www.theguardian.com
Liberal Chris Taylor wins election to Wisconsin supreme court
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
Democratic-backed candidate Chris Taylor won election to the Wisconsin supreme court on Tuesday, giving liberals a 5-2 edge on the court.
She beat conservative Maria Lazar, consolidating the liberal hold on the high court ahead of the next presidential election, when the swing state is sure to see challenges to election results.
“Once again, Wisconsin showed the entire nation that we believe that the people should be at the center of government and the priority of our judiciary, not the billionaires, not the most powerful and privileged, but the people,” Taylor said in her victory speech.
Taylor’s win gives liberals a 5-2 bloc on the bench. Taylor is seen as friendly to voting rights, while Lazar’s views aligned more closely with Republicans, pushing for policies that could hinder voting access and impact. Lazar had continued to defend maps in Wisconsin that were gerrymandered to lead to more Republican victories, which have since been overturned.
Liberals are now guaranteed to hold a majority on the court until at least 2030. Wisconsin Republican party chair Brian Schimming, in the wake of Lazar’s double-digit defeat, called for Republicans to “stay united and continue fighting for our conservative values.”
The race is another gauge of Democrats’ durability in this year’s midterms, particularly in a closely watched swing state, though the November ticket and voter turnout will be much different than a court election.
Democratic candidates have recently won upset victories throughout the country in places typically held by Republicans, giving them momentum heading into November. Voters often side against the president in midterm elections.
Read the full story here:
In other developments:
-
Shortly before his 8pm ET deadline for Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz, or face the death of its “whole civilization”, Donald Trump posted on social media that the US had reached a temporary ceasefire agreement with Iran. Details of the agreement are still forthcoming and bombing continues across the region.
-
Iranian officials will meet with the United States for talks beginning Friday. Pakistan, which brokered the ceasefire agreement, will host the negotiations in Islamabad.
-
The Pentagon will hold a press briefing at 8am ET today. Defense secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are expected to attend.
-
Some Democrats criticized the ceasefire deal, saying its terms, if true, would cede major concessions to Iran, including control over the strait of Hormuz. Others, including New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, called for Congress to invoke the 25th amendment to remove Trump from office after he “threatened a genocide against the Iranian people”.
-
Several Republicans cheered the president’s decision, casting it as shrewd and tactical. “This is a strong first step toward holding Iran accountable,” said senator Rick Scott of Florida.
-
Shelly Kittleson, the US journalist who was kidnapped in Baghdad by the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah last week, has been released, said secretary of state Marco Rubio.
-
Repulican Clay Fuller won Georgia’s special election to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene in the House of Representatives. In line with special elections for Congress since the start of Trump’s term, his Democratic rival, Shawn Harris, overperformed.
Key events
President Donald Trump is “impatient” about making progress toward ending the Iran war and has instructed his negotiating team to engage the Iranians in good faith, vice-president JD Vance said on Wednesday.
Speaking at an event in Budapest during his trip to Hungary, Vance said a deal was possible if Iran negotiated sincerely, but cautioned that while some parts of the Iranian system were approaching the talks constructively, others were not. He described the situation as a “fragile truce.“
“The president of the United States has told me, and he’s told the entire negotiating team, secretary of state, the special envoy Steve Witkoff, he said, go and work in good faith to come to an agreement,” Vance said.
“He’s impatient. He’s impatient to make progress. He has told us to negotiate in good faith, and I think if they negotiate in good faith, we will be able to find a deal. But that’s a big if, and ultimately, it’s up to the Iranians how they negotiate. I hope they make the right decision,” Vance said.
George Chidi
Clay Fuller supports the war in Iran. Shawn Harris opposes it. Voters in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s former district in north-west Georgia decided that this distinction was not enough to propel a Democrat into a conservative-leaning House seat on Tuesday night.
Associated Press called the election as results from the rural counties of north-western corner of the state rolled in.
Both men running to replace the former Trump ally turned critic, who resigned from Congress earlier this year, have considerable military credentials. Fuller is an air force reserve lieutenant colonel and military attorney. Harris is a retired brigadier general who has commanded combat troops in Afghanistan, Liberia and elsewhere, with his last active-duty assignment as a military attache in Israel.
On paper, the odds of a Harris win were slim. Georgia’s 14th congressional district voted for Trump by a two-to-one margin in 2024, which is nearly the same margin Harris lost to Greene in 2024. In line with special elections for Congress since the start of Trump’s term, the Democratic candidate overperformed.
Early results suggest Harris has improved on his 2024 margin by double digits. Harris said he will try again in November with a full congressional term on the table.
Mark Saunokonoko
Oil prices plunged by almost 15% and global stock markets have rallied sharply after the US and Iran agreed a two-week conditional ceasefire.
Investors hailed the news that Donald Trump had held off on his threat to bomb Iran into “the stone ages”, with Iran’s foreign minister saying passage through the strait of Hormuz would be allowed for the next two weeks under the management of its military.
Oil promptly tumbled, even though it is not certain that the US will accept the 10-point proposal drawn up by Iran. How the strait will be reopened and managed beyond the two-week grace period is yet to be determined.
Brent crude oil, the international standard, dropped 14.4% to $93.48, and futures for US crude oil sank 14.7% to $96.27 a barrel. The prices remain well above where it was before the start of the war, when Brent traded below $73 a barrel.
President Donald Trump’s ceasefire announcement has divided opinion among US lawmakers, with some hailing it as a positive step and others challenging the Republican president’s fitness to lead.
Trump’s earlier threat to wipe out Iranian civilization prompted some critics to call on his cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment, which provides for a transfer of power if a president is unable to govern, particularly in the event of illness.
Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Trump’s ceasefire announcement “changes nothing.”
“The President has threatened a genocide against the Iranian people, and is continuing to leverage that threat,” she wrote on X.
Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally and foreign policy hawk, said congressional oversight is needed to “kick the tires.”
“At this early stage, I am extremely cautious regarding what is fact vs. fiction or misrepresentation,” Graham wrote on X.
“That’s why a congressional review process like the one the Senate followed to test the Obama Iranian deal is a sound way forward.”
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer earlier called Trump “an extremely sick person” in response to the Republican president’s threat that “a whole civilization will die tonight.”
Liberal Chris Taylor wins election to Wisconsin supreme court
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
Democratic-backed candidate Chris Taylor won election to the Wisconsin supreme court on Tuesday, giving liberals a 5-2 edge on the court.
She beat conservative Maria Lazar, consolidating the liberal hold on the high court ahead of the next presidential election, when the swing state is sure to see challenges to election results.
“Once again, Wisconsin showed the entire nation that we believe that the people should be at the center of government and the priority of our judiciary, not the billionaires, not the most powerful and privileged, but the people,” Taylor said in her victory speech.
Taylor’s win gives liberals a 5-2 bloc on the bench. Taylor is seen as friendly to voting rights, while Lazar’s views aligned more closely with Republicans, pushing for policies that could hinder voting access and impact. Lazar had continued to defend maps in Wisconsin that were gerrymandered to lead to more Republican victories, which have since been overturned.
Liberals are now guaranteed to hold a majority on the court until at least 2030. Wisconsin Republican party chair Brian Schimming, in the wake of Lazar’s double-digit defeat, called for Republicans to “stay united and continue fighting for our conservative values.”
The race is another gauge of Democrats’ durability in this year’s midterms, particularly in a closely watched swing state, though the November ticket and voter turnout will be much different than a court election.
Democratic candidates have recently won upset victories throughout the country in places typically held by Republicans, giving them momentum heading into November. Voters often side against the president in midterm elections.
Read the full story here:
In other developments:
-
Shortly before his 8pm ET deadline for Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz, or face the death of its “whole civilization”, Donald Trump posted on social media that the US had reached a temporary ceasefire agreement with Iran. Details of the agreement are still forthcoming and bombing continues across the region.
-
Iranian officials will meet with the United States for talks beginning Friday. Pakistan, which brokered the ceasefire agreement, will host the negotiations in Islamabad.
-
The Pentagon will hold a press briefing at 8am ET today. Defense secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are expected to attend.
-
Some Democrats criticized the ceasefire deal, saying its terms, if true, would cede major concessions to Iran, including control over the strait of Hormuz. Others, including New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, called for Congress to invoke the 25th amendment to remove Trump from office after he “threatened a genocide against the Iranian people”.
-
Several Republicans cheered the president’s decision, casting it as shrewd and tactical. “This is a strong first step toward holding Iran accountable,” said senator Rick Scott of Florida.
-
Shelly Kittleson, the US journalist who was kidnapped in Baghdad by the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah last week, has been released, said secretary of state Marco Rubio.
-
Repulican Clay Fuller won Georgia’s special election to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene in the House of Representatives. In line with special elections for Congress since the start of Trump’s term, his Democratic rival, Shawn Harris, overperformed.
