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The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to Kansas’s newly-drawn congressional map, giving Republicans a victory as the 2024 election inches closer.
In an unsigned order, the justices rejected an appeal from a group of voters in Kansas who argued that a lower court used the wrong legal standard in upholding the Republican-drawn congressional map.
“A state trial court had initially struck down the map, finding the legislature intentionally discriminated against minority voters because of their race in designing the congressional district boundaries. The map split Wyandotte County, which is home to Kansas City, and the challengers asserted the move eliminated the ability of minority voters to continue electing their preferred candidate. The state, meanwhile, argued the changes were necessary to respond to population growth in the area,” The Hill reported.
“The Kansas Supreme Court then reversed in favor of the state, finding that the challengers failed to show that the minority voters in question were sufficiently numerous to form their own majority-minority district. The 4-3 decision ruled the showing was a precondition for the challengers to bring their claim, a reference to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Thornburg v. Gingles case. But the challengers contended that Gingles should only apply to Voting Rights Act lawsuits that claim a map resulted in discrimination. The voters say their lawsuit challenges the map as intentional discrimination, a claim brought directly under the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause,” the outlet added.
“This intolerable rule would apply across most of the country, given the relatively small number of areas with sufficiently numerous and concentrated minority populations.”
Kansas countered by arguing the map was lawful and did not involve intentional discrimination.
“Petitioners’ argument is premised on the theory that this case involves intentional minority vote dilution,” the state wrote. “But it is not plausible that the Kansas Legislature enacted SB 355 with a racially discriminatory purpose. Petitioners’ claims would therefore fail regardless of the answer to the question presented.”
ICYMI: Yesterday, SCOTUS declined to review a Kansas Supreme Court decision upholding the state's congressional map. A lower court found that the map unfairly favors Republicans and dilutes the voting strength of communities of color.https://t.co/GXzY2vWafF
— Democracy Docket (@DemocracyDocket) March 28, 2023
A new McLaughlin poll on Thursday showed that the former president has a five-point edge on President Joe Biden in a head-to-head 2024 contest, Breitbart reported. In the poll, 48 percent of those who responded said they would support the former president and 43 percent said they would support President Biden.
Breitbart reported: “With the 2024 general election 20 months away, Trump also leads Biden in battleground states. A majority of 51 percent supported Trump, while only 41 percent backed Biden. When the pollster asked about GOP primary support, Trump led 13 potential primary opponents with 46 percent of the vote, 23 points ahead of the next closest primary opponent Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) at 23 percent. If Trump and DeSantis faced each other in a head-to-head matchup, Trump won 61 percent support, compared to DeSantis’ 31 percent support, a 30-point differential.”
“Trump would beat Biden in a landslide,” the pollster analyzed.
Trump’s support has grown among Republican voters. Since January, he has experienced a 19-point increase.
President Joe Biden just got another round of horrible news after a string of polls found that voters do not want him to run for re-election in 2024.
A brand new Yahoo News/YouGov poll found that a majority of registered voters believe Biden is “too old for another term” in office. Almost seven out of 10 voters (68%) admitted that the 80-year-old president’s age is a problem for them.
Even worse, the poll shows more Democrats agree rather with that assessment. Roughly 48% of Democrat voters said Biden’s age is an issue, with just 34% saying the president’s age was not a concern for them.
The New York Post detailed more of the findings from the poll: “Eighteen percent of Democrats polled were not sure if Biden was too old for another term. Already the oldest president in US history, Biden would be 86 by the end of his second term if he were to win re-election in 2024. A majority of independents, 71%, also said that age 82 was too old to start a second term as president, which is how old Biden would be on his second Inauguration Day. Biden has not formally declared that he will run for a second term but he has said on several occasions that he intends to seek re-election.”
In early February, an AP-NORC poll found that Biden only has support from 37 percent of Democrats for a second term. Prior to the midterms last November, the same poll found that 52 percent wanted Biden to run again in 2024.
“While Biden has trumpeted his legislative victories and ability to govern, the poll suggests relatively few U.S. adults give him high marks on either. Follow-up interviews with poll respondents suggest that many believe the 80-year-old’s age is a liability, with people focused on his coughing, his gait, his gaffes, and the possibility that the world’s most stressful job would be better suited for someone younger,” the Associated Press reported.
