A political tip sheet for the rest of us outside the Washington Beltway, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012:DAY'S DEVELOPMENTS:_ RIDING THE WAVE: California. Washington. Ohio. Michigan. ...

Gov. Jerry Brown is allowing murderers to be paroled from California prisons at a far greater pace than his immediate predecessors, a development that raised alarm Wednesday w...

Democratic bitterness over Republican campaign tactics in last year's Mississippi legislative elections erupted Wednesday in a debate over an otherwise routine local bill.Seve...

The 23-17 vote Wednesday by which the Kansas Senate approved a bill redrawing the boundaries of the state's four congressional districts.Of the 32 Republicans, 15 voted "...

One day after Rick Santorum's startling breakthrough in the presidential race, his few aides decamped to distant states to start building campaign organizations from scratch. ...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy put his reputation as a stalwart friend of Israel on the line Wednesday, warning that military action was no way to deal with nuclear-minded I...

Gov. Tom Corbett is expected to sign a sweeping bill that could force Pennsylvania's booming natural gas industry to help pay for a wide range of state and local government pr...

Rick Santorum looked Wednesday to build on his surprising victories in three Republican contests and establish himself as a serious rival to Mitt Romney for his party's nomina...

Gov. Jerry Brown is allowing murderers to be paroled from California prisons at a far greater pace than his immediate predecessors, a development that raised alarm Wednesday w...

Florida state senator Miguel Diaz de la Portilla is facing an ethics charge that he failed to properly report his finances.The Florida Ethics Commission on Wednesday released ...

The state Supreme Court placed on hold Wednesday all legislative fines against Democrats who boycotted the Indiana House during the right-to-work battle until it rules on whet...

Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum is filing to get on Indiana's ballot even though he has not been certified by local election officials.Indiana Election Divisio...

Gov. Steve Beshear is expecting a proposal to amend the state Constitution to allow casino-style gambling to be filed soon.The second-term governor told reporters Wednesday pl...

A U.N. official expressed support Wednesday for Haitian victims of former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier's regime who plan to appeal a judge's recommendation that calls for try...

A bipartisan coalition in the Kansas Senate passed a congressional redistricting bill that has drawn criticism from some Republicans and leaves the senior member of the state'...

The 254-173 roll call Wednesday by which the House passed a bill that gives the president the line-item veto, or authority to pick out specific items in spending bills for eli...

Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are the undisputed favorites in Maine, the next state weighing in on the Republican presidential race. They're the only candidates who have made much ...

Assemblyman David Bobzien says he's decided against running for the Ward 5 seat on the Reno City Council.The Reno Gazette-Journal (http://bit.ly/Azi5sS ) reports that Bobzien,...

PENNSYLVANIA POLITICIANS PARADE TO PRISONVince Fumo. John Perzel. Mike Veon. Bill DeWeese. One by one, the mighty have fallen in Pennsylvania, from the luxurious halls of the ...

U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews will not disclose the names of anyone who met with him during a trip last year that a watchdog group says should not have been paid for with campaign fun...

Wisconsin's largest statewide teachers union has endorsed Democrat Kathleen Falk in the possible recall election against Republican Gov. Scott Walker.The Wisconsin Education A...

Pennsylvania's 2001 legislative district maps should be used in this year's elections since the state Supreme Court rejected a new redistricting plan, a federal judge ruled We...

President Barack Obama met with Senate Democrats on Wednesday to discuss their annual agenda and an upcoming deadline to extend a payroll tax cut.White House spokesman Jay Car...

A bill designed to block the Northern Pass project from using eminent domain to acquire private land passed the New Hampshire House without debate.The bill is championed by ma...

One of the hottest U.S. Senate races in the nation has sparked a bitter series of attack ads from supporters of both candidates, prompting incumbent Democrat Jon Tester to see...

House Republicans put aside their usual antipathy toward President Barack Obama on Wednesday to give the president, and his successors, the line-item veto, a constitutionally ...

Lawmakers rushed to file candidacy papers in decade-old legislative districts Wednesday after a judge tossed out newly drawn House and Senate boundaries because they didn't me...

Amazon.com says it would be illegal but Arizona legislators are moving ahead with a bill that would require the online retailer to collect sales tax on purchases by state resi...

House Republicans have rejected from a Senate measure a requirement that people who collect information from Congress for investors register like lobbyists.The provision had b...

Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning said Wednesday that his office plans to sue to try to block a new federal policy that forces church-affiliated employers to cover birth c...

Officials must count disputed provisional ballots that Republicans want tossed out in a 2010 juvenile court judge election separated by 23 votes, a federal judge in Cincinnati...

Advocates against Connecticut's death penalty are upping their lobbying efforts by beginning delivery of over 4,700 postcards to lawmakers on opening day of the legislative se...

The announcement Wednesday by Republican legislative leaders that they won't hold votes on bills when lawmakers reconvene next week was greeted skeptically by Democrats follow...

A month after former Gov. Haley Barbour ended two terms in office by pardoning nearly 200 people including convicted killers, Mississippi's highest court will take up the issu...

The New Hampshire Senate has voted to study whether to allow guns on college campuses and other public property.The Senate voted without debate Wednesday to study that House b...

More than $3 million in contributions for Democrats running for Congress or governor may not be used for its intended purpose because of the shake-up in North Carolina's gover...

House Republicans say they will focus this year on tax reform, shoring up the state pension system, and maintaining the state's first-in-the-South status for presidential prim...

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's wife, Ann, is planning a visit to Alabama in advance of the state's presidential primary March 13.Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey, who's leading Romney'...

Federal elections officials say John Edwards owes taxpayers $2.1 million in public matching funds improperly received after the former North Carolina senator dropped his 2008 ...

Lawmakers have been scurrying to file candidacy papers in old legislative districts after a judge tossed out newly drawn House and Senate boundaries because they didn't meet c...

Early results of Tuesday's runoff election show only two votes separate city clerk candidates in a Southern California city.The county registrar of voters said Wednesday that ...

Egypt refused to back down Wednesday in a dispute with the U.S. over Cairo's crackdown on nonprofit groups despite Washington's threats to cut aid, while the military deployed...

Were the roads bad? Or were the candidates bad?Fewer Colorado Republicans participated in Tuesday's presidential caucuses than four years ago. GOP officials shrugged off the s...

The state of Arizona at 12:30 p.m.The supervisor is Mark Carlson and can be reached at 602-258-8934. AP stories and photos can be found http://www.apexchange.com. Reruns are a...

Arizona voters would decide whether to put redistricting back in the hands of state lawmakers and the governor under a proposal endorsed by a Senate committee as Republicans r...

The Kansas House gave first round approval Wednesday to a bill that redraws its members' districts to shift power within the chamber from rural communities to the Kansas City ...

Feb. 6The Riverside Press-Enterprise: "Pension danger"California cannot afford to let the state's teachers' pension fund founder from legislative neglect. The retire...

After three days of delays, Greek coalition leaders held crucial debt talks Wednesday with the prime minister to review a draft deal on steep cutbacks demanded by creditors in...

A Republican state lawmaker has been formally charged with theft, forgery and violating Maine's clean election law in a campaign finance fraud case.The nine-count indictment i...

A Democratic state lawmaker who has been convicted on corruption charges said Wednesday he will follow tradition and step down from the House of Representatives when he is sen...

Rupert Murdoch's News International has settled nearly all the cases against the company in the first wave of lawsuits for phone hacking by its journalists, with a new round o...

Hutchinson Mayor Ron Sellers found out what it's like to be a crime fighter and crime victim on the same night.Sellers phoned police to report suspicious people walking around...

Former Sen. Rick Santorum has surged into second place in the race for delegates with wins in Republican presidential caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota.Santorum picked up at ...

The University of North Dakota resumed using its contentious Fighting Sioux nickname Wednesday even though it triggered NCAA sanctions, leaving some fans weary of the seven-ye...

A northwestern Arizona tribe has voted to take over management of the Grand Canyon Skywalk from the Las Vegas developer who built it.David Jin partnered with the Hualapai Trib...

A Missouri senator has introduced legislation that would push back the state's time period for candidates to file for public office.The legislation introduced Wednesday would ...

Rick Santorum's stunning victories in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado are marking his best performance in the rollicking contest for the Republican presidential nomination _ ...

Alaska lawmakers could receive up to $250 in charitable gifts from lobbyists under a bill being considered in the Senate.SB89 is scheduled for a floor vote as early as Wednesd...

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected arguments from four attorneys who prosecuted the late Sen. Ted Stevens to keep private a report that reveals details of their mishandling...

Secretary of State Kris Kobach's proposal to require some potential Kansas voters to prove their U.S. citizenship ahead of this year's presidential election easily cleared a s...

Resurgent Rick Santorum said his sweep of three GOP contests earned his shoestring campaign $250,000 overnight, cash he needs to take his upstart bid for the Republican presid...

Maryland Sen. President Thomas V. Mike Miller says he expects an ethics panel to make recommendations regarding a former senator's failure to disclose work he did for a grocer...

New York state Senate leader Dean Skelos (SKEHL'-ohs) says population losses show redistricting could eliminate one congressional seat in western New York and another in New Y...

One of the 14 Wisconsin state Senate Democrats who fled to Illinois last year to stop a vote on Gov. Scott Walker's proposal curbing public employee union rights entered the r...

The head of North Dakota's Board of Higher Education says the board may go to court if a law requiring the University of North Dakota to revert to its Fighting Sioux nickname ...

Rupert Murdoch's News International has succeeded in settling nearly all the cases in the first wave of lawsuits against it for phone hacking, with a new round of apologies an...

New legislation from House Republicans would ban insider trading by thousands of federal officials and bar lawmakers who are convicted of a felony from collecting government p...

After three days of delays, Greek coalition leaders began crucial debt talks Wednesday with the prime minister to review a draft deal on steep cutbacks demanded by creditors i...

Turnout has generally been low for Minnesota's Republican presidential caucus, and that appears to be no different in the latest straw poll.The GOP says Tuesday's contest drew...

Dairy executive Scottie Mayfield has hired on political consultant Tommie Hopper for his challenge of incumbent U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleishmann in the 3rd House District.The Chatta...

Germany's human rights commissioner says Belarus has blocked his plans to visit the country and meet with a jailed human rights activist.Markus Loening said he also wanted to ...

Advocates for the poor and minorities said Wednesday that a proposal to put new requirements on groups that register voters represents a bid to suppress voting among those mos...

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected requests to keep private the results of an investigation into prosecutorial misconduct in the case against the late Sen. Ted Stevens.U.S....

Former state Sen. Andrea Nuciforo (Ahn'-DRAY'-ah NOO'-sih-for-oh) is officially launching his campaign in the reshaped 1st Massachusetts congressional district.The Pittsfield ...

The Plattsburgh Press-Republican on the economic effects of this winter's lack of snow.Feb. 5This isn't Florida _ or hadn't you noticed?There aren't many places on the face of...

Southaven Mayor Greg Davis has attended his first board of aldermen meeting since he became a target of an investigation into his alleged misuse of city money.A number of peop...

Hutchinson Mayor Ron Sellers found out what it's like to be a crime fighter and a crime victim on the same night.Sellers called police early Tuesday when he saw suspicious peo...

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum shrugged off his also-ran status with strong victories in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri, riding a wave of distrust of Mitt R...

Republican Rick Santorum is looking to capitalize on a string of stunning victories that snapped his four-state losing streak and raised new questions about front-runner Mitt ...

A top U.S. senator has asked federal housing officials to make a deeper probe into a troubled Massachusetts housing authority, where top managers are allowed to live in subsid...

Supporters of the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname say the referendum campaign has been tough, and the struggle's not over.Nickname backers turned in more ...

Opponents of Alabama's law on illegal immigration are planning a Valentine's Day demonstration at the Statehouse in Montgomery.The Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice is o...

A Missouri state senator says religious groups should not have to pay for birth control or abortions for their employees if that would violate their beliefs.Scott Rupp, a Went...

A House-passed bill that would allow guns on college campuses and other public property in New Hampshire is up for a vote in the Senate.The Senate Judiciary Committee is recom...

Gov. Bill Haslam's plan for writing the state's judicial selection system into the Tennessee Constitution survived a challenge Tuesday from a fellow Republican in the state Ho...

Both chambers of the Kansas Legislature are tackling political redistricting issues.The House had a bill for redrawing the boundaries of members' districts on the agenda for i...

Mitt Romney just can't shake his difficulty attracting conservatives. And that reality is undercutting the former Massachusetts governor's effort to cast himself as the inevit...

An Arizona Senate committee on Wednesday is to consider a Republican proposal to put redistricting back in the hands of state lawmakers and the governor.A resolution introduce...

Can President Barack Obama's campaign recapture the glamour quotient of four years ago?Yes it can, says actress Scarlett Johansson _ even if it's one designer tote bag at a ti...

A single state Senate district is taking the spotlight in the ongoing Texas redistricting clash that has reached even the U.S. Supreme Court.A new federal trial begins Tuesday...

House Republicans have introduced their version of a bill to ban insider trading by thousands of federal officials, and have added provisions to bar lawmakers convicted of a f...

A resurgent Rick Santorum won Republican presidential caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado on Tuesday night, a stunning sweep that raised fresh questions about front-runner Mitt...

Rick Santorum gave Minnesota Republicans the chance to prove they're just as socially conservative as their Iowa neighbors, and they responded by handing the Pennsylvania sena...

Rick Santorum has delivered a stinging blow to front-runner Mitt Romney, winning political caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota in the race for the Republican presidential nomin...

Colorado Republicans were divided on their presidential candidates Tuesday but united by a common conviction that the nation is headed in the wrong direction.In schools, churc...

Normally overlooked, Minnesota Republicans reveled in a chance to sway a party presidential nominating contest in Tuesday night caucuses that for once were on the radar of all...

The political maxim "every vote counts" may ring pretty hollow in Missouri on Tuesday.A series of political squabbles has rendered the state's Republican vote merely...

Mitt Romney looked to strengthen his front-runner status in the next states to vote in the the Republican presidential race as he worked to fend off an unexpected challenge fr...

Arizona lawmakers Monday advanced a pair of gun-rights bills that would expand where firearms could be carried, including a proposal allowing concealed weapons on university c...

Republican state Rep. B.J. Nikkel of Loveland says she won't seek re-election this fall.She made her decision after the Reapportionment Commission redrew legislative districts...

People rarely pick a fight with Dirty Harry. But Chrysler's "Halftime in America" ad featuring quintessential tough guy Clint Eastwood has generated fierce debate ab...

Is it the return of the Fighting Sioux? Supporters of the University of North Dakota's nickname turned in more than 17,000 signatures Tuesday night to cap a petition drive to ...

A resurgent Rick Santorum has won Minnesota's Republican presidential caucuses with ease and is reaching for victory in Colorado.Santorum triumphed, as well, in a nonbinding M...

A resurgent Rick Santorum won Minnesota's Republican presidential caucuses with ease Tuesday night and reached for victory in Colorado, raising fresh questions about front-run...

Minnesota Republican voters rewarded the two candidates who spent the most time in the state in the days leading up to Tuesday's caucus, dealing a clear victory to Rick Santor...

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum easily won Missouri's nonbinding Republican presidential primary Tuesday, claiming momentum in his challenge against national front-runn...

A resurgent Rick Santorum easily won Minnesota's Republican caucuses Tuesday night, relegating front-runner Mitt Romney to a distant third-place finish that raised fresh quest...