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Bill Barrow.

President Donald Trump speaks during an event in the Oval Office to mark the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump was once a Republican Party outsider. Now it’s his GOP and the MAGA faithful are in the lead

August 23, 2025

Donald Trump was the Republican Party outsider in 2016. Now the party belongs to him. The shift was on display in Atlanta this week as members of the Republican National Committee made Florida conservative Joe Gruters the latest party chairman. Trump had picked Gruters and called him a “MAGA warrior.” The committee’s roster now includes dozens of other loyalists who embrace Trump’s “Make America Great Again” and “America First” approaches. That’s quite a turn from his presidential campaign in 2016. Republicans say Trump has reshaped their party and become much more directly engaged in making sure party leadership reflects his views and interests.

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This combination of photos shows Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear in Frankfort, Ky., Jan. 8, 2025, from left, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper in Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 12, 2024, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore in Annapolis, Md., May 15, 2025, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker in Washington, June 12, 2025, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in Washington, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo)

Democratic governors may offer a path forward for a party out of power in Washington

August 4, 2025

Democrats are out of power in Washington but hold 23 governors’ seats, including in five of the seven presidential battlegrounds Donald Trump swept last year. Some Democratic activists see that slate as the party’s best counter to the Republican president and evidence the party is not in as much disarray at it might sometimes seem. U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill is leaving the House minority to run for New Jersey governor. Sherill says the statewide job matters because governors have to get things done to improve people’s lives. Sitting Democratic governors have won minimum wage increases, expanded Medicaid insurance coverage and shored up abortion rights. The question is whether Democrats can scale those victories to federal elections.

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U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., speaks to supporters about plans to run for the governor of Alabama in 2026, Tuesday May 27, 2025 at Byron's Smokehouse in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/ John David Mercer)

Hall of Famers. A Heisman winner. An MMA fighter. Tuberville is not the only sports politician

May 28, 2025

Tommy Tuberville is a U.S. senator running for Alabama governor. His new campaign paraphernalia recognize his old job: coach. The former football coach at Auburn University leaned into that branding after announcing his bid for office Tuesday. It’s a deliberate tactic that demonstrates how figures like Tuberville transition from athletics to politics. Others have done it successfully, from Gerald Ford to Bill Bradley. Though there are no sure bets, as Herschel Walker’s bid for Senate showed. And as women’s professional sports grow in popularity, one expert says more women could use the platform to seek public office.

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Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman Colmon Elridge addresses a "Rural Listening Tour" gathering in Paintsville, Ky., Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Bill Barrow)

The Democrats’ path back to power might start in places like this Appalachian town

May 24, 2025

Kentucky Democrats are trying to address the party’s steep deficits in overwhelmingly white, conservative pockets of rural America. A recent “Rural Listening Tour” stop by the state party leaders in a small Appalachian town reflected that challenge. It also showed they can have a presence everywhere. A generation ago, Democrat Bill Clinton won Kentucky twice, including pluralities in Johnson County, where Donald Trump won big in 2024. The state party chair, Colmon Elridge, says he’s committed to showing up in small-town Kentucky, and he points to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear as a model for Democrats to follow nationally in connecting with rural voters.

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