Free Republic

Leading Candidates: Former VP Kamala Harris tops with 31%, followed by Gavin Newsom 16%, Pete Buttigieg 7%, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 6%. 18% of respondents are undecided.

Republican candidate for governor in Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy, trails Democrat Amy Acton by 10 points, a new poll from EMC Research, Inc., shows on Thursday. Newsweek reached out to political analysts via email for comment. Why It Matters Ohio has not elected a Democratic governor since 2006. Ramaswamy, a wealthy entrepreneur and former presidential candidate, comes with name recognition while Acton, a physician and former state health director, shows solid numbers with key groups in recent surveys. Ramaswamy, a supporter of President Donald Trump, was tapped to co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency alongside Elon Musk in Trump's second term....

Democratic mayoral primary winner and state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani is leading the pack of candidates to potentially govern New York City in a new poll released Wednesday.

Taking to social media after the bill passed, Ocasio-Cortez expressed concerns with what the bill now means in terms of funding for ICE. "I don't think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ICE," the New York lawmaker posted on Bluesky. "This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA, & others combined." Cortez concluded, "It is setting up to make what's happening now look like child's play. And people are disappearing." "People are going to die. Livelihoods gone. All to feed a corrupt kleptocracy....

Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky said Thursday night that the United States should stop all military aid to Israel, citing mounting civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip. Newsweek reached out to Massie's office via email Thursday for comment.

Two Department of Defense (DOD) officials are now reportedly on administrative leave Tuesday night amid investigations of internal leaks within the agency. According to Politico, citing a defense official, Deputy Chief of Staff Darin Selnick was escorted out of the Pentagon and placed on administrative leave. Selnick is a retired Air Force officer with a previous career in Veterans Affairs, per his DOD bio.

Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney had some choice words for Vice President JD Vance over Ukraine—as she quoted GOP icon and former President Ronald Reagan—who once discussed the fragility of a nation's freedom, saying it's "never more than one generation away from extinction." Newsweek reached out to Cheney at the Center for Politics and the White House via email for comment. Why It Matters Cheney, a staunch Trump critic, has voiced her concern over the current administration's policy and comments surrounding the war in Ukraine. Trump has expressed fierce criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and during a news conference...