A 33-year-old man is dead after he was fatally struck by a car when he ran into traffic chasing after a dog.
The incident occurred at approximately 1 p.m. on Monday afternoon in Kingsport, Tennessee — about 100 miles northeast of Knoxville — when the Kingsport Police Department Traffic Unit responded to a call regarding a motor vehicle striking a pedestrian as it travelled north on Lynn Garden Drive, authorities said.
“A light blue 2020 Honda Odyssey minivan, driven and solely occupied by [a male driver] of Kingsport, appears to have been traveling lawfully northbound on Lynn Garden Drive, when a pedestrian, Gordon Gale Johnson of Kingsport, suddenly ran into the roadway, directly into its path, chasing after a dog,” read a statement released by the Kingsport Police Department following the incident.
It was initially reported that 33-year-old Gordon Gale Johnson was taken by Sullivan County EMS to a local area hospital to be treated for his injuries but police confirmed that he had died several hours later from injuries sustained in the crash with 49-year-old driver. Police say that the man was unable to avoid a collision and that he was uninjured in the collision with Johnson.
It is unclear if the dog belonged to Johnson or what the circumstances were surrounding the incident and how the dog managed to get loose in the first place.
The accident now remains under open and active investigation by the Kingsport Police Department Traffic Unit and no further details are expected to be released until authorities conclude their investigation.
A K-9 in North Carolina helped locate a missing teenage boy who had run away from home earlier this month.
Maverick, a 2-year-old English Labrador retriever, who is trained in tracking, quickly sought out the child in a wooded area in Union County, North Carolina, which is southeast of Charlotte, according to the Union County Sheriff’s Office.
It took the dog and his handler, Deputy Josh Dye, less than an hour to find the teenager near U.S. Highway 601 on Aug. 1, after the boy’s family reported him missing.
Maverick knows how to put his sense of smell to work when it comes to track work, according to Lt. James M. Maye, a public information officer for the sheriff’s office.
“These tracking canines – primarily bloodhounds and Maverick – they use what we call a scent article and it’s something that a person has lived with, such as clothing that has their scent on that,” Maye said in an interview with “Good Morning America.” “In this case, this article that was used was a blanket that this juvenile had used, slept with, laid around the house with, so it was obviously saturated with the scent most associated with him.”
“When you’re walking down the road or walking down a path, you leave scent behind. And so Maverick picked up on that scent and was able to track it,” Maye told “GMA.”
The sheriff’s office celebrated Maverick’s quick work in a Facebook post, calling the dog a “huge asset” to the sheriff’s office.
“We’re just really thankful that this situation turned out great and that all the training that they do every day was put into use and then it worked just like it was supposed to,” Maye said.
Maverick was donated to the Union County Sheriff’s Office last December and, according to Maye, has quickly become an “office favorite.”
“He brightens up the mood every time he’s in the office. We’re just extremely proud of him,” Maye said.
Maverick is also trained in narcotics detection and often works with children at local schools, according to Maye. He is one of 13 K-9s with the department and the other sheriff’s dogs include a Black lab, some German shepherds, bloodhounds and Malinois.
Dye, who lives with Maverick and has been his handler since March, told “GMA” that the English lab in particular is “very friendly [and] very goofy at times.”
The teen’s family declined to comment for this story, according to Maye.
Wednesday marks six months since Russia invaded Ukraine.
In the months since Russia’s blitzkrieg attack from the north and east, which was met with a stronger-than-expected resistance from the outmanned and outgunned Ukrainians, the evolving conflict has become more of a “static war” with no clear winners, according to ABC News contributor retired Col. Steve Ganyard.
“At this stage, both countries, both Ukraine and Russia, seem to be losing,” Ganyard said. “And now the fight is obviously who can lose first and who will have to lose last.”
It’s impossible to predict how much longer the war will last — it could be months or even years, Ganyard said.
“This is a war that’s unfolding at this point very, very slowly,” he said. “Neither side has the ability to conduct significant offensive operations.”
How long the fighting continues until one side “loses first” will likely depend on a few factors.
For Russia, getting troops on the ground to maintain the territory it’s taken is one, as recruiting personnel has been a challenge, Ganyard said.
The Russian military hasn’t given an official update on casualties since late March, when it reported around 1,350. One U.S. Department of Defense official estimated earlier this month that at least 70,000 Russians have been killed or wounded since the start of the war.
“There’s a lot of fog in war, but, you know, I think it’s safe to suggest that the Russians have probably taken 70 or 80,000 casualties in less than six months,” Colin Kahl, the undersecretary for defense for policy at the Department of Defense, told reporters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has a “very difficult chore” to recruit qualified military personnel to fight in Ukraine, Ganyard said.
“The Russians are basically recruiting out of prisons at this point,” he said. “They have not mobilized the whole nation.”
The number of Ukrainian soldiers killed since Feb. 24 is classified, but deputy minister of defense Hanna Maliar has said there are “thousands.” There have also been thousands of civilian casualties; the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights estimates that over 5,500 have been killed and over 7,600 injured in Ukraine since Feb. 24.
For Ukraine, continued support from the West will be key, Ganyard said, including supplies of precision weapons such as the long-range High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARs, which Ukrainian forces have used to wear down Russians in rear areas.
“The ability for the Ukrainians to target very precise locations — command posts, supply depots — this allows the Ukrainians to begin to attrite and wear down the Russians in their rear areas, take away the supplies that they’re using to conduct this war,” Ganyard said.
This development is “unprecedented” so far in the conflict, he said.
“Up to this point, the war had been basically a slugfest — artillery against artillery,” he said. “But now that the Ukrainians have this long-range capability where they can hit very precise coordinates, it gives them an offensive advantage.”
Though as the conflict continues, there is a risk for Ukraine that Western support could wane as the impacts of the war, such as from energy supplies in Europe, are felt in the months ahead, he said.
How much more of a beating their contracted economies can withstand will be a factor for both countries, Ganyard said.
“As we see both economies get drawn down, as we see both militaries being punished and diminished, it’s going to be a question of who can survive and who can lose last,” he said.
Morale also continues to be crucial, with Ukraine buoyed by its offensive advantage while Russia looks to hold ground in hostile territory, he said.
For Kahl, “Ukrainian morale and will to fight is unquestioned and much higher, I think, than the average morale and will to fight on the Russian side,” he told reporters. “I think that gives the Ukrainians a significant advantage.”
With those factors in consideration, there are several ways the conflict could potentially play out:
Russia holds ground in Donbas, Ukraine relinquishes territory
In a “best-case scenario” for Russia, its troops will continue to gain incrementally in the Donbas and hold their ground against Ukrainian forces, Ganyard said. If Ukraine doesn’t have the arsenal to push back or can’t hold out amid a downhill economy, that could put them in a position to sue for peace, he said.
“Where the Russians are pushing in from the east toward the west, that is the bread basket of Ukraine,” Ganyard said. “That is where not only most of the industry is, but it’s where most of the agriculture, very rich agricultural area, all of that gets transported down the Dnipro River.
“If Russia would be able to hang on to that, it would almost cut Ukraine in half, and certainly cut the Ukrainian economy by more than half,” he continued.
Ukraine regains territory in the Donbas, Russia cuts its losses
If Ukraine manages to recapture some of the territory in the Donbas claimed by Russian forces since the invasion started, that could pressure Putin to end the invasion to stave off further embarrassment, Ganyard said.
“If he began to lose, if he began to take even heavier losses, if the Ukrainians were able to recapture parts of Ukraine that the Russians have taken, at some point Putin may decide to cut his losses and declare victory and take whatever’s left on the table in terms of the territory that he’s taken thus far,” Ganyard said.
Ukraine regains territory in the Donbas, Russia escalates
Alternately, Putin may push back against the political embarrassment of losing territory it had gained since the start of the invasion, Ganyard said.
“The more gains that the Ukrainians make, it’s actually going to make the whole situation more dangerous because Putin may react in a way that escalates to de-escalate,” Ganyard said. “We’ve heard that term in the past, and usually that refers to the use of tactical battlefield nuclear weapons.
“The danger here is if the Ukrainians continue to do better, what does Putin do to save himself to save his beloved, domestic political position?” he continued. “Does he do something that would shock the whole world and try to scare the Ukrainians into an early surrender?”
Ukraine pushes south, putting pressure on Putin
Kherson, a port city on the north of the Crimean Peninsula, was the first major city to fall after Russia launched its invasion. The city is key to Ukraine for its access to the Black Sea and ability to move goods. If Ukraine manages to make ground and pushes past Kherson and threatens Russia-annexed Crimea, that could give Ukraine a negotiating advantage, Ganyard said.
“[Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy will continue to try to threaten Crimea to be able to pressure Putin,” he said.
That could look like threatening to turn off the freshwater supplies into Crimea, he said.
“There’s all sorts of unknowns here about what happens,” Ganyard said. “As they go into the fall and into the winter, there may be some movement in terms of the negotiations. But at this point, neither side can afford to give up the kinds of military actions that we see on the ground to this point.”
An unidentified illness has killed over a dozen dogs in northern Michigan, according to officials.
The Otsego County Animal Shelter said in a statement Friday that over 20 dogs in the county have died due to an illness similar to parvovirus, a highly contagious and often-deadly gastrointestinal disease in dogs.
The shelter’s director, Melissa Fitzgerald, released a statement on Aug. 9 saying that most of the dogs who died were less than 2 years old and died within three days of showing symptoms.
Fitzgerald said the symptoms included bloody diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy and a loss of appetite.
However, when the dogs were taken to be tested for parvovirus, the statement said, the tests came back negative.
Fitzgerald said the “best guess” for the cause of the deaths is an unknown strain of parvovirus.
According to the shelter, the illness is not affecting one breed over another, but appears to be more common in puppies and elderly dogs.
The shelter’s statement added that no dogs that have been properly vaccinated have been among those to die in recent weeks.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is investigating the recent deaths.
“We are still in the early stages of this investigation, but some of the first samples submitted to the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory were positive for canine parvovirus. However, there are more results pending and more to be learned,” state veterinarian Nora Wineland said in a statement.
“When MDARD first learned of these cases in northern Michigan, we immediately reached out to the veterinarians and animal shelters involved and began our response efforts,” Wineland added. “Protecting animal and public health is one of the department’s key pillars, but it is a team effort. Dog owners need to ensure their pet is up to date on routine vaccinations as it’s the first step in keeping your pet healthy.”
Jennifer Holton, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, told ABC News that because parvovirus is not a reportable disease, officials are mostly working with anecdotal information.
“Parvo is an incredibly hardy virus,” Holton said. “And by that, I mean it can survive various temperatures and all kinds of things.”
Holton said it’s essential for pet owners to get their dogs vaccinated and alert their veterinarian if they see signs of illness in their dogs.
She added that proper cleanup, to halt the spread of the disease through fecal matter, is also essential, particularly in high-capacity areas like shelters, doggy daycares and other animal-friendly places.
While the mystery surrounding the current death rates is concerning, Holton said officials have the investigation under control.
“The word ‘panic’ has been used a lot; that is certainly not what we’re doing here,” Holton said. “Prioritizing animal health is one of the key fundamentals of what our animal industry division in this department does on the daily.”
(NEW YORK) — As airlines announce cutting hundreds of flights a day in the fall, industry experts warn ABC News that this situation will become the new normal as air travel demand recovers from the pandemic and deals with a piloting shortage.
But they also cautioned that the airlines may not leave people stranded as they quickly adapt their operations to accommodate for these conditions.
The major airlines have scheduled 574,489 departures in October and 555,515 in November, according to recent data from Airline Data Inc. This is a far cry from the 677,882 departures in October 2019 and 639,248 in November 2019, according to the data.
“These large volume cuts are new. They haven’t occurred in the previous several years,” Jeff Pelletier, the managing director for Airline Data Inc., told ABC News Monday.
Despite the cuts, which Pelletier said haven’t been seen since after Sept. 11, he and other industry watchers say the airlines will be working nonstop to ensure that passengers aren’t stranded.
“These cuts are, right now, placeholders,” Brett Snyder, the president of Cranky Concierge travel assistance, told ABC News. “Typically, airlines plan out their flights about 100 days out, but those can change based on demand and other factors.”
Still, he said the situation should push the industry to rethink the way it plans out its future flights.
The cuts to flights for both October and November vary from airline to airline, according to data.
American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines saw the biggest decreases in planned departing flights from October 2019 to October 2022, according to Airline Data Inc. The three airlines combined have roughly 95,000 fewer flights in October compared to the same period in 2019 the data showed.
American, Delta and United plan to fly, combined, 79,000 fewer flights in November compared to November 2019, the data showed.
American Airlines said in a statement Monday that its planned October and November departure cuts are in line with its operating procedures prior to the pandemic. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom told investors in July that the airline expects its full-year capacity to be down approximately 7.5% to 9.5% versus 2019.
“We’re sizing the airline for the resources we’ve available and the operating conditions we face, and we’ll make other changes as needed. Even with these adjustments, American still offers customers the largest network of any U.S. airline with an average of more than 5,400 daily departures,” Isom told investors in July.
Pelletier said it will be several years before new pilots can be hired and brought online so, in the meantime, the airlines are adapting in the most efficient way possible. The carriers are using “up to date booking curves” to allocate their aircraft to destinations with more bookings while also lowering the number of flights to destinations that haven’t been popular around this time of the year.
“They’re using that time, that opportunity to say, ‘You know what? Let’s remove an aircraft where there’s lower bookings. Let’s put it where the passengers really want to go that way,'” he said.
“This is going to be the new norm, I believe, for at least the next couple of years,” he added.
Snyder also noted that the fall typically sees a decrease in planned flights in October and November, even before the pandemic, and these new numbers reflect the fact that the industry is still recovering.
He added that passengers looking to book a flight during those two months shouldn’t worry because airlines have, in the past, added extra flights closer to departure based on demand and timing.
“I would bet we would see more flights added around Thanksgiving,” he said.
On Thursday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wrote a letter to carriers, calling on them to improve their customer service. He warned airlines that new rules may be coming to better empower travelers who face flight disruptions within the airlines’ control.
Roughly 24% of domestic flights of U.S. airlines have been delayed and 3.2% have been canceled during the first six months of this year, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“Americans expect when they purchase an airline ticket they will arrive at their destination safely, reliably and affordably,” Buttigieg wrote.
Airlines for America, or A4A, the group that lobbies on behalf of all major U.S. airlines, responded to the letter and said its members are “committed” to working with stakeholders to overcome these challenges.
Carriers noted that increased demand and staffing issues were factors behind the disruptions. A4A also cited data that indicated 63% of the cancellations for the first five months of 2022 were caused by weather and the National Airspace System (NAS) collectively.
Pelletier said anyone who purchased a ticket for a flight in October or November should check with their airline to make sure there weren’t any last second scheduling changes. For passengers who haven’t booked their flight, he warned that they should be prepared for timing issues but reiterated that they would be able to make their destination.
“Maybe you need to travel a day before, [or] a day after,” he said. “At this point, everybody needs to be flexible, both the airlines and as they try to accommodate as many passengers as they can and the traveling public in order to get from point A to point B. They’ll get there.”
Snyder agreed that the airlines do not want to lose the revenue or their customers’ trust as they continue to rebound from the pandemic and will do everything they can to accommodate their request. He added that the situation should prompt the carriers to come up with a new system where they schedule their flights more accurately in advance to avoid any more problems that can occur from outside factors.
“They need to create a better placeholder, but that’s been hard because demand has been so variable since the pandemic,” he said.
ABC News’ Sam Sweeney and Barbara Friedman contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump allegedly had more than 700 pages of classified material in his possession, according to a May 10 letter from the National Archives to a lawyer representing Trump.
The purported text of the letter was posted by conservative journalist John Solomon on Monday evening
The 700 pages of classified material referenced were found in the 15 boxes that the Archives retrieved from Mar-a-Lago in January, according to the letter.
Trump had authorized Solomon as one of his liaisons to the National Archives to review documents from his presidency.
The posted version of the letter confirms ABC News’ previous reporting that documents with the highest levels of classification, including some labeled “Special Access Program” were found.
“As the Department of Justice’s National Security Division explained to you on April 29, 2022: There are important national security interests in the FBI and others in the Intelligence Community getting access to these materials. According to NARA, among the materials in the boxes are over 100 documents with classification markings, comprising more than 700 pages,” the letter reads.
“Some include the highest levels of classification, including Special Access Program (SAP) materials. Access to the materials is not only necessary for purposes of our ongoing criminal investigation, but the Executive Branch must also conduct an assessment of the potential damage resulting from the apparent manner in which these materials were stored and transported and take any necessary remedial steps.”
While Solomon framed this as President Joe Biden taking a more direct role than previously known in Justice Department’s investigation of classified materials at Mar-a-Lago, the letter actually shows how Biden deferred all decisions regarding executive privilege assertions entirely to top DOJ lawyers.
The Archives did not respond to ABC’s request for comment on the letters’ authenticity. A lawyer for Trump also did not respond. The White House did not immediately return ABC’s request for comment.
The letter provides insight into the back and forth between Trump’s team and the National Archives and shows that even though the original 15 boxes were retrieved from Mar-a-Lago in January, federal investigators did not ultimately gain access to them until months later because of negotiations with Trump’s lawyers.
The letter also reveals that DOJ and National Archives determined that there is no basis to assert privilege over the 15 boxes of records obtained.
The letter also makes clear that Trump’s representatives for the Archives must have the proper level of security clearance to review documents they request to review.
(NEW YORK) — Tesla will split its stock on Wednesday, joining giant firms like Amazon and Alphabet, the parent company of Google, which have chopped up shares this year as a means of reducing their price and making them more accessible to investors.
The stock split has largely fallen out of fashion in corporate America. Shares, however, usually rise over the year following a split, according to a study conducted by Nasdaq.
Here’s what a stock split means and why it matters:
What does the stock split entail?
Tesla is set to split its shares 3 to 1, meaning the current holder of a single share will receive two additional shares for a total of three. Each of the three shares will be valued at a third of the price of an investor’s original share, leaving the total value of a shareholder’s stock unchanged.
Investors who held Tesla stock on Aug. 17 will be eligible to receive the additional shares.
As of Tuesday morning, the stock price stood at about $875, so if that price holds, a 3 to 1 split would leave shares at about $291.
What does the stock split mean for Tesla?
Typically a stock split signals optimism in a company. It also indicates confidence that the share price will eventually rise to a level near or surpassing where it stood before the split.
Recent performance of Tesla shares support such an interpretation. Over the past month, Tesla stock has surged, rising more than 6% as of early trading on Tuesday. Prior to a drop over the past week, the stock had risen more than 13% since a month ago.
The company last month reported mixed second quarter earnings, which showed a decline in profit of nearly one-third from the previous three-month period in part due to production slowdowns at a factory in Shanghai amid COVID lockdowns.
When compared with the same quarter a year ago, Tesla profit had doubled and revenue had grown 42%, signaling strong growth over the long term.
Still, on the whole, the company’s shares have suffered a difficult 2022, falling more than 18% since the outset of the year. That drop is in line with each of the three major stock indexes, which have plummeted this year.
What usually happens to a stock after a split?
Stock splits usually trigger a rise in the price of shares, according toa Nasdaq study that examined stock splits at large companies between 2012 and 2018. Even the mere announcement of a stock split yielded an average 2.5% price increase for a stock, the Nasdaq found; and a year after a stock split, shares saw an average price hike of nearly 5%.
(NEW YORK) — Marijuana and hallucinogen use among young adults has reached a new high.
Use of marijuana and hallucinogens by 19- to 30-year-olds reached their highest levels since tracking began in 1988, according to a new Monitoring the Future panel study supported by the National Institutes of Health.
In 2021, 43% said they’d used marijuana in the last year, which was up 34% from five years ago and 29% compared to 10 years ago. More than 1 in 10 said they now use marijuana every day, according to the study.
Eight percent of young adults reported using hallucinogens in the past year in 2021, up from 5% in 2016 and 3% in 2011, the study showed.
Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, told Good Morning America that this data provides a window into young adults’ substance use patterns.
“Certainly the consumption of marijuana has been going up across all of the country and it is driven by the legalization,” she said.
In a statement released with the study, Volkow explained that as the drug landscape shifts over time “we need to know more about how young adults are using drugs like marijuana and hallucinogens, and the health effects that result from consuming different potencies and forms of these substances.”
Recreational marijuana use is legal for adults in 19 states and the District of Columbia.
Many advocates claim marijuana is as safe if not safer than alcohol, which is believed to contribute to tens of thousands of deaths a year. Alcohol remained the most-used substance among adults in the study, and binge drinking — having five or more drinks in a row in the past two weeks — rebounded in 2021 after a historic low in 2020.
Researchers said they have seen some negative effects of marijuana.
Dr. Maria Rahmandar, medical director for substance use and prevention at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, told GMA that the results of this study are “particularly concerning for teenagers and young adults who have developing brains that are particularly susceptible to the negative effects.”
She continued, “Pretty much everybody who ends up having a problem with substance use started as a teenager and continued use as a young adult.”
One trend that has grown increasingly popular are beverages infused with THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
Cannabis data company BDSA reported sales of cannabis beverages increased 65% from 2020 to 2021 in the 12 markets it tracked.
Doctors urge caution, saying you may not know exactly what’s in the drink or how it could affect an individual, and say the beverages are both understudied and underregulated.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration “is aware that some companies are marketing products containing cannabis and cannabis-derived compounds in ways that violate the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and that may put the health and safety of consumers at risk.”
The agency said on its website that it is committed to improving “regulatory pathways for the lawful marketing of appropriate cannabis and cannabis-derived products.”
(NEW YORK) — As Dallas reels from deadly flooding, the rain is now moving east.
Heavy downpours will strike Louisiana, southeast Texas and southern Arkansas on Tuesday morning.
The flooding rains will stay in place over Louisiana and southeast Texas throughout the day.
In Shreveport, Louisiana, residents are already wading through up to 7 inches of rain from the past 24 hours. Flash flood warnings are in effect.
San Antonio and Austin, Texas, facing one of the driest years on record, are also under flood watches.
On Wednesday morning, the heavy rain will continue in eastern Louisiana and will reach Mississippi, where 10 inches of rain is possible over the next 48 hours.
This comes after downpours pounded the Dallas region Sunday night and Monday, at one point reaching 3.01 inches of rain in one hour.
A state of disaster was declared Monday night in Dallas County as officials announced that a 60-year-old woman died when her car was swept away in floodwaters.
East Dallas recorded a whopping 15.31 inches of rain. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport saw 9.19 inches of rain over 24 hours — the highest in 90 years.
Dallas usually sees a total of 8 inches of rain throughout the entire summer.
ABC News’ Kenton Gewecke and Melissa Griffin contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Democrats are trying to keep control of a House remade by the once-a-decade redistricting process.
Tuesday will offer perhaps the most visible display of the impact that post-census redistricting has had — especially on their party and their chances of maintaining a mere five-seat majority.
Democrats initially saw New York state as an opportunity to wipe out GOP gains elsewhere in the country. But the courts said that they went too far, ruling their maps were unconstitutional and demanding the districts be redrawn.
As a result, the New York House races were pushed back two months, putting the primaries on the same date as Florida’s, where Gov. Ron DeSantis also inserted himself into his state’s redistricting process, proposing a congressional map that experts say was designed to elect as few Democrats to Congress as possible and guarantee a victory for Republicans. (Florida’s redistricting had legal drama of its own.)
The new map in New York forced perhaps the most highly anticipated matchup of the primary season. Veteran Reps. Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney are going head-to-head for the chance to represent the new 12th Congressional District, with a young progressive challenger, attorney and former Obama staffer Suraj Patel, also in the mix.
Nadler and Maloney have largely similar voting records. Nadler has highlighted his work as Judiciary Committee chairman, leading the committee during Trump’s impeachments, while Maloney has chaired the Oversight Committee since 2019.
Maloney found herself in hot water earlier this month when she pooh-poohed President Joe Biden’s stated plan to run for reelection. Maloney eventually walked back the comment, tweeting that she would support Biden if he decides to run again.
“Biden’s leadership securing historic investments for healthcare, climate & economic justice prove once again why he is the strong and effective leader we need right now,” she wrote.
Meanwhile Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the head of the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee, upset progressives with his decision to run in the new 17th District, causing a chain reaction that has other incumbents imperiled, such as freshman Rep. Mondaire Jones, who is seeking reelection in the 10th District in what is expected to be a bitter proxy fight between moderate and progressives and has already drawn grievances from other Democratic members of Congress.
In Florida, DeSantis will find out which Democrat he will face on his road to possible reelection, which could then lead straight to a 2024 presidential run. Rep. Charlie Crist is seen as the favored candidate to challenge DeSantis for the office Crist himself once held as a Republican. But to make it to November, Crist must defeat progressive Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried, his biggest competitor.
In the Seventh Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Stephanie Murphy decided not to seek reelection — which would have been a challenge: A few months after Murphy’s announcement, the state legislature tilted her seat bright red, according to FiveThirtyEight. Even though several candidates are running in the GOP primary there, the race comes down to two candidates: Army combat veteran Cory Mills, endorsed by Sen. Ted Cruz, and state Rep. Anthony Sabatini.
And the Senate primary is setting up a battle between GOP incumbent Marco Rubio and Democratic Rep. Val Demings. Demings is expected to win her primary and go head-to-head with Rubio (unopposed in his primary) in the general election. Currently, FiveThirtyEight’s Senate Forecast has Rubio favored to win the seat, keeping it in Republican control.
