Tennessee Democrats turn legislature into madhouse after Republicans nuke 'black district' represented by white liberal



Tennessee Democrats' thin veneer of civility broke again, this time on Thursday amid state Republicans' successful efforts to pass a new congressional map.

Radical lawmakers not only attempted to obstruct the democratic process — screaming, dancing, blowing bullhorns at Republican legislators, and getting combative — but cosplayed as opponents of racial prejudice, barking lines popularized during the civil rights movement and working in real time to spin their party's likely diminution in power as the result of an imagined reversion to Jim Crow-style policies.

Quick background

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a hugely consequential 6-3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais last week, striking down the Bayou State's 2024 congressional map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander and making clear that redistricting should effectively be color-blind.

'My brother ain’t doing nothing to nobody.'

Tennessee state Republicans wasted no time applying the logic of the high court's ruling in their back yard with the aim — according to Republican Gov. Bill Lee — of ensuring that the Volunteer State's congressional map "remains fair, legal, and defensible."

After its easy passage by the GOP supermajority in the legislature, Lee signed a new congressional map into law on Thursday that will likely enable Republicans to secure all nine U.S. House seats in Tennessee.

The new map divides up the supposedly black-majority, Memphis-based 9th Congressional District represented by white Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen into three districts and also splits Nashville into five districts.

Cohen called it an "egregious result."

The madhouse

As the Tennessee Senate voted on the map, Democrat state Sen. Charlane Oliver — the radical who threatened riots in 2024 over the passage of a bill she didn't like — danced atop her desk in the chamber, yelling and holding up a banner that said, "No Jim Crow 2 Stop the Steal."

Footage shared online by WTVF-TV's Chris Davis appears to show Oliver fighting with the Senate sergeant at arms over control of her banner. After losing control of her banner, Oliver proceeded to stomp and sing on her desk while her peers voted to pass the bill, reported the Nashville Banner.

RELATED: Alito shreds Ketanji Brown Jackson's unhinged dissent to SCOTUS' demand that Louisiana immediately redistrict

During the voting process in the state House on Thursday, Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones — a Democrat who has previously evidenced a willingness to violate the legislature's decorum rules and was caught on film throwing a traffic cone at a driver during a 2020 Black Lives Matter blockade — walked around blowing a bullhorn in the faces of lawmakers and staffers while holding up a sign that said, "We shall overcome."

Jones also set on fire a printout of the Confederate flag and repeatedly accused Republicans of racism, calling them the "white sheet caucus."

Rep. Justin Pearson (D), who like Jones was briefly expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives in 2023 for staging a disruptive protest on the House floor, lashed out at members of law enforcement who were working feverishly to keep the peace.

After state House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R) asked that the gallery be cleared, Tennessee Highway Patrol began ushering radicals out. Some, including Pearson's brother KeShaun, apparently refused to leave, reported WKRN-TV.

The prospect that his brother might face consequences for his actions evidently enraged Rep. Pearson, who yelled at THP troopers as they were executing their duties — calling one trooper a "stupid motherf**ker" and "boy" — and attempted to interfere with his brother's apparent arrest, which Pearson later suggested "is what white supremacy does."

"My brother ain’t doing nothing to nobody. Hey, hey, he’ll walk out by himself. Move the f**k back!" said Pearson.

THP Lt. Bill Miller told WKRN in a statement, "During today’s hearing, three individuals in attendance began disrupting the session of the House of Representatives. After repeated warnings, three individuals were taken into custody inside the gallery of the Capitol for suspected violation of TCA 39-17-306 (Disturbing an Official Meeting). The individuals were transported to the Davidson County jail for booking."

Democrats' theatrics were all for naught, as this is Tennessee's new congressional map:

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Democrat lesbian Judge Speedlin-Gonzalez gets lifetime ban after criminal indictment



Rosie Speedlin-Gonzalez was elected in 2018 as a Democrat to serve as a judge on Bexar County Court at Law No. 13 in San Antonio.

The county's first openly homosexual judge wasted no time evidencing her activistic intent and radicalism, erecting, for instance, a Pride flag behind her bench and alongside the U.S. and Texas flags during formal court proceedings in 2019, then later keeping the imperial non-straight colors hoisted at the entrance to her chambers.

'Judge Speedlin-Gonzalez shall be forever disqualified from judicial service in the State of Texas.'

After multiple accusations of judicial misconduct and run-ins with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Speedlin-Gonzalez's time as a judge in the Lone Star State has finally come to an end.

The leftist ex-judge — who the San Antonio Express-News reported in a 2023 puff piece "concedes to being a rebel" and who was admonished in 2020 for congratulating attorneys on winning in her court — was criminally indicted in January in connection with a December 2024 incident in which she allegedly ordered a bailiff to handcuff a female defense attorney and toss her in the jury box.

Speedlin-Gonzalez, the 2021 recipient of the Texas Diversity Council's LGBTQ+ Individual Leadership Award, was charged with one count of unlawful restraint by a judicial officer — a second-degree felony — and one count of official oppression, a class A misdemeanor.

On the basis of the indictment, the SCJC suspended Speedlin-Gonzalez without pay on Feb. 5.

The leftist — who ran for re-election to the Bexar County Court but was overwhelmingly rejected by voters in the March Democratic primary election — agreed late last month to accept a lifetime ban from the judicial service in order to settle the outstanding misconduct complaints against her and to avoid further disciplinary action.

RELATED: Judge APOLOGIZES to suspected would-be Trump assassin — and compares him to Jan. 6 defendants

PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP/Getty Images

Speedlin-Gonzalez signed a formal agreement on April 17 stating both that she has "officially and formally resigned her judicial duties" and that "Judge Speedlin-Gonzalez shall be forever disqualified from judicial service in the State of Texas, including: (a) sitting or serving as a judge, (b) standing for election or appointment to a judicial office, and/or (c) performing or exercising any judicial duties or functions of a judicial officer, including the performance of wedding ceremonies."

In the preamble, the document notes that Speedlin-Gonzalez was not only slapped in recent years with a complaint over the December 2024 incident but with other complaints, including for having allegedly: "exhibited unprofessional demeanor toward a criminal defendant" and failing to "timely proceed on a motion to modify bond conditions and two writs of habeas corpus"; and abusing her judicial authority "by issuing a 'no contact' order via email prohibiting staff of Bexar County's Reflejo Court and County Court at Law No. 13 from communicating with former specialty court team members and employees of the court."

The agreement notes, however, that the ex-judge, by her execution of this agreement, doesn't admit guilt, fault, or liability regarding various misconduct claims leveled against her.

Following the agreement's filing, special prosecutor Brian Cromeens of DeWitt County filed a motion to dismiss the criminal charges against Speedlin-Gonzalez, reported KSAT-TV.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

'Bye': Seattle mayor laughs off wealth exodus from her flagging, crime-ridden city



Katie Wilson, the 43-year-old leftist blogger elected mayor of Seattle last year, apparently finds it amusing that deep-pocketed residents and businesses are fleeing her crime-ridden city.

During a recent event at Seattle University, lecturer Joni Balter raised the matter of downtown Seattle's apparent inability to "grow job these days," noting that "the city has lost 25,000 jobs over four years, and the thinking is — the data folks say — that if you extend that out five years, it could be as high as 37,000 jobs."

'We still have the very regressive tax system.'

According to a recent report from the the Downtown Seattle Association, the Emerald City's downtown has seen a 14% decrease in brick-and-mortar retail jobs since 2010 and lost an estimated 13,000 jobs just last year, amounting to the biggest decrease in jobs since the pandemic.

The report noted further that Seattle's downtown office vacancy remained at a post-pandemic high of 25%; the central business district experienced an office vacancy rate of 32% last year, nearly double the previous high point during the Great Recession in 2009; and the combined taxable value of the 20 highest-valued properties in Seattle's downtown has declined from over $10 billion in 2021 to roughly $5.1 billion this year.

When asked about her plan to "turn that around," Wilson — who appeared on stage alongside fellow radical Girmay Zahilay, the newly elected King County executive — attributed Seattle's exodus of jobs and businesses to a number of factors including potential workers' apparent inability to afford living in or near the downtown; homelessness and public safety issues; and the "tax environment."

While apparently interested in tackling the affordability, homelessness, and public safety issues, Wilson signaled that her city's crushing taxes won't soon be changed.

RELATED: Mamdani finally admits what people knew about his candidacy from the start

David Ryder/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Wilson, who co-founded the Transit Riders Union in 2011 and endeavored in years past to "Trump-proof Seattle," was later asked about the "taxing climate" and whether progressive taxes were an "easy and promising solution."

After noting that she found it "very exciting" that state Democrats passed a 9.9% tax on annual taxable income exceeding $1 million for individuals or households and recalling her efforts to push similar taxes in Seattle, Wilson said that claims that wealthy residents will flee the state are "super overblown."

But to those beleaguered residents who have chosen to leave or might do so in the near future, the mayor waved, said, "Bye," and laughed in concert with fellow travelers in the sparsely populated audience.

"In general, we still have the very regressive tax system, and my office is doing a lot of work to look at what our options are in terms of progressive taxation," continued Wilson. "We do have more flexibility at the city than the county, in terms of our taxing authority."

Despite Wilson's casual dismissal, high taxes in Seattle appear to be chasing jobs to cities like Bellevue.

Jon Scholes, president of the Downtown Seattle Association, suggested that Amazon's decision to relocate thousands of employees from Seattle to other King County locations was the direct result of Seattle's overwhelming tax burden, reported the Center Square. Starbucks, which is headquartered in Seattle, also appears to be angling for greener pastures.

Among the taxes the city has implemented is the Social Housing Tax, a 5% levy on employee compensation exceeding $1 million, and the JumpStart Payroll Expense Tax, which the city slapped on companies with employees making more than $150,000 annually.

"What we need is more businesses in Seattle paying taxes," said Scholes. "That's how we strengthen the tax base."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Woke city council rips out anti-crime signs because they're 'racist'​



Neighborhood watch programs have long encouraged citizens to take pride in the welfare of their communities and to adopt a proactive approach to crime prevention. While maximizing citizen vigilance and cooperation with lawful authorities has been associated with reductions in crime, some liberals figure such efforts and the corresponding signage to be unnecessarily exclusionary.

After revolting last year against the decades-old program of communal self-defense and surveillance, woke city councilors in Ann Arbor, Michigan, have since blown taxpayer dollars on the removal of all remaining evidence of the city's Neighborhood Crime Watch program.

'Neighborhood watch signs are expressions of exclusion.'

According to the resolution passed by the city council on Dec. 15 directing the removal of over 600 Neighborhood Crime Watch signs in Ann Arbor, "Neighborhood Watch programs emerged in the 1970s during a period of national anxiety about crime and social change" and were "often rooted in assumptions about who did and did not 'belong' in a neighborhood, reinforcing race-based hyper-vigilance and suspicion particularly toward black, brown, and other marginalized residents and visitors."

The resolution claimed that this dynamic in Ann Arbor, a city whose population today is 66.5% non-Hispanic white, "encouraged informal surveillance practices that disproportionately targeted people of color and contributed to patterns of exclusion under the guise of public safety."

RELATED: Thugs ages 11 to 14 gang up on, mercilessly beat up victim on sidewalk — and adults are done: 'I'm very fearful for my life'

Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor (D). Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images

The signs that were posted throughout the city not only denoted a supposedly defunct program but anti-crime messages that "do not reflect Ann Arbor's current public safety values or its commitment to nondiscriminatory enforcement, community trust, and safe spaces for all residents and visitors."

Councilwoman Cynthia Harrison said when the resolution passed, "Signs don’t just sit there, they speak. For many people, especially black and brown residents and visitors, those signs have never felt neutral. They signal that unfamiliarity itself is suspicious, that their presence must be justified, that belonging is conditional," reported the Michigan Daily.

Harrison joined Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor (D) and Councilwoman Jen Eyer on April 21 for the ceremonial tear-down of the final Neighborhood Crime Watch sign.

As their virtue-signaling campaign — which cost the city at least $18,000 from its general fund balance — came to a close, the leftist trio recycled the revisionist gobbledygook from their resolution.

"Neighborhood watch signs are expressions of exclusion," said Taylor, reported MLive.com

Eyer stated, "It really hearkens back to a time when public safety was more about surveillance and exclusion of people from communities and trying to look out for anyone who looked different."

After reiterating that the crime-prevention signs do "not align with our values," Harrison stressed that "this is a great day."

The Michigan Daily reported in March 1981 that "rather than quivering behind bolted doors, some Ann Arbor residents favoring stepped-up police protection are taking matters into their own hands."

The Neighborhood Watch program, formally adopted the previous year in the wake of 30-year-old Rebecca Huff's savage murder, "banded together neighbors in one-block sections of the city who look and listen for signs of criminal activity."

"It's more or less socializing and really getting to know your neighbors," an Ann Arbor police detective said at the time. "People watch each other's property, apartment-sit, and know each other's cars. If a strange car is seen in the area, the residents can obtain the license plate number and call us on a special communication hookup."

While Neighborhood Watch is officially no more in Ann Arbor, vigilant residents don't need signs or permission to look after their communities and can always share insights and tips with one another on apps like Citizen and Nextdoor.

According to Neighborhood Scout, the likelihood of becoming a victim of a property crime and a violent crime in the Democrat-run city is 1 in 47 and 1 in 296, respectively.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here

Brewer fantasizes about Trump's death AGAIN — and even Wisconsin Democrats are appalled



Kirk Bangstad, the owner of Minocqua Brewing Company in Wisconsin and the treasurer of a federal super PAC of the same name, is among the American leftists who apparently savor news of violence against conservatives and other Americans with opposing political views.

Bangstad rushed, for instance, to state, "F**k Charlie Kirk," immediately after the Turning Point USA founder's assassination at Utah Valley University, then wrote weeks later, "May his soul never find peace."

Beyond relishing in Kirk's demise, Bangstad — a twice-failed Democratic political candidate who was ordered to pay a six-figure sum for defamation in 2023 and was charged with harassment last year — vowed in an alarming message posted in January to give fellow travelers "free beer, all day long, the day he dies."

Though the post did not mention President Donald Trump by name, Bangstad's remarks to reporters and subsequent posts made clear he was referring to Trump, whom he unsuccessfully attempted to block from the 2024 presidential ballot in Wisconsin.

In the post — made after Bangstad circulated a wanted poster for a federal agent, called for "regime change" in the U.S., and stated that "it's just a matter of time" before "every ICE agent will face justice" — the brewer insinuated Trump's death was imminent, writing, "Show us this post when it happens in a few months and we'll make good on that promise."

While Wisconsin Democrats were virtually silent about Bangstad's extremist content earlier this year — content that the U.S. Secret Service previously told Blaze News was on the agency's radar — they piped up after the brewer wrote the following last weekend after yet another attempt on Trump's life, this time at the White House Correspondents' Dinner:

Well, we almost got #freebeerday. Either a brother or sister in the Resistance needs to work on their marksmanship or he faked another assassination to get a a [sic] positive news cycle. We'll never know. Regardless, we stand at the ready to pour free beer the day it happens.

A spokesman for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel — whose female reporter Bangstad has tasked his followers with hounding — that the radical brewer's "rhetoric is completely unacceptable and should be retracted immediately."

RELATED: Karoline Leavitt names and shames Democrats who inspired WHCD assassination attempt

Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg/Getty Images

"We're not afraid to call out this sort of inappropriate behavior no matter where it comes from — our GOP colleagues should learn to do the same," said state Democratic Party spokesman Phil Shulman.

"I denounce those who had any reaction to last night's shooting other than outrage at the state of political violence in our country," said former Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who is presently running as a Democrat for governor. "It's completely unacceptable, and I am thankful for the actions of law enforcement who acted swiftly and bravely to keep everyone safe."

A campaign spokeswoman for Democratic state Rep. Francesca Hong, who is also running for governor, told the Journal Sentinel that Bangstad's post "is intentionally inflammatory and a symptom of the normalization of political violence."

Missy Hughes, another Democratic candidate in the Wisconsin gubernatorial race, stated, "Such vile rhetoric is completely unacceptable and must be universally condemned."

Even a former underling has turned against the brewer.

Rebecca Cooke, a Democrat running in Wisconsin for the U.S. Congress who worked for Bangstad during his failed 2016 congressional campaign, said, "This rhetoric is dangerous and unacceptable — showcasing just how broken our political system is."

The criticism by fellow travelers appears to have broken Bangstad's thin skin.

The brewer, who has apparently been selling voodoo dolls bearing the faces of Trump administration officials and "I wish it was free beer day" T-shirts, wrote on Facebook, "Leave it to the Corporate Dems and politically naive Democratic gubernatorial candidates to take the bait and condemn 'political violence' or 'politically violent rhetoric' after the 3rd questionably/arguable fake assassination attempt against Trump."

"Aggression and accusation is the MO of Trump and MAGA," Bangstad wrote. "Flat-footed answers and retreat is unfortunately the MO of Corporate Dems and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Time to flip the scrip [sic] and for Democratic leaders and journalists to force Trump and his regime to prove they're not lying before covering a story about political violence and yet another 'would-be assassination attempt.'"

After claiming that his assertion that leftists need to "work on their marksmanship" was "hyperbole," Bangstad wrote in a post on Tuesday, "The day 'he' dies will do a LOT to end that suffering. Sure, JD Vance will bring with him a more intelligent treachery to the world stage if Trump passes — but when the symbol of American weakness, ignorance, and bigotry finally breathes his last breath — the entire world will be able to breathe a little easier."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

SCOTUS delivers bad news to Ohio 'Democrat' who tried to run as a Republican



A Democrat interloper hoping, in his own words, to help get Democrats "a foot in the door" in a deep-red Ohio district was certified in February to run as a Republican candidate in the coming primary election for the Buckeye State's 15th Congressional District.

Samuel Ronan — a former candidate for the chair of the Democratic National Committee — was, however, disqualified by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) following protest by a GOP voter.

Ronan's fight to stay on the ballot went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which delivered the subversive some bad news on Thursday.

Infiltrator

Permitted under Ohio law to contest the candidacy of a party candidate, GOP voter Mark Schare did so on Feb. 20, claiming that Ronan had misrepresented his affiliation with the GOP.

'Just one problem: he is a Democrat.'

According to court documents, Schare referred to Ronan's prior remarks about tricking Republicans into voting for Democrats as well as a January 2026 Facebook post in which Ronan wrote,

I believe i [sic] very clearly mentioned in that very same DNC Chair race that Democrats, if they wanted to govern and regain the trust of Americans, would have to primary Republicans in deep red districts, as Republicans, just to get a foot in the door. So, if I am doing anything, it's following the argument I made on that stage.

Ronan later admitted his strategy to the Ohio Board of Elections but suggested that he was not presently "fighting on behalf of the traitorous Democrats" who voted to fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He also argued that he should be able to present his leftist ideology as a Republican and let the voters decide "what is or what is not Republican."

RELATED: Democrat fraudster begs to keep $800,000 state pension funded by taxpayers

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R). Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call Inc./Getty Images

The Ohio Board of Elections put his disqualification to a vote and ended up tied along party lines. The decision was consequently kicked to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R), who broke the deadlock in favor of disqualification, revealing on March 19 that he was removing Ronan from the Ohio primary ballot.

LaRose emphasized in his decision that the "issue here is not 'ideological purity,'" but "the integrity of the electoral process."

Rejected

The Democrat interloper — who noted last month that he opposes sealing the border and stopping the "migrant invasion" — challenged his disqualification, suing LaRose and members of the Franklin County Board of Elections, and alleging that his First Amendment rights were violated.

Ronan managed to obtain a temporary restraining order; however, U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Morrison, an appointee of President Donald Trump, had it vacated and denied Ronan a preliminary injunction earlier this month.

"It cannot be the case that a State must allow a candidate on a partisan ballot even if he lied about his party affiliation simply because the First Amendment is implicated," wrote Morrison. "To do so 'would subject virtually every electoral regulation to strict scrutiny, hamper the ability of States to run efficient and equitable elections, and compel federal courts to rewrite state electoral codes.'"

After a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit — made aware of Ronan's recent social post in which he stated, "Leftists need to infiltrate [R]epublican spaces and primary them" — similarly refused to put the ex-candidate back on the ballot.

Alongside his campaign manager, Ana Cordero, Ronan appealed at last to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ronan's legal counsel claimed in the emergency application, "Ronan did not act in bad faith. He was honest. He made plain that though he was once a Democrat he is now seeking to transport across the aisle ideas that were not embraced by the Democratic Party. Ronan’s campaign is a good faith attempt to win over Republican voters by advocating his values — values he believes Democrats have forsaken. That is not a 'strategic candidacy' or some kind of trick. It is not unlawful."

Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost's office said in a response to the application, "Samuel Ronan wanted to run for office in Ohio’s Republican primary as a Republican. Just one problem: he is a Democrat."

The office noted further that "Ronan's request is upside down."

"Political parties possess a First Amendment associational right to exclude those who do not share their values," said Yost's office. "So it would be quite surprising if the First Amendment forbids States from protecting that right when the Amendment 'barely — and only provisionally — permits' States to compel association."

Justice Brett Kavanaugh referred Ronan's application to the full court, which denied Ronan's request on Thursday, reported the Courthouse News Service.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Liberals increase their stranglehold over Wisconsin Supreme Court — which now has ties to Planned Parenthood



Liberals seized majority control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2023 — their first majority on the Badger State's high court in 15 years. That majority was firmed up with Justice Susan Crawford's win last year following the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history.

Wisconsinites dashed conservative dreams of a more balanced court on Tuesday by increasing the liberal stranglehold over their state's high court in a landslide election.

'We will keep fighting for our courts because they are that important.'

With over 95% of the votes in, Wisconsin Court of Appeals judge and former Democratic state legislator Chris Taylor had secured 60.1% of the total. Her Republican-endorsed opponent, Wisconsin Appeals Court Judge Maria Lazar, secured 39.8% of the total vote.

Abortion was a key issue during the race. Taylor, a former policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, is, after all, a hardline abortion activist.

The 58-year-old liberal authored a bill in 2017, for instance, that claimed "every woman has the fundamental right to choose to obtain a safe and legal abortion." The bill, which failed to pass, would have barred the state from preventing a woman from procuring an abortion "at any time during her pregnancy" if deemed necessary to "protect her life or health."

RELATED: Trump-endorsed Republican to fill Marjorie Taylor Greene's seat in Georgia

Wisconsin Appeals Court Judge Maria Lazar. Jonathan Aguilar/Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service/Catchlight/Getty Images

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Taylor, who was endorsed by various pro-abortion groups, also celebrated after the state supreme court invalidated Wisconsin's 1949 law that banned most abortions.

Taylor reportedly said last year that she would not recuse herself from a case just because it dealt with abortion.

Lazar, who previously enjoyed the support of pro-life groups and called the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs "very wise," accused Taylor of being a "judicial activist." Taylor, in turn, claimed that her opponent would bring "an extreme, right-wing political agenda to the bench," reported the Los Angeles Times.

In addition to pushing the abortion agenda during her time in the state legislature, Taylor also championed curbs on the Second Amendment, demanding universal background checks, gun purchase waiting periods, and other so-called gun safety measures.

Whereas Taylor raised over $6.2 million over the course of her campaign, Lazar netted only around $1.2 million, reported the Courthouse News Service.

"The fight is not over," Lazar said in her concession speech. "And that we will keep fighting for our courts because they are that important."

Moving forward, the court will be skewed 5-2 for liberals. NBC News noted that it could get even worse: Next year, liberals could potentially pick up another seat on the bench as conservative Justice Annette Ziegler is not running for a third term.

Taylor, who will begin her 10-year term in August, is taking the seat of retiring Justice Rebecca Bradley, a Republican-aligned conservative justice who helped strike down Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' order to postpone an election because of COVID-19 and condemned lockdown measures.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

How Spanberger managed to hit record-low approval rating in 80 days



House Democrats' loss of 14 seats to Republicans in the 2020 election was apparently an eye-opening experience for then-Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D), who blamed the ease and effectiveness with which critics branded her party as a bunch of radical leftists.

"We need to not ever use the word 'socialist' or 'socialism' ever again," Spanberger said on a post-action House Democratic Caucus phone call. "Because while people think it doesn't matter, it does matter, and we lost good members because of that."

Years after acknowledging the importance of concealing radical impulses from voters, the former undercover CIA officer who participated in the anti-Trump "resistance" after the 2016 election ran for governor of Virginia, campaigning in 2025 as an even-keeled and unifying pragmatist. The liberal media then forwarded that narrative.

'She's just a bot for the Democratic Party.'

It is now painfully obvious, however, that the supposed moderate who defeated former Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears (R) in November in a landslide is — as the GOP of Virginia and others had warned — not as advertised.

A damning new Washington Post-Schar School poll revealed on Monday that Virginians, realizing only too late how Spanberger really operates, have largely soured on the Democratic governor. In fact, her approval rating is so low, it set a record in Post polling.

When asked how Spanberger is handling her job as governor, 47% of respondents signaled approval, 36% signaled disapproval, and 7% expressed no opinion. The Post noted that approval rating is 13 percentage points lower than the average for Spanberger's predecessors going back to the 1990s.

Political analyst Larry Sabato told WJLA-TV, "A drop of that margin is stunning, and it should be greatly disturbing to the governor and the governor's staff if it's repeated in other surveys."

There is no shortage of clues in the poll's cross tabs as to why the people of the Old Dominion are less than enthused about their new governor.

When asked about the supposed moderate's views, a plurality of respondents — 45% — said they were "too liberal." Broken down by party affiliation, 91% of Republicans, 44% of independents, and 6% of Democrats said so. Nearly 10% of Virginians who voted for Spanberger were among those who rated her as "too liberal."

For starters, Spanberger dropped the moderate mask in her approach to immigration.

Weeks after rescinding former Gov. Glenn Youngkin's order requiring state law enforcement agencies to cooperate more fully with federal immigration authorities, Spanberger directed state police and other state agencies to terminate any such agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Department of Homeland Security Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis grouped Spanberger with those "sanctuary politicians" who have "tried to slow ICE down and chosen to release criminals from their jails into our communities to perpetrate more crimes and create more victims."

Virginians are already dealing with the fallout of Spanberger's virtue-signaling.

The DHS noted on Monday that "so far in 2026, illegal aliens have allegedly committed 75% of all murders" in Fairfax County, Virginia.

The supposed moderate also committed all state agencies to rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a regional cap-and-trade program covering power sector emissions that Youngkin — who completed his term with a 50% approval rating — removed Virginia from and dubbed a hidden tax on ratepayers.

While previously a critic of partisan gerrymandering schemes, Spanberger has come out in support of a proposed constitutional amendment that would all but ensure that 10 out of the state's 11 congressional seats go to Democrats, thereby disenfranchising Republican voters in Virginia.

RELATED: Parents enraged over adult illegal alien allegedly molesting Virginia high school girls

Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Although consistent on the issue of abortion — she routinely voted in Congress to deprive the unborn of protections and to advance abortion ideology — her continued activism as governor may read as "too liberal" for some residents.

In February, for instance, she signed a partisan constitutional amendment that, if approved by voters later this year, would codify the "right to reproductive freedom, including the ability to make and carry out decisions relating to one's own prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, abortion care, miscarriage management, and fertility care."

In addition to taking an extreme approach to so-called reproductive rights, Spanberger is expected to help her fellow Virginia Democrats in waging war on the Second Amendment. She did, after all, vow not to veto gun-grab laws as Youngkin had and express support for a ban on sales of so-called assault-style weapons.

Among the various gun-control bills awaiting her signature are bills that would:

  • Ban gun possession within 100 feet of locations used for election-related activities;
  • Require a "handgun shooting" course as opposed to an NRA-affiliated safety course;
  • Create a Class 1 misdemeanor for anyone who imports, sells, manufactures, purchases, or transfers a so-called assault firearm or magazines that hold over 15 rounds;
  • Prohibit the carrying of loaded "assault firearms" in public spaces;
  • Bar anyone convicted of a misdemeanor "hate crime" assault from possessing or carrying any firearm; and
  • Prohibit Americans younger than 21 from buying a handgun or "assault firearm."

Spanberger faces an April 13 deadline to ratify these and other gun control bills.

Gregory Roddy, a self-identified independent voter from Fairfax County, told the Post that while always skeptical of Spanberger's presentation as a bipartisan candidate, it was clear once she was elected that "she's just a bot for the Democratic Party."

Mason Necci, another independent voter, this time from rural Culpeper County, suggested that Spanberger is attempting "to make herself into a Democratic icon."

"Virginia is already regretting electing a governor who stands for illegal immigrants over her constituents," Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) wrote. "Spanberger's alarming disapproval rating is telling. And she's been in office a mere three months."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Planned Parenthood Lackey Seeks Seat On Wisconsin Supreme Court

Chris Taylor was 'one of the most liberal members' of the legislature. She might be the most radical justice, if she wins Tuesday's election.

Radicals train for massive May Day protests at public schools, thanks to America's largest teachers' union



Defending Education, an advocacy organization that combats leftist indoctrination in K-12 public schools, recently obtained documents outlining the talking points and marching orders being fed to radicals ahead of leftist May Day protests planned across the country.

Among the leftist outfits poised to train would-be protesters is the Midwest Academy, a liberal activist-grooming center that has reportedly received over $1.7 million in recent years from the National Education Association.

'Congress should revoke the NEA’s federal charter.'

The Midwest Academy, joined by the the NYU Metro Center and organizers from Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools member groups, is coordinating a four-week training series titled "Four Weeks of Power" with the purported aim of building "a broader, stronger base of parents, educators and students taking action to defend and transform public schools."

Although organized by the NEA-backed outfit, sessions will be provided by the leftist organization Free the Future, part of the NEA-aligned Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools network.

Free the Future will start off the sessions by providing "an introduction to community organizing in the context of the rising authoritarianism we’re seeing in real time." Free the Future will conclude the sessions by helping fellow travelers "better understand power mapping and targets, understanding which actions make sense for our team and community, and the logistics of planning a successful action."

RELATED: Why Johnny still can’t read: The curriculum cartel doesn’t want reform

Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service/Getty Images

Free the Future is evidently keen to train up radicals with the NEA-backed group in time for mass protests on May 1. Free the Future has partnered with May Day Strong "to plan hundreds of actions in the streets" next month.

May Day Strong's tool kit reveals that radicals are reskinning their No Kings protests for May Day.

The tool kit recommends not only protesting outside lawmakers' offices and "one of the many corporate targets we need to take on," but that radicals stage "school walk-ins" and rally outside schools.

Hilton Hotels, Chevron, Citgo, and Enterprise Rent-A-Car are the corporations targeted by May Day Strong.

The organizers have furnished would-be protesters with a template press release that contains the following talking points:

  • "Tax the rich so our families, not their fortunes, come first."
  • "No ICE, NO War. No private army serving authoritarian power."
  • "Expand democracy, not corporate rule. Defend free and fair elections."

NEA's official May Day 2026 "Solidarity Toolkit," which is greatly similar to the May Day Strong tool kit right down to the advocacy for school walk-ins, states, "This May Day will be a day of rallies, marches, teach-ins, labor actions, and a refusal of business as usual — because when those at the top rig the system, collective action is how we set it right."

According to NEA's tool kit, "walk-ins" seem to involve a school invasion:

During school walk-ins, parents, educators, and students, along with neighbors and community leaders, gather in front of their school 30-45 minutes before the school day begins. We rally and listen to a few speakers discuss what they want for the school, and then we all walk into the school together. Walk-ins can be used to celebrate your school, collaborate with school officials, or protest harmful school conditions and policies.

Rhyen Staley, director of research at Defending Education, said in a statement obtained by Blaze News, "This is yet another example of how activists and teachers' unions view schools as a tool to advance their political agenda."

"It should be deeply concerning that one of the suggested tactics is to enter schools to protest against policies they don’t like," continued Staley. "Putting children's education and safety at risk for political gain is unethical and immoral."

Corey DeAngelis, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Center for Education Policy, told Blaze News, "Congress should revoke the NEA’s federal charter or at least bar them from engaging in political activity altogether."

DeAngelis noted further, "These radicals are providing free advertising for homeschooling, showing us exactly who they are, and parents need to pull their kids out of these institutions."

Becky Pringle, the Democrat NEA president who reportedly made over $500,000 while fighting to keep schools closed at kids' expense between September 2020 and August 2021, made clear in her keynote address at last year's National Education Association convention that her union is committed to undermining the Trump administration.

"We must use our power to take action that leads, action that liberates, action that lasts," Pringle said in her speech.

At the convention, the NEA adopted a resolution declaring its support for mass movements against the government, including No Kings protests and anti-ICE rallies.

Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!