- In North Carolina's Senate primary, state House Speaker Thom Tillis won the Republican nomination, defeating tea party candidates and positioning the GOP to defeat incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan.
- In Ohio's gubernatorial primary, incumbent Republican Gov. John Kasich was re-nominated to run against Democratic candidate Ed FitzGerald.
- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prayer at the beginning of legislative meetings does not violate the First Amendment, allowing for sectarian prayers led by clergy of one faith.
- In North Carolina's Senate primary, state House Speaker Thom Tillis won the Republican nomination, defeating tea party candidates and positioning the GOP to defeat incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan.
- In Ohio's gubernatorial primary, incumbent Republican Gov. John Kasich was re-nominated to run against Democratic candidate Ed FitzGerald.
- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prayer at the beginning of legislative meetings does not violate the First Amendment, allowing for sectarian prayers led by clergy of one faith.
- In North Carolina's Senate primary, state House Speaker Thom Tillis won the Republican nomination, defeating tea party candidates and positioning the GOP to defeat incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan.
- In Ohio's gubernatorial primary, incumbent Republican Gov. John Kasich was re-nominated to run against Democratic candidate Ed FitzGerald.
- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prayer at the beginning of legislative meetings does not violate the First Amendment, allowing for sectarian prayers led by clergy of one faith.
- In North Carolina's Senate primary, state House Speaker Thom Tillis won the Republican nomination, defeating tea party candidates and positioning the GOP to defeat incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan.
- In Ohio's gubernatorial primary, incumbent Republican Gov. John Kasich was re-nominated to run against Democratic candidate Ed FitzGerald.
- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prayer at the beginning of legislative meetings does not violate the First Amendment, allowing for sectarian prayers led by clergy of one faith.
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Election Central
Results Edition Heres your rundown of results from the races that mattered in Tuesdays Indiana, North Carolina, and Ohio primaries: I ndiana No Senate or gubernatorial race this year, and no House members with serious primary challenges. North Carolina SENATE: A big win for the GOP establishment in the Tar Heel State, where state House Speaker Thom Tillis took the partys nomination, sending the party closer to unseating Sen. Kay Hagan (D) and taking back control of the U.S. Senate. Tillis won 45.7% of the vote, in a contest where he needed 40% to avoid a runoff, with tea party candidate Greg Brannon, endorsed by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), taking 27%, and Charlotte pastor Mark Harris receiving 17% of ballots cast. Following two cycles with many unelectable GOP nominees, many Republicans are relieved with the nomination of Tillis, cast as the best chance to beat Hagan. The race between the two is seen as a near-statistical tie.
HOUSE: In the solidly Republican 2 nd district, Rep. Renee Ellmers (R) is probably going to be re-elected. But that doesnt mean the Democratic primary wasnt one of the most watched races Tuesday night, simply because of the battle between one-time American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken and former state Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco. The race is still too close to call, with Aiken beating Crisco by just 372 votes, and at 40.8%, just barely above the number needed to stave off a runoff. Two primaries were held in District 12 Tuesday, one in the special election to replace Rep. Mel Watt (D) who was confirmed by the Senate in January as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and for the regular election for the seat. The winner of both Democratic nominations was State Rep. Alma Adams, who is expected to beat former TV news anchor Vince Coakley, the GOP nominee. While she is definitely the frontrunner in both races, Adams will still not go to Washington until January. Ohio GOVERNOR: With no Senate seat up this year in Ohio, the states most high-profile primary would have been for governor, although no surprises were offered Tuesday. Gov. John Kasich (R) was re-nominated, and Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald is the Democratic pick to run against him. Even in the presidential swing state of Ohio, Kasich is heavily favored in most polls to stay in the State House. HOUSE: In the 8 th district, House Speaker John Boehner often the enemy of the Republican Partys conservative wing easily and unsurprisingly fended off three primary challenges to his right. Boehner nabbed an overwhelming 69% of the vote; the challenger with the best finish was teacher and tea party favorite J.D. Wintereg received 22% of ballots cast. Finally, freshman Rep. David Joyce (R) faced his first primary campaign Tuesday since he was placed on the 2012 general-election ballot following Rep. Steven LaTourettes surprise post-primary decision to retire and it included a tea party challenge. Like really all the other incumbents Tuesday night, Joyce (and the establishment that backed them) emerged victorious, beating state Rep. Matt Lynch largely because of money pumped into the race on his behalf by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Supreme Court Spotlight
Supreme Court OKs Prayer at Council Meetings In a close decision handed down Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment was not violated by prayer at the beginning of legislative meetings, for bodies such as city councils, even if the prayer favors a specific religion. The ruling came in the case Town of Greece v. Galloway, argued over a lawsuit by two citizens of Greece, New York, a town just outside Rochester, where the city council opens its meetings with a prayer from local clergy, usually Christians who reguarlay invoke Jesus, the reserucction, and other secular beliefs in their prayers for the meetings. Every meeting of the council from 1999 to 2007 were opened by a Christian prayer. Ceremonial prayer is but a recognition that, since this Nation was founded and until the present day, many Americans deem that their own existence must be understood by precepts far beyond the authority of government, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority decision, for the courts fellow four conservatives. Justice Elena Kagan, in her dissent for the other three High Court liberals, said the public forum need not become a religion-free zone, but [months] of prayers steeped in only one faith, addressed toward members of the public, commenced meetings to discuss local affairs and distribute government benefits. Kagan continued, ...That practice does not square with the First Amendments promise that every citizen, irrespective of her religion, owns an equal share in her government. The prayers betray no understanding that the American community is today, as it long has been, a rich mosaic of religious faiths. This echoes the Supreme Courts 1983 decision in Marsh v. Chambers, allowing state legislatures to begin sessions with prayer, as long as the invocations were inclusive, nonsectarian prayers to a generic God, according to the Washington Post. Kagans opinion also called upon the American melting pot. A 2007 Pew Research Center survey of over 35,000 Americans found 78% of Americans identified with the Christian faith, the majority (51%) of them being Protestant and 23% being Catholic. Just 5% of American adults polled affiliated themselves with other religions, with the largest of those being the 1.7% of Americans identifying as Jews. In the town of Greece, New York, where the Supreme Court case was based, Wake Up To Politics research unearthed Glenmary Research Center data showing 66% of citizens as Christians the majority religion in America at large, and the one Greece town meeting invocations were dominated by in tone and clergy. Just 6% of Greece townspeople identified as Jewish, the second largest religion in the town. Justice Anthony Kennedy continued in his opinion, Absent a pattern of prayers that over time denigrate, proselytize, or betray an impermissible government purpose, a challenge based solely on the content of a particular prayer will not likely establish a constitutional violation. The courts Monday decision in the case was split 5-4, on ideological, but also religious lines. Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., as well as Justices Anthony Kennedy, Samuel Alito Jr., Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas conservatives and Roman Catholics all made up the majority in the decision. The liberal wing of the court joined in dissent made up of Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor. Of the liberals, all except Sotomayor (a Catholic), are Jewish.
Capitol Hill News
House to Vote on Benghazi Select Committee The U.S. House will vote today on formation of the select committee to investigate the September 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, formally called the e Meet Trey Gowdy. As chair of the soon-to-be select committee, this two-term South Carolina congressman and former federal prosecutor is the new biggest player in the Benghazi scandal. Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi. The panel is set to have seven Republicans and five Democrats, with chair already announced as Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC). House Democrats are saying the Gowdy committee, as it is already being informally called, is a sideshow, and are expected to be united in opposition to it at todays vote. But one the committee is approved, as expected, the question is whether House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will go ahead and appoint the five members of her caucus allotted to the committee, or boycott it altogether. On this question there are two schools of thought among House Democrats. Many news organizations have reported that Pelosi is leaning towards boycotting the Gowdy committee, a view represented by Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-SC), who said, Im not bringing a noose to my hanging. Other Democrats, however, hold that it is important members of their own be there to slow down proceedings, especially if top Obama Administration officials are subpoenaed. The select committee will have the power to subpoena executive branch officials, and hearings could include now-National Security Advisor Susan Rice, Secretary of State John Kerry, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in office at the time of the attack that killed four Americans, including the Ambassador to Libya. Gowdys committee will be charged with unearthing new evidence and testimony in a scandal that has already been the subject of 13 hearings from eight different congressional committees, turning up 25,000 pages of documents and 50 briefings and, of course, many GOP fundraising drives and a potential issue in the midterms and 2016 presidential race.
Question of the Day
Todays Question In celebration of Harry Trumans would-be 130 th
birthday, when Truman emerged unharmed from a 1950 assassination attempt, where was he at the time? Mondays Question I havent had a chance to publish the answer yet (because there was no Wake Up on Tuesday & Wednesday), but in the time since I asked which child star was the first female U.S. Chief of Protocol, I received 15 answers so thank you so much for answering everybody. The answer was Shirley Temple Black, known for her childhood acting days, who later pursued a career in public service. After running for Congress in California as a Republican in 1967 (and losing), Temple began her first of many diplomatic jobs in 1969, appointed as U.S. Representative to the 24 th UN General Assembly by Richard Nixon. By December 1974, President Gerald Ford appointed her U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, and in 1976, she became the first female U.S. Chief of Protocol. In that post, Temple was put in charge of arranging President Jimmy Carters inauguration and surrounding activities. Finally, from 1989 to 1992, Temple served as U.S. Ambassador to Czechoslovakia under President George Bush. GREAT JOB... Sharalyn Saks, Marlee Millman, Linda Skrainka, Marilyn Schapiro, Brad Chotiner, Leslie Caplan, Terry Bloomberg, Janice Goodman, Joe Bookman, Rick Isserman, Amy Fleisher, Norman Gordon, Rebecca Hatlelid Boester, Rhyan Haynes, and @CamSullivan(via Twitter)! I would just like to note that @CamSullivan responded to the trivia question when I tweeted it, which I try to do every time there is a Question of the Day. Mondays question tweet was actually favorited by @US_Protocol, the Twitter account for the office of the Chief of Protocol at the State Department! Check out my tweets @WakeUp2Politics!