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Cruz slams outgoing McConnell as 'one-man dictator' after leader-aligned Super PAC abandoned him in tight race

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Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who is defending his seat in the upper chamber, slammed outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as a “one-man dictator” on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”

“He’s basically behaved as a one-man dictator. I don’t think we want a leader who does that,” Cruz said of McConnell, the longest-serving GOP leader in Congress. 

“I think when we win in November, and I believe we’re going to see a really good election, I think Trump’s going to win. I think we’re going to win a Republican Senate and Republican House. When that happens, we’ve got enormous work to do when that happens.”

TED CRUZ KNOCKS MCCONNELL-ALIGNED SUPER PAC FOR ‘ZERO SUPPORT’ IN COMPETITIVE RACE

McConnell, Cruz photo split

Sen. Mitch McConnell is a “one-man dictator” of the Senate Republican conference, charges Sen. Ted Cruz. (Getty Images)

Cruz’s comments come after he blasted the Senate Leadership Fund — an independent Super PAC aimed at securing a Republican majority in the Senate — for donating “not one penny” to Cruz’s re-election campaign against Democrat Rep. Colin Allred. 

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“I want to see a majority leader who changes how the Senate operates, who democratizes it more,” Cruz said. 

“We are getting absolutely zero support from the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF),” the Republican said previously. 

HARRIS SLAMS ‘OFFENSIVE’ TRUMP REMARK ON PROTECTING WOMEN FROM MIGRANT CRIME

Allred, Cruz photo split

A pro-Cruz super PAC is spending $3 million to hit Colin Allred, left, on his position on boys in girls sports.

Despite the legitimate challenge posed by Allred, Cruz is favored to win the contest. 

The SLF has notably spent most of its resources in states with key Republican Senate pick-up opportunities, such as Pennsylvania, Montana, Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan. 

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Cruz has been critical of McConnell’s leadership and called for him to step down earlier this year, as he and a group of Republicans aired their grievances over the failed bipartisan border bill that McConnell was in favor of at the time.

HOW GOP, DEM SENATORS ARE USING 2024 CAMPAIGN TRAIL TO LOBBY FOR CONFERENCE INFLUENCE

Sen. Mitch McConnell closeup shot

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell concludes a news conference in the U.S. Capitol after the Senate luncheons on Sept. 24, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

In a recent book on McConnell, titled “The Price of Power,” Michael Tackett, the deputy Washington bureau chief of The Associated Press, detailed how the leader allowed conference members to publicly go against him, to an extent, if it was helpful to them electorally.

Cruz said he has also informed the three Republican candidates vying for the position of his desire for a “full and open amendment process” regarding extensive budget packages that are often thousands of pages long.

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Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

“That would fundamentally change how the Senate operates,” Cruz said.

Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson contributed to this report. 

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Los Angeles, Ca

Massive blaze leaves homes in San Bernardino Co. Mountains in ruins

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Massive blaze leaves homes in San Bernardino Co. Mountains in ruins

A massive blaze engulfed two homes in the Crestline area of the San Bernardino County Mountains Tuesday night leaving both in ruins.

Firefighters responded to calls of a house fire on Chillon Drive southeast of Lake Gregory around 9:30 p.m.

Videos showed arriving firefighters found one house fully involved in fire with flames already spreading to a second home.

  • Fire destroys homes in Crestline

Downed power lines sparked and explosions from propane tanks were heard as firefighters attempted to battle the tall flames.

It took crews nearly two hours to extinguish the burning homes and surrounding vegetation that caught fire, according to freelance media firm OnScene.TV.

One person was in unknown condition after being treated for smoke inhalation, OnScene.TV reported.

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The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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Southwest

Behind-the-scenes battles: Legal challenges that could impact the vote before Election Day begins

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Behind-the-scenes battles: Legal challenges that could impact the vote before Election Day begins

Battleground states have already seen their share of fights before Election Day as legal challenges centered on voting issues, and while some have already been decided, others remain up in the air just hours before polls open Tuesday morning.

From issues including mail-in ballots, drop boxes and concerns about ineligible voters, here are some of the high-profile swing state cases and where they currently stand.

Arizona

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes acknowledged in September that 218,000 people in the state were allowed to register to vote without proof of citizenship despite state law that requires it. A state court set a deadline of Monday for production of a full list of affected people so that the recorders of each county can verify the citizenship of voters who had not previously provided proof of citizenship.

The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Monday before receiving any list that approximately 2,000 people had tried to submit voter registration updates and subsequently received notices that they had to prove their citizenship. 

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ARIZONA HIGH COURT RULES SECRETARY OF STATE MUST TURN OVER LIST OF NONCITIZENS ON VOTER ROLL

“These voters were contacted individually to let them know their registration was incomplete. However, after further consideration, the decision was made to fully restore those voters from the not-registered status, only if they were previously an existing, registered voter,” the statement said. 

Georgia

Georgia has seen multiple lawsuits involving mail-in ballots. In Cobb County, the ACLU sued, claiming that at least 3,000 voters did not receive their ballots on time. A lower court had ordered new ballots to be sent overnight to the affected voters, saying that their votes would be counted as long as they are received by Nov. 8 at 5 p.m., but the Georgia Supreme Court stayed that ruling on Monday, so these voters now have to make sure their ballots get to the county elections office by 7pm on Election Day or vote in person.

Also in Cobb County, as well as in Fulton, Dekalb and Gwinnett Counties, the Republican National Committee sued, claiming that election offices improperly opened over the weekend to allow voters to drop off their mail-in ballots in person. The RNC cited state law that says drop boxes should be closed after the end of the early voting period, which was Friday. A state court said the county elections offices had the discretion to open for additional hours.

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Another Georgia case involved Fulton County’s offices being open over the weekend for dropping off mail-in ballots. At first, poll observers were barred from entering, with Fulton County elections director Nadine Williams stating that they were not allowed because it was a county office and not a polling site. Just hours later, it was announced that observers would be permitted after all.

REPUBLICANS SCORE VICTORY IN GEORGIA FIGHT OVER ELECTION OBSERVERS, RNC CHAIRMAN SAYS

Nevada

A lawsuit from the Trump campaign, RNC and Nevada Republican Party opposing the potential counting of mail-in ballots that the state receives after Election Day that do not bear a postmark. The state Supreme Court ruled that such ballots can still be counted up to three days after Election Day. There is a similar case in federal court where challengers also lost but are appealing to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The same issue was also brought before the Fifth Circuit after a case was brought in Mississippi, and while the court said such ballots cannot be counted after Election Day, the ruling does not apply to this year’s election.

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North Carolina

The RNC also has a lawsuit in North Carolina, involving 225,000 people it alleges are improperly registered because they had used an old form that did not ask for their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. The RNC claims that this violates the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

“Because of these errors, the North Carolina voter rolls, which both HAVA and state law mandates that Defendants regularly maintain, are potentially replete with ineligible voters – including possible non-citizens – all of whom are now registered to vote,” the RNC and North Carolina GOP said in a court filing.

Pennsylvania

The Keystone State remains a key battleground, not just on the ballot but in courtrooms, with several lawsuits having been filed over a variety of voting issues, many involving mail-in ballots.

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Republicans scored a win when they appealed a court ruling that said mail-in ballots without a required handwritten date could still be counted. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overruled, saying that handwritten dates must be on the ballots.

The GOP was not so fortunate in a separate case in which it sought an emergency appeal from the U.S. Supreme Court after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that provisional ballots should be counted if voters’ mail-in ballots were disqualified for technical errors, such as not being in mandatory secrecy envelopes. Republicans cited a state law that they argued prohibited voters from casting provisional ballots if they had already submitted mail-in ballots on time.

The U.S. Supreme Court turned away the RNC’s appeal, with Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas issuing a statement that made clear that because the case only involved two votes in a small county, it would not have impacted the results of the election either way.

Both parties won legal challenges when voters in multiple counties did not receive mail-in ballots on time. Democrats in Erie County sued when as many as 20,000 voters did not receive their ballots from a third-party vendor on time. A judge ruled that the Erie County Board of Elections had to remain open last Friday and Saturday so voters could fill out ballots.

In Bucks County, Republicans sued over voters waiting in line for mail-in ballots being turned away at 5 p.m., even though they had been there waiting. A judge swiftly ruled that voters should get an additional three days to apply for a mail-in ballot.

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Another Pennsylvania case involves six Republican members of Congress who sued Pennsylvania’s State Department with allegations that overseas voters’ ballots were vulnerable to fraud because those voters were not made to adhere to the same identification requirement as absentee ballot voters in the U.S. The GOP lawmakers lost when a judge dismissed their case based on standing, timeliness, not presenting a viable cause of action and failing to join indispensable parties.

One situation that remains ongoing involves a potential voter fraud operation that is under investigation. Officials have said that several counties have seen large batches of voter registration forms and mail-in ballot applications that were suspicious. In Monroe County, District Attorney Mike Mancuso said that some of the forms detected in his county were submitted by “Field and Media Corps,” an apparent subsidiary of Fieldcorp, an Arizona-based organization working in Lancaster County.

DISCOVERY OF ‘FRAUDULENT’ VOTER APPLICATIONS PROMPTS PA PROBE OF ARIZONA COMPANY’S POTENTIAL INVOLVEMENT

This was after officials in Lancaster County reported receiving 2,500 forms marked as suspicious for having false names, duplicative handwriting or unverifiable or incorrect identifying information.

The applications reportedly were not limited to a single party and were collected in various spots across the county.

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One more case in Pennsylvania involves Elon Musk and his contest to award $1 million each day to an individual who registers to vote and signs a pledge to support the First and Second amendments. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner sued Musk and his PAC, claiming that the contest is an illegal lottery, and the Justice Department warned the Tesla CEO that there could be federal law issues because it is illegal to pay people to vote.

SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk speaks during an America PAC town hall on Oct. 26, 2024 in Lancaster, Pa. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Musk has countered that he is not requiring anyone to vote in order to win the prize, only to register and sign the petition. He attempted to have the case moved to federal court but was unsuccessful. A hearing in the case took place on Monday, and a judge ruled that Musk could continue his contest through Election Day.

Wisconsin

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On Monday, the RNC announced that it is suing the Milwaukee Elections Commission over a city plan that was announced over the weekend, which says some precincts will limit poll watchers on Election Day to just one Democrat and one Republican, with outside organizations being barred.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub. 

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Los Angeles, Ca

Police searching for inmate who walked away from Southern California jail facility

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Police searching for inmate who walked away from Southern California jail facility

Officials with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, as well as local law enforcement, are searching for a 22-year-old inmate who walked away from a community reentry program facility in Los Angeles Tuesday.  

Authorities said an emergency prisoner count called at around 2:20 p.m. Tuesday confirmed that Samaki M. Tywman was missing after officials were alerted that he had tampered with his ankle monitor.  

The 22-year-old is described 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing approximately 179 pounds. He was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, black sweatpants and black tennis shoes, a CDCR news release detailed.  

Samaki M. Tywman, 22. (CDCR)

The release also stated that Tywman was serving a five-year sentence for “discharging a firearm in an inhabited dwelling/vehicle/aircraft and second-degree robbery.”  

He entered CDCR’s Male Community Reentry Program, which allows eligible offenders in state prison to serve the end of their sentences at the reentry center where they are provided with programs to help transition back into the community, on Aug. 6, 2024.  

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“Since 1977, 99 percent of the incarcerated people who have escaped or walked away from an adult male institution camp, in-state contract bed or Community Rehabilitative Program Placement have been apprehended,” officials added.  

Anyone who sees Tywman or has knowledge of his whereabouts is urged to call 911 or contact Special Agent Abraham Villasenor at 760-936-1851.  

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