Columbus, Ohio, Oct. 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Center Street PAC (www.centerstreetpac.com), a nonpartisan political action committee, released a new poll of Ohio’s U.S. Senate race today, showing Democrat Rep. Tim Ryan (D) leading Republican J.D. Vance 49% to 38% among likely voters, with 14% undecided. Among registered voters, Ryan leads 43% to 35%, with 22% undecided.

In Center Street’s early September poll, voter enthusiasm was about even, with 62% of Republican voters saying they were motivated to vote, compared to 61% of Democrats. By the end of the month, Democratic enthusiasm jumped to 67%, while Republicans’ stalled at 62%.

“It will be interesting to see if Democrats can hold that enthusiasm advantage in Ohio, because they’ll need to, in order for Ryan to win,” said Center Street Co-Founder Jacob Perry. “When you look at registered voters, candidate preference is about the same as in early September. But among likely voters, Ryan jumped five points. That increase comes entirely from Democrats’ motivation to vote, not a surge of excitement about Ryan, specifically.”

As with other Trump-endorsed candidates, such as Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania and Blake Masters in Arizona, Ryan’s large preference lead is a function of Democratic candidates’ favorability advantage. In Ohio, 30% of registered voters view Vance as “Very Unfavorable,” compared to 19% who view Ryan as “Very Unfavorable.”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has expanded her lead over Republican challenger Tudor Dixon to 17 points as the two vie for the state’s governorship, a new poll from Detroit News and WDIV-TV shows.

The survey found that 49.5 percent of likely Michigan voters picked Whitmer as their preferred candidate, while about 32 percent backed Dixon.

Around 10 percent of respondents said they were still undecided, with the midterm elections just a few weeks away. Another 6 percent planned to vote for a third-party candidate instead, and nearly 3 percent refused to answer.

The new results indicate incumbent Whitmer is widening her lead over her Trump-backed challenger.

A previous Detroit News poll initiated in August had Whitmer ahead by 13 points, and a Detroit Free Press poll last month put the governor ahead by 16 points.

Republican firebrand Rep. Lauren Boebert is dangerously close to being upset by a little-known Democratic rival, a new poll in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District shows.

By the numbers: Boebert received support from 47% of likely voters, while Democrat Adam Frisch landed at 45% — making the race a statistical tie within the ±4.4 percentage point margin of error.

Voters didn't want him on the bench, so now a former judge will ask Governor Ron DeSantis for a place in a different courtroom.

In August, former Hillsborough Judge Jared Smith lost his reelection to Judge Nancy Jacobs, after he denied a 17-year-old an abortion over grades.

That decision was overturned by an appellate court, which found Smith to have abused his judicial discretion. Now, the judge has his sights set on a seat on the newly created 6th District Court of Appeals in Lakeland.

Before losing his campaign, Smith also made false claims about local reporting, and was tied to possible campaign law violations.

The appeals court Smith is applying to, which will review judgements made by lower courts, was approved to be created earlier this year, and is set to begin operations on Jan. 1, 2023.

Smith is set to interview with the 6th DCA on Oct. 21, 2022, according to a scheduling document from GrayRobinson Law Firm, which is hosting the interviews in Orlando (see the document at the bottom of this post).

Voters didn't want him on the bench, so now a former judge will ask Governor Ron DeSantis for a place in a different courtroom.

In August, former Hillsborough Judge Jared Smith lost his reelection to Judge Nancy Jacobs, after he denied a 17-year-old an abortion over grades.

That decision was overturned by an appellate court, which found Smith to have abused his judicial discretion. Now, the judge has his sights set on a seat on the newly created 6th District Court of Appeals in Lakeland.

Before losing his campaign, Smith also made false claims about local reporting, and was tied to possible campaign law violations.

The appeals court Smith is applying to, which will review judgements made by lower courts, was approved to be created earlier this year, and is set to begin operations on Jan. 1, 2023.

Smith is set to interview with the 6th DCA on Oct. 21, 2022, according to a scheduling document from GrayRobinson Law Firm, which is hosting the interviews in Orlando (see the document at the bottom of this post).

Weeks before the midterms, a political drama is unfolding in Pennsylvania: A state committee to investigate crime in Philadelphia could ultimately impeach the city’s twice-elected district attorney Larry Krasner, who ran on a platform of reducing mass incarceration and the criminalization of poverty.

Republicans say their investigation is about seeking solutions for rising crime, but for the past five years, they’ve been eager to connect their anti-Krasner rhetoric to the broader Democratic Party — a narrative that has fueled backlash against progressive prosecutors in other cities and painted Democrats as anti-police. Pennsylvania’s investigation started just weeks after San Francisco voters recalled their progressive prosecutor Chesa Boudin.

Krasner’s allies see the probe as a cynical stunt by a Republican-controlled legislature that both underfunds Philadelphia and blocks its leaders from passing tougher gun laws. They also view it as a dangerously anti-democratic effort to overturn the will of Philadelphia voters — akin to the effort to overturn the city’s votes for Biden in the 2020 election.

The committee, dubbed the Select Committee on Restoring Law and Order, was voted into existence by nearly all House Republican lawmakers in June. It’s already embroiled in one legal battle with Krasner, who has objected in court to their sweeping request for documents. To impeach Krasner, the committee might have to demonstrate evidence of misbehavior or corruption — not just ideological disagreement — and that could end up being the subject of yet another court fight.

Although Florida voters have no power to hire justices, they do retain the power to fire justices. New justices face a “merit retention vote” in the first general election after the first year of their appointment. If not retained, the Governor must appoint a replacement from the commission’s recommendations as before. If they make it through that hoop, that justice has to face another retention vote in the general election just before their six-year term expires. Imagine if the country got to vote on whether to keep Amy Coney Barrett this November. That’s what happens every time Florida gets a new Supreme Court justice.

In 2022, three justices face their third retention election, and two more justices are up for their first retention vote. As conservative judges at all levels flex their muscles in courthouses across the country, Florida voters have the opportunity to evict a few of its own revanchist justices who think there are a few too many civil rights floating around.

Among them is Charles Canady, who has been on the Court 14 years, appointed by erstwhile Republican Governor Charlie Crist. Previously, he was a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives and then a Republican congressman, where he was an impeachment manager against President Bill Clinton. When liberals controlled the Court prior to 2018, he was known for fiery dissents. He dissented in, for example, redistricting cases that struck down no fewer than eight congressional districts because of racial gerrymandering, despite evidence that Republican state legislators conspired with Republican operatives to pack as many Black voters into as few districts as possible.

Canady is frequently joined by his colleague Ricky Polston, who was also appointed by Crist.

Justice Jamie Grosshans, appointed in 2020 by DeSantis, is the closest thing to an Amy Coney Barrett of Florida.

Justice John Couriel was the third DeSantis appointee to replace a liberal in 2018.

Contrast Couriel with the fifth justice up for retention, Jorge Labarga, who has distanced himself from his colleagues. Appointed by Crist in 2009, Labarga is conservative, but not as brazenly political as his colleagues.

Although Florida voters have no power to hire justices, they do retain the power to fire justices. New justices face a “merit retention vote” in the first general election after the first year of their appointment. If not retained, the Governor must appoint a replacement from the commission’s recommendations as before. If they make it through that hoop, that justice has to face another retention vote in the general election just before their six-year term expires. Imagine if the country got to vote on whether to keep Amy Coney Barrett this November. That’s what happens every time Florida gets a new Supreme Court justice.

In 2022, three justices face their third retention election, and two more justices are up for their first retention vote. As conservative judges at all levels flex their muscles in courthouses across the country, Florida voters have the opportunity to evict a few of its own revanchist justices who think there are a few too many civil rights floating around.

Among them is Charles Canady, who has been on the Court 14 years, appointed by erstwhile Republican Governor Charlie Crist. Previously, he was a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives and then a Republican congressman, where he was an impeachment manager against President Bill Clinton. When liberals controlled the Court prior to 2018, he was known for fiery dissents. He dissented in, for example, redistricting cases that struck down no fewer than eight congressional districts because of racial gerrymandering, despite evidence that Republican state legislators conspired with Republican operatives to pack as many Black voters into as few districts as possible.

Canady is frequently joined by his colleague Ricky Polston, who was also appointed by Crist.

Justice Jamie Grosshans, appointed in 2020 by DeSantis, is the closest thing to an Amy Coney Barrett of Florida.

Justice John Couriel was the third DeSantis appointee to replace a liberal in 2018.

Contrast Couriel with the fifth justice up for retention, Jorge Labarga, who has distanced himself from his colleagues. Appointed by Crist in 2009, Labarga is conservative, but not as brazenly political as his colleagues.