Abortion access will officially be on Arizona’s ballot in November
(WASHINGTON) — An amendment that would create a right to an abortion in Arizona’s constitution will appear on the state’s ballot this November.
Arizona for Abortion Access, a coalition supporting the amendment, announced on Monday night that the measure would appear on the state’s November ballot as Proposition 139, allowing voters in the swing state to decide on the issue this election cycle.
Arizona’s secretary of state office confirmed to ABC News on Monday evening that the Arizona for Abortion Access Act will officially be on the ballot this November.
The secretary of state’s office told ABC News that Arizona turned in an estimated 577,971 valid signatures for Abortion Access. The group surpassed the minimum number of signatures needed, which was 383,923. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes signed the required paperwork to put the ballot measure in front of voters.
If passed in November, the measure would establish a fundamental right to an abortion in the state. It would protect access to abortion up until viability, which is generally around 24 weeks, with exceptions after that if a “healthcare provider determines an abortion is needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the patient.”
Arizona law currently bans abortions after 15 weeks and includes exceptions in cases of medical emergencies.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs in May signed repeal legislation of a long-dormant, near-total abortion ban that had been revived by the state Supreme Court, stirring widespread controversy and debate.
(WASHINGTON) — New Hampshire’s Republican Gov. Chris Sununu said Sunday that Republicans should focus on criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris’ policy record rather than engaging in personal attacks against her in the race for the White House.
On the campaign trail this past week, former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, attacked Harris repeatedly, calling her “a lunatic” and a “threat to democracy” who “would be the most radical, far left extremist to ever occupy the White House.”
Sununu, who said in a previous interview that Republicans should “stick to the issues, stick with unity, stick with positivity” during this campaign, told “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz that Trump is “missing” an opportunity, but he is still hopeful the campaign “can get back on track.”
“I think he was on track for a couple months there. I think that the change in the campaign has kind of fired him up to go against — against a person — personally,” Sununu said. “You have to stop the personal attacks. We have too much that we can win on when it comes to issues and policies.”
“The border issue, the inflation issue. These are some very real issues,” he said. “It isn’t just going to be about, well, we need to vote for Vice President Harris because she’s a woman, or we need to vote for her because it’s just a change and it’s not Donald Trump.”
With just 100 days until the election, Republicans have been scrambling to form and coordinate an attack strategy against the vice president. Harris has seen a swell of support in the week since President Joe Biden announced he was stepping down from the 2024 race and endorsed Harris. The vice president has racked up major party endorsements and raked in $200 million for her campaign as of Sunday morning, according to her campaign.
While some Republican leaders have focused on criticisms of her record from her time as a senator and California attorney general, others have opted to hurl attacks based on Harris’ race and gender.
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., referred to Harris as a “DEI vice president” in a post on X, while Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., in an interview called her “a DEI hire.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., in an apparent attempt to rein in such attacks, urged fellow Republicans to stick to policies instead.
“This is not personal with regard to Kamala Harris,” Johnson told reporters after a closed-door meeting with Republicans last week, “and her ethnicity or her gender have nothing to do with this whatsoever.”
Sununu echoed the speaker on Sunday, telling Raddatz that criticisms like that are “not helpful at all.”
“Sticking to the issues is too good of an opportunity for Republicans, both nationally and statewide,” he said. “People want a change. They want some sort of disruption. They’re tired of the — of the elitism, the wokeism and elitism and the liberalism coming out of the — the country.”
As Harris aims to announce her running mate by Aug. 7, resurfaced comments from Trump’s vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, prompted backlash this week.
“We’re effectively run in this country, via the Democrats via, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies,” said Vance — who specifically named Harris, despite her having two stepchildren — in a 2021 Fox News interview. “How does it make any sense that we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?”
Vance went on the “Megyn Kelly Show” podcast on Friday to defend his past remarks, arguing that the Democratic Party is “anti-family” and that his criticism was not directed at those who don’t have kids. “The simple point that I made is that having children, becoming a father, becoming a mother, I really do think it changes your perspective in a pretty profound way,” Vance told Kelly.
“I explicitly said in my remarks, despite the fact that the media has lied about this, that this is not about criticizing people who, for various reasons, didn’t have kids. This is about criticizing the Democratic Party for becoming anti-family and anti-child,” he added. Vance’s original comments from 2021 mentioned the “choices” those Democrats had made that led them to be “miserable” and “childless cat ladies.”
Raddatz asked Sununu on Sunday whether he had any concerns about Vance as Donald Trump’s VP pick.
“No, I don’t have any concerns over JD directly,” he said.
“I don’t think those comments were helpful,” Sununu said, referring to Vance’s “childless cat ladies” remark. “Again, stick to issues.”
Sununu added that he is worried such personal attacks might alienate part of the independent voter block that Republicans are looking to attract.
“He’s a younger guy. I think this is all very, very new to him. I mean, he’s only been in Washington 18 months. He’s an outsider himself,” Sununu said. “I think he’s surrounding himself, obviously, with a lot of the folks in the campaign that kind of feel an energy off of those personal attacks. But that ain’t what’s going to drive the vote.”
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris secured enough Democratic Party delegate votes to become the party’s nominee, according to the Democratic National Committee. She is set to name her running mate soon, with the two scheduled to embark Tuesday on a seven-state trip of some of the biggest battleground state in the election, according to her campaign.
President Donald Trump and his vice presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance, are set to speak to voters through scheduled rallies and events throughout the week, too. Vance will also be visiting the same battleground states as Harris and her newly minted vice presidential pick.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Harris grows Pennsylvania volunteers
Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is touting its robust ground game in Pennsylvania, saying it’s taking “nothing for granted” in the state, ahead of her running mate reveal, which is expected on Tuesday.
About 33,000 people signed up to volunteer for the campaign in Pennsylvania in the last 15 days, according to a campaign memo. The campaign boasts nearly 300 staffers across three dozen offices in the state, the memo said.
The campaign also said it was “doing the work to make inroads in historically-safe Republican areas.”
The campaign sought to contrast Harris’ record with former President Donald Trump’s, citing the vice president’s time as a prosecutor and saying she “is committed to keeping our communities safe and locking up dangerous crooks, criminals, and predators.”
“With only three months until Election Day, Trump’s campaign still lags far behind in the infrastructure needed to win with just three offices in Pennsylvania,” the Harris campaign memo said. “He’s shown he doesn’t want these voters.”
Kamala Harris earns majority of Democratic roll call votes
Vice President Kamala Harris has officially gotten the vast majority of delegate votes in the virtual roll call that nominates her as the Democratic presidential nominee, the Democratic National Committee said in a statement released late Monday.
The roll call, which concluded on Monday evening, still needs to be certified by Convention Secretary Jason Rae, according to the statement, but the announcement makes Harris’s historic nomination effectively official.
Sens. Sanders, Warren join Progressives for Harris Call: ‘We have to beat Trump in November’
On a three-hour organizing call with over 100,000 attendees, numerous high-profile progressive democrats came out to support Vice President Kamala’s Harris’ presidential bid.
Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Reps. Joaquin Castro, Ro Khanna, Ilhan Omar and Jamie Raskin and UAW President Shawn Fain all showed up as well as members of the uncommitted movement who had not yet endorsed Harris but strongly hope she’ll win them over in the next few months.
“The energy and the momentum in this election is on our side. And I am so inspired by the organizing in support of Vice President Harris, starting with the win with black women that mobilized a massive zoom call. And now here tonight, we have progressives coming together,” Warren said on the call.
Sanders, who has not officially said he endorses Harris — although he has encouraged voters to go out and support the candidate — told attendees that “Trump must be defeated” and Harris “must be elected.” He noted that it’s “imperative that Democrats gain control over the House and the Senate.”
“And we in the progressive movement must do all that we can to make that happen,” he added.
“I don’t know if I can add to what has already been said tonight, but my message is pretty clear, and that is all of us together must do everything that we can to defeat Donald Trump and elect Kamala Harris as our next president,” said Sanders.
Harris campaign selling yard signs without revealing running mate’s name
Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is promoting pre-orders for a campaign yard sign with a mockup image featuring her last name and tape and question marks over where her yet-to-be-announced running mate’s last name would be.
“Be one of the first to proudly display your support for Kamala Harris and her running mate,” the campaign said on its website.
JD Vance to also give remarks in same states as Harris this week
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance is scheduled to give remarks in the same states on the same days as Vice President Kamala Harris this week, the Trump-Vance campaign announced, as Harris embarks on a battleground state tour.
Vance is scheduled to speak at noon ET in Philadelphia on Tuesday. The event comes as Harris is set to hold a rally with her yet-to-be-announced running mate Tuesday night in the city.
On Wednesday, he is scheduled to deliver remarks in the Detroit suburb of Shelby Township, Michigan, and Eau Claire, Wisconsin, as Harris also campaigns in those states then.
Then on Thursday, he is set to speak in Raleigh and Oakboro in North Carolina, aligning with Harris’ scheduled visit to the state.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
Bon Iver to campaign with Harris in Wisconsin
Bon Iver will join Harris and her running mate on Wednesday in Eau Claire, Wisconsin — where the Grammy-winning indie folk band was founded — for a “special performance” as part of the campaign’s battleground state tour, the Harris campaign announced on Monday.
-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow, Will McDuffie and Isabella Murray
Harris still deliberating on VP pick: Source
At this moment, Vice President Harris has not decided on a running mate and is still deliberating, according to a source.
More than 10K people expected at Harris’ Philly rally: Source
More than 10,000 people are expected to attend Harris’ rally Tuesday night in Philadelphia, where she’ll be joined by her new running mate, according to a source familiar with the plans.
That would make this the biggest event yet for the Harris campaign.
Harris is looking to build off her momentum. Pennsylvania kicks off her swing through seven battleground states in five days.
The pace of her campaign is in stark contrast to Trump’s, which has only one rally scheduled this week — in Montana on Friday.
Usha Vance says husband’s ‘childless cat ladies’ comment was a ‘quip’
In her first interview since her husband was named former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Usha Vance sat down with Fox & Friends where she discussed her husband’s “childless cat ladies” comment that has gained attention recently — calling it a “quip.”
“The reality is, JD made a quote – I mean, he made a quip, and he made a quip in service of making a point that he wanted to make that was substantive,” Usha Vance said of the comments her husband made in 2021. “And I just wish sometimes that people would talk about those things and that we would spend a lot less time just sort of going through this three-word phrase or that three-word phrase.”
She continued, “What he was really saying is that it can be really hard to be a parent in this country, and sometimes our policies are designed in a way that make it even harder.”
She added that her husband “would never ever ever want to say something to hurt someone who was trying to have a family who really was struggling with that.”
JD Vance has called the comments “sarcastic.”
“Let’s try to look at the real conversation that he’s trying to have and engage with it and understand for those of us who do have families, for the many of us who want to have families, and for whom it’s really hard,” Usha Vance said on Monday. “What can we do to make it better? What can we do to make it easier to live in 2024?”
-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh, Hannah Demissie, Lalee Ibssa and Soorin Kim
Pelosi says she spoke with Biden ahead of his withdrawal ‘asking for a campaign that would win’
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, in an interview with Good Morning America anchor George Stephanopolous on Monday morning, said that she spoke with President Joe Biden ahead of his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race “asking for a campaign that would win.” She also said Biden was “the only person that I spoke to” about Biden possibly withdrawing.
“The only person that I spoke to about this was the president. Other people called me about what their views were about it, and — but I rarely even returned a call, much less initiated one,” Pelosi said.
Later, she added, “I wasn’t asking him to step down. I was asking for a campaign that would win, and I wasn’t seeing that on the horizon.”
Vice President Kamala Harris’ choice for her running mate is a the “most important” decision she has to make as her campaign gets started, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
All of her choices appear to be good, Pelosi added.
“It’s a difficult decision because they are all so great,” she told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America on Monday. “It is the most important decision for her to make. Not just about who can help win, but who can help serve and lead and whose confidence she trusts.”
Harris and to-be-announced running mate to launch seven-state tour Tuesday
Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, who is yet to be named, will go on tour, hitting seven battleground states in five days, the Harris campaign said Monday.
The tour will be an effort to “introduce the new Democratic ticket” and “speak directly with voters in their communities and cement the contrast between our ticket and Trump’s,” campaign said.
The tour, which kicks off Tuesday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, will feature rallies in cities and stops at college campuses, including HBCUs, union halls, family-owned restaurants and their field offices, the campaign said.
The tour will continue through Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Detroit, Michigan; Durham, North Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Phoenix, Arizona; and Las Vegas, Nevada, the campaign said.
Harris interviewing top VP contenders today at her residence: Source
Vice President Harris is meeting with top running mate candidates Sunday at her residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., according to a source familiar with the matter.
Harris is meeting with at least three leading contenders — Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, according to the source.
The meetings were earlier reported by The New York Times.
Sen. JD Vance says he wears VP pick criticism as a ‘badge of honor’
In a Fox News interview Sunday, Sen. JD Vance responded to criticism of him being picked as former President Donald Trump’s running mate, saying he takes it as a “badge of honor.”
“All I can do is go out there and prosecute the case against Kamala Harris to remind people that things were more prosperous and more peaceful when Donald Trump was president,” Vance said. “Look, I recognize there are a lot of folks even in the GOP establishment and certainly on the far left who don’t like the fact that Donald Trump picked me, I actually take their criticism as a badge of honor.”
Vance also hit back at Democrats who’ve called him “weird,” calling it “a lot of projection.”
“They can call me whatever they want to. The middle school taunts don’t bother me,” he said. “What offends me is what Kamala Harris has done to this country over three and a half years.”
Harris campaign launches ‘Republicans for Harris’ outreach program
Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign announced Sunday that it would be launching a “Republicans for Harris” program aimed at reaching Republican voters who could be convinced to vote for Harris. The program will include digital advertising, phone banking, events and other initiatives, according to the campaign.
The program — and Harris herself — have been endorsed by a number of Republican figures, including former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.
“I might not agree with Vice President Kamala Harris on everything, but I know that she will fight for our freedom, protect our democracy, and represent America with honor and dignity on the world stage,” Grisham wrote in a statement released by the Harris campaign.
The “Republicans for Harris” program will hold kickoff events starting this week, per the campaign.
(WASHINGTON) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statement on Monday night signaling that he’s removed himself from contention as a vice presidential running mate for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
“I strongly support Vice President Harris’ campaign for President. I know she’s going to win and I was honored to be considered for this role. This just wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket,” he said in a post on X.
“As l’ve said from the beginning, she has an outstanding list of people from which to choose, and we’ll all work to make sure she wins,” he added.
Moments after Cooper issued his statement, he delivered remarks on a “White Dudes for Harris” Zoom call, but did not address withdrawing as a possible running mate. The governor instead took the time to boost Harris’ candidacy, saying, “We know that this country needs Kamala Harris more than ever right now, and we can hold the key now.”
Cooper previously announced his support for Harris’ presidential campaign. On July 21, he formally endorsed the vice president, writing, “Kamala Harris should be the next President. I’ve known @VP going back to our days as AGs, and she has what it takes to defeat Donald Trump and lead our country thoughtfully and with integrity. I look forward to campaigning for her as we work to win NC up and down the ticket.”
Cooper, who is the former chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, was seen as a possible top contender for Harris’ 2024 election ticket to expand the Democratic Party’s reach into swing states.
If Cooper were to join Harris’ campaign, however, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson would become active governor while on the campaign trail, under constitutional law.
Robinson is the Republican party’s nominee for governor in the state, in the race to replace Cooper who is term-limited from running for a third time.
Other rumored contenders for Harris’ running mate include Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.
Harris is expected to announce her VP nomination by Aug. 7, ahead of the Democratic National Convention, which will kick off in Chicago on Aug. 19.