Politics and views in the United States.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2025 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

You all chose leadership that will focus relentlessly on what matters most.

Lowering costs, keeping our communities safe, and strengthening our economy for every Virginian.

Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger cruised to victory yesterday, one of several Democrats benefiting from voters souring on President Donald Trump.

The moderate former member of Congress and retired intelligence officer will be the first woman to be the state's chief executive.

And in spite of a scandal caused by violent text messages he wrote, former Democratic Virginia delegate Jay Jones has ousted the incumbent state attorney general, Republican Jason Mejiares.

New Jersey's Democratic governor-elect, Representative Mikey Sherrill, survived an often ugly campaign to win soundly in what was expected to be a close race.

A massive turnout, especially among young people, helped New York City Democratic mayoral Zoran Mamdani beat disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Lewa.

The Democratic Socialist Assemblyman will be the first Muslim American to lead the city.

Votes in California will take days to count, but polls look good for Governor Gavin Newsom's effort to redraw the state's congressional districts in response to Republican mid-decade redistricting in Texas and other states.

Trump and members of his movement are pointing to very isolated incidents to claim voting irregularity.

Election machines briefly went down in one New Jersey county and bomb threats in the state were quickly revealed as a hoax.

But Trump and hard-right podcasters are arguing on social media that those are signs of vote rigging.

Senators again failed to agree to fund the government, making the shutdown the longest in US history.

Majority Leader John Thune says Democratic senators' decisions to not support a clean continuing resolution ultimately hurts working people.

Democrats are injuring working people with their shutdown.

Maybe Democrats have no idea what it's like to live paycheck to paycheck like so many Americans, including many government employees.

But let me just tell them, there are a whole lot of working people out there who can't afford to miss a single paycheck. - There are rumors of discussions under the dome on breaking the deadlock, but Democrats say they're frustrated by comments from Trump suggesting he would defy court orders by refusing to fund SNAP until the government reopens.

A federal judge has also barred Trump from requiring proof of citizenship on federal voter registration forms, rebuking his efforts to take power to administer elections from the states.

Conservation groups say an administration plan to roll back protections for public lands could damage some of the country's most sensitive natural areas.

Vera Smith, with Defenders of Wildlife, says there is strong public support for the rule, giving conservation and recreation equal value to mining and grazing. - The repeal of the public lands rule really returns us to an outdated extraction first model that doesn't really address the opportunities challenges of a 21st century.

I'm Zamone Perez for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

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