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FIRST ON FOX: In observance of Memorial Day, country stars, veterans and lawmakers will host a candlelight ceremony to mark America’s 250th birthday at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia Monday.

“Memorial Day is a sacred reminder that freedom is never free. We honor the brave men and women who gave their lives defending America and its founding principles that we hold dear,” said the event’s master of ceremonies, Veteran Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, to Fox News Digital. “Their sacrifice is the foundation of American freedom, and we thank God for their courage.” 

Organizers shared event details and rendering with Fox News Digital for a national celebration honoring America’s heroes during a pivotal year bringing together country music stars and officials.

“Set against the sacred grounds of Arlington National Cemetery, the evening will serve as a powerful national tribute to America’s fallen heroes through storytelling, music, remembrance, and reflection,” said Freedom250, the nonpartisan group helping coordinate the broader America250 effort, said in a press release.

TRUMP LAUNCHES MASSIVE ‘FREEDOM 250’ PUSH TO IGNITE AMERICA’S 250TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Grammy Award-winning country music artist Gretchen Wilson will take the stage to perform.

“I am overwhelmed to have been asked to honor the fallen heroes and their families this Memorial Day. What a sacred place, I pray I do it justice,” said Wilson.

A newly released rendering shared first with Fox News Digital showed an aerial view of the amphitheater where the event will take place.

COUNTRY SINGER CRAIG MORGAN SAYS HE’S NOT DONE SERVING AFTER ARMY RESERVE PROMOTION AT 61

The program will honor Medal of Honor recipient, West Point graduate and Vietnam prisoner of war Capt. Humbert “Rocky” Versace, highlighting his faith, leadership and resilience during his time in captivity.

The evening will also honor Capt. Daniel W. Eggers, a U.S. Army Special Forces officer, Green Beret and Citadel graduate who was killed in Afghanistan while serving alongside Afghan commandos in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, Fox News Digital learned. 

Eggers was remembered for his humility, courage and unwavering commitment to his fellow soldiers, said Freedom250 in a press release.

MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT REMEMBERS SERGEANT MAJOR KILLED IN IRAQ: ‘WE WERE GOING TO AVENGE THAT MAN’

Veteran and national security leader Jason Beardsley, Medal of Honor recipient Maj. Gen. Patrick Henry Brady, noted historian Dr. Mark Moyar and members of the Eggers family are expected to share personal reflections on military service, sacrifice and the lasting human cost of freedom during the evening’s tribute.

“Memorial Day is about more than remembrance,” said Jason Beardsley, a veteran of the United States Navy and Army Special Operations Forces, said in the press release. “It is about preserving the legacy of those who gave everything for this country and ensuring future generations understand the true cost of freedom.”

There will also be a wreath-laying and National Memorial Day Observance both streamed live.

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The wreath laying pre-program will additionally have a performance by veteran and country singer Craig Morgan.

The candlelight tribute will begin at 8:30 p.m. ET on Monday and conclude at 10:00 p.m. ET.

California Republican gubernatorial frontrunner Steve Hilton blasted Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom for “fear mongering” after the governor suggested he had a contingency plan if Democrats appeared at risk of being shut out of the general election.

California’s primary election is just two weeks away, and under the state’s jungle primary system — where the top two vote-getters advance regardless of party — both Democrats and Republicans fear they won’t be represented in the general election.

Newsom expressed his concern about a Republican shutdown last Thursday during a news conference, explaining that he has a “break the glass scenario” to ensure Democrats aren’t “locked out.”

“There’s many people that have a deep understanding of what it would look like if Democrats were locked out, and we’re going to do everything to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Newsom said. “I’ll leave it there.”

JOY REID BLASTS CA DEMS FOR LETTING GOP CONTENDERS TAKE LEAD IN GOVERNOR’S RACE

Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom’s office for further comment.

Hilton claimed that Newsom’s comments were a tactic to split Republican voters between himself and Republican candidate Chad Bianco.

“He’s not trying to stop a ‘top two Republican’ outcome because that is not possible and never was,” Hilton said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Chad Bianco is far behind in the polls and fundraising, and has no chance of being in the top two.”

GOP CANDIDATE BIANCO’S TWO-WORD JAB AT KATIE PORTER DRAWS GASPS FROM CALIFORNIA DEBATE AUDIENCE

RealClearPolitics’ polling averages show Hilton leading the pack of candidates, with Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra in a close second. Meanwhile, Bianco trails in fourth place.

Hilton argued it would be Newsom’s “ideal scenario” to have two Democrats facing off, saying it would deflect attention from Newsom’s “appalling record” as he eyes a 2028 presidential run.

“Newsom and the Democrats are fearmongering over a R vs R matchup in the general election precisely to encourage Republicans to split their votes, thus guaranteeing an all-Democrat top two,” Hilton said in a statement for Fox News Digital.

In a video posted to X on Tuesday, Hilton called on his Republican opponent Bianco to drop out of the race, in an effort to ensure a Republican is on the ballot.

Political strategists have said there is a valid fear among both Democrats and Republicans that their party could be shut out of the general election due to the jungle primary system, which went into effect after voters approved it in a statewide referendum in 2010.

“This is really the first gubernatorial election where there’s no obvious winner, so that’s why it’s such a tense thing,” Richard Winger, owner of Ballot Access News, told Fox News Digital.

Winger and former Democratic state Sen. Dario Frommer pointed to other races where the seat was open and two candidates of the same party were running against each other in the general election.

“The Republicans were shut out in the California U.S. Senate primary in 2018 when the top two vote getters were Kamala Harris and Rep. Linda Sanchez, and there have been other races where either Republicans or Democrats were shut out of the general election because of the top two,” Frommer, who is now a legislative strategist, told Fox News Digital.

“I think early on there was genuine, genuine concern of the Democratic party, because there were so many Democratic candidates that Hilton and Bianco were going to be the top two vote getters,” Frommer told Fox News Digital. “Now that’s changed a bit.”

Frommer said that, based on current polling, the top two vote-getters appear likely to be Hilton, Becerra, and Democratic candidate Tom Steyer.

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But at the same time Frommer said Democrats aren’t in the clear either.

“Usually, there’s a lot more people overall voting by this point, and they’re not, and so I think that concern is real for Democrats, that people wait too long to fill out their ballots, and there’s only two Republican candidates,” Frommer told Fox News Digital.

The fear of either party being shut out of the general election this fall has prompted Democratic strategist Steven Maviglio to organize a ballot initiative campaign to eliminate the jungle primary system, a measure that could appear on the 2028 ballot.

“I think if two Republicans make the ballot, or if two Democrats make the ballot, then voter outrage will be high, and that will only focus on just what a failed experiment this is,” Maviglio said of the jungle primary system.

After Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., lost the Republican U.S. House primary in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District to President Donald Trump-backed challenger Ed Gallrein on Tuesday, former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene declared that the future of the GOP had been “destroyed.”

“I am proud and thankful to have served in the U.S. House of Representatives with my friend Thomas Massie, a giant among weak pathetic men. Releasing the Epstein files was our demise. But it was worth every single bit because now everyone knows the truth. You are ruled by the Epstein class that cares nothing about you and your elected leaders are bought and controlled by a foreign lobby,” she wrote in a post on X.

“Tonight the future of the Republican Party was destroyed. The Real America First Movement will rise led by the younger generations, who hate the old guard with an unquenchable passion. Let us pray that we have a country left by the time these creatures are gone,” Greene added.

TRUMP-BACKED NAVY SEAL VET DELIVERS MAJOR BLOW TO MASSIE IN FIERY GOP PRIMARY

Massie fired back at GOP Rep. Erin Houchin of Indiana after the congresswoman wrote in a post on X, “Happy to deliver the news to President @realDonaldTrump the results from the KY Primary and his defeat of Thomas Massie. Well done, @TeamTrump! Congratulations @EdGallrein!” 

“How do his boots taste?” Massie replied.

The congressman began his concession speech by saying, “I would’ve come out sooner but I had to call my opponent and concede and it took awhile to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv.”

HEGSETH UNLEASHES ON MASSIE IN GOP PRIMARY SHOWDOWN AGAINST TRUMP-BACKED NAVY SEAL VET

Republican Rep. Randy Fine of Florida posted a graphic that depicted Massie with large tears and labeled the lawmaker a “LOSER.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. declared in a post on X that “The power of Donald Trump is real.”

“Congratulations to Ed Gallrein for an amazing victory against serious opposition. I believe he will bring a lot to the U.S House of Representatives. He is a warrior and businessman — someone who has truly sacrificed for our nation,” Graham wrote. 

TRUMP CALLS OUT REP THOMAS MASSIE: ‘KENTUCKY, GET THIS LOSER OUT OF POLITICS’ TUESDAY

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“As to Rep. Massie, we had many differences but I always admired the fact that he stayed true to his beliefs and fought for his causes. I wish him and his family well,” the senator added.

One of the nation’s most narrowly divided swing congressional districts chose its Democratic nominee Tuesday evening, as Bob Brooks was projected to win in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District.

The contested primary brought Democratic Party divisions front and center, featuring firefighters union boss Bob Brooks — endorsed by both Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. — former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell, Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure and EMILY’s List-endorsed candidate Carol Obando-Derstine, who is seen as the preferred pick of the district’s last Democratic representative, former Rep. Susan Wild of Allentown.

Brooks received several high-profile endorsements from Shapiro, Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis and top state Democrats, including House Majority Leader Matt Bradford of Skippack and Sen. Vincent Hughes of Northwest Philadelphia.

TRUMP PLEDGES ‘AMERICA’S NEW GOLDEN AGE’ AS HE RALLIES IN PA’S POST-INDUSTRIAL THIRD-LARGEST CITY

Brooks also earned the endorsement of the mayor of the area’s largest city — Allentown, the third-largest city in the commonwealth.

Meanwhile, McClure — the only current local officeholder in the race — did not immediately gain traction against Brooks.

Brooks appeared to weather intraparty controversy after old social media posts expressing more moderate or conservative views resurfaced — including one using an off-color sexual term to describe former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick for criticizing law enforcement during the BLM era.

FIRM THAT PROPELLED MAMDANI TO VICTORY IN NY LOOKS TO UNSEAT HOUSE GOP MEMBERS IN PA

Crosswell was born in nearby Schuylkill County but for many years worked in Washington for the Justice Department. He was one of several prosecutors who resigned in protest of the Trump administration dropping a federal probe into former New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Adams has since become less critical of the right and has often dinged his successor, Zohran Mamdani, on social media.

The district’s tri-city hub of Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton — known locally as “A.B.E.” or “The Valley” — has a blue-collar history that has at times entered the national consciousness through Billy Joel’s famous anthem about Bethlehem Steel and other firms “closing all the factories down,” while the now-blighted SteelStacks often serve as both a backdrop for what once was and a rallying call for politicians pushing what comes next.

That “next” has included a wave of new warehouses and firms dedicated to interstate commerce, along with growth tied to the tech sector.

GOP CHALLENGER UNSEATS REP. SUSAN WILD IN PENNSYLVANIA

Farmland in the northern part of the district is gradually being developed into homes and warehouses — to the chagrin of many longtime residents — as an influx of people from higher-tax New Jersey and New York, along with the area’s changing socioeconomic makeup, brings more liberal and progressive voters into a once “Reagan Democrat”-style region rooted in agriculture and union labor.

The district’s current boundaries still reflect that contrast, as the farther north one travels, the more rural, agrarian or forested — and conservative — the area becomes. Wild drew criticism twice for appearing to insult the Trump-supporting swath of Carbon County, the only one of the district’s three counties entirely within the 7th Congressional District to vote for Mackenzie in 2024.

The Republican in the race, Rep. Ryan Mackenzie of Lower Macungie, was a state representative in western Lehigh County for many years before upsetting Wild by one percentage point in 2024.

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Mackenzie has since drawn praise from President Donald Trump and criticism from the left, whose protesters often gather outside his office and spill onto busy Cedar Crest Boulevard in southwest Allentown.

As the House GOP’s narrow majority hangs in the balance, it remains to be seen which side is energized enough to turn out for its candidate in a race the nation will be watching closely.

The quest to find the one candidate that can beat Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., isn’t quite over yet, with a runoff between a political outsider and an experienced lawmaker teed up for next month. 

Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., and former college football coach Derek Dooley are headed to a runoff election on June 16 in a state of particular political consequence for either party hoping to keep or gain power in the Senate.

The contest comes after a bruising primary between Collins, Dooley, and Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., and a battle that President Donald Trump has so far avoided. 

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His endorsement, as in other races, could make or break either Collins’ or Dooley’s chances moving forward.

Dooley has embraced the outsider moniker, arguing that he would side with Trump in ways that benefit Georgians. 

“As your Senator, I’ll never forget that you’re the boss and D.C. politicians need accountability,” Dooley said on X. “Term limits. Ban insider trading. End government shutdowns. I’ll fight to end politics as usual in Washington.”

Collins has heavily leaned into his MAGA bonafides in trying to court the president to back him in the race.

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“Georgia needs the right Republican to take on Jon Ossoff,” Collins said on X. “Someone who’s delivered, has the conservative record to prove it, and had President Trump’s back when it mattered most.”

But for Ossoff’s campaign, it doesn’t matter which opponent they face in November. 

“Regardless of which Trump puppet makes it out of this messy and brutal GOP primary, they will be bruised and terminally inseparable from the toxic president,” Ossoff campaign spokesperson Ellie Doughtery told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Meanwhile, the juggernaut Ossoff campaign will continue building insurmountable momentum to win decisively in November.”

While Trump has stayed out of the race, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who Republicans heavily lobbied to run for the Senate until he ultimately declined, has weighed in.

Kemp threw his support behind Dooley, a family friend that he believes can bring a shake-up to the GOP establishment, given his lack of political experience.

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“I want to win our Senate seat back,” Kemp said before Election Day. “We haven’t done so well in U.S. Senate races here in the state of Georgia in the last several cycles, and we have one more opportunity to try to get one of our Senate seats back. And we got to have the right person to do that.”

The runoff could turn into another political battle between Kemp and Trump, who have sparred since the 2020 election. And Dooley and Collins would act as surrogates in the back and forth should the president decide to get involved. 

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Meanwhile, Democrats are confident that Ossoff will hold on to his seat despite being the only Senate Democratic incumbent running for re-election in a state Trump won in 2024. But the infighting among Republicans and Ossoff’s battle-tested track record have encouraged Democrats that they can win in November.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who, like Ossoff, beat an incumbent and again won against a Trump-backed opponent in 2023, had some advice for Republicans hours before polls closed. 

“I want to offer a word of encouragement,” Warnock told Fox News Digital of the GOP’s infighting. “They should keep that up.”

Gov. Brad Little, R-Idaho, is one step closer to a third term after vanquishing a crowded field of challengers on Tuesday.

Little defeated seven opponents in Idaho’s Republican gubernatorial primary, according to The Associated Press.

He was backed by President Donald Trump, who gave the incumbent his “complete and total endorsement,” before he publicly announced his re-election decision.

Several Republicans challenged Little from the right, including retired police officer Mark Fitzpatrick. The lesser-known candidate faced scrutiny over his comments toward members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — an important constituency in the state.

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Little supported a bill earlier this year imposing criminal penalties on transgender people who decide to use a bathroom or locker room that does not correspond with their biological sex. The ban extends to private businesses, making it one of the most far-reaching bathroom laws in the country.

The two-term governor also recently signed a bill into law blocking public schools from supporting certain teachers’ union activities with taxpayer dollars.

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He ran his re-election campaign largely on deregulation, school choice and tax cuts.

Little, who previously served as a member of the Idaho State Senate and lieutenant governor, was first elected in 2018.

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The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates Little’s re-election contest as “solid Republican,” meaning the race is not expected to be competitive. 

The Republican-heavy state has not elected a Democrat as governor since 1990. Trump won Idaho by roughly 36 points in 2024.

Vernon Jones and Tim Fleming are heading to a runoff after neither claimed at least 50% of the vote in Georgia’s Republican primary for secretary of state on Tuesday.

The Republican field included Jones, Fleming, Gabriel Sterling, Kelvin King and Ted Metz, while Democrats Cam Ashling, Dana Barrett, Adrian Consonery Jr. and Penny Brown Reynolds competed for their party’s nomination for Georgia’s top election officer.

The race underscored how disputes stemming from the 2020 presidential election, including claims from President Donald Trump that the contest was stolen, continue to shape debates over voting laws and election security years later.

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The winner of the runoff on June 16 will advance to the general election in November, where control of the office overseeing voter registration, election certification and ballot administration is expected to remain a closely watched issue in one of the nation’s most competitive battleground states.

Sterling, Georgia’s former chief operating officer in the secretary of state’s office, entered the race with statewide name recognition after publicly defending Georgia’s handling of the 2020 election.

Jones, a former Democratic state lawmaker turned Trump ally, campaigned as a staunch supporter of the president and emerged as a fierce critic of the state’s election system.

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King is a general contractor who previously ran for U.S. Senate and is married to State Election Board member and conservative commentator Janelle King.

Fleming previously worked in the secretary of state’s office when current Republican Gov. Brian Kemp held the position. The former chairman of the Georgia Republican Party pitched himself as a conservative focused on tightening election procedures.

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Metz, the Libertarian Party’s 2022 gubernatorial nominee, also joined the GOP primary field.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who drew national attention after rejecting efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election results, is running for governor.

This is a developing story. Check back for the latest election results and updates.

Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, moved one step closer to a fourth Senate term after trouncing two GOP challengers in a primary contest Tuesday evening.

Risch, 83, comfortably won Idaho’s Republican primary shortly after polls closed, the Associated Press reported.

He was endorsed by President Donald Trump, who has cruised to victory in the solidly Republican state every time he has appeared on the ballot since 2016. 

The Idaho Republican is chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which has jurisdiction over the State Department and approves all ambassador appointments.

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That perch has put Risch at the center of Senate debates over Trump’s war in Iran, the military intervention in Venezuela and continued arms sales to Israel, among other hot-button topics.

He was first elected to the upper chamber in 2009 and previously served as the state’s governor and lieutenant governor.

The Idaho contest is one of more than a dozen Republican-held Senate seats this year that are not considered competitive. 

Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the upper chamber. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is attempting a long-shot bid to flip control in November’s midterm elections that would require Democrats to pick up four GOP-held seats.

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David Roth, a realtor who has previously run for statewide office, won the Democratic nomination.

Former state Rep. Todd Achilles, another candidate in the race, is running as an independent. Achilles is a former Democratic legislator who resigned from the state legislature to challenge Risch.

Idaho has not elected a Democrat to the upper chamber in more than half a century.

Former state House Minority Leader Christine Drazan won Oregon’s Republican primary for governor on Tuesday, emerging from a crowded field of candidates seeking the chance to flip the governor’s mansion in a state Democrats have controlled for nearly four decades.

The Republican field included former Portland Trail Blazers player and businessman Chris Dudley, state Rep. Ed Diehl and Marion County Commissioner Danielle Bethell.

2026 MIDTERMS: PRIMARIES, KEY RACES AND ELECTION RESULTS

Drazan entered the race as one of the best-known Republicans in the state following her close 2022 loss to Kotek.

Diehl focused his campaign on lowering taxes and reducing state spending, while Bethell emphasized homelessness, public safety and government accountability.

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Dudley, a 16-year NBA veteran, campaigned as a political outsider with backing from prominent Oregon business figures, including Nike co-founder Phil Knight.

Republicans in the race focused heavily on homelessness, public safety, drug policy and the high cost of living, arguing Democratic leadership in Salem and Portland has failed to adequately address those issues.

The GOP has not won an Oregon governor’s race since 1982, but the Republican Party believes voter frustration over crime, homelessness and affordability could make the race more competitive this midterm cycle.

Drazan will now face incumbent Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek in November.

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Kotek has faced criticism over homelessness, including rising unsheltered populations and struggles to expand housing capacity, as well as education and transportation funding, though she drew little opposition in her bid for a second term.

Gov. Brad Little, R-Idaho, will face Democratic candidate Terri Pickens in November as he vies for a third term.

Pickens, a private practice attorney and small business owner, edged out several challengers in the state’s Democratic gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, The Associated Press reported.

She faces an uphill battle in a Republican-heavy state that has not elected a Democratic governor in 36 years.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report, a leading election forecaster, rates Little’s re-election bid as “Solid Republican.”

IDAHO GOV BRAD LITTLE COMMENDS BOISE STATE VOLLEYBALL FOR FORFEITING PLAYOFF MATCH VS SJSU AND TRANS ATHLETE

Pickens previously ran as the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2022, when she lost to Republican candidate Scott Bedke by 34 points. Bedke is the state’s current lieutenant governor and is running for another term.

Little, who won the state’s GOP primary, is endorsed by President Donald Trump and is expected to cruise to the general election.

Former Idaho Supreme Court Justice John Stegner has also launched a bid to unseat Little as an independent.

IDAHO BECOMES FIRST STATE TO PREFER DEATH BY FIRING SQUAD FOR EXECUTIONS

Little, a rancher who previously served in the state Senate and as lieutenant governor, has embraced deregulation, increased public education funding and tax relief in his bid for a third term.

He defeated a crowded field of GOP candidates on Tuesday, including former police officer Mark Fitzpatrick, who challenged him from the right.

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Little recently signed into legislation a law cracking down on transgender individuals using bathrooms that do not correspond with their biological sex. Idaho’s law is one of the most stringent in the country because it applies to private businesses in addition to public property.

Zach Dembo, a former U.S. attorney and Kentucky policy advisor, won a primary on Tuesday evening in a bid to fill Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District seat.

Although they now have their candidate, Democrats will face an uphill road to a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the November general election to replace outgoing Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., after a longtime physician backed by President Donald Trump won his Republican primary Tuesday evening.

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Ralph Alvarado, a Kentucky state senator, who was called a “true friend” by Trump in a recent endorsement, won his primary.

Dembo began his career as an eighth grade English teacher before going on to law school and serving in the United States Navy Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, according to his website. In 2017, he spent some time as a federal prosecutor and then was tapped by Gov. Beshear to become a policy advisor and legislative director.

Dembo cited Trump’s weaponization of the Justice Department as the catalyst that prompted him to pursue office.

“When Donald Trump started using your justice department to go after his political enemies, I resigned,” Dembo said in a campaign video.

“Our system is broken.”

Dembo had raised just shy of a million dollars as of the end of April — $956,000, according to FEC records.

ANDY BARR MULLS SENATE BID, SAYS ‘IT’S TIME FOR KENTUCKY TO HAVE A US SENATOR WHO SUPPORTS PRESIDENT TRUMP’

Notably, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear didn’t make an endorsement in the Democratic primary for Kentucky 6th Congressional district.

Democrats face steep odds in November’s general election; Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District has leaned heavily Republican in the past. Its incumbent, Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., last won reelection in 2024 in a 63% to 37% victory over Democratic challenger Randy Cravens.

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Barr, who has represented Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District since 2013, is pursuing a seat in the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy of outgoing former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

McConnell, 84, is retiring.

Doug Jones, the former Democratic senator in Alabama, on Tuesday won the Democratic nomination for governor, the Associated Press reports.

It’s been nearly three decades since a Democrat won a gubernatorial election in solidly red Alabama. You’ve got to go back to former Gov. Don Siegelman’s 1998 victory.

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Jones will now face a steep uphill climb to defeat Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who easily captured the Republican nomination, in the race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Kay Ivey.

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Tuberville, a top Senate ally of President Donald Trump, is backed by the president as he runs for Alabama governor.

President Donald Trump’s endorsement wasn’t enough to carry Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones to outright victory in the Republican primary race to succeed term-limited conservative Gov. Brian Kemp.

But the president’s backing did help Jones advance to a runoff in the race for the GOP nomination in the crucial southeastern battleground state.

Jones and healthcare executive and billionaire businessman Rick Jackson were the top two finishers in Tuesday’s GOP gubernatorial primary in Georgia, the Associated Press reports. Since no candidate topped 50% of the vote to secure a majority, Jones and Jackson now advance to a June 16 runoff.

The large field of eight Republican candidates also included state Attorney General Chris Carr and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

Jones, a former captain of the University of Georgia football team, an oil executive and heir to the Jones Petroleum Company, served as a state senator before winning election in 2022 as lieutenant governor. A major Trump supporter, he was endorsed by the president last August.

“The president is still very popular, and here in the state of Georgia, he’s got an unbelievable approval rating,” Jones told Fox News Digital last week.

Pointing to Trump, Jones emphasized that “he and I have a long standing relationship — friendship — and I’ve always been a big supporter of his, and he’s a very big supporter of mine, as well.”

Jackson, who launched his gubernatorial campaign in February and has spent more than $80 million of his own money on behalf of his bid, says Trump inspired him to run.

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“I just thought, you know, if you had somebody doing business solutions for the state of Georgia, just like Trump is for the United States, I just felt like I would have a major impact on the state of Georgia, and so that was one of the reasons I wanted to get in. I was inspired by President Trump,” Jackson told Fox News Digital.

Jackson was unknown to Georgia voters a few months ago, but thanks to an avalanche of ads, his story of building a business empire despite growing up in foster care and not being able to afford college is now well known in the Peach State.

And Jackson is running as an outsider.

“I’m confident that at the end of the day that the people are going to vote for me one way or the other, because they can see somebody that’s actually like Trump, not just endorsed. And from that standpoint, I think having an outsider is what our people want,” he said.

But Jones questions his rival’s support for the president, pointing to Jackson’s past donations to Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans as an example of his break from the MAGA wing of the party.

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“He’s been dishonest about who he is. He’s been dishonest about who he’s supported in the background,” Jones charged. “He’s actually, you know, portraying himself as something that he’s not.”

Jackson says the attacks on him are “just lies” and referring to Trump, adds, “I’m going to be his favorite governor.”

In one of the most crowded Republican Senate primaries in the country, President Donald Trump’s thumb on the scale proved the difference maker. 

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., came out on top of an 11-person bar fight in Kentucky, teeing him up for a showdown in November to replace retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., a one-time ally-turned-thorn in Trump’s side.

Though it’s a race overshadowed by another contest, where Trump is the driving factor in the state, it’s still significant, given that Barr and his Democratic opponent will be at the forefront of change in the political status quo of the Bluegrass state. 

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Whoever comes out on top in November will replace McConnell, the longest-serving Republican leader in Senate history, who has been a political force and polarizing figure during his decades in the upper chamber.

But like so many races during this and previous cycles in the Trump era, the president was the main factor on the Republican side. And Barr’s bid for the upper chamber after serving seven terms in the House was spurred by a late endorsement from Trump earlier this month. 

“We did have a lead before the endorsement,” Barr said during a campaign event on Monday. “Our lead has skyrocketed since then in the polling that we’re looking at, but we don’t take anything for granted.” 

TRUMP SAYS HE ‘CAN’T STAND’ SOME REPUBLICANS FOR REFUSING ONE KEY MOVE FOR HIS AGENDA

It helped him topple his main opponent, former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who remained confident that even without Trump’s coveted endorsement, he could still win.

“I think people are tired of the games that are played in Washington and want somebody that’s looking out for their interests,” Cameron told local news outlet WHAS11 before Election Day. 

Trump lauded Barr for his loyalty to him and added that he is the “only Candidate who will easily defeat the Democrat in what will be one of the most important Elections in American History.”  

REPUBLICANS FAIL TO ATTACH SAVE AMERICA ACT TO PARTY-LINE FUNDING PACKAGE

Trump also touted Barr as a strong supporter of eliminating the filibuster, the voting barrier that has derailed the GOP’s Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act.

The legislation has so far wallowed in the background in the upper chamber, thanks in part to Democrats’ strong objections to it and a lack of support among Republicans to pass it. Last month, a version of the SAVE America Act failed to gain enough Republican support at a simple 50-vote threshold. 

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“He will do everything in his power to get it done,” Trump said. “It is desperately needed by the Republican Party to pass the SAVE AMERICA ACT, and all other things necessary for a strong and brilliant Country!”

President Donald Trump’s Justice Department is expected to indict former Cuban President Raul Castro on Wednesday, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital.

Fox News additionally learned that a scheduled press conference in Miami on Wednesday is in connection with efforts to indict the former communist leader Raul Castro, per law enforcement sources familiar with the situation.

When asked whether Castro would be indicted, a DOJ Office of Public Affairs Director Emily Covington told Fox News Digital the department would not “comment on rumors.”

Castro, 94, is the younger brother of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Raul Castro served as Cuba’s president from 2008 to 2018.

IF CUBA FALLS, WHO STEPS IN? CASTRO DYNASTY SHADOWS ISLAND’S FUTURE

Just the News’ John Soloman first reported the expected indictment on Real Americas Voice on Monday, saying the indictment would be unsealed Wednesday.

Any indictment would require approval from a federal grand jury.

The White House referred Fox News Digital to the DOJ for comment on the matter.

Sources pointed Fox News Digital to a Department of Justice advisory Tuesday that announced a Miami press conference “in conjunction with a ceremony to honor the victims of the Brothers to the Rescue Murders of 1996.”

Cuban fighter jets shot down two civilian planes connected to a Miami-based Cuban exile group on Feb. 24, 1996, killing four men. The U.S. has long maintained the planes were in international airspace, with the incident becoming a major flashpoint in U.S.-Cuba relations.

FLORIDA LAUNCHES PROBE AFTER CUBA KILLS 4 ABOARD US-FLAGGED SPEEDBOAT NEAR KEYS

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quinones, FBI Deputy Director Christopher Raia, Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier are expected to attend Wednesday’s press conference in Miami.

The potential charges against Castro come after CIA Director John Ratcliffe met last Thursday with counterparts from Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior during a high-level visit to the island nation.

During his meeting Thursday, Ratcliffe met with Cuban officials including Raulito Rodriguez Castro, Interior Minister Lazaro Alvarez Casas and the head of Cuban intelligence services in Havana to “personally deliver President Trump’s message that the United States is prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes.”

CUBA SAYS CIA CHIEF RATCLIFFE MET WITH OFFICIALS IN HAVANA AMID US TENSIONS

Trump has joked the U.S. would be “taking over” Cuba “almost immediately.” “Cuba’s got problems. We’ll finish one first. I like to finish a job,” he added this month.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Sinkewicz and Fox New’s Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

A Senate Republican spurned by President Donald Trump joined Senate Democrats to handcuff his war powers in Iran and provided the key vote to advance a war powers resolution through a key hurdle. 

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who lost his primary bid over the weekend, sided with Senate Democrats in their war of attrition to curtail Trump’s policing powers in the Middle East. It comes after Democrats successfully gained another defector, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, last week. 

Democrats’ gambit finally worked after seven failed tries, with four Senate Republicans joining them to move the measure forward. But there is still a long way to go before the resolution becomes official. And even if it were to succeed, Democrats likely do not have a veto-proof coalition to counter Trump. 

While much of the focus in the upper chamber has shifted elsewhere, like to funding immigration enforcement for the next three-and-a-half years or Trump’s bombshell endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Democrats still plan to plow ahead with war powers resolution after another. 

SENATE DEMOCRATS FINALLY CRACK GOP UNITY ON TRUMP’S IRAN WAR AS MURKOWSKI FLIPS

And it comes after Trump declared that he postponed a “major attack” against Iran after allies in the region pressed for more time to continue negotiations. 

“Trump’s no closer to ending this war, no closer to bringing down the skyrocketing costs of this war, no closer to getting our troops out of harm’s way,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor.

“Senate Republicans must not continue to allow Trump to remain stuck in this never-ending loop of threats and failed negotiations,” he continued. 

CONGRESS IGNORES KEY DEADLINE AS REPUBLICANS READY ‘RESTRAINT’ ON TRUMP’S WAR IN IRAN

The previous small Republican coalition they built, however, held. Murkwoski, Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, joined Schumer and Democrats to support the move.

Murkowski explained last week that after Congress blew past the 60-day deadline to weigh in on the war, either authorizing or halting it, she felt it was time for lawmakers to have a debate over the War Powers Resolution Act. 

“We’re in a different place than we were last time we voted on this,” she said. 

Conversely, while the GOP opposition held, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., continued to vote with Republicans against the resolution.

FETTERMAN BREAKS WITH DEMOCRATS TO BACK TRUMP TAKING MILITARY ACTION IN IRAN IF NECESSARY

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., when asked by Fox News Digital if Democrats were pressuring Fetterman to flip, said that the “responsibility isn’t on one senator, it’s on everybody who has the chance to cut funding off to this war.” 

“I mean, if this war continues, and I think it will, and likely it’s gonna become a very hot war again, one of these war powers resolutions very soon will pass. I don’t think there’s any doubt about it,” Murphy said. 

Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance said ahead of the vote that the administration was ready to take action if talks to prevent Iran from creating a nuclear weapon fell through.

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“It takes two to tango,” Vance told reporters at a White House press briefing. “We are not going to have a deal that allows the Iranians to have a nuclear weapon.”

“So, as the president just told me, we’re locked and loaded,” he continued. “We don’t want to go down that pathway. But the president is willing and able to go down that pathway if we have to.”

Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday said the Justice Department is looking into whether Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., committed immigration fraud, citing longstanding allegations that she married a man critics claim is her brother.

Speaking to reporters, Vance was asked about the administration’s anti-fraud task force — established by President Donald Trump to combat fraud, waste, and abuse across federal benefit programs — and whether it would focus on Omar, a frequent Trump critic.

“You read the things about Ilhan Omar… who she married and whether she didn’t marry this person or that person,” Vance said. “It certainly seems like something fishy is there, but everybody’s entitled to equal justice under the law.”

The comments follow a podcast interview in March, during which Vance told conservative commentator Benny Johnson that he had spoken with White House immigration advisor Stephen Miller about potential legal action against the congresswoman.

ILHAN OMAR LASHES OUT AT ‘SICK’ REPUBLICANS FOR INVESTIGATING HER ALLEGED MARRIAGE TO BROTHER

“We think Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America,” Vance said at the time.

Omar has long been dogged by allegations that she married a man critics allege is her brother, as part of an immigration scheme. Omar has denied the allegation, and the claim has not been proven in public records. In December, she dismissed the claims as “bigoted lies,” writing on social media that Trump was obsessed with her.

“He needs serious help,” Omar wrote on X. “Since he has no economic policies to tout, he’s resorting to regurgitating bigoted lies instead.”

ILHAN OMAR SAYS THERE ARE FEW UNDOCUMENTED SOMALI MIGRANTS IN THE COUNTRY

Omar, who was born in Somalia, arrived in the U.S. in 1995 after her family was granted asylum. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2000.

According to reports, Omar entered a religious marriage with Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi in 2002. In 2009, she legally married Ahmed Elmi, a British citizen, whom some allege is her brother. Despite the legal marriage to Elmi, Omar reportedly maintained her religious union with Hirsi, with whom she continued to have children.

Omar and Elmi separated in 2011 but did not legally divorce until 2017. In 2020, Omar married political consultant Tim Mynett.

On Tuesday, Vance reiterated that authorities would investigate the matter.

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“If we think that there’s a crime, we’re going to prosecute that crime,” he said. “And that’s something the Department of Justice is looking at right now.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Omar’s office for comment.

Central Command Commander Adm. Brad Cooper sharply rebuked Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton during a tense House Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday after the Massachusetts Democrat questioned “how many more Americans” would die because of what he called a failed Iran strategy.

“It doesn’t seem to be going well,” Moulton, D-Mass., said of the Iran war. “And I would like to know how many more Americans we have to ask to die for this mistake.”

“I think it’s an entirely inappropriate statement from you, sir,” Cooper responded.

Moulton shot back: “It’s not a statement, it’s a question.”

TRUMP’S IRAN STRATEGY SHOWCASES ‘DOCTRINE OF UNPREDICTABILITY’ AMID STRIKE THREATS AND SUDDEN PAUSE

Fourteen U.S. service members have died in combat since the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury Feb. 28. 

Moulton, a Marine Corps Iraq War veteran and frequent critic of the Trump administration’s Iran strategy, pressed Cooper repeatedly on what he described as the widening consequences of the conflict, including instability in the Strait of Hormuz, rising oil prices and reports that Iran had rebuilt parts of its missile infrastructure.

Cooper pushed back on several of the claims, calling reports that Iran had reconstituted key missile sites “inaccurate” and repeatedly emphasizing that U.S. forces had achieved their assigned military objectives.

The hearing came just after Trump said he directed the military to pause planned operations against Iran for Tuesday at the request of Gulf allies who wanted negotiations with Tehran to continue. The U.S. has been adhering to a ceasefire since April 7. 

Gulf leaders asked Trump to pause strikes because “serious negotiations are now taking place, and that, in their opinion, as Great Leaders and Allies, a Deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America, as well as all Countries in the Middle East, and beyond,” he wrote on Truth Social Monday. 

“This Deal will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!” he said.

DEMS SIDESTEP PAST ‘REFUSE ILLEGAL ORDERS’ DEMANDS AS THEY CHALLENGE TRUMP’S IRAN WAR AUTHORITY

The confrontation capped hours of contentious exchanges in which Democrats repeatedly pressed Cooper and Pentagon officials on whether the administration had a viable strategy beyond military strikes, whether ongoing operations complied with the War Powers Resolution and whether the conflict was making the United States less secure despite major battlefield gains against Iran.

Democrats also repeatedly challenged the administration over whether ongoing operations complied with the War Powers Resolution, arguing the continued blockade of Iranian ports and military exchanges in the Strait of Hormuz amounted to active hostilities.

Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., pressed Cooper over continued military operations in the region, noting U.S. forces had fired on Iranian tankers and exchanged fire with Iranian forces even after the administration notified Congress that hostilities had ended.

“The fact of the matter is that hostilities continue,” Garamendi said, accusing the administration of disregarding Congress and the Constitution.

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Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., similarly argued that the blockade itself constituted “an act of war,” while several Democrats questioned whether the administration planned to seek congressional authorization for any future escalation.

Republicans on the panel, meanwhile, defended the campaign as a historic military success that dramatically weakened Iran’s ability to threaten the United States and its allies. 

Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said U.S. operations had “rolled back 40 years of Iranian military investment” and argued the campaign had made both the United States and its allies safer.

Cooper later testified that Iran was “significantly less capable” than before the strikes and said U.S. military action had “derailed Iran’s strategy” across its nuclear, missile and proxy networks.

Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that President Donald Trump is still pursuing a diplomatic deal with Iran but remains “locked and loaded” to restart the military campaign if nuclear talks collapse.

“It takes two to tango,” Vance told reporters at a White House press briefing. “We are not going to have a deal that allows the Iranians to have a nuclear weapon.

“So as the president just told me, we’re locked and loaded,” Vance added. “We don’t want to go down that pathway. But the president is willing and able to go down that pathway if we have to.”

The administration sees two paths forward, according to Vance: a negotiated agreement that permanently blocks Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, or renewed U.S. military action.

VANCE WARNS IRAN THAT ‘ANOTHER OPTION ON THE TABLE’ IF NUCLEAR DEAL NOT REACHED

“We think the Iranians want to make a deal,” Vance said. “The president of the United States has asked us to negotiate in good faith. And that’s exactly what we’ve done.”

But Vance warned that diplomacy will not come at the cost of Trump’s core demand that Tehran never obtain a nuclear weapon.

“There’s an option B, and the option B is that we could restart the military campaign to continue to prosecute the case, to continue to try to achieve America’s objectives,” Vance said. “But that’s not what the president wants. And I don’t think it’s what the Iranians want either.”

TRUMP WARNS IRAN’S ‘CLOCK IS TICKING’: MOVE ‘FAST’ OR ‘THERE WON’T BE ANYTHING LEFT’

The exchange came after Trump said he was just an hour away from ordering fresh attacks on Iran on Monday night.

“We were getting ready to do a very major attack [Tuesday], and I put it off for a little while — hopefully maybe forever,” Trump said, “because we’ve had very big discussions with Iran, and we’ll see what they amount to.”

“There seems to be a very good chance that they can work something out,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “If we can do that without bombing the hell out of them, I’d be very happy.”

The announcement marked the latest shift in Trump’s handling of the fragile ceasefire reached in mid-April. For weeks, the president has warned Iran that fighting could resume if it did not accept a deal, while repeatedly setting deadlines and then backing away from them.

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Over the weekend, Trump warned that “the Clock is Ticking” and said Iran needed to move “FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them.”

Trump first disclosed the pause in a social media post Monday, saying he had ordered the U.S. military to be ready “to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice” if an acceptable deal is not reached.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche accused Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., of lying during a line of questioning after the senator said a Jan. 6 rioter pardoned by President Donald Trump had discussed using future restitution money to ensure his child sexual abuse victims stayed quiet.

Blanche appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday to answer questions about the Justice Department’s fiscal year 2027 budget. The hearing came a day after the Justice Department announced the creation of a $1.776 billion fund for people who allege they were victims of federal government “lawfare.”

Van Hollen, a ranking member on the committee, accused the Anti-Weaponization Fund of being a “slush fund” for Trump’s allies, raising concerns that the money would go to individuals indicted and charged for their involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots. Trump pardoned and provided commutations to more than 1,500 people charged with and convicted of their role in the Capitol riots, including Andrew Paul Johnson, who was sentenced to life in prison March 2026 for the sexual abuse of two minors.

APOLOGIES AND CASH HEADED TO ALLEGED ‘WEAPONIZATION’ VICTIMS IN BILLION-DOLLAR TRUMP SETTLEMENT

“That person actually tried to buy the silence of these children by saying that he would pay them some of the funds that he was hoping to get from your slush fund,” Van Hollen asked Blanche. “Can you commit to making the rules so that that person is not eligible for a payout under this fund?”

“Well, you’re obviously lying in your question, because there’s no way that this person committed to that,” Blanche said. “The slush fund, as you call it… didn’t exist.”

Van Hollen pointed at Blanche and warned him.

“Don’t ever do that again. I am reporting what he said,” Van Hollen said. “He said on the expectation that he hoped to get some of the funds from a payout.”

DAS MAY TRY TO CHARGE JAN. 6 PARTICIPANTS GRANTED CLEMENCY BY TRUMP WITH NEW CRIMES ON STATE, LOCAL LEVELS

Florida authorities reported that Johnson had promised his victims he would share money he expected to receive as restitution after being pardoned by Trump. In a Discord message to one of his victims, Johnson shared that “he was being awarded $10,000,000 as a result of being a ‘jan 6’er’” and he’d be putting the victim “in his ‘will’ to take any money he had left over,” according to an affidavit that Van Hollen read to Blanche later in the hearing.

Blanche pointed out that the Anti-Weaponization Fund or the alleged “slush fund” didn’t even exist when Johnson made those promises to the victims.

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“This is the fund that the president and all of you have been telegraphing all along that you are going to use to help the president’s friends,” Van Hollen said.

The Justice Department’s pardon attorney, Ed Martin, is the only known Trump administration official who has explicitly called for those convicted in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riots to receive restitution for the “lawfare” they faced. However, Democratic senators argue the Justice Department has taken steps to make restitution for the Jan. 6 defendants possible.