Midwest
Ohio special election result could signal Democrat edge with key voter group: election expert
Tuesday’s special election in Ohio to fill a vacant U.S. House seat showed off a Democratic advantage in high-engagement voters, with the district swinging roughly 20 points in Democrats’ favor, compared to previous elections.
While Republican state Sen. Michael Rulli defeated his Democratic opponent Michael Kripchak by just under 10 points in the special election for Ohio’s 6th Congressional District, it was a disappointing margin in a district that had been won by outgoing Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio., by more than 30 points just two years ago.
“It looks like state Sen. Michael Rulli (R) is on track for a significant underperformance in tonight’s #OH06 special election,” Cook Political Report senior editor Dave Wasserman said on X as the results rolled in, noting that former President Trump had carried the same district by 29 points in 2020.
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President Biden and former President Trump (Getty Images)
The result could be seen as a confusing one for many political observers, with Ohio as a state trending more towards Republicans in recent elections, and the 6th Congressional District having been a safe haven for the GOP for over a decade.
But the result highlights a growing problem for Republicans nationally ahead of this year’s general election, Wasserman notes, pointing out that Democrats have a growing enthusiasm edge as November approaches.
“Turnout in #OH06 looks abysmal, and as we’ve seen in tons of specials/polls, Dems have a growing advantage w/ the highest-engagement voters,” Wasserman said on X.
Ohio state Sen. Michael Rulli (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Wasserman’s comments come on the heels of Cook Political Report’s “swing state polling project” conducted last month, which looked into the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and divided voters into three groups.
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The first group, whom the report called “high-engagement” voters, features those who “voted in all four of the past four federal elections or voted in the 2022 midterms if they registered after 2020.” The middle tier features voters whom the report called “low/mid-engagement” voters, or those who “skipped at least one of the past four federal elections.” The last group contained new registrants since 2020, which can include those that moved between states.
The report found a growing “participation gap” in presidential preferences, with President Biden holding a four point edge among “high engagement” voters, or those most likely to vote on election day. Trump, meanwhile, held a 10 point lead among “low-mid engagement” voters and newly registered voters.
Such a gap could play a role in tightly contested swing states, with “high-engagement voters” representing the majority of the electorate.
President Biden speaks at a campaign event at Pullman Yards on March 9, 2024, in Atlanta. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)
Ohio, which has traditionally been a swing state but was won comfortably by Trump in the last two elections, looks once again to be trending toward Trump in November. According to the latest Real Clear Politics Polling Average, the former president holds a 10-point lead on Biden in the state.
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GRAND FORKS, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — The University of North Dakota is looking to expand its ability to pull minerals needed for electronics by building a refining facility at a coal mine.
University officials are seeking a $50 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to build a facility at the Falkirk coal mine near Underwood, north of Bismarck.
The project has a total estimated cost of about $100 million, Dan Laudal, executive director and research professor with the UND College of Engineering and Mines said Tuesday during a tour of its pilot extraction facility in Grand Forks.
The tour provided UND the opportunity to show off its work to Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey and Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.
Cramer, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the United States needs to develop domestic sources of the critical minerals needed for electronics and the development of artificial intelligence to compete with China.
Duffey said maintaining a technological advantage is key to national security and the department has a need for high-value critical minerals.
“I’ve got a team of folks that know this industry like the back of their hand, know what’s emerging in terms of capability,” Duffey said. “I’m going to make sure that I go back and tell them what I saw here, and that we’ve got awareness of North Dakota, what North Dakota can offer for the department and the nation.”
UND is operating its rare earth pilot plant in what was a coal-fired power plant that served the city of Grand Forks.
Laudal said it brings in about 10 tons of lignite coal per day from western North Dakota. Critical and rare earth minerals are often found bound to coal.
“Ten tons a day of coal on the back end, we maybe get a few kilograms per week of concentrated product,” Laudal said.
That product is a mix of 17 different critical minerals that could be sold to be further separated into individual minerals and then used in electronics.
Laudal said the pilot plant is about 2% the size of a full-scale commercial operation. The proposed commercial demonstration site at the Falkirk mine would be about 10% the size of a full-scale facility.
The Department of Energy grant would help secure other investment, which likely would include state support.
David Straley of North American Coal was on the tour and said the state’s coal industry is on board.
“Lignite is one of the best possible resources for this type of project,” he said.
Using North Dakota’s existing coal mines cuts the cost of developing critical minerals.
He said the coal that remains after removing critical minerals makes an even better fuel.
If UND obtains the grant, Laudal said it may take 18 to 24 months for design and construction and it could be operating and making money by 2029.
Laudal estimated it would take 20 to 30 workers to operate the facility.
In addition to being successful commercially, he said a goal would be to create a model that could be replicated elsewhere.
Cramer and Duffey will visit Minot on Wednesday. Grand Forks and Minot are both home to Air Force bases.
But Cramer said the critical minerals plant tour was the most important stop of the trip.
“The adversary has a supply chain,” Cramer said of China’s critical mineral development. “At this point, we are in a hurry as a nation, rightfully so, to bring more, more rare earth elements, and everything that’s connected to that, domestically.”
Hear a bison bull roar as rut season begins in Iowa
Male bison bellow to show strength and fend off rivals during their mating season, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
A 70-year-old Canadian woman died after being struck by a bison May 18 while hiking with her husband in South Dakota’s Custer State Park, after another park visitor was injured by a bison earlier this month.
The couple were on the Grace Coolidge Trail and found themselves behind a group of about five bull bison, according to the Custer County Sheriff’s Office. The couple paused about 500 yards from the animals and waited for them to continue up the trail and out of sight. The couple then continued hiking, came around a corner and encountered the bulls at a distance of 50 yards.
The couple stopped again, and then continued trailing the bison as the animals moved away. A bull eventually broke from the group, charged the woman, hooked her and tossed her into the air.
The woman died from her injuries.
Custer State Park is managed by the Department of Game, Fish and Parks. Spokesperson Nick Harrington said staff moved the bison from the area and are monitoring the animal’s behavior “to ensure public safety and prevent future incidents.” He said dry conditions have caused bison to spread throughout the park in search of grass, increasing the chance that visitors may encounter them on trails.
Harrington said park visitors should keep their distance from wildlife, make noise while hiking, use caution around corners and ridges, and keep pets on leashes.
“It’s important to remember that bison are wild animals and need to be treated as such,” Harrington said in a written statement. “Visitors are reminded to keep their distance from all wild animals and safely enjoy both the trails and wildlife within the park.”
On May 1, a 22-year-old hiker encountered a bison while hiking the Lost Trails by Center Lake, Harrington said in response to South Dakota Searchlight questions about prior incidents. The hiker was with a friend and their dog when they rounded a corner.
“The hiker was struck by the buffalo on the back of her legs and was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries,” Harrington said.
Harrington said the department is not aware of any other incidents involving bison within Custer State Park this year, and there had not been a fatal incident involving a bison in the park since 2001.
The 110-square-mile park in the Black Hills is home to a herd of about 1,400 bison, also known as buffalo. Bull bison can stand up to 7 feet tall at the shoulders, weigh 2,000 pounds and run up to 35 mph, according to the department.
South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
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