Midwest
Vulnerable Dem senator who touts record 'fighting' lobbyists has long history of hiring them
FIRST ON FOX: One of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents in the U.S. Senate, who has a history of railing against the influence of lobbying in Washington, ranks as one of the most active senators when it comes to lobbyists entering and exiting his office.
Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown ranks in the top-15 all time on Legistorm’s revolving door rankings that tracks congressional staffers who enter offices as lobbyists or leave offices to become lobbyists.
According to Legistorm, 64 individuals have lobbied before or after working for Brown’s office, which ranks him tied for #15 all time.
Brown ranks #7 when it comes to senators who are actively serving in Congress.
OHIO SENATE CANDIDATE RIPS ‘DEPRAVED’ POLITICIANS FOR SPRINGFIELD MIGRANT CRISIS: CITIZENS ‘PAY THE PRICE’
Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio and chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, during a hearing in Washington, D.C., on June 22, 2023. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Staffers who previously worked for Brown are now lobbying for companies that include TikTok, Planned Parenthood, Exxon Mobil and Kroger.
Brown, chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, has hired at least 3 former lobbyists to serve as his chief of staff, Fox News Digital previously reported, including James Heimbach, who was once referred to as “hot commodity” in the lobbying world. After leaving Brown’s office, Heimbach continued lobbying including time with Bank of America, one of the country’s largest financial institutions.
Heimbach also lobbied for the Cigna Corporation, a company sued by Ohio for allegedly driving up the costs of prescription drugs by charging high fees for pharmacy benefit management services.
FLASHBACK: VULNERABLE DEM SENATOR ACCUSED VOTERS SUPPORTING TRUMP OF ‘RACISM’: ‘IT WORKS FOR THEM’
US Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, during a rail safety event in Columbus, Ohio, US, on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. (Maddie McGarvey/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Brown has a long history of lamenting the influence of lobbyists in politics as he frames himself as a populist Democrat in Ohio, a state Trump won by 8 points in 2020.
“Something’s wrong with corporate America, and something’s wrong with Congress and administrations listening too much to corporate lobbyists,” he told the Rolling Stone last year.
Brown has also claimed he “took on corporate lobbyists” to get the Inflation Reduction Act passed and often talks about how he has “fought” lobbyists throughout his career.
“Sherrod has always stood up to special interests to level the playing field for Ohioans,” Brown’s website states. “Whether it’s Big Pharma, Big Oil, or Big Banks, Sherrod is fighting back against the Wall Street, profit-at-all-costs business model to make sure hard work pays off for all Ohioans.”
A spokesperson for the Brown campaign defended the senator’s record and claimed his Republican opponent “only looks out for himself and his special interest allies.”
“Ohioans know that Sherrod always fights for them and will stand up to anyone who gets in the way, which is why special interests are spending record amounts to defeat him,” the spokesperson said. “While Bernie Moreno only looks out for himself and his special interest allies, Sherrod is fighting for stronger ethics and transparency rules for lobbyists, supports bipartisan legislation to crack down on foreign actors, and is fighting to lower costs for Ohioans by holding corporations accountable.”
L – Bernie Moreno R – Sen Sherrod Brown (Getty Images)
The campaign pointed to Brown’s support of the Lobbying Disclosure Improvement Act last year, which was bipartisan legislation aimed at cracking down on foreign actors lobbying and increasing disclosure requirements for foreign lobbyists. The Ohio senator also co-sponsored the Honest Leadership and Government Act, which overhauled congressional lobbying and ethics rules for Senators and their staff.
Reagan McCarthy, a spokesperson for Brown’s GOP opponent Bernie Moreno, told Fox News Digital in a statement that, “Sherrod Brown parades around as an average Ohioan, but he is nothing more than a career politician who rewards the Washington swamp.”
“In November, Ohioans will finally retire Sherrod after 50 years in politics and send an outsider to DC who will actually work for Ohio.”
The race between Moreno and Brown is expected to be a close one as Republicans view it as one of their strongest opportunities to take back control of the Senate in November. The Cook Political report ranks the race as a “toss up.”
Read the full article from Here
AOC Endorses El-Sayed in Michigan US Senate Race
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race. He is in a competitive three-person primary.
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a potential presidential or U.S. Senate candidate in 2028 and a popular, recognized leader in progressive politics nationwide, has endorsed former Wayne County and Detroit health director Abdul El-Sayed in the Aug. 4 Democratic primary for the nomination to Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat this year.
Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, announced the endorsement in an interview with the New York Times. On July 2, El-Sayed’s campaign put out a statement from her, saying, “After watching this campaign unfold for well over a year, it has become clear that Abdul El-Sayed is the strongest candidate to keep this seat in November.”
“He is building a winning coalition by putting forward an agenda that speaks directly to working people,” she said. “He is not afraid to take on the greed making life unaffordable across Michigan because he’s never taken a dime in corporate donations. When he gets to Washington, he will work to get big money out of politics and to guarantee healthcare as a human right to all Americans. I am proud to endorse Abdul El-Sayed to be Michigan’s next senator.”
It adds to an already impressive list of endorsements that includes the UAW and Detroit’s Black Slate.
El-Sayed, who was born in Michigan, trained as a medical doctor and worked in public health, is a strong supporter of government-provided healthcare, abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and an arms embargo on Israel; polling averages show him narrowly leading the Aug. 4 primary over U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak and the frontrunner to face Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake for the seat in the fall.
Stevens, who is seen as a more moderate, mainstream Democrat, has also racked up endorsements, such as those from former U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm; McMorrow, making her first run for federal office, has positioned herself as a more progressive Democrat who is less tied to the party’s establishment than Stevens but more politically experienced than El-Sayed, and has gotten endorsements from U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Chris Murphy of Connecticut and others.
The Free Press typically doesn’t cover individual political endorsements unless they are newsworthy. And in this case, Ocasio-Cortez’ endorsement doesn’t come as a surprise: Like El-Sayed, she is an unapologetic advocate for progressivism in the Democratic Party and she also endorsed him in 2018 as she was running for Congress for the first time and he had mounted an ultimately unsuccessful effort to win the party’s nomination for governor, losing to Gretchen Whitmer, who became governor.
Other progressive stalwarts, including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, have also already endorsed El-Sayed.
But given Ocasio-Cortez’ national profile, she could be a potentially significant factor in bolstering the support El-Sayed has seen in what some progressive backers consider the most important primary of the year and one that could be determinative as to whether left-leaning candidates break through. Her endorsement − and any appearances, if she were to campaign for El-Sayed in Michigan − could also be helpful, given that absentee voting by mail has begun.
Also, unlike past election cycles, in this current one Ocasio-Cortez has been far more circumspect about handing out her endorsement, as she has been talked about as a potential candidate for president in 2028 or a challenger to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York that year. Those endorsements have also seemingly paid off with her preferred candidates winning primaries this year in California, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
Ocasio-Cortez also has seemed more wary of endorsing in races where House colleagues have been challenged. But in endorsing El-Sayed, Ocasio-Cortez does so in a U.S. Senate race where Schumer has spoken publicly of his belief that Stevens, who was elected in the same class as Ocasio-Cortez and flipped a previously Republican district in Michigan, is better positioned to win in November.
Ocasio-Cortez’ endorsement of El-Sayed is her first in a competitive U.S. Senate race this year, as well. Taken together, it is indicative that Ocasio-Cortez expects El-Sayed to win the primary, despite Michigan’s history of electing more moderate Democrats to the U.S. Senate. (No Republican has won a U.S. Senate race in Michigan since Spencer Abraham in 1994 and he served a single term before being defeated.)
“Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez has changed the trajectory of American politics and inspired a generation to believe that government really can work for working people,” El-Sayed said in response to the endorsement. “She has spent her career taking on the powerful on behalf of everyday people and she has shown all of us what courageous, smart, values-driven leadership looks like. I am deeply honored to earn her endorsement.”
The state Republican Party, for one, was unimpressed, with spokesman Greg Manz calling it “the least surprising political news of the week.”
“It takes one unhinged, radical socialist to spot another, and Abdul El-Sayed has made it clear he’d rather push the reckless Green New Scam that would kill Michigan auto manufacturing jobs and support dangerous immigration policies that would allow illegal, criminal invaders into Michigan neighborhoods than protect hardworking Michigan families,” he said.
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on X @tsspangler.
(FOX 9) – Not much will change for Minnesota weather-wise the next couple of days as we’ll have heat, steam and some occasional thunderstorms around.
Thursday’s forecast in Minnesota
The forecast:
There will be plenty of heat across central Minnesota Thursday with highs on either side of 90 in most cases.
Temperatures will be a little cooler to the south and south-east with isolated storm chances that will take us through Thursday afternoon and Thursday night, and a better opportunity for some widespread thunderstorms rolling out of the Dakotas into western and central Minnesota overnight.
Storm chances overnight Thursday
What we know:
Severe weather outlook for Minnesota on Thursday, July 2, 2026.
Clusters of storms will be found across parts of the Upper Midwest on Thursday. The main severe threat for the Twin Cities metro will be late Thursday evening and overnight.
There are several zones of storms across the region on Thursday.
One of those will be in northern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota with isolated to widely scattered storms possible throughout the day as a frontal boundary remains rooted in the area.
The overall strength of these storms will be conditional on how much of a break can occur between rounds of storms, allowing the atmosphere to “recharge”. The best chances for some isolated severe storms will still be late afternoon and the early evening.
The second batch to watch will be late Thursday evening and overnight. Storms are likely to develop in the Dakotas Thursday afternoon and roll into western Minnesota Thursday evening. These are the storms that could affect a lot of the area, including the metro. If these storms can form into a strong enough line, widespread straight-line winds will be possible.
If it’s more clustered, then isolated gusty winds and large hail will be the main threats.
Extended Minnesota forecast
What’s next:
Thunderstorm chances will linger overnight into the first part of Friday. They will kick out on Friday afternoon and then may do it all over again late Friday night into the first part of Saturday.
On Friday, there will be highs in the middle 80s, give or take, across the state, going for a high of 86 in the Twin Cities metro. Now there is an overnight thunderstorm chance from Friday night into early Saturday.
The rest of your Fourth of July will be quiet with maybe an isolated stray storm possible Saturday night, and then a little less humid after that. Next week, expect highs to remain in the mid to upper 80s.
The Source: This forecast uses information from FOX 9 meteorologists.
Missouri
Missouri Partners With Trump Administration To Speed Nuclear, Infrastructure Projects – Missourinet
Missouri is taking another step toward expanding nuclear energy and other major infrastructure projects through a new partnership with the federal government.
Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday with the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council at Ameren Missouri’s Callaway Energy Center near Steedman. The agreement is designed to better coordinate state and federal reviews, reduce permitting delays and increase transparency for major projects.
Kehoe said the partnership supports Missouri’s efforts to move quickly on future energy development, particularly nuclear energy.
“Missouri is proud to join four other states in signing the MOU, and we appreciate the Trump administration for helping us out to get to this goal, which, if you’ve been around me at all, you understand we don’t work at bureaucratic speed. We like business speed,” Kehoe said.
Under the agreement, Missouri will work with the Permitting Council to identify priority infrastructure projects and align state and federal review timelines. Federal officials say the partnership will help streamline project approvals while avoiding duplication between agencies.
The agreement comes as Missouri leaders continue exploring the future of nuclear energy. In May, Kehoe created a nuclear energy task force to examine how nuclear power can support the state’s long-term energy reliability and economic growth.
Missouri Department of Natural Resources Director Kurt Schaefer said the state is well-positioned to take advantage of the opportunity.
“We’re right at this culmination of having the right people in the state of Missouri and having the right people in Washington, D.C. to really try and bring not only Missouri, but the country really up to speed on everything from energy development, particularly nuclear, to critical mineral development that really have been kind of languishing for a lot of years,” Schaefer said.
Schaefer said the agreement could help remove delays that have slowed major projects in the past.
“With the Department of Natural Resources, the speed of business gets T-boned by the speed of the federal government. So, this couldn’t have come at a better time to get these reports out of how we can advance both nuclear energy and critical minerals and then work with the federal government to make sure that we don’t have any bureaucratic slowdowns on that end,” he said.
The Trump administration is using the agreement process to work directly with states on critical infrastructure projects. Missouri is the fifth state to sign an agreement with the Permitting Council, joining Alaska, Idaho, Tennessee and Utah.
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