HOSCHTON, Ga. (AP) — May’s election for the Georgia Supreme Court is playing out as races for the state’s highest court have for decades: sitting justices running uncontested.

But there is an exception, and it’s driven by the issue that has roiled politics across the country for the past two years: abortion.

Justice Andrew Pinson is the only one of four incumbents seeking election to draw a challenge, and it’s a formidable one. Former U.S. Rep. John Barrow, a Democrat, hopes to harness a voter backlash to abortion restrictions to unseat Pinson in what could be a model for future Georgia court contests in a state that has become a partisan battleground.

The May 21 general election for a six-year term is nonpartisan, and a Barrow victory wouldn’t change the conservative leanings of the court. Eight of the nine justices, including Pinson, were appointed by Republican governors. The other won his seat unopposed after being appointed to a state appellate court by a Democratic governor.

Barrow’s bid is seen as a longshot. Pinson, appointed two years ago by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, appears to be raising more campaign money as the state’s legal establishment closes ranks around him.

But Barrow hopes a voter backlash against Georgia’s near-total abortion ban is the path to an upset.

In talks primarily to Democratic groups, Barrow says that when Pinson was Georgia’s solicitor general, he was the lawyer most responsible for the state supporting the Mississippi case that led to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning a constitutional right to abortion in 2022.

That decision cleared the way for a 2019 Georgia law to take effect banning most abortions after fetal cardiac activity can be detected, usually in about the sixth week of pregnancy. That’s before many women know they are pregnant.

At an April 15 Democratic meeting in a retirement community northeast of Atlanta, Barrow attacked Pinson’s former membership in the Federalist Society and his term as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, drawing boos from the 50 attendees.

Barrow said he believes Georgians have a state constitutional right to abortion and that voters would boost their chances of restoring broader access to abortion by doing something they’ve never done before: defeating an incumbent state justice.

“I happen to believe that the Georgia Constitution does provide a right of privacy, and that encompasses everything that we associate with what was the law under Roe vs. Wade. And then it’s probably wider,” Barrow said. “That would mean the current statute, the current ban we’re living with right now, violates that provision of the Constitution.”

Opponents of the six-week ban are challenging it in state court, arguing Georgia’s unusually well-developed law protecting privacy should void it. That case is almost certainly headed back to the Georgia Supreme Court

Pinson said it would be inappropriate to discuss his views on abortion or other topics that might come before the court.

“If judges start talking about issues in cases that come before the court, or that could come before the court and opine, ‘Personally, I think this; personally I think that,’ man, it just starts chipping away at people’s confidence in our judiciary,” Pinson said in an interview.

State supreme court races have become more expensive in recent years as courts have weighed issues like political gerrymandering. The U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the right to abortion has put those races under even greater scrutiny in the past two years as the divisive issue has returned to the states.

Public polling shows the majority of people in the U.S. support a right to abortion, and voters have affirmed abortion rights in seven states over the past two years since Roe v. Wade was overturned, including in Republican-leaning states such as Kentucky, Montana and Ohio.

Douglas Keith, who tracks state supreme courts for the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, said money has poured into races from groups on the left and right, creating contests like the one last year in Wisconsin. There, a liberal judge backed by Democrats flipped the court after defeating a former justice supported by Republicans and anti-abortion groups in the most expensive state Supreme Court race ever.

“We are seeing money like we’ve never seen before in these races. Candidates and groups are adopting messages that they’ve never used in judicial elections before, and there’s just generally more attention on these races,” Keith said.

Pinson, 37, graduated first in his law school class at the University of Georgia and served four years as solicitor general, helping Georgia win a long-running water rights dispute. Kemp named Pinson to the state Court of Appeals in 2021 and elevated him to Georgia’s high court a year later. Many lawyers, including some Democrats, have endorsed him for election.

Meaningful electoral challenges to sitting Georgia judges are rare. Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University, said that reflects a “small club dynamic” prevailing within Georgia’s legal establishment.

“I just think that we’re dealing with a kind of old-school mentality, where people don’t really want to engage in the kind of partisan warfare over judicial seats like we’ve seen in some other states,” Kreis said.

Barrow, 69, served five terms in Congress and for a time was the only white Democratic representative from the Deep South. He finally lost in 2014 after Republicans gerrymandered his district a second time. In 2018, he narrowly lost a statewide race for Georgia secretary of state to Republican Brad Raffensperger.

Although justices are elected, the pattern has been for a justice to resign and let the governor appoint a successor. A newly appointed justice then gets two years on the bench before facing voters.

Barrow was denied a chance to run in 2020 after a justice announced he would resign after the election date before his term ended. A challenge arguing the election should be held anyway was rejected. Barrow calls the system of appointments “dysfunctional” and pledges that if elected he will let voters choose his replacement.

“If the voters give me the office, I’m going to give it back to the voters,” he said.

While his victory wouldn’t change the overall political composition of the court, Barrow said it would send the state’s justices a message on abortion rights. He referenced the decision earlier this year by the Alabama Supreme Court that declared frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization could legally be considered children and an Arizona Supreme Court decision earlier this month reviving an abortion ban from 1864, before Arizona was a state.

“We’re getting an education right now all across the country as to how important the office of state supreme court justice is,” Barrow said.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — In deep red Indiana, where Republicans hold a supermajority in both chambers of the state legislature and most top offices are held by GOP politicians, the May 7 primary will determine the outcome of the general election in many races.

The most-watched is the GOP race for governor, a six-way competition of office-seekers who all have cast themselves as outsiders in an appeal to conservative voters.

Indiana also will send at least three new representatives to the U.S. House following a series of retirements.

Here’s a look at the key races:

Six Republicans are vying for the seat being vacated by outgoing Gov. Eric Holcomb, who is term-limited. Holcomb has not endorsed a candidate.

The race is the most expensive primary in Indiana history, with about $20 million spent in the first three months of 2024 alone.

The winner of the GOP primary will face long-shot bids in November from the sole Democratic candidate, Jennifer McCormick, and the Libertarian nominee, Donald Rainwater.

All six Republican candidates have cast themselves as outsiders, yet five are well-established figures who hold or previously served in statewide roles.

U.S. Sen. Mike Braun has been endorsed by Republican former President Donald Trump. Trump won the state by 16 percentage points in the 2020 general election.

Braun has name recognition and money; his campaign spent over $6 million in 2024, according to the latest summary report. He also is known for flipping a Democratic Senate seat when he beat Joe Donnelly in 2018.

Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, known for running alongside Holcomb twice, has campaigned to slash the state’s income tax and boost addiction and mental illness services. She ended the most recent fundraising period with the most cash on hand of the candidates with $3 million as of April 1, but spent less — $2.1 million — in the first three months of the year.

A Crouch victory likely would ensure Indiana has its first female governor. McCormick, the Democratic nominee, is unchallenged in her primary.

Businessman and former commerce secretary Brad Chambers spent $6.7 million this year and reports show he has contributed $9.6 million to his campaign. Chambers’ messaging has been comparatively more moderate, focusing on the economy and support for law enforcement. He has avoided criticizing Holcomb where other candidates have knocked his administration on COVID-19 pandemic-era policies.

Eric Doden has a similar resume, with a stint as the state’s commerce secretary. His top priorities include a plan invest in Indiana’s “Main Street,” or small towns. He spent $5.2 million in the first three months of this year and last reported having about $250,000 of cash on hand.

Once seen as a probable Hoosier governor, former Attorney General Curtis Hill has struggled to compete. Hill lost the Republican delegation nomination in 2020 following allegations he groped four women at a party in 2018. Jamie Reitenour also is running, with backing of Hamilton County Moms For Liberty and has said she would appoint its leader to head the state education department.

Braun’s decision to leave the Senate and run for governor created a domino effect in Indiana’s congressional delegation. U.S. Rep. Jim Banks is the sole Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, leaving his office in Indiana’s 3rd Congressional district.

A series of legal battles ultimately removed egg farmer John Rust from the Republican ballot.

Banks, an outspoken Trump supporter, will face either Marc Carmichael or Valerie McCray as the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in November.

Indiana will send at least three new representatives to the U.S. House.

Congressmen Greg Pence, brother of former Vice President Mike Pence, and Larry Bucshon both announced they will forgo reelection earlier this year.

Eight Republican candidates are vying for Banks’ former seat in northeast Indiana. The matchup includes former U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, state Sen. Andy Zay, former Allen Circuit Court judge Wendy Davis and a well-funded but relatively unknown nonprofit executive, Tim Smith.

Voters in Pence’s 6th district in east Indiana are the target of an expensive contest between staunch Second Amendment conservative state Rep. Mike Speedy, and Jefferson Shreve, a businessman who pumped $13 million into an unsuccessful campaign for Indianapolis mayor last year.

Shreve has loaned $4.5 million to his congressional campaign and entered the final weeks of campaigning with $1.49 million of cash on hand, while Speedy entered with just over $153,000 in the bank, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

In Bucshon’s district in southern Indiana, eight candidates seek to replace the congressman who took office in 2011.

The Republican Jewish Coalition has shelled out $1 million to attack former U.S. Rep. John Hostettler, who has long opposed the U.S. allyship with Israel. A spokesperson said the group is urging support for state Sen. Mark Messmer.

Messmer entered the final weeks with roughly $121,000 of cash on hand, far outpacing Hostettler’s about $29,000.

In central Indiana’s 5th district, U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz faces a tough primary after reversing her plan to leave Congress.

Spartz’s main competition, state Sen. Chuck Goodrich, has outpaced her in spending this year by millions of dollars.

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump says he wants to hold a major campaign event at New York’s Madison Square Garden featuring Black hip-hop artists and athletes. His aides speak of making appearances in Chicago, Detroit and Atlanta with leaders of color and realigning American politics by flipping Democratic constituencies.

But five months before the first general election votes are cast, the former president’s campaign has little apparent organization to show for its ambitious plans.

The Trump campaign removed its point person for coalitions and hasn’t announced a replacement. The Republican Party’s minority outreach offices across the country have been shuttered and replaced by businesses that include a check-cashing store, an ice cream shop and a sex-toy store. And campaign officials concede they are weeks away from rolling out any targeted programs.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has struggled to navigate a messy transition into the general election plagued by staffing issues, his personal legal troubles and the “Make America Great Again” movement’s disdain for so-called “ identity politics.” There are signs of frustration on the ground, where Republicans believe Trump has a real opportunity to shift the election by cutting into President Joe Biden’s advantages with voters of color.

“To be quite honest, the Republican Party does not have a cohesive engagement plan for Black communities,” said Darrell Scott, a Black pastor and longtime Trump ally who co-founded the National Diversity Coalition for Trump in 2016. “What it has are conservatives in communities of color who have taken it upon themselves to head our own initiatives.”

On-the-ground political organizing has long been a hallmark of successful presidential campaigns, which typically invest tremendous resources into identifying would-be supporters and ensuring they vote. The task may be even more critical this fall given how few voters are excited about the Biden-Trump rematch.

But in Michigan, a critical battleground that flipped from Trump to Biden four years ago, several party officials confirmed that the Republican National Committee, overhauled by Trump allies after he clinched the nomination in March, has yet to set up any community centers for minority outreach. Office spaces to house the centers have been offered up by community members, but staffing has been an issue, said Oakland County GOP Chair Vance Patrick.

“We’ve got all these carts but we have no horses yet,” said Patrick. “So, it’s all about making sure we have staffing when we open up these offices.”

In Wayne County, home to Detroit, local Republican officials say they are currently trying to figure it out on their own.

“It’s me setting up events, or people just reaching out to me,” said Rola Makki, the outreach vice chair for the Michigan GOP, noting that she hasn’t seen any minority outreach centers open in spite of claims to the contrary by Trump’s national campaign team.

In recent years, the Republican National Committee invested big in community centers and minority outreach based on the belief that real relationships with voters, even those who typically don’t support Republicans, would make a difference on Election Day. Since taking over the RNC earlier in the spring, however, Trump’s team has dramatically scaled back such efforts.

“Traditionally, Republicans have not been effective in their efforts to persuade Black and Hispanic voters to vote for our party,” said Lynne Patton, a senior adviser on the campaign overseeing coalitions work who has worked closely with the Trump family for decades. “But this is yet another reason why President Trump was adamant that his hand-picked leadership team assume control at the RNC and spearhead a unified effort to embrace the historic defection being witnessed within Black & Hispanic communities from the Democrat party and ensure it’s permanent.”

The Trump campaign hired a national coalitions director in October 2023, almost a year after he launched his campaign. But the staffer, Derek Silver, departed in March without explanation, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal discussions. Silver did not return multiple requests for comment and no replacement has been announced.

Trump’s advisers reject criticism that they’re not doing enough organizing or spending to reach minorities. James Blair, the campaign’s political director, said the campaign would not “broadcast” its spending or staffing levels, “but I assure you, it’s enough to ensure President Trump’s historic surge in support amongst Black and Hispanic voters sticks in November and beyond.”

Patton said Trump’s political team is laying the groundwork for a robust minority outreach program, although largely in private.

“We are speaking with Black leaders, we are speaking with small business owners, we’re speaking with famous athletes, hip-hop artists, some of whom I think you’d be surprised if you knew who was talking with us right now,” Patton said in an interview. “These are people who are expressing openness to supporting President Trump both publicly and privately.”

She conceded that the campaign is still weeks away from rolling out any specific minority outreach programs. The delayed timeline stands in stark contrast to the early outreach during Trump’s 2020 reelection bid. Then, he launched his coalition efforts, including “Latinos for Trump” and “Black Voices for Trump” programs, in the summer and fall of 2019, respectively.

Trump’s team insists the former president will improve his standing with voters of color, perhaps the most steadfast segment of the Democratic base, regardless of their strategy. They believe the campaign has momentum with both African Americans and Hispanics, especially younger men. And they note that Trump has proven he can win in his own way, disregarding traditional rules of politics.

Polls show that many Black and Hispanic adults are dissatisfied with Biden. According to AP-NORC polls, Biden’s approval among Black adults has dropped from 94% when he started his term to just 55% in March. Among Hispanic adults, it dropped from 70% to 32% in the same period.

And an April poll by the Pew Research Center confirms the problem is especially acute among younger adults: Just 43% of Black adults under 50 said they approve of Biden in that poll, compared with 70% of those age 50 and older. Among Hispanics, 29% of younger adults said they approve, slightly less than the 42% who said that among those 50 and older.

The Trump campaign’s developing outreach strategy relies on using his celebrity and bombastic personality to create viral moments in communities of color that his advisers believe will have more impact than grassroots organizing or paid advertising alone. Advisers point to Trump’s appearances at an Atlanta Chick-fil-A, a New York bodega and a New York City police officer’s wake as examples of the strategy.

His allies argue that increased frustration about crime, inflation and immigration may win over some voters of color who have previously been less receptive to Trump’s record and divisive rhetoric.

“Communities of color aren’t leaning towards the right, they’re leaning towards Trump,” said Scott, the pastor and close Trump ally who is calling on the RNC to ramp up and reform its efforts. Scott said Black voters support Democrats because of the party’s longtime outreach to the community, which the GOP has not matched, and said the present campaign presents an opportunity that the party shouldn’t waste. “Trump is the draw; Trump is the magnet.”

Biden has been spending millions of dollars on ads targeting Black and Latino voters in presidential battleground states. That’s in addition to dozens of new office openings in minority neighborhoods. All the while, Biden’s team has frequently dispatched Vice President Kamala Harris, the nation’s first Black female vice president, and other prominent leaders of color to key states.

The Democratic president’s campaign points to record-low minority unemployment rates and education policies like funding for historically Black colleges and universities and student loan forgiveness, as well as Biden’s stance on civil rights policy.

“Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans proudly admitting that they have no real strategy to reach Black voters because they believe all they need is rap concerts and free chicken is only surprising if you haven’t paid attention to Trump’s fraudulent relationship to Black America for years,” said Jasmine Harris, the Biden campaign’s Black media director, who described Trump as “a fraud” who “takes every opportunity available to him to demean our community.”

Trump’s personal legal troubles may also be complicating his plans.

Campaign officials believe they should wait to unveil new initiatives until the conclusion of Trump’s New York criminal hush money trial, which is expected to extend deep into May, if not longer.

In the meantime, there are visible signs of a lack of investment in swing states. Associated Press reporters visited the sites of several former community outreach centers that have now been shuttered.

In Allentown, Pennsylvania, the GOP vacated its Hispanic outreach office in January 2023, a few months after the midterm election, according to the landlord, Hem Vaidya. He said the office, which he recalled as a busy place, was staffed by Hispanic workers.

Republican officials recently approached him about renting the same space again, but he declined because they only wanted it for eight months. The storefront is now occupied by his own check-cashing business.

In Wisconsin, the Republican National Committee closed a Hispanic outreach center in Milwaukee after the 2022 midterms and it will soon be home to an ice cream shop, according to Daniel Walsh, leasing agent for the property.

Matt Fisher, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Republican Party, said the state GOP continues to operate a Black outreach center in Milwaukee. As for targeting Hispanic voters, the state party and RNC are still weighing how to approach that task.

In suburban Atlanta, one RNC community outreach center focused on outreach to Asian American voters was shuttered and later was reopened as a sex shop. AP reporters confirmed the venue’s change in ownership, which was originally reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Republican strategist Alice Stewart, a veteran of several GOP campaigns, said she’s confident that the Trump campaign will ultimately do what’s necessary.

“But the key is they can’t just talk about minority outreach,” she said. “They have to do it.”

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Brown reported from Washington. AP Director of Public Opinion Research Emily Swanson in Washington and Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan; Michael Rubinkam in Allentown, Pennsylvania; Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin; Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio; and Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, contributed.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Federal Election Commission has fined the campaign fund of a former Illinois congressman $43,475 for failing to refund excess contributions in a timely manner.

A letter from the FEC this month reports the fine against Republican Rodney Davis’ campaign committee, Rodney for Congress, and its treasurer, Thomas Charles Datwyler.

The violations occurred during the 2021-2022 election cycle. Federal campaign finance law prohibits contributions of more than $2,900 per cycle from an individual or single-candidate political committee and $5,000 per election from a multicandidate committee. Excess contributions must be refunded or redesignated within 60 days.

In a negotiated settlement with Davis’ committee and Datwyler, the FEC found that one contribution of $3,625 and general election contributions of $479,784 were not properly redistributed within 60 days, resulting in the fine. Davis was not eligible for the larger amount because he was not on the 2022 general election ballot.

A call to a telephone number associated with Davis went unanswered. A phone message was left for Datwyler.

The FEC noted that the committee disclosed refunds of excessive contributions on quarterly and year-end reports for 2022 and in January 2024 filed paperwork disclosing the refunds that were part of the negotiated settlement.

Davis, a 54-year-old Taylorville resident, served five terms in Congress. After the 2020 congressional redistricting controlled by Democrats in the Illinois General Assembly, Davis was pushed into a district with conservative Republican Mary Miller, who beat Davis in the 2022 GOP primary with more than 57% of the vote.

Davis’ committee told the FEC it would dissolve upon resolving the matter. The fine is payable by July 18.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — San Francisco has earned an unwelcome national reputation for car burglaries that U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff was reminded of the hard way: The Democratic congressman had his luggage swiped from his car while it was parked in a downtown garage.

With his formal clothing gone, Schiff ended up at a fundraising dinner Thursday for his U.S. Senate campaign dressed like he was headed to a Los Angeles Dodgers game — in shirt sleeves and an insulated vest. Others who attended the event were mostly decked out in suit jackets and ties.

Schiff’s campaign confirmed the burglary and declined further comment, citing an ongoing investigation.

“Yes, they took my bags,” the congressman lamented to the San Francisco Chronicle, adding that he didn’t want to dwell on his firsthand experience as a crime victim.

Statistically, reported auto break-ins are down in San Francisco, but vehicles with busted windows and sprinkles of broken glass remain a common sight in the city. Visitors and residents are constantly reminded to remove valuables from parked cars.

It was advice Schiff neglected to follow.

In August, the city’s police chief announced a crackdown on fighting auto smash-and-grabs. The San Francisco Police Department reported nearly 900 break-ins in February, down from 1,850 in July. There were more than 3,000 reported thefts in September 2022.

Schiff, a former federal prosecutor, rose to national prominence as the lead prosecutor in then-President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial. Schiff says on his campaign website that he is “committed to reforming our broken criminal justice system and keeping California families and communities safe.”

Schiff was the target of plenty of social media snark following the crime: “Democrats have nobody to blame but themselves,” one user wrote on the social platform X.

The burglary involving a prominent member of Congress recalled the July 2021 robbery and assault of former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer in nearby Oakland, another San Francisco Bay Area city that has struggled with crime rates. She was pushed by an assailant and had her cell phone stolen, but was not seriously injured.

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Blood reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writer Janie Har in San Francisco contributed.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Former Rep. Peter Meijer withdrew his name from the U.S. Senate race in Michigan on Friday, ending a longshot bid to become the Republican nominee and return to Congress after being ousted by voters for supporting an effort to impeach then-President Donald Trump.

Meijer announced his candidacy in November and contended for the Republican nomination against former U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers and Justin Amash, in addition to wealthy businessman Sandy Pensler.

Meijer met an April 23 deadline to turn in petition signatures to get his name on the ballot for the August primary but withdrew from the race on Friday, a Michigan Secretary of State spokesperson confirmed to The Associated Press. Meijer’s name will not be on the ballot since he met a 4 p.m. deadline Friday to withdraw from the race.

“The hard reality is the fundamentals of the race have changed significantly since we launched this campaign. After prayerful consideration, today I withdrew my name from the primary ballot,” Meijer said in a statement.

Although many believed that Meijer had the potential to be competitive in a general election, his vote to impeach Trump undermined his bid to be competitive in a primary in a state that supported Trump in 2016. Trump has endorsed Rogers in the race.

Meijer, who is from Grand Rapids, is an heir to a Midwestern grocery store empire and a former U.S. Army Reserve officer who served in Iraq. He was seen as part of the next generation of Republican leaders when he was elected to the U.S. House in 2020 at only 32 years old.

Meijer was among 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in 2021 following the deadly mob siege of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He then would lose reelection to a Trump-backed primary opponent in 2022 despite having a significant fundraising advantage.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration is indefinitely delaying a long-awaited menthol cigarette ban, a decision that infuriated anti-smoking advocates but could avoid a political backlash from Black voters in November.

In a statement Friday, Biden’s top health official gave no timeline for issuing the rule, saying only that the administration would take more time to consider feedback, including from civil rights groups.

“It’s clear that there are still more conversations to have, and that will take significantly more time,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

The White House has held dozens of meetings in recent months with groups opposing the ban, including civil rights organizers, law enforcement officials and small business owners. Most of groups have financial ties to tobacco companies.

The announcement is another setback for Food and Drug Administration officials, who drafted the ban and predicted it would prevent hundreds of thousands of smoking-related deaths over 40 years. The agency has worked toward banning menthol across multiple administrations without ever finalizing a rule.

“This decision prioritizes politics over lives, especially Black lives,” said Yolonda Richardson of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, in an emailed statement. “It is especially disturbing to see the administration parrot the false claims of the tobacco industry about support from the civil rights community.”

Richardson noted that the ban is supported by groups including the NAACP and the Congressional Black Caucus.

Previous FDA efforts on menthol have been derailed by tobacco industry pushback or competing political priorities. With both Biden and former President Donald Trump vying for the support of Black voters, the ban’s potential impact has been scrutinized by Republicans and Democrats heading into the fall election.

Anti-smoking advocates have been pushing the FDA to eliminate the flavor since the agency gained authority to regulate certain tobacco ingredients in 2009. Menthol is the only cigarette flavor that wasn’t banned under that law, a carveout negotiated by industry allies in Congress. But the law instructed the FDA to continue studying the issue.

More than 11% of U.S. adults smoke, with rates roughly even between white and Black people. But about 80% of Black smokers smoke menthol, which the FDA says masks the harshness of smoking, making it easier to start and harder to quit. Also, most teenagers who smoke cigarettes prefer menthols.

For decades, tobacco companies focused menthol advertising and promotions in Black communities, sponsoring music festivals and neighborhood events. Industry documents released via litigation also show companies viewed menthol cigarettes as a good “starter product” because they were more palatable to teens.

The FDA released its draft of the proposed ban in 2022. Officials under Biden initially targeted last August to finalize the rule. Late last year, White House officials said they would take until March to review the measure. When that deadline passed last month, several anti-smoking groups filed a lawsuit to force its release.

“We are disappointed with the action of the Biden administration, which has caved in to the scare tactics of the tobacco industry,” said Dr. Mark Mitchell of the National Medical Association, an African American physician group that is suing the administration.

Separately, Rev. Al Sharpton and other civil rights leaders have warned that a menthol ban would create an illegal market for the cigarettes in Black communities and invite more confrontations with police.

The FDA and health advocates have long rejected such concerns, noting FDA’s enforcement of the rule would only apply to companies that make or sell cigarettes, not to individuals.

An FDA spokesperson said Friday the agency is still committed to banning menthol cigarettes.

“As we’ve made clear, these product standards remain at the top of our priorities,” Jim McKinney said in a statement.

Smoking can cause cancer, strokes and heart attacks and is blamed for 480,000 deaths each year in the U.S., including 45,000 among Black Americans.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By Tim Reid

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Kristi Noem, a contender to become Republican Donald Trump’svice presidential running mate, defended herself on Friday against Democratic attacks over her account of shooting a dog on her family farm.

Noem, the governor of South Dakota, describes killing an “untrainable” dog called Cricket which she “hated” in an upcoming memoir, excerpts of which were first published by The Guardian on Friday. She also said she shot to death a goat.

Noem said the dog ruined a hunt and later attacked chickens owned by a local family, behaved like a “trained assassin,” and was “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with.”

“I realized I had to put her down,” Noem writes.

The Democratic National Committee seized on the excerpts, calling them “horrifying” and “disturbing” and tried to make a 2024 election argument about the shooting of the animals.

“If you want elected officials who don’t brag about brutally killing their pets as part of their self-promotional book tour, then listen to our owners – and vote Democrat,” the DNC said in a statement, giving voice to the dogs.

Responding on X, Noem said, “We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm. Sadly, we just had to put down 3 horses a few weeks ago that had been in our family for 25 years.”

Noem is on a list of candidates being considered by Trump to be his vice presidential running mate, friends and allies of Trump have told Reuters. Trump faces a general election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden on Nov. 5.

Colleen O’Brien, senior director at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), decried Noem’s decision to kill the dog.

She criticized Noem for allowing “this rambunctious puppy loose on chickens and then punishing her by deciding to personally blow her brains out rather than attempting to train her or find a more responsible guardian who would provide her with a proper home.”

(Reporting by Tim Reid, editing by Ross Colvin and Sandra Maler)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration on Friday formally began planning for a potential presidential transition, aiming to ensure continuity of government no matter the outcome of November’s general election.

Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, sent memos to all executive departments and agencies, directing them to name a point person for transition planning by May 3. It’s the routine first step in congressionally mandated preparedness for presidential transitions.

Next week, White House chief of staff Jeff Zients — who also chaired Biden’s 2020 transition effort — will lead the first meeting of the White House Transition Coordinating Council, which consists of senior White House policy, national security and management officials, as required by the Presidential Transition Act.

The act provides federal support for major party candidates to prepare to govern so that they can have personnel in place to take policy actions on their first day in office. Making sure presidential candidates are ready to take charge of the federal government became a heightened priority after the Sept. 11 attacks, and the act has been updated several times since to provide additional resources to candidates and to require incumbents to plan for a handoff with even greater intensity.

Young’s letter is nearly identical to the one sent four years ago by Trump administration acting director Russell Vought, for a transition process that started out orderly, but derailed when then-President Donald Trump refused to concede his defeat to Biden. It took until Nov. 23, two weeks after the election was called, for Trump’s General Services Administration to name Biden as the “apparent winner” of the 2020 race — a required step for the transition to begin.

The law requires presidential candidates and the General Services Administration to reach a memorandum of understanding that governs everything from the provision of federal office space to access to sensitive documents by Sept. 1, though often it is reached sooner. Candidates must first formally secure their party’s nomination at their conventions before the memorandum of understanding can be signed.

Transition teams begin vetting candidates for jobs in a future administration, including beginning the time-consuming security clearance process for likely appointees who need to be ready to take their posts on Inauguration Day.

Biden in February launched a separate task force aimed at addressing the “systemic” problem of mishandling classified information during presidential transitions, days after a Justice Department special counsel’s sharply critical report said he and his aides had done just that when he left the vice presidency in 2016.

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — A judge upheld the disqualification of a candidate who had had planned to run against the judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s 2020 Georgia election interference case.

Tiffani Johnson is one of two people who filed paperwork to challenge Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee. An administrative law judge earlier this month found that she was not qualified to run for the seat after she failed to appear at a hearing on a challenge to her eligibility, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger adopted that decision.

Johnson last week filed a petition for review of that decision in Fulton County Superior Court. After all of McAfee’s colleagues on the Fulton County bench were recused, a judge in neighboring DeKalb County took up the matter and held a hearing Thursday on Johnson’s petition.

At the end of the hearing, DeKalb Superior Court Judge Stacey Hydrick upheld the decision that said Johnson is not eligible, news outlets reported. A representative for Johnson’s campaign did not immediately respond to an email Friday seeking comment.

The ruling leaves McAfee with a single challenger, civil rights attorney Robert Patillo, in the nonpartisan race for his seat.

With early voting set to begin Monday for the May 21 election, it’s likely too late to remove Johnson’s name from the ballot. The law says that if a candidate is determined not to be qualified, that person’s name should be withheld from the ballot or stricken from any ballots. If there isn’t enough time to strike the candidate’s name, prominent notices are to be placed at polling places advising voters that the candidate is disqualified and that votes cast for her will not be counted.

Georgia law allows any person who is eligible to vote for a candidate to challenge the candidate’s qualifications by filing a complaint with the secretary of state’s office within two weeks of the qualification deadline. A lawyer for Sean Arnold, a Fulton County voter, filed the challenge on March 22.

Arnold’s complaint noted that the Georgia Constitution requires all judges to “reside in the geographical area in which they are elected to serve.” He noted that in Johnson’s qualification paperwork she listed her home address as being in DeKalb County and wrote that she had been a legal resident of neighboring Fulton County for “0 consecutive years.” The qualification paperwork Johnson signed includes a line that says the candidate is “an elector of the county of my residence eligible to vote in the election in which I am a candidate.”

Administrative Law Judge Ronit Walker on April 2 held a hearing on the matter but noted in her decision that Johnson did not appear.

Walker wrote that the burden of proof is on the candidate to “affirmatively establish eligibility for office” and that Johnson’s failure to appear at the hearing “rendered her incapable of meeting her burden of proof.”

Walker concluded that Johnson was unqualified to be a candidate for superior court judge in the Atlanta Judicial Circuit. Raffensperger adopted the judge’s findings and conclusions in reaching his decision to disqualify her.

A lawyer Johnson, who said in her petition that she has since moved to Fulton County, argued that Johnson failed to show up for the hearing because she did not receive the notice for it.

Without addressing the merits of the residency challenge, Hydrick found that Johnson had been given sufficient notice ahead of the hearing before the administrative law judge and concluded that the disqualification was proper.