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![Ariana Figueroa](https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/IMG-9620-scaled.jpg)
Ariana covers the nation's capital for States Newsroom. Her areas of coverage include politics and policy, lobbying, elections and campaign finance.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Trump taps into culture war issues, seeks to energize base at Moms for Liberty event
By: Ariana Figueroa - September 3, 2024
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump late Friday rarely touched on education issues during the third conference of Moms for Liberty, a right-wing parental rights group that has ties to Project 2025, the far-right playbookTrump has tried to distance himself from. Instead, in a more than one-hour interview with Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice, […]
Federal judge pauses program that grants protections for undocumented spouses
By: Ariana Figueroa - August 28, 2024
WASHINGTON — A Texas federal judge late Monday sided with 16 Republican-led states including Ohio to temporarily block a Biden administration program that grants deportation protections for undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens and a potential pathway to citizenship. The ruling by Judge J. Campbell Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, […]
Trump promises mass deportations of undocumented people. How would that work?
By: Ariana Figueroa - August 26, 2024
WASHINGTON — “Mass deportation now!” is a catchphrase for the Trump presidential campaign, as the Republican nominee proposes a crackdown on immigration that would oust thousands of undocumented people. Often citing a deportation operation enacted by former President Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s, former President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed in campaign rallies that he […]
GOP states aim to halt Biden program protecting undocumented spouses from deportation
By: Ariana Figueroa - August 26, 2024
WASHINGTON — Texas and 15 states Friday filed a suit in federal court to block the Biden administration’s program that protects long-term undocumented people married to U.S. citizens from deportation and grants them a pathway to citizenship. States in the suit, which was filed in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, argue […]
‘Let’s fight for it’: Harris vows to chart a new way forward, defeat Trump
By: Ariana Figueroa and Jacob Fischler - August 23, 2024
CHICAGO — Vice President Kamala Harris accepted her party’s nomination for president Thursday evening, pitching her candidacy as an opportunity for the nation to move forward, rather than accept a dark future she said would follow a second election of her Republican opponent. Harris on the last night of the Democratic National Convention took advantage […]
Democrats stress gun violence prevention on convention’s final night
By: Ariana Figueroa - August 23, 2024
CHICAGO — The final night of the Democratic National Convention Thursday included a lineup of lawmakers and others who have long advocated for gun safety and have dealt with the aftermath of gun violence in their communities. “Our losses do not weaken us — they strengthen our resolve,” Georgia U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, a longtime […]
Bill Clinton urges Democrats to work for Harris, ‘the president of joy’
By: Ariana Figueroa - August 22, 2024
CHICAGO — Former President Bill Clinton, a titan in the Democratic Party with a talent for connecting with rural white voters, Wednesday praised Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris for her ability to move the country forward and touted her middle-class roots. “Kamala Harris is the only candidate in this race with the vision, the experience, […]
Democratic women governors showcased at DNC event with ‘Veep’ star Julia Louis-Dreyfus
By: Ariana Figueroa - August 22, 2024
CHICAGO — Actress and climate activist Julia Louis-Dreyfus asked eight Democratic women governors Wednesday if she would be ready for public office after playing a vice president and president on the hit cable TV show “Veep.” “You’re more qualified than Donald Trump, don’t worry about it,” New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul quickly replied, to […]
Harris campaign launches bilingual WhatsApp channel to draw Latino voters in swing states
By: Ariana Figueroa - August 22, 2024
CHICAGO — Latino lawmakers and organizers Wednesday stressed their voting bloc as key to delivering battleground states to Democrats in November, as the Harris campaign launched a bilingual WhatsApp channel to target Latino voters. “The Latino vote will be the deciding factor in this election,” actress and Democratic surrogate Eva Longoria said during a Hispanic […]
U.S. Senate Democrats vow to battle for majority with Harris-Walz ticket
By: Ariana Figueroa - August 21, 2024
CHICAGO — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Tuesday said that he’s determined to give Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris a Senate held by Democrats should she win the White House this November. “She will lead America forward but she needs a Democratic majority in the Senate,” he said in a speech during the second night […]
UAW’s Shawn Fain predicts working-class support for Harris-Walz ticket
By: Ariana Figueroa - August 21, 2024
CHICAGO — United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain told reporters Tuesday that working-class people can see themselves in the new Democratic presidential ticket. “There’s a very distinct difference in these two people and where they stand with working-class people,” Fain said of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. […]
Black women quickly mobilize to boost Kamala Harris presidential bid
By: Ariana Figueroa - August 20, 2024
WASHINGTON — As Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to give the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention Thursday, making her the first Black and South Asian woman to lead a major party ticket, her nomination has energized a strong and loyal voting bloc in the Democratic Party — Black women. Since President Joe Biden last […]