical scenario has limits, but the concept that values can explain why people react differently to the same news, even severe claims of misbehavior, is fascinating.”
During a 6abc discussion Tuesday night, mayoral contenders attacked each other for receiving labor endorsements.
Even stranger: Those candidates are union-backed.
First, former City Councilmember Helen Gym challenged Cherelle Parker, a former state representative and Council member, for her support from the Philadelphia Building Trades Council, a group of 30 Philadelphia construction unions. Gym mentioned how many local contributors supported her candidate.
I raised the most money from Philadelphians. “My donors are 72% Philadelphian,” Gym stated. “Building trades unions fund other candidates in this race. 15 building trades unions fund Cherelle Parker’s campaign two-thirds this year. People’s election. My campaign demonstrates that.”
Gym’s strike is odd on multiple levels. She has received building trades union donations as a progressive labor backer.
She also supported a Building Trades Council champion through difficult times.
Gym was the only Council member to publicly support former Councilmember Bobby Henon after he and John J. Dougherty were indicted in a federal corruption case involving Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, a politically powerful union where both men were top officials. Dougherty led the council.
In late 2019, Henon was trying to stay as Council majority leader while awaiting trial, while several of his colleagues tried to unseat him. Henon’s only public defender was Gym.
“I work hard to have a good working relationship with all my colleagues, including Councilmember Henon,” she remarked at the time. “I believe unions are the best way to ensure quality jobs, decent working conditions, and counter the out-of-control corporate greed that has exacerbated inequality in our city and nation.”
Parker became the council majority leader.
Henon and Dougherty were later convicted of bribery and honest services fraud. Gym was favored to receive the Building Trades Council’s mayor’s endorsement before the ruling. After his conviction, Dougherty resigned, and Parker ally Ryan Boyer became council president.
In February, the council backed Parker, and some locals have donated to a super PAC supporting her.
Jeff Brown, a ShopRite owner and first-time candidate, also made an odd labor-related criticism on Tuesday.
Brown called Parker and Gym “the two concerning unions” for their trades and Philadelphia Federation of Teachers endorsements.
“I didn’t want even their endorsement, the building trade unions and the teachers union, who have steered us wrong,” he remarked. Working people and their unions support me. I’m proud because I represent them.”
Both union leaders instantly denounced his remarks, stating he sought their support. The teachers union provided a screenshot of Brown’s email acknowledging their endorsement interview.
Boyer went farther and urged unions that endorsed Brown to withdraw.
“To be clear, Jeff Brown practically begged for the endorsement of the Building Trades,” Boyer said on Facebook Tuesday night. “He begged for a rock.”
The police union, Teamsters, transit workers, his grocery store workers’ union, and the city’s largest union have endorsed Brown.
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 8, the only Building Trades Council member not to support Parker, has backed Brown.
Brown, who sits on the Convention Center board, is familiar to IATSE because Dougherty and longstanding carpenters leader Ed Coryell fought over it for years.
The Convention Center carpenters were forced out, and IATSE members took over much of the work.
Two weeks after his agency informed him of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s narrow escape from a pipe bomb attack, the head of Japan’s public safety agency made the remark that he relished eel rice so much that he continued eating it.
Tuesday, Koichi Tani, chair of the National Public Safety Commission for Kishida’s Cabinet, told a gathering of the ruling party that he was eating a local delicacy when his phone rung.
“I had heard that they serve a delicious unagi (eel) rice bowl there, and I was eagerly anticipating it,” Tani told party legislators. Tani stated, “Just as I was about to investigate, I received a call from the National Police Agency informing me that something was thrown at the prime minister in Wakayama.”
I thoroughly enjoyed and devoured… my unadon (eel rice bowl),”
During the attack, Tani was in the Shimanto region of the southwestern prefecture of Kochi, approximately 250 kilometers (150 miles) southwest of Wakayama, where a man hurled an explosive device at Prime Minister Kishida as he was about to deliver a campaign speech in support of a local candidate of the governing party. Kishida was not injured, and the suspect was apprehended.
The prime minister was attacked less than a year after former leader Shinzo Abe was murdered during a campaign speech. The investigation into the assassination revealed flaws in police security, which led to the strengthening of dignitary protection. The attack on Kishida, however, prompted experts to query whether any lessons were learned from the Abe case.
Tani’s eel remark prompted immediate criticism and concern in Parliament and on social media regarding Japan’s public safety as the nation makes its final preparations for the Group of Seven summit that Kishida will host in Hiroshima from May 19-21. During a session of parliament, opposition legislators demanded Tani’s resignation.
“As the head of the National Public Safety Commission, (Tani) lacks a sense of urgency,” said Jun Azumi, an executive of Japan’s largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party. “Is it not a detriment for the prime minister to have such a person as Japan’s chief security officer?”
Kishida, however, deemed Tani’s performance satisfactory and wished for the public safety director to remain in his position.
Hirokazu Matsuno, the chief cabinet secretary, also defended Tani. According to him, the public safety chief, who was in Kochi as the minister of disaster prevention, juggled both responsibilities and gave adequate instructions to Wakayama officials responding to the detonation.
“I also spoke with Minister Tani and urged him to carry out his responsibilities firmly.”
Tani later told reporters on Wednesday that he intended to emphasize eel as a local delicacy of the region he visited, but that he had “poorly expressed himself in his brief comment and may have caused misunderstanding — and I must take it seriously.”
Tani added, “With the upcoming G-7 summit, I am aware of the importance of protecting Japan’s public safety, and I will perform my duties with vigilance.”
Last week, Kishida informed a group of foreign media journalists that he intended to enhance security prior to G-7.
Tani is the most recent member of Kishida’s administration to be criticized for controversial remarks. In November, the then-Justice Minister Yasuhiro Hanashi resigned after stating that his low-profile position only creates headlines when he stamps a death penalty approval. A Kishida aide was fired in February after making homophobic remarks about not wanting to reside next to or see LGBTQ+ people.
Former Middlesex County freeholder and Woodbridge councilman Vincent Martino was a dedicated public servant who didn’t allow politics get in the way of serving the community.
For more than three decades, Martino was a Democrat and Republican in public service.
Labels didn’t bother Vinnie. Politics didn’t interest him as a public servant. “He wanted to serve the people,” said Woodbridge Mayor John E. McCormac.
Gov. James McGreevey, former Woodbridge mayor, concurred.
“None of those partisan labels were particularly relevant because he was Vinnie,” McGreevey said. “He was always direct and straightforward.”
Port Reading resident Martino represented the 3rd Ward and at-large on the Woodbridge Township Council from 1972 until 2005.
He was a Port Reading fire commissioner, Woodbridge Redevelopment Agency member from 1996 to 2000, and Woodbridge Planning Board member from 1992 to 1994.
He was appointed to the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders to fill a vacancy in 1979 and elected to three terms before a quarrel with former Woodbridge Mayor Joseph DeMarino pulled him off the Democratic ticket. Martino joined the Woodbridge Township Council as a Republican after losing as an independent.
He lost the 2003 Woodbridge Republican mayoral election.
McCormac called Martino “anything Port Reading.”
He was active in church, school, Knights of Columbus, Holy Name Society, and fire company. “He was amazing and a character,” McCormac added. “You couldn’t dislike Vinnie Martino. He made you smile. He was never angry, which is rare for a politician.”
McCormac said Martino was entertaining.
“We could argue and debate and never raise our voices,” the mayor added.
McCormac remembered Martino’s budget negotiations being healthy.
“He once told me if I wanted to save money, we could just take the jelly out of the doughnuts and get plain at senior luncheons,” McCormac said. “He was just a funny guy.”
Martino’s passing grieved Middlesex County Commissioner Director Ronald Rios and the Board.
“Mr. Martino was a dedicated public servant who held a freeholder seat in Middlesex County from 1983-1989, served numerous terms as a Woodbridge Township councilman, and worked for the county.
Working for Port Reading Railroad in his teens, he loved railroads. Vincent, son of Italian immigrants, believed in American freedom, duty, and loyalty. Rios sent condolences to Martino’s wife Rosie, brother Marty, and family, saying, “Our community benefitted greatly from his tireless work for the residents.”
Martino was park police and parks department chairman as freeholder.
McGreevey called Martino “an extraordinary person” he loves and admires.
McGreevey remembered receiving advise concerning a town fuel tank fire in 1996 as a young mayor. McGreevey’s father advised him to call Martino and Carteret Mayor Peter Sica, while others suggested draining the tanks. Martino cautioned him.
“Vinnie’s point was if you drain the tanks the vapors will be far more combustible and the liquid actually will cool the outer perimeter of the shell as opposed to the vapors,” McGreevey stated.
Sica agreed with Martino, and McGreevey trusted himself and his friends. McGreevey stated a fuel tank company vice president verified Martino was right.
“Knowing his life’s wisdom, experience, and judgement was so valuable,”
McGreevey claimed Martino’s personal relationships helped him serve in several political parties and government institutions.
We loved him. Always polite. Today’s politics and governance are often pointed and unpleasant, but not Vinnie. “He was always kind,” McGreevey remarked. He never accomplished anything for himself. He was community-minded. His motives were always noble.”
According to his obituary, Martino served in the Marine Reserve from 1952-1953 and the Army from 1954-56, including 18 months in Germany.
Martino’s visitation will be from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 27, at St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church, 436 Port Reading Ave., in Port Reading, Woodbridge. The church will hold a funeral Mass at 10:30 a.m. Friday, April 28, followed by entombment in St. James Chapel Mausoleum in Woodbridge.
Strategic planning, campaign management, communication and messaging, voter research and analysis, and digital marketing are all provided by thousands of political consulting firms in India. These firms have worked with notable politicians to help them win elections and influence public opinion.
Despite new entrants joining this cutthroat field regularly, just 3 have positively contributed to transforming India’s political scene, listed below.
LeadTech
In 2008, Vivek Singh Bagri founded Leadtech, India’s first political strategy and consultancy organization. The organization creates ground intelligence, finds and grooms people, conducts qualitative research, and builds winning narratives utilizing cutting-edge technologies.
The firm represents MLAs, MPs, parties, states, Chief Ministers, and National Leaders. The corporation has introduced various standardized revolutionary campaign services and created a distinct media and public relations department for politicians to meet market demand. Using in-house mobile apps and geotagging, it restores data authenticity and confidentiality to politics.
Leadtech has expanded to Hyderabad and Bengaluru from Gurugram. 20 state elections and 1500 clients for the company. At least 100 MPs are anticipated to hire Leadtech for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.
Indian Political Action Committee
Prashant Kishor started political consultancy I-PAC in 2013. This corporation manages state elections without politicians, unlike Leadtech. From Modi’s 2014 election campaign to INC’s 2017 Punjab campaign to AAP’s 2020 Delhi campaign, IPAC has several high-profile successes.
I-PAC handles political campaign research, analysis, execution, and monitoring. Its data-driven strategy and grassroots outreach have changed Indian politics. IPAC functions solely, therefore NDA-aligned parties and candidates from major parties like BJP and INC cannot use it.
Mindshare Analytics
Former Prashant Kishor associate Sunil Kanugolu launched the political consultancy business Mindshare Analytics in 2014. The firm now supports the Indian National Congress after working with DMK and BJP. The founder and firm avoid the media.
It led Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana Congress campaigns. The business also managed the Bharat Jodo Yatra. The founder, Rahul Gandhi’s close friend, influences Congress’s internal operations and recent electoral results. Mindshare works exclusively for INC, like IPAC.
Conclusion
New players using technology and data-driven techniques are changing Indian political consultancy. These consultants shape electoral landscapes and assist political parties and candidates win elections.
Leadtech, I-PAC, and Mindshare Analytics are three of the top organizations in this field, each with their own specialties. It will be intriguing to see how these consultancies use technology and creativity to win the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.
The most fierce protests in Peru in at least a century have killed at least sixty people. The protests stem from the country’s recent political turmoil and severe ethnic tensions. Although Peru’s government—and Congress in particular—has responded poorly, uncertainties persist, so the international community should exercise restraint. The international community may aid by escalating its calls for human-rights investigations and prosecutions and long-term measures to end ethnic isolation.
Peru’s Recent Protests
Protesters and security forces clashed on December 7, 2022, although they subsided through the holidays, re-emerged in January and February, then subsided again in late February. Protesters blocked highways and tried to seize airports, challenging Peru’s police and military. Machu Picchu was also halted by protesters.
Confrontations are costly. Security officers used close-range live bullets in the opening weeks of the protests. As of mid-March, the security personnel had murdered 48 civilians and injured almost 1,300 with excessive force. Protesters injured 368 and murdered one police officer.
Peru has seen more deaths than the protests of the last four years in Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador, which each had fewer than fifty dead. Roadblocks and airport restrictions have hurt Peruvian commerce. As of February, production damages were $950 million and infrastructural damages far higher.
Protesters want politics. Most Peruvians want presidential and parliament elections in late 2023 or early 2024. Peru’s past elections were held before COVID-19 immunization, limiting political campaigning, pre-election polling, and neighbors’ scheming. Many Peruvians desired a rematch from the start because the two runoff contenders were ideological extremists without broad support.
Many leftists view President Dina Boluarte as a traitor because she was a far-left party vice-president before switching to the right. Elections are scheduled for 2026, but electoral experts believe they can be staged this year.
Protesters want Boluarte to resign because she failed to stop security forces from violating human rights and because it would lead to new elections in six months. A January poll found that 93% of Peruvians want early elections and 73% want Boluarte to resign.
Protests have non-political causes. The southern highlands, home to Cusco, the Incan capital, are the main protest site, unlike in other Andean countries. Lima’s Caucasians have discriminated against the southern highlanders.
The Shining Path, a violent Maoist insurgency, was based in the region and caused an internal war that killed 70,000 Peruvians in the 1980s and early 1990s. The deaths occurred during clandestine rebel assassinations and security force attacks on entire Shining Path sympathizer communities.
Castillo’s impeachment on December 7 was especially painful for indigenous and mixed-race Peruvians. Castillo, an indigenous country schoolteacher, was well aware of his incompetence and perhaps corruption, but most southern highlanders undoubtedly identified with him.
While most highlanders knew Castillo’s December 7 “autogolpe” (the announcement that he would close Congress and rule by decree, which led to his impeachment) was unconstitutional and undemocratic, they believed Congress had been obstructionist and had not given Castillo a chance.
Protest Response by Boluarte Government
The Boluarte government’s unwillingness to condemn the security forces’ brutality in the early weeks of the protests and demand investigations and convictions was its biggest mistake. Citizens’ resentment at security forces’ atrocities sparked protests.
Protesters were still storming airports and blocking roadways, throwing rocks and starting fires. If the government condemned the security personnel, they might not leave their stations.
A president may also struggle to apportion blame. Peru’s police invaded the National University of San Marcos, where demonstrators were sheltering, in mid-January. The cops brutally detained over 100 persons, many of whom were not protesters. However, culpability for arbitrary force was unclear.
The government had trouble talking to demonstrators and meeting their requests for numerous reasons. First, unlike other protest movements, no leader emerged. The government seemed willing to talk—but with whom? Protesters varied. The government seemed willing to talk—but with whom?
Protesters varied. The government sought out to southern highland governors, but they were not protest leaders. Boluarte might have met demonstrators with her security detail and invited a few to discuss, which would have altered the issue, but she didn’t.
The overtly political demands made the protests tough. In contrast to Chile’s metro-fare increases and Colombia’s tax increase, Peru’s demonstrators want officials to put the public good before their own. Early elections would disqualify existing members from re-election, hence they have rejected these proposals.
Most Peruvians are furious at legislators’ disdain for popular opinion, but other politicians argue that new elections wouldn’t improve results because Peru’s political parties are splintered. However, less organized party leaders make this claim.
Peru’s 2021 election did not produce a popular candidate, but COVID-19 curtailed political promotion and polls, preventing strategic voting. Political leaders could also allow legislators to run again and require a second round of presidential elections if no candidate receives more than 30% of the vote.
The Boluarte government’s response to the protests and the consequences of her resignation or impeachment are difficult to assess. If she leaves, elections would be called within six months.
After her departure, Congress President José Williams, a retired military commander from a right-wing party, would take over. Some legislators have argued that early elections would only be presidential, not legislative—and Peru’s Congress is even more loathed than its president.
International Reaction
The international community should exercise restraint given Peru’s political complexity and uncertainty. The Biden administration has generally supported the Boluarte government with moderation. The Biden administration has options. The hemisphere supports human rights and ethnic inclusiveness, and the Biden administration might do more to promote them.
Unfortunately, in 2023, the hemisphere is divided regarding the legitimacy of many administrations and unlikely to agree on Peru’s government’s destiny. After Peru’s then-President Alberto Fujimori’s 1992 “autogolpe,” the Organization of American States (OAS) called for a hemispheric summit and won Fujimori’s concessions. Today, such a result is unachievable.
The OAS is deeply divided. Presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, and Mexico supported Castillo in mid-December. In February, Mexico’s president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (“AMLO”) said he would not transfer the Pacific Alliance presidency to Peru since the Boluarte government was illegitimate.
Critics said AMLO’s choice violated his long-held non-intervention and sovereignty principles. Peru’s backing for Castillo was abhorrent, and diplomatic tensions were high.
International human rights can unite the hemisphere. Commendably, the OAS’s Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) visited Peru in January to examine human-rights abuses, particularly at the National University of San Marcos.
The Biden administration has lightly stressed human rights and responsibility for violators. After the IACHR report is released in several weeks, the Biden administration should encourage the OAS to follow up and emphasize its own concerns.
The Biden administration should offer hemispheric ethnic inclusion policy discussions. Ethnic inclusion has lagged behind gender inclusion in the hemisphere, which has grown in recent decades. Even the language regarding ethnic inclusion in the hemisphere is deficient.
There is an emphasis on indigenous peoples, but in Latin America, color is a continuum from white to indigenous that encompasses people from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Thus, ethnic exclusion statistics—such as judges, lawmakers, and CEOs by ethnicity—are rarely recorded or incorporated in democracy or social justice analyses.
The US must stress its dark history of slavery and segregation and its contemporary racial and gender education debates in hemispheric discussions about ethnic inclusion policy. However, socialist administrations in Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, and Colombia prioritize ethnic exclusion and injustice.
This issue may unite the Biden administration with Latin America’s socialist governments. The OAS would host ad hoc activities by civil society, industry, academics, and media. USAID could contribute funds.
Stability and Democracy
Most of the world has experienced political upheaval recently. Ideological polarization and anti-democratic standards have increased worldwide, including Peru. Economic downturns, pandemic deaths, corruption scandals, social media growth, and Peru’s troubled 2021 election are among the factors.
Between 2001 and 2016, Peru had democratic stability, strong economic growth, and significant poverty reduction. Recurrence is possible. Interim President Francisco Sagasti (November 2020–July 2021) was popular and competent.
Peruvian protests have subsided. The Boluarte government appears to want professional security forces and more cooperation with regional governments to meet popular demands. Boluarte appears to have strong ties to a variety of political factions, including those on Peru’s center and right.
Climate disasters in March 2023 in Peru moved public attention. However, Peru is a tinderbox, and additional Boluarte administration blunders could spark new protests.
Peru has advanced politically, socially, and economically during the past century, despite major challenges to democratic administration. Advances can be made again with international support for human rights and ethnic inclusiveness.
It’s possible that a good number of you who are reading this are already familiar with men’s sheds, and it’s also possible that some of you are already participating members of one of the wonderful sheds in Aberdeenshire.
More than two hundred men’s sheds are currently active across the whole of Scotland, with a combined membership of over ten thousand men from the local communities they serve.
Men’s Sheds have been operating for a significant number of years in Scotland, so the fact that they are becoming increasingly popular is not at all surprising to me.
The presence of men’s sheds in our neighborhoods has significant favorable externalities.
In a word, Men’s Sheds are permanent gathering places for men that are utilized for a wide variety of activities. These meeting places are operated by a volunteer organization for the benefit of themselves and other men in the community.
Members of a Shed, also known as “Shedders,” benefit from their Shed since it is a welcome location to socialize. This provides members with an opportunity to get out of the house, exchange hobbies, or participate in community projects.
Monday saw the announcement that Tucker Carlson had left Fox News. Some speculated that he would continue his career in the realms of right-wing politics and communications, which inspired one of the numerous questions that it prompted. Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican presidential candidate, went even further when he promptly suggested that Tucker Carlson should consider running in the Republican primary.
Could Carlson become president?
OK. Carlson’s rise to the top of the Great Old Party, let alone election to the most powerful position in the world, is still a ways off. However, we thought the same thing about someone else a few years ago, and look where that took us. Ramaswamy explained to Politico, however, that he believed the controversial host was one of the smart guys.
Update: I have spoken with three people with knowledge of Fox's ouster of Tucker Carlson
They say Carlson's digital exchanges captured by the Dominion legal team echo the suite of concerns alleged by his ex producer – that his show's workplace was defined by sexism and bigotry.
He stated, “I believe he would be a welcome addition to the race.” “I believe that someone should only do this if they feel called to do so, but I honestly believe that it would be beneficial for the country if he were elected.
“There is unquestionably a leadership void in political media across the entire political spectrum. And Tucker was one of the most influential political thinkers and commentators of our time,” Ramaswamy continued, labeling him “one of the most intelligent voices in the conservative movement.”
Time will tell if Tucker intends to engage in actual politics as opposed to merely sharing his divisive views on the subject with his millions of viewers. However, he has a friend who can give him advice if necessary, though perhaps not if it compromises his own run.
What did Donald Trump say about the resignation of Tucker Carlson?
Former US president and Republican frontrunner for the 2024 election, Donald Trump, had a strong ally in Carlson during his previous campaigns for the presidency. Despite privately admitting that it was false, Carlson continued to spread lies about voting irregularities involving Dominion machines.
We didn’t have to wait long to learn what Trump thought of Fox’s unexpected decision to remove their CEO. Tucker’s personal significance was emphasized in a Monday night interview with Fox’s rival station Newsmax.
“I was astonished. I’m astonished. He is a very good person and a very talented fellow, and he received very high ratings. In the last year or so, he’s been particularly wonderful to me.
BREAKING: Donald Trump reacts to Tucker Carlson being fired from Fox News: “I'm shocked — I’m surprised. He’s a very good person and a very good man… Tucker’s been terrific, especially over the last year or so.”
Trump also commented on Fox’s $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, to which he connected the Carlson situation.
“It astonished me that a settlement was reached in that case. I believed that case should have been readily won… Again, you don’t know if Tucker was fired or if he quit because he wasn’t granted free rein. He may have left because he wanted free rein, but I was surprised by his decision.
A former Autauga County Commission leader is honored for his work at a period of rapid expansion and change.
Pace spent one term on the commission from 1996 to 2000. District 4’s commission chairman. Pace, 90, died March 15.
Pace was honored by the county commission at their most recent meeting. Tenaska chose Autauga County to develop a power plant, and Prattville won the Robert Trent Jones golf trial at Capitol Hill. Pace also finished plans for the Autauga Metro Jail, which integrated operations for the Autauga County Jail and Prattville City Jail, and a new probate office, which started a building binge that freed up courthouse space.
Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, served on the commission before becoming a state senator.
Chambliss says he learnt a lot from Pace. He led us to great success. He launched most of the county’s current activity.”
Retail politics. Face-to-face engagement and shoe leather burning are abundant. Pace drove around and talked to people, checking on things in his area and across the county.
Deatsville native Pace joined the Air Force after high school. Fighter and reconnaissance aircraft crew chief in the Korean War. He lost his right arm in a 1995 vehicle accident near Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. Recovery took six months.
He often made fun of himself despite losing his arm. He posed with a golf club on a Capitol Hill tee box.
After the accident, he spent 25 years in civil service at Maxwell Air Force Base and real estate. Autauga Academy’s first football coach. After entering politics, he sat on the Department of Youth Services board, the local AARP chapter, and the Republican party committee.
Left, 90-year-old W.O. “Bill” Pace died March 15. He loved gardening and his tractor.
His civic service legacy endures. After 11 years as District Judge, his daughter Joy Pace Booth was elected Circuit Judge in 2022.
In front of a predominantly Black audience on April 20 at Christ Temple Apostolic Faith Assembly in Fall Creek, four Indianapolis mayoral candidates were asked, “What is your relationship with the Black community?”
In the first mayoral election since the nationwide racial justice protests of 2020, which included demonstrations in Indianapolis, race has played a prominent role.
The eight remaining candidates, four of whom are Black and who represent the most diverse pool the city has seen in the 21st century, were questioned about how they would confront racial inequality and the Black community.
Indianapolis, a city where 29% of the population is Black, has only ever had white males serve as mayors. Never before has a person of color or a woman been elected as the city’s mayor. Mayor Joe Hogsett shook up the political landscape when he announced he would run for a third term to conclude what he considers unfinished business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Indianapolis, the contest for mayor has racial justice and equity as central topics.
White Hogsett boasts that his administration is the most diverse in city history. State Representative Robin Shackleford, a Black Democrat from Indianapolis, has made diversity, equity, and inclusion central to her platform.
One of the Republican frontrunners, white Jefferson Shreve, has been under pressure to defend his diverse hiring record at the company he sold for $590 million last year, Storage Express, and his relationship with the Black community.
The other leading candidate, the African-American Abdul-Hakim Shabazz, has had to defend his own views and history of controversial remarks on racial issues.
And a third Black Republican candidate, the Rev. James Jackson, has discussed the difficulty of being a Black Republican while advocating for greater diversity in the GOP.
Bob Kern, Larry Vaughn, and John Couch, three additional candidates, raised little to no funds for their campaigns.
