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A federal judge has ordered the North Carolina Board of Elections to begin implementing a state Supreme Court decision in the last unresolved 2024 election in the country. The North Carolina Supreme Court issued a decision on Friday that partially overturned a ruling from a week earlier by a panel of the intermediate-level Court of Appeals that had favored Republican Jefferson Griffin. Griffin is trailing Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs by a razor-thin margin of 734 votes out of more than 5.5 million cast last fall in the election for a seat on the state’s highest court. Griffin formally protested more than 65,000 ballots covering three categories.The largest category of challenged voters — roughly 60,000 — included ballots cast last fall by people who have been registered to vote since 2004, but their records lack a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number.Friday’s prevailing opinion said the Court of Appeals got it wrong by declaring these ballots shouldn’t have been counted. The opinion said the blame rests with the State Board of Elections for failing for years to properly collect those numerical identifiers, not the voters. These voters ultimately proved their identity by complying with the state’s new photo ID law, and longtime legal precedent says such mistakes by election officials cannot result in cast votes being voided, the order reads.FEDERAL JUDGE KICKS BATTLE OVER NC SUPREME COURT ELECTION BACK TO STATE COURT Judge Jefferson Griffin, the Republican candidate for the N.C. Supreme Court listens to testimony in Wake County Superior Court on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025.  (Robert Willett/The News & Observer via AP, File)The state board of elections said in a statement on Monday that it will provide, “as soon as possible,” detailed instructions “to the affected counties and voters on how to comply with the decision.””The Supreme Court decision removed from the protest voters whose voter registration forms did not include a driver’s license number or last four digits of a Social Security number (and didn’t check the box indicating they lacked these numbers). Those voters – the largest group of voters challenged by the protest – no longer must provide that information to their county boards of elections to ensure their votes for the supreme court contest count in the 2024 general election,” the state board said. But a majority of justices — all registered Republicans — let stand the lower court’s determination that additional ballots from two other categories that Griffin contested were wrongly allowed in the tally. Some of these voters, potentially thousands who serve in the military or live overseas, would still get a chance to turn in a photo identification or an ID exception form for their choice in the race to remain in the count, the court’s prevailing order says. The state Supreme Court also agreed to throw out votes from people who had never lived in North Carolina or the United States altogether. “The Supreme Court decision, however, would require challenged military and overseas-citizen voters who submitted an absentee ballot to provide a copy of their photo identification, or a Photo ID Exception Form, to ensure their votes for the supreme court contest count in the 2024 general election,” the state board of elections said Monday. “The decision would also require certain county boards of elections to identify and remove from the count – in the Supreme Court contest only – the votes from U.S. citizen voters who have never lived in the United States but have parental connections to North Carolina.” Riggs and the State Board of Elections, which had previously thrown out Griffin’s formal protests of the more than 65,000 ballots, had previously signaled plans to return to federal court if necessary, if the justices sided with Griffin to potentially plead violations of federal elections and voting rights laws. Riggs’ attorneys filed a motion late Friday in U.S. District Court in Raleigh asking a judge to issue an injunction preventing the state appeals court decisions from being carried out immediately. Allison Riggs, chief counsel of voting rights at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, talks to reporters outside the U.S. Supreme Court after she attended oral arguments in Moore v. Harper on Dec. 7, 2022. The case stems from the redrawing of congressional maps following the 2020 Census.  (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)DEM TAKES AIM AT TRUMP IN 2026 SENATE LAUNCH VIDEO FOR ‘TANKING OUR ECONOMY’U.S. Chief District Judge Richard Myers – who was nominated by President Donald Trump during his first term – on Saturday ordered the state board of elections to comply with the plan set forth by the Supreme Court to resolve the election dispute. Meyers set an April 15 deadline for the state board of elections to “provide notice to the court of the scope of its remedial efforts, including the number of potentially affected voters and the counties in which those voters cast ballots.” The judge also gave both parties until April 20 to submit opening briefs and until April 28 to submit final briefs in the case. Myers ordered the state Supreme Court not to certify the election results “pending further order of this court.” It’s unknown whether the outstanding ballots that could ultimately get taken out of the count could flip the result to Griffin, himself a current Court of Appeals judge. Griffin did not sit on the three-judge panel whose majority ruled for him last week, and Riggs did not participate in the Supreme Court deliberations.Riggs, meanwhile, hosted a “Protect Our Votes” rally in the state capital of Raleigh on Monday.  Hundreds of demonstrators rally at the North Carolina State Capitol on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, in Raleigh protesting Republican state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin’s challenge of 65,000 ballots in November’s election.  (Travis Long/The News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)”I will not give up on my fight to protect those fighting for us,” Riggs, whose father and brother served in the military, said, according to WRAL. “This presents a very real burden and threat to North Carolina voters in uniform, North Carolina voters who are missionaries serving on the mission field, foreign service officers, students studying abroad The threat is real, the burden is real, and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that their vote counts.”Republican strategist Paul Schumaker issued a statement on behalf of Griffin saying Friday’s ruling “is consistent with our request, and clearly, the matter warrants a thorough review, which the Courts have set forth. “CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP”What is most disturbing is Justice Riggs’ desire to hold interviews and rallies to litigate this case outside of the Courts,” Schumaker said, according to WRAL. “Justice Riggs clearly is a judicial activist who believes judges should make new laws, not interpret the laws enacted by the state legislature.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.

As it aims to defend its razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives in next year’s midterm elections, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is off to a fast fundraising start.The NRCC, which is the House GOP’s campaign arm, announced on Tuesday that it “shattered records” with a $21.5 million fundraising haul last month, which it says was the committee’s best month of an off-year and the best March in NRCC history.Last month’s fundraising fueled an overall $36.7 million haul during the January-March first quarter of 2025. The NRCC showcased that its fundraising in the past three months was its strongest off-year first quarter, outpacing by nearly $11 million what it brought in during the same period in the 2024 election cycle.The NRCC also highlighted that it had $23.9 million cash on hand heading into April and that it had paid down its debt to $4.5 million, which it said was ahead of its pace in the 2024 cycle.CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS TARGETING THESE HOUSE REPUBLICANS IN 2026 MIDTERM BATTLE Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 18, 2024. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)”The NRCC is on offense and fueled by unstoppable momentum and widespread support,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella emphasized.Marinella claimed that “while out of touch House Democrats are fighting amongst themselves, we’re charging toward 2026 with unmatched energy, ready to grow our House majority and continue delivering results for the American people.”The NRCC’s first-quarter haul does not include the eye-popping $35.2 million it says it brought in at a fundraiser earlier this month in the nation’s capital that was headlined by President Donald Trump. Those funds will be included in the committee’s second quarter figures.WERE THIS MONTH’S ELECTIONS IN WISCONSIN AND FLORIDA A CRYSTAL BALL FOR THINGS TO COME IN NEXT YEAR’S MIDTERMS?The rival Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) had yet to announce its first quarter fundraising at the time this report was posted. The DCCC outraised the NRCC $11.1 million to $9.2 million in February fundraising.Republicans currently control the House with a fragile 220-213 majority, with two blue-leaning vacant seats likely to be back in the hands of Democrats when special elections in those districts are held later this year. Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, is interviewed by Fox News Digital on April 7, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)Fundraising is a crucial component to the GOP’s game plan to keep control.When asked what concerns him the most when it comes to defending the House majority, NRCC Chair Rep. Richard Hudson said in a Fox News Digital interview earlier this month that “Democrats have a structural advantage when it comes to fundraising. They always seem to have just mountains of money. So I think the amount of money the Democrats raise is probably the only thing that really concerns me.””We have to raise enough money to keep up with the Democrats and make sure that our candidates can get their message out,” Hudson emphasized.POLL POSITION: WHERE TRUMP STANDS WITH AMERICANS 11 WEEKS INTO HIS SECOND TOUR OF DUTY IN THE WHITE HOUSEHudson, a North Carolina Republican and 12-year veteran of the House, said that “the President understands that he’s got to keep the House majority in the midterm so that he has a four-year runway, instead of a two-year runway to get his agenda enacted.” House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the top Democrat in the chamber, speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)Pointing to the House Democratic leader, Hudson added, “Speaker Hakeem Jeffries would fight President Trump on every front, and it would be really difficult for him to achieve his agenda. President Trump understands it’s important to hold the House and he’s, he’s been extremely helpful to us and we appreciate it.”CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPThe DCCC is taking aim at nearly three dozen Republican-held seats in the chamber as it aims to win back the majority. Earlier this month, the House Democrats’ campaign arm released its initial 2026 target list, which included 35 GOP-controlled seats, and launched an effort to fundraise for the party’s eventual nominees in each of the districts.The DCCC emphasized that their moves signal that “Democrats are on offense and poised to win the majority in 2026.”

Ohio GOP Sen. Jon Husted, who was sworn in as a Senator less than three months ago, spoke to Fox News Digital about receiving the “complete and total” endorsement of President Donald Trump to run again next year.”When Governor DeWine appointed me to the U.S. Senate, I promised that if I took the job, that I would run to keep the job and then this week, President Trump really gave me a big boost when he announced on True Social that he was endorsing me, that I had his complete and total endorsement,” Husted, who was recently appointed to replace now-Vice President JD Vance in the U.S. Senate, told Fox News Digital. “He said a lot of really kind things about me,” Husted continued. “And that was a great boost to the work that we’re going to do, because President Trump has been the decisive factor in the last two U.S. Senate races in Ohio.”Husted must run again next year in a special election to earn the right to serve out the rest of Vance’s term, which runs through 2028. LAWMAKERS REVEAL WHETHER AMERICANS SHOULD PICK UP THE MEDICAID TAB FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS President Donald Trump, right, recently endorsed Ohio GOP Sen. Jon Husted’s campaign. (Fox/Getty)Trump’s endorsement of Vance was widely considered the moment that put him over the top when he won the Ohio Senate seat in 2022. Trump’s endorsement was also a key factor in GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno’s toppling of longtime Dem. Sen. Sherrod Brown in November. “President Trump has won Ohio three times, and I’ve been a candidate and won statewide four times,” Husted said. “So the combination of my work and President Trump’s endorsement is a big boost to my election prospects.”Husted told Fox News Digital that “a lot’s happened” since he was sworn into office.’BORN LEADER’: OHIO GOVERNOR NOMINATES FORMER LEGENDARY COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACH AS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR Then-Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted speaks during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. (Getty Images)”I’ve never worked in Washington, but this is really a record pace for the U.S. Senate in getting a president’s confirmations done,” Husted said. “We’ve also got the reconciliation package through both the House and the Senate, which is gonna set forth the process for getting President Trump’s agenda accomplished on preserving tax cuts for working families and small businesses, towards securing the border and deporting illegal immigrant criminals.””All of those things are important priorities of the presidents, and we’ve leaned in hard. We’ve spent sometimes into the weekends working to get that agenda accomplished, so President Trump and the Republican team could be successful. And that’s my introduction to the U.S. Senate, and I look forward to continuing to serve.”It is unclear who Husted will be running against in next year’s election, although some have speculated that Brown, who was defeated by Moreno in November, could be interested. Husted told Fox News Digital he is not “worried” about who his opponent will be in a race that will be closely watched given the 53-47 GOP majority in the Senate. “I just take care of my own work and what that means is spending time with the people of the state of Ohio, going to Washington, getting my work done there, and delivering on the promise of the America first agenda which means securing our border, installing common sense values, making sure that men aren’t playing women’s sports, and invading their locker rooms,” Husted said.”It’s also focused on the economy, doing Made in America, because you can’t do Made in America without Made in Ohio, because we are the heart of it all. We make the things that people need to live and thrive. And if you can put all those things together, a great campaign, work hard, deliver on the policies, that’s good politics and that will result in an election victory.”CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on board Air Force One on the way to Miami on Saturday, April 12, 2025. (Pool via AP)Trump posted on Truth Social last week that Husted is a “wonderful man” that is “doing an incredible job.””Jon Husted has my Complete and Total Endorsement — HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!”Husted spoke to Fox News Digital about what he hopes he and the GOP Senate will continue to accomplish in the next 100 days, which includes the president’s tax package, balancing the budget, restoring fiscal sanity and adding some “predictability” to the tax code. “I also want to bring my own game to the Senate by showing people the work that we did in regulatory reform in Ohio,” Husted said. “We eliminated 5 million of 17 million words in the Ohio regulatory code. I want to do that for America. I wanna use the AI tools that we used in Ohio to do regulatory reform at the nation’s capital. If you looked at the federal regulatory code, it would be 35 feet tall if it were a book, and it would take you over three years to read. I wanna cut that down. I wanna make the regulatory code make sense to people so that average Americans can actually use it and understand it. And that will unleash the American spirit of entrepreneurship, save people time and money.”

The Department of Transportation (DOT) is working through a backlog of roughly 3,200 grant awards that did not have signed agreements to go with them, which Secretary Sean Duffy said was inherited from when former Secretary Pete Buttigieg oversaw the department.”Since coming into office, my team has discovered an unprecedented backlog of grants leftover from the previous administration,” Duffy revealed a couple of weeks ago in a statement.Most recently, one of these backlogged grants was the Washington Bridge in Rhode Island, which has been closed since 2023 on its westbound side until proper repairs are made, according to the Rhode Island state government.DUFFY SLAMS MTA OVER ‘FACT CHECK’ ON ANTI-ISRAEL MOB’S GRAND CENTRAL TAKEOVER Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, left, and President Donald Trump shake hands during a news conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 30. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)”This backlog, along with ridiculous DEI and Green New Deal requirements, prevented real infrastructure from being built and funded. Under the Trump Administration, we’ve ripped out this red tape and are getting back to what matters,” Duffy said. “As part of our work to deliver real results, we are pleased to announce $221 million in grants for Rhode Island’s Washington Bridge — a critical link that carries thousands of vehicles a day.”A DOT spokesperson told Fox News Digital on background that the backlog totals $43 billion and that 1,000 grant winners were selected by the Biden administration after Trump won but before then-President Joe Biden left office, which made up for $9 billion of the total needing to be made official. However, the department said that “nothing was done to actually get these grant agreements signed and sent to projects.”The DOT further noted that they are “quickly reviewing” the grants and looking at “executive grant agreements” when it comes to major infrastructure projects like roads and bridges.I USED TO LOVE AMTRAK, BUT NOW I REALIZE IT NEEDS DOGE Then-Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speaks during the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)When it comes to the grant awards for roads and bridges, Duffy noted in an April 10 Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump that “most of them are good” but said that while the Biden administration announced the grants, many of those agreements did not end up getting signed and dealt with.Duffy also reiterated that the projects also had “green and social justice requirements.””Take it out,” Trump said.”We’re pulling all that out and putting the money toward the infrastructure and not the social movement from the last administration,” the secretary responded.ZERO-EMISSIONS HYDROGEN-ELECTRIC JET DISRUPTS CONVENTIONAL FLIGHTS Construction crews work on the eastbound lanes of the Washington Bridge in Providence, Rhode Island, on Aug. 4, 2007. (AP Photo/Stew Milne, file)”Good steel, as opposed to green paper mache,” the president quipped to laughs in the room.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPThe Trump administration has been adamant overall about scrutinizing federal funds that were doled out through grants, especially if they were believed to have ideological strings attached. Shortly after Duffy’s confirmation, he scrapped the DOT Equity Council and other “environmental justice” related measures.The DOT has also notably placed the California high-speed rail project under federal investigation for its funds, as the cost of the project continues to rise, as critics of the project say little results have emerged so far. 

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Please enter a valid email address. Having trouble? Click here.The Social Security Administration (SSA) has become the latest government agency to join President Donald Trump’s deportation push, showing the president’s whole-of-government approach to keeping a key campaign promise.”This is the Trump administration using every tool it has in its toolbox to crack down on illegal immigration,” Tom Jones, the executive director of the American Accountability Foundation, told Fox News Digital.The comments come as the SSA sifts through the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who are in the country under “temporary parole” status that was granted during the Biden administration and allowed those migrants to have Social Security numbers in order to work.FLORIDA’S LARGEST VENEZUELAN STRONGHOLD POISED TO JOIN FORCES WITH ICE: REPORT The Social Security Administration has begun moving some migrants on the terror watch list to an ineligible database. (Getty Images)

An Illinois high school track athlete suffered an unimaginable injury while warming up for the triple jump at a meet last month.Dylan Westcott, of Rock Falls High School, broke his neck in a freak accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down. The 18-year-old has been rehabbing at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and has been able to sit in a wheelchair since about a week after the March 15 catastrophe.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM A high school track and field athlete was left paralyzed after a freak accident. (Fox News)Rock Falls High School head track coach Eric Bontz shared the horrific details in an interview with KWQC-TV.”He was warming up in the triple jump, just doing run throughs, and as he was going through the sand, he tripped either over his own feet or over the sand, and kind of stumbled, and was kind of running as he was stumbling, and just fell head first into the wall,” Bontz said.Wescott went through 12 hours of surgery immediately after the accident, according to the Daily Gazette. He had two cages inserted to stabilize his neck with a vertebra was replaced with a titanium plate.HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PLAYER JUMPS INTO ACTION TO SAVE OPPONENT’S LIFE AFTER HARROWING ON-COURT COLLAPSE”You go from being a normal, happy family with, everybody talking about future plans and graduation, prom — he just got accepted to study to be a vet tech after high school — and then seeing him in a wheelchair, not able to do a lot of the things that he used to do,” Westcott’s aunt, Kim Wescott Kilday, told the station. “It really hurts.” A general look at the triple jump. (IMAGN)Wescott’s family and coach have praised his resiliency.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPA GoFundMe has raised more than $22,000 to help with medical expenses.Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

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Please enter a valid email address. Having trouble? Click here.The Athletics were far from the only baseball team in Sacramento, California, receiving criticism at the start of the season. The minor league organization in town generated some heat last week.The Sacramento River Cats were set to partake in a recent minor league baseball tradition – changing their team for a period of time to promote their alternate identity. For example, the Somerset Patriots played as the Jersey Diners, and the Lehigh Valley IronPigs are set to compete as the Lehigh Valley Tomato Pie, just to name a few.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM The name change caused quite the controversy. (Getty Images)The River Cats were set to play as the Sacramento Gold Diggers, seemingly a throwback to the California Gold Rush. The city of Sacramento was a haven for gold miners in the late 1840s and was turned into a thriving community and incorporated into California in 1850.”Inspired by the regional history of the California Gold Rush, this new identity offers a connection to the significant impact of this era when Sacramento grew as the closest major city to the gold fields,” the team said in a news release Thursday, via The Sacramento Bee.AARON JUDGE SALUTES ‘BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN’ FIGHTING FOR COUNTRY AFTER BEING NAMED TEAM USA CAPTAIN FOR WBCThe team released a video showcasing the team name but also leaned into an old trope as it showed two women with dollar signs on their eyes when they saw a player.The video, which has since been deleted from the team’s social media pages, caused some outrage and the organization reversed their decision on the name.Sacramento Bee columnist Robin Epley ripped the rebranding as a “misogynistic joke on women.”More people reacted on X.”Our recent marketing campaign for an alternative identity clearly missed the mark,” the team said in a statement. “Our intention was to creatively reference the rich history of Sacramento and gold country, but our approach was wrong, and we are sorry for the mistake. We will no longer be using this identity.” The River Cats are an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. (Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPThe River Cats are an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, who met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, tweeted on Monday night, “I miss you already, President T.”While seated next to Bukele in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump spoke highly of the foreign leader, saying that Salvadorans “have one hell of a president.”Bukele took note last week when Trump referred to him as “President B” in a Truth Social post.BUKELE SAYS TRUMP HAS 350 MILLION AMERICANS TO ‘LIBERATE’ BY ENDING CRIME, TERRORISM U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Monday, April 14, 2025 (Al Drago for The Washington Post via Getty Images)”President Bukele has graciously accepted into his Nation’s custody some of the most violent alien enemies of the World and, in particular, the United States,” Trump declared in that April 12 Truth Social post. “These barbarians are now in the sole custody of El Salvador, a proud and sovereign Nation, and their future is up to President B and his Government. They will never threaten or menace our Citizens again!”Bukele shared a screenshot of the post on X, drawing particular attention to Trump’s “President B” nickname for him.‘UP TO EL SALVADOR’: TRUMP ADMIN PUNTS ON RETURN OF WRONGFULLY DEPORTED MARYLAND RESIDENTTrump noted on Monday that he would be interested in sending violent “homegrown criminals” to El Salvador, if that could be done legally.”Honored to join @POTUS in welcoming my friend President @nayibbukele to the United States,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a Monday post on X. TRUMP, OFFICIALS HAVE TENSE EXCHANGE WITH CNN REPORTER OVER DEPORTATION OF EL SALVADORAN NATIONALCLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP”Since my visit to El Salvador, the United States has deported dangerous MS13 and Tren de Aragua gang members to El Salvador’s prison. Because of this, our nation is safer and more secure. Our hemisphere is lucky to have two leaders who are totally aligned in their commitment to law and order,” Rubio noted.

FIRST ON FOX: The first Mexico-born member of Congress is launching her comeback bid on Tuesday, setting her sights on a Democrat who Republicans view as one of the most vulnerable House incumbents of 2026.”Unfortunately, we don’t have that many voices in the Spanish-speaking community — in Telemundo, in television — talking to the Spanish-speaking community about the amazing work President Trump is doing, and his administration,” former Rep. Mayra Flores, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital in an interview prior to her announcement.”And that’s something that I feel I’m obligated to do, because there’s a lot of misinformation being spread from the left, and they’re trying to instill fear and hate in the Hispanic community.”Flores served in Congress for roughly six months, from late June 2022 until early January 2023, having flipped Texas’ 34th Congressional District from blue to red after winning a special election to replace ex-Rep. Filemon Vela Jr., D-Texas.WILL THIS BLUE STATE REPUBLICAN END THE GOP’S 20-YEAR LOSING STREAK IN HIS STATE? Former Rep. Mayra Flores is setting her sights on Texas’ 28th Congressional District, which is represented by Rep. Henry Cuellar. (Getty Images)She lost re-election to Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, twice, though their rematch saw Flores come within less than 3% of Gonzalez’s victory.Flores’ 2026 bid is aimed at challenging a different Democrat, however. The former GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital that she intends to run in Texas’ Laredo-anchored 28th Congressional District, which is currently represented by Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas.Cuellar is a moderate known to break from his own party on issues like border security, crime and abortion. He’s served in Congress since 2005, with victories spanning from a few thousand votes to margins as high as 30%.LONGTIME HOUSE REPUBLICAN WEIGHS SENATE BID IN KEY BATTLEGROUNDCuellar most recently won last November by less than 6% – or roughly 13,000 votes – amid a federal indictment accusing him of an array of corruption charges.”It’s not about what Mayra Flores wants. It’s what this country needs me to do. And this country needs me to run in Texas 28 and win this seat,” Flores said. “This is a seat that can be flipped in 2026. Right now we need a much bigger majority. It makes it very difficult for President Trump to get anything across with such a small majority.”Flores said she was deeply familiar with the district and has familial ties to it. Former Rep. Mayra Flores and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (ALLISON DINNER/AFP | Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)In addition to the seat being a viable opportunity for the GOP, she pointed to the criminal indictment as an argument for taking on Cuellar, and she noted he had been in office since she was a 1-year-old, having first served in the Texas State House in 1986.”At the end of the day, I don’t care what party he is, whether you’re a Republican or you’re a Democrat,” Flores said. “Being a member, it’s … a position where you can help so many people, and you are able to represent an entire district. And yet he threw it all away. And no amount of money is worth you doing that to your country.” Cuellar denied any wrongdoing on his or his wife’s part in a statement when the indictment was announced.”I want to be clear that both my wife and I are innocent of these allegations. Everything I have done in Congress has been to serve the people of South Texas,” Cuellar said in May 2024.”Before I took any action, I proactively sought legal advice from the House Ethics Committee, who gave me more than one written opinion, along with an additional opinion from a national law firm,” he said. “The actions I took in Congress were consistent with the actions of many of my colleagues and in the interest of the American people. Furthermore, we requested a meeting with the Washington D.C. prosecutors to explain the facts, and they refused to discuss the case with us or to hear our side.” Former Rep. Mayra Flores served from June 2022 until early January 2023. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)Flores signaled she intended to focus heavily on the issues of agriculture and the economy when asked what she wanted to make another stint in Congress look like.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP”At the end of the day, you know, money’s important. Without money, you can’t have a shelter, you can’t have a car, you can’t provide for your children. So the economy is a top priority for me,” Flores said. “And of course, agriculture is a passion of mine. I was a farmworker. My parents were migrant workers. We traveled a lot. I believe our farmworkers need to be prioritized.”She compared her push on agriculture to the Republican stance on U.S. energy independence.”We talk about being independent, right, on oil and gas, which I agree, 100%. But we need to be food-independent as well,” Flores said.

Political violence is spiraling out of control.I don’t care which party you identify with. I don’t care if you like or dislike Donald Trump. This has been building for years, and perhaps we’ve become as inured to it as we have with most mass shootings.The most prominent example, of course, is the two assassination attempts against the president. On the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, that grazed his ear, Trump would not have survived if he hadn’t been turning his head to point to a chart. The second attempt was foiled by the Secret Service.More than 60 years after the death of John F. Kennedy, a would-be assassin’s bullet nearly changed the course of the 2024 election by taking out the man who would go on to win a second term in the White House. The photo of Trump, with a bloodied face, raising his fist became iconic.PENNSYLVANIA POLICE ARREST SUSPECT AFTER GOVERNOR’S MANSION SET ON FIRE WHILE GOV JOSH SHAPIRO, FAMILY SLEPTIt’s rather embarrassing that the press moved on so quickly after a few days.Even more cringe-worthy was the way the media provided scant coverage of the man who was determined to kill Brett Kavanaugh in 2022. He had driven from California and was a block away from the Supreme Court justice’s Maryland home – with a Glock pistol, two magazines of ammunition, a knife, pepper spray and zip ties – when he called police and turned himself in. The would-be murderer just pleaded guilty last week.  Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Penn., is the latest target of political violence – in this case, an arson attack on his gubernatorial residence. (Getty/Commonwealth Media Services)This has been going on since President Bill Clinton tried to blame Rush Limbaugh for the Oklahoma City bombing, and since the New York Times blamed Sarah Palin for a crosshairs map never seen by the shooter who killed six people and wounded Gabby Giffords in Arizona. A retrial of her defamation suit is about to get under way.When a liberal shooter who liked Rachel Maddow opened fire at a Republican baseball practice in Virginia, badly wounding GOP leader Steve Scalise, the finger-pointing began again. Inevitably, each side tries to score political points based on the perceived motive of the shooter.And that brings me to the attempt to kill Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on the first day of Passover. The governor, who is Jewish. His family and friends are lucky to be alive. JOSH SHAPIRO TELLS MAHER HE’S ‘DAMN PROUD’ OF BEING JEWISH, DODGES WHETHER IT FACTORED INTO VP SNUB IN 2024It is frightening. It is infuriating. It is the epitome of antisemitism. The Harrisburg mansion, where Shapiro, his wife Lori and children live, was set on fire, and the 38-year-old arsonist admitted to police that he set the fires.Imagine being woken up by state police at 2 a.m., with the smell of smoke in the air, and told that you, your family and friends must immediately evacuate. Who wouldn’t feel vulnerable, no matter their title?The only reason they survived is that they were sleeping in another part of the mansion, which the arsonist had no way of knowing. The building remains badly damaged. An enraged Gov. Josh Shapiro unilaterally condemned violence after the attempt on his life early Sunday. (Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images)Shapiro was clearly and justifiably angry when he said, “This type of violence is not okay. I don’t give a damn if it’s from one particular side or another. It’s not okay.” The governor pointed out that it was the first night of Passover and members of the local Jewish community had been celebrating with him in the state dining room.  “No one will deter me or my family or any Pennsylvanian from celebrating their faith openly or proudly,” he declared.Ironically, it was Shapiro who led the investigation of the attempted assassination of Trump at Butler, where a man in the crowd was killed.The president has been posting up a storm at Truth Social, including messages on Easter Week and Passover, but hasn’t said a word about Shapiro.I think Trump should call Shapiro as a way of demonstrating that he deplores political violence no matter which party is involved. FBI Director Kash Patel did call, but that’s not at the same level.The Harrisburg man told police he was “harboring hatred” for Shapiro and had he found him, he would have beaten the governor with his hammer. His mother told the AP he was mentally ill. PENNSYLVANIA FIRE CHIEF CREDITS CLOSED DOORS FOR SAVING LIVES DURING GOVERNOR’S MANSION ATTACKAt the Free Press, Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Penn., a Republican who supports Trump, said:”When Governor Josh Shapiro and I spoke on Saturday afternoon about a potential data center investment in Pennsylvania, he ended the call by noting that he needed to go prepare for an 80-person seder which he was leading. Less than 12 hours later, he and his family were evacuated from the governor’s residence, because an arsonist had set it on fire. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Penn., thoroughly condemned the attack. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)”The pictures of the damage to the residence are horrifying. Yet even more frightening is the trend that this attack is a part of. And if left unchecked, this trend — of using political violence to settle our differences — has the potential to destroy our republic.”SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIESNow, it must be said the security was awful. This guy scales the fence and the state troopers on duty can’t stop him from reaching the mansion? And then let him get away?CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPAs for journalists, we should resist the temptation to say, well, Shapiro wasn’t hurt, let’s move on. A Jewish governor was targeted and nearly assassinated. That’s not a one-day story by any stretch of the imagination.