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> > > Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat viewed as a national leader in voting rights, has received 67 death threats and over 900 threats of online abuse within just three weeks, according to a system used by her office that tracks harassment and threats against election workers. > > > > In 2020, Griswold's office launched a "rapid response" election security unit, a team of election security experts tasked with protecting Colorado's elections from cyber-attacks, foreign interference and disinformation campaigns. A year later, her office set up a tracker to monitor the growing number of threats against election workers. > > > > Griswold told Salon that "if anybody understands" what election workers around the country "are going through, it's me." She continued, "Everything that we have done for my security, we have had to fight tooth and nail for. State and federal governments have largely abandoned election workers. I understand what these county clerks are going through and I'll do anything I possibly can to ease their burden and make sure that they feel safe and supported." > > > > Election workers in many states and counties are leaving their jobs in large numbers due to an increase of harassment and threats, the proliferation of conspiracy theories and heightened workloads, according to a new report released this week by Issue One, democracy-focused nonprofit group. > > > > The group's research focused on 11 states in the American West and found that roughly 40% of counties in those states have had a new chief local election official since the 2020 presidential election. In four states, that number exceeds 50%. > > > > These turnover rates, experts say, pose a distinct threat to American democracy, since election administrators with decades of knowledge and experience are leaving their roles and being replaced by individuals with vastly less experience not long before a pivotal presidential election that is likely to see near-record voter turnout. > > > > "Election workers across the country are dedicated to keeping our democratic processes secure, fair and safe," Michael Beckel, research director at Issue One, told Salon. "When experienced election officials leave their positions, they take with them years of institutional knowledge and expertise. Our leaders have an obligation to protect our nation's election workers and make sure they have what they need to keep our elections strong." > > > > According to Griswold, Republicans allied with Donald Trump's MAGA movement are doing everything they can to "destabilize" elections and convince local election officials to quit, up to and including harassing workers and threatening them with violence. > > > > "There is a coordinated national effort to undermine American elections," Griswold said, pointing to the example of Trump supporters showing up to county clerk's offices in 2021 and threatening them if they didn't provide access to voting equipment. > > > > The turnover rate among local election officials since 2020 is far higher than it was previously, particularly in battleground states where local election officials have faced a heightened level of death threats and harassment, the Issue One report found. > > > > Making matters worse, the report found, new election officials are grappling with a shortage of resources to staff other vital roles essential to ensure that elections run smoothly. > > > > More than 160 chief local election officials have departed from their roles since November 2020 within the 11 Western states tracked by Issue One tracked. Those 11 states includes two perennial battleground states and a mix of Democratic-leaning and Republican-leaning states, where elections are typically managed at the county level by a single official. > > > > As these threats have surged and election officials have left their positions in droves, Griswold said, not enough has been done to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process. > > > > "State and federal governments have abandoned our quest to safeguard democracy, to a large extent," Griswold said. "With that said, people in my office — we are very scrappy and dedicated, and we're going to get the job done." > > > > "State and federal governments have abandoned our quest to safeguard democracy, to a large extent," said Jena Griswold. "That said, people in my office are scrappy and dedicated. We're going to get the job done." > > > > Griswold said she has implemented specific measures to address likely issues ahead of next year's elections. She has expanded her team to offer direct support to Colorado's counties and, within the past year, has contracted with former election officials to increase much greater on-the-ground presence. > > > > She has also spearheaded changes in the Colorado state legislature, such as criminalizing retaliation against election workers and providing a process to shield their personal information and to make "doxxing" — or revealing a person's home address and phone number without their consent — a punishable offense. > > > > Colorado has also enacted a law prohibiting the "open carry" of firearms close to drop boxes, voting centers and areas where ballots are being processed, in an effort to ensure that election workers are not intimidated by armed individuals. Her team has also prepared for hypothetical "disaster scenarios," including such potential instances as a "deepfake" video showing Griswold spreading false information. > > > > "We've overcome a lot of challenges with a great outcome," Griswold said, "including armed men filming people at drop boxes to county clerks that breach their own security trying to prove the Big Lie. "There has been massive disinformation, and we continue to have incredibly well-run elections. I think 2024 will be no different." > > > > The Brennan Center released a poll in April that surveyed local election officials and found that 12% of workers were new to their jobs since the 2020 election, and that 11% said they were likely to leave their jobs before the 2024 election. > > > > Nearly one in three election officials have been harassed, abused or threatened because of their jobs, the survey found, and more than one in five are concerned about being physically assaulted on the job during future elections. Nearly half the respondents expressed concern for the safety of other election officials and workers. > > > > Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. > > > > The Justice Department under Attorney General Merrick Garland has created a task force on election threats, but so far it has been quiet. Just 14 cases have been prosecuted involving threats against election officials and workers, leading to nine convictions, according to an August press release. > > > > For many years, local election officials were relatively anonymous figures, working behind the scenes with little controversy to ensure the integrity of democratic processes. > > > > But the spotlight was turned on many of them unexpectedly during the 2020 presidential election, largely due to a coordinated disinformation campaign led by then-President Donald Trump and his supporters. Most officials say the surge in harassment and threats came as a direct result, prompting numerous officials to retire or resign. > > > > Even in solidly Republican Utah County, "People came out of the woodwork to spout, parrot and share these national election-denying conspiracies." > > > > Josh Daniels is a former county clerk of Utah County, the second-largest county in its namesake state. He says he faced this dilemma personally. He initially joined the county's election team in 2019 as chief deputy after being recruited by a friend who had been elected clerk. > > > > Then the 2020 presidential election happened. > > > > "People came out of the woodwork in our community to spout, parrot and share these sorts of national election-denying conspiracies," Daniels said. "It became quite exhausting," Daniels said. > > > > His office was inundated with phone calls from individuals accusing election officials of being untrustworthy. They were subjected to what he called "Cyber Ninja-style audits," similar to the one conducted in Arizona's Maricopa County. > > > > Daniels was forced to spend many hours in public meetings with "angry" individuals who made baseless allegations drawn from internet conspiracy theories. > > > > Utah County is predominantly white and predominantly Republican. Donald Trump won nearly two-thirds of the vote there in 2020. Nonetheless, Daniels said, the "political dynamic" of the community changed in the wake of that election, thanks to a "loud faction" of the community that spread distrust about how the election had been conducted. > > > > "We didn't get a lot of help from other political leaders in our community," Daniels said. Instead, some "would almost accelerate" the tension, creating "forums for more of these concerns to be shared and create further political chaos." > > > > Daniels decided not to seek re-election in 2022, but he says the conspiracy theories and threats against election workers have continued. > > > > In Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah — the four states with the highest turnover rates among election officials — Issue One's research found that twice as many local election officials had left their positions than had done so in Washington and Idaho. > > > > Among the 161 counties in Western states that have new chief local election officials since November 2020, the report notes a significant decline in the average years of experience held by these officials, going from a previous figure of about eight years to roughly one year. The "brain drain associated with this exodus is real," the report finds, calculating that departing election officials in those counties have taken with them more than 1,800 years of combined experience. > >

> > > MADISON, Wis. — Standing in the marble-lined rotunda of the state capitol earlier this month, the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s incoming justice raised her right hand, swore to carry out her job “faithfully and impartially” and launched a new, liberal era on a powerful court long dominated by conservatives. > > > > The fallout was immediate. > > > > Within days, the new majority stripped duties from the court’s conservative chief justice and fired its administrative director, a conservative former judge who once ran for the court. The abrupt changes prompted the chief justice to accuse her liberal colleagues of engaging in “nothing short of a coup.” Before long, Republican lawmakers threatened to impeach the court’s newest member. > > > > Liberal groups, long accustomed to seeing the court as hostile terrain, quickly maneuvered for potential victories on a string of major issues. They filed lawsuits to try to redraw the state’s legislative districts, which heavily favor Republicans. And the Democratic attorney general sought to speed up a case challenging a 19th-century law that has kept doctors from providing abortions in Wisconsin. > > > > “It’s an absolute seismic shift in Wisconsin policy and politics,” said C.J. Szafir, the chief executive of the conservative, Wisconsin-based Institute for Reforming Government. “We’re about to usher in a very progressive state Supreme Court, the likes that we have not seen in quite some time. And it’s really going to change how everything operates.” > > > > The turnaround on the Wisconsin court is the result of an April election that became the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history, with campaigns and interest groups spending more than $50 million. > > > > At stake in that race, with the retirement of a conservative justice who held a decisive vote on a 4-3 court, was the question of who would make crucial rulings in a swing state that could decide the winner of the 2024 presidential election. Conservatives had controlled the court for 15 years, during which they upheld a voter ID law, approved limits on collective bargaining for public workers, banned absentee ballot drop boxes and shut down a wide-ranging campaign finance investigation into Republicans. > > > > Janet Protasiewicz, a Milwaukee County judge, won by 11 points and flipped control of the court to give liberals a 4-3 majority when she was sworn in on Aug. 1. Protasiewicz, who declined interview requests, spoke openly during her campaign about her support for abortion rights and opposition to what she called “rigged” maps that have given Republicans large majorities in the state legislature. Political strategists said her blunt style helped her win even as court observers fretted that she was making judges look like politicians instead of evenhanded referees. > > > > The tensions surrounding the Wisconsin court reflect the state’s political importance nationally and the increasingly partisan nature of a system in which candidates who vow to be impartial arbiters of the law are chosen by voters in heated political campaigns. Justices are directly elected by voters in 21 states and they must stand for retention elections after being appointed in another 17. > > > > Across the country, deadlocked statehouses and all-or-nothing politics have given state supreme courts more power and often put them in charge of determining election outcomes and abortion policies. The changeover on the Wisconsin Supreme Court comes less than a year after conservatives took over the top court in North Carolina and strengthened their hold on the one in Ohio. In North Carolina, the new majority acted swiftly, handing Republicans victories by reversing decisions the court had made just months earlier on voter ID and redistricting. > > > > Conservatives for decades had the upper hand in supreme court races in key states by fielding judges and prosecutors as candidates, sharpening tough-on-crime messages and securing the support of deep-pocketed groups aligned with Republicans. But in recent years, liberals in Wisconsin have recruited candidates with similar backgrounds and seized on popular political themes. The state Democratic Party, meanwhile, has poured millions of dollars into what are ostensibly nonpartisan races. > > > > The strategy culminated in Protasiewicz’s victory and elicited cheers from liberals across the country. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Protasiewicz would “protect democracy as the state’s newest Supreme Court justice.” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) hailed her victory as a “HUGE night for the progressive movement.” And Vice President Harris said Wisconsin voters had “stood up for abortion rights” by electing Protasiewicz. > > > > Conservative attorneys and groups are strategizing ways to keep issues important to them away from the justices — and calling for amending the state constitution to lock in their past victories. > > > > “I think one of the best ways that conservatives can guard against a progressive state Supreme Court is to take matters into their own hands,” said Szafir, of the Institute for Reforming Government. “We need to be very crystal clear that conservative reforms need to be spelled out in the state constitution to prevent the potentially new activist court from trying to overturn them.” > > > > Liberals have gone on offense. One group on the left filed a lawsuit over voting rules even before Protasiewicz was sworn in and two sets of Democratic voters filed a pair of redistricting cases within days of her taking office. A week later, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) asked a trial judge to quickly rule on the abortion rights lawsuit in a move that could get the case to the high court faster. And liberal attorneys in the coming months and years could file lawsuits over voter ID, school vouchers, union rights and a 2018 law that limited the powers of Kaul and Gov. Tony Evers (D). > > > > The new liberal majority in Wisconsin consists of four women — one who has been on the court for 28 years and three who joined it over the past five years after serving as prosecutors and trial judges. Over the years, the liberals have honed their skills at writing dissents, knowing that they could do little more than point out what they consider the flaws of the majority. The conservative bloc includes one justice who occasionally votes with the liberals, such as when he joined them in a 4-3 opinion to reject Donald Trump’s request to overturn his presidential loss in the state. The other conservatives sided with Trump. > > > > The new court has not yet heard a case together — but the tension between justices has already exploded into public view. In a routine scheduling order in the redistricting cases, conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote a seething dissent that contended Protasiewicz’s campaign comments about “rigged” maps showed the liberals had already made up their minds to “bestow an electoral advantage for Democrat candidates.” > > > > “‘Rigged’ is indeed an apt description — for this case,” she wrote. > > > > Within days of taking over, the liberals established a committee of three justices that will take on many of the duties that had belonged to Chief Justice Annette Ziegler, a conservative. “It’s nothing short of a coup, really,” Ziegler told a conservative radio host. > > > > In an interview with The Washington Post, she said she recognizes the liberal justices have “a ton of power” to implement changes she does not like but argued they had usurped her authority by taking away so many of her responsibilities. She downplayed the possibility of suing her colleagues but didn’t rule it out. > > > > “I think legal action is not good for the court,” she said. “Honestly, I’m sad that it’s even come to the point where that might be discussed.” > > > > For decades, the most senior member of the court served as chief justice, and under that system a liberal chief justice for years presided over a conservative court. In response, Republican lawmakers scheduled a ballot measure to change the state constitution and voters in 2015 approved allowing the justices to decide who would serve as chief justice. Conservatives on the court chose one of their own to serve in that post shortly after voters signed off on changing the rules. > > > > Ziegler has served as chief justice since 2021 and was selected by her peers for a second two-year term this spring, just before the liberals took over. Chief justices in Wisconsin don’t assign who writes decisions but are responsible for overseeing the state’s judicial system and making certain appointments. Ziegler argues the liberals violated the state constitution by taking away much of her power, while the liberals say they were free to act because the state constitution says the chief justice must operate “pursuant to procedures adopted by the supreme court.” > > > > The justices are slated to discuss the changes as a group next month. Justice Rebecca Dallet, a liberal, said that’s the best way to handle their differences. “It is deeply inappropriate for the Chief Justice to continue to refuse to engage with her colleagues, but instead to publicly litigate these issues,” she said in a written statement. > > > > Ziegler also bristled at the liberals’ decision to fire Randy Koschnick, who had served as the director of state courts since 2017. Ziegler called the move a “raw exercise of overreaching power.” > > > > Koschnick — a conservative who made an unsuccessful run for state Supreme Court in 2009 — recently filed ethics complaints against the four liberal justices. In an appearance on a conservative radio show, he called one justice a “Marxist in a black robe,” accused the liberals of “taking a wrecking ball” to constitutional governance and discussed impeaching the liberals. > > > > “Impeachment, I think, fits squarely,” he said. “Here you have officers of the court who’ve taken an oath to uphold the constitution blatantly violate the constitution three times in three days, and in my view that’s grounds for impeachment.” > > > > He later told The Post he was not advocating for impeachment, but state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) soon after said on a conservative radio show that he was consulting a constitutional scholar and would consider impeaching Protasiewicz if she did not step aside from cases she had commented on. Republicans for months have contended Protasiewicz must not participate in the cases on abortion and redistricting because of what she said on the campaign trail. > > > > “I want to look and see: Does she recuse herself on cases where she has prejudged?” Vos said. “That to me is a serious offense.” > > > > Soon afterward, Vos and other Republican lawmakers filed a motion seeking to push Protasiewicz off the redistricting cases because of her campaign comments and the $10 million she received from the state Democratic Party. The decision on whether to step aside is up to Protasiewicz because conservatives on the court in 2011 issued a 4-3 decision that found justices cannot force one another off cases. If Protasiewicz remains on the case, the Republicans could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to remove her from it for having a conflict of interest. Protasiewicz has not signaled what she will do. > > > > Protasiewicz, like the other liberals on the court, has declined to discuss the impeachment threats, but their allies have rallied behind the liberals. State Sen. Kelda Roys (D) said impeachment proceedings would amount to a norm-shattering effort “to try to overturn the clear will of the voters.” She said conservatives are lashing out because they know they are going to lose high-profile cases. > > > > “They can’t stand it,” she said. “They’re mad. It sucks to lose elections, and I say that with all sincerity. It’s not fun to lose, and they haven’t had to lose that much.” > > > > In Wisconsin, justices can be impeached by a simple majority in the state Assembly and can be removed from office by a two-thirds majority in the state Senate if lawmakers find the justices committed crimes or engaged in corruption. Republicans have those margins in the legislature, but if they remove justices the Democratic governor could name replacements who are just as liberal. > > > > If they are impeached, justices must stop performing their duties immediately — before the state Senate decides whether to convict them. That means the Republican lawmakers could sideline the liberals without removing them. In such a scenario, the liberals would still hold office but have no powers. > > > > Former state Supreme Court Justice Jon Wilcox, a conservative, said he thought the liberals were out of line and feared their actions were the outgrowth of increasingly partisan court races. > > > > “The main thing that concerns me is the politicization of this court,” he said. “Both sides. That’s distressful to me because I tried as a justice when I was here to be … evenhanded and fair-minded. And I don’t think they’re going to have that anymore.” > > > > Tension is nothing new on this court. Twelve years ago, a conservative justice during an argument placed his hands on the neck of a liberal justice in front of other members of the court. No criminal charges were issued and a judicial ethics complaint fizzled out when most of the justices said they could not hear the case because they were witnesses. The conservative justice retired in 2016. > > > > This month at Protasiewicz’s swearing-in ceremony — held just hours before the justices began publicly criticizing one another — former Justice Janine Geske said disputes and controversies should be expected on a court of seven members. Geske, who was appointed to the court by a Republican governor to fill a vacancy in 1993, compared meetings of the justices to “a Thanksgiving dinner with a bunch of strangers and some newly acquired in-laws and then asking everyone how they feel about the most controversial issue you could think of.” > > > > Geske, who is a Marquette University law professor, in an interview said the change in the court’s majority does not mean liberals can count on victories in every case. While campaigns for the court have become highly political, justices are charged with interpreting state laws regardless of their personal views. > > > > “My experience is she’s really very down-to-earth, very pragmatic,” Geske said of Protasiewicz. “There are going to be surprises on some of the cases, I think. … There are going to be some people that are unhappy sometimes. She is not going to be the liberal Democrat on each case.” > > > > Even before Protasiewicz was sworn in, though, her conservative colleagues were bracing for the change. In a 4-3 administrative ruling, the court in July declined to approve a program that would have given continuing legal education credits to lawyers who take a class in diversity, equity and inclusion. Bradley, the conservative justice most vocally critical of the liberals, predicted the decision would not hold for long, writing, “The new majority will reverse this court’s order at its first opportunity.” > >

> > > Former President Trump’s decision to skip the first Republican presidential primary debate is fueling Republican angst that his rivals will have little opportunity to catch up to him in the polls. > > > > Many senior Republican officials and strategists in Washington think Trump would be a weak candidate in the general election and have an uphill path to beating President Biden in 2024. > > > > But there’s also a growing sense among Republican lawmakers and other party leaders that Trump may have wrapped up the nomination months before the Iowa caucuses, despite facing 91 felony counts and four criminal trials. > > > > This in turn has left them worried about their chances of defeating Biden despite his weak approval ratings and of taking back control of the Senate despite this cycle’s favorable electoral map. > > > > Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict Trump on the impeachment charge of inciting insurrection, predicted over the weekend that Trump “will lose to Joe Biden” and declared “if President Trump ends up getting the nomination but cannot win the general, that means we will have four more years of policies which have led to very high inflation.” > > > > Reflecting broader GOP pessimism among Republicans about Trump’s chances of winning the White House next year given his unpopularity with independent and women voters, Cassidy said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Trump should drop out of the race. > > > > Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Republican leadership team, told a group of Texas reporters in May that Trump couldn’t win the general election. > > > > “What’s the most important thing for me is that we have a candidate who can actually win,” he said. “I don’t think President Trump understands that when you run in a general election, you have to appeal to voters beyond your base.” > > > > Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), who is running for governor in his home state, on Monday danced around questions about Trump’s electability and touted entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy as a candidate who would present a tough challenge to Biden in 2024 and help turn around the country’s fiscal problems. > > > > Asked by CNBC anchor Joe Kernen if Trump could win the general election, Braun said that Democrats are helping him in the primary by pushing politically motivated prosecutions because they think he would be a weak candidate in November 2024. > > > > “I think whatever they try politically through the indictments and so forth, that strengthens him, not weakens him,” he said of the multiple indictments against Trump. > > > > When Kernen noted that Democrats think Biden can beat Trump, Braun acknowledged, “They are tabulating it that way.” > > > > Trump’s calculation that he can skip the debate without feeling any repercussions is fueling GOP concerns that he faces little serious competition in the primary. They worry it will be even harder for other candidates to catch him in the polls if they don’t have a chance to confront the front-runner on stage before a national television audience. > > > > “It does make it more difficult in part because they won’t have nearly the audience that they would have if Trump was there and the whole game would be how those candidates stand up to Trump, whether they are directly critical of him,” said Steven S. Smith, professor emeritus of political science at Washington University in St. Louis. > > > > Smith said the debates are more likely to change the trajectory of the race if Trump actually shows up. > > > > “It’s not obvious to me that Trump would do well in a debate. He’s riding so high that it’s entirely possible that he would lose his temper, ultimately look very unpresidential and it could very well be that the other candidates would effectively beat up on him,” he said. > > > > While polls show Trump is dominating the rest of the Republican presidential field, Republican voters aren’t happy about his decision to skip Wednesday’s debate in Milwaukee and declare the race effectively over. > > > > A new poll by Firehouse Strategies, a public affairs firm, and 3D Strategic Research found that two-thirds of Republican primary voters want to see Trump on the debate stage. > > > > The poll found that Trump’s supporters are even hungrier to see him battle his Republican opponents face to face — 77 percent of them said he should participate in the debate. > > > > Alex Conant, a Republican strategist and partner at Firehouse Strategies, said Trump is employing “the classic frontrunner strategy of not giving the opposition oxygen.” > > > > “Going on the debate stage is going to give the other candidates a chance to take him on directly,” he said. “He figures he could skip at least the first two debates and not suffer in the long run.” > > > > Conant said if one of the other candidates emerges through the debates as “the primary alternative to Trump,” then “you could see Trump’s lead cut very quickly.” > > > > He said Trump’s strategy is to make that tougher by staying away and likely limiting the size of the national television audience. > > > > He acknowledged, however, that Trump will be very tough to beat in the primary because of his huge lead in the polls and the fact that the 50 percent of the GOP electorate not currently supporting his campaign are deeply split over whom they would prefer. > > > > “Anyone who is looking at the polls recognizes that beating Trump at this point is very difficult. You look at where we were six months ago when Donald Trump was in the thirties, there was one obvious alternative and there was a real sense that the party was ready to move on,” Conant said, referring to what appeared to be a more competitive race between Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) earlier this year. > > > > “Here we are less six months from actual voting and Trump is as dominant as ever. The only candidate with any momentum in this race is Trump,” he said. “That said, the debates haven’t started, Trump’s legal woes are unprecedented, and there remains interest in an alternative just none of these [other] candidates have broken through. > > > > “That’s what debates are for,” he said. > > > > Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump’s campaign, told Newsmax that Trump’s decision to skip the debate “is really going to put the spotlight on … the fact that this ‘DeSantis reboot 4.0’ is not going so well.” > > > > A Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom poll of likely Republican caucus voters released Monday found that Trump’s lead over DeSantis has grown by 5 points since his indictment in Georgia last week on 13 criminal charges related to trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state. > > > > The poll found 42 percent of likely caucusgoers plan to support Trump while 19 percent say they support DeSantis. > > > > Sen. Joni Ernst (R), who represents Iowa, which will host the first contest of the 2024 presidential primary season, told The Hill last month that Trump should participate in the first debate. > > > > “Yes, he should. I think all of our Republican candidates need to express their views on the topics that are really important not just to Iowans but to all Americans,” she said. > > > > Conant, the GOP strategist, said Cassidy’s view that Trump will likely lose to Biden is shared more broadly by Republican officials and strategists in Washington. > > > > “People are tired of losing and we lost three straight elections with Donald Trump leading the party and there’s concern his standing with independents hasn’t gotten any better,” he said. > > > > Smith, the political scientist affiliated with Washington University in St. Louis, said he’s surprised that not more Republican senators have joined Cassidy in calling on Trump to drop out of the race given the drag his legal problems put on his viability as a general election candidate. > > > > “I’m surprised more Republicans have not said that already,” he said, arguing that Trump’s legal problems are “obvious baggage that congressional Republicans do not want to carry into an election next year.” > > > > “If the party’s entire reputation is wrapped up in Trump — and who knows what his legal status will be [before Election Day] — that’s just the kind of uncertainty that Republicans want to avoid,” he said. > >