Mary Ellen Klas

We’re near the end of the 2026 primary election season and the state of American democracy is looking — sigh of relief — better than expected.

Darline Graham, sister to former South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, romped to victory Tuesday over Republican Congressman Ralph Norman, a MAGA conservative, on the strength of her family name and the president’s aggressive push. She now faces Democrat Annie Andrews, a Charleston pediatrician, in the reliably red state.

Republicans have painted themselves into a corner by undermining vaccines. Nowhere is this clearer than Florida, where the outgoing Republican governor and his potential successor have tried to use vaccine mandates to align themselves with President Donald Trump’s politically risky position.

AI slop is taking over political communication. What could go wrong?

By Florida congressman and gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds speaks during the Republican Party of Florida Sunshine State Showdown event

As of late June, about 12.6 million votes had been cast in Democratic House primaries, compared with 8.6 million in Republican primaries.

NEW YORK (TNS) — Republicans have painted themselves into a corner by undermining vaccines. Nowhere is this clearer than Florida, where the outgoing Republican governor and his potential successor have tried to use vaccine mandates to align themselves with President Donald Trump’s politically risky position. Gov. Ron DeSantis rode his COVID-era public health skepticism to national prominence. Now his administration, in its waning months, is trying to further erode vaccine...

Food prices play an outsized role in how Americans view affordability. When you’re bombarded with bigger price tags and shrinking product sizes on every trip to the grocery store, it’s an in-your-face reminder that we’re losing purchasing power. It’s leading to widespread anxiety. According to an Associated Press-NORC poll released in August, 41% of Americans say they are concerned about being able to afford groceries, up from 24% in April.

As measles cases mount, rather than continuing to defend their stance against vaccine mandates, Republicans should support the science-backed views the vast majority of Americans already hold.

Over the holiday weekend, the Trump administration appealed a Friday ruling on mail-in ballots, asking the US Supreme Court to allow it to use the US Postal Service to choke off access to the election method used by one third of all Americans. But in many ways, the president has already won the battle by seeding doubt and chaos into the process.