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Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump have widely differing positions on many policy issues. (Getty Images) WASHINGTON — As the last weekend before Tuesday’s presidential election approaches, voters who want more insight on where the candidates stand on major policy issues can get up to speed through a States Newsroom Washington Bureau series. In these 10 articles, States Newsroom reported on the policy positions taken by Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, ranging from education to taxes to Social Security and Medicare. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE They are: Reproductive Rights After the conservative-dominated U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 struck down the constitutional right to abortion, Democrats made restoring access to reproductive care a core campaign issue. The story is here . U.S. Supreme Court reform The U.S. Supreme Court has been mired in controversy,...

Former U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a campaign rally next to Albuquerque International Sunport on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. With less than a week until Election Day, Trump is campaigning for re-election in New Mexico and the battleground states of Nevada and Arizona on Thursday. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) ALBUQUERQUE – Former President Donald Trump meandered from the beaten campaign path Thursday to stop in New Mexico, where he proclaimed he could turn the state red while repeating his mistruths about stolen elections and his hardline stance on the border. Several thousand enthusiastic Trump supporters joined him at an outdoor venue next to the city’s airport. With the Sandia Mountains behind him and the occasional roar of military aircraft overhead, they rallied against Democrat Kamala Harris as much as for the Republican nominee for president. With only days left before voting concludes, presidential candidates typically spend time in swing states, where slim m...

U.S. Reps. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham and Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York; Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed and Shomari Figures, the Democratic nominee for Alabana's 2nd Congressional District, stand at Rosa Parks statue in Montgomery, Alabama on Oct. 31 2024. The seat is the Democrats' best pick-up opportunity in Alabama this year. (Jemma Stephenson/ Alabama Reflector) U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Thursday urged Montgomery voters to support Democratic Alabama 2nd Congressional District candidate Shomari Figures in another sign of national Democrats’ interest in a seat that could determine control of Congress.  Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, joined Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed; U.S. House Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham; and Figures at the statue of Rosa Parks in downtown Montgomery to encourage support for Figures and the Democratic presidential ticket. Jeffries invoked Montgomery’s role in civil rights history, including the 1955-56 Montgomer...

ACA open enrollment begins Friday in Alabama, but without Congressional action, over 300,000 could see premiums rise by 93% after 2025. (Getty) The open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace begins this Friday, giving Alabamians a chance to renew or obtain health coverage for next year. Health insurance plans through the Marketplace will continue to be subsidized through 2025. But without congressional action, Alabamians could see their premiums increase significantly, with over 300,000 Alabamians at risk of losing the subsidies at the end of 2025. If Congress doesn’t extend 2022 IRA subsidies, up to 371,000 Alabamians could see ACA premiums rise by 93%, or $612 annually. These subsidies currently help 96% of Alabama’s ACA enrollees afford coverage, according to KFF, a health policy research organization.   “This is really one of the best deals you can get when it comes to private health insurance,” said Cynthia Cox, vice president of KFF and direc...

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, speaks at a rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina on Oct. 30, 2024. Trump attacked President Joe Biden for comments in which he said the president referred to his supporters as “garbage.” (Screengrab from Trump campaign YouTube channel) This story originally appeared on NC Newsline . Reeling from days of backlash over his Madison Square Garden rally, former President Donald Trump went on the offensive in a speech at Rocky Mount, North Carolina, railing against remarks by President Joe Biden in which it appeared to some that he called Trump supporters “garbage.” “Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters,” Trump said, drawing a chorus of boos from the crowd of about 4,000. “He called them garbage.” The campaign seized on the comment almost immediately after Biden made it in a Tuesday evening video call with the Hispanic voter advocacy group Voto Latino. Denouncing a racist joke by To...

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee greets supporters during a rally at Walnut Creek Amphitheatre in Raleigh, North Carolina on Oct. 30, 2024. The rally drew thousands of supporters. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) This story originally appeared on NC Newsline . RALEIGH — Lynnette Johnson of Raleigh works four jobs, but she still stays up until 3:30 a.m. at times to make wood flowers that she’s donating to the Harris-Walz campaign as a sign of unity. Johnson has given the pieces of art to the mayors of Raleigh and Durham, as well as North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. She gave a red, white, and blue flower to the Secret Service with the hopes that Vice President Kamala Harris will receive the gift and wear it on election night. She said she’s supporting the Democratic ticket because costs for basic necessities like rent and food are too high. “I work four jobs, and I can’t afford healthcare,” Johnson said. Lynnette Johnson of Raleigh gave a wood flower she...

Sen. Robert Stewart, D-Selma, stands on the floor of the Alabama Senate on April 23, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Stewart reminded members of the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles Tuesday about ongoing questions the legislators had about the parole process. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles Tuesday got a reminder of the fallout from last week’s Joint Prison Oversight Committee meeting. Sen. Robert Stewart, D-Selma, took the final moments of the meeting of the Alabama Re-Entry Commission to remind members of the Parole Board in attendance about the verbal commitment they made to his colleagues to answer questions about the parole process and potential disparities in it. “This is my first time being this close to the Parole Board, and I just want to commend you for your service to the state,” Stewart said. “But I also wanted to say that I hope you are responding to my colleagues’ inquiries that have been unanswered, ...

Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris speaks at a rally on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, with the White House as her backdrop, gave what she called her closing argument Tuesday evening, pressing voters to support her bid over that of “unstable” Republican candidate Donald Trump. The 30-minute speech on the Ellipse was the same location where Trump, then president, held a rally nearly four years ago before his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol. Harris highlighted Democrats’ core argument that another term for the former president would present a threat to the country’s future. “This election is more than just a choice between two parties and two different candidates,” Harris said. “It is a choice about whether we have a country rooted in freedom for every American, or ruled by chaos and division.” GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUB...

he Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, participates in a Fox News Town Hall with Sean Hannity at the New Holland Arena on Sept. 4, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump repeated his hard-line immigration position in an hourlong appearance from his Florida country club Tuesday, even as Democrats highlight the racist rhetoric his campaign and allies have used to describe Latinos in the closing week of the presidential race. Speaking at Mar-a-Lago, the former president made passing references to the criticism his rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday received — including comparisons to a 1939 rally by American Nazis in the same building — but did not directly address the uproar caused by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s jokes targeting Puerto Rico and Latino immigrants. Trump sought to change the narrative that has followed the New York rally, calling the atmosphere “an absolute lo...

A ballot drop box at the library and recreation center in Wheaton, Maryland, on Oct. 6, 2024. (Jane Norman/States Newsroom) As the United States continues to see election-related violence and lawsuits challenging voters’ eligibility, a democracy watchdog group is aiming to make sure voters are protected when casting their ballots. A week ahead of the presidential election, in which Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are vying for the Oval Office, the nonpartisan group Common Cause is gathering volunteers across the country to assist Americans in voting without obstruction. “Right now, we’re seeing litigation ranging from challenging voters’ eligibility, to challenging their completed ballots, challenging long-standing rules around elections, trying to purge voter rolls,” said Sylvia Albert, democracy and representation policy counsel for Common Cause, during a Tuesday media briefing. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE “I think most important t...

A voter casts her ballot with her child at a polling station at Rose Hill Elementary School during the midterm primary election on June 21, 2022 in Alexandria, Virginia. A nonprofit is promoting a program to provide remibursement for child care to parents to allow them to vote. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) This story originally appeared  on The 19th . Sign up for their daily newsletter . Olympic track and field star Allyson Felix is helping moms vote in this election. Felix, who has been an outspoken advocate for parents, is partnering with the nonpartisan organization Chamber of Mothers to raise awareness for child care support available to parents voting in North Carolina, New York and Los Angeles this election cycle. This summer, Felix secured the first Olympic child care center. In North Carolina, Felix and Chamber of Mothers are promoting a program through the nonprofit Politisit that will reimburse up to two hours of child care for parents heading to the polls. Parents jus...

A man participates in exit polling after voting in the South Carolina Republican presidential primary at Dreher High School on Feb. 24, 2024 in Columbia, South Carolina. ( Sean Rayford/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — A pro-democracy organization warned Monday that disinformation and violent rhetoric could make the weeks that follow Election Day especially fraught, pushing the country past the upheaval that arose four years ago during the last presidential transition. The comments from three members of the Defend Democracy Project came just days before voting ends on Nov. 5, though with several races extremely close, the country may not know for days who won the presidential contest as well as control of Congress. That could leave considerable space for speculation as state election workers count mail-in ballots and potentially undertake full recounts, similar to four years ago. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE “I think the biggest vulnerability will continue to be the mis- ...