Politics

‘There’s something bigger going on’: Democratic state election chiefs rebuff Trump bid to seize voter rolls

Published

5 months ago

January 31, 2026

Democratic state election officials say the Justice Department’s letter to Minnesota over its voter rolls represents a significant escalation, with several warning that the Trump administration could use immigration enforcement to exert influence over November’s midterm elections.

The officials are baffled by the Trump administration’s continued demand for access to state voter information and refuse to comply, telling Blue Light News they view the requests as part of a broader effort by the administration to insert itself into state election proceedings.

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, has been at the center of the push after Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in a letter to Gov. Tim Walz that one condition of restoring “law and order” in the state amid the administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown would be for Minnesota to turn over its voter rolls to the federal government.

Minnesota — one of two dozen states, along with the District of Columbia, sued by the administration — has rejected the request, prompting an unprecedented legal clash between the Justice Department and state election officials.

“To me, [it] seems to be a project in service of the president’s longstanding but false view that election systems around the country are rigging elections,” Simon told Blue Light News. “And this project seems to be in service of that, and that’s the best I can tell.”

Simon said he has not heard back from the Trump administration since responding to the Bondi letter. “This was already a dispute, but it was a dispute being fought where it belongs, which is in a court of law,” he said.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat running for reelection this year, called the letter to officials in Minnesota “extortion” and echoed the suggestion that the effort was aimed at something beyond voter rolls.

“The voter roll stuff is not about voter rolls. There’s something bigger going on,” Fontes said in an interview this week, as dozens of secretaries of state gathered in Washington for a meeting of the National Association of Secretaries of State. “They’re bits and pieces, interchangeable in this jigsaw puzzle, and we’re being told something that’s not true,” he added.

The highly unusual push for access to states’ voter rolls is part of a yearlong campaign by the Trump administration, which says it is seeking to ensure that states’ voter registration practices comply with federal law and safeguard election integrity. The White House has requested voter records from nearly every state and Washington, D.C. The move comes as Trump frequently repeats his false claim that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged.”

The White House and Justice Department did not immediately respond to Blue Light News’s request for comment on this story.

At least 11 states have complied with the administration’s request, according to the Brennan Center.

Wyoming is one of the states that complied, and its secretary of state, Chuck Gray, a Republican, told reporters on Friday that it has been “very disturbing” to watch Democrats rebuff the administration’s request to engage in what he described as regular upkeep of voter rolls.

“We’ve been engaging in routine voter list maintenance that people support in making sure the voter lists are clean,” he said.

The Justice Department has sued the 24 states — most, but not all, of which are helmed by Democrats — that have refused to comply, with most citing concerns over exposing sensitive voter information.

“I’m certainly concerned that people may fear that the Department of Justice having access to the voting rolls might make them a target in some way,” said Maine Democratic Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.

“This Justice Department has weaponized its office to target people based on identity and based on political affiliation,” she said.

Uzoma Nkwonta, a partner at Elias Law Group, which is representing several states in litigation over the voter roll demands, called the effort “another example of overreach by the Department of Justice and the federal government.” “The fact that DOJ officials have stated publicly that they expect to see hundreds of thousands individuals removed from the rolls once they have this data … should set off a red flag,” Nkwonta said, noting that maintaining voter registration lists is a responsibility for the states, not the federal government.

Politics

Trump gets the complete domination he wanted in Louisiana

Published

1 hour ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

President Donald Trump just finished the job in Louisiana.

First, he successfully ousted Sen. Bill Cassidy — a longtime rival who voted to convict Trump on impeachment charges — last month. Then on Saturday, Trump got his preferred pick, Rep. Julia Letlow, over the finish line in the runoff to replace the senator.

It was a return to form after several recent misses in primaries, with Trump’s endorsed candidates going down in Iowa and Georgia and after the Republican he initially endorsed in South Carolina flopped. Saturday’s result reaffirms his grip on the Republican party: With Trump’s backing, Letlow overcame a late surge from rival John Fleming, the hardline conservative state treasurer who was also trying to rally the MAGA base behind him.

Letlow’s win sends another Trump ally to Washington, continuing the MAGA takeover of the party, and shows the continuing power of Trump’s blessing that lifts candidates even when others have conservative credentials of their own. It also bolsters the power of GOP Gov. Jeff Landry, whose steadfast support of Letlow was also crucial to her victory.

This primary was the latest test of an emerging question that will help shape the future of the GOP: How powerful is Trump’s endorsement against opponents who are also MAGA acolytes?

Unlike in primaries pitting MAGA against the establishment or against the president’s enemies — which MAGA is clearly winning — several contests this year have involved multiple candidates all seeking to run in the America First lane. In Louisiana and Alabama, Trump’s endorsees won, though both Letlow and Rep. Barry Moore were given a major run for their money by fellow pro-Trump candidates. But in a pair of governor’s contests, Rick Jackson’s billions helped him clinch the nomination in Georgia and Zach Lahn pulled off a surprise upset in Iowa, as both bear-hugged the president.

Fleming, a House Freedom caucus founder and former White House aide, ran as an unabashed Trump ally and spent the campaign arguing he represented MAGA’s ideological roots. He tried to cast Letlow as the establishment pick powered by elected officials rather than grassroots conservatives.

But Republican primary voters ultimately sided with the candidate carrying Trump’s seal of approval.

“Tonight’s runoff proves one indisputable fact: Donald Trump’s endorsement remains the apex predator of Republican politics,” said Louisiana GOP strategist Lionel Rainey. “Masterclass in raw electoral power.”

In one of the country’s reddest states, Letlow now enters the general as the overwhelming favorite to win in November. She’s up against Jamie Davis, a farmer, who won the Democratic runoff on Saturday.

Letlow’s likely ascent to the Senate marks a rapid rise in Louisiana politics: She won a special election to the House in 2021 to fill the seat of her husband, who died from Covid in 2020 just days before being sworn in. She jumped into the Senate race after Trump publicly endorsed her.

“President Trump, thank you for encouraging me to get into this race, thank you for your endorsement, Louisiana loves you,” Letlow said in her victory speech Saturday night.

Yet Trump’s endorsement of Letlow was not quite a knock-out punch. In the May primary, Cassidy, a top MAGA target, received less than 25 percent of the vote, and Letlow finished far ahead of the others — but she did not get enough to reach 50 percent support to avoid a runoff.

In the Saturday runoff, Letlow ran hard on Trump’s endorsement but Fleming also gained significant ground since his second-place finish in the first round of voting, and finished just 14 points behind Letlow, with nearly all the votes counted.

“Yes I love the heat of battle. I love the combat,” Fleming told supporters in his concession speech. “But it makes us stronger. It really makes us better.”

Letlow, who hails from north Louisiana, benefitted from outside national groups spending on her behalf, including the official political arm of the Make American Healthy Again movement, which pledged $1 million to boost her campaign.

Her victory is a sigh of relief for Landry, who invested tremendous political capital in getting her to the Senate, sometimes to a degree that frustrated fellow Republicans. Landry pressured donors to open their wallets for her campaign, and a super PAC aligned with the governor spent about $6 million on her behalf, mostly toward assailing Fleming with attacks about his stances on carbon capture and the border.

It’s unclear whether Landry will face a serious primary challenger when he’s up for reelection next year, but a Letlow loss would have made him more vulnerable to intraparty criticisms and skepticism about his political strength.

Some Louisiana Republicans immediately speculated that Fleming may now consider running against Landry. One Louisiana Republican, who was granted anonymity to speak freely about party dynamics, called it “payback.”

Landry, in a statement, congratulated Letlow “on her decisive victory,” and said the representative ran “an incredible race fueled by the support of President Donald J. Trump and hardworking Louisianians across our state.”

Politics

How the World Cup became a victory lap for Trump ally El Tigre

Published

1 hour ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

MIAMI — Colombia’s World Cup run has become a celebration of more than just its national team: For many fans, it’s also a victory lap for the country’s Trump-backed president-elect.

Political rookie Abelardo de la Espriella — a right-wing former defense attorney and businessman who calls himself “El Tigre” — narrowly saw off a left-wing senator last weekend as Colombia swung from far-left to hard-right leadership. De la Espriella ran for president on a tough law-and-order platform, vowing to end outgoing left-wing President Gustavo Petro’s attempts to establish dialogue with armed groups. He also wants to build mega-prisons, emulating those of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, another Trump favorite in Latin America.

Fans who Blue Light News spoke with outside the stadium in Miami on Saturday evening before a key game against Portugal were insistent that de la Espriella is going to make Colombia great again.

With de la Espriella’s victory, “There is no more corruption, there is no more guerrilla, there is security … it’s gonna be great,” said Hugo, a 62-year-old who lives in Miami but is originally from the Colombian capital Bogotá. “Just give him one year, and you will see the new Colombia,” added Alonso, 42, originally from Ibagué, who disputed that the election was as close (around one percentage point) as the official results showed — and said a combination of Trump and de la Espriella would be great for Colombia.

Colombia’s brilliant-yellow soccer jersey, ubiquitous in downtown Miami this week, also became a key flashpoint on the campaign trail, as de la Espriella — running to restore security, shrink the state and promote economic growth through deregulation — clothed himself in the kit.

In the sunshine outside Miami’s World Cup stadium, Juan, from Cartagena, said he liked de la Espriella wearing the soccer jersey because “it shows his whole campaign is about patriotism and to save the country, to give hope to the people.”

A Bogotá judge banned de la Espriella and his movement, Defensores de la Patria (Defenders of the Homeland), from using or displaying the jersey for his electoral campaign, and the left-wing candidate, Iván Cepeda, said, “The Colombian national team belongs to all Colombians. Its use for electoral, personal, and ideological purposes is a clearly opportunistic act, the legal implications of which must be examined.”

In response to a post-match question from Blue Light News about the president-elect wearing the shirt and backing the team, Colombian coach Néstor Lorenzo said, “Football is played in a very passionate way in South America. I think that all the presidents, the South American countries, live in that passion. It is a way for us to identify, beyond the flag, the shirt that represents the most beautiful sport of all. The president wants to show, surely, that he is a real citizen.”

Only one yellow-clad supporter showed any reticence about de la Espriella, shaking his head and saying “it’s crazy” what’s happening in Colombia, before declining to talk more about politics or provide his name.

The Trump administration has embraced de la Espriella. Trump praised him as a “Smart, Strong, and Tough Leader.” At the game in Miami on Saturday evening, two senior U.S. officials — Secretary of State Marco Rubio and FBI Director Kash Patel — were in attendance, flanking FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

Last time Colombia played at the World Cup in the United States, it all ended in tragedy.

Defender Andrés Escobar scored an own goal against the U.S. at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California — then was shot dead outside a nightclub after returning to Colombia, a country still grappling with violence involving guerrilla groups and criminal organizations.

The dark-horse national team is performing considerably better in 2026 than in 1994, progressing easily to the second round. But political turmoil endures at home, where the bitterly fought election campaign — that came down to a June 21 runoff between de la Espriella and Cepeda — saw an assassination, bombings and kidnappings.

That specter of violence — even soccer-linked violence — is rarely far away in Colombia. The father of star soccer player Luis Díaz was kidnapped in late 2023 by far-left guerrillas, and only freed after 13 days.

As Colombia celebrated what it erroneously thought was a late winner against Portugal, the live broadcast cut to a jubilant supporter, cheering and wearing a red Defensores de la Patria hat.

Politics

Palestinian flags fly in Texas

Published

4 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

ARLINGTON, Texas — Jordan’s final World Cup match against Argentina gave its fans a chance to show their national colors one last time on the international stage. And, as they have throughout the tournament, many of them also used the opportunity to show support for Palestine.

Lots of Jordanians have roots in Palestine, and they brought those loyalties with them. Many people in the crowd wore black-and-white checked keffiyehs that are a symbol of Palestinian roots.

“Our Palestinian brothers and sisters are never far from our thoughts,” said Issah Essoh, a 32-year-old software consultant from Jordan who lives in Houston, said as fans filed into their seats.

Mohammed Abu Arayes, 37, who was visiting from Riyadh with his family for the match, is of Jordanian and Palestinian heritage. He was decked out in Jordanian colors and his wife sported a t-shirt emblazoned with “Palestine.”

He’s been happy with the reception, even amid a sea of Argentina fans sporting blue-and-white jerseys. “The Argentine people have been very welcoming,” Abu Arayes said.