Donald Trump Poll News

MIAMI, Fla. – A dismal night for Republicans on Election Day 2023 is giving some of former President Donald Trump’s rivals fresh ammunition to target the commanding front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination.

The disappointing results — which included Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear winning re-election in red-state Kentucky, Democrats winning total control of the state legislature in Virginia and expanding their legislative majorities in New Jersey, winning a state Supreme Court seat in battleground Pennsylvania, and the convincing victory in Ohio of a referendum that enshrined abortion rights in the state’s constitution — follow similar results in the 2022 midterm elections, when an expected red wave never materialized.

“Last night was a sweeping loss for republicans. It was eerily similar to last November, when the anticipated ‘red wave’ never came,” James Uthmeier, who manages Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign, said in a social media post.

TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM ELECTION NIGHT 2023 AND WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT THE 2024 SHOWDOWNS

The comment was a clear dig at Trump, who was heavily criticized by many in the GOP following last year’s midterms, as a bunch of high-profile Trump backed candidates went down to defeat, arguably costing Republicans control of the Senate, a larger House majority, and control of a handful of governorships.

Pointing to DeSantis’ convincingly gubernatorial re-election victory last year, Uthmeier emphasized “@RonDeSantis won by 20 points and turned the swing state of Florida solid red. We need a new leader that can win again for America.”

YOUNGKIN FALLS FAR SHORT IN HIS MISSION FOR TOTAL GOP CONTROL IN VIRGINIA

The campaign of former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — who’s battling DeSantis for a distant second place to Trump in the primary fight — argued in a memo Wednesday that “Trump is a loser.”

“Republicans suffered big losses in the 2022 midterms, the pattern continues one year later. Whether it’s a purple state like Virginia, a leaning red state like Ohio, or a deep red state like Kentucky, the election results last night were bad for Republicans,” the memo states.

TRUMP TO LAND BIG ENDORSEMENT AT RALLY TO COUNTERPROGRAM THIRD GOP PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE 

Haley’s campaign argued that “we all know that Donald Trump struggles against Joe Biden in 2024, while Nikki Haley easily defeats Biden. In fact, Haley is the only candidate to lead Biden outside of the margin of error in a recent CNN poll.”

Another Trump rival, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, specifically blasted the former president of the defeat of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who lost to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear on Tuesday.

Cameron, a protégé of longtime Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, attributed his victory earlier this year in the state’s Republican gubernatorial primary to Trump’s backing. He said at the time that “the Trump culture of winning is alive and well in Kentucky.” Cameron also highlighted the former president in his ads.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Daniel Cameron was a rising star of the Republican Party until he decided to throw his lot in with Donald Trump. I mean, let’s face it, Donald Trump is political and electoral poison down ballot,” said Christie, a one-time Trump ally who’s become a very vocal critic of the former president.

“Daniel Cameron made a huge mistake by embracing Donald Trump and selling his soul to him, that’s what he did and the voters of Kentucky, a very red state,” Christie said.

Responding to Christie’s jabs, the Trump campaign argued that “Cameron was never able to shake the perception of being a McConnell acolyte, which depressed Republican turnout.”

And they noted that “Kentucky has elected only 3 Republican Governors since the end of World War 2.”

The attacks against Trump come hours before DeSantis, Haley, and Christie join Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy on the stage in Miami, Florida at the third Republican presidential primary debate.

Trump is skipping the third GOP primary debate in a row and instead will hold a competing rally just a few miles away, in Hialeah, Florida.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

A former spokesperson for First Lady Jill Biden exploded at President Biden’s team on Tuesday over his crumbling poll numbers, calling it “inexcusable” while warning Biden needs to revamp his team. 

In a three-part social media thread, Michael LaRosa, a communications and political strategist who served as press secretary for Jill Biden between January 2021 and August 2022, lashed out at Biden’s team following the release of a CNN poll that showed Trump with higher favorability ratings, among other barometers. 

“New CNN Poll: Trump has higher favorables+Biden has higher unfavorable,” LaRosa wrote on X. “This is inexcusable for man universally known for his character+intregity. It’s a result of failing to respond to smears, lies, conspiracies, and disinfo for months allowing a void of info to be filled.”

AMERICANS OVERWHELMINGLY OPPOSE BIDEN’S HANDLING OF THE ECONOMY, POLL FINDS

“Shameful that POTUS’s team has allowed this narrative to congeal over the past two years,” LaRosa continued in the second part, which he has since deleted. “The only people who can help change the people around [President Biden] is [Jill Biden]. It’s up to her. These are the same people who got him 4th in Iowa, 5th in [New Hampshire], and a distant 2nd to a socialist in [Nevada].”

LaRosa then called for an overhaul of Biden’s team.

“I’ve been a squeaky wheel for months arguing this is the wrong approach to GOP attacks on Biden’s integrity, reputation, + family,” he wrote. “Poll after poll validates everything I’ve been saying+writing for months. Changing his team now will look like he actually cares+sees same [numbers] we do.”

LaRosa was referencing a CNN poll published Tuesday showing both Trump and Biden struggling on the favorability front, but Trump is performing better in the category.

CNN PANELISTS SOUND ALARM ON ‘REALLY SCARY’ POLL SHOWING BIDEN TRAILING TRUMP IN KEY STATES

According to the poll, 38 percent of respondents view Trump favorably, while 56 percent view him unfavorably. Biden, by comparison, was viewed favorably by 36 percent, while 59 percent see him in a negative light. 

The poll also showed Trump with a slight edge over Biden one year out from the 2024 elections. Among the registered voters polled, Trump leads Biden 49 percent to 45 percent. 

The CNN poll is the latest in a series from multiple outlets showing Trump performing better than Biden well before the election, including in key battleground states.

The former MSNBC producer, who is a frequent guest on CNN, isn’t the only media personality who has slammed Biden’s team. MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski lashed out at his staffers over the summer for failing to prevent situations where he falls or looks lost on stage. 

Her monologue was in reference to Biden’s public fall in June during a commencement ceremony at the U.S. Air Force Academy. The White House said that Biden had tripped over a sandbag on the stage and was “doing 100% fine” afterward.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Yeah, I think his staff needs to own his age. I’m just going to be honest, I don’t think they do a good job helping out the president… Like, I’m just saying, if you are managing a president’s schedule, and you are managing a president getting on stage and getting off stage, and doing – getting on planes and getting off plane– and yes, he’s 80, you need to be there for him, and you need to make a pathway. And you sure as hell better make sure he doesn’t fall on a sandbag,” Brzezinski said.

When asked by Fox News Digital about the posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, a White House official said, “Hope he’s okay.”

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Fox News’ Lindsay Kornick contributed reporting.

EXCLUSIVE: The House Ways and Means Committee is demanding answers from the Justice Department on why it charged a former IRS consultant with one count of unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer information, including information belonging to former President Trump and thousands of wealthy Americans, despite the individual admitting to two separate disclosures.

The former IRS official, Charles Littlejohn, pleaded guilty last month to one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax return information. The Justice Department accused him of leaking tax information belonging to former President Trump and “thousands of the nation’s wealthiest individuals” to news outlets between 2018 and 2020.

The Justice Department said Littlejohn accessed tax returns on an IRS database and saved the tax returns on personal storage devices, including an iPod. 

IRS CONSULTANT PLEADS GUILTY FOR LEAKING TAX RETURNS OF TRUMP AND NATION’S ‘WEALTHIEST INDIVIDUALS’ TO MEDIA

The Justice Department did not specify the two news organizations that Littlejohn leaked the documents to, but Fox News was told that the two organizations were the New York Times and ProPublica, a New York City-based nonprofit investigative journalism group.

Fox News Digital obtained a letter that House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., sent Wednesday to Corey Amundson, the chief of the Public Integrity Section in the Criminal Division of the Justice Department.

“We write today to express concern abut the Department of Justice’s decision to charge Charles Edward Littlejohn with only one count of unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer information despite his admissions that he made two distinct disclosures to two separate news organizations impacting potentially thousands of taxpayers,” Smith, joined by all Republicans on the panel, wrote to the Justice Department.

Citing court documents and statements made at his plea hearing, Smith wrote that Littlejohn “stole tax return information associated with former President Donald J. Trump and disclosed it to the New York Times.”

IRS CONSULTANT CHARGED WITH DISCLOSING TAX RETURNS OF TRUMP AND NATION’S ‘WEALTHIEST INDIVIDUALS’ TO MEDIA

Smith said Littlejohn also “stole tax return information related to thousands of the nation’s wealthiest individuals and disclosed this tax return information to ProPublica.” 

“Mr. Littlejohn pled guilty to a single charge of unauthorized disclosure of tax information despite explicitly detailing his two separate and distinct unauthorized disclosures,” Smith wrote, adding that the disclosures both involved “two sets of information that were disclosed at two different times to two distinct organizations covering thousands of taxpayers.”

“We have not been able to determine how DOJ could possibly charge Mr. Littlejohn with only one count of unauthorized disclosure,” Smith wrote.

Smith called Littlejohn’s breach “the largest breach of confidential tax information in American history,” and slammed the Justice Department for only charging him with one count, which carries a maximum sentence of five years and a fine of $5,000.

“There are so many victims of Mr. Littlejohn’s disclosures that the prosecutors have asked a federal judge in Washington D.C., for permission to create a public website to notify victims without reaching out to each person individually,” Smith wrote.

Smith said Republicans on his committee “have pushed federal investigators for years to get to the bottom of who stole and leaked taxpayer information.”

“When the criminal leaker was finally caught, we expected that he would face severe consequences for his actions that would both punish him while also serving to deter future, similar misconduct,” Smith wrote. “Unfortunately, DOJ elected to charge only one count, and, even though as part of his plea agreement Mr. Littlejohn admitted to obstructing the investigation, DOJ also failed to charge him for obstruction.” 

Smith said Littlejohn’s pre-sentencing report put him in a range of 8 to 14 months in prison.

“While some argue that he should have been charged with one count per taxpayer, it is clear to us that at a minimum he should have been charged with two counts of unauthorized disclosure and potentially with at least one count of obstruction of justice,” Smith wrote. “A sentence of 8 to 14 months comes nowhere close to having a deterrent effect on government employees who might be thinking about breaking the law.”

Smith stressed that “protection of taxpayer information is of upmost importance to Americans and our voluntary tax compliance system cannot function if bad actors are allowed to abuse it.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Smith demanded that the Justice Department explain their charging decisions and provide information to the committee by Nov. 22.

“The American people are right to question whether we live in a nation with a two-tiered system of Justice, and DOJ’s handling of the Charles Edward Littlejohn case only adds more fuel to that fire,” Smith told Fox News Digital. “By only charging Littlejohn with one count of unauthorized disclosure, DOJ has set a terrible precedent, and sent the wrong message to government employees charged with protecting the sensitive taxpayer information of millions of Americans.” 

Smith told Fox News Digital that U.S. taxpayers “deserve to know if DOJ’s decision to let Littlejohn off with just a slap on the wrist is politically motivated, and the thousands of taxpayers who, like President Trump, had their confidential tax information compromised deserve justice.” 

“Ways and Means Committee Republicans are committed to ensuring private taxpayer information is protected and will continue to demand transparency and accountability from the Department of Justice,” he said. 

Littlejohn will be sentenced on Jan. 29, 2024, and could face a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Exonerated “Central Park Five” member Yusef Salaam won a seat Tuesday on the New York City Council, completing a stunning reversal of fortune decades after he was wrongly imprisoned in an infamous rape case.

Salaam, a Democrat, will represent a central Harlem district on the City Council, having run unopposed for the seat in one of many local elections held across New York state Tuesday. He won his primary election in a landslide.

The victory comes more than two decades after DNA evidence was used to overturn the convictions of Salaam and four other Black and Latino men in the 1989 rape and beating of a white jogger in Central Park. Salaam was arrested at age 15 and imprisoned for almost seven years.

EXONERATED FIVE’S DR. YUSEF SALAAM TALKS LIFE AFTER NETFLIX’S ‘WHEN THEY SEE US’

YUSEF SALAAM, EXONERATED MEMBER OF THE ‘CENTRAL PARK FIVE,’ WINS DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FOR SEAT ON NYC COUNCIL

“For me, this means that we can really become our ancestors’ wildest dreams,” Salaam said in an interview before the election.

Elsewhere in New York City, voters were deciding whether to reelect the Queens district attorney and cast ballots in other City Council races. The council, which passes legislation and has some oversight powers over city agencies, has long been dominated by Democrats and the party was certain to retain firm control after the election.

Local elections on Long Island could offer clues about how the city’s suburbs could vote in next year’s congressional elections, though low turnout was expected because there weren’t federal or statewide candidates on the ballot this election.

One of the more prominent races was in Suffolk County, where Republican Ed Romaine defeated Democrat David Calone to become county executive, giving the GOP control of an office that had long been controlled by a Democrat.

Democrats lost in all four of Long Island’s congressional districts last year and have dedicated significant resources to the region for 2024. Republicans, bolstering campaigns with a focus on local issues such as crime and migrants, are aiming to hold onto the seats next year.

“Keeping an eye on Long Island, which has been a little counterintuitive in its election outcomes the last few years with a mix of national and local issues, gives you a chance to see what’s playing in a typical suburb that’s not unlike the ones in Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Virginia, Arizona, Nevada and other places that both parties believe are at play,” said Lawrence Levy, executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University on Long Island.

EXONERATED ‘CENTRAL PARK FIVE’ MEMBER TAKES COMMANDING LEAD IN DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FOR NYC COUNCIL SEAT

In the city meanwhile, Salaam’s candidacy was a reminder of what the war on crime can look like when it goes too far.

Salaam was arrested along with Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise and accused of attacking a woman running in Central Park.

The crime dominated headlines in the city, inflaming racial tensions as police rounded up Black and Latino men and boys for interrogation. Former President Donald Trump, then just a brash real estate executive in the city, took out large ads in newspapers that implored New York to bring back the death penalty.

The teens convicted in the attack served between five and 12 years in prison before the case was reexamined.

A serial rapist and murderer was eventually linked to the crime through DNA evidence and a confession. The convictions of the Central Park Five were vacated in 2002 and they received a combined $41 million settlement from the city.

Salaam campaigned on easing poverty and combatting gentrification in Harlem. He often mentioned his conviction and imprisonment on the trail — his place as a symbol of injustice helping to animate the overwhelmingly Black district and propel him to victory.

“I am really the ambassador for everyone’s pain,” he said. “In many ways, I went through that for our people so I can now lead them.”

In a more competitive City Council race, Democrat Justin Brannan defeated Republican Ari Kagan in an ethnically diverse south Brooklyn district. The race became heated as Election Day approached, with the candidates sparring over the Israel-Hamas war and New York’s migrant crisis.

In a slight that symbolized the tension between the men, Brannan recently tweeted a photo of a ribbon cutting ceremony that he and Kagan attended, but the image had Kagan’s face blurred out.

‘CENTRAL PARK FIVE’ MEMBER RUNNING FOR NYC COUNCIL SEAT

Also in Brooklyn, City Council member Inna Vernikov, a vocal supporter of Israel, won reelection weeks after she was arrested for bringing a gun to a pro-Palestinian demonstration.

Vernikov was seen in photos and videos with the butt of a pistol poking out of her waistband while she was counterprotesting at the pro-Palestinian rally at Brooklyn College in October. She was arraigned last week on a charge of possessing a gun at a sensitive location.

Vernikov has a concealed carry license, but New York law forbids gun owners from bringing firearms to sensitive locations such as protests and school grounds, and requires people with licenses to keep their handguns concealed.

She has surrendered her gun and she’s next due in court Jan. 24.

Statewide, New Yorkers approved two ballot measures — one to remove the debt limit placed on small city school districts and the other to extend an exclusion from the debt limit for sewage projects.

Democrats across the country saw significant victories on Election Night and came out on top as the big winners in a number of races that Republicans hoped to use as a springboard into the 2024 elections.

Republicans also saw some wins, but fell far short of where they hoped to finish the 2023 off-year election cycle and missed out on what could have been significant momentum heading into next year.

Democrat Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear won one of the most notable victories of the night, defeating his Republican opponent, state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, in a race that many thought was achievable for the GOP considering the deep-red state’s conservative roots.

DEMOCRAT ANDY BESHEAR WINS GOVERNOR RACE IN DEEP-RED KENTUCKY, A MAJOR BLOW TO REPUBLICAN HOPES AHEAD OF 2024

Beshear largely avoided highlighting his support for President Biden and focused heavily on local issues as he traveled the state while Cameron leaned into his endorsement from former President Donald Trump, who remains popular with Kentucky voters.

However, Trump’s popularity among Kentuckians fell short of Beshear’s, who maintained his status as one of the most popular governors in the country in the months leading up to the election. With his victory, Beshear is one of only three remaining Democrat governors leading a red state.

In Mississippi, incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves fended off a formidable challenge from Democrat Brandon Presley, a former mayor and Mississippi Public Service Commission member who is also the second cousin to famed rock-n-roll legend Elvis Presley.

MISSISSIPPI GOV. TATE REEVES SECURES SECOND TERM AFTER DEMOCRAT OPPONENT CONCEDES

A surge in unexpected amounts of national Democrat money into the race helped boost Presley’s candidacy, including from the Democratic Governors Association, which gave nearly $6 million to his campaign. The amount was a sharp increase from the just over $2 million the group gave the Democrat nominee who lost to Reeves in 2019.

Presley conceded the race to Reeves before the latter was declared the winner by any national outlets.

Democrats in Virginia also had something to celebrate Tuesday as they won control of the House of Delegates from Republicans and beat back GOP Gov. j efforts to flip the state Senate red from the narrow Democrat majority that currently controls the chamber.

YOUNGKIN FALLS SHORT IN HIS MISSION TO WIN TOTAL GOP CONTROL OF VIRGINIA STATE LEGISLATURE

Virginia’s legislative elections grabbed outsized national attention, with both Democrats and Republicans spending millions on races, which were viewed in political circles as a key barometer ahead of the 2024 elections for president, control of Congress.

In September, Biden reportedly directed the Democratic National Committee to dump $1.2 million into Virginia’s legislative races, a sure sign at the time that the president was looking to counter Youngkin’s influence on voters in the state, and a strategy that appears to have had some affect.

In Ohio, supporters of Issue 1, a ballot referendum that would enshrine the constitutional “right” to an abortion into the state constitution, saw an overwhelming victory as voters overwhelmingly voted “yes” on the measure.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The “yes” votes defeated the “no” votes by more than double digits.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Ivanka Trump is expected to take the stand Wednesday to testify in the non-jury civil trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit against her family and the Trump Organization.

The former president’s daughter was originally listed as a defendant in James’ lawsuit, in which she alleged Trump defrauded banks and inflated the value of his assets with the help of his children.

TRUMP DEMANDS JURY, SAYS NEW YORK AG HAS ‘NO CASE’ IN HEATED TESTIMONY

A New York Appeals Court, over the summer, dismissed Ivanka Trump as a defendant. That ruling also limited the statute of limitations.

Her expected court appearance comes after her attorneys filed a notice of appeal last week to reverse to the decision to require her to testify. Their request was denied.

Former President Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly said his assets were actually undervalued. Trump has repeatedly said his financial statements had disclaimers, requesting that the numbers be evaluated by the banks.

And both Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump testified during the trial that they had no involvement in the creation of financial statements, and said the Trump family did nothing wrong.

Ivanka Trump’s testimony is expected to last for hours and could move into Thursday. The former president’s daughter is expected to take questions from both state attorneys from the New York Attorney General’s Office, and Trump defense attorneys.

TRUMP, JUDGE ENGORON TRADE JABS DURING FORMER PRESIDENT’S TESTIMONY IN CIVIL TRIAL STEMMING FROM NYAG LAWSUIT

Ivanka’s expected testimony Wednesday comes after former President Trump took questions on the stand for hours on Monday— an unprecedented proceeding.

Trump demanded a jury Monday and called  the civil trial against him and his businesses a “disgrace,” while maintaining that James has “no case.” 

Trump described his forced testimony as “election interference” while maintaining that his net worth is “far greater” than financial statements during testimony Monday.

“I think this case is a disgrace,” he said, adding that people are being “murdered” in New York as James is “watching this case.”

“It’s a disgrace. It is election interference because you want to keep me in court all day long,” Trump said while on the stand after testifying for more than five hours. “And Judge … I want a jury.”

TRUMP UNLOADS ON JUDGE, NYAG FOR TARGETING HIM ‘FOR POLITICAL REASONS’ DURING UNPRECEDENTED TESTIMONY

One of Trump’s attorneys, at the end of the former president’s testimony, said that in “33 years,” they have “never had a witness testify better.”

“An absolutely brilliant performance by President Trump. He’s not backing down. He’s told everyone the facts,” the Trump attorney said. “Now that the American people know what’s going on, maybe something will change.”

James, a Democrat, sued Trump, his children, and the Trump Organization last year, alleging that he and his company misled banks and others about the value of his assets. James said the former president’s children – Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric – and his associates and businesses committed “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” on their financial statements.

James filed the lawsuit against Trump “under a consumer protection statute that denies the right to a jury,” a Trump spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

NEW YORK APPEALS COURT NARROWS NYAG CASE, DISMISSES IVANKA TRUMP AS A DEFENDANT, CUTS STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

“There was never an option to choose a jury trial,” the spokesperson said. “It is unfortunate that a jury won’t be able to hear how absurd the merits of this case are and conclude no wrongdoing ever happened.”

During Trump’s unprecedented testimony Monday, New York Judge Arthur Engoron tried to cut him off from providing lengthy answers to state lawyers’ questioning, and he even said, “I don’t want to hear everything he has to say.”

But Trump defended himself and his businesses while on the stand and blasted the investigation, lawsuit and non-jury trial.

“They’re trying to hurt me – especially her,” Trump said, referring to James, “for political reasons.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Engoron in September ruled that Trump and the Trump Organization committed fraud while building his real estate empire by deceiving banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing.

“He ruled against me without knowing anything about me,” Trump said on the stand. “He called me a fraud, and he didn’t know anything about me.”

Meanwhile, Trump defense attorneys say they will likely move for a mistrial.

Dozens of local residents in northern Washington recently voiced their strong opposition to a Biden administration plan to release grizzly bears, an apex predator, in a federally-managed forest area near their communities.

More than 200 local residents attended a public comment session in northern Washington hosted by the Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Parks Service (NPS), with roughly 50 speaking in opposition of the federal grizzly bear proposal and just six voicing their support. Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., who represents local communities, was among the speakers voicing concerns about the plan’s potential consequences.

“As a farmer, I worry not only about the bears destroying my crops, but for the safety and well-being of myself, my family, and my on-farm hands,” Newhouse remarked during the session. “It is clear you all know that grizzlies can and probably will move out of the zone in which you drop them in, yet rather than letting common sense prevail, are continuing to push forward with this dangerous plan.”

“So tell me, what is the agency’s plan for dealing with crop loss and livestock depredation that is inevitable from the introduction of these predators? What is the timeline for issuing lethal permits? And how much will citizens have to lose before they can defend themselves from this predator in their backyard?” he continued.

BIDEN SIGNS BILL INTO LAW THAT REVERSES HIS ADMIN’S DEFUNDING OF SCHOOL HUNTING, SHOOTING PROGRAMS

In late September, the NPS and FWS proposed the rule and draft environmental impact statement opening the door to release the apex predator in North Cascades National Park in northern Washington along the U.S.-Canada border. The proposal was cheered by left-wing eco groups but criticized by local lawmakers like Newhouse and residents.

Under the proposal, the federal government would release up to seven grizzly bears annually into the North Cascades ecosystem over the course of the next five to 10 years. The federal government’s overarching goal would be to establish a grizzly bear population of roughly 200 bears in the coming decades.

REPUBLICANS URGE BIDEN NOT TO RELEASE DEADLY APEX PREDATOR NEAR RURAL COMMUNITY

“There’s not the habitat up there for the grizzly bear. There never has been and there never will be,” one resident said during the comment session last week, according to video obtained by Fox News Digital. “So, you’re going to put grizzly bears there, what are they going to do? They’re going to get right out in the winter. They’re going to go right down in Mazama and they’re going to go down in the rest of the area because they’re not going to stay up there. So, I’m opposed to it completely.”

“If you’re not willing to accept responsibility for what goes down in this county from the actions that you take, you have no business taking those actions,” another resident said, addressing the federal officials in attendance.

The federal plan released in September includes three options, two that would involve actively restoring populations of the threatened grizzly bear species and one “no action” alternative that would maintain current management practices. As part of the announcement, the public is invited to comment on the proposed actions through mid-November.

Hugh Morrison, the regional FWS director, said grizzly bears are part of the region’s heritage and restoring them could be done in a way that ensures communities, residents and animals “can all coexist peacefully.”

BIDEN’S WAR ON HUNTING FACES BLOWBACK FROM REPUBLICANS, SPORTSMEN GROUPS

According to the NPS, Grizzly bears occupied the North Cascades and served as an “essential part of the ecosystem” for thousands of years. However, in the 20th century, as a result of aggressive hunting practices, the species was driven into near extinction and the last confirmed sighting of a grizzly bear in the North Cascades ecosystem was in 1996.

“Nobody needs grizzlies, nobody needs wolves,” another resident added during the event last week. “And the thing we need even less than that is the Department of Fish and Wildlife. These guys know nothing about fish, they don’t care about wildlife. All they want to do is ruin the most important people, which is farmers and ranchers who grow our food. There’s no reason for these people, there’s no reason for grizzly bears.”

“If any grizzly bear comes around my place, I’m shooting it,” he said.

Another resident, an 80-year-old man who said he frequently hunts in the area, said the federal officials who proposed the grizzly release plan are “super book smart, but dumber than hell” when it comes to on-the-ground conditions facing citizens.

While the plan would release grizzly bears near communities, according to the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, unintentionally or intentionally killing a grizzly bear in the state can result in massive fines and penalties since the species is listed as federally threatened and state-listed as endangered.

BIDEN ADMIN IS RUSHING TO INDUSTRIALIZE US OCEANS TO STOP CLIMATE CHANGE: ‘ENVIRONMENTAL WRECKING BALL’

“We have previously provided extensive comments opposing grizzly bear reintroduction into our local communities,” the commissioners of Chelan County, Washington, which is located near North Cascades, wrote to the NPS in December. “We continue to oppose grizzly bear reintroduction given the likely negative impacts to public safety, economic development, recreation opportunities and the overall livelihood of our rural communities.” 

“The federal agencies leading this effort have generally failed to address these concerns and have failed to engage in any meaningful way Chelan County and other neighboring counties in the proposed grizzly bear restoration area,” they added in their letter.

Plans to reintroduce grizzly bears to the North Cascades dates back to the Obama administration. Then, after significant state opposition led by Newhouse, the Trump administration concluded that grizzly bears would not be restored in the ecosystem. 

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt noted in July 2020 that grizzly bears are not in danger of extinction and that his agency could manage populations across their existing range.

However, late last year, following extensive litigation from environmental groups, the Biden administration announced it would again review whether to move forward with restoration, a process that led to the proposal in September.

A new poll published Tuesday shows independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has more support among young Americans in swing states than both the GOP frontrunner and incumbent president.

The New York Times and Siena College published a poll showing that Kennedy has more support among Americans under 45 in critical battleground states over both Presidents Trump and Biden.

According to the poll, 34 percent of registered voters between 18 and 29 are behind Kennedy for president.

THREE REASONS WHY RFK JR. POSES A REAL THREAT TO BIDEN

Comparatively, Trump — the GOP frontrunner — only carries 29 percent of that age range while Biden, the Democratic nominee, carries just 30 percent.

Among the 30-44 age group, Kennedy carries 31 percent of support compared to Biden and Trump’s matching 30s.

However, Kennedy is trailing behind the two presidents in the other age groups, with the independent candidate’s lowest numbers coming from registered voters aged 45 and above.

At 20 percent support, Kennedy is heavily behind Trump and Biden in the 45-64 age group, who carry 41 percent and 31 percent, respectively.

Among registered voters aged 65 and up, Kennedy only carries 17 percent of the people polled while Trump took 37 percent and Biden took 39 percent.

The poll illustrates Kennedy’s growing popularity with young Americans as he seeks the White House in an independent bid against Biden.

Kennedy announced last month that he would stop campaigning as a Democrat and instead make an independent run for the White House.

“Something is stirring in us, saying it doesn’t have to be this way,” Kennedy said, adding that Americans are “ready to reclaim their freedom and independence.”

“I’m here to declare myself an independent candidate for President of the United States,” Kennedy continued.

“But that’s not all, I’m here to join you and make a new Declaration of Independence for our entire nation,” Kennedy said. “We declare independence from the corporations that have hijacked our government.”

Kennedy also said that he and the crowd assembled declared independence from both political parties as well as the “mercenary media.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Kennedy called for unity in the country and said that politicians getting “all of us to hate each other is all a part of their scam.”

Kennedy was initially running as a Democrat in an intraparty challenge to Biden, but the DNC maintained support for the incumbent president and reiterated that they would not schedule primary debates.

A new poll shows California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval rating has dropped to an all-time low as he continues to face accusations that he is running a “shadow” presidential campaign as a backup plan to President Biden.

The late October poll, published on Tuesday by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, showed Newsom with a 44% approval, down 11 points from February. 

A total 49% of registered voters in the poll said they disapproved of Newsom’s performance, a 10 point rise since February and an all-time high.  

The poll states that Newsom’s “recent actions in taking a much more active role in national Democratic politics appear to be related to his recent decline as voters here hold decidedly mixed views about his taking on this role at a time when California is facing increasing budgetary challenges and is dealing with a host of other pressing problems.”

MAHER HITS NEWSOM, WHITMER FOR RUNNING ‘SHADOW’ 2024 CAMPAIGNS, CREDITS DEAN PHILLIPS FOR CHALLENGING BIDEN

“It’s an outlier,” Newsom spokesperson Nathan Click told Fox News Digital pointing to a Morning Consult poll published last week that showed Newsom with a 56% approval rating with likely voters compared to 38% disapproval. 

The polling slide comes as Newsom continues to face criticism for boosting his national profile with trips to China and Israel and becoming a prominent fixture on television, including inside the spin room at a recent Fox Business GOP presidential debate. 

CALIFORNIA GOV. NEWSOM TRAVELS THE GLOBE WHILE THESE PROBLEMS PLAGUE HIS STATE

Newsom also recently challenged GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis to a debate, which the Florida governor accepted. That debate will air on Fox News Channel on Nov. 30 and will be moderated by Sean Hannity.

“This trip here, he’s trying to build a base,” GOP Rep. Doug LaMalfa, who represents California’s First Congressional District, told Fox News Digital last month after Newsom traveled to China. “He’s running the back channels until Biden takes himself out and the party says man we’re going to get killed on this.”

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“With Trump looking more and more like a likely nominee pulling ahead in most places from what I’ve seen then the Dems are, I think I saw in our notes here, that they would need to break the glass and reach in for the Newsom fire extinguisher.”

Over the weekend, Democratic Sen. John Fetterman took a swipe at Newsom saying that he is effectively running for president but didn’t have the “guts” to admit it.

A Monmouth University poll released earlier this month showed that 76% of voters agreed Biden, 80, was “too old” to serve another term, compared to just 48% who said the same about Trump, 77. 

Newsom has repeatedly denied any plans of running for president in 2024.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

A national poll released on Tuesday will likely add to concerns about President Biden’s ability to win re-election next year.

A CNN survey indicates former President Donald Trump topping Biden 49%-45% among registered voters in a hypothetical 2024 general election matchup, with Trump’s margin widening from a 47%-46% lead in the same poll conducted in late August.

The poll indicates Biden’s re-election campaign is suffering from deeply underwater approval ratings — at 39%-61% approval/disapproval — and nearly three-quarters of survey respondents saying things going poorly in the country. Additionally, only a quarter said Biden has the stamina to serve in the White House.

The survey is the latest in recent days to buffet the president. 

THIS POLL FUELED FEAR AMONG SOME DEMOCRATS OVER BIDEN’S 2024 CHANCES 

A poll from Siena College and the New York Times released over the weekend indicated Trump edging Biden in hypothetical matchups in five of the six crucial battleground states that Biden narrowly carried in 2020 on his way to capturing the White House.

That survey, along with the new CNN poll, points to the president losing support among Black and Hispanic voters, as well as younger voters, all of whom have long been key parts of the Democratic Party’s base.

NEW POLL SUGGESTS TRUMP TOPPING BIDEN IN KEY 2024 BATTLEGROUNDS

Additionally, while the Siena/New York Times survey indicated Biden losing to Trump, it also suggests that an unnamed generic Democratic nominee tops Trump by eight points in the 2024 presidential election.

A CBS News national poll also released over the weekend pointed had more bad news for the incumbent in the White House, as it indicated Trump edging Biden 51%-48% in a likely 2024 showdown.

Trump is the commanding front-runner in the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination as he makes his third straight White House run. He saw his lead expand over his numerous rivals during the spring and summer as he made history as the first former or current president in American history to be indicted for a crime. Trump’s four indictments — including in federal court in Washington, D.C., and in Fulton County court in Georgia on charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss — have only fueled his support among Republican voters.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

While Biden trails Trump by four points in the CNN poll, the survey indicates Biden down by six points in a hypothetical matchup with former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. A potential 2024 showdown with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suggests Biden down by two points, which is within the survey’s sampling error.

The CNN poll also indicated that in a four-way race with independent candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West, Trump topped Biden, 41%-35%, with Kennedy at 16% and West at 4%.

The president’s re-election campaign took aim at the latest surveys, pointing to the Democrats’ poll-defying success in last year’s midterms and to Obama’s 2012 re-election despite polls a year earlier predicting defeat for the incumbent.

“Predictions more than a year out tend to look a little different a year later,” Biden campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz said on Sunday.

“Don’t take our word for it: Gallup predicted an eight point loss for President Obama only for him to win handedly a year later,” Munoz added. “Or a year out from the 2022 midterms when every major outlet similarly predicted a grim forecast for President Biden.”

In the GOP presidential nomination race, the survey suggests Trump stands at 61% support from his party, with DeSantis at 17%, Haley at 10% and no other candidate cracking double digits.

Biden stands at 71% in the Democratic nomination race, with Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota at 11% and author Marianne Williamson at 8%.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, a Republican, warned of his Democrat opponent’s out-of-state influence as voting in the state wraps up.

Reeves joined the Ingraham Angle on Tuesday night ahead of the polls closing in Mississippi for his contest against Democrat candidate Brandon Presley for the seat.

In the interview, Reeves blasted Presley over out-of-state donations and warned Mississippians about the pitfalls of electing a Democrat governor.

WHY THE GOVERNOR’S RACE IN MISSISSIPPI IS TURNING HEADS THIS YEAR

“The reason for that is that 80 percent of Brandon Presley’s money has come from California, New York, and Washington, D.C.,” Reeves said.

“They don’t just want to change the governor, they want to change Mississippi,” Reeves said of the Democrats.

The Mississippi Republican called on voters to hit the polls with less than an hour before they closed in most parts of the state. A judge ordered polls in Hinds County — Mississippi’s most populous county — to stay open an extra hour on election day, after several precincts ran out of ballots, Mississippi Today reported.

“Let’s honor a veteran today and get out to vote,” the governor said.

Reeves’ comments come as the Mississippi governor faces a tight re-election fight against Presley.

Reeves’s Democratic challenger, state Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley, is a second cousin to rock ‘n’ roll legend Elvis Presley. Presley’s big push is for Medicaid expansion, and he says he is a tax-cutting Democrat. On the campaign trail, he tells the story of his difficult childhood, being raised by a single mom after his father was murdered. 

In a state where Republicans hold all statewide offices and a large majority in the legislature, the governor’s race should be a done deal for incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, said Glenn Antizzo, a political science professor at Mississippi College. 

Prior to being elected governor in 2019, Reeves served two terms as lieutenant governor and two terms as state treasurer. Former President Donald Trump endorsed Reeves last week.

A Democrat has not been elected governor in the state since 1999. But the cash is still flowing in for Presley. So far, the Washington-based Democratic Governors Association has donated nearly $6 million to Presley’s campaign. In 2019, the same association donated just over $2 million to Jim Hood, a Democratic candidate for governor. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

There is a third name on the ballot, but the left-leaning independent candidate, Gwendolyn Gray, garnered little support and dropped out of the race in early October. She has since endorsed Presley but dropped out too late for her name to be removed from the ballot. Antizzo says votes for Gray could take away votes from Presley. 

The Cook Political Report shifted the 2023 Mississippi governor’s race from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican” two weeks ago.

Fox News Digital’s Clare O’Connor contributed reporting.

Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich told Fox News Channel’s Laura Ingraham on Tuesday that the night’s elections will be a test of whether President Biden’s low approval numbers have depressed the Democratic vote.

“This is a fascinating test, first of all because Gov. Youngkin has done a great job, he’s at about 57% approval, so he’s bringing a lot to the table, and he has raised a fair amount of money,” Gingrich said. “The Democrats understand if they lose badly tonight in Virginia that’s a terrible omen for 2024 and will increase the demand that Biden quit running for reelection.”

Gingrich added that “there’s a lot at stake here” and that the Virginia election will also be a “good test” as to whether a “problem-solving” governor like Youngkin can go into the Washington D.C. suburbs and win over federal employees in blue areas. 

“The truth is, I don’t care what the polls tell you, I want to see what the American people, who cared enough to go vote,” Gingrich said. 

CLINTON POLLSTER SUGGESTS ‘INTERNAL FRICTION’ BETWEEN OBAMA, BIDEN CAMPS AFTER TRUMP-FRIENDLY SHOCK POLL

Gingrich said he thinks that voters in Kentucky, New Jersey, Mississippi, some local races in New York will be revealing whether “Biden has depressed the Democrats and whether the issues have aroused both Republicans and Independents.”

Voters in Virginia will be voting for Republicans or Democrats to control the state legislature, as every one of the 140 seats are up for grabs.

BLACK VOTERS UNHAPPY WITH BIDEN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGISTS FEAR IT COULD ‘THREATEN HIS RE-ELECTION’: NY TIMES

In Ohio, voters will be deciding whether to enshrine abortion access into the state constitution, in what many believe will signal how the abortion issue will be framed in a post-Roe v. Wade landscape. 

Key governor races are also taking place in Kentucky and Mississippi, along with other elections taking place in 31 states across the country. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

Tuesday’s election comes as several polls have shown President Biden’s approval rating tanking, and a recent New York Times poll shows former President Trump beating Biden in 5 key battleground states.

An overwhelming 71% of respondents told NYT that Biden is “too old” to serve as an effective president.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Democrats maintained their hold on deep-red Kentucky’s governor seat Tuesday in a blow to Republicans ahead of the 2024 elections.

The Associated Press called the race for incumbent Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear over Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who had been gaining in the polls in recent days after largely trailing by double-digits since the party primaries in May.

“Tonight I stand here excited and optimistic about what we’re going to do these next four years together,” Beshear told a fired up crowd of supporters gathered at his Election Night party in downtown Louisville.

“I pledge to be a governor that represents all of us regardless of your party and regardless of who you voted for,” he added.

REPUBLICANS AIM FOR TRIFECTA OF VICTORIES IN CRUCIAL GOVERNOR RACES AHEAD OF 2024 ELECTIONS

Beshear will continue as one of the last remaining Democrat governors of a deep-red state where Republican voters outnumber Democrat voters, and conservative roots run deep. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelley and Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards are the only other two Democrat governors of Republican-leaning states.

Beshear’s victory was likely boosted by his positive approval rating as Kentucky’s governor. Even as a Democrat in a conservative state, Beshear has consistently been rated as one of the most popular governors in the country.

Despite Beshear’s popularity, Kentucky Republicans had hoped to build off the party’s momentum after it flipped the Louisiana governor’s mansion red last month with the victory of Attorney General Jeff Landry over his Democrat opponent, who was endorsed by a term-limited Bel Edwards.

KARI LAKE BUILDS MOMENTUM WITH MORE BIG-NAME BACKING IN RACE TO FLIP ARIZONA SENATE SEAT

The Democrat victory also comes as a blow to former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Cameron early in the race before the party primaries, and reiterated that endorsement in the weeks leading up to the election. 

Trump’s endorsement boosted Cameron over a crowded Republican primary field that included former U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft and Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles. Following Beshear’s victory, a number of local and national sources within Republican politics told Fox News Digital that Craft would have been the more “formidable” opponent to face the Democrat, but Trump’s endorsement of Cameron secured his primary win.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Views of Beshear as a potential national Democrat party figure who can attract support from liberals, moderates and conservatives alike will likely grow following his re-election.

The win by Democrats also puts a damper on what would have been even greater momentum for Republicans heading into the 2024 elections where a number of expected tight races in multiple states across the country could determine the balance of power in Washington, D.C.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Ohio voters have approved a constitutional amendment, according to an Associated Press race call, enshrining abortion rights into the state’s constitution in a vote that was opposed by Republicans in the state who argued the measure went even farther than Roe v. Wade.

The election signals a major victory for pro-abortion advocates, including the ACLU, who had pumped tens of millions into the state that Trump carried by 8 points in 2020 arguing that a constitutional amendment was needed to protect abortion access after the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights spokesperson Lauren Blauvelt said in an ACLU press release last month that the opponents of Issue 1 were the “extremists” who are “trying to take away our rights and mislead voters.”

5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT OHIO’S CONTROVERSIAL CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ON ABORTION BEFORE ELECTION DAY

“Voting NO hands your most personal family decisions over to the GOVERNMENT,” Blauvelt said.

Top Republicans in the state, along with parental rights groups and faith leaders, argued that the measure went “too far” and in many cases even farther than Roe v. Wade did. 

“It’s pretty clear that this constitutional amendment just goes farther, much further than what the average Ohioan approves,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine told Fox News Digital last month. 

“If a voter is comfortable with abortion up until the time of birth, they’re probably going to be okay with this amendment — if they’re comfortable with parents not being involved in the most important decision their daughter will ever make or certainly has made up until that point in her life. If they’re okay with that, then they should vote for this,” DeWine added. 

LEFT-WING DARK MONEY NETWORK BANKROLLING ANTI-ISRAEL GROUPS DROPS MILLIONS PUSHING OHIO ABORTION AMENDMENT

“The ACLU paid out-of-state signature collectors to lie to Ohioans about their dangerous amendment that will strip parents of their rights, permit minors to undergo sex change operations without their parents’ knowledge or consent, and allow painful abortion on demand through all nine months,” PWO spokesperson Amy Natoce said.

Mini Timmaraju, president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, said before the election that Ohio offers a vital proving ground heading into next year’s presidential election, when Democrats hope the abortion issue can energize supporters in contests up and down the ballot. Abortion-related initiatives could be on the ballot across the country, including in the presidential swing states of Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“When we’re able to see how our messaging impacts independents and Republicans and persuades them that this fundamental freedom is important to protect in Ohio, that’s going to be something that we can implement looking at 2024,” she said.

Associated Press contributed to this report.

Wisconsin’s Republican Assembly leader on Tuesday downplayed pressure he’s receiving from former President Donald Trump and fellow GOP lawmakers to impeach the state’s nonpartisan elections administrator, saying such a vote is “unlikely” to happen.

Some Republicans have been trying to oust state elections administrator Meagan Wolfe, who was in her position during the 2020 election narrowly lost by Trump in Wisconsin. The Senate voted last month to fire Wolfe but later admitted the vote was symbolic and had no legal effect.

Five Assembly Republicans in September introduced 15 articles of impeachment targeting Wolfe, a move that could result in her removal from office if the Assembly passed it and the Senate voted to convict. The Republican president of the Senate has also called on Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to proceed with impeachment.

WISCONSIN REPUBLICANS MOVE TO IMPEACH STATE ELECTIONS CZAR

A group led by election conspiracy theorists launched a six-figure television advertising campaign last month threatening to unseat Vos if he did not proceed with impeachment. On Monday night, Trump posted a news release on his social media platform Truth Social from one of GOP lawmaker’s who sponsored the impeachment. The release from state Rep. Janel Brandtjen criticized Vos for not doing more to remove Wolfe.

Vos on Tuesday said Republicans were “nowhere near a consensus” and no vote on impeachment was imminent.

“I can’t predict what’s going to happen in the future, but I think it is unlikely that it’s going to come up any time soon,” Vos said.

Vos has previously said he supports removing Wolfe, but he wanted to first see how a lawsuit filed on her behalf to keep her in the job plays out.

The Assembly can only vote to impeach state officials for corrupt conduct in office or for committing a crime or misdemeanor. If a majority of the Assembly were to vote to impeach, the case would move to a Senate trial in which a two-thirds vote would be required for conviction. Republicans won a two-thirds supermajority in the Senate in April.

WISCONSIN SENATE APPROVES 3 NEW CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS IN ELECTION SECURITY PUSH

Wolfe did not immediately return a message seeking comment Tuesday. In September, Wolfe accused Republican lawmakers who introduced the impeachment resolution of trying to “willfully distort the truth.”

Vos called for moving on from the 2020 election.

“We need to move forward and talk about the issues that matter to most Wisconsinites and that is not, for most Wisconsinites, obsessing about Meagan Wolfe,” Vos said.

The fight over who will oversee elections in the presidential battleground state has caused instability ahead of the 2024 presidential race for Wisconsin’s more than 1,800 local clerks who actually run elections. The issues Republicans have taken with Wolfe are centered around how she administered the 2020 presidential election and many are based in lies spread by Trump and his supporters.

President Joe Biden defeated Trump in 2020 by nearly 21,000 votes in Wisconsin, an outcome that has withstood two partial recounts, a nonpartisan audit, a conservative law firm’s review and multiple state and federal lawsuits.

The polls have closed in Virginia, where the battle for control of the state government has grabbed outsized national attention.

Unlike Kentucky and Mississippi, there’s no gubernatorial or any other statewide contests in Virginia. But the legislative elections in the Commonwealth may end up being the marquee ballot box showdown on Tuesday.

National Democrats and Republicans have spent millions on races for control of state House of Delegates and Senate, with the contests viewed in political circles as a key barometer ahead of the 2024 elections for president, control of Congress and key governorships.

Republicans won elections for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general in 2021 — the GOP’s first statewide victories in a dozen years — and they flipped the House. The victories in a state that had trended blue over the previous decade energized Republicans nationwide.

VIRGINIA’S LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS A CRUCIAL 2024 BAROMETER

Now, Gov. Glenn Youngkin aims to hold the GOP’s narrow majority in the state House and recapture control of the state Senate, where Democrats currently hold a fragile majority, to give Republicans nationwide another boost ahead of next year’s elections. And total control of the state legislature will give Youngkin the green light to pass a conservative agenda.

Youngkin embraced the national attention on his state’s legislative showdowns.

“I believe it should be a bellwether because Virginia leads,” he said in a Fox News Digital interview late last week. “I think we can lead and demonstrate that in a state that was lost, a state that was totally controlled by Democrats, we can in 24 short months come together — Republicans, independents, and, yes, some Democrats — and choose commonsense conservative leadership and policies that work.… I think other states should take notice.”

Strategists from both parties will be looking closely at the results in Virginia’s northern suburbs of Washington D.C., and around Richmond, for any signs that Republicans are able to make inroads with suburban voters — especially women — who fled the GOP in recent election cycles.

FIVE REASONS TO KEEP A CLOSE WATCH ON VIRGINIA’S 2023 ELEECTIONS

Virginia’s also a major testing ground for Republicans on the divisive issue of abortion.

The blockbuster move last year by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority to overturn the landmark nearly half-century-old Roe v. Wade ruling, which had allowed for legalized abortions nationwide, moved the divisive issue back to the states.

And it’s forced Republicans to play plenty of defense in elections across the country. A party that’s nearly entirely “pro-life” has had to deal with an electorate where a majority of Americans support at least some form of abortion access.

National and state Democrats have made abortion a crucial centerpiece in their push to get out the vote in Virginia.

While some Republicans have shied away from focusing on abortion, Youngkin has been leaning into the issue and is pushing a proposed 15-week abortion ban, with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.

“I just wanted us to be very clear about what we were going to do,” he told Fox News. And he argued that “the other side is really good about spreading non-truths. And, of course, what they want to do is make abortion available all the way up through and including birth, paid for with taxpayer money.”

Democrats want to keep in place the state’s current restrictions, which allow abortions through the second trimester. And they note that Virginia is the only southern state that doesn’t ban abortions.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Youngkin was on a mission to encourage Republicans to turn out in big numbers in the state’s early voting period ahead of Election Day.

“When Republicans vote, Republicans win. When we turn out, we win,” Youngkin emphasized at a rally in Norfolk on Thursday. “We’ve got to get the vote out.”

Youngkin’s push is shared by the Republican National Committee. Earlier this year, the RNC launched a nationwide “Bank Your Vote” campaign to encourage GOP voters to take part in early in-person voting and absentee balloting to close a gap with Democrats.

The Virginia elections will be the first major test of the GOP’s early voting effort.

While he is not on the ballot, Youngkin has become the face of Virginia’s legislative elections and has plenty riding on the results.

As a first-time candidate who hailed from the party’s business wing, Youngkin in 2021 edged former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe to become the first GOP candidate in a dozen years to win a gubernatorial election in Virginia.

His win instantly made Youngkin a rising star in the GOP who some pundits viewed as a possible 2024 White House contender.

A number of top conservative donors who don’t support former President Donald Trump — the current commanding front-runner in the GOP nomination race — this autumn have quietly increased their efforts to persuade Youngkin to run for the White House.

That pressure will vastly increase if the GOP takes total control of Virginia’s government.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones said Tuesday he wants to cut government regulations on businesses and give lawmakers more power over state agencies.

“We ought to be looking at ways to help businesses reduce burdensome regulations, and eliminate as much red tape as possible,” Jones, a Republican, said at a news conference at the Georgia Capitol alongside some Senate Republicans.

GEORGIA LT. GOV. BURT JONES HITS BACK AT ‘SICKENING’ INVESTIGATION TARGETING HIM, CONNECTION TO TRUMP CASE

Although some parts of his plans remain unclear, others are already in motion, including a bill that would make it easier for people convicted of crimes to get government occupational licenses. If passed, agencies could only disqualify applicants for certain serious crimes, or crimes related to that occupation. It would also require agencies to publish a list of those crimes, so someone pursuing a career would know in advance if an old conviction would disqualify them.

That proposal, Senate bill 157, passed the Senate 55-0 last year but stalled in the state House. Representatives could take it up again in January when the second year of Georgia’s two-year legislative term begins.

Senators are also considering plans to eliminate licenses for some fields or reduce license requirements.

“This disproportionately impacts lower income professions and drives up consumer costs,” said Sen. Larry Walker III, a Perry Republican. He specifically mentioned abolishing the requirement for certain makeup artists to get a state cosmetology license.

Jones wants to let lawmakers request an analysis of how much a proposed law would cost businesses, in much the same way they can currently request a fiscal note on how much a law would cost the state.

He is also looking to raise the threshold for special treatment of small businesses under state agency from 100 employees to 300. State law says small businesses are supposed to get easier compliance and reporting for rules that will cost them money, or be entirely exempt.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Jones also said he wants state lawmakers to have a stronger ability to oversee and review state agency regulations. Jones’ office did not respond to questions Tuesday about this part of his plan.

The announcement is one in a series Jones has made in advance of the 2024 legislative session as he seeks to build a conservative record that he would need if he runs for governor in 2026 against other Republicans. Jones has also called for paying teachers a $10,000 supplement in exchange for taking firearms training and called for restrictions on social media use by minors.

California Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff allegedly claimed a primary residence in Maryland for years despite his goal to represent Golden State residents in the Senate.

All while owning a 3,420-square-foot home in Maryland, Schiff has reportedly taken a homeowner’s tax exemption on a smaller 650-square-foot condo he owns and designates as his primary residence in Burbank, California.

By claiming his California home as his primary residence, Schiff was able to receive a $7,000 reduction in his property assessment – an estimated $70 in annual savings from property taxes, according to a CNN report. In California, each county collects a general property tax equal to 1% of the assessed value. Schiff, who announced his Senate ambition in January, did not take a similar exemption on his Maryland home.

Tax records reviewed by the outlet revealed Schiff paid his property taxes in California with a personal check featuring his Maryland address in 2017. The outlet’s review of past records and comments from the lawmaker, as well as photos shared to social media in recent history, also indicated Schiff has made his Maryland home his full-time residence.

SCHIFF, PORTER URGED TO DROP OUT OF CALIFORNIA SENATE RACE BECAUSE THEY’RE WHITE IN NAME OF ‘GENUINE EQUALITY’

Deed records also revealed Schiff designated his Maryland home his primary residence in 2003, the year he bought the home. Additionally, Schiff reportedly refinanced his mortgage and indicated that his Maryland home was his primary residence in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Los Angeles County deed records for Schiff’s California condo, which was purchased in 2009 for a little under $300,000, were notarized in Maryland, the outlet highlighted.

FETTERMAN HITS NEWSOM FOR NOT HAVING ‘GUTS’ TO ADMIT HE’S RUNNING SHADOW CAMPAIGN AGAINST BIDEN

One page of the deed reportedly replaced “California” and “Los Angeles” with “Maryland” and “Montgomery County.” The records also listed Schiff’s Maryland home as the return address.

A spokesperson for Schiff’s campaign told Fox News Digital the congressman’s primary residence is in California and that he and his family made the “difficult decision” to move to the D.C. area so he could spend more time with his children while serving in Congress.

“Adam’s primary residence is Burbank, California, and will remain so when he wins the Senate seat,” said Marisol Samayoa, a Schiff campaign spokesperson. 

“As Adam has discussed openly many times over the years, including in his recent New York Times best-selling book, he and Eve made the difficult decision to move their family to the D.C. area to spend more time with his children while doing his job — voting and representing the people of California’s 30th Congressional District.

“Members of Congress have to decide how best to balance work and family, and the Schiffs did exactly that. Adam’s constituents appreciate how devoted he is to both the responsibilities of his job and his family.”

The Schiff for Senate campaign also told Fox News Digital Schiff claimed both homes as primary residences due to “loan purposes.”

“Adam’s California and Maryland addresses have been listed as primary residences for loan purposes because they are both occupied throughout the year and to distinguish them from a vacation property,” his campaign said.

A 2010 to 2014 biography featured on Schiff’s campaign website at the time made no mention of the Maryland home and indicated Schiff and his family were “settled” in Burbank. In 2020, however, Schiff refinanced his mortgage and indicated that the Maryland residence was his second home.

A family photo shared on Schiff’s website in 2021, as highlighted in the report, matched the exterior of Schiff’s Potomac home in Maryland. Additionally, several social media posts by Schiff in recent years suggested he still lives at his Maryland home.

In a June 2022 photo shared by Schiff on social media, the congressman posed with an “I Voted” sticker in front of his Maryland home on the day of the Democratic primary in the Los Angeles mayor’s race.

Under California law, to qualify for a homeowner’s exemption, the “dwelling must be the person’s true, fixed and permanent home and principal establishment to which he/she, whenever absent, intends to return.” Certain factors used to determine if someone lives in the state include “in-state presence, vehicle registration, voter registration, bank accounts, and state income tax filings.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Several lawmakers have faced scrutiny in recent years for living in certain states and representing others at the federal level, including former Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, a Republican.

The residency revelations surrounding Schiff, who served as the lead House impeachment manager for former President Donald Trump’s first trial in the Senate, come as he prepares to take on stiff competition in the California Senate race. Democratic representatives Katie Porter and Barbara Lee of California also announced this year they would make a run for the seat.

The Supreme Court appears inclined to uphold a federal law banning guns from those subject to domestic violence restraining orders (DVROs), in the first major test of the Second Amendment at the high court this term. 

In oral argument Tuesday, justices on both sides of the ideological spectrum seemed to agree with the Biden administration that there was a history and tradition of keeping firearms from dangerous people, despite the lack of any specific ban that may have been in place when the Constitution was enacted in the 1790.

The court’s ruling in the case, U.S. v. Rahimi, could have major implications for several gun rights measures working their way through the legal system, and in state legislatures. 

It could also affect current cases dealing with whether current and former drug users can similarly be denied gun ownership – like that of Hunter Biden. The president’s son plans to challenge a pending federal indictment after allegedly lying on a federal registration form in 2018 about his drug addiction when buying a firearm. 

SUPREME COURT AGREES TO HEAR CHALLENGES TO BUMP STOCK BAN, NEW YORK’S FINANCIAL ‘BLACKLISTING’ OF NRA

The case before the court stems from a lawsuit involving a Texas man, Zackey Rahimi, who – under a DVRO – argued he still had a right to keep a gun for self-protection. Rahimi was charged with separate state offenses that began with the 2019 physical assault of his ex-girlfriend, and later another woman by use of firearms.

Despite some concerns about its application, a majority of justices appear to be convinced by large parts of the federal government’s argument. 

“It’s so obvious that people who have guns pose a great danger to others, and you don’t give guns to people who have the kind of history of domestic violence that your client has or to the mentally ill,” Justice Elena Kagan told the lawyer for the Texas defendant. “I’m asking you to clarify your argument because you seem to be running away from it because you can’t stand what the consequences of it are.”

But Chief Justice John Roberts worried that disarming people deemed “irresponsible” could deprive some law-abiding citizens of their rights. 

“It seems to me that the problem with ‘responsibility’ is that it’s extremely broad, and what seems irresponsible to some people might seem like, well, that’s not a big deal to others.”

A Texas court in a civil proceeding found Rahimi had “committed family violence,” then granted his former girlfriend a protective order that included suspension of Rahimi’s gun license. Court records show he was warned gun possession under the protective order would be a federal offense.

GOP AG HOPEFUL SUPREME COURT WILL BLOCK BIDEN ADMIN FROM ‘WORST FIRST AMENDMENT’ BREACHES IN HISTORY

After Rahimi repeatedly violated the order, including approaching the victim and threatening her, he was also accused of firing a gun in public in five different locations within a span of weeks. Police then searched his residence and found handgun, rifle and ammunition.

While contesting some of the allegations against him, he pleaded guilty to a violation of federal law for later possessing a handgun despite an earlier restraining order, but then appealed.

The 5th Circuit U.S Court of Appeals ruled for Rahimi, saying the federal restriction was unconstitutional since there was no historical analog justifying the burden on individual self-defense rights.

But even the conservative Roberts expressed concern over Rahimi’s record. 

“Well, to the extent that’s pertinent, you don’t have any doubt that your client’s a dangerous person, do you?” Roberts asked Rahimi’s lawyer. When Matthew Wright demurred, Roberts jumped in.

“Well, it means someone who’s shooting at people. That’s a good start” he said to nervous laughter in the court.

Outside the court Tuesday morning, hundreds of demonstrators gathered, most supporting tighter guns restrictions.

This case comes to the justices less than two weeks after the deadliest mass shooting in the United States this year. Eighteen innocents were killed, 13 others wounded in Lewiston, Maine, by a lone gunman.

During almost 100 minutes of tense oral arguments, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said a woman who lives in a house with a domestic abuser is five times more likely to be murdered if the abuser has access to a gun.

SUPREME COURT SIDES WITH BIDEN, BLOCKS JUDGE’S ORDER ALLOWING ‘GHOST GUN’ SALES

“As this court has said, all too often the only difference between a battered woman and a dead woman is the presence of a gun,” said Prelogar. “Throughout our nation’s history, legislatures have disarmed those who have committed serious criminal conduct or whose access to guns poses a danger.”

Justice Clarence Thomas – the author of last year’s landmark ruling expanding gun rights outside the home – suggested it may be too easy for state courts to deny a gun to someone in a civil proceeding, absent a criminal conviction. But the issue before the high court was the federal prohibition on gun ownership for restraining order violators.

“We’re assuming dangerousness or irresponsibility. Take your pick,” said Thomas. “And we are – we have a very thin record, and I’m trying to get a sense of what actually happened in this case.”

A major question was whether there was a precise analog now to the 18th-century legal concept of domestic violence and gun rights – that would give modern-day legislatures and courts the discretion to limit gun possession for those deemed dangerous or irresponsible.

“I guess I’m a little troubled by having a history and traditions test that also requires some sort of culling of the history so that only certain people’s history counts,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said. “So what do we do with that? Isn’t that a flaw with respect to the test” established in the high court’s recent precedent.

“I’m so confused, because I thought your argument was that there was no history or tradition” to deprive Rahimi of a gun, said Justice Amy Coney Barrett. “But now it kind of sounds like your objection is just to the process.”

Barrett also questioned why Rahimi was challenging his disarmament judgment in the DVRO, but not the fact his handgun license was also suspended.

A decision in the DVRO case is expected to be narrow in scope, focusing only on whether the Second Amendment protects those considered a danger to society.

That could do little to aid lower federal courts, which have struggled to develop a framework for deciding a range of legal challenges in the wake of the 2022 high court precedent, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“There seems to be a fair bit of division and a fair bit of confusion about what ‘Bruen’ means and what ‘Bruen’ requires in the lower courts,” said Kagan.

The high court is already prepared for more such disputes, agreeing last week to decide the constitutionality of another federal gun regulation – a Trump-era ban on gun attachments known as “bump stocks” that make semi-automatic weapons fire like machine guns.

A decision in U.S. v. Rahimi is expected by next summer. 

Florida’s chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis, suggested providing public funding for former President Trump’s legal defense to fight “liberal prosecutors” as he battles fraud allegations.

Patronis floated the proposal on Monday amid Trump’s civil fraud trial that stemmed from a lawsuit brought against him, his family and his businesses by New York Attorney General Letitia James. 

“Why not provide public funding for a Presidential nominee (who’s a Floridian) when DOJ is after them?” Patronis posted on X. “Are we really going to deny one of our own a fair shot against a witch hunt? We didn’t start this, Biden and liberal prosecutors did. They’re ones trying to deny a fair election.”

James, a Democrat, brought a civil lawsuit against Trump last year, alleging he and his company misled banks and others about the value of his assets. 

SOROS FAMILY AND OTHER HIGH-PROFILE MEGADONORS HELPED FUEL THE POLITICAL CAREER OF NEW YORK AG SUING TRUMP

James claimed that Trump’s children – Donald Jr. Ivanka and Eric – as well as his associates and businesses committed “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” on their financial statements and wants a $250 million penalty imposed on Trump’s businesses.

Trump testified on the stand Monday and said James is “trying to hurt” him for “political reasons” while denouncing the “very unfair” and unprecedented non-jury civil fraud trial.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly said his assets were undervalued. He has expressed his financial statements had disclaimers, requesting that the banks evaluate the numbers.

Throughout the process, Trump has labeled James a “radical-left attorney general.”

ERIC TRUMP TESTIFIES HE HAD ‘NO INVOLVEMENT’ IN TRUMP ORGANIZATION’S STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL CONDITION

“The Attorney General filed this case under a consumer protection statute that denies the right to a jury,” a Trump spokesperson previously said.

“There was never an option to choose a jury trial. It is unfortunate that a jury won’t be able to hear how absurd the merits of this case are and conclude no wrongdoing ever happened.” 

New York City Judge Arthur Engoron is presiding over Trump’s case and wields unique authority. It is a jury-free bench trial, with Engoron overseeing it and ultimately determining its outcome and penalties. 

The former president has dismissed Engoron as a “Democrat” and an “operative.” 

Engoron, meanwhile, has exclusively donated to Democrats in the past.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Last month, Engoron ruled that Trump and the Trump Organization committed fraud while building his real estate empire by deceiving banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.