National
As the crucial 2024 election nears, a valuable barometer of political moods is voter registration.
The fresh numbers have come from Pennsylvania, where Republicans have been lapping Democrats in voter registration numbers not seen in decades. The valuable swing county of Erie has seen an eighteen-point drop for Democrats over the last four years. They still have the edge, but it’s a stark downturn in such a short period of time.
Erie County was won by Joe Biden (D-DE) in 2020 by only one percentage point. Erie County is regarded as one of the top swing counties in the nation and could have a hand in swinging the Keystone State, and the election, to either candidate. It’s also a valuable bellwether county, having backed the winner of the general election in twenty-five of the last twenty-eight elections.
A key player in the ground game in Pennsylvania comes from Scott Presler, who has tirelessly been registering voters across his home state.
Meanwhile, in Arizona, Democrats have lost over two points of their ground against the GOP compared to four years ago. The lion’s share of new registrants have sided with the Republican Party.
In Nevada, the past four years have seen a 22% increase in voter registration, but Democrats have lost 4% of their share, while Republicans have picked up 8%.
In North Carolina, both parties have seen minor reductions in their shares, but voter registration overall is up 5% compared to 2020. Four years ago, Democrats had a six-point registration advantage over Republicans. Now, the GOP leads the Party of Jackson by one point.
Nationally, Decision Desk HQ notes that while Republicans have gained almost 150,000 new registered voters, Democrats have lost 3.5 million.
In foreign policy news, the U.S. has launched airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen in an effort to target five underground weapons aches. The Iran-backed militant group has experienced its first U.S. attack since last year.
“U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy assets, including U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit long-range stealth bombers were part of the operation,” U.S. Central Command said in a news release. “The employment of the B-2 bomber demonstrates U.S. global strike capabilities to reach these targets, when necessary, anytime, anywhere.”
The underground Houthi facilities reportedly housed “missiles, weapons, and other munitions used to target military and civilian vessels,” CENTCOM said in the release.
“This was a unique demonstration of the United States’ ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried underground, hardened, or fortified,” said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. “We will continue to make clear to the Houthis that there will be consequences for their illegal and reckless attacks.”
State
Governor Kathy Hochul (D) (pictured below) is apparently showing support for the currently embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D).
Last month, Adams was indicted on charges that allege bribery, conspiracy, fraud, and two counts of soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations. It is alleged that Adams received luxury travel and gifts from Turkish dignitaries and created a false paper trail to show that he had paid for the trips in full.
Adams (pictured below) is the first New York mayor to be charged with a federal crime.
During the Columbus Day Parade, Governor Hochul told PIX11 News: “Told him to bring in new blood…he’s doing that…working well through the chaos.”
Several members of Adams’ inner circle have resigned and some face their own investigations. Some notable resignations include former First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Schools Chancellor David Banks, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks III, and NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban.
Mohamed Bahi, a Muslim liaison to Adams, was recently charged with witness tampering and destruction of evidence relating to the investigation that led to Adams’ indictment. Bahi is accused of deleting encrypted messages to Adams and persuading a businessman to lie to federal authorities about a straw donor scheme.
A straw donor scheme is when a donor contributes to a political campaign before receiving reimbursement from another campaign. The secondary campaign uses that donor as a means of exceeding limits on campaign contributions.
Adams has asserted he will not resign, despite a Marist Poll finding that 70% of New York City residents believe he should exit the office. The poll also found that 63% of New Yorkers think Hochul should remove him from office, a power never previously invoked against a mayor of the state’s largest city. The last time the governor removed an elected official from office was in 1932, when then-Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) removed Manhattan Sheriff Thomas “Tin Box” Farley over padding his office’s payroll.
Adams’ approval rating stands at just 26%.
Local
The Suffolk Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Task Force is set to hold a public listening session at the William H. Rogers Legislative Building in Hauppauge on Wednesday, October 23, at 6:30p.m.
The task force is seeking input from all who are concerned or have been impacted by material morbidity/mortality. The task force hopes for stakeholders, medical professionals, medical students, midwifery organizations, civic and faith-based organizations, and elected officials.
The task force was started in 2020 by Legislator Jason Richberg (D-West Babylon) (pictured above). The task force is composed of sixteen members .
Maternal morbidity is considered any health condition attributed to and/or aggravated by pregnancy and childbirth that has a negative impact on a woman’s wellbeing, such as diabetes, mental illness, anemia, infections, and other perinatal complications. The most severe complications of pregnancy affect more than 65,000 women per year in the country. This statistic also includes unexpected outcomes of labor and delivery that result in significant short- or long-term consequences to a woman’s health.
The task force is charged with studying the challenges within the County with respect to these issues, particularly with a focus on majority-minority communities. The goal is to compare the number of deaths associated with improper vs. proper aftercare and provide recommendations to reduce the material morbidity/mortality rates in Suffolk County.
