DDHQ Morning News Spotlight: Redistricting News From Kansas and New Hampshire

Welcome to this morning’s Decision Desk HQ Morning News Spotlight on Elections Daily as part of the Decision Desk HQ News Network.

Morning Headlines

• Kansas’s Congressional map enacted earlier this year has been struck down by a Wyandotte County judge. The judge ruled that the map drawn by Republicans in the state legislature is an illegal gerrymander and must be redrawn. The map had been vetoed by Democratic Governor Laura Kelly who said it was drawn with the intention to dilute minority voting strength, but the veto was overridden by the state legislature. The ruling is certain to be appealed, and will eventually have to be ruled on by the Kansas Supreme Court.
• New Hampshire Republicans in the state House of Representatives have introduced a new Congressional map. The map would make the 1st of the state’s 2 Congressional districts a tossup that Republicans would have won by around 300 votes in 2020. It would also combine the hometowns of the state’s two current incumbent Congressmen, both of who are Democrats, into one district. Republican Governor Sununu released a statement yesterday saying he would not support this map.
• A federal judge in Louisiana has said they will block the Biden Administration from ending the Title 42 health order set to expire next month. The ending of this pandemic-era health order has caused a rift among Democrats, especially those facing reelection this year. The White House said yesterday that they are still planning on moving forward with implementing the change on May 23.
• President Biden has issued the first pardons of his presidency. The first is for a former Secret Service agent from the Kennedy presidency who was convicted of federal bribery charges, but has maintained his innocence and was denied a retrial even after witnesses in the case admitted to lying at the request of the prosecutor. The other two were issued to two people convicted of non-violent drug-related crimes over 20 years ago.
• A judge in New York is holding former President Trump in contempt of court for failing to produce documents ordered by a subpoena from New York Attorney General Letitia James. The court implemented a penalty of $10,000 a day until the former President fully complies with the order.
• Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill creating an election police force in the state. It will be the first of its kind in the country. The bill had originally also contained measures for additional mail-in voting requirements, but they were removed at the request of local election officials. The bill also makes the practice known as “ballot harvesting” a felony in the state.
• Republicans and Democrats in Pennsylvania both held debates yesterday for candidates hoping to be the state’s next U.S. Senator. Republicans largely focused their attacks on their front-runner, Dr. Mehmet Oz, using red-meat issues such as Covid-19 policy, abortion, and transgender rights to try to paint him as a “RINO”. Dr. Oz used his endorsement by former President Trump as a shield from these attacks and proclaimed that “we cannot move on” from the 2020 election. The Democratic debate also focused on the issues that fire their base up including expanding the Supreme Court, ending the Electoral College, and ending the filibuster in the Senate.

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