President Joe Biden is sending senior aides to Michigan on Thursday to meet with Arab American and Muslim leaders.

The White House is pressing Congress to extend a federal program that helps families afford internet.

President Joe Biden has named Tom Perez, the former labor secretary and Democratic National Committee chairman, as a senior adviser and his liaison to state and local governments.

Bestselling author Wes Moore has won the Democratic primary for Maryland governor.

A far-right Maryland legislator endorsed by former President Donald Trump has won the Republican primary for governor.

The Republican race for Maryland governor in Tuesday’s primary election pits a candidate backed by outgoing Gov. Larry Hogan against a rival endorsed by Donald Trump.

One of the best opportunities for Democrats to regain a governor’s office this year is in Maryland, and the race to succeed term-limited Republican Larry Hogan has drawn a crowd of candidates.

Former President Donald Trump and Maryland's Republican governor, Larry Hogan, aren’t waiting until 2024 to fight over the future of the GOP.

Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – House Democrats passed the most ambitious effort in decades to overhaul policing nationwide, avoiding a potential clash with moderates in their own party who were wary of reigniting the “defund the police” debate they say hurt them during last fall's election. Approved 220-212 late Wednesday, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act is named for the man whose killing by police in Minnesota last Memorial Day sparked demonstrations nationwide. “We want to feel safe when we encounter law enforcement. “Our law enforcement officers need more funding not less,” Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis. Another possible point of contention is provisions easing standards for prosecution of law enforcement officers accused of wrongdoing.

House Democrats are hustling to pass the most ambitious effort in decades to overhaul policing. The bill would ban chokeholds and “qualified immunity” for law enforcement and create national standards for policing in a bid to bolster accountability. “Our law enforcement officers need more funding not less,” Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., said during Wednesday's debate. AdPolice unions and other law enforcement groups have argued that, without such legal protections, fear of lawsuits will stop people from becoming police officers — even though the measure permits such suits only against law enforcement agencies, rather than all public employees. California Rep. Karen Bass, who authored the bill, understands the challenge some House members face in supporting it.

Harrison, the longtime Democratic Party official, is President-elect Joe Bidens choice to lead the national party, according to multiple party officials. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro, File)COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Democratic National Committee is set to formally elect Jaime Harrison of South Carolina as chairman on Thursday, signifying an early alignment between newly inaugurated President Joe Biden and state party leaders around the country. Harrison was a key liaison with state party leaders with whom Perez sometimes had rocky relationships. Harrison, 44, comes into the job with overwhelming support from state party leaders, making his elevation a sign of relative unity in a party organization often beset by infighting among state leaders and Washington power players. Some party leaders, including Clyburn, have also argued a more diverse state like South Carolina should be first to vote.

President-elect Joe Biden speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, to announce his health care team. – President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday called for urgent action on the coronavirus pandemic as he introduced a health care team that will be tested at every turn while striving to restore the nation to normalcy. But Becerra, 62, will face questions in his Senate confirmation about whether he possesses sufficient health care and management experience. Accepting his nomination via video link, Becerra called it a “breathtaking opportunity” to help shape the future of health care. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas argued that Becerra was unqualified because he lacked ties to the health care or pharmaceutical industries.

As California's attorney general, Becerra leads the nation's largest state justice department, an influential perch from which he's fought Republican efforts to roll back health coverage. Becerra, 62, tweeted Monday that in Congress he helped pass the Affordable Care Act and as California’s attorney general he has defended it. “As Secretary of Health and Human Services, I will build on our progress and ensure every American has access to quality, affordable health care — through this pandemic and beyond,” he wrote. Defending California’s implementation of the Affordable Care Act was a key priority, but he also focused on protecting young immigrants from deportation and defending California’s climate change laws. As attorney general, Becerra helped lead a coalition of fellow state attorneys general who sued over the Trump administration’s child separation policies.

WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden is facing increasing pressure to expand the racial and ideological diversity in his choices for Cabinet and other top jobs. Of the nine major picks Biden has made so far, only two — Secretary of State choice Antony Blinken and chief of staff Ron Klain — are white men. Today’s Senate is more bare-knuckled and hyper-partisan than when Biden was vice president, including GOP senators eyeing their own 2024 White House runs. During his decades in the Senate and even while serving as Obama's vice president, Biden relied on a small group of close advisers who were largely white. King said he hoped Biden would appoint an African American to one of the “big four” posts, especially attorney general.

WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden is facing increasing pressure to expand the racial and ideological diversity in his choices for Cabinet and other top jobs. Of the nine major picks Biden has made so far, only two — Secretary of State choice Antony Blinken and chief of staff Ron Klain — are white men. Today’s Senate is more bare-knuckled and hyper-partisan than when Biden was vice president, including GOP senators eyeing their own 2024 White House runs. During his decades in the Senate and even while serving as Obama's vice president, Biden relied on a small group of close advisers who were largely white. King said he hoped Biden would appoint an African American to one of the “big four” posts, especially attorney general.

The so-called naked ballots have become a huge concern for Democrats in the state since the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled last week that ballots had to be rejected if not enclosed in the proper secrecy envelope. Democrats so far have been far more likely than Republicans to request mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania and the rest of the country. “Remember, you must place the ballot in the secrecy envelope first for your vote to count,” the ad's male narrator says. Former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson said naked ballots are just one of the ways people can “mess up” their absentee or mail-in ballot. ... Then you put that secrecy envelope inside the big envelope."

But their task has been complicated by President Donald Trump baseless claim that mail voting will lead to massive fraud, which has led far fewer GOP voters to request mail ballots than Democratic ones. The site even allows voters in certain states to provide signatures on their online ballot applications. Other Democratic-aligned groups have also invested in new ways to get out the mail vote. Priorities USA, a major Democratic group, launched a $7.5 million digital ad campaign last month promoting mail voting to voters of color who have never voted by mail before. The ads will pop up alongside searches for mail voting and information about the election.

In this image from video, people from across the U.S. sing the National Anthem during the first night of the Democratic National Convention on Monday, Aug. 17, 2020. (Democratic National Convention via AP)LAS VEGAS The pageantry often associated with presidential conventions will be remade again as Democrats gather virtually for a second day. The roll call vote of state delegations, which typically unfolds over several hours of fanfare, will instead be abbreviated Tuesday. BUT FIRST, BILLA speech from Bill Clinton is among the traditions that Democrats are including in Tuesday nights programming. The roll call will go alphabetically through the 57 states, territories and the Democrats Abroad delegation, meaning Alabama will lead off.

ATLANTA The Democratic Party will convene, sort of, amid a pandemic that has upended the usual pomp-and-circumstance of presidential nominating conventions. Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez will be in Milwaukee, which hed chosen as the 2020 convention host city. Instead, Democrats will put on essentially an all-virtual convention, broadcasting two hours of prime-time programming, much of it pre-taped, Monday through Thursday. But people must watch to be inspired, and no one knows what kind of audience will tune in. So, in one sense, the pandemic has given Democrats a license to experiment with what amounts to a slickly produced party infomercial.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event at the William "Hicks" Anderson Community Center in Wilmington, Del., Tuesday, July 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)MILWAUKEE Democrats will meet for just two hours each night of their national convention next month in Milwaukee, according to preliminary schedule for the event that has been scaled down due to the coronavirus pandemic. Biden's vice presidential pick will be nominated Aug. 19 and is scheduled to address the mainly virtual gathering. Typically, the party holds meetings during the day with delegates gathering for several hours each night to listen to speeches. This time, plans call for Democrats to meet from 8 to 10 p.m. Central Time each night.

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of his longtime political confidant Roger Stone, intervening in extraordinary fashion in a criminal case that was central to the Russia investigation and that concerned the president's own conduct. Stone, 67, had been set to report to prison on Tuesday after a federal appeals court rejected his bid to postpone his surrender date. But he told The Associated Press that Trump called him Friday evening to tell him he was off the hook. With this commutation, Trump makes clear that there are two systems of justice in America: one for his criminal friends, and one for everyone else, Schiff said. Trump went on a clemency spree in February, commuting the 14-year prison sentence of former Illinois Gov.

A key to doing that is a deeper understanding of Latino voters' backgrounds thanks to new advancements in micro-targeting." Its not about taking an English campaign ad and translating it into Spanish and considering that Latino outreach." Bertica Cabrera Morris, a Latinos For Trump advisory board member, said Democrats relying too heavily sub-ethnicity modeling could seem patronizing. It has more than 3 million eligible Latino voters, about 20% of total eligible voters statewide. Pealosa said party staffers and volunteers have created customized talking points to reach different Latino communities, such as Biden opposing Maduro.

Biden and his leading supporters are stepping up warnings to Democrats to avoid becoming complacent. If the election were held today, I think Biden would win Michigan, said Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell. Four years ago, Hillary Clinton was leading by wide margins nationally and in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania -- the very states that ultimately put Trump over the top. Still, in Biden, Trump faces an opponent with a stronger standing among some groups of voters, especially independents, than Clinton had. While Trump animates the left, Dingell warned that Democrats havent closed the deal with alienated moderates and can unwittingly help Trump expand his white base.

President Donald Trump speaks during an event on police reform, in the Rose Garden of the White House, Tuesday, June 16, 2020, in Washington. An ostrich puts his head in the sand because he doesnt want to see whats around him, said Lawrence Gostin, a public health expert at Georgetown University. In recent weeks, leading public health experts on the White House coronavirus task force have made less frequent public appearances as the White House has sought to focus on the economic recovery from the pandemic. He continues to put politics over public health, Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez said of Trump. The state reported 2,392 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, a new daily high, and 25 additional deaths.