Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams helped torch state flag during college protest

FILE- In this May 22, 2018, file photo Georgia's Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams waves in Atlanta. Abrams is trying to reach voters who don’t usually vote in midterm elections in the hopes to drive up turnout in her race against Republican Brian Kemp. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

The Democratic gubernatorial nominee in Georgia, Stacey Abrams, helped light a state flag on fire on the steps of the state's Capitol in June 1992, as part of a protest that her campaign on Monday night characterized as an effort to "overcome racially divisive issues."
The flag at the time incorporated designs from the Confederate battle flag, and Abrams, then a freshman at  Atlanta's Spelman College, was one of about a dozen demonstrators involved, according to contemporaneous newspaper accounts and several social media posts that surfaced the issue late Monday.
An article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows Abrams torching the flag in a photograph. A 20-year-old senior at the school told the paper that the protest was designed to "send Georgia's racist past up in flames," and "fight fire with fire. ... Burn, baby, burn!"  No arrests reportedly occurred at the protest.
Abrams is set to face off in a debate Tuesday against her Republican opponent, two-term Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who had called her an "extreme" candidate before Monday's dramatic revelation.

Graphic rendering of the Georgia state flag from 1956 to 2001, including the Confederate battle flag markings. (Public domain image)

The two are neck-and-neck according to most polls; Abrams is hoping to become the first female black governor in the country's history.
“During Stacey Abrams’ college years, Georgia was at a crossroads, struggling with how to overcome racially divisive issues, including symbols of the Confederacy, the sharpest of which was the inclusion of the Confederate emblem in the Georgia state flag,” read a statement from Abrams' campaign, first obtained by The New York Times. “This conversation was sweeping across Georgia as numerous organizations, prominent leaders, and students engaged in the ultimately successful effort to change the flag.”
The statement continued by highlighting Abrams' long career in local politics.
AFTER CONFEDERATE STATUTE CONTROVERSIES, STATES MOVE TO TEAR DOWN MONUMENTS DEEMED OFFENSIVE TO NATIVE AMERICANS
"Abrams’ time in public service as deputy city attorney and as a state legislative leader have all been focused on bringing people together to solve problems," her campaign said.
Last year, Abrams, 44, called for the removal of a Confederate carving in Stone Mountain, saying it was a symbol of white supremacy. Kemp defended the carving for its historical value.
It was not immediately clear what effect Monday's sudden revelation would have on the gubernatorial race. A recent poll from the AJC/Channel 2 puts Abrams and Kemp within two points of each other, reinforcing many political analysts’ prediction of the Peach State turning purple.
The last Democratic governor was Roy Barnes, elected in 1998 -- and, as The Times reported, his support for changes to the Confederate symbols on the state flag may have cost him his job.
The state adopted a new flag without the Confederate battle flag symbols in 2003.
Robert Howard, a political science professor at Georgia State University, told Fox News it’s not a matter of if but when Georgia sees a blue wave, considering its dramatic demographic changes.
The metro Atlanta area’s nonwhite population nearly doubled from 1970 to 2015, according to a Georgia State University study.
“If it’s not quite a bellwether state, it is moving towards that column,” Howard added, noting the stronghold the Democratic Party has on minority voters across the country.

Explosive device found at George Soros’ home: report

An explosive device was found at the Westchester, New York home of Billionaire George Soros on Monday. (AP)

An explosive device was found on Monday at the Westchester, N.Y., home of billionaire George Soros.
The Wall Street Journal, citing local law enforcement, reported that police received a phone call from the residence about a suspicious package.
An employee that works at the home found the package and opened it, revealing what appeared to be an explosive device, according to a press release from the Bedford Police Department. The employee then placed the package in a wooded area until authorities arrived.
The department told Fox News that a suspicious package was found in a mailbox. Police referred Fox News to the F.B.I's New York office, which did not confirm the report.
Soros was not home at the time of the incident, according to the New York Times.
The bomb squad deactivated the device, and authorities have said there is no further threat to the area, according to the Journal.
The investigation has been turned over to the Joint Terrorism Task Force Division of the FBI.
The wealthy liberal donor started his philanthropic efforts in 1979, but his contributions have not always been welcomed.
Campaigns against Soros emerged in Romania, where the billionaire was accused of financing "evil" as well as in Macedonia, Serbia and Slovakia – and have escalated to some extent since President Donald Trump took office.
Soros, who made his fortune in hedge funds, has donated heavily to liberal causes and is vilified on the right.
He is also the subject of many unfounded conspiracy theories. Recently, conservative critics have, without evidence, accused him of secretly financing a caravan of Central American migrants to make their way north toward Mexico and the U.S.
Others have falsely accused him of being a Nazi collaborator during World War II, when he was a child in Hungary.
Activists frequently post the addresses of homes he owns in Westchester County, north of New York City, on social media sometimes accompanied by ill wishes
The 88-year-old has focused his efforts as of late on the midterm elections in the U.S., and has funneled upwards of $15 million to Democrats as they push to regain control of Congress.
Soros told the Times in July that for every Trump supporter "there is more than one Trump enemy who will be more intent, more determined."
In October, Soros was linked to a non-profit group called the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD), which rose to prominence for organizing civil disobedience actions and confronting several Republican lawmakers during the contentious hearings for then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Soros’ organization has donated to the CPD over the years, giving $1.5 million to the non-profit in 2016 and 2017 through his Open Society Foundations, the records show. He also donated in the past two years another $1.2 million to the nonprofit’s sister organization Center for Popular Democracy Action.

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DeSantis wins tense Florida gubernatorial debate against Gillum, Trump claims

President Trump late Sunday took to Twitter to congratulate Ron DeSantis, the GOP candidate for Florida governor, for a "great debate victory" against his Democratic challenger Andrew Gillum.
Gillum likely cares little about Trump's analysis and spent most of the debate working to connect DeSantis with the president. At one point he called DeSantis Trump’s acolyte.
DeSantis said the state’s governor’s relationship with the president – whether he or she agrees with the office or not—is important for the state.
"You need to be able to work with the president," DeSantis said. "Andrew can't do that. He wants to impeach Trump, he's always saying bad things about him ... I think I will be better positioned to advance Florida’s priorities because I have a productive relationship with the administration."
CNN’s Jake Tapper, the debate’s moderator, asked DeSantis about his now-famous "monkey this up" comment and DeSantis used his time serving as a Navy officer in Iraq to talk about his feelings on race.
"When we're downrange in Iraq, it didn't matter your race," he said. "We all wore the same uniform, we all had that American flag patch on our arm and that was end of story," he said. "I'll be a governor for all Floridians."
Gillum implied that DeSantis has aligned himself with racists through social media and speeches he's made.
"The monkey up comment said it all and he has only continued in the course of his campaign to draw all the attention he can to the color of my skin," Gillum said. "And the truth is, you know what? I'm black. I've been black I'll my life and as far as I know, I'll die black."
Trump tweeted that Tallahassee – the city where Gillum serves as mayor – is one of the "worst run, and most corrupt" cities in the state. He said "Gillum will make Florida the next Venezuela."

Warren took DNA test to rebuild ‘trust in government’

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., on Sunday said that she took the DNA test that showed a relative six to 10 generations ago was Native American in an effort to rebuild "trust in the government" through transparency.
Warren said the comment during a tense debate with her Republican challenger for Senate in Massachusetts, state Rep. Geoff Diehl. Warren, 69, is running for her second six-year term in the Senate and is a potential 2020 candidate for president.
She said that trust in the government is at an all-time low and changed her mind about the test after saying no to being tested in March.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1052387851088867330
Warren shared the results last week with The Boston Globe. The results reveal “strong evidence” that Warren—who is called “Pocahontas” by President Trump -- had a Native American ancestor dating back six to 10 generations.
Warren’s decision to release the results was seen by some as counterproductive and self-serving during a tense mid-term election just days away.
Diehl appeared to try and use some of the backlash to try and chip away at her lead in the state.
"I don't care what percentage she claims to be Native American; I just care that I'm 100 percent for Massachusetts and will be working for the people of this state,” he said.

Ellison forced to fend off assault allegations in tense debate with GOP rival

Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., left, and former state Rep. Representative Doug Wardlow are competing in a close race for Minnesota Attorney General.   (AP)

Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., on Sunday evening squared off against his GOP rival for state attorney general in a debate that largely revolved around allegations of domestic abuse against the representative, KSTP-TV reported.
Ellison, who represents Minnesota's 5th congressional district and is the deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee, vehemently denied allegations leveled by his former girlfriend, Karen Monahan. She claimed that he once dragged her off a bed by her feet while screaming obscenities. He maintained that investigations have cleared him and accused his Republican attackers of remaining silent about allegations against President Trump.
DEMOCRATIC REP. ELLISON TO ASK HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE ABUSE ALLEGATIONS
His Republican opponent, Doug Wardlow, called Ellison a "cheerleader for cop killers." Ellison denied those claims, pointing to his support of police reform groups like Moms Demand Action, a grassroots movement that "seeks to address our nation's culture of gun violence," according to its website.
Wardlow also blasted Ellison for his association with Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader, who has drawn controversy for his repeated anti-Semitic comments. Ellison said he has rejected Farrakhan's incendiary comments but qualified that he thought Farrakhan had some things "to offer" in the 1990s as a Civil Rights leader.
LOUIS FARRAKHAN WON’T BE SUSPENDED BY TWITTER DESPITE ANTI-SEMITIC TWEET
"(Farrakhan) made it absolutely clear in the early 1990s that his views and mine were absolutely incompatible, and I've been saying that ever since," Ellison said.
Wardlow said Ellison's denial of his association with Farrakhan was given "Four Pinocchios" by The Washington Post.
Ellison will face off against Wardlow in the November midterm elections.
Fox News' Frank Miles and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

If Dems win the House after midterm elections, blame ‘red tide’ out to sea, not a ‘blue wave’ crashing in

Four things jump off the page when one conducts a deep examination of this autumn’s midterm House elections:

• The historic norms favor the opposition party of the President by a lot in House races. The President’s party loses an average of 29 House seats in most midterms.
• The sheer number of open seats which House Republicans must defend this fall is off the chart. More than 40 Republican seats are wide open.
• Dismiss out the paradigmatic norms. We operate now in the age of President Trump. Mr. Trump rode an inside straight to the White House two years ago. The rules have changed. Mr. Trump is a special phenomenon in American politics. Most midterm elections are a referendum on the first two years of a new President. Study what happened to President Clinton in 1994 and President Obama in 2010. Voters repudiated both chief executives with historic pickups, flipping control of the House. It’s unknown if supporters of President Trump show up just to cast a ballot for someone not named President Trump. That’s why it’s nearly impossible to determine how this election will go down.
• It’s likely to be close when it comes down to House control. Democrats must marshal a net gain of 23 seats to win the House. It could boil down to the outcome of three to five seats in either direction. Thus, it’s entirely possible we might not know which party has the House until a few days later.

Party insiders and analysts believe 15-18 Republican seats are gone, no matter what happens. Some seats are more “gone” than others. A good example of this is a seat held by former Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa. The redistricted seat heavily favors Democrats by close to 30 points. Similar circumstances prevail in the district held by retiring Rep. Ryan Costello, R-Pa. One can locate other examples in New Jersey where Reps. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J. and Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., are quitting, too.
If Democrats win the House, it will be because of a “red tide” out to sea, not a “blue wave” crashing in. It’s hard for Republicans to defend so many vacant seats. If Democrats win the House, the GOP “open seat” dynamic may emerge as the most important factor in this midterm election.
Democrats have their Achilles Heel in these midterms, too.
It’s conceivable that Democratic candidates could rattle off lots of wins in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, California, Michigan, Illinois and Texas. But those Democratic “flips” could be offset by potential Republican pick-ups elsewhere.
Consider the seat currently held by Rep. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev. A House freshman, Rosen is abandoning that seat to challenge Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev. Rosen narrowly won election to the House two years ago as Republican Danny Tarkanian - son of legendary UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian - held her below 50 percent. Democrats didn’t fare very well in many states in 2016. But Democrats excelled in Nevada. Still, President Trump carried Rosen’s district by a solitary percentage point. Tarkanian initially intended to challenge Heller. But Mr. Trump personally convinced Tarkanian to again run for the House, this time against Democrat Susie Lee. Tarkanian has run for the Senate and House without success over the years. That’s remarkable considering the credibility of his surname in Nevada. As we said earlier, just a handful of seats could determine control of the House. If Tarkanian finally wins and Republicans maintain control of the House by a whisker, experts will laud Mr. Trump’s decision to persuade Tarkanian to again run for the House versus the Senate. It could prove to be the shrewdest move of the entire campaign cycle.
Democrats must defend an open seat along the Iron Range of Minnesota. Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN) is retiring after barely keeping the seat in Democratic hands the past several cycles. Republican Pete Stauber is running against Democrat Joe Radinovich. Hillary Clinton secured a scant 38 percent of the vote in this rural district two years ago.
Then there is New Hampshire’s First Congressional District. This district is the most volatile in the nation. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., switched it to Democratic control in 2006 and held it in 2008. But the seat has gone Republican in every midterm since – with Shea-Porter rallying to return to Washington in each presidential election. President Trump won this district by two percentage points even as Shea-Porter reclaimed the seat in 2016. Shea-Porter is retiring at the end of this term. Republican Eddie Edwards is up against Democrat Chris Pappas this fall.
In short, Democrats may make great gains elsewhere. But Democrats will fail to secure the majority if they lose seats like these.
There’s also another problem for Democrats in Florida.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., is retiring. She’s one of the most moderate Republicans in the House. Hillary Clinton won Ros-Lehtinen’s district by a staggering 19 points. Former Clinton Administration Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala is the Democratic nominee and faces Republican Maria Salazar. Here’s the issue for Democrats: Democratic insiders have long expressed concern about Shalala’s performance in the district. At 77-years-old, a Shalala victory would make her the second-oldest House freshman in history. Democrats have also struggled to earn traction in that district among Latino voters. This is a district which should be a lock for Democrats on paper. However, it’s anything but.
There’s danger for Republicans, too.
GOPers who represent urban and suburban areas could find themselves on the wrong end of an anti-Trump backlash. This is why Reps. Andy Barr, R-Ken., Kevin Yoder, R-Kan, John Culberson, R-Texas, Pete Roskam, R-Ill., Mike Coffman, R-Colo., and French Hill, R-Ark., might struggle. Democratic victories in seats like these could propel Democrats to the majority.
That said, rural Republicans could benefit from a targeted bump after the bruising fight to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The Kavanaugh imbroglio ignited passions on both sides. An anti-Kavanaugh boost may help Democrat Jennifer Wexton defeat Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., in the Washington, DC suburbs. But a pro-Kavanaugh spike could bolster Reps. Bruce Poliquin , R-Maine, and Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., in districts where the President remains popular.
There are several districts which bear watching in this matrix:
Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, is in a race against Democrat Aftab Pureval in southwestern Ohio. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., is running for governor of New Mexico. Vying for Pearce’s seat in southern New Mexico are Democrat Xochitl Torres Small and Republican Yvette Herrell. Also, consider the contest between the aforementioned French Hill against Democrat Clarke Tucker. Note two Washington state races. House Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., is up against Democrat Lisa Brown. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., faces Democrat Carolyn Long.
If Democrats win even one of those races, that’s a signal Democrats will likely win the House.
Democrats don’t have to win all of these races. And there are plenty of pathways for Democrats to earn control of the House without winning any of those seats mentioned above. However, these seats are bellwethers. Turning any of them from red to blue could provide a clue as to which party will be in charge of the House next year.

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