Spending in Pennsylvania's Supreme Court race already exceeds $5M

HARRISBURG — Spending in the race for an open seat on Pennsylvania’s state Supreme Court has blown past $5 million, according to campaign finance reports filed, with less than two weeks left until Election Day.

Reports filed with the state Friday show that most of it, or roughly $3 million, has been spent to help Republican Kevin Brobson, including spending by third-party groups in the race. That compared with about $2 million to help Democrat Maria McLaughlin.

The reports are out as attack ads are hitting the airwaves on both sides.

Brobson’s largest donor, by far, is a group that receives millions from suburban Philadelphia billionaire Jeffrey Yass, whose favored issue has been boosting public schools alternatives. It has spent more than $1.7 million to help Brobson.


https://www.pennlive.com/news/2021/10/spending-in-pennsylvanias-supreme-court-race-already-exceeds-5m.html

Absentee ballots could help set record turnout in Detroit area's Tuesday elections

(WXYZ) — Voters on Tuesday will decide races for Mayor, City Council, ballot questions, and other issues in Detroit and throughout the suburbs. It’s a big deal for those communities. Turnout could also set records.

In Clawson, the turnout trend is going up.

City Clerk August Gitschlag tells 7 Action News, “On our school election, a school bond election that we had back in August, the entire voter turnout was up.”

And in the races next week the clerk says, “of the 730 some people that voted absentee two years ago in our local election. We've already have about 1,680 ballots out.”

In 2018, Michigan voters passed by a 2 to 1 margin Proposal 3 which became a game-changer and easier to vote including with absentee ballots. You no longer need a reason to vote absentee. You only have to apply for a ballot with a signature on the form.


https://www.wxyz.com/decodedc/politics/absentee-ballots-could-help-set-record-turnout-in-tuesday-elections

Schumer endorses Democratic Socialist in Buffalo mayoral race

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB/AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is endorsing the Democratic nominee for Buffalo Mayor India Walton. In a tweet Thursday evening, Senator Schumer said he’s endorsing Walton because she’s “a community leader, nurse, and mother with a clear progressive vision for her hometown.”

He added that he looks forward to working with Walton and working to bring federal resources to Buffalo and Western New York.

As Buffalo voters start to head to the polls this weekend, I urge them to cast their ballot for India Walton as the next Mayor of Buffalo. India is an inspiring community leader, mother, nurse, and a lifelong Buffalonian with a clear progressive vision for her hometown.

India Walton won the Democratic primary fair and square and is the nominee, and I have always believed that the Democratic party is a big tent and is strongest and most able to build national majorities and bring meaningful change, when it is inclusive – that is exactly how the Senate Democratic caucus is structured. Throughout my career, I have worked long, hard, and diligently to bring federal resources to Western New York and I look forward to doing that with India Walton for the betterment of the people of Buffalo.

Walton, a Black woman and socialist community activist, responded in a tweet saying she’s honored to receive the endorsement and will work with Schumer to “build the safe, healthy Buffalo we all need and deserve.”


https://www.news10.com/news/erie-county/schumer-endorses-democratic-socialist-buffalo-mayoral-race/

All eyes on Buffalo mayoral race while NYC's contenders square off

The already high-profile race for mayor of Buffalo got new shots of controversy when state Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs made an extremely thoughtless analogy. Asked why he had not endorsed India Walton, the democratic socialist who won the primary in June against incumbent Mayor Byron Brown, Jacobs compared the situation to if David Duke, the infamous Ku Klux Klan leader, had won a Democratic primary. Although he was sure to say that the situations were not the same, Jacobs said he obviously would not endorse Duke just because he had won a low-turnout Democratic primary.

This, of course, caused criticism among other party leaders in the state, with Sen. Chuck Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul calling the remarks “disgusting.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went a step further and called on Jacobs to resign. Jacobs did release a tepid apology, which Hochul seemed to find sufficient, not heeding calls to immediately replace him. And Walton herself responded by saying she understands that people make mistakes. But in another shakeup, just days after Jacobs’ comments, Schumer announced his endorsement of Walton over Brown, who is still waging a write-in campaign. The Senate majority leader was one of several prominent state Democrats who have steered clear of the race, but his support will likely be a significant boost for Walton as Election Day draws closer. Hochul, meanwhile, confirmed that she would not endorse anyone in the race.



https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2021/10/all-eyes-buffalo-mayoral-race-while-nycs-contenders-square/186317/

Michelle Wu Leads Annissa Essaibi George By 30 Points In Boston Mayoral Race Before Election Day

BOSTON (CBS) — A new poll shows Michelle Wu has a commanding lead over Annissa Essaibi George in the Boston mayoral race just days before election day.

A poll from Emerson College released this week found Wu has 61% support, while Annissa Essaibi George has 31% support. 8% of the 500 likely voters surveyed are undecided between the two city councilors. There is a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.



https://boston.cbslocal.com/2021/10/30/michelle-wu-annissa-essaibi-george-boston-mayoral-race-election-day-emerson-poll/

Man arrested for murder of Dallas woman who may have been stalked

FORT WORTH, Texas - A suspect was arrested Thursday for this week's murder of a Dallas woman who may have been stalked.

Abigail Saldaña, 22, was found with fatal gunshot wounds in her car after it crashed into a sign on Amon Carter Boulevard at Highway 183 in Fort Worth.

Saldaña was shot and killed just a few weeks after she told her mother she found a tracking device on her car and that she thought someone was following her.

Police made an arrest Thursday, but it’s unclear whether or not he knew Saldaña.

Saldaña’s death comes just weeks after her mother Jessica Contreras says she posted a video on Instagram about a tracking device she found underneath her car.

"I had told her to go to the police and report it. I believe that she did report that," Contreras said.

Fort Worth police confirm the reported tracking device is part of the investigation. They arrested 54-year-old Stanley Frank Szeliga on Thursday and charged him with her murder.





https://www.ktvu.com/news/man-arrested-for-murder-of-dallas-woman-who-may-have-been-stalked?taid=617d1c5852506e00019c480d&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=twitter

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Remains found in desert identified as missing 30-year-old

Remains found in a Southern California desert have been identified as 30-year-old Lauren "El" Cho, a New Jersey woman who was missing for months, authorities said.

Her cause and manner of death are pending toxicology results, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said Thursday.

The remains were recovered on Oct. 9 during a search for Cho "in the rugged terrain of the open desert of Yucca Valley," the sheriff's department said. Cho was reported missing on June 28 "when she reportedly walked away" from the Yucca Valley home where she was staying, the sheriff's department said.

The search for Cho was launched this summer and included planes searching the remote mountain terrain and canines scouring the area for evidence, the sheriff's office said.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/remains-found-in-desert-identified-as-missing-30-year-old/ar-AAPnt4K?ocid=mailsignout&li=BBnb7Kz

Teen admits killing girl and her parents after he was caught in her bedroom

A California teenager admitted he killed a 16-year-old girl and her parents after he was caught with her in her bedroom, prosecutors said.

Mauricio Johnson, 19, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to the triple murder and received a 150-year prison sentence, the Humboldt County District Attorney said.

Johnson killed Nikki Metcalf, 40, Margarett Moon, 40 and Shelly Autumn May Moon – who wasn’t identified by the DA – on Feb. 9 in their home on the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria Reservation.

The teenager entered the home “with the permission of several minors” who lived there, prosecutors said. But after most of the house had gone to bed, stepfather Metcalf walked into the girl’s bedroom and found Johnson and the girl, the DA said in a statement.

The teenagers were getting “intimate” and Metcalf hit Johnson who ran from the room with his pants down, according to a warrant cited by lawandcrime.com.

The mother, woken by the gunfire, was shot when she walked into the living room, the publication stated. Johnson then shot the girl “because he did not want to have any witnesses,” lawandcrime.com said.



https://nypost.com/2021/10/28/teen-mauricio-johnson-admits-killing-girl-and-her-parents-after-he-was-caught-in-her-bedroom/?utm_medium=SocialFlow&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter

Illinois redistricting puts incumbents Chuy Garcia and Marie Newman in the same district.