Latest Stories By Louis Jacobson

Showing 445-456 of 1260 items
Polling place for money race

Trump vs. Biden: Another update on the money race

September 4, 2020

President Donald Trump is maintaining his money lead against Democratic nominee Joe Biden, although Biden made up ground on his way to becoming the official nominee. For this, our first update on the presidential money race since July 9, we looked at three sources of funds: dollars raised directly by the campaign; dollars raised by […]

Voting Counts: How Kentucky’s June primary election turned out

September 2, 2020

In the days leading up to Kentucky’s June 23 primary, national figures raised alarms about the state’s Election Day voting infrastructure. Celebrities from film director Ava Duvernay to former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams to NBA superstar LeBron James decried the closing of all but one in-person Election Day polling place in each Kentucky county.  […]

Trump with Laura Ingraham

Black-clad thugs on a plane? What was Donald Trump talking about?

September 1, 2020

Mysterious black-clad thugs on flights to Washington to disrupt the president’s political convention — shh, say no more! That was the message President Donald Trump delivered when he offered an anecdote during an Aug. 31 interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingaham. Trump: “We had somebody get on a plane from a certain city this weekend, […]

Capitol with blood red sky

Prepare for the weirdest election ‘night’ ever

September 1, 2020

Remember Florida’s presidential election recount in 2000, with the hanging chads, the magnifying glasses, and the weeks of courtroom battles about how to count the votes? There could be post-election vote-counting chaos again in the 2020 election — maybe in Florida, maybe some other state, or even in several states at the same time. The […]

Census enumerators

Could an undercounted 2020 Census afflict a range of federal statistics?

August 26, 2020

As the once-every-decade Census approaches its completion, some observers are worrying about a rough landing. It’s never an easy task to count hundreds of millions of Americans spread out through 3.7 million square miles. But the 2020 Census has faced a special set of challenges. First came a fierce legal battle over the Trump administration’s […]

Pam Bondi at 2020 RNC

Fact-checking Pam Bondi’s RNC attacks about Hunter Biden

August 26, 2020

Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the people who benefited from Joe Biden’s political career “are his family members, not the American people.” Her speech at the Republican National Convention has roots in the January impeachment trial where she defended President Trump. Business dealings by Biden’s younger son, Hunter, have raised many ethical […]

The RNC featured Pompeo in Jerusalem and official White House acts. Is that legal?

August 26, 2020

The second night of the Republican convention was notable for breaking longstanding traditions, and possibly laws, against mixing politics and government. They included: • First Lady Melania Trump giving her convention address to an audience assembled in the Rose Garden of the White House. • Secretary of State Mike Pompeo giving a convention address, unlike […]

Why it’s OK to be sad there are no in-person conventions this year

August 17, 2020

The national party conventions begin this week, the Democrats first, followed by the Republicans next week.  Ordinarily I’d be on an adrenaline rush.  My time covering 13 conventions has reflected both the nation’s changing politics and its changing technology. When I began, I was the intern charged with ferrying film canisters into and out of […]

Mail ballots art

How to make sure your ballot is counted this fall

August 17, 2020

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, voters in many states are preparing to vote by an unfamiliar method: by mail. Traditionally, most of the voting in most states is done in person, either before or on Election Day. But in recent months, health officials have encouraged voters to cast their ballots by mail so they can […]

kamala harris jan 2020 trump impeachment

Who is Kamala Harris? Joe Biden’s pick for vice president

August 11, 2020

Joe Biden picked U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris to run as vice president on the Democratic ticket against President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, announced his decision Aug. 11. “I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, […]

Eviction 2

Donald Trump’s executive order on evictions, explained

August 11, 2020

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Aug. 8 that addressed eviction policy. But it didn’t extend an expired federal eviction moratorium, and even if it had extended the moratorium, not every renter would be covered. Evictions have become an urgent matter during the coronavirus pandemic, because the pandemic has prompted a severe economic […]

A look at Susan Rice, Benghazi, and unmasking

August 7, 2020

Joe Biden hasn’t chosen a vice presidential nominee yet, but the preemptive attacks are already underway online and among conservative commentators. One of their targets is Susan Rice, a former senior official in President Barack Obama’s administration. Aides and allies of President Donald Trump have focused on two episodes in particular: Rice’s involvement in the […]

Showing 445-456 of 1260 items