WASHINGTON, D.C.&nbsp;– Republicans on Wednesday used a secret ballot and elected South Dakota Sen.&nbsp;John Thune&nbsp;as the next Senate majority leader.&nbsp;&nbsp;

In a statement from his office, Kansas Senior U.S. Senator Jerry Moran wrote, “I congratulate Sen. John Thune on being selected as the new Senate Majority Leader. I stand ready to work with John and President Trump to lower prices, secure the southern border, promote domestic energy production and bolster our national security.

Moran continued, “I appreciate Sen. Cornyn and Sen. Scott’s willingness to serve their colleagues and the American people and have no doubt they will continue to be valuable members of the Senate.”

Moran and Marshall have not indicated how they voted. Moran and Thune were both members of the freshman class in Congress in 1996 which may indicate how Moran voted.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731512616861.png" alt="President-elect Trump during a meeting with House Republicans at the Capitol on Wednesday -image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>President-elect Trump during a meeting with House Republicans at the Capitol on Wednesday -image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON, D.C.&nbsp;– Republicans on Wednesday used a secret ballot and elected South Dakota Sen.&nbsp;John Thune&nbsp;as the next Senate majority leader.&nbsp;&nbsp;In a statement from his office, Kansas Senior U.S. Senator Jerry Moran wrote, “I congratulate Sen. John Thune on being selected as the new Senate Majority Leader. I stand ready to work with John and President Trump to lower prices, secure the southern border, promote domestic energy production and bolster our national security.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Congratulations to Leader <a href="https://twitter.com/SenJohnThune?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenJohnThune</a> and all of the newly elected Senate Republican Leadership. Senate Republicans are united and ready to work with Leader Thune to execute President Trump&#39;s America First agenda and fight for America&#39;s workers, families&#39; economic security, and…&mdash; Dr. Roger Marshall (@RogerMarshallMD) <a href="https://twitter.com/RogerMarshallMD/status/1856808284314878058?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 13, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Moran continued, “I appreciate Sen. Cornyn and Sen. Scott’s willingness to serve their colleagues and the American people and have no doubt they will continue to be valuable members of the Senate.”Moran and Marshall have not indicated how they voted. Moran and Thune were both members of the freshman class in Congress in 1996 which may indicate how Moran voted.&nbsp;

After secret ballot, Kan. U.S. Senators show support for Trump, new Majority Leader

JOHNSON COUNTY —A former Kansas middle school teacher is going to prison for child sex crimes.

On November 8, Judge Neil Foth sentenced 55-year-old Keil Hileman to 24-months in prison. He must also register as a sex offender for 25-years.

On August 14,&nbsp; Hileman pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted unlawful sexual relations, according to the Johnson County District Attorney's office.

As part of the plea agreement, the State of Kansas dismissed&nbsp; four additional sex crime charges against him, according to court documents.

In October of 2022, the Johnson County District Attorney’s office charged Hileman, at the time a Monticello Trails Middle School, USD 232 DeSoto teacher, alleging criminal conduct involving his role as an educator," the district said in the letter to families.

In 2004, Hileman was named Kansas Teacher of the Year and was a finalists for the National Teacher of the Year.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731165443157.png" alt="Hileman photo KBI Offender Registry" />
 <figcaption>Hileman photo KBI Offender Registry</figcaption>
 </figure>JOHNSON COUNTY —A former Kansas middle school teacher is going to prison for child sex crimes.On November 8, Judge Neil Foth sentenced 55-year-old Keil Hileman to 24-months in prison. He must also register as a sex offender for 25-years.On August 14,&nbsp; Hileman pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted unlawful sexual relations, according to the Johnson County District Attorney's office.As part of the plea agreement, the State of Kansas dismissed&nbsp; four additional sex crime charges against him, according to court documents.In October of 2022, the Johnson County District Attorney’s office charged Hileman, at the time a Monticello Trails Middle School, USD 232 DeSoto teacher, alleging criminal conduct involving his role as an educator," the district said in the letter to families.In 2004, Hileman was named Kansas Teacher of the Year and was a finalists for the National Teacher of the Year.&nbsp;

Former Kan. teacher of the year sentenced for child sex crimes

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/11/04/advocates-of-imperiled-lesser-prairie-chicken-say-market-incentives-key-to-expanding-habitat/">Kansas Reflector</a>

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has several choices to make in the coming months about whether his second administration will keep access to contraception and abortion as it is now or implement changes.

While Trump cannot on his own enact nationwide laws or abortion bans without Congress, he and the people he picks for key posts throughout the federal government will have significant influence on reproductive rights nationwide.

During Trump’s first term in office he barred health care organizations that perform or refer patients for abortions from receiving Title X family planning grants, even though there’s a moratorium on using federal funds for abortions unless it’s the result of rape or incest, or the life of the woman is at risk.

Alina Salganicoff, senior vice president and director for women’s health policy at the nonpartisan health research organization KFF, said on a call with reporters Friday that about a quarter of providers withdrew or were disqualified from receiving federal family planning grants as a result of that policy.

“The Title X program basically funds family planning services for low-income people,” Salganicoff explained. “It’s basically a small program, it’s around under $300 million — but it is a critical program to people who don’t otherwise have insurance.”

Trump will also have to decide whether to leave in place guidance from the Biden administration that says a federal law from the 1980s protects health care providers who perform abortions as stabilizing care during an emergency that would affect a woman’s health or life.

That law, known as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, became one point of disagreement between the Biden administration and Republican states that implemented abortion bans or strict restrictions after the Supreme Court ended the nationwide right to an abortion.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/state-bans-abortion-dont-apply-emergency-health-care-white-house-reminds-providers" target="_blank">wrote in a letter&nbsp;</a>released in July 2022 that under the federal “law, no matter where you live, women have the right to emergency care — including abortion care.”

EMTALA is at the center of an&nbsp;<a href="https://idahocapitalsun.com/briefs/federal-court-sets-date-for-emtala-oral-argument-hearing-in-idaho-based-case/" target="_blank">ongoing lawsuit&nbsp;</a>between the Biden administration and Idaho over that state’s abortion law. Oral arguments in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals are set for early December.

The future of medication abortion, a two-drug regimen approved for up to 10 weeks gestation that’s used in about 63% of abortions nationwide, will be another area the Trump administration could alter without congressional approval.

Salganicoff said there’s no way to know just yet if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will seek to change prescribing guidelines for medication abortion or revoke the 2000 approval of mifepristone altogether.

“We don’t know whether they’re going to actually review the approval, but I will tell you that it is likely that they will revisit the conditions in which medication abortions, which now account for nearly two-thirds of all abortions in this country, can be provided,” Salganicoff said.

The Trump administration, she said, is likely to focus on revisions made during the Biden administration that allow doctors or other qualified health care providers to prescribe the two-drug medication abortion regimen via telehealth and then have mifepristone and misoprostol mailed to the patient.

Salganicoff anticipates anti-abortion organizations will also encourage the Trump administration to address recent findings from the We Count Project, showing 1 in 10 abortions take place after medication abortion is mailed to people in states with bans or significant restrictions from states that have shield laws.

“This FDA protocol is legal to do that, but clearly this is going to be a target,” she said.

The Comstock Act,<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/1873-law-banned-mailing-boxing-photos-could-it-block-abortion-pills-too" target="_blank">&nbsp;an anti-obscenity law from the late 19th century</a>&nbsp;that once banned the mailing of boxing photographs, pornography and contraception, will also be front and center after Trump takes the oath of office on Jan. 20.

The law, which is still on the books despite not being enforced in decades, could potentially allow the U.S. Postal Service to prevent the mailing of abortion medications or any other instrument or tool used in abortions.

“The Biden administration’s Department of Justice did a review and said that they are not going to enforce Comstock,” Salganicoff said. “Project 2025 sees it very differently, and even though President-elect Trump has said that he is not going to enforce Comstock, it’s not clear, and there will likely be a lot of pressure to do that.”

Project 2025 is a policy map for a Trump presidency published by the Heritage Foundation. Trump has disavowed any connection with it, although former members of his first administration helped develop it.

Salganicoff said enforcing the Comstock Act would affect access to medication abortion throughout the country, even in states that have reinforced reproductive rights during the last two years.

“Clearly that’s going to tee up a lot of litigation and challenges,” Salganicoff said.

Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF, said during the call that the Trump administration’s possible elevation of people who spread misinformation or disinformation could lead to more confusion about research-based health care.

“I think one thing, particularly with the rise in prominence of RFK Jr., you know, is the potential for misinformation,” Levitt said, referring to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a prominent vaccine opponent who endorsed Trump and campaigned extensively with him.

“We turn to the government for reliable data, public health information and scientific information,” Levitt said. “And there’s the potential now, for the government to be not only not an effective source for health information, but in fact, an accelerant for misinformation.”&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1680967457500.png" alt="Photo Associated Press" />
 <figcaption>Photo Associated Press</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/11/04/advocates-of-imperiled-lesser-prairie-chicken-say-market-incentives-key-to-expanding-habitat/">Kansas Reflector</a>WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has several choices to make in the coming months about whether his second administration will keep access to contraception and abortion as it is now or implement changes.While Trump cannot on his own enact nationwide laws or abortion bans without Congress, he and the people he picks for key posts throughout the federal government will have significant influence on reproductive rights nationwide.During Trump’s first term in office he barred health care organizations that perform or refer patients for abortions from receiving Title X family planning grants, even though there’s a moratorium on using federal funds for abortions unless it’s the result of rape or incest, or the life of the woman is at risk.Alina Salganicoff, senior vice president and director for women’s health policy at the nonpartisan health research organization KFF, said on a call with reporters Friday that about a quarter of providers withdrew or were disqualified from receiving federal family planning grants as a result of that policy.“The Title X program basically funds family planning services for low-income people,” Salganicoff explained. “It’s basically a small program, it’s around under $300 million — but it is a critical program to people who don’t otherwise have insurance.”<h2>Abortions as stabilizing care</h2>Trump will also have to decide whether to leave in place guidance from the Biden administration that says a federal law from the 1980s protects health care providers who perform abortions as stabilizing care during an emergency that would affect a woman’s health or life.That law, known as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, became one point of disagreement between the Biden administration and Republican states that implemented abortion bans or strict restrictions after the Supreme Court ended the nationwide right to an abortion.U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/state-bans-abortion-dont-apply-emergency-health-care-white-house-reminds-providers" target="_blank">wrote in a letter&nbsp;</a>released in July 2022 that under the federal “law, no matter where you live, women have the right to emergency care — including abortion care.”EMTALA is at the center of an&nbsp;<a href="https://idahocapitalsun.com/briefs/federal-court-sets-date-for-emtala-oral-argument-hearing-in-idaho-based-case/" target="_blank">ongoing lawsuit&nbsp;</a>between the Biden administration and Idaho over that state’s abortion law. Oral arguments in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals are set for early December.<h2>Abortion pill</h2>The future of medication abortion, a two-drug regimen approved for up to 10 weeks gestation that’s used in about 63% of abortions nationwide, will be another area the Trump administration could alter without congressional approval.Salganicoff said there’s no way to know just yet if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will seek to change prescribing guidelines for medication abortion or revoke the 2000 approval of mifepristone altogether.“We don’t know whether they’re going to actually review the approval, but I will tell you that it is likely that they will revisit the conditions in which medication abortions, which now account for nearly two-thirds of all abortions in this country, can be provided,” Salganicoff said.The Trump administration, she said, is likely to focus on revisions made during the Biden administration that allow doctors or other qualified health care providers to prescribe the two-drug medication abortion regimen via telehealth and then have mifepristone and misoprostol mailed to the patient.Salganicoff anticipates anti-abortion organizations will also encourage the Trump administration to address recent findings from the We Count Project, showing 1 in 10 abortions take place after medication abortion is mailed to people in states with bans or significant restrictions from states that have shield laws.“This FDA protocol is legal to do that, but clearly this is going to be a target,” she said.<h2>Mailing of abortion medication</h2>The Comstock Act,<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/1873-law-banned-mailing-boxing-photos-could-it-block-abortion-pills-too" target="_blank">&nbsp;an anti-obscenity law from the late 19th century</a>&nbsp;that once banned the mailing of boxing photographs, pornography and contraception, will also be front and center after Trump takes the oath of office on Jan. 20.The law, which is still on the books despite not being enforced in decades, could potentially allow the U.S. Postal Service to prevent the mailing of abortion medications or any other instrument or tool used in abortions.“The Biden administration’s Department of Justice did a review and said that they are not going to enforce Comstock,” Salganicoff said. “Project 2025 sees it very differently, and even though President-elect Trump has said that he is not going to enforce Comstock, it’s not clear, and there will likely be a lot of pressure to do that.”Project 2025 is a policy map for a Trump presidency published by the Heritage Foundation. Trump has disavowed any connection with it, although former members of his first administration helped develop it.Salganicoff said enforcing the Comstock Act would affect access to medication abortion throughout the country, even in states that have reinforced reproductive rights during the last two years.“Clearly that’s going to tee up a lot of litigation and challenges,” Salganicoff said.Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF, said during the call that the Trump administration’s possible elevation of people who spread misinformation or disinformation could lead to more confusion about research-based health care.“I think one thing, particularly with the rise in prominence of RFK Jr., you know, is the potential for misinformation,” Levitt said, referring to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a prominent vaccine opponent who endorsed Trump and campaigned extensively with him.“We turn to the government for reliable data, public health information and scientific information,” Levitt said. “And there’s the potential now, for the government to be not only not an effective source for health information, but in fact, an accelerant for misinformation.”&nbsp;

Health experts outline how Trump admin. could affect abortion, contraception access

DOUGLAS COUNTY —A 34-year-old man is in custody following a fight&nbsp; that left a 40-year-old man unconscious and requiring transport to the hospital. Two other suspects are still a large.

Just after 3:30p.m. Saturday, police were called to the 700 block of Vermont Street in Lawrence, according to a media release.

&nbsp;Witnesses reported an unconscious man on the ground. Officers were on scene quickly and contacted several involved parties. Initially, the information provided indicated the injured man had started an altercation that involved several people physically fighting on the east sidewalk.

 The involved participants were interviewed and released pending further investigation. However, the injured man was later able to provide a statement at the hospital that contradicted the information officers received on scene. 

Additionally, officers were able to locate video and more witnesses that corroborated the injured man's version of events, which showed he was punched and kicked repeatedly, including after being knocked unconscious. 

Officers were able to track down one of the involved suspects and arrested him, but still seek to arrest two others. The arrested man was booked into the Douglas County Correctional Facility on suspicion of Aggravated Battery.

 A 37-year-old man and a 36-year-old man remain at large. The hospitalized man was released after receiving care.

DOUGLAS COUNTY —A 34-year-old man is in custody following a fight&nbsp; that left a 40-year-old man unconscious and requiring transport to the hospital. Two other suspects are still a large.Just after 3:30p.m. Saturday, police were called to the 700 block of Vermont Street in Lawrence, according to a media release.&nbsp;Witnesses reported an unconscious man on the ground. Officers were on scene quickly and contacted several involved parties. Initially, the information provided indicated the injured man had started an altercation that involved several people physically fighting on the east sidewalk. The involved participants were interviewed and released pending further investigation. However, the injured man was later able to provide a statement at the hospital that contradicted the information officers received on scene. Additionally, officers were able to locate video and more witnesses that corroborated the injured man's version of events, which showed he was punched and kicked repeatedly, including after being knocked unconscious. Officers were able to track down one of the involved suspects and arrested him, but still seek to arrest two others. The arrested man was booked into the Douglas County Correctional Facility on suspicion of Aggravated Battery. A 37-year-old man and a 36-year-old man remain at large. The hospitalized man was released after receiving care.

3 accused of assaulting unconscious 40-year-old Kan. man

WASHINGTON —&nbsp;President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris&nbsp; honored veterans on Monday with a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.&nbsp;It is the first time the President and Vice President have been seen together since before the election.

Click below to watch President Biden's remarks at Arlington National Cemetery’s amphitheater.

WASHINGTON —&nbsp;President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris&nbsp; honored veterans on Monday with a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.&nbsp;It is the first time the President and Vice President have been seen together since before the election.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">President Biden participates in a wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at <a href="https://twitter.com/ArlingtonNatl?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ArlingtonNatl</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VeteransDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VeteransDay</a>. <a href="https://t.co/Rsfyd4aXLq">pic.twitter.com/Rsfyd4aXLq</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1856009432422822265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Click below to watch President Biden's remarks at Arlington National Cemetery’s amphitheater.<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWhiteHouse%2Fvideos%2F1802956127113768%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=3222" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>

🎥Harris joins Biden for wreath-laying at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

KANSAS CITY—Law enforcement are investigating two suspects on multiple drug allegations after an arrest.

Just after 11p.m. Nov. 4, sheriff's deputies conducted a traffic stop on Interstate 49 at the Passaic exit, approximately 25 miles east of Lacygne Kansas, according to a media release.

The Deputy made contact with the occupants and identified the two as 40-year-old Ashley C. Alexander (Burris) of Montrose and 40-year-old Amber R. Jefferies of Butler.

  During the traffic stop a K9 unit responded to the scene.  During a free air sniff of the vehicle, K9 Griff alerted to the odor of narcotics coming from the vehicle.  During the subsequent search a fake soda can was located with a false compartment that contained approximately 6 grams of methamphetamine and approximately 7 grams of fentanyl.

  Several items of drug paraphernalia were also located in the vehicle.&nbsp; Under Missouri law, possession of 20 milligrams of fentanyl is considered 1st degree trafficking narcotics, a class A felony. 

  These two were in possession of over 7,000 milligrams of fentanyl.

According to <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2FDEA.gov%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0ydJB5TftUCxDiL-ojSXZ58k0BDlapXdhFnY0x0uO1b2IrPWGzxyT72Cs_aem_rxjgNOgAaim27yCOOo11XQ&amp;h=AT3oRdrUIp0F3LDhbSJIc_kdkt3GKQPKYiinnptARzTD9j9DE39jEKXdV0l_4zmeG24TT7xLNFIh429-QWSfFC1MTWrUhyzD8eSXNcXw796resals_4VSCR8mfC-vVYmziBh2HU&amp;__tn__=-UK-R&amp;c[0]=AT3CWTK82SnMBx7soIYY2MRx3akYX6W-iA76Yq1-JELSBAwhh3C8LKG6dvfZBo8GjpIQKDuXPEpDET_eYbJEwftWje-LYlmg_D0jBgdHCbkTkaWqf9zJCKkb-0XTWu3a1tdmnlfRnsq_12z3qiWQ1QsE3GGw5dzQ6slc7dBVA-sIlH46L67cGT5T6mmPr48ZvH61lam5WNWXbcU-8GyFYSi3bw" target="_blank">DEA.gov</a>, approximately 2 milligrams of fentanyl is fatal to the average person. Potentially, these two had enough fentanyl to kill the every person in the City of Adrian and Rich Hill combined.

 Both Jeffries and Alexander have been charged with one count of Trafficking drugs in the first degree and possession of methamphetamine.  Bonds were set at $150,000 cash only. 

  These two have an extensive criminal history related to narcotics in the region, according to the Sheriff's office.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730979119755.png" alt="Jeffries-photo Bates County" />
 <figcaption>Jeffries-photo Bates County</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY—Law enforcement are investigating two suspects on multiple drug allegations after an arrest.Just after 11p.m. Nov. 4, sheriff's deputies conducted a traffic stop on Interstate 49 at the Passaic exit, approximately 25 miles east of Lacygne Kansas, according to a media release.The Deputy made contact with the occupants and identified the two as 40-year-old Ashley C. Alexander (Burris) of Montrose and 40-year-old Amber R. Jefferies of Butler.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730979082801.png" alt="Alexander photo Bates Co." />
 <figcaption>Alexander photo Bates Co.</figcaption>
 </figure> During the traffic stop a K9 unit responded to the scene. During a free air sniff of the vehicle, K9 Griff alerted to the odor of narcotics coming from the vehicle. During the subsequent search a fake soda can was located with a false compartment that contained approximately 6 grams of methamphetamine and approximately 7 grams of fentanyl. Several items of drug paraphernalia were also located in the vehicle.&nbsp; Under Missouri law, possession of 20 milligrams of fentanyl is considered 1st degree trafficking narcotics, a class A felony. These two were in possession of over 7,000 milligrams of fentanyl. According to <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2FDEA.gov%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0ydJB5TftUCxDiL-ojSXZ58k0BDlapXdhFnY0x0uO1b2IrPWGzxyT72Cs_aem_rxjgNOgAaim27yCOOo11XQ&amp;h=AT3oRdrUIp0F3LDhbSJIc_kdkt3GKQPKYiinnptARzTD9j9DE39jEKXdV0l_4zmeG24TT7xLNFIh429-QWSfFC1MTWrUhyzD8eSXNcXw796resals_4VSCR8mfC-vVYmziBh2HU&amp;__tn__=-UK-R&amp;c[0]=AT3CWTK82SnMBx7soIYY2MRx3akYX6W-iA76Yq1-JELSBAwhh3C8LKG6dvfZBo8GjpIQKDuXPEpDET_eYbJEwftWje-LYlmg_D0jBgdHCbkTkaWqf9zJCKkb-0XTWu3a1tdmnlfRnsq_12z3qiWQ1QsE3GGw5dzQ6slc7dBVA-sIlH46L67cGT5T6mmPr48ZvH61lam5WNWXbcU-8GyFYSi3bw" target="_blank">DEA.gov</a>, approximately 2 milligrams of fentanyl is fatal to the average person. Potentially, these two had enough fentanyl to kill the every person in the City of Adrian and Rich Hill combined. Both Jeffries and Alexander have been charged with one count of Trafficking drugs in the first degree and possession of methamphetamine. Bonds were set at $150,000 cash only. These two have an extensive criminal history related to narcotics in the region, according to the Sheriff's office.

Deputies found enough fentanyl to kill hundreds

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ariana-figueroa/">ARIANA FIGUEROA</a>

WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on Monday hopscotched across swing states and prepared for what could be an exceedingly tense election night watch as the 2024 presidential election sped to a close.

So far, more than 80.6 million Americans have voted, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://election.lab.ufl.edu/early-vote/2024-early-voting/" target="_blank">the University of Florida’s Election Lab.</a>

In a presidential contest that pollsters say is virtually a toss-up, seven battleground states likely will determine the outcome of the election. The results could take days, election officials repeatedly&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/article/final-results-may-lag-deadlocked-presidential-contest-anxious-election-officials-warn">have warned</a>&nbsp;and stressed again Monday. The 2020 presidential race was called for President Joe Biden the Saturday following Election Day.

“Election Day is not results day,” said&nbsp;Quentin Turner, the Common Cause Michigan executive director, during a Monday webinar.

Jen O’Malley Dillon, chair of the Harris-Walz campaign, made similar remarks during a Monday call with reporters, but still issued predictions as to when the campaign expects to know some results from key states.

She said the campaign understands that results could take a while based on each state’s law. Some states begin counting votes after the polls close, some as they come in.

O’Malley Dillon said because of that, the campaign expects on election night to have “near complete results” for North Carolina, Michigan and Georgia, “and then partial results from Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Arizona.”

She said the campaign expects by Wednesday morning to have most of the “results in from Wisconsin and additional results from Pennsylvania and potentially Michigan.”

“And then on Wednesday and beyond, we expect additional results from Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada,” she said. “So we think some of this stuff will trickle in, but keep in mind that some ballots will continue to be counted for many days.”

Democracy groups like Common Cause said during the webinar that they are prepared for high voter turnout on Election Day.

Bob Phillips, the Common Cause North Carolina executive director, said he expects about 1 to 1.5 million voters in his state on Election Day.

“For the most part, we’ve seen a lot of voter enthusiasm,” he said.

He added that there have been more calls on the voter help hotline than in the previous elections.

“There is definitely higher tension, more emotion, particularly among the electioneering that goes on outside the precincts, as well as some issues since this is our first major election where we’ve had the voter ID requirements,”&nbsp;Phillips said.

Harris is closing out her campaign in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, which offers the most electoral votes of the swing states at 19.

O’Malley Dillon said the campaign will have get-out-the-vote rallies late Monday night in the seven swing states with Harris and surrogates.&nbsp;

“We’ve believed all along this race is going to be incredibly close, and so it’s really going to come down to mobilization, and that’s why an event like tonight matters so much,” she said.

Harris will head to Scranton and then to Allentown, a city with a large Puerto Rican population that Democrats have courted following racist remarks by a comedian at a Trump rally that referred to the island of Puerto Rico as “garbage.” She’ll then rally in Philadelphia with musical performances from The Roots and Lady Gaga among others.

Trump will make four stops in three states — starting in Raleigh, North Carolina, stopping twice in Pennsylvania at&nbsp;Reading and Pittsburgh and finishing in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

<a href="https://ncnewsline.com/2024/11/04/trump-in-final-nc-rally-looks-for-a-third-straight-win-harris-barnstorms-pennsylvania/" target="_blank">While at his first campaign stop in North Carolina</a>&nbsp;on Monday, he told supporters that if he wins another term he will levy a 25% tariff on Mexico if migrants continue to head from that country to the U.S.-Mexico border.

“You’re the first I’ve told this to,” Trump told the crowd. “And if that doesn’t work, we’ll go up to 50. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll go to 75.”

Trump will hold his election night watch party at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. Harris will have hers at her alma mater at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Polls published over the weekend still showed a tight race, but one in Iowa&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/article/harris-takes-slim-lead-over-trump-final-iowa-poll-2024-election">rattled the Trump campaign</a>, showing that Harris had a lead in a state that the former president easily won in 2016 and 2020.

The highly regarded pollster — somewhat of a Midwestern oracle — showed that independent and women voters were breaking for Harris.

Both candidates are within the margin of error in all seven swing states meaning any of the states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin — could tip to either one.

Over the weekend, Harris appeared on NBC’s live sketch comedy show, “Saturday Night Live.”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/nbc-donald-trump-campaign-free-ad-time-nascar-race-kamala-harris-snl-sketch-1236052709/" target="_blank">Trump also appeared</a>&nbsp;on a free commercial during NBC’s broadcast of a Sunday NASCAR race in compliance with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/political_programming_fact_sheet.pdf" target="_blank">FCC’s Equal Time rule.</a>

<a href="https://michiganadvance.com/2024/11/04/harris-vows-to-end-war-in-gaza-during-final-michigan-rally-at-msu/" target="_blank">On Sunday, while at Michigan State University,</a>&nbsp;Harris pledged that she would do “everything in her power” to end the war in Gaza if she were to win the White House. Michigan has a high Arab American population that has been critical of Democrats’ handling of the Israel-Hamas war, where&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker" target="_blank">more than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed.</a>

<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/article/harris-takes-slim-lead-over-trump-final-iowa-poll-2024-election">During a Sunday rally</a>&nbsp;in Pennsylvania, Trump told supporters that he shouldn’t have left the White House after losing the 2020 presidential race and then he joked about not minding if journalists were shot while covering his campaign event.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730773867298.png" alt="Vice President Harris knocked on doors in Pennsylvania Monday night-image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Vice President Harris knocked on doors in Pennsylvania Monday night-image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ariana-figueroa/">ARIANA FIGUEROA</a>WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on Monday hopscotched across swing states and prepared for what could be an exceedingly tense election night watch as the 2024 presidential election sped to a close.So far, more than 80.6 million Americans have voted, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://election.lab.ufl.edu/early-vote/2024-early-voting/" target="_blank">the University of Florida’s Election Lab.</a><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730814909704.png" alt="Former President Donald Trump with his family on stage late Monday in Michigan. Image courtesy Margo Martin Deputy Director of Communications" />
 <figcaption>Former President Donald Trump with his family on stage late Monday in Michigan. Image courtesy Margo Martin Deputy Director of Communications</figcaption>
 </figure>In a presidential contest that pollsters say is virtually a toss-up, seven battleground states likely will determine the outcome of the election. The results could take days, election officials repeatedly&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/article/final-results-may-lag-deadlocked-presidential-contest-anxious-election-officials-warn">have warned</a>&nbsp;and stressed again Monday. The 2020 presidential race was called for President Joe Biden the Saturday following Election Day.“Election Day is not results day,” said&nbsp;Quentin Turner, the Common Cause Michigan executive director, during a Monday webinar.Jen O’Malley Dillon, chair of the Harris-Walz campaign, made similar remarks during a Monday call with reporters, but still issued predictions as to when the campaign expects to know some results from key states.She said the campaign understands that results could take a while based on each state’s law. Some states begin counting votes after the polls close, some as they come in.O’Malley Dillon said because of that, the campaign expects on election night to have “near complete results” for North Carolina, Michigan and Georgia, “and then partial results from Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Arizona.”She said the campaign expects by Wednesday morning to have most of the “results in from Wisconsin and additional results from Pennsylvania and potentially Michigan.”“And then on Wednesday and beyond, we expect additional results from Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada,” she said. “So we think some of this stuff will trickle in, but keep in mind that some ballots will continue to be counted for many days.”Democracy groups like Common Cause said during the webinar that they are prepared for high voter turnout on Election Day.Bob Phillips, the Common Cause North Carolina executive director, said he expects about 1 to 1.5 million voters in his state on Election Day.“For the most part, we’ve seen a lot of voter enthusiasm,” he said.He added that there have been more calls on the voter help hotline than in the previous elections.“There is definitely higher tension, more emotion, particularly among the electioneering that goes on outside the precincts, as well as some issues since this is our first major election where we’ve had the voter ID requirements,”&nbsp;Phillips said.<h2>It’s all about Pennsylvania (almost)</h2>Harris is closing out her campaign in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, which offers the most electoral votes of the swing states at 19.O’Malley Dillon said the campaign will have get-out-the-vote rallies late Monday night in the seven swing states with Harris and surrogates.&nbsp;“We’ve believed all along this race is going to be incredibly close, and so it’s really going to come down to mobilization, and that’s why an event like tonight matters so much,” she said.Harris will head to Scranton and then to Allentown, a city with a large Puerto Rican population that Democrats have courted following racist remarks by a comedian at a Trump rally that referred to the island of Puerto Rico as “garbage.” She’ll then rally in Philadelphia with musical performances from The Roots and Lady Gaga among others.Trump will make four stops in three states — starting in Raleigh, North Carolina, stopping twice in Pennsylvania at&nbsp;Reading and Pittsburgh and finishing in Grand Rapids, Michigan.<a href="https://ncnewsline.com/2024/11/04/trump-in-final-nc-rally-looks-for-a-third-straight-win-harris-barnstorms-pennsylvania/" target="_blank">While at his first campaign stop in North Carolina</a>&nbsp;on Monday, he told supporters that if he wins another term he will levy a 25% tariff on Mexico if migrants continue to head from that country to the U.S.-Mexico border.“You’re the first I’ve told this to,” Trump told the crowd. “And if that doesn’t work, we’ll go up to 50. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll go to 75.”Trump will hold his election night watch party at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. Harris will have hers at her alma mater at Howard University in Washington, D.C.<h2>Polling puzzles</h2>Polls published over the weekend still showed a tight race, but one in Iowa&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/article/harris-takes-slim-lead-over-trump-final-iowa-poll-2024-election">rattled the Trump campaign</a>, showing that Harris had a lead in a state that the former president easily won in 2016 and 2020.The highly regarded pollster — somewhat of a Midwestern oracle — showed that independent and women voters were breaking for Harris.Both candidates are within the margin of error in all seven swing states meaning any of the states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin — could tip to either one.Over the weekend, Harris appeared on NBC’s live sketch comedy show, “Saturday Night Live.”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/nbc-donald-trump-campaign-free-ad-time-nascar-race-kamala-harris-snl-sketch-1236052709/" target="_blank">Trump also appeared</a>&nbsp;on a free commercial during NBC’s broadcast of a Sunday NASCAR race in compliance with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/political_programming_fact_sheet.pdf" target="_blank">FCC’s Equal Time rule.</a><a href="https://michiganadvance.com/2024/11/04/harris-vows-to-end-war-in-gaza-during-final-michigan-rally-at-msu/" target="_blank">On Sunday, while at Michigan State University,</a>&nbsp;Harris pledged that she would do “everything in her power” to end the war in Gaza if she were to win the White House. Michigan has a high Arab American population that has been critical of Democrats’ handling of the Israel-Hamas war, where&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker" target="_blank">more than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed.</a><a href="https://kansasreflector.com/article/harris-takes-slim-lead-over-trump-final-iowa-poll-2024-election">During a Sunday rally</a>&nbsp;in Pennsylvania, Trump told supporters that he shouldn’t have left the White House after losing the 2020 presidential race and then he joked about not minding if journalists were shot while covering his campaign event.&nbsp;

‘Election Day is not results day’: Get ready for a wait to find out who’s president

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a>

WASHINGTON — Voters are determining whether the next president enters office with a friendly Congress or a hostile one set on blocking their policies and nominees — and as the election roars into its last moments it’s still very unclear what the makeup of the House and Senate might be.

Most House races are not competitive. But House leaders are closely watching about two dozen toss-up contests to see whether Democrats or Republicans end up with the magic 218 lawmakers needed to control the speaker’s gavel, the agenda and the floor schedule.

The GOP’s razor-thin majority during the last two years created significant obstacles for leadership’s legislative goals and ended Kevin McCarthy’s speakership.

Neither political party is expected to gain a large House majority during the next Congress, set to begin in January. There’s even a possibility the majority party has less wiggle room than the 220-212 split that currently exists, along with three vacancies. Experts warn it may not be known on election night or for some time who’s won the House.

Senate leaders have been equally focused on hard-fought and close campaigns in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Any one of them could deliver control of the upper chamber.

Republicans are favored to turn over the West Virginia seat occupied by Joe Manchin III, potentially pushing them past the 50-member benchmark if they hold onto seats occupied by incumbents Ted Cruz in Texas, Deb Fischer in Nebraska and Rick Scott in Florida.

If Democrats keep 50 seats, that would mean whichever party holds the vice presidency controls the Senate, making even just one pickup in either direction a priority for both political parties.

The outcome in both the House and Senate will have sweeping implications for the country’s future, including whether the GOP overhauls Obamacare, how lawmakers address core aspects of Republicans’ 2017 tax law set to expire in the coming months and whether the country defaults on its debts for the first time in history.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/senate-race-ratings" target="_blank">rates</a>&nbsp;four Senate races as toss-ups, meaning there’s a relatively even chance for Democrats or Republicans to win.

While the campaigns have shifted around a bit during the last few months, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are all considered neck and neck heading into Election Day.

Arizona and Nevada are categorized as leaning toward Democrats and Montana is expected to lean toward a Republican pickup, potentially giving the GOP its 51st seat and a narrow majority.

It’s also possible there could be upsets in Republican-held states traditionally considered safer, like Florida, Nebraska and Texas.That could alter the math for both Democrats and Republicans, depending on how things shake out after all the votes are counted, recounts finalized and lawsuits settled in the days and weeks following Nov. 5.

Jessica Taylor, editor for U.S. Senate and Governors at the Cook Political Report, said in a statement released Friday the “battle for the Senate fundamentally ends where the cycle began — with an overwhelmingly favorable map that very likely portends a GOP majority.”

Her projections show the GOP picking up two to five seats, giving the party a majority between 51 and 54 members.

A narrower majority, Taylor said, would allow “moderates like Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Maine Sen. Susan Collins to wield outsized influence in the next Congress.”

Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said during an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?539651-1/sen-gary-peters-discusses-senate-races" target="_blank">interview</a>&nbsp;with Washington Post Live in late October that he expects voters in Montana and Ohio will split their tickets.

He acknowledged getting voters to support Democratic Sens. Jon Tester in Montana and Sherrod Brown in Ohio, while also voting for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, will be much more challenging than in the past.

“Certainly, it’s not easy if there’s a lot of political gravity,” Peters said. “I’m not going to sugarcoat that in any way.”

But, he said, both Tester and Brown have been consistently polling within the margin of error against their GOP challengers.

“It’s about who’s going to get their voters out and do the kind of ground campaign necessary to win,” Peters said. “We’re doing that in Montana. We’re doing that in Ohio as well.”

The Senate is more important to the next president than the House, since the upper chamber is responsible for vetting and confirming the next commander-in-chief’s selections for their Cabinet as well as judicial nominees.

A GOP Senate would be a gift for Trump but likely tough for Vice President Kamala Harris.

The opposite could also be true — a Democratic majority in the Senate could put the brakes on many of Trump’s plans for a second term, while it would aid Harris in setting up her administration and potentially confirming a Supreme Court justice or two.

The Senate is the more bipartisan of the two chambers, thanks to the legislative filibuster — the rule requiring at least 60 senators agree to advance legislation toward final passage.

Without bipartisan support, bills and some nominees will be stuck in limbo, regardless of which party runs the Senate or controls the White House.

Philip Wallach, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank, said a Harris administration and a Republican Senate would need to work out an agreement quickly “or risk going into some kind of protracted standoff over executive branch nominations.”

Both Trump and President Joe Biden had the luxury of same-party Senate control during their full terms and former President Barack Obama had a Democratic Senate during his first six years in office. Harris possibly having to work with the opposing party to establish her Cabinet would be especially challenging, Wallach said in an interview.

“I would expect Republicans to try to come up with some pretty concrete asks as a conference: To say, ‘If we’re going to put any of your nominees up for a vote, here’s what we want in return, and here’s what kind of nominees we will accept.’ And, you know, I expect that would play out as a fairly heated public confrontation,” he said.

Trump and a Republican Senate would likely agree on some nominees and policy goals, though there would be significant differences over issues like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-vows-levy-horrible-tariffs-imports-rejecting-fears-inflation-spike" target="_blank">tariffs</a>.

“I think there are a lot of Republican senators who want to see some real limits to that, who still think of themselves as basically in favor of free trade and making sure that American businesses don’t find themselves on the wrong end of a trade war,” Wallach said. “Especially in the Senate, I just don’t think they’re that eager to just march to Trump’s tune.”

A Trump administration, he said, could also disagree with GOP lawmakers on the specific details of how to address tax policy.

“I think it’s a very live possibility that there could be a much more confrontational kind of dynamic this time around, in part, because Trump and some of the people right around him have this idea that playing nicely in 2017 was a big mistake,” Wallach said.

Control of the 435-member House is more uncertain than the Senate, with 22 races&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings" target="_blank">rated as toss-ups</a>&nbsp;by the Cook Political Report.

Twelve of those are held by Republicans, while 10 are occupied by Democratic lawmakers. At the moment, 205 House seats are at least leaning toward a Democratic win, with 208 districts at least leaning toward Republicans.

The Cook Political Report’s final projections range from Republicans adding five seats to their majority to Democrats picking up 10 seats and taking over the majority again.

“The race for control of the U.S. House remains as close as it’s ever been,”

Erin Covey, editor for the House at CPR, said in a written statement.

“The battleground is confined to a few dozen seats, with neither party having a clear advantage in a majority of seats,” Covey added. “And with several competitive races in West Coast states that take longer to count their ballots, it’s highly possible we won’t know which party has control on election night.”

The House is essential to turning bills into law, though it doesn’t have any role in confirming presidential nominees. And unlike the Senate, there’s no legislative filibuster, which means the majority party can approve any bills it wants without buy-in from the minority party, as long as the leaders in the majority have the votes from their own members.

Republican control of at least one chamber of Congress and a Harris victory would force significant bipartisan compromise on must-pass legislation, like the dozen annual government funding bills and the defense policy bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act.

It could also lead to the types of bipartisan legislation that Biden made a hallmark of his term in office, including the bipartisan infrastructure law.

That type of divided government is unlikely to produce the sweeping changes to home ownership, prescription drug prices, price gouging and reproductive rights that Harris has highlighted throughout her campaign.

But it could lead Republicans and Democrats to resurrect&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/bipartisan-border-bill-loses-support-fails-procedural-vote-us-senate" target="_blank">the bipartisan immigration and border security bill</a>&nbsp;that Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford, Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy and Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema agreed to earlier this year.

Trump in the White House and Democrats holding onto at least one chamber in Congress could also force bipartisan compromise, though likely with a far different tone and approach than under a Harris-Republican Congress scenario.

Trump regaining the presidency along with GOP control of Congress would give the party at least two chances to use the complex budget reconciliation process to pass certain legislation.

The party would likely use one of those opportunities to address provisions in the 2017 Republican tax law that have expired or are about to.

The budget reconciliation process, which has considerable rules and restrictions, is how Republicans passed the tax bill during Trump’s first term in office.

It doesn’t require at least 60 senators to advance the bill. But it does include something known as a vote-a-rama, where the Senate holds dozens of votes on amendments to the bill. The process typically lasts throughout the night and gives the party not in power a chance to force their colleagues across the aisle to vote on tough issues.

Budget reconciliation is the process Republicans used to try to repeal and replace the 2010 health care law that’s often referred to as the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, during Trump’s first term in office.

Speaker Mike Jonson, R-La., said in late October on Fox Business that some of his<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/speaker-johnson-criticizes-obamacare-promises-massive-reform-trump-win-rcna177853" target="_blank">&nbsp;prior comments</a>&nbsp;about overhauling the ACA were taken out of context and that he wants to make changes to the program, but not entirely end it.

“I said the ACA, unfortunately, is deeply ingrained in our health care system now,” he said. “Do we need further improvements? Absolutely. We need to expand quality of care, access to care and obviously lower the cost of health care.”

Johnson said during the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRGW9IVOaP4" target="_blank">interview</a>&nbsp;that he was “convinced” Republicans would gain unified control of government following the election and that he had compiled a “two-hour slide show presentation” detailing what the GOP would do with that power.

“We will secure the border on day one with a President Trump executive order and then legislation to follow, and we will turn immediately to the economy,” Johnson said. “Energy policy will be the center of that as well.”

Deeply conservative House bills might not garner the support needed to overcome the Senate’s legislative filibuster.

Unified Republican control of Congress and the White House would challenge the GOP to address the nation’s debt limit mostly on its own during the first half of next year after&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-sends-biden-debt-limit-legislation-ahead-monday-default-deadline" target="_blank">the current law</a>&nbsp;expires.

A default on the nation’s debt is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-hit-debt-limit-much-sooner-expected-thrusting-congress-showdown" target="_blank">vastly different from a partial government shutdown</a>, which takes place when Congress doesn’t pass an appropriations package on time.

Failing to either raise or suspend the nation’s debt limit, before what’s known as extraordinary measures runs out, would likely cause a global financial crisis.

The GOP has been extremely vocal about cutting government spending, but that is separate from addressing the nation’s debt limit, which gives the Treasury Department the borrowing authority to ensure all of the country’s bills are paid in full and on time.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/7/1720316487639.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a>WASHINGTON — Voters are determining whether the next president enters office with a friendly Congress or a hostile one set on blocking their policies and nominees — and as the election roars into its last moments it’s still very unclear what the makeup of the House and Senate might be.Most House races are not competitive. But House leaders are closely watching about two dozen toss-up contests to see whether Democrats or Republicans end up with the magic 218 lawmakers needed to control the speaker’s gavel, the agenda and the floor schedule.The GOP’s razor-thin majority during the last two years created significant obstacles for leadership’s legislative goals and ended Kevin McCarthy’s speakership.Neither political party is expected to gain a large House majority during the next Congress, set to begin in January. There’s even a possibility the majority party has less wiggle room than the 220-212 split that currently exists, along with three vacancies. Experts warn it may not be known on election night or for some time who’s won the House.Senate leaders have been equally focused on hard-fought and close campaigns in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Any one of them could deliver control of the upper chamber.Republicans are favored to turn over the West Virginia seat occupied by Joe Manchin III, potentially pushing them past the 50-member benchmark if they hold onto seats occupied by incumbents Ted Cruz in Texas, Deb Fischer in Nebraska and Rick Scott in Florida.If Democrats keep 50 seats, that would mean whichever party holds the vice presidency controls the Senate, making even just one pickup in either direction a priority for both political parties.The outcome in both the House and Senate will have sweeping implications for the country’s future, including whether the GOP overhauls Obamacare, how lawmakers address core aspects of Republicans’ 2017 tax law set to expire in the coming months and whether the country defaults on its debts for the first time in history.<h2>Four tense toss-ups in the Senate</h2>The nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/senate-race-ratings" target="_blank">rates</a>&nbsp;four Senate races as toss-ups, meaning there’s a relatively even chance for Democrats or Republicans to win.While the campaigns have shifted around a bit during the last few months, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are all considered neck and neck heading into Election Day.Arizona and Nevada are categorized as leaning toward Democrats and Montana is expected to lean toward a Republican pickup, potentially giving the GOP its 51st seat and a narrow majority.It’s also possible there could be upsets in Republican-held states traditionally considered safer, like Florida, Nebraska and Texas.That could alter the math for both Democrats and Republicans, depending on how things shake out after all the votes are counted, recounts finalized and lawsuits settled in the days and weeks following Nov. 5.Jessica Taylor, editor for U.S. Senate and Governors at the Cook Political Report, said in a statement released Friday the “battle for the Senate fundamentally ends where the cycle began — with an overwhelmingly favorable map that very likely portends a GOP majority.”Her projections show the GOP picking up two to five seats, giving the party a majority between 51 and 54 members.A narrower majority, Taylor said, would allow “moderates like Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Maine Sen. Susan Collins to wield outsized influence in the next Congress.”<h2>Will some voters split their tickets?</h2>Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said during an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?539651-1/sen-gary-peters-discusses-senate-races" target="_blank">interview</a>&nbsp;with Washington Post Live in late October that he expects voters in Montana and Ohio will split their tickets.He acknowledged getting voters to support Democratic Sens. Jon Tester in Montana and Sherrod Brown in Ohio, while also voting for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, will be much more challenging than in the past.“Certainly, it’s not easy if there’s a lot of political gravity,” Peters said. “I’m not going to sugarcoat that in any way.”But, he said, both Tester and Brown have been consistently polling within the margin of error against their GOP challengers.“It’s about who’s going to get their voters out and do the kind of ground campaign necessary to win,” Peters said. “We’re doing that in Montana. We’re doing that in Ohio as well.”The Senate is more important to the next president than the House, since the upper chamber is responsible for vetting and confirming the next commander-in-chief’s selections for their Cabinet as well as judicial nominees.A GOP Senate would be a gift for Trump but likely tough for Vice President Kamala Harris.The opposite could also be true — a Democratic majority in the Senate could put the brakes on many of Trump’s plans for a second term, while it would aid Harris in setting up her administration and potentially confirming a Supreme Court justice or two.The Senate is the more bipartisan of the two chambers, thanks to the legislative filibuster — the rule requiring at least 60 senators agree to advance legislation toward final passage.Without bipartisan support, bills and some nominees will be stuck in limbo, regardless of which party runs the Senate or controls the White House.<h2>Possible standoff</h2>Philip Wallach, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank, said a Harris administration and a Republican Senate would need to work out an agreement quickly “or risk going into some kind of protracted standoff over executive branch nominations.”Both Trump and President Joe Biden had the luxury of same-party Senate control during their full terms and former President Barack Obama had a Democratic Senate during his first six years in office. Harris possibly having to work with the opposing party to establish her Cabinet would be especially challenging, Wallach said in an interview.“I would expect Republicans to try to come up with some pretty concrete asks as a conference: To say, ‘If we’re going to put any of your nominees up for a vote, here’s what we want in return, and here’s what kind of nominees we will accept.’ And, you know, I expect that would play out as a fairly heated public confrontation,” he said.Trump and a Republican Senate would likely agree on some nominees and policy goals, though there would be significant differences over issues like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-vows-levy-horrible-tariffs-imports-rejecting-fears-inflation-spike" target="_blank">tariffs</a>.“I think there are a lot of Republican senators who want to see some real limits to that, who still think of themselves as basically in favor of free trade and making sure that American businesses don’t find themselves on the wrong end of a trade war,” Wallach said. “Especially in the Senate, I just don’t think they’re that eager to just march to Trump’s tune.”A Trump administration, he said, could also disagree with GOP lawmakers on the specific details of how to address tax policy.“I think it’s a very live possibility that there could be a much more confrontational kind of dynamic this time around, in part, because Trump and some of the people right around him have this idea that playing nicely in 2017 was a big mistake,” Wallach said.<h2>House ‘as close as it’s ever been’</h2>Control of the 435-member House is more uncertain than the Senate, with 22 races&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings" target="_blank">rated as toss-ups</a>&nbsp;by the Cook Political Report.Twelve of those are held by Republicans, while 10 are occupied by Democratic lawmakers. At the moment, 205 House seats are at least leaning toward a Democratic win, with 208 districts at least leaning toward Republicans.The Cook Political Report’s final projections range from Republicans adding five seats to their majority to Democrats picking up 10 seats and taking over the majority again.“The race for control of the U.S. House remains as close as it’s ever been,”Erin Covey, editor for the House at CPR, said in a written statement.“The battleground is confined to a few dozen seats, with neither party having a clear advantage in a majority of seats,” Covey added. “And with several competitive races in West Coast states that take longer to count their ballots, it’s highly possible we won’t know which party has control on election night.”The House is essential to turning bills into law, though it doesn’t have any role in confirming presidential nominees. And unlike the Senate, there’s no legislative filibuster, which means the majority party can approve any bills it wants without buy-in from the minority party, as long as the leaders in the majority have the votes from their own members.Republican control of at least one chamber of Congress and a Harris victory would force significant bipartisan compromise on must-pass legislation, like the dozen annual government funding bills and the defense policy bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act.It could also lead to the types of bipartisan legislation that Biden made a hallmark of his term in office, including the bipartisan infrastructure law.That type of divided government is unlikely to produce the sweeping changes to home ownership, prescription drug prices, price gouging and reproductive rights that Harris has highlighted throughout her campaign.But it could lead Republicans and Democrats to resurrect&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/bipartisan-border-bill-loses-support-fails-procedural-vote-us-senate" target="_blank">the bipartisan immigration and border security bill</a>&nbsp;that Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford, Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy and Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema agreed to earlier this year.Trump in the White House and Democrats holding onto at least one chamber in Congress could also force bipartisan compromise, though likely with a far different tone and approach than under a Harris-Republican Congress scenario.<h2>GOP trifecta?</h2>Trump regaining the presidency along with GOP control of Congress would give the party at least two chances to use the complex budget reconciliation process to pass certain legislation.The party would likely use one of those opportunities to address provisions in the 2017 Republican tax law that have expired or are about to.The budget reconciliation process, which has considerable rules and restrictions, is how Republicans passed the tax bill during Trump’s first term in office.It doesn’t require at least 60 senators to advance the bill. But it does include something known as a vote-a-rama, where the Senate holds dozens of votes on amendments to the bill. The process typically lasts throughout the night and gives the party not in power a chance to force their colleagues across the aisle to vote on tough issues.Budget reconciliation is the process Republicans used to try to repeal and replace the 2010 health care law that’s often referred to as the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, during Trump’s first term in office.Speaker Mike Jonson, R-La., said in late October on Fox Business that some of his<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/speaker-johnson-criticizes-obamacare-promises-massive-reform-trump-win-rcna177853" target="_blank">&nbsp;prior comments</a>&nbsp;about overhauling the ACA were taken out of context and that he wants to make changes to the program, but not entirely end it.“I said the ACA, unfortunately, is deeply ingrained in our health care system now,” he said. “Do we need further improvements? Absolutely. We need to expand quality of care, access to care and obviously lower the cost of health care.”Johnson said during the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRGW9IVOaP4" target="_blank">interview</a>&nbsp;that he was “convinced” Republicans would gain unified control of government following the election and that he had compiled a “two-hour slide show presentation” detailing what the GOP would do with that power.“We will secure the border on day one with a President Trump executive order and then legislation to follow, and we will turn immediately to the economy,” Johnson said. “Energy policy will be the center of that as well.”Deeply conservative House bills might not garner the support needed to overcome the Senate’s legislative filibuster.Unified Republican control of Congress and the White House would challenge the GOP to address the nation’s debt limit mostly on its own during the first half of next year after&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-sends-biden-debt-limit-legislation-ahead-monday-default-deadline" target="_blank">the current law</a>&nbsp;expires.A default on the nation’s debt is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-hit-debt-limit-much-sooner-expected-thrusting-congress-showdown" target="_blank">vastly different from a partial government shutdown</a>, which takes place when Congress doesn’t pass an appropriations package on time.Failing to either raise or suspend the nation’s debt limit, before what’s known as extraordinary measures runs out, would likely cause a global financial crisis.The GOP has been extremely vocal about cutting government spending, but that is separate from addressing the nation’s debt limit, which gives the Treasury Department the borrowing authority to ensure all of the country’s bills are paid in full and on time.

Will control of Congress shift? The results hinge on a handful of states and races

Kansas’ Republican House and Senate committees and Gov. Laura Kelly’s PAC invested hundreds of thousands in competitive legislative races.

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/akaminski/">ANNA KAMINSKI</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s PAC and the Kansas Republican Senatorial Committee have poured around a half-million dollars each into competitive legislative races across Kansas, campaign finance reports released this week show. The Republican House Campaign Committee spent almost $1 million.

More than $470,000 from Kelly’s Middle of the Road PAC has been spent since the August primary on Democrats embroiled in battleground races, according to records published Monday through the Kansas Secretary of State’s campaign finance reporting system. The Republican Senatorial committee spent more than $498,000 during the same time period on the four races at risk of flipping to Democrats. The Republican House committee has spent its $978,000 since August on advertising-related costs for a dozen candidates and the state Republican party, finance records show.

Republicans have held a supermajority in the Kansas House since 2010, and Senate Republicans have held a supermajority since 1997. Democrats must flip two seats in the house and three in the senate while holding their existing cache in order to break the supermajorities.

The Senatorial committee’s treasurer, Michelle Schroeder, said the group’s spending was “focused solely on protecting and expanding our Republican supermajority.”

Kelly, a Democrat, launched the Middle of the Road PAC in&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/08/07/gov-laura-kelly-forms-pac-to-support-moderate-gop-democratic-legislative-candidates/">August 2023</a>&nbsp;to back moderate candidates, from either major party, and in an attempt to break the Republican legislative supermajority. Recipients of the nearly $500,000 were 12 Democrats. Those expenditures are just a fraction of the nearly $1.5 million the PAC has spent since late July.

Senate District 5 incumbent Sen. Jeff Pittman, a Leavenworth-area Democrat, received the highest cumulative dollar amount from the Middle of the Road PAC. Election forecasts favor a Pittman win over his opponent, Republican Jeff Klemp, of Lansing, by a thin margin. The senatorial committee spent almost twice as much on Klemp as Middle of the Road spent on Pittman.

Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State during the Trump Administration and former Kansas GOP congressman, endorsed Klemp on Oct. 30.

Both the Middle of the Road PAC and the Senatorial committee spent on the other three toss-up Senate races in Johnson County. Middle of the Road PAC also spent on another Johnson County-area district, Senate District 35, with an open seat that’s been held by the same Republican for the past decade.

Middle of the Road PAC spent the least on Rep. Jason Probst, a Hutchinson Democrat running for reelection. His Republican opponent, Kyler Sweely, was recently the subject of a Wichita police investigation and online backlash after a video circulated in which he appears to jump on and hold a pillow over the head of a motionless woman on a bed. The Republican House committee spent just under $9,000 on Sweely while Middle of the Road spent more than $13,000 on Probst, according to campaign finance records.

Will Lawrence, senior advisor for the Middle of the Road PAC, said in a statement that the PAC “invested in hard-working candidates” and those “who aligned with Governor Kelly’s values.”

“The PAC deployed a strategic program that included mail, digital ads, and support for GOTV (get out the vote) efforts,” Lawrence said. “Supporters of our PAC can rest assured their investments were well spent.”

Representatives for the Republican House committee did not respond to Kansas Reflector’s requests for comment Friday.

The final day for voting in legislative races as well as for U.S. president is Tuesday.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730582245512.png" alt=" Gov. Laura Kelly tours the Axe Shedd during an April 25, 2024, visit to Emporia. Her Middle of the Road PAC since August has spent $470,000 on a dozen Democrats seeking legislative seats. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> Gov. Laura Kelly tours the Axe Shedd during an April 25, 2024, visit to Emporia. Her Middle of the Road PAC since August has spent $470,000 on a dozen Democrats seeking legislative seats. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Kansas’ Republican House and Senate committees and Gov. Laura Kelly’s PAC invested hundreds of thousands in competitive legislative races.</h2>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/akaminski/">ANNA KAMINSKI</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s PAC and the Kansas Republican Senatorial Committee have poured around a half-million dollars each into competitive legislative races across Kansas, campaign finance reports released this week show. The Republican House Campaign Committee spent almost $1 million.More than $470,000 from Kelly’s Middle of the Road PAC has been spent since the August primary on Democrats embroiled in battleground races, according to records published Monday through the Kansas Secretary of State’s campaign finance reporting system. The Republican Senatorial committee spent more than $498,000 during the same time period on the four races at risk of flipping to Democrats. The Republican House committee has spent its $978,000 since August on advertising-related costs for a dozen candidates and the state Republican party, finance records show.Republicans have held a supermajority in the Kansas House since 2010, and Senate Republicans have held a supermajority since 1997. Democrats must flip two seats in the house and three in the senate while holding their existing cache in order to break the supermajorities.The Senatorial committee’s treasurer, Michelle Schroeder, said the group’s spending was “focused solely on protecting and expanding our Republican supermajority.”Kelly, a Democrat, launched the Middle of the Road PAC in&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/08/07/gov-laura-kelly-forms-pac-to-support-moderate-gop-democratic-legislative-candidates/">August 2023</a>&nbsp;to back moderate candidates, from either major party, and in an attempt to break the Republican legislative supermajority. Recipients of the nearly $500,000 were 12 Democrats. Those expenditures are just a fraction of the nearly $1.5 million the PAC has spent since late July.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730582200042.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Senate District 5 incumbent Sen. Jeff Pittman, a Leavenworth-area Democrat, received the highest cumulative dollar amount from the Middle of the Road PAC. Election forecasts favor a Pittman win over his opponent, Republican Jeff Klemp, of Lansing, by a thin margin. The senatorial committee spent almost twice as much on Klemp as Middle of the Road spent on Pittman.Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State during the Trump Administration and former Kansas GOP congressman, endorsed Klemp on Oct. 30.Both the Middle of the Road PAC and the Senatorial committee spent on the other three toss-up Senate races in Johnson County. Middle of the Road PAC also spent on another Johnson County-area district, Senate District 35, with an open seat that’s been held by the same Republican for the past decade.Middle of the Road PAC spent the least on Rep. Jason Probst, a Hutchinson Democrat running for reelection. His Republican opponent, Kyler Sweely, was recently the subject of a Wichita police investigation and online backlash after a video circulated in which he appears to jump on and hold a pillow over the head of a motionless woman on a bed. The Republican House committee spent just under $9,000 on Sweely while Middle of the Road spent more than $13,000 on Probst, according to campaign finance records.Will Lawrence, senior advisor for the Middle of the Road PAC, said in a statement that the PAC “invested in hard-working candidates” and those “who aligned with Governor Kelly’s values.”“The PAC deployed a strategic program that included mail, digital ads, and support for GOTV (get out the vote) efforts,” Lawrence said. “Supporters of our PAC can rest assured their investments were well spent.”Representatives for the Republican House committee did not respond to Kansas Reflector’s requests for comment Friday.The final day for voting in legislative races as well as for U.S. president is Tuesday.

Kansas Republican committees, Democratic governor’s PAC spend big on battleground races

WASHINGTON — As the last weekend before Tuesday’s presidential election approaches, voters who want more insight on where the candidates stand on major policy issues can get up to speed through a States Newsroom Washington Bureau series.

In these 10 articles, States Newsroom reported on the policy positions taken by Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, ranging from education to taxes to Social Security and Medicare.

After the conservative-dominated U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 struck down the constitutional right to abortion, Democrats made restoring access to reproductive care a core campaign issue.

Click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/reproductive-rights-where-do-trump-and-harris-stand" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;for the story

The U.S. Supreme Court has been mired in controversy, from several ethics scandals to calls from Democrats to expand the number of justices on the court.

Click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/reforms-us-supreme-court-where-do-harris-and-trump-stand" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;for the story

One policy issue that Trump has made central to his campaign is immigration. At his campaign rallies across the country he’s promised mass deportations of millions of immigrants living in the country without authorization.

Harris has mainly stated that she would revive a bipartisan congressional agreement when it comes to addressing U.S. immigration policy.

Click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/immigration-where-do-trump-and-harris-stand" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;for the story

Addressing the Social Security and Medicare trust funds will become an increasingly important job for the incoming president and Congress for the next decade.

Click<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/social-security-and-medicare-where-do-harris-and-trump-stand" target="_blank">&nbsp;here</a>&nbsp;for the story

As several states like North Carolina and Tennessee recover from Category 4 Hurricane Helene, climate change has taken up little attention in the 2024 presidential race, despite its wide-ranging effects.

Click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/energy-and-climate-where-do-harris-and-trump-stand" target="_blank">here&nbsp;</a>for the story

While housing is typically handled at the local level, both presidential candidates want to tackle the housing crisis at the federal level.

Click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/housing-where-do-trump-and-harris-stand" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;for the story

On the campaign trail, education policies have rarely been in the spotlight, though the candidates’ policies on K-12 and higher education widely differ.

Click<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/education-where-do-harris-and-trump-stand" target="_blank">&nbsp;here for the&nbsp;</a>story

A 2017 tax law crafted under the Trump administration is set to expire next year, meaning whichever candidate wins the White House will either overhaul the previous law or extend it.

Click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/taxes-where-do-trump-and-harris-stand" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;for the story

Both candidates agree that gun violence is a problem, but that’s the end of where Harris and Trump are in concurrence.

Click<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/guns-where-do-trump-and-harris-stand" target="_blank">&nbsp;here</a>&nbsp;for story

Regardless of who wins the White House, the next president will have several international crises to address. That includes the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s refusal to retreat from Ukraine and U.S-China trade relations.

Click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/foreign-policy-where-do-harris-and-trump-stand" target="_blank">here for the story</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1726020929820.png" alt="Image courtesy ABC via CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy ABC via CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ariana-figueroa/">ARIANA FIGUEROA</a>WASHINGTON — As the last weekend before Tuesday’s presidential election approaches, voters who want more insight on where the candidates stand on major policy issues can get up to speed through a States Newsroom Washington Bureau series.In these 10 articles, States Newsroom reported on the policy positions taken by Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, ranging from education to taxes to Social Security and Medicare.They are:<h2>Reproductive Rights</h2>After the conservative-dominated U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 struck down the constitutional right to abortion, Democrats made restoring access to reproductive care a core campaign issue.Click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/reproductive-rights-where-do-trump-and-harris-stand" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;for the story<h2>U.S. Supreme Court reform</h2>The U.S. Supreme Court has been mired in controversy, from several ethics scandals to calls from Democrats to expand the number of justices on the court.Click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/reforms-us-supreme-court-where-do-harris-and-trump-stand" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;for the story<h2>Immigration</h2>One policy issue that Trump has made central to his campaign is immigration. At his campaign rallies across the country he’s promised mass deportations of millions of immigrants living in the country without authorization.Harris has mainly stated that she would revive a bipartisan congressional agreement when it comes to addressing U.S. immigration policy.Click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/immigration-where-do-trump-and-harris-stand" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;for the story<h2>Social Security and Medicare</h2>Addressing the Social Security and Medicare trust funds will become an increasingly important job for the incoming president and Congress for the next decade.Click<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/social-security-and-medicare-where-do-harris-and-trump-stand" target="_blank">&nbsp;here</a>&nbsp;for the story<h2>Climate and Energy</h2>As several states like North Carolina and Tennessee recover from Category 4 Hurricane Helene, climate change has taken up little attention in the 2024 presidential race, despite its wide-ranging effects.Click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/energy-and-climate-where-do-harris-and-trump-stand" target="_blank">here&nbsp;</a>for the story<h2>Housing</h2>While housing is typically handled at the local level, both presidential candidates want to tackle the housing crisis at the federal level.Click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/housing-where-do-trump-and-harris-stand" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;for the story<h2>Education</h2>On the campaign trail, education policies have rarely been in the spotlight, though the candidates’ policies on K-12 and higher education widely differ.Click<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/education-where-do-harris-and-trump-stand" target="_blank">&nbsp;here for the&nbsp;</a>story<h2>Taxes</h2>A 2017 tax law crafted under the Trump administration is set to expire next year, meaning whichever candidate wins the White House will either overhaul the previous law or extend it.Click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/taxes-where-do-trump-and-harris-stand" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;for the story<h2>Guns</h2>Both candidates agree that gun violence is a problem, but that’s the end of where Harris and Trump are in concurrence.Click<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/guns-where-do-trump-and-harris-stand" target="_blank">&nbsp;here</a>&nbsp;for story<h2>Foreign Policy</h2>Regardless of who wins the White House, the next president will have several international crises to address. That includes the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s refusal to retreat from Ukraine and U.S-China trade relations.Click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/foreign-policy-where-do-harris-and-trump-stand" target="_blank">here for the story</a>

Where do Harris and Trump stand on 10 major policy issues?

Denton Loudermill, falsely accused on social media of being the shooter on Feb. 14 has once again sued state Sens. Rick Brattin, Denny Hoskins and Nick Schroer for defamation and invasion of privacy

BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/rudi-keller/">RUDI KELLER</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1730420656214.png" alt="Denton Loudermill, right, appears with his attorney, LaRonna Lassiter Saunders, at an online news conference held Thursday to discuss his new defamation lawsuits against three Missouri state senators. (Screenshot via Zoom)" />
 <figcaption>Denton Loudermill, right, appears with his attorney, LaRonna Lassiter Saunders, at an online news conference held Thursday to discuss his new defamation lawsuits against three Missouri state senators. (Screenshot via Zoom)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Denton Loudermill, falsely accused on social media of being the shooter on Feb. 14 has once again sued state Sens. Rick Brattin, Denny Hoskins and Nick Schroer for defamation and invasion of privacy</h2>BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/rudi-keller/">RUDI KELLER</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>Three Republican Missouri state senators — including one running for secretary of state — are once again being sued by the man they incorrectly identified in social media posts as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/chiefs-super-bowl-parade-shooting-kansas-city-d9f4466b69cbb2dfe0f007414aebe730" target="_blank">being the shooter</a>&nbsp;at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory celebration.Denton Loudermill of Olathe, Kansas, filed lawsuits Thursday against state Sens. Denny Hoskins of Warrensburg, Rick Brattin of Harrisonville and Nick Schroer of Defiance. In the individual lawsuits, each is accused of violating Loudermill’s privacy and libeling him with their posts.&nbsp;Hoskins is the GOP nominee for secretary of state. Brattin is seeking re-election in the 31st Senate District. Schroer, who won his seat in the Senate in 2022, is not on the ballot this year.The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Similar lawsuits against all three men&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/10/21/judge-dismisses-case-against-missouri-senators-over-chiefs-parade-shooting-posts/">were dismissed Oct. 21</a>&nbsp;in Kansas federal court when U.S. District Judge John Broomes ruled he did not have jurisdiction over Brattin, Hoskins and Schroer.In the more than nine months since the Feb. 14 victory parade and pep rally, people have not stopped making him feel uncomfortable, Loudermill said in a news conference with one of his attorneys, LaRonna Lassiter Saunders.Loudermill works at a car wash.“They come through looking at me, on video on their phone, saying ‘yeah, that’s him,” he said. “That worries me sometimes.”In an interview with The Independent, Lassiter Saunders said she believes the jurisdictional issue is solved with the new filing. It was important to refile the cases quickly, she said, because the legal nuances could be missed by a public that has only heard the cases were dismissed.“It’s reported that the case gets tossed, then they’re thinking, there’s some merit to the Missouri senators position,” Lassiter Saunders said.Hoskins, reached via text message, declined to respond to the new filing.“I have not been served and I have no comment at this time,” he said.Brattin and Schroer did not respond to messages seeking comment.Like thousands of other regional residents, Loudermill went to Union Station in Kansas City for the pep rally that followed the Chiefs’ victory parade after this year’s Super Bowl. As the crowd was departing, an argument in the crowd resulted in gunfire.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707939847272.png" alt="Image from online coverage of the victory parade" />
 <figcaption>Image from online coverage of the victory parade</figcaption>
 </figure>The shooting at the end of the victory celebration left one person dead and&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/10/17/kansas-city-super-bowl-rally-shooting-victims-pick-up-pieces-but-gun-violence-haunts-their-lives/">at least 24 people injured</a>.Loudermill, who was born in Kansas and lives there now, was detained briefly because he was too slow to leave the area of the shooting, he told The Independent earlier this year.A photo of him, seated, with his hands restrained behind his back, was posted on X, formally known as Twitter, by an account with the name Deep Truth Intel. That post incorrectly identified him with a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68353305" target="_blank">name associated with misinformation</a>&nbsp;posted after other shootings and said he was an undocumented immigrant.Soon after that initial social media post, the Missouri Freedom Caucus, Hoskins, Brattin, Schroer and U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican, posted their own versions, some with the photo, some without. Burchett’s post said he was one of the shooters and referred to him as an “illegal alien.”Burchett later deleted the tweet but included a screenshot of it&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/timburchett/status/1759645965445636470?s=20" target="_blank">that is still visible</a>&nbsp;in a separate post.A lawsuit filed against Burchett in Kansas was also dismissed because of jurisdictional issues. Lassiter Saunders said Thursday that she is working with attorneys in the Washington, D.C., area to refile the case against Burchett.“He is not off the hook,” she said.&nbsp;Hoskins’ version on social media shared a screenshot of the initial anonymous post and blamed President Joe Biden and political leaders of Kansas City for making the shooting possible.Brattin’s first post linking Loudermill to the shooting, since deleted, demanded “#POTUS CLOSE THE BORDER” and incorporated the deleted anonymous post that kicked everything off.Schroer was the least certain post about the immigration and arrest status of Loudermill among the three.Schroer’s post included a link to one from Burchett stating, over Loudermill’s photo, that “One of the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade shooters has been identified as an illegal Alien.”“Can we get any confirmation or denial of this from local officials or law enforcement?” Schroer wrote. “I’ve been sent videos or stills showing at least 6 different people arrested from yesterday but officially told only 3 still in custody. The people deserve answers.”In the complaint filed against Brattin, attorneys wrote that the lawmakers had no reason to make the comments directed at Loudermill.“The publication of the false representation that plaintiff was an ‘illegal alien’ and a ‘shooter’ was not made in good faith nor was it made by (Brattin) with any legitimate interest in making or duty to make such assertions,” the filing states.In the Kansas cases, the lawmakers were represented by Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who raised both the jurisdictional objections and claims that the senators were acting in their official capacity when they made their posts on social media. Therefore, the filings stated, they are protected by “legislative immunity.”&nbsp;When the case was dismissed, Bailey put out a statement saying it was a victory for keeping “questions of Missouri law…in Missouri courts.”Bailey’s office did not respond immediately to an email asking if the office would again provide representation. Lassiter Saunders said the attorney general should not take the case again.“I would hope not, but given the track record of the attorney general doing as he pleases, it’s a possibility,” Lassiter Saunders said.Bailey’s participation in the case generated its own dispute. In a May letter to the commissioner of the Office of Administration, the state agency that certifies payments from Missouri’s legal expense fund, Gov. Mike Parson wrote that no payments related to the lawsuits should be certified “without my approval or a court order.”Bailey’s claim of legislative immunity is based in the Missouri Constitution’s provisions on legislative privileges. Along with being immune from arrest for minor offenses while the General Assembly is in session, members also “<a href="https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=III++++19&amp;bid=36212&amp;constit=y" target="_blank">shall not be questioned</a>&nbsp;for any speech or debate in either house in any other place.”Social media posts are not statements or speeches made during debates in the chambers, Lassiter Saunders said.“It wasn’t legitimate legislative activity,” she said. “They were following this story like hundreds of thousands of other people seeing tweets, retweeting, and we don’t believe it was the same.The lawsuit seeks to vindicate a core American principle, the right to be let alone, Lassiter Saunders said.“I would like to refocus the attention from politics to the principle of, private citizens should have the right to live their lives privately,” she said. “The elected officials need to be mindful and do a better job of not just speaking out because they have the authority to do so.”The lawsuit states that because of the hostility of some people in the public, Loudermill has “injuries and actual damages including mental distress, sleeplessness, anxiety, and agitation.”He rarely goes out, Loudermill said.“I’m just getting all the attention still,” he said. “ I just want them to pay for that.”

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