Free Republic

State legislative incumbents are losing to primary challengers at an increased rate this year compared to 2020. Across the 26 states that have held primaries so far, 132 incumbents—27 Democrats and 105 Republicans—have lost. This represents a 65% increase from 2020 among these states. This increase has been driven by Republican losses, which are up 98% from 53 in 2020. For Democrats, the number defeated this year remains the same. In total, 5.0% of incumbents running for re-election in 2022 have lost, up from defeat rates ranging from 2.4% to 3.4% since 2014. At least one state legislative incumbent has...

he pair of suspects arrested for allegedly plotting to “shoot up” a Fourth of July celebration in Richmond, Virginia — thwarted by an American citizen — are illegal aliens, court records state. On Wednesday, as Breitbart News reported, the Richmond Police Department announced the arrests of Guatemalan nationals 52-year-old illegal alien Julio Alvardo Dubon and 38-year-old illegal alien Rolman Balacarcel Ac for allegedly plotting a mass shooting at the city’s July 4th celebration. According to Police Chief Gerald Smith, Dubon and Ac’s plan was thwarted thanks to an American “hero citizen” who overheard a conversation about the plot and subsequently...

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The Nebraska Republican Party has decided to bar Matt Innis of Crete, an outspoken Donald Trump supporter who has been sharply critical of Gov. Pete Ricketts, from its state convention in Kearney this weekend. The decision has stirred traffic on Facebook and within GOP circles. Innis, a former Lancaster County Republican chairman who unsuccessfully challenged Sen. Ben Sasse in the 2020 GOP primary election and supported Charles Herbster in this year's Republican gubernatorial primary election, has aimed a steady stream of criticism at Ricketts on his Facebook page. Jim Pillen of Columbus, who won the GOP gubernatorial nomination in May,...

LANSING, Mich. — A ballot initiative that aims to solidify reproductive rights, including the right to abortion, in the Michigan Constitution could have more than enough signatures to get on the ballot come November. In fact, the volunteers who helped gather signatures estimate they could have double the required number of signatures. “We have absolutely exceeded the goal," said Gina Keller the co-founder of Distill Social, a grassroots organization in Michigan that helped gather signatures for the Reproductive Freedom for All petition. The petition would amend the state constitution to include the right to an abortion, birth control and other...

A volley of policy proposals has been put up for debate at the annual conference of the nation’s largest teacher’s union, including one that called for the organization to support making masks and COVID-19 vaccines mandatory in public schools. About 6,000 delegates of the National Education Association (NEA), who collectively represent more than 3 million employees in public education, convened in Chicago from July 3–6. It’s the first time they’ve assembled in person to debate on issues and set policy agenda since the start of the pandemic. Prior to 2022, anyone could use the NEA website to track the status...

Over the last week, we have been barraged with stories about a 10-year-old rape victim in Ohio who was unable to obtain an abortion in that state and had to cross the line into Indiana to terminate her pregnancy. If you Google “10 year old abortion Ohio,” you get 33,100,000 results. The story is everywhere, internationally. But did it happen? It turns out that the story originated with an abortionist who is also a media figure, seemingly working full-time to promote abortion. And if a 9 or 10 year old was raped, it was a heinous crime. Where is the...

(CP) Finnish lawmaker Päivi Räsänen, prosecuted for voicing her traditional Christian beliefs about marriage and sexuality, believes that a "heavy hatred for Christian values" in Western society will cause many Christians to censor themselves for social acceptance. The former interior minister who has served in Finnish Parliament for nearly three decades was one of several global political figures to speak at the annual International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, D.C., this week. The event aims to increase "the public awareness and political strength for the international religious freedom movement. The summit is led by former Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has posted images Thursday of him meeting U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal in Kyiv, saying that his country continues to "count on the support of Congress" for weaponry in its fight against Russia.

An Army training slide obtained by Breitbart News instructs soldiers to shower with transgender members of the opposite sex even if they have not undergone a surgical transition. The training slide offers a “vignette” instructing soldiers on what to do if they encounter a female soldier who identifies as male according to the Department of Defense’s personnel tracking system known as Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS), but has not surgically transitioned and still has “female genitalia.”

A federal judge says a Mexican drug cartel accused in the gruesome killings of nine women and children from an offshoot Mormon community must pay $1.5 billion to the familiesA Mexican drug cartel accused in the gruesome killings of nine women and children from an offshoot Mormon community must pay $1.5 billion to the families, a federal judge from North Dakota ruled. The family members of the victims filed a lawsuit accusing the Juarez cartel of carrying out the November 2019 attack in Mexico as retribution for their public criticism and protests against the cartel. Cartel members fired hundreds of...

Hundreds of pro-abortion demonstrators tried to block a monthly pro-life march and prayer vigil at a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Lower Manhattan on July 2, 2022, setting off a tense confrontation. | Jeffrey Bruno/CNAHundreds of pro-abortion demonstrators tried to block a monthly pro-life march and prayer vigil at a New York City Planned Parenthood abortion clinic Saturday, setting off a tense, hours’ long confrontation in Lower Manhattan. With NYPD officers slowly pushing against the crowd, the marchers eventually reached the clinic. There were no immediate reports of arrests. A counter-demonstration organized by NYC for Abortion Rights began Saturday morning...

The Biden administration is raising up an army of atheist missionaries. The government recently announced plans to fund a program that would send Americans abroad to promote atheism and humanism in South/Central Asia, North Africa and the Middle East. The program would be funded by your tax dollars - as much as a half million dollars per organization. They are literally going to use a government tithe to spread a godless message of hopelessness to the world. Congressman Jim Banks, the Republican from Indiana, is demanding answers — writing in a letter to President Biden and Secretary of State Antony...

The ex-boyfriend of a New York City woman who was shot dead as she pushed their infant daughter in a stroller has been ordered jailed without bail, with prosecutors describing the killing as a “premeditated execution.” Isaac Argro, 22, appeared Saturday evening in Manhattan Criminal Court on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree weapons possession. Prosecutor Brittany DeCesare told Judge Eric Schumacher that on the night of the killing, Argro dressed in all black and wore a ski mask as he paced back and forth waiting to shoot Azsia Johnson, his estranged girlfriend.

Fr. Jesusmary is permitted to say Mass privately on the condition that he refrains from writing criticism of the Roman pontiff.(LifeSiteNews) – In a June 4 audience with Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Pope Francis approved the sanctions first laid by Opus Dei upon Father Jesusmary (the pen name of Abbé Janvier Gbénou) for publicly rebuking Pope Francis in response to some of his controversial statements and beliefs. The African priest is now barred from any active ministry, including celebrating the Sacrifice of the Mass in public. He is permitted to say Mass privately on the condition that he refrains from writing...

At the White House Thursday afternoon President Joe Biden awarded Megan Rapinoe, the co-captain of the U.S. national women’s soccer team, the Medal of Freedom. During remarks, he praised her as one of the greatest athletes of all-time. While there's no doubt Rapinoe is one of the best female athletes in the world, she also hates the United States of America. She has repeatedly stood on foreign soil while refusing to participate in the National Anthem before games -- all while representing Team USA. Starting in 2016 and in solidarity with former NFL player Colin Kapernik, Rapinoe stopped saying the...

There are efforts to reduce invasive fish populations on Twin Cities lakes by a process called "electro-shock." "We were catching them by the buckets. Five-gallon buckets. We couldn't even count them there were so many," said Jordan Wein of WSB. Last year, it was open season on goldfish at lakes in Chaska and Robbinsdale. The former pets had been released into the water, where they multiplied and squeezed out native fish. This summer WSB is going after another invasive species -- carp. The engineering company is trolling across Normandale Lake in Bloomington, using their electro-fishing boat to stun the fish...

A coffee shop in Philadelphia known for its LGBTQ brand identity closed its doors after employees revolted against the owners and demanded that they “redistribute” the company. Mina’s World, located in the neighborhood of West Philadelphia, was characterized by Bon Appetit as a business that doubled as a “hangout spot for people of marginalized identities.” Sonam Parikh, who ran the company alongside partner and co-owner Kate Egghart, told the outlet that Mina’s World was the city’s first coffee shop owned and operated by queer, trans people of color (“QTPOC”). The pair had named the company after their cat. Parikh blasted...

A research paper from Ahn Seong-im discusses weddings from a Catholic, ecological, and spiritual perspective A research paper inspired by Pope Francis’ landmark environmental encyclical, Laudato Si, highlighting the merits of "eco-weddings" has received an enthusiastic response from Catholics and environmental activists in South Korea. Helena Ahn Seong-im, 47, a Catholic and a wedding consultant based in the capital Seoul, presented her master's thesis titled "A Proposal for Eco-Spiritual Eco-Weddings" at the Graduate School of Cultural Spirituality, Catholic University of Korea last month, the Catholic Times of Korea reported. The paper, for the first time in Korea, discussed eco-weddings from...

The ideological takeover of my university has ruined academic life for anyone who still believes in freedom of thought. I’m a 62-year-old professor—by academic standards, still young. But I am retiring this summer because the woke takeover of higher education has ruined academic life. “Another one?” you ask. “What does this guy have to say that hasn’t already been said by Jordan Peterson, Peter Boghossian, Joshua Katz, or Bo Winegard? Read on. Defenestration of a Colleague I’ve been a professor in the Anthropology Department at UCLA since 1996; I received tenure in 2000. My research has spanned topics ranging from...