Politics

Updated: 12:41 p.m., Friday, Aug. 7, 2020

President Trump paid an election-season visit to Ohio Thursday to tout his manufacturing policies, launching attacks on Democratic rival Joe Biden during two appearances in the swing state.

Wearing a cloth mask, the president toured the Whirlpool washing machine factory in Clyde on Thursday afternoon. He spoke to an audience on the factory floor for a little less than an hour.

A new poll shows Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell leading Democratic challenger Amy McGrath by 17 points in Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race this year.

The survey of 793 likely voters in Kentucky by Washington D.C. based firm Morning Consult shows McConnell leading McGrath 53% to 36%. The poll was conducted between July 24 and Aug 2.

McConnell is running for his seventh term in the Senate, though this is the first year he is running while also serving as the majority leader, the high-profile position that allows him to set the agenda of the chamber and wield influence on which bills come up for votes.

Two weeks ago, Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) was arrested on a federal racketeering charge related to the nuclear bailout law he championed, and wouldn’t say if he would resign. His House colleagues unanimously stripped him of his leadership and the GOP majority installed a new speaker, the third in two years.

A new poll that shows President Donald Trump trailing former Vice President Joe Biden in Ohio also reveals that Mr. Biden’s “strong” supporters here outnumber Mr. Trump’s, a snapshot of the state less than 100 days from an election that will determine whether Ohio continues its unmatched swing-state streak.

Updated: 11:05 a.m., Friday, July 31, 2020

President Donald Trump plans to drop into Northeast Ohio next week to raise money for his reelection bid, according to several Republican sources with knowledge of the plans.

State Rep. Bob Cupp (R-Lima) will take over as Ohio House Speaker following the removal of Larry Householder. 

Kentucky’s top election official says he doesn’t want all voters to be eligible for mail-in voting during the November General Election, though he still wants to allow older and more vulnerable voters to do so.

Secretary of State Michael Adams, a Republican, says he’s worried that local election officials and the Post Office will not be able to handle the influx of mail-in ballots if absentee voting is again expanded to all eligible voters, as it was during Kentucky’s primary election in June.

“I’m dubious we can fully replicate the primary election plan in all respects, as we believe turnout will be 250% higher in November than it was in June. And that was pretty high as it was,” Adams said during a legislative committee on Tuesday.

The first presidential debate of the general election is making a detour to Cleveland after coronavirus concerns prompted the University of Notre Dame to pull out of the event.