Vermont

California's Proposition 40 would create the first U.S. tax on billionaires' net worth, but two rival measures, Propositions 41 and 42, contain "poison pill" language that could nullify it even if it wins a majority. Polling shows all three measures drawing majority support, pointing to voter confusion over the ballot language. A billionaire-backed coalition, including Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt, has bankrolled the opposition, with spending topping $350 million against roughly $34 million raised by supporters, including labor unions like SEIU-UHW. Democrats are split: Bernie Sanders backs Prop. 40 while Gavin Newsom opposes it, favoring a national wealth tax instead. If competing measures both pass, the outcome would likely be settled in court.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass faces a tough reelection fight against city council member Nithya Raman, backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Bass, who won just 34% in the June primary, is seeking a second term after a rough first stint marked by the Palisades Fire and rising homelessness. Raman, 45, represents a generational and ideological shift, echoing New York's election of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, though she lacks major local endorsements compared to Bass's establishment backing from Newsom, Harris, and Pelosi. The candidates differ sharply on policing and homelessness, with turnout so far low amid broad voter disillusionment.

Videos circulating from the Portland, Oregon area show local activists, including bar co-owner Kiley Delgado and her husband Karim, using personal vehicles to blockade and surround U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers during field operations. The footage, recorded by Delgado herself, shows cars maneuvered to box in federal vehicles while bystanders are recruited in real time to help trap the agents, who in one instance reportedly had to drive through a residential hedge to leave the scene.

The incidents come as the Department of Homeland Security has expanded immigration enforcement activity in sanctuary jurisdictions across several states, including Oregon, prompting increased counter-surveillance and direct-action tactics from local activist networks tracking ICE vehicles near Portland. Critics note that similar vehicle-blockade incidents involving other residents have previously drawn arrests and political attention, including commentary from Oregon's congressional delegation, raising questions about uneven enforcement. No charges against the Delgados have been publicly reported. The episodes highlight escalating friction between federal immigration authorities and sanctuary-city activists as enforcement operations intensify nationwide.

Vermont Governor Phil Scott, a Republican and one of the most popular governors in the country over the past decade, is facing an unexpectedly competitive reelection fight against Democratic challenger Amanda Janoo, a political newcomer and economic policy adviser. Recent polls show Scott's lead narrowed to single digits or erased entirely, with fewer than half of Vermonters approving of his job performance for the first time in his tenure.

Janoo, 39, won the Democratic nomination by running an unapologetically progressive campaign, emphasizing affordability, health care access, and opposition to AI data centers, contrasting her platform with what she calls Scott's "managed decline" of the state. She has also outraised Scott in campaign donations. Scott, 68, has countered by questioning her lack of legislative experience and the cost of her proposals, including universal primary and preventive health care funded by new taxes on high earners.

The Republican Governors Association recently made its first investment in the race, signaling national attention to a contest that could test whether even moderate, anti-Trump Republicans are vulnerable amid broader anti-incumbent sentiment. No Vermont incumbent governor has lost reelection since 1962.

Alabama's Black Belt, a historically rich but impoverished stretch of counties across the state's midsection, remains among the poorest regions in the country. Seven Black Belt counties rank in the nation's top 100 for family poverty, with residents facing shortages of maternity care, hospitals, jobs, and internet access. Decades of absentee land ownership, mostly by outside timber interests, has left tax bases weak and local economies struggling.

The discussion follows the Black Belt Community Foundation's presentation of its Legacy Award to Bryan Stevenson, director of the Equal Justice Initiative, for his work on the region. Stevenson and foundation director Chris Spencer argue the state owes the region more than charity — citing its outsized cultural contributions, from quilting to blues and jazz, despite being built on slavery and exploitation. They call for sustained investment, political commitment, and policy changes, including Medicaid expansion and voting access, to transform the Black Belt from the state's poorest counties into a model for opportunity.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed Assembly Bill 2164, which would have barred California governors from honoring extradition requests from states seeking to prosecute people for performing or assisting with abortions or gender transition procedures banned elsewhere. The bill passed the Democratic-controlled Legislature largely along party lines. Newsom said he supports the underlying goal but objected to the Legislature binding a future governor's executive authority over extradition, calling it "an entirely executive function" that should remain discretionary.

California is among roughly 20 states with shield laws protecting abortion or gender-affirming care providers. Reproductive Freedom for All criticized the veto, warning that a potential win by Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton could leave providers vulnerable, though polling shows Democrat Xavier Becerra with a substantial lead in the race. Newsom, seen as a likely 2028 Democratic presidential contender and currently polling second behind Kamala Harris in early primary surveys, touted his broader record on reproductive rights protections despite the veto.

California's Democratic presidential primary is set for March 3, Super Tuesday, but the state's outcome will likely hinge on results from Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina, which vote earlier. Kamala Harris's exit from the race last week has fueled speculation about who benefits, but strategists note she had only modest California support (7-8% in late-2019 polling), with Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren leading, followed by Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg. Analysts expect California voters and donors to wait and see how candidates perform elsewhere before committing, since mail voting begins February 3, the same day as the Iowa caucuses.

Democratic strategists point out California has a history of backing eventual losers, including Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama in 2008. Michael Bloomberg, skipping the four early states, is banking on a stumble by frontrunners to gain traction on Super Tuesday. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who endorsed Harris, is being courted by rival campaigns but isn't expected to endorse soon. Harris's network of California donors and fundraisers is now considered up for grabs among the remaining candidates.

Ohio's Senate race between Republican incumbent Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown has become a bellwether contest as both parties battle for control of the chamber. Husted, appointed to fill JD Vance's seat, faces backlash over his past promotion of tax breaks that brought more than 200 data centers to Ohio, including one under construction in Pike County expected to be the world's largest. Ohio's projected sales tax giveaway to data centers ballooned from an estimated $136 million to more than $1.5 billion, fueling voter anger over electricity costs, water use, and air quality. Husted notes the incentives originated in 2011 and expanded under Gov. John Kasich, before his time in statewide economic development roles, and he has since backed pausing the tax breaks and co-sponsored legislation making data center operators help cover grid costs.

Brown, who lost his Senate seat in 2024, is courting working-class voters in areas like the Mahoning Valley that have drifted toward Trump. Both candidates now say data centers should cover their own power and infrastructure costs and that local communities should have final say on new projects, though Brown wants residents given more information before approvals, while neither favors halting data center growth outright. Both campaigns have combined for well over $150 million in ad spending, with outside groups like Elon Musk's America PAC adding pressure to a race seen as pivotal to Senate control.