Category: Politics

Pittsburgh has been named as a possible location for the 2024 GOP national convention, according to Politico.

The Republican National Committee has narrowed its search for a convention location down to four cities, including Milwaukee, Nashville and Salt Lake City.

Politico reported that party officials are planning to visit each city in the coming months before making a final decision in the spring.

Should the party choose Pittsburgh, it would be the first time the city has ever hosted a modern national party convention, either Democrat and Republican.

Source: Pittsburgh named possible location for 2024 GOP national convention | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey says his administration will be “progressive, principled, and always on the side of the people.”

A “Pittsburgh for all” is the mission of the Gainey administration, the new mayor said in his inaugural remarks.

“As I heard stories of families all across Pittsburgh, I came to understand that we cannot forget that our real power is not necessarily to change the world. That’s not our real power. Our real power is not to change the world, but it’s to make a world of change in the people we encounter every single day,” he said.

Gainey pledged an administration that will be “progressive, principled, and always on the side of the people.”

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“My promise to you is that we will work to make Pittsburgh the Pittsburgh you voted for — a city where economic opportunity is abundant for everybody, a city where affordability isn’t a luxury, a city that is prepared to lead into the future,” he said.

Source: Ed Gainey sworn in as Pittsburgh mayor

New York City’s new mayor, Eric Adams, was sworn into office soon after midnight yesterday. It was a fitting time of day for a cop-turned-politico who has indicated that he plans to return some personal panache to a metropolis knocked by a pandemic, political strife and an outgoing mayor whose polling ranks beneath even Donald Trump with state voters.

For the moment, Adams’s administration is, as one acquaintance put it, “in the ether”. The Democrat told the city council last week: “We must allow our city to function. We have thrown $11bn at Covid, so the day has come when we need to learn to be smarter.”

Source: Eric Adams sworn in as mayor of New York City | New York | The Guardian

Senate Democrats are signaling they plan to take more of a hardball approach to pressuring Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to support their climate and social spending agenda after months of kid-glove treatment failed to deliver his vote.

Democrats are threatening to drive a wedge between Manchin and his many lower-income constituents who stand to reap billions of dollars in federal benefits if Build Back Better passes, including an enhanced child tax credit, lower Medicare-negotiated prescription drug prices and subsidies to cover the cost of childcare.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday said Manchin will have to repeatedly defend his opposition to these popular programs by voting on the floor and took a subtle shot at his colleague for trying to dictate national policy through an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” over the weekend.

Democratic aides say that Manchin can expect more tough treatment from Schumer and other Democratic lawmakers who are now under new pressure from the party’s base for failing to deliver on the “big, bold” agenda they promised earlier this year.

Source: Democrats set to play hardball with Manchin | TheHill

Senator Manchin’s comments this morning on FOX are at odds with his discussions this week with the President, with White House staff, and with his own public utterances. Weeks ago, Senator Manchin committed to the President, at his home in Wilmington, to support the Build Back Better framework that the President then subsequently announced. Senator Manchin pledged repeatedly to negotiate on finalizing that framework “in good faith.”

On Tuesday of this week, Senator Manchin came to the White House and submitted—to the President, in person, directly—a written outline for a Build Back Better bill that was the same size and scope as the President’s framework, and covered many of the same priorities. While that framework was missing key priorities, we believed it could lead to a compromise acceptable to all. Senator Manchin promised to continue conversations in the days ahead, and to work with us to reach that common ground. If his comments on FOX and written statement indicate an end to that effort, they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position, and a breach of his commitments to the President and the Senator’s colleagues in the House and Senate.

Senator Manchin claims that this change of position is related to inflation, but the think tank he often cites on Build Back Better—the Penn Wharton Budget Institute—issued a report less than 48 hours ago that noted the Build Back Better Act will have virtually no impact on inflation in the short term, and, in the long run, the policies it includes will ease inflationary pressures. Many leading economists with whom Senator Manchin frequently consults also support Build Back Better.

Source: Statement from Press Secretary Jen Psaki | The White House

President Biden will sign the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill into law during a ceremony at the White House, according to a press release from the White House.

Source: Biden to sign bipartisan infrastructure bill on Monday | Fox Business

• Early voting hit a record high in Virginia’s dead-heat governor’s race between former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin.
• At least 1,137,656 voters submitted early ballots, which makes up roughly one fifth of the state’s 5.9 million electorate.
• Early voting turnout for this year’s election is nearly six times more than the number in 2017.

Source: Early voting hits record high in Virginia ahead of dead-heat governor’s race

Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin are set for a final day of campaigning ahead of Virginia’s gubernatorial election Tuesday.

Source: FOX 5 EXCLUSIVE: Youngkin ahead of McAuliffe in FOX 5 exclusive Virginia gubernatorial race poll

For the first time in a quarter century, Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck has a race on his hands.

Republican Nicole Ziccarelli, fresh off a razor-thin defeat in a bid for state Senate last fall, insists it’s time to change leadership in the county prosecutors office.

“I respect the current district attorney very much, but after this much time, I believe we need a change in leadership and the time is now,” Ziccarelli said.

Peck, 74, of New Kensington has long political roots in Westmoreland County. His father served as county sheriff for more than a decade. After spending several years in the public defender’s office, Peck served as a part-time assistant district attorney and continued in that role until he was appointed to the top job. He won his first full four-year term in 1997.

He said the game hasn’t passed him by and his 40-years as a prosecutor is the steady hand county residents need.

“I don’t think this is any different from my past Republican or Democratic challengers who also had no experience in doing the job,” Peck said.

For Peck, that experience includes years in the courtroom as the office’s top prosecutor who has handled nearly every high-profile criminal case in the county since he was first appointed to the job by county judges. In 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic halted trials throughout much of 2020, Peck served as lead attorney in five murder cases that went before juries. All ended with convictions.

He said he has no intention of slowing down and will continue to try cases into a seventh term.

Ziccarelli said she sees the district attorney’s job, at least for now, as an administrative post.

Source: Peck seeks to fight off Ziccarelli challenge in Westmoreland district attorney race