Norman, Oklahoma

Paterson's Board of Education election features three seats and seven candidates following a contentious year marked by the elimination of four choice elementary schools, an 8% tax hike paired with layoffs and job cuts, a plan to split the district's top-ranked gifted and talented program across two buildings, and a last-minute vote to extend Superintendent Laurie Newell's contract scheduled for the night before the election.

Incumbents Joel Ramirez and Mohammed Rashid, backed by Mayor Andre Sayegh and other local officials, have supported the superintendent's decisions, while incumbent Kenneth Simmons and challengers Chris Small and Banita Herndon have opposed them, citing a lack of transparency and academic concerns. Other candidates include Madelen Lemoine and Sumaidah Ramadan.

Rep. Ralph Norman said he will keep his pledge to vote for Sen. Darline Graham in the November midterms, but his family will not support her, and he will not campaign on her behalf. Norman, who lost to Graham in the August GOP primary runoff, has repeatedly criticized Trump's endorsement of her and the state GOP establishment's involvement in the race. Graham, appointed to fill the seat after the death of her brother Lindsey Graham, faces Democrat Annie Andrews in a contest that the Cook Political Report recently shifted from "Likely Republican" to "Lean Republican." Trump campaigned for Graham in South Carolina this week as the race tightens.

Texas put Ker'Sean Ramey, 41, to death by lethal injection Wednesday evening at the Huntsville Unit, a week after co-defendant LeJames Norman was executed for the same crime. Both men were convicted in the 2005 fatal shootings of Samuel Roberts, Tiffani Peacock, and Celso Lopez during an attempted robbery at the victims' home in Edna, Texas, southwest of Houston. Prosecutors said Ramey and Norman believed there was cocaine in the house, found none, and killed the three occupants. Norman testified against Ramey, who was tried first by a jury with no Black jurors.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Ramey's final appeal hours before the execution; his attorneys had raised claims of racial discrimination in jury selection and ineffective trial counsel, which courts rejected. In a final statement, Ramey apologized to his children and expressed gratitude to fellow inmates. Ramey is the sixth person executed in Texas this year, with three more scheduled in coming months. Nationally, 28 executions have now been carried out in 2026, with Florida leading the total.

Baton Rouge and the newly incorporated city of St. George are locked in a legal dispute over who has standing in a long-running lawsuit challenging the 2020 annexation of several businesses, homes, and public roads into Baton Rouge city limits. St. George organizers Norman Browning and Chris Rials originally filed the suit after the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council approved annexation requests following St. George's 2019 incorporation vote. The city of St. George and the St. George Transition District were later added as plaintiffs in 2024.

Baton Rouge attorneys are now seeking to dismiss St. George and its transition district from the case, arguing they lack legal standing since St. George's boundaries and even its incorporation date remain unsettled, and that they missed the 30-day window to challenge the annexations. St. George's attorneys counter that the city has a direct right to defend voter-approved boundaries. A hearing is set for September 8. The dispute overlaps with a separate lawsuit questioning St. George's incorporation date, prompting Baton Rouge's city-parish government to intervene over tax and zoning implications.

The Norman, Oklahoma City Council has decided not to move forward with a proposal to de-annex a large portion of East Norman's Ward 5, an area east of 60th Avenue NE that includes Lake Thunderbird. The plan, put forward by Ward 8 Council Member Scott Dixon, would have shifted the mostly rural land from city to county jurisdiction, a move he argued could save significant money on maintaining more than 200 miles of roads and help address roughly 70% of the fire department's needs.

Ward 5 Council Member Trey Kirby, who represents the affected area, strongly opposed the idea, questioning the financial rationale and suggesting the city's budget situation had not changed enough to justify disrupting roughly 6,000 residents. He argued any decision of this magnitude should go to a public vote. The council ultimately declined to pursue de-annexation, a vote on the matter, or even a resident survey, leaving the ward's boundaries unchanged.

Sen. Sheila "Darline" Graham and Rep. Ralph Norman, the two Republicans vying in South Carolina's Senate runoff, traded sharp personal attacks in a Newsmax-hosted debate moderated by Greta Van Susteren ahead of the Aug. 25 primary to fill the seat left vacant by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. Graham accused Norman of stalling President Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill," at one point suggesting Trump had to personally call Norman to secure his vote, and of taking $600,000 in COVID-era bailout money while opposing extended unemployment benefits. Norman denied holding up the bill, calling the attacks "silly season" politics, and said he used his leverage to strip clean-energy subsidies, including electric vehicle and solar credits, before ultimately voting for the final package.

Both candidates called for Anthony Fauci to be jailed following a Senate committee's contempt vote against him, and both backed Trump's handling of Iran and Taiwan, though with differing emphasis on avoiding prolonged military conflict. Norman also criticized federal overspending, while Graham cited her record trimming state agency duplication. Early voting begins Aug. 19.

Sen. Darline Graham defeated Rep. Ralph Norman 52% to 48% in South Carolina's Republican runoff for the Senate seat held by her brother Lindsey Graham for 23 years before his death in July. Gov. Henry McMaster had appointed her to fill the seat temporarily, and President Trump endorsed her bid for a full term, holding a tele-rally and headlining a Myrtle Beach rally while directing more than $800,000 from his super PAC, MAGA Inc., toward her campaign. Norman, a five-term congressman who largely self-funded his campaign and drew roughly $700,000 in outside spending tied to Nikki Haley, conceded but noted lingering bitterness among his supporters over Trump's involvement. Graham had weathered criticism after admitting during an August debate she was "not that informed on national security," shifting her campaign's focus to domestic issues and her brother's legacy. She now advances to face Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, in the November 3 general election for the seat, considered a safe Republican hold.

The result, alongside a narrow Trump-backed win in Oklahoma's gubernatorial runoff, reinforces the president's continued sway in GOP primaries despite recent Trump-endorsed losses elsewhere, including Wyoming and Florida.