Gov

July 25 (UPI) — The lieutenant governor of Hawaii was indicted this week for allegedly being bribed by a lobbyist aiming to help a company receive a contract for COVID-19 testing.

A grand jury on Friday indicted Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, a former state representative and the lobbyist, among others, for setting up a scheme to contribute $70,000 to Luke’s campaign in exchange for the contract, the Aloha State Daily reported.

The lobbyist, Tobi Solidum, offered the to Luke to retain a contract with the state, and allegedly was looking to bribe her in the future after she accepted two $5,000 checks at the beginning of the scheme.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green told Fox News that, in light of the indictment, Luke should depart from office.

“The attorney general announced significant developments in her department’s corruption investigation and has provided an update on their findings,” Green said.

“The lieutenant governor needs to consider formally resigning to address this matter and so that the state of Hawaii can move forward,” he said.

Luke, Solidum, former state Public Utilities Commission chair Leodoloff Asuncion Jr., and state Department of Transportation airports administrator Ford Fuchigami all were indicted for involvement in the scheme.

The indictment alleges that that Luke accepted two checks for $5,000 in January 2022 at a Morton’s Steakhouse, with the promise of two more payments of $35,000 each.

Although Luke has acknowledged accepting the $5,000 checks, she I miss that she never received additional money and never acted on what she was paid for.

July 17 (UPI) — One of the leading democratic contenders for Wisconsin governor on Friday quit the race due to troubling financial issues with her campaign.

Sara Rodriguez, the state’s lieutenant governor, on Monday had admitted her campaign was short hundreds of thousands of dollars because her campaign manager had double-counted donations.

“As we have continued to dig into our financial reports, it has become clear that there are issues that would be an ongoing distraction — not just for this campaign, but for the primary and for Wisconsin,” Rodriguez said in a statement Friday on X. “This race is too important to let that happen.”

Rodriguez, who was leading the race in recent polling, added, “I am deeply hurt and betrayed by what happened.”

Her departure leaves state Rep. Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist, and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes as the frontrunners in the race.

The democratic nominee will likely face U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is endorsed by President Donald Trump, in the general election.

“Thank you to everyone who believed and showed up for this campaign,” Rodriguez wrote on X. “Let’s keep fighting — together — to protect the Wisconsin we love.”

July 14 (UPI) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order Tuesday putting a moratorium on building large data centers for one year.

Hochul, a Democrat, signed the executive order pausing environmental permits and said that the delay would give the state legislature time to create new laws that protect the electrical grid, environment and communities.

The order is the first statewide ban in the United States.

“As data center development threatens to hike up utility bills, deplete our natural resources, and create uncertainty for New Yorkers, it’s my responsibility to take action and lead,” Hochul said in a statement. “New York will lead the way in creating the strongest standards in the nation for data center development, ensuring that when companies succeed because of New York, New Yorkers succeed, too.”

The order will temporarily block the state from approving permits for data centers that use 50 or more megawatts of power. During that time, the state will create a regulatory framework for assessing how the projects affect the environment.

The ban won’t delay projects that already have the needed permits.

Hochul also called on lawmakers Tuesday to repeal sales tax exemptions for data centers.

New York has fewer data centers than some other states, such as Texas and Virginia. But some projects have sparked local battles around the state.

Though states once courted the artificial intelligence companies’ investment, sentiment has since soured. Data centers use an enormous amount of electricity and are adding a huge burden to the electrical grid.

A May Gallup poll showed that more Americans would rather live near a nuclear power plant than a data center.

In Monterey Park, Calif., voters recently blocked data center construction permanently. But in April, Maine Gov. Janet Mills vetoed legislation that blocked construction of data centers because she said it could block a project in a town that supported a local data center.

The Seminole Nation passed a complete moratorium that bans development on its tribal land.

Hochul’s team didn’t say how many proposed data centers the moratorium would affect, but Cleanview lists 25 proposed facilities in the state, and a planned 300-megawatt facility near Ithaca has seen protests and backlash from locals, The Washington Post reported.

Lawmakers in New York recently passed a bill that called for a one-year moratorium but Hochul’s action allows the governor to move quickly while she reviews the legislation, the office said.

“This is an important victory for the thousands of New Yorkers who demanded that their government take action to put a pause on hyperscale data centers,” said Mitch Jones, managing director for policy and litigation at environmental group Food & Water Watch.

Reporting from Sacramento — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday pardoned seven former felons, including two Cambodian refugees the Trump administration wants to deport, in his first acts of clemency since the Democrat took office in January.

Newsom adopted a policy of his predecessor, former Gov. Jerry Brown, to use his state constitutional authority to issue pardons to shield immigrants targeted by federal immigration officials.

The pardons are an unmistakable rebuke to President Trump, whose fiery anti-immigrant rhetoric and demands for a giant wall along the U.S.-Mexico border have been central to the escalating political feud between Newsom and the White House.

Newsom took another shot at Trump just hours before announcing the pardons while speaking to members of the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Assn., a national nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization based in Sacramento. Newsom compared Trump to the anti-immigrant “demagogues” in San Francisco who championed the federal Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 — the nation’s first immigration ban on a specific group of people.

“I’m constantly trying to understand the moment we’re living in, the xenophobia, the nativism that marks the populism of this moment,” Newsom said. “Any of us who are students of history know that it’s not without precedent. It’s not novel. It’s hardly new. It’s very familiar.”

Trump restricts asylum further but faces legal and financial limits »

One of the Cambodian refugees pardoned by Newsom, Hay Hov of Oakland, was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in March. He has since been released.

Hov, a naturalized citizen who arrived in the United States in 1985 as a legal refugee when he was 6, was convicted of solicitation to commit murder and participation in a criminal street gang in 2001, when he was 21, according to the Newsom administration.

The other refugee, Kang Hen of San Francisco, like Hov, fled to the Bay Area with his family to escape the Cambodian genocide in the 1980s. Hen was convicted of grand theft in 1994 when he was 18. Hen, who has a 4-year-old son and a partner with kidney and heart problems, was taken into custody by ICE in April.

Both Hov and Hen are being processed for deportation to Cambodia. The pardons do not automatically end a deportation effort but remove the underlying criminal offense that triggered the federal removal actions.

The pardons come as the federal government continues a crackdown on the Cambodian community that began in 2017 when Trump forced Cambodia to agree to take back more deportees. Many of the Cambodians facing deportation were refugees from the brutal Khmer Rouge regime that killed thousands, and came to the United States legally as children. They have few memories or ties to the country. But because they committed crimes, even if convicted decades ago, they can be deported.

In the 2016 fiscal year, ICE reported removing 74 Cambodians. In 2017, 29 Cambodians were removed. In 2018, that number has jumped to 110 thus far.

ICE reported that, as of March 26, there were 1,784 non-detained Cambodians nationals in the United States with a final order of removal. Of those, 1,294 had criminal records.

All seven of the people Newsom pardoned on Monday had completed their prison sentences.

“By granting these pardons to people who are transforming their lives, the Governor is seeking to remove barriers to employment and public service, restore civic rights and responsibilities and prevent unjust collateral consequences of conviction,” the governor’s office said in a statement released Monday afternoon.

The other five people pardoned committed offenses that varied from selling or possessing drugs to forgery.

Brown granted a historic 1,332 pardons and 283 commutations during his last two terms as governor. However, the California Supreme Court rejected 10 grants of clemency issued by Brown, the first time the high court has blocked a pardon or commutation in more than 50 years.

The court did not issue an explanation for the action. Under the California Constitution, the governor cannot grant a pardon or commute a sentence of anyone convicted of two separate felonies without the approval of the state Supreme Court.

None of the people whom Newsom pardoned on Monday had multiple felonies, according to a governor’s office spokesperson.

phil.willon@latimes.com

Twitter: @philwillon

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is directly asking Sen. Mitch McConnell, the state’s most powerful figure in Congress, to disclose more about his condition after three weeks of silence from the 84-year-old since he was hospitalized in Washington.

The letter released Wednesday from Beshear, a Democrat who is considered a potential presidential candidate in 2028, to the former Senate Republican leader says “Kentuckians have grown increasingly concerned about the current state of your health and well-being, and ability to hold office.”

McConnell, whose physical condition has visibly declined in recent years, was hospitalized June 14. He has not released a public statement, photos or videos since. Aides have disclosed nothing specific about his condition, other than to say last week that McConnell “continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”

That lack of detail has fueled rampant speculation about his prognosis and whether he will return to the Senate when it reconvenes next week. The firestorm was enough that Republican Senate leaders made public statements Tuesday saying they had talked to McConnell and that he was alert and discussing current events.

McConnell is retiring at the end of his term in January, and the campaign to elect his successor already is underway. Kentucky’s Senate succession law, which Republican legislators have twice changed during Beshear’s tenure, does not give the governor a role in picking a temporary successor should McConnell’s seat become vacant before his term ends.

Under the latest change in 2024, Beshear would call a special election if the seat became vacant. The winner of that election could take office after the result is certified. The general election winner would be sworn in as part of the new Congress in January. But there are unresolved questions about the timing of a special election under the untested law, and the seat could remain vacant until January.

Beshear ended the letter by wishing McConnell “a safe and speedy recovery.”

A look at what an absence from the Senate or a vacancy could mean.

What happens if McConnell isn’t able to return?

There is not much, if anything, that Beshear, Kentucky lawmakers or the Senate could do if McConnell remains in office but is unable to perform his duties between now and when the current Congress expires in January.

Senate rules do not allow proxy voting. But there have been extended Senate absences before, and the chamber has continued its business with however many senators are in attendance. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 advantage. Without McConnell, that means a maximum of 52 Republican votes are available.

McConnell had been among the senators blocking war powers resolutions that seek to limit President Trump’s military options in Iran. Without him, the administration has less of a buffer. On the other hand, McConnell had already been among the Republicans refusing to support Trump’s sweeping elections law overhaul.

Why wouldn’t Beshear have a say in filling any vacancy?

The 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution calls for Senate vacancies to be filled by popular elections. But it allows state legislatures to empower governors to appoint an interim senator to serve through those campaigns. Most states have taken this option, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Kentucky law allowed interim appointments until 2021, when McConnell and other state GOP leaders persuaded the Republican-run Legislature to make a change. They did not want Beshear to shift the partisan balance in Washington if he got the opportunity. They called for a committee of the previous senator’s state party to select three people from whom the governor could choose an interim senator. In this case, that would mean Beshear picking which Republican would fill a vacancy. Several states have this system.

Kentucky lawmakers changed the law again in 2024 to require a special election. The only role for the governor is to call that election.

Beshear vetoed the 2021 and 2024 changes, but Republican lawmakers overrode him.

How would a special election work?

The 2024 law says Beshear “shall” issue a proclamation for a special vote but it does not say when he should make that proclamation or what the election date must be. Separate laws require certain minimum windows between a proclamation and the election date, but not necessarily a maximum window.

Some officials have argued that any vacancy after Aug. 3 would mean a special election concurrent with the general. They have even speculated that at some point, it would be impractical to have a special election at all given the regular election already taking place.

The Kentucky secretary of state’s office declined to speculate on a hypothetical time frame.

If a special election was needed, the simplest option would be to hold it at the same time as the regular general election.

For the full Senate term that begins in 2027, Republicans nominated U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, and the Democratic nominee is former state lawmaker Charles Booker. Concurrent elections would be separate, requiring new nominations by the parties, though they could choose Barr and Booker. Regardless, in this scenario, voters would be electing the immediate replacement and the full-term lawmaker on the same Election Day.

Multiple vacant House seats have been filled that way with little national attention.

Could there be a legal fight?

Yes. The 2024 law has never been tested. If a vacancy occurred, there could be different interests between parties and even among Republicans about special election timing and whether to hold one at all. That could create any number of legal questions and disputes that have to be settled by the courts.

Beshear’s office did not immediately respond to an inquiry about how he interprets the law.

Barrow writes for the Associated Press.

June 16 (UPI) — Voters are heading back to the polls in Georgia on Tuesday for primary election runoffs featuring one contest that pits President Donald Trump‘s endorsement against Gov. Brian Kemp‘s.

Among the key races that will be decided Tuesday is the race to see who will challenge Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in November’s midterm election. Trump has endorsed Rep. Mike Collins and Kemp endorsed Derek Dooley.

Kemp gave Dooley, a former college football coach, his endorsement in August. He reiterated his support in a social media post on Monday, asking voters to choose the “conservative fighter who will put Georgians first.”

Trump endorsed Collins on Friday after early voting ended. The president posted his endorsement on social media, calling Collins a “warrior and winner.”

Elsewhere on the ballot, Republican voters will choose their candidate for the state’s gubernatorial race. Kemp is a two-term governor and is in his last year serving in the office. He faced Democrat Stacey Abrams in the last two gubernatorial elections.

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones captured 38% of the vote in the primary election last month, falling short of the 50% threshold required to win. On the other side, billionaire Rick Jackson received 32% of the vote.

The winner of the Republican primary for the gubernatorial candidate will face Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in November.

May 28 (UPI) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will not run for president in 2028, planning instead to take a break from politics rather than jumping straight into another campaign when her term ends.

Whitmer, who is in her second and final term as Michigan governor, was widely expected to join the field as her profile nationally has grown since President Donald Trump‘s first term in office.

“There will be a robust group of people running for president,” Whitmer told WJBK-TV.

“I will not be one of them in 2028. I can tell you that,” the Democratic governor said.

Whitmer’s term ends at the end of this year, and she told the Detroit television station that there is time between now and the next presidential election to change her mind, but does not expect to do so.

“I want to have an impact,” Whitmer said in the WJBK interview, which was conducted at the Mackinac Policy Conference.

“I want to do good work, but I’m also looking forward to taking a little bit of a break and thinking about it, not jumping right into something,” she said.

Whitmer said she spoke with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, former House Speaker Paul Ryan and former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo before making the decision.

A poll on Democrats who may run for president in 2028 published Thursday found Buttigieg leading a possible primary race, followed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

May 15 (UPI) — The Texas Supreme Court refused to remove state Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, from office, despite the efforts of Gov. Greg Abbott after the 2025 redistricting showdown.

Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock, who once worked as an Abbott aide, wrote that the courts “have uniformly recognized that it is not their role to resolve disputes between the other two branches that those branches can resolve for themselves.”

“The courts’ institutional ‘reluctance … to involve themselves in contests of factional political power,’ a reluctance we reiterate and reinforce today, is a check on the judicial power ‘of ancient standing,’ not an optional preference we are at liberty to discard,” Blacklock wrote.

The fight stems from August 2025 when Texas began an effort to redistrict the state’s congressional seats to create more Republican-leaning districts. Democrats in the state’s legislature fled Texas to prevent a quorum in the House. They eventually returned, and the measure passed.

Texas House Democratic Caucus Chairman Gene Wu led the charge during the exodus of his party members, drawing the ire of Abbott. The governor had threatened to expel any Texas House members who fled the state, of whom there were more than 50.

Wu posted on X Friday: “Texas House Democrats refused to be complicit as Texas Republicans delivered Donald Trump the extra congressional seats he begged for, and now, Gov. Abbott’s final attempt at revenge has been put to rest.”

Texas House Democrats posted: “Today, we won. We’re not going anywhere.”

Republicans hold 24 of Texas’ 38 seats in the U.S. House, with one vacancy. The new map is expected to add five Republican representatives from the state.

Blacklock indicated the matter could be considered in the future.

“Whatever wrong may have been committed by the absent House members, the Texas Constitution’s internal political remedies, none of which involve the judicial branch, were sufficient to the task of restoring the House’s ability to do business,” Blacklock wrote. “Should those remedies unexpectedly prove inadequate in a future case, we might have occasion to consider whether any judicial remedy could ever be available in circumstances such as these.”

SACRAMENTO — Newborns won’t be leaving the hospital empty-handed in California.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Friday that the state is partnering with Baby2Baby to provide 400 free diapers to every newborn. Baby2Baby is a national nonprofit based in California that provides clothing and other basic necessities to children.

The governor said it would help families with the rising cost of living.

“Since the pandemic, we have seen the cost of diapers go up by 45%,” said Newsom, speaking at a press conference in San Francisco. “One out of four families skip meals to pay for diapers.”

The new program, dubbed the Golden State Start, will launch this summer. Participating hospitals will distribute the diapers to families at the time of discharge. Forty million diapers will be distributed during the program’s first year, with a goal of later expanding the program to provide 160 million.

Newsom said the state will prioritize hospitals that serve large numbers of parents enrolled in Medi-Cal, California’s version of the federal Medicaid program providing healthcare coverage to low-income Americans. The state plans to later expand to additional hospitals and birthing centers.

The governor described the program as the first of its kind in the nation.

“We are not imitating; we are a model to others,” he said.

Kim Johnson, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, said the initiative would help families enjoy their first few weeks at home with a new baby.

“The first days at home with a newborn should be focused on the love, connection, and joy of an expanded family, not stress about affording diapers,” Johnson said in a statement. “This program helps ensure families can begin that journey with greater stability and peace of mind.”

The National Diaper Bank Network, a national nonprofit that tracks diaper insecurity, found about 60% of low-income families nationwide struggle with the cost of diapers and rely on less-frequent changes to get by. The organization said dirty diapers leave babies at risk of developing rashes or urinary tract infections.

April 29 (UPI) — The Florida legislature approved a new congressional map proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday, sending the redistricting plan back to the governor’s office for a signature.

The new congressional map would allow the Republican Party to pick up an expected four more seats in Congress, Politico reported. In total, the party would have 24 seats to four that would lean Democrat. Currently, Florida Republicans hold 20 seats in Congress and Democrats have seven.

DeSantis submitted his proposal Monday as the state legislature convened a special session.

“Our new map for 2026 makes good on my promise to conduct mid-decade redistricting and it more fairly represents the makeup of Florida today,” DeSantis told Fox News earlier in the week.

Florida lawmakers fast-tracked the proposal ahead of Novembers midterms, The Hill reported. Committees in both the House and Senate advanced the map within hours of the start of the special session.

Lawmakers approved the map mostly along party lines, with some Republican senators voting against it.

Dave Wasserman with Cook Political Report said Reps. Kath Castor, Darren Soto, Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, all Democrats, are now in danger of losing their seats come November.