Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Cheney and Murkowski face the voters, and Trump's wrath, on Tuesday

Donald Trump Jr and Harriet Hageman

Harriet Hageman, who was joined by Donald Trump Jr. at a campaign rally June 14, is poised to defeat Rep. Liz Cheney in Wyoming's Republican congressional primary Tuesday.

Natalie Behring/Getty Images

Two Republicans who have been critical of former President Donald Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol will face the voters on Tuesday. While Sen. Lisa Murkowski is likely to advance thanks to a new election system in Alaska, Rep. Liz Cheney appears headed for defeat in Wyoming.

With Trump campaigning aggressively against Republican lawmakers who have been involved in the Jan. 6 investigation or who supported his impeachment, this week’s primaries showcase his ongoing influence over the party.

Read on for the races to watch in Alaska and Wyoming, as well as the recent changes in election law in those states that will affect voters.


Alaska

Alaska will hold a special election for its at-large House of Representatives seat Tuesday, with former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in contention alongside fellow Republican Nicholas Begich and Democrat Mary Peltola.

The special election, called following the death of Republican Rep. Don Young in March, will be the first in Alaska’s history to use ranked-choice voting. Results will not be known until Aug. 31 at the earliest.

Elsewhere in Alaska, Sen. Lisa Murkowski is being challenged by fellow Republican Kelly Tshibaka, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump. However, both of the candidates are likely to advance to the general election in November under the state’s open primary rules.

In 2020, voters in the state approved a ballot initiative creating a primary system in which candidates from all parties appear on a single ballot. The four candidates with the most votes move on to the general election, which will utilize ranked choice voting. (There are only three candidates in the special election because a fourth dropped out after advancing in the primary earlier this year.)

Murkowski drew anger from Trump after joining six other Republican senators to voting to convict the former president after the House impeached him for inciting the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy is also seeking the nomination for another team, and is competing with nine other candidates for four spots on the general election ballot. Polls show Dunleavy should easily secure one of those places.

Other than the elimination of partisan primaries and the transition to ranked-choice voting, Alaska has done little to change elections over the past few years.

Read more about election changes in Alaska.

South Dakota

No runoff elections will occur in South Dakota on Tuesday, as previously scheduled, because the statewide races were decided on June 7.

Read more about election changes in South Dakota.

Wyoming

The nation will watch as Republican Rep. Liz Cheney fights to keep her seat in Congress against challengers within her own party.

Harriet Hageman leads a slate of Republican challengers to Cheney, whose vote to impeach Trump and subsequent leading role in the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection left her deserted by many of her Republican peers.

Trump has attacked Cheney with vigor, backing Hageman in a state where he won 70 percent of the vote in 2020. Cheney has responded by trying to appeal to moderate Republicans and Democrats (Wyoming runs open primaries), but trails heavily in polls. Recent polling shows Hageman with a 29-point lead heading into Tuesday’s voting.

Wyoming is a staunchly Republican state, with the GOP having held the governor’s office and both chambers of the Legislature since 2011.

In recent years, Wyoming’s biggest changes to election laws have focused on voter identification. In 2021, the Legislature implemented a full voter ID law, requiring voters to present a valid form of identification before voting on Election Day. Previously, the state only required voters to do so when registering to vote. Under the new law, people without an ID must vote via provisional ballot, which can be used as grounds to challenge the vote.

This year, the state has enacted just one bill related to voting, according to the Voting Rights Lab. That bill allows elections officials to begin processing absentee ballots prior to Election Day, but increases the penalty for releasing the results of such ballots before the polls close.

Read more about election law changes in Wyoming.

Read More

Understanding the Debate on Health Secretary Kennedy’s Vaccine Panelists

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., January 29, 2025 in Washington, DC.

(Photo by Chen Mengtong/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)

Understanding the Debate on Health Secretary Kennedy’s Vaccine Panelists

Summary

On June 9, 2025, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), dismissed all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Secretary Kennedy claimed the move was necessary to eliminate “conflicts of interest” and restore public trust in vaccines, which he argued had been compromised by the influence of pharmaceutical companies. However, this decision strays from precedent and has drawn significant criticism from medical experts and public health officials across the country. Some argue that this shake-up undermines scientific independence and opens the door to politicized decision-making in vaccine policy.

Background: What Is ACIP?

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is a federal advisory group that helps guide national vaccine policy. Established in 1964, it has over 60 years of credibility as an evidence-based body of medical and scientific experts. ACIP makes official recommendations on vaccine schedules for both children and adults, determining which immunizations are required for school entry, covered by health insurance, and prioritized in public health programs. The committee is composed of specialists in immunology, epidemiology, pediatrics, infectious disease, and public health, all of whom are vetted for scientific rigor and ethical standards. ACIP’s guidance holds national weight, shaping both public perception of vaccines and the policies of institutions like schools, hospitals, and insurers.

Keep ReadingShow less
MQ-9 Predator Drones Hunt Migrants at the Border
Way into future, RPA Airmen participate in Red Flag 16-2 > Creech ...

MQ-9 Predator Drones Hunt Migrants at the Border

FT HUACHUCA, Ariz. - Inside a windowless and dark shipping container turned into a high-tech surveillance command center, two analysts peered at their own set of six screens that showed data coming in from an MQ-9 Predator B drone. Both were looking for two adults and a child who had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border and had fled when a Border Patrol agent approached in a truck.

Inside the drone hangar on the other side of the Fort Huachuca base sat another former shipping container, this one occupied by a drone pilot and a camera operator who pivoted the drone's camera to scan nine square miles of shrubs and saguaros for the migrants. Like the command center, the onetime shipping container was dark, lit only by the glow of the computer screens.

Keep ReadingShow less
A Trump 2020 flag outside of a home.

As Trump’s second presidency unfolds, rural America—the foundation of his 2024 election win—is feeling the sting. From collapsing export markets to cuts in healthcare and infrastructure, those very voters are losing faith.

Getty Images, ablokhin

Trump’s 2.0 Actions Have Harmed Rural America Who Voted for Him

Daryl Royal, the 20-year University of Texas football coach, once said, “You've gotta dance with them that brung ya.” The modern adaptation of that quote is “you gotta dance with the one who brought you to the party.” The expression means you should remain loyal to the people or things that helped you succeed.

Sixty-three percent of America’s 3,144 counties are predominantly rural, and Donald Trump won 93 percent of those counties in 2024. Analyses show that rural counties have become increasingly solid Republican, and Trump’s margin of victory within rural America reached a new high in the 2024 election.

Keep ReadingShow less
Hands Off Our Elections: States and Congress, Not Presidents, Set the Rules
white concrete dome museum

Hands Off Our Elections: States and Congress, Not Presidents, Set the Rules

Trust in elections is fragile – and once lost, it is extraordinarily difficult to rebuild. While Democrats and Republicans disagree on many election policies, there is broad bipartisan agreement on one point: executive branch interference in elections undermines the constitutional authority of states and Congress to determine how elections are run.

Recent executive branch actions threaten to upend this constitutional balance, and Congress must act before it’s too late. To be clear – this is not just about the current president. Keeping the executive branch out of elections is a crucial safeguard against power grabs by any future president, Democrat or Republican.

Keep ReadingShow less