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Border security is a topic congressional Democrats once shied away from. Now, theyre embracing the politically charged subject as a winning election-year issue.

Democrats see an opening to score goodwill with voters on a policy thats top of mind in polls, but that has been a political nightmare for the party due to a surge of illegal southern border crossings under President Joe Biden.

With the GOP dominating immigration among voters, Democrats are looking to be buoyed by a bipartisan border proposal that sank in the Senate earlier this year under the weight of conservative backlash, including from presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Senate Democrats say Republicans can either work with them to revive the lifeless legislation or be forced to vote it down again in the coming months.

The reality is that theyre exposed. They dont want to fix the border. They dont want to have to vote on this again, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), the lead Democratic negotiator on border issues, told the Washington Examiner. Right now, the Democratic Party is the only party that is serious about fixing the border. Were going to continue to give Republicans opportunity to vote with us to secure the border and let the American public see whos serious and who just wants to complain.

The GOP backlash to the accusations and strategy was swift and across the board, including centrists and conservatives. They assailed the tactic as purely political months before the November elections and said Biden could fix the problem anytime he pleases with administrative policies.

They havent engaged with any Republicans, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), whos often involved in bipartisan talks, told the Washington Examiner. It looks like another messaging effort, political effort.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), a leadership member, rolled her eyes upon learning of Democrats offer.

Get on that recording, my eyes just rolled into the back of my head, she told the Washington Examiner. Whats their point? Its all political. Its all political. Biden can take care of a lot of whats going on at the borders. And then we need to come together in a bipartisan manner and figure out the rest, but this is not the time.

The opposition underscored the lack of desire among Senate Republicans to reopen fresh wounds on a contentious bill that their House counterparts already made clear has no chance of becoming law.

After months of talks and the blessing of GOP negotiator Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), Senate Republicans in February tanked the bipartisan border bill that was attached to a foreign aid package. It would have provided roughly $20 billion for border security, expanded expulsion authority, bolstered asylum standards, and limited catch-and-release practices.

Four Republicans, including Lankford and Romney, voted in favor, while five Democrats voted against.

Meanwhile, Democrats in the House and deploying a similar flip-the-script tactic to portray Republicans as obstructionists, per a campaign strategy memo. House Republicans passed a far stricter border bill last year, but it was deemed dead on arrival by Senate Democrats.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), one of Senate Democrats most vulnerable members, has especially leaned into border security. The red-state Democrat has cut ads distancing himself from the president, saying he worked with Republicans, fighting to shut down the border and he fought to stop President Biden from letting migrants stay in America.

Tester is now the lone Democrat to co-sponsor the Laken Riley Act, a GOP-championed illegal immigration bill named after a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was allegedly killed by an undocumented immigrant previously released by New York police for a nonviolent crime. The measure would require undocumented immigrants accused of certain crimes to be detained by law enforcement until deportation.

Tester voted against the measure in the form of an amendment to a government funding bill in March. The addition of the GOP-backed measure to the larger spending package could have upended the bipartisan deal and triggered a shutdown

Testers GOP challenger, Tim Sheehy, donned him the Flip-Flop Flattop, a reference to the senators haircut.

Tester told the Washington Examiner he supports Democrats renewed border security efforts, so long as its not to score political points.

If were talking about rekindling talks to get something done, Im all about it, he said. If were talking about doing stuff for political purposes, which is why that bill didnt pass, count me out.

The Department of Homeland Security unveiled a new policy this week to fast-track asylum processing at the southern border for migrants with serious alleged crimes or with terrorist links to more quickly deport them. Republicans said the move was the sort of executive action Biden could continue to take but has largely refused to.

The White House has countered that they lack congressional authority.

Lankford said hes yet to hear from Democrats about rejuvenating the failed border endeavor and described the administrations announcement as frustrating.

It only frustrates me that they could have done it three years ago, he told the Washington Examiner.

Lankford was unsure whether he would support his border legislation this time around should Democrats hold another vote.

I want to see where we are on it, he said. Im not backing away from anything we agreed to, but Ive just got to be able to see where we are.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) was among the few Republicans who expressed a strong willingness to go another round on border security with Democrats. But he cautioned that the Senate GOP should avoid boxing in House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who just survived his first ouster attempt at the hands of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

There is always politics involved, but I want to see results, which means youve got to be able to coordinate with your allies in the House, Rounds told the Washington Examiner. One thing we dont want to do is put Mike Johnson into a precarious position in the House right now.

David Sivak contributed to this report.

Excerpt from:
Democrats look to flip the script on border security as Republicans decry political stunt - Washington Examiner

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A bull run is defined as a period where the majority of investors demand outweighs supply, market confidence hits a peak and prices rise. If in a given market you witness prices quickly climbing, it could be a sign that the majority of investors are becoming bullish and are optimistic about the price increasing further and may mean that youre looking at the starting point of a bull market. Bitcoin Halving appears to be fueling the next bull run to happen in 2024.

Investing in the best altcoins can be rewarding as they offer diversification and potentially higher returns. However, it is important to approach the altcoin landscape with caution and do a thorough research. Understanding the development team, technology, community and use case of altcoins are vital factors for making informed decisions.

Additionally, it is essential to be updated on market trends and regulatory changes for navigating the ever-evolving cryptocurrency landscape. By evaluating these key factors, investors can make strategic decisions when considering altcoin investments. Let us see some altcoins to consider buying for the next bull run in 2024.

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Market cap: $352.50 billion

Ethereum is one of the biggest altcoins on the crypto market. Of the almost $2.16 trillion that portrays the total market capitalization of the 20,000-plus crypto assets, more than 17% is held in ETH. It is a distributed computing network where users can use the blockchain to run dApps and host smart contracts.

Ethereum critics point to high fees for running transactions. However, ETH is here to stay with thousands of apps and other altcoins powered by its blockchain.

Market cap: $59.55 billion

Solana gained popularity among crypto investors helped by its lightning-fast transaction speeds along with low fees. It is a blockchain platform that is highly focused on overcoming the challenges of speed and scalability faced by many existing blockchains.

On March 4, 2024, it surged by approximately 7% in 24 hours, surpassing the BNB coin and securing a higher rank among the top five cryptocurrencies. Solana has jumped nearly 16.60% in the last seven days.

On May 2, 2024, it surged by approximately 10.12% in 24 hours, but BNB coin surpassed and secured a higher rank among the top five cryptocurrencies due to Solana being down by 8.85% in the last seven days.

The surge in SOL brought the digital asset to its highest point in two years, reaching levels last observed in April 2022 which was three months after the culmination of the bull cycle in 2021.However, it dropped slightly and landed on the fifth slot, with BNB regaining dominance shortly after on March 4.

Market cap: $0.1294

Dogecoin is a dog-inspired crypto and the original meme token. True to its fame, it has been one of the most highly volatile yet rewarding investments. As of May 2, 2024, DOGE is up by 4.56% in the last 24 hours and is trading at $0.1295.

Over the years, this meme coin has been criticized for offering a small-scale real-world utility, a centralized holder base, and an unlimited supply. However, it is tricky to debate these criticisms; DOGE has gained ground in network usage over the past year, as it has been up by around 65.35%. On top of that, its tough to deny the gigantic community support with the support of industry-notable celebrities such as Elon Musk. I think this crypto is here to stay for a very long time.

Market cap: $8.94 billion

Cosmos (ATOM-USD) is in charge of solving some slow transactions and high-cost problems. It emerged with Tendermint (software) to create an interconnected network of blockchains. ATOMa native token of Cosmos, is a decentralized network that provides developers with open-source tools to create their own interoperable blockchains. Cosmos is working to become the internet for blockchain.

The Cosmos ecosystem permits blockchains to willingly share tokens and data across all the blockchains in the system. One of its essential roles is to secure the Cosmos Hub and regulate the network of the ATOM tokens obtained via a proof-of-stake algorithm.

A recent report by the Cosmos blog focuses on the steadiness of Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) volume and close connections that assure high diversity in tokens and, in turn, higher liquidity. The interchain ecosystem is an area where blockchains act as joined blocks that communicate via the IBC protocol, where developers can run their rare chains as different blocks with different practicality.

Market cap: $2.53 billion

Kaspa cryptocurrency was launched in the year 2021 with its implementation of the GHOSTDAG protocol, working on blockDAG for fast confirmation and high block rates. The Kaspa community projects it as a cryptocurrency that unfolds the blockchain trilemma which will stabilize security, speed and scalability. In the year 2023, this project encountered transformational developments including the switch to state-of-the-art ASIC miners.

In addition, Kaspa had planned listings on exchanges and launched ideas like the Kaspium mobile wallet and Wrapped Kaspa. It has very aspiring plans for the time ahead including sophisticated smart contract functionalities, Rusy Kaspa Testnet 11 public and exceeding ten blocks per second.

Market cap: $3.92 billion

Stellar (XL,-USD) is a decentralized, public blockchain that presents developers with tools to create experiences that are more likely cash than crypto. It can be a great altcoin to add to your investment portfolio in this bull run given its accountability for peer-to-peer connecting the worlds financial system.

The biggest aim of Stellar is to make money move easily and fast. The network is cheaper, faster and more energy-efficient than most systems based on blockchain. Lumens behave as mediators for transactions and keep a smooth running system. Its strength is its security. With XLM holders holding the keys, it makes the network more secure for transactions.

Stellar has lately launched some very amazing features such as Soroban and spread Lumens into positive projects through its Community Fund. Additionally, through the compassionate side of the project via Stellar Aid Assist, it has already helped those in need by sending over $2 million to them.

Note: The market capitalization is taken from CoinMarketCap as of May 2, 2024.

Market Demand: Altcoins are initially driven by market demands. Investors are more likely to invest in altcoins that have a higher growth potential. Factors that contribute to the market demand for altcoin are consumer sentiments, market trends and investors confidence.

Regulatory Policy: The regulatory policies that can play a very important role in the development and growth of altcoins. Regulatory bodies or governments can impose restrictions on the usage of cryptocurrency, which definitely affects the demand for it.

Technology: The primary or basic technology behind an altcoin is also a factor that affects its growth and development. Altcoins that have unique features or innovative technology are more likely to gain popularity among others.

Competition: Competition is huge in the world of the cryptocurrency market and it can also affect the growth and development of altcoins. Altcoins offering similar features might struggle to gain market share.

Economic Conditions: It is another factor that can affect the altcoins growth and development. For instance, in times of economic uncertainty, investors are more likely to invest in altcoins as an economic instability or hedge against inflation.

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Support strategies by avoiding decisions made with emotions involved and create an effective investment plan that involves target prices for entry and exit. You must stay abreast of market events and news but also limit your social media consumption which many times encourages greedy behavior. Let us see altcoin investment strategies for the next bull run.

Risk management is the initial step every trader needs to think and learn while strategizing their investment plans, but it is the step that is generally overlooked until its very late. Investors need to manage risk productively by calculating how much is affordable to risk on an all-inclusive investment and then stick to it by using a stop-loss order to limit losses when the market is not in your favor.

As we are aware that the crypto market is highly unpredictable and volatile. It is highly recommended to steer clear of the temptation to spring into buying on the very first sign of a rally with all your savings. Carefully evaluate how much youre willing to invest in other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum and also in altcoins.

While investing in altcoins, you may benefit by considering industries that have high potential and divide your portfolio between them. For example, 30% to Real World Assets, 20% to AI, 10% to Layer-2s etc. Then consider rupee-cost averaging into your position in order to benefit from any dips.

One of the major errors in investing is not being aware of when to take profits. This is accurate, especially for crypto, where the market is highly volatile and driven by social media, overnight sensations, emotion and greed. As prices increase, set realistic targets for gaining profits and cling to them. A well-disciplined approach to profit targets can protect you from unexpected market downturns.

If you have no clue where you want to exit, then scaling out is the best strategy by using rupee-cost averaging to sell. For example, sell 25% altcoin at price points 1 and 2 each, etc. This will help assure you take profits while still benefiting from further upside.

Many investors look to altcoin for higher risk-reward assets while considering BTC and ETH as blue-chip cryptocurrencies. Given the high risk of altcoins, investors should consider restricting them to a mini portion of their portfolio. The reward opportunity is higher. So, investors still have the potential for fair gains without over-granting and exposing them to excessive downside.

Remember that any gains can be temporary and many altcoins are not fit for long-term buy-and-hold portfolios. The majority of altcoins usually fall out of favor between market cycles and downturns of 95%.

This means its crucial to have a logical exit strategy with your targeted price set before you enter the trade. So, if investors want to consider a portfolio with altcoins then settle it with a mixture of high-cap cryptos and altcoins to ease volatility.

Its a very bad decision to invest based on hype or fear of missing out (FOMO). Cryptocurrency is a unique asset class because every transaction is recorded on a chain for public display. It means you have enough information and tools available to help you make informed decisions, instead of having to shift through the tea leaves like in many other markets.

Below are a few free tools you can use:

Use the above tools to conduct thorough research into a projects fundamentals, market position and team. You can also do this by conducting a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis. Always challenge your thesis and look for reasons why a project will crash, rather than information that confirms your existing bias.

Explore Our Top Cryptocurrency Picks

Crypto Buying Guides

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6 Altcoins To Consider Buying For The Next Bull Run In 2024 - Forbes

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In summary

From prohibiting non-disclosure agreements in bill negotiations to protecting utility ratepayers, bills keep dying this year despite lawmakers refusing to say no when it came time to vote. Is it time for the rules to change?

Among the most controversial bills that died this spring was a measure prompted by allegations that Gov. Gavin Newsom secured a lucrative benefit for a billionaire supporter by exempting his restaurants from a minimum wage increase.

Newsom dismissed the allegations as absurd, but KCRA 3 reported that the public might never get a full accounting of what happened because participants to the bill negotiations signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that threatened them with legal action if they spoke about the issue.

The controversy prompted a bill banning NDAs for legislative negotiations, but the bill died last month even though only one Democratic member of the Assembly Committee on Elections voted against it. It failed because five other Democrats on the committee didnt vote.

As CalMatters revealed in April, not voting is a common practice for California legislators. Last year, at least 15 bills died due to lack of votes instead of lawmakers actually voting no to kill them. So far this year, a database at CalMatters Digital Democracy indicates that at least 12 bills have died because lawmakers declined to vote.

Insiders say its a way for legislators to be polite to colleagues and perhaps avoid a no vote on their own legislation. But critics say its also a way for legislators to dodge responsibility for their decisions.

Some will say that those bills were tough votes for lawmakers, said Mike Gatto, a former Democratic legislator from Los Angeles. But one must remember that the whole reason why the public elects these lawmakers is for them to take tough votes.

The Legislatures bill-tracking website doesnt distinguish whether a legislator declined to vote, was absent or if the lawmaker announced they were formally abstaining from voting. Now, with the launch of Digital Democracy, the public has easy access to video and transcripts that show just how often legislators are present in hearings and even engage in discussion, sometimes highly critical of the legislation, before staying silent during the call for a vote. Some legislators say the practice should be changed.

I think it is appropriate for legislators to basically vote yes or vote no, Santa Ana Democratic Sen. Tom Umberg, a former federal prosecutor, recently told CBS News for a story done in collaboration with CalMatters. But, you know, that is the system that we have. Should we change it? Probably.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire didnt respond to CalMatters requests to discuss whether the Legislatures rules on voting should change.

Among the bills that died recently from California Democrats not voting were several involving public safety issues. They include a bill that would have prohibited sexually violent predators from being released into communities unless they had a place to live. Another would have increased penalties for property crimes. A third would have made it harder for police to charge people with a crime for filing false complaints against officers.

Another bill that died for lack of votes would restrict the controversial practice of gas and electric utilities from using ratepayer money for political lobbying. Senate Bill 938 was in response to a Sacramento Bee investigation last summer that revealed SoCalGas charged at least $36 million to ratepayers for political lobbying to oppose California policies aimed at addressing the climate crisis.

Environmentalists and utility watchdog groups were outraged, arguing that ratepayers bills should only reflect the cost to deliver electricity or gas to their homes. They said shareholders should foot the bill for political lobbying.

But Sen. Dave Min, a Democrat from Irvine, saw his bill to ban the practice fail in April before the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee. The committee has 18 members, so the bill needed at least 10 yes votes to advance. In two separate votes, six members of the committee declined to vote. When combined with Republicans no votes, the abstentions were enough to kill Mins bill.

At its April 16 hearing, Democratic Sens. Bill Dodd of Napa and Angelique Ashby from Sacramento questioned whether the legislation would help consumers since lobbying costs represent a small fraction of a utilitys expenses. In the end, they both declined to vote.

Joining them were fellow Democrats Josh Newman, Anna Caballero, Susan Rubio and the committees chairperson, Steven Bradford. Dodds office was the only one to respond to CalMatters interview request.

I respect the author and his intent with the bill, but there were unanswered questions about the impact it would have on grants for fire prevention activities, Dodd said in an emailed statement. So I reserved voting yes or no until those questions were answered.

Several legislators who helped kill the bill banning NDAs from legislative negotiations were also present during that hearing.

The four Democratic Assemblymembers on the elections committee who declined to vote on the NDA ban are Marc Berman of Cupertino, Steve Bennett of Oxnard, Akilah Weber of La Mesa and Matt Haney of San Francisco. Evan Low of Cupertino, whos running for Congress, was absent for the hearing. The absence is recorded on the Legislatures tally of votes the same as the lawmakers who stayed silent. None of them responded to interview requests.

It was a controversial bill in part because it dealt with a scandal about the governor that broke in February when Bloomberg News reported that the Panera Bread chain appeared to be exempt from a new law that raised the states minimum wage to $20 for fast food workers. In the Bloomberg investigation, sources said the Newsom administration sought the exemption to benefit a billionaire Panera Bread franchise owner who is a major Newsom donor.

Learn more about legislators mentioned in this story.

Mike McGuire

Democrat, State Senate, District 2 (Santa Rosa)

Bill Dodd

Democrat, State Senate, District 3 (Napa)

Angelique Ashby

Democrat, State Senate, District 8 (Sacramento)

Anna Caballero

Democrat, State Senate, District 14 (Merced)

Susan Rubio

Democrat, State Senate, District 22 (West Covina)

Josh Newman

Democrat, State Senate, District 29 (Fullerton)

Thomas Umberg

Democrat, State Senate, District 34 (Santa Ana)

Steven Bradford

Democrat, State Senate, District 35 (Inglewood)

Dave Min

Democrat, State Senate, District 37 (Irvine)

Matt Haney

Democrat, State Assembly, District 17 (San Francisco)

Marc Berman

Democrat, State Assembly, District 23 (Palo Alto)

Evan Low

Democrat, State Assembly, District 26 (Cupertino)

Robert Rivas

Democrat, State Assembly, District 29 (Salinas)

Vince Fong

Republican, State Assembly, District 32 (Bakersfield)

Steve Bennett

Democrat, State Assembly, District 38 (Oxnard)

Akilah Weber

Democrat, State Assembly, District 79 (La Mesa)

After KCRA revealed that negotiators working on the minimum wage bill were required to sign NDAs, Republican Assemblymember Vince Fong introduced the bill to ban the practice for legislative negotiations. Labor groups opposed the bill, and business groups were split. Fong, who is running for Congress, didnt return a request for comment.

During the hearing, Assemblymembers Berman and Weber spoke with the bills author, but still declined to vote.

This is an extremely important bill that deals with a very important issue, Weber said in the hearing. She also suggested the bill was drafted too quickly and she had questions about whether or not the bill was too broad.

Gatto, a former Democratic Assemblymember, said it was especially galling that lawmakers refused to vote on the non-disclosure agreement bill, given the legislation itself involves the sanctity of the (legislative) process.

It just feels dirtier somehow, Gatto said.

See more here:
How California Democrats killed a controversial bill without a vote - CalMatters

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WICHITA Mike McCorkle relies heavily on three key issues in his run to knock House Speaker Daniel Hawkins out of office: protecting womens reproductive rights, expanding Medicaid and especially how McCorkle thinks Hawkins has failed to listen to his constituents.

McCorkle, a Democrat running for a seat in the Kansas Houses 100th District, is focusing his campaign on grassroots tactics. Since his initial run against Hawkins in 2022, hes garnered support from local politicians, members of Women for Kansas and John Carlin, Kansas 40th governor from 1979-1987 and archivist of the United States from 1995-2005.

McCorkle said its hard to believe Hawkins has been reelected five times since he first won the 100th District seat in 2012.

Winning House 100 means removing your current speaker, which would be good for most Kansans since he supports extreme minority agendas, McCorkle said during a meet and greet campaign event Saturday in Wichita. Hes out of touch with House 100 and a majority of Kansas in general.

McCorkle referenced Hawkins unwillingness to hold a hearing on Medicaid expansion for years and said that, when Hawkins did, it was a joke.

Hes a friendly guy on a personal level, but hes just some kind of bipolar person who can be friendly person (to) person but yet still say its OK that 150,000 people dont have adequate health care, which is wrong, McCorkle said.

Vowing to protect womens reproductive freedom, McCorkle criticized Hawkins pro-life stance.

I expect House 100 voters to confirm their disappointment with his actions against women by voting for change, he said.

McCorkle also pointed to Hawkins 99% corporate donor list.

During the 2022 cycle, Hawkins received thousands of dollars in support from various companies and entities, notably Koch Industries, the NRA and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors of Kansas.

Which begs the question: Who does he really represent? McCorkle said.

Hawkins spokeswoman did not respond to email and phone requests seeking comment for this story.

In McCorkles first run for the 100th District in 2022, he received 3,808 or 40% of votes, while Hawkins secured 5,641 votes.

McCorkle also ran for Kansas 27th District in the Kansas State Senate in 2020. Republican opponent Gene Suellentrop beat McCorkle with double the votes 26,296 to McCorkles 13,143.

Despite the losses, McCorkle said these past races elevate his 2024 attempt at unseating Hawkins. He cited his increased name recognition, experience and amount of volunteers.

More than 60 supporters congregated Saturday in downtown Wichita at the fundraiser for McCorkle including Carlin.

Now retired and in his mid-80s, Carlin resides in northern Kansas, but he said he drove to Wichita to support McCorkle.

The fact that Im coming ought to say something in itself because I dont travel very much, Carlin said.

Carlin, who served as House speaker from 1977 to 1979, said he knows exactly what power the speaker has.

Mike is not running against somebody that voted wrong: (Hawkins) engineered all this crap, Carlin said. Seriously, the speaker of the House makes all the appointments, the committees, the chairs, controls the agenda. Nothing comes up on the floor unless the speaker (allows it).

Carlin said the turnout for the constitutional amendment on abortion in August 2022 could work in favor of McCorkles campaign.

(The issue of abortion) motivates a lot of people. I mean, you look at campaigns across the country right now, not just in Kansas, that issue motivates and wins a lot of elections, Carlin said.

McCorkle and other supporters said they think the energy of this election cycle is different.

Its a much broader support and much, much better-coordinated community, McCorkle said. And so we just have a really good synergy.

Jonathan Jones, deputy executive director of the Kansas Democratic Party, said electing moderate candidates like McCorkle is one step to breaking up Kansas Republican supermajority, which produces legislation that Gov. Laura Kelly vetoes.

I feel lucky at the end of the veto session that we succeeded in sustaining those deals, Jones said. Im tired of feeling lucky. I want to do everything we can to make sure we know whats going to happen, that we can give the governor as much power as we possibly can for her last two years in the cycle.

Born and raised in Wichita, McCorkle said he enjoyed a safe secure childhood near Seneca and Harry. He attended public schools throughout his youth and, in his senior year of high school, enlisted in the Army in 1976.

During his 13 years of service, he worked on 14 photo and intelligence analyst assignments, including volunteering for Desert Storm.

Following his military service, McCorkle lived and worked abroad. The candidate has done various work from being a manager to a machinist. In 2019, he returned to his home city to take care of his parents.

Id been watching these elections from abroad for years, and I kept thinking, Man, we just got a crisis of citizenship, McCorkle said. And so, I resolved that when I came back I would just get involved.

McCorkle said he initially wanted to help a candidate, not be a candidate.

And, of course, no one would run, and so I ended up being the name on the ballot against Suellentrop, which was a steep learning curve, McCorkle said. Nonetheless, (I) made some allies, and this third time, we got a good group of strong allies, people that want to work together, and I believe were gonna get it right.

Correction: Mike McCorkle served in the military for 13 years. An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated his years of military service.

Read more from the original source:
Democrat hopes to unseat Kansas House speaker with focus on reproductive rights, Medicaid expansion Kansas ... - Kansas Reflector

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After eight years leading the Oregon State Treasury, Tobias Read says hes ready to bring a steady hand to the Secretary of States Office.

With two political scandals that led to then-Secretary of State Kate Brown becoming governor after John Kitzhaber resigned in 2015, and Secretary of State Shemia Fagan stepping down last year, and the death of former Republican Secretary of State Dennis Richardson in 2019, Oregon has had six secretaries of state and two acting secretaries over the past decade. Read, a Beaverton Democrat who is term-limited as treasurer, contends hes the states best choice as an experienced administrator to run the office that oversees Oregons elections, audits state government and administers state archives.

Weve gotten to a spot where the office I think has suffered from turnover, and theres really important stuff coming campaign finance reform, to potential ranked choice voting, to just the misinformation and violence that we see in other places and to some extent in Oregon, he said. We can step right in and restore some confidence and capacity in that office and Im well-prepared to do that.

Read will face four other Democratic candidates in the primary: state Sen. James Manning of Eugene, retired attorney Jim Crary, inventor Dave Stauffer and retired electrical engineer Paul D. Wells. The Capital Chronicle is profiling frontrunners Read and Manning and running answers to written questions from the candidates who responded.

Read represented Beaverton in the state House from 2007 until 2017, when he began his first term as treasurer. He ran for governor in 2022, coming in second to now-Gov. Tina Kotek in the Democratic primary.

The secretary of state is first in the line of succession if the governor leaves office which is how Brown initially became governor. Read said he doesnt view the office as a stepping stone and that he hopes to serve two full terms as secretary of state because hes driven by a desire to contribute to making the state a better place.

While the treasurer and secretary of state have different responsibilities, he said the offices are ultimately quite similar. Both involve overseeing large teams 213 full-time employees at the Treasury and 242 at the Secretary of States Office in the current two-year budget cycle and both roles are regulators and administrators.

It is about how to lead an agency and set a culture and make sure that were hiring the kinds of people who are committed to that mission and holding them accountable, and thats what Ive done for seven-plus years, Read said. At the risk of being a little bit flip about it, people have good data on me and my performance and my approach, and I dont imagine that changing, even as the office I hold hopefully does change.

As of early April, he had visited 24 of the 36 county clerks in Oregon and planned to visit the remainder to learn more about how elections are run on the ground and the challenges theyre facing. Throughout Oregon, and the rest of the U.S., local election officials have spent the past several years pushing back against unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud and misinformation about elections, spurred on by former President Donald Trump and his allies.

Read thinks there are relatively inexpensive ways to help voters who have lost trust in elections feel more confident. Washington County, where he lives, is one of several Oregon counties that use BallotTrax to send text messages to voters who opt in, letting them know when their ballots are in the mail, when theyve been received by the clerks office and when election workers have verified the signatures and prepared their ballot to be counted. Not all counties use the system because of its cost, and Read said that would be a good investment for the state to make.

Hes also interested in adopting the ballot ridealong program run in Californias San Benito County. The program, modeled off police ridealongs, allows residents to join election workers as they collect ballots from ballot boxes and return them to election offices.

Oregon has been a national leader in voting access and election turnout for decades, including being the first state in the nation to adopt automatic voter registration in 2015 and universal mail voting in 1998. But its been dinged in recent years for keeping closed partisan primaries and requiring voters to register three weeks before an election, while neighboring Washington and California have primaries that allow voters to choose anyone in a race and allow same-day voter registration.

Same-day registration was allowed in Oregon for a decade, but voters amended the state constitution to ban it after followers of the controversial Indian mystic Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh tried to register in droves to take over Wasco County government in 1984. Read said he doesnt see a chance at changing that law any time soon, but he is interested in a proposal he heard from one county clerk that would extend the statutory deadline to change party affiliation for a primary.

Making it easier for people to vote as they wish I think gives people, particularly people who are newly registered, newly arrived in Oregon, a positive experience, Read said. It means its much more likely theyre going to continue to vote.

Read also wants to speed up the offices investigations of election complaints, saying his work handling unclaimed property at the Treasury is a model for efficiency. The Legislature moved control of the states unclaimed property program from the Department of State Lands to the Treasury in 2019, and Read convinced lawmakers to give him more resources so that state workers could proactively return peoples unclaimed money to them without waiting for Oregonians, who in many cases didnt know they had uncashed checks, security deposits or forgotten bank accounts, to make a claim.

He said he has proven during his years as treasurer that he can advocate for department needs, including hiring more employees at the Treasury. That experience could prove critical as the Secretary of States Office oversees a transition to campaign finance limits ahead of the 2028 election.

When I got to Treasury, we joked that we were emaciated looking up at skinny, Read said. So we convinced the Legislature to give us the authority to do a pretty massive and historic expansion of the capacity of the investment division. They did that because we built a solid case and it has saved money for the entire state.

Read doesnt have specific programs he wants to audit, though he said everyone he talks to has an audit to recommend. What the state really needs, he said, is a clear plan for the Audits Division that avoids politics to focus on assessing risks and vulnerability, especially when it comes to programs that cost the state a lot of money and where lives are at stake.

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Democratic Oregon Treasurer Tobias Read wants to bring stability to Secretary of State's Office Oregon Capital ... - Oregon Capital Chronicle

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