Keith Ellison wins Minnesota Attorney General nomination

U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison won the Democratic Farmer Labor Party primary for Minnesota attorney general Tuesday and will face Republican Doug Wardlow in the November election.

Five Democrats were competing to be their party’s pick in the primary, which came days after an allegation of domestic violence emerged against Ellison. He has denied his ex-girlfriend’s claim, and went on to a decisive victory.

“We had a very unexpected event at the end of this campaign that happened,” Ellison told supporters at Nomad World Pub in Minneapolis. “I want to assure you that it is not true and we are going to keep on fighting all the way.”

The Democrats had a short but fiercely contested primary race. Attorney General Lori Swanson announced in June she would run for governor instead of seeking re-election, leaving two months for candidates to distinguish themselves. Ellison was competing with state Rep. Debra Hilstrom, former Ramsey County Attorney Tom Foley, former state Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman and Minneapolis attorney and DFL endorsee Matt Pelikan.

The election of Minnesota’s next chief legal officer landed in the spotlight with Ellison in the race and an increased focus by Democrats on using the office to challenge President Donald Trump.

Ellison has been one of the most outspoken candidates on fighting Trump administration policies. He has represented Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes Minneapolis and some western suburbs, for 12 years and previously served in the Legislature. He is deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee and was the first Muslim member of Congress.

[SOURCE: STAR TRIBUNE]

Jahana Hayes wins Democratic Primary

Jahana Hayes won the Democratic Primary in Connecticut's Fifth Congressional District, the A.P. reported. Ms. Hayes, a “National Teacher of the Year” in 2016, is seeking to become the state’s first black Democrat to serve in Congress.

Ms. Hayes, 46, was thought to be a long-shot in the contest against Mary Glassman, a longtime local Democratic politician in the Western Connecticut region. But she embraced her status as an underdog, melding her life story — growing up in Waterbury, Conn., she went through homelessness, a teen pregnancy and economic hardship — into her campaign.

She also won support from some of the same progressive organizations that supported insurgent progressive Democratic candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who defeated Representative Joseph Crowley in a New York primary. Ms. Hayes will face the Republican Manny Santos.

[SOURCE: NYTIMES]

Democratic takeover could bring first black speaker of the house

Upheaval in the Democratic caucus could pave the way for a historic House leader — and some potential names are already being discussed.

The next speaker of the House could be a black Democrat. And Congress would never be the same.

In 230 years, there’s never been a black speaker, or any black lawmaker seriously in the running for the post. That could change after voters go to the polls in November.

Democrats are their closest to winning back the House in years. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has said she will run for speaker again, but after 16 years at the top, some lawmakers — and a rising number of Democratic candidates — want someone else to take over.

The prospect of a black speaker, which seemed like a long shot just months ago, has started to bubble up more in private conversations in recent weeks, particularly among Democrats in the influential, 48-member Congressional Black Caucus.

After Rep. Joe Crowley of New York, a potential Pelosi successor, went down in a shocking primary defeat in June, the questions about who might replace her have only grown. And that raises the possibility of an African-American Democrat being sworn in as the 55th speaker on Jan. 3.

The members with the likeliest shot, according to more than 20 Democratic lawmakers and aides, include Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, currently the No. 3 House Democrat; Hakeem Jeffries of New York; Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, current chairman of the CBC; Elijah Cummings of Maryland; and Marcia Fudge of Ohio.

Read more: Democratic takeover could bring first black speaker

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh statement on disturbing video of police officer beating man

Baltimore Mayor, Catherine Pugh released the following statement following the disturbing video of a police officer beating an unarmed black man this past weekend because the man refused to show his I.D.

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My statement on the video of the Baltimore Police Officer pic.twitter.com/Wp5GJk80zt

— Mayor Catherine Pugh (@MayorPugh50) August 11, 2018

Watch the sickening video below:

NASA’s Johnson Center Appoints First Black Deputy Director

NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) Director Mark Geyer announced Wednesday the selection of Vanessa Wyche as the next deputy director of Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Wyche will assist Geyer in leading one of NASA’s largest installations, which has nearly 10,000 civil service and contractor employees – including those at White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico – and a broad range of human spaceflight activities.

“Vanessa has a deep background at JSC with significant program experience in almost all of the human spaceflight programs that have been hosted here,” Geyer said. “She is respected at NASA, has built agency-wide relationships throughout her nearly three-decade career and will serve JSC well as we continue to lead human space exploration in Houston.”

Wyche recently served as director of the Exploration Integration and Science Directorate (EISD) and completed a detail as the JSC deputy director in February 2018.

“I am incredibly humbled to take on this role at JSC, and also excited to assist Mark with leading the home of human spaceflight,” Wyche said. “I look forward to working with the talented employees at JSC as we work toward our mission of taking humans farther into the solar system.”

Before joining JSC in 1989, Wyche worked for the Food and Drug Administration in Washington, D.C. She began her career with NASA in the Space Life Sciences Directorate as a project engineer. She has held several key center leadership positions including assistant center director, associate director of EISD and acting director of Human Exploration Development Support.

She also served in the Constellation Program as director of operations and test integration and in the Space Shuttle Program as a flight manager for several space shuttle missions. She was manager of the Mission Integration Office, and she completed a detail in the Office of the NASA Administrator.

A South Carolina native, Wyche is a graduate of Clemson University with both a bachelor of science in materials engineering and a master of science in bioengineering. Wyche is the recipient of two NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals and two NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals. Wyche is the first African-American to hold the JSC deputy director position.

For more information about Wyche, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/about/people/orgs/bios/wyche.html