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Despite rhetoric, GOP has supported packing state courts
In 2016, Ducey signed into law measures expanding the number of seats on the Arizona state Supreme Court. It's a tactic the GOP already has employed in recent years with state supreme courts when they have controlled all levers of state political power. Yet Ducey signed a bill that did just that at the state level in 2016, expanding the Arizona Supreme Court from five seats to seven. No state supreme court justice has ever lost a retention election. Nathan Deal signed similar legislation expanding that state's supreme court from seven to nine seats.
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Trump drilling reversal could boost coastal GOP senators
COLUMBIA, S.C. With one stroke, President Donald Trumps abrupt reversal on offshore drilling this week has loosened a political vise that was tightening around three Republicans senators running for reelection in coastal states where drilling is widely opposed. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue of Georgia, all Democratic targets. Brian Kemp, another Trump ally, and his Republican predecessor, Nathan Deal, have opposed drilling off the state's 100-mile (160 km) coast. The decision by President Trump to include South Carolina meets the desires of our coastal communities and states leadership, Graham said. I very much appreciate President Trump for listening to our state and delivering for our people.___Ben Nadler in Atlanta contributed to this report.