Alex Padilla Set Up California with Dominion Voting Machines While Secretary of State, Now Senator Padilla Fights to Prevent Them from Being Examined

Forty of California’s 58 counties were using the same Dominion central vote-counting system by 2020. That number belongs at the center of every conversation about Alex Padilla’s defense of California elections.

Padilla ran the state office that certified voting equipment and administered the money helping counties replace it. His decisions helped shape what counties could buy with public assistance. Now he is urging the Justice Department to drop voter-roll lawsuits and demanding limits on seizures of election materials. He tells California election officials, “We have your back.”

What, exactly, is Alex Padilla protecting? His own record is a good place to start.

I began following that record in November 2020, when I asked Sacramento County’s voter registration office why it had chosen Dominion. The answer sent me looking for contracts: I was told there had been two bids, but Dominion was the only system certified to qualify for reimbursement of up to 75 percent. I recorded that explanation in a December email. Several people helped me collect county contracts in 2021.

Sacramento committed to Dominion in late 2017, with its contract taking effect in January 2018. The county’s own public explanation says Dominion was the only bidder that held the certification Sacramento required. The new state reimbursement program did not become law until June.

Dominion was selling the value of that approval. In a proposal included with San Luis Obispo County’s January 2018 contract, the company advertised its product as the “only system in California” certified to the standard cited in its pitch. Exclusivity was part of the sales presentation.

Dominion cleared the newer state standards in October 2017, 13 months before competing vendor Hart received its qualifying approval. When the new reimbursement program began, that newer certification became a condition for funding new systems. Sacramento’s experience shows how a county could receive competing bids and still have only one that met its requirements.

Counties’ cost concerns were already on the record. Legislative analysts reported doubts about affording the new vote-center model. The Legislature and Governor Jerry Brown created a roughly $134 million replacement program in 2018, initially requiring an equal county match. Padilla’s office administered it, and qualifying earlier purchases could be reimbursed.

Padilla also put his own authority behind the spending. His office said he earmarked $20 million in federal election funds to help counties buy new equipment as they moved to the vote-center model. In February 2019, he directed counties to retire older systems under a transition schedule with an extension process. Hart was already qualified by then.

That June, the Legislature and Governor Gavin Newsom added roughly $87 million. For counties such as Sacramento, the state’s share rose to 75 percent of qualifying costs within their allocations, including under the earlier funding allocation. Sacramento had already chosen Dominion. The revised rules made a larger subsidy available for eligible purchases already made.

Then there is the fine print. Sacramento’s Dominion software license bars the county from reverse engineering, decompiling or analyzing the software without the company’s prior written permission. The records of authorized testing and independent reviews deserve close attention.

Keep reading

Useless Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass Bans New Oil and Gas Drilling Throughout the City Because of Racism

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has just announced that she has banned all new oil and gas drilling throughout the city and then went on to explain that this was a problem that was being driven by racism.

This is especially ironic, given the fact that so many Democrats have been campaigning on gas prices in this midterm election cycle. Do they think this drilling ban will help lower prices?

Bass is not a serious mayor. She’s an absolute joke, and this is another reminder.

From the Center Sqaure, via Yahoo News:

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has signed an ordinance prohibiting new oil and gas drilling throughout the city and establishing a 20-year timetable to phase out existing wells.

Under the new ordinance, current drilling sites are designated as “nonconforming uses” and must cease operations within two decades, unless an earlier deadline applies. The ordinance restricts the expansion and redevelopment of existing operations while establishing limited exceptions for work strictly necessary to address public health, safety or environmental threats.

Bass, who is running for reelection on Tuesday against Los Angeles City Council member and fellow Democrat Nithya Raman, framed the legislation as a long-overdue victory for environmental justice in frontline neighborhoods that have historically borne the brunt of urban drilling…

“For too long, communities throughout Los Angeles have lived with the impacts of oil and gas drilling in their neighborhoods, leading to significant health conditions,” Bass said in a press release on Thursday, the day she signed the ban. “Signing this ordinance is another important step toward phasing out oil and gas drilling in Los Angeles once and for all.”

Keep reading

El-Sayed Supporter Thrown Down by Police After Tackling Conservative Reporter on Michigan College Campus, Screams “I Should Have F*cking Killed You” During Arrest

A self-described liberal mental patient attacked and threatened to kill a conservative reporter during a free speech event at the University of Michigan on Sunday.

According to independent reporter Cam Higby, the insane woman is an Abdul El-Sayed supporter.

Liz Benichou, a Jewish activist who was filming man-on-the-street interviews on campus, was shoved to the ground by the lunatic during an apparent debate.

Out of nowhere, the woman shoved her to the ground and jumped on top of Benichou as multiple individuals tried to hold her back before police arrived.

The cop threw her on the ground and slapped cuffs on her as she tried to resist and screamed profanities at the cops, admitting to the attack. “What the f*ck are you going to do to me because I hit a f*cking dumb ass b*tch in the face?” she said.

Then, as police loaded her into the cruiser, she began screaming, “You stupid f*cking c*nt!” She screamed at Benichou, “I should have f*cking killed you when I had the f*cking chance!”

Keep reading

Connecticut Democrat State Rep. Arrested for Stealing Opponent’s Campaign Signs – Apple AirTag Tracker Led Investigators to Her Home

State Rep Anne Hughes (D) was charged with larceny after stealing campaign signs belonging to her opponent.

Apple AirTags in the signs led law enforcement to Anne Hughes’ home.

Hughes posted an ‘apology’ to Facebook after she got caught.

“Yesterday I removed lawn signs that shouldn’t have been on public property. I apologize for removing them rather than contacting the police or my opponent’s campaign to remove them, and I take full responsibility and accountability for my actions,” Hughes said.

“Campaigns should be about issues and differences of ideas, not yard signs. I apologize for the distraction, and am committed to having civil discourse with my opponent for the duration of this campaign season,” Anne Hughes said in a Facebook post on Saturday.

State representative Anne Hughes was arrested on Friday after several stolen political signs were located on property owned by Hughes, according to police.

The Easton police department received a complaint from the Darrell Harris campaign staff that several political signs were stolen from the side of the road in the area of Route 59 and Judd Road.

After further investigation, police say that an AirTag tracker showed that at least one of the signs was located on property owned by Hughes.

A follow-up investigation was conducted by police, which led to Hughes returning several signs, including the sign with the AirTag tracker.

Police found probable cause to issue Hughes a misdemeanor summons for sixth-degree larceny.

Keep reading

Democrat Rep. Jim Hines Threatens Elon Musk, Says Democrats Have War Gamed Fantasy Violent Election Day Chaos Caused by Musk Manipulating Algorithms That Causes Armed Citizens to Attack Polling Places

Democrats have war-gamed potential Election Day chaos that includes armed groups attacking polling places after being manipulated by Elon Musk, according to Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) in remarks to the left-wing news site MeidasTouch published Friday.

Himes threatened X social media site owner Musk, saying, “I’m looking at you here, Elon Musk…We’re watching very closely.”

Himes speculated that Musk could manipulate algorithms to spread rumors about illegal aliens voting that would provoke armed groups to attack polling places, giving President Donald Trump the opportunity to bring in federal law enforcement.

Himes, who has served in Congress since 2009, is the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Himes said the group that ran the war game included Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY), lawyers, and nonprofit groups.

Himes noted Musk has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to support Republicans this election and owns X. Himes said Musk or others could spread false rumors or manipulate algorithms to stir up chaos and violence.

Transcript:

Jamie and I, again with Joe Morelle and others, and lawyers and as he said nonprofits, we’ve, we’ve, we’ve wargamed a lot of these scenarios and one of these scenarios, and I’m looking at you here Elon Musk because you know, he in particular has been a massive financial player in this election. Hundreds of millions of dollars of his own fortune has gone into supporting Republican candidates. And of course he controls a major social media platform uh, X, what used to be Twitter.

And one of the scenarios we gamed out is that one of these lords of, uh, of technology decides in the middle of the day to start propagating misinformation to, and again there’s a thousand scenarios here none of which are particularly happy to contemplate, but one of them is that Elon Musk and I don’t mean to, you know, say he’s the one who’s going to do this, but he certainly has the power to alter those algor, algorithms or to tell a story that is false, you know, to say that reports in Michigan are that massive numbers of the undocumented are voting in the election. And in that moment, this is an opportunity to manipulate people. And if a whole bunch of guys with guns in Michigan see a bunch of social media posts that suggest falsely that, you know, the undocumented are, are, are voting in Detroit, the you know, what’s to stop them from jumping into trucks armed and showing up at polling places?

Now local police are overwhelmed and you know, heaven forbid there’s some sort of violence and the local police are overwhelmed. What do you think the president’s going to do? Well, he’s going to send in federal uh, law enforcement.

So, um again, um I, I, I don’t want to suggest that that is absolutely the scenario that is going to happen, but you can’t be too suspicious or prepared. And so, you know, we have been in contact with um, uh, these many leaders who do not have the benefit of the doubt these days to say, you know, we’re watching very closely. There are, more importantly, there are lawyers who are watching very uh, closely about whether you take any steps that are either aggressive against uh, the proper functioning of our democracy or negligent.”

Keep reading

Son of Alaska’s ‘Decoy’ Dan Sullivan works for Dem Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez

The son of an Alaska Senate candidate accused of trying to draw votes away from Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan works for Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, who previously served alongside Mary Peltola in the leadership of the Blue Dog Coalition.

Noah Casey Sullivan, the son of retired Petersburg teacher Dan J. Sullivan, serves as a field representative for Gluesenkamp Perez, whose district covers southwestern Washington. Congressional salary records list Noah Sullivan working in that position during 2025 and 2026.

Gluesenkamp Perez and Peltola served together as Blue Dog Coalition co-chairs during the 118th Congress.

The employment connection comes amid broader scrutiny of whether Democratic operatives helped put a second Sullivan on Alaska’s ballot to confuse voters and benefit Democratic challenger Peltola.

Dan J. Sullivan entered the race as a Republican in May, challenging the incumbent, Dan S. Sullivan. Republicans questioned his party affiliation, previous contributions to Democrats, and campaign materials they alleged resembled the senator’s branding. Donation records cited in a National Republican Senatorial Committee letter identified $650 in contributions to Democratic candidates between 2010 and 2025.

The challenger also received assistance launching his campaign from political consultant Amber Lee, who has supported Peltola and worked with Democratic candidates. The Petersburg Pilot reported that Lee helped prepare his announcement and website. Sullivan said he found her business through an online search.

Sen. Sullivan has accused the challenger of deliberately exploiting their shared name.

“His whole purpose of running is to confuse Alaskans, to make them think – Alaskan voters – that somehow he’s me, so they could rig the vote in favor of Mary Peltola,” he said in an interview with CNN.

“This is just corruption. They’re trying to cheat. I mean, there’s no plausible explanation.”

The Petersburg candidate has defended his candidacy, telling the Anchorage Daily News: “I have done nothing that should prevent me from running in this race. I filed correctly. I paid my fees. I’m not quite sure what the stink is, but I guess I’ll find out.”

Alaska election officials initially removed him from the ballot after determining that his candidacy was not filed in good faith. The Alaska Supreme Court upheld his eligibility in June, ruling that officials could not impose additional qualifications beyond those established by the US Constitution.

The dispute escalated this week after a New York Times investigation reported that Peltola campaign aides and Democratic operatives participated in efforts to recruit a candidate sharing the incumbent’s name. NBC News reported that federal investigators issued at least three dozen new subpoenas and document preservation requests, including to the Peltola and Dan J. Sullivan campaigns. Gov. Mike Dunleavy also ordered a state investigation.

Roughly 58,000 Alaskans had already voted when the recruitment report emerged, according to Fox News.

Peltola initially dismissed the reporting as “just another distraction” intended to “sell newspapers.”

Peltola denied knowing about the recruitment effort at a campaign event Thursday. Dan J. Sullivan has also denied running at Democrats’ direction or having contact with her campaign.

Keep reading

The Democrats’ ‘All Trick, No Treat’ Strategy

The gloaming deepened on a Halloween in the early 1970s. A restless gaggle of youths just turned teens pondered making a final stab at trick-or-treating. The problem? They had no costumes, having earlier laughed at how such garb was for little kids, not for them. But now, uncool or not, those costumed kids were getting free candy. They were not.

Amid the enveloping darkness, Jack-o’-lanterns flickered and costumed children tittered and flitted from door to door. Time was expiring. What to do?

One youth, his face etched with angst, hesitantly floated a trial balloon in the gloaming. “Let’s just knock doors like this.”

The gaggle eyed one another’s black T-shirts, jeans, and boots. The bald suggestion hung in the air until –

Shrugs. Swiftly, pillowcases were pilfered from their unwitting parents and the gaggle’s quest for treats sans costumes commenced.

It didn’t go well. The adults who actually answered their doors to the gaggle were less than impressed by these youths’ brazen attempt to get candy. Their glares and questions were always the same. “Where are your costumes?”

The youths’ response, too, was constant: “We’re late 20th-century teenagers.” Almost invariably, it went over like a lead balloon (or, given it was the late 1970s, more like a Led Zeppelin). Needless to say, no free treat was forthcoming.

There was, however, a singular exception to the rule. One elderly man, upon opening his door, did let out a low whistle at the restless gaggle’s “gumption.” But this backhanded compliment was all he tendered before he yanked his candy bucket back behind his less-than-politely closed door.

The lesson of this Halloween horror story? Sometimes you need to wear a costume to get what you want.

Today, this lesson forms the basis of the Democrats’ general election strategy.

In their primaries, many successful Democrat candidates won by appealing to their party’s extreme, America-loathing, socialist wing. It was an authentic approach, for they were making a legitimate appeal to like-minded left-wing extremists. Being and articulating exactly who they are, these radical candidates received what they sought from their fellow travelers – the Democrat Party’s nomination.

Yet, while a necessary step, the nomination was not the ultimate destination. Thus, on the cusp of the general election, these far-left, extremist Democrats in competitive seats resembled the gaggle of restless youths from that Halloween back in the 1970s.

Were these Democrats to wage general election campaigns by remaining true to their radical selves, some citizens may well begrudgingly admire their gumption for admitting they are “21st-century Bolsheviks” and, in some socialist circles, reward them with a vote or two. But the bulk of voters would find these radical Democrats unpalatable. As a result, these extremists would not get the treat they sought – namely, enough votes to win the general election.

Their cynical solution? The Democrats’ “all trick, no treat” political strategy.

Armed with millions in billionaires’ chump change (and heaven knows what other funding sources), these Democrat extremists conveniently doff their hidebound socialist ideology, wrap themselves in the American flag, and tuck their hammer and sickle beneath it. Ta-da! These hardcore leftists are now the costumed “moderates” knocking on your door begging for your vote.

But before you reward them for temporarily cloaking their radicalism, recall the recent past when they tricked enough citizens into treating them with their vote.

How quickly these alleged moderates ripped off their masks and revealed themselves in word and deed.

These radical Democrats passed trillions of dollars in spending bills that enriched their political cronies and spurred rampant inflation; opened wide the border for millions of illegal entries; imposed the illiberal, inherently divisive diversity, equity, and inclusion identitarian ideology; weaponized the police powers and intelligence agencies of the state against those who dissented from their radical policies, including concerned parents and devout Catholics, among others; and waged their postmodernist war against objective truth, particularly Judeo-Christian principles and Western civilization generally.

It’s all a trick. And there is no treat – well, at least not for you.

Ironically, like the restless gaggle of youth who have no other option, it is the GOP whose nominees are trick-or-treating sans costume. They are who and what they claim to be: protectors and promoters of the permanent things of faith, family, community, and country.

No wonder the other part of the Democrats’ “all trick, no treat” campaign strategy is their deceitful ads trying to garb these GOP candidates in threadbare falsehoods equally as outrageous as the “moderate” costumes they cloak themselves in.

In fact, ironically reverting to the garb of the 1970s gaggle of youths, these far-left Democrats wear costumes of black T-shirts, jeans, boots, and sundry other “blue-collar” garb to court working voters, of whom they have, at best, an abstract understanding. All the while they calumniate their Republican opponents and ignore how their own party’s failures have caused the very problems they decry.

As for answers, however, they do have them. But you won’t hear them until they have tricked their way back into office and treated themselves to the levers of power over your life.

Only then will these radical Democrats once more rip off their “moderate” Captain America masks and reveal that their radical plans were already put forward during their primaries, when they were being themselves and talking to their fellow Democrat extremists.

Keep reading

Report: Dozens of Democrats Silent on Alaska Election Rigging While Calling GOP a ‘Threat to Democracy’

Dozens of leading Democrats — many of whom have railed for years about the GOP and the Trump administration as a “threat to democracy” — are universally silent when asked to respond to a cynical attempt to confuse Republican voters on Alaska’s senatorial ballot.

All were asked by Fox News about the subversive tactic of placing another candidate named Dan Sullivan against incumbent Sen Dan Sullivan (R-AK), which could potentially cost the U.S senator his seat.

The complete radio silence by Democrats was revealed in a report Saturday by the cable news outlet, which reached out to 42 leading Democratic lawmakers and governors who endorsed Sullivan’s opponent Mary Peltola, asking if they would denounce the alleged effort to confuse Alaska voters.

None of the 42 responded, Fox reported.

The New York Times reported earlier this week that that aides to candidate Peltola helped recruit the man named Dan Sullivan to run in an alleged effort to draw votes from the Republican incumbent.

Peltola’s campaign has denied any involvement.

The lack of responses presents a striking contrast to the incessant Democratic talking point of “threats to Democracy” levied against not only President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, but his administration and other Republican lawmakers and candidates as well.

Fox reported:

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, for instance, stated that “voter suppression is poisonous, it is toxic to our democracy,” in 2022. His colleague, Sen. Chris Murphy, meanwhile, argued in April 2025 that “those of us who believe that the threat to democracy is urgent” need to “act like it.” And Sen. Cory Booker said in December 2016 that “protecting American democracy is a calling far higher than party politics.”

Neither responded to Fox’s query, according to the outlet.

Somewhat surprisingly, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who has emerged as a maverick in his party on some issues, also remained mum on the controversy, Fox reported.

Last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against Alaska election officials that seeks to delay the certification of the senate election results if incumbent Sullivan loses because votes cast for the decoy Dan Sullivan could have changed the outcome.

However, legal experts have told Fox news that the lawsuit faces serious challenges because it infers voter intent from anonymous ballots and threatens the sovereignty of states over their elections.

The Fox report contained a long list of everyone contacted.

Among the other most outspoken, but now silent, Democratic senators reached by Fox News Digital were Adam Schiff (D-CA), minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Elisa Slotkin (D-MI).

Among the more than a dozen House members reached by the outlet were Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), George Whitesides (D-CA), and Chris Pappas (D-NH), the latter of whom is also running for the Senate against New Hampshire incumbent John E. Sununu.

Fox also received no response from former senator Sherrod Brown who is trying to retake his senate seat against John Husted in Ohio.

Democratic governors contacted by Fox were Wes Moore of Maryland, Gavin Newsom of California, and Roy Cooper of North Carolina, the latter of whom is also running for the senate.

The Alaska Democrat candidate at the center of the controversy, Mary Peltola, also did not respond to Fox’s query.

Previously, only one Democrat had publicly condemned the alleged tactic in Alaska, according to Fox.

Iowa’s Democratic candidate for governor Rob Sand told Fox News last Sunday that “both parties are doing it and neither party should be doing it,” calling such efforts “manipulating the political system.”

Keep reading

Americans Have Lost Confidence in Congress Ahead of the 2026 Midterms

Americans are heading into the November 3 midterm elections with confidence in Congress at historic lows. A new Gallup poll found that only 14% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, the lowest approval rating recorded immediately before a midterm election since Gallup began tracking the measure in 1974. Only 15% of registered voters believe most members of Congress deserve reelection, while just 43% believe their own representative should remain in office. That is the lowest reading for support of one’s own representative in Gallup’s final pre-midterm surveys dating back to 1994. Americans have traditionally criticized Congress while maintaining a more favorable opinion of their own representatives. Now even that distinction is deteriorating. The dissatisfaction extends across party lines, with congressional approval at 29% among Republicans, 13% among independents, and only 4% among Democrats.

The economy remains central to this discontent. Gallup found that 38% of Americans identified an economic issue as the nation’s most important problem, including inflation, the general economy, and gasoline prices. Another 26% specifically cited government or poor leadership. These concerns are closely connected. Households are paying substantially more for food, insurance, housing, energy, and everyday necessities than before the pandemic. Politicians continually speak about inflation as though the problem disappears when the annual percentage declines. The average family does not experience the economy through a government statistical release. They see the price of groceries, their mortgage payment, the cost of automobile insurance, and whatever money remains after taxes. Slower inflation does not reverse years of lost purchasing power.

Housing affordability has become another major economic dividing line. Younger Americans who did not purchase property before the enormous increase in prices and mortgage rates face a completely different financial environment from those who already own homes. Families with accumulated assets can help their children with down payments or even purchase homes outright, while those dependent entirely upon wages struggle to enter the market. The result is an economy increasingly divided between those who own appreciating assets and those attempting to acquire them. Washington can celebrate economic growth and employment statistics, but those figures do not necessarily reflect the financial circumstances of ordinary households.

The national debt is another issue that cannot be separated from the broader loss of confidence in government. Washington continues financing substantial expenditures through borrowing while interest payments consume an increasing share of federal resources. Both political parties have contributed to the accumulation of debt over successive administrations. The consequences do not disappear when control of Congress changes. The federal government must continually refinance its obligations while funding entitlement programs, defense expenditures, and countless other commitments. Politicians debate how to distribute additional spending while rarely confronting the long-term financial consequences of the obligations they have already created.

Keep reading

Centrist Democrats Are Trying Hard to Lose the Midterms

Making political predictions is always a fool’s errand—particularly these days, when polls are becoming increasingly unreliable and sometimes even fraudulent. But there are still plenty of signs pointing to a strong Democratic Party victory in Tuesday’s midterms. Democrats appear to be in pole position to recapture the House of Representatives, and have a real chance to gain control of the Senate—something that seemed all but impossible until relatively recently.

We can tell which way the wind is blowing by the fact that Republican super PACs are bailing out of states like North Carolina—which was expected to be a marquee battleground this year but now seems all but lost to the GOP—and moving funds to bolster candidates in even redder states such as Texas and Iowa.

The Trump administration has also noticed how bad things are going, and is flailing accordingly. On Thursday, the White House announced that President Trump was canceling planned rallies in Kansas and Iowa, replacing them with tele-rallies. This news was telling on a number of levels. The very fact that Trump was headed to deep-red states like Kansas and Iowa was a sign of trouble. In more successful years such as 2016 and 2024, he ended his campaigns by going to genuine swing states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, even making daring jaunts into New York.

Then, on Friday morning, the White House suddenly reversed course and said Trump would be holding the rallies after all. Perhaps Trump was stung by the implication of his previous decision to cancel—it sent the message that Republicans didn’t want to be seen with an unpopular president, and that Trump himself wanted to avoid the stink of being part of a losing campaign—or perhaps this was simply yet another sign of the chaotic, strategy-free nature of Trump’s approach. Not surprisingly, pundits such as Nate Silver and David Wallace-Wells are predicting that we may be watching the beginning of the end of the Trump era.

Keep reading