SAHUARITA, Ariz. -- Most faith-based groups in Arizona and elsewhere will say in normal times, they steer clear of politics.

But for the New Moral Majority, these are not normal times.

The group, a national network of church leaders, said it's formed a movement to "reclaim the Christian narrative." Its members cite what they call the "persistent lies, moral failings and divisive politics" of President Donald Trump as major concerns.

Reverend Ryan Eller, the group's founder, said faith leaders need to speak out for candidates who reflect Christian moral values, not just a political agenda.

"I think the old Moral Majority has lost its moral footing in this election," Eller contended. "That's why we're seeing record numbers of faith leaders coming out and actually telling the public they're going to vote, in this election, for Joe Biden."

The group is releasing what it calls "A Sermon to Heal America," a video on social media channels, urging folks to view voting as a sacred act.

Reverend Randy Mayer, pastor of the United Church of Christ congregation in Sahuarita, near the Arizona border with Mexico, said he and his congregation have seen firsthand what some federal policies are doing to the region, and the country.

"This administration has really challenged our state in negative ways, especially here along the border," Mayer asserted. "We're seeing our desert and our environment just completely desecrated. We're also seeing the people we love, families, that are being destroyed and torn apart."

Mayer said he has, for many years, helped care for and settle immigrants in southern Arizona. But he finds the current policies, particularly family separations, to be deeply immoral.

"We've been working with asylum seekers for the last three or four years." Mayer added. "We've been working with people in the desert for the last 20 years. I've been here for five administrations, and I've seen it progressively get worse, but this administration has just terrorized."

Another group of bipartisan religious leaders also launched an ad campaign this week in swing states, making what it said is a "Christian case against reelecting President Trump."

Virginia will hold three special elections across the state today, the first elections since President-elect Donald Trump's victory in November.

The races may hold key signs for state elections later in November. A state senate and house seat are up for grabs in Loudoun County, where Vice President Kamala Harris trounced Trump by more than 20 points. Another senate district in deeply Republican rural areas outside of Richmond is up for grabs.

Karen Hult, professor of political science at Virginia Tech, said she will be looking to see if Republicans build on their slim wins for president and Congress, and how Democrats have responded following their tough losses and closer-than-expected victories in November.

"That will give us a sense of whether the Democrats have regathered and regrouped, and decided we're going to keep moving forward in the statewide elections this calendar year," Hult explained.

Hult added she does not expect major upsets but special elections traditionally have low turnout, leaving room for a possible surprise or narrower margins. The special elections will likely not affect the power balances in the state legislature.

Virginia made a solid swing toward Republicans this year. Harris only won the state by six points, compared to President Joe Biden's 10-point victory in 2020. Much of it can be attributed to Trump increasing his margins in the Washington, D.C., suburbs like Loudoun County. Hult expects voters will focus on issues such as the federal workforce, spending on public education, and reproductive rights.

She noted Virginia is one of only a few states to hold off-year elections, a barometer of sorts following a presidential election.

"This is seen as an early diagnostic on how a newly elected president is doing. I think Virginia does get -- and probably should get -- a great deal of attention just for getting a sense of what people on the ground are thinking about things going forward."

In November, Virginians will elect a governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and the entire House of Delegates.


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Progressive advocates are expressing concerns over President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Amy Adams, partnership director for the advocacy group Progress Iowa, has been on the ground in small, rural towns, hearing concerns from residents about Kennedy's controversial stance on vaccines and his alleged promotion of baseless health claims.

"They didn't want to see vaccines discontinued," Adams reported. "These are individuals who have seen polio in their lifetimes and the impacts of this. And just the concerns with Kennedy specifically and his ties to misinformation and vaccine conspiracy theories."

Those concerns aside, some progressive Democrats are considering supporting Kennedy for his stance on reducing the heavy corporate influence over the U.S. food supply and his goal of getting more chemicals out of what people consume.

Based on the input Progress Iowa has received from people around the state, Adams argued the clear choice for Iowa's senators is to reject Kennedy's nomination.

"We're hearing stories over and over again about people who are cancer survivors, who benefited from research and development, and people who need those around them to be vaccinated so they can be safe and healthy because they are immunocompromised," Adams explained.

Adams added Iowans also had the opportunity to share their views directly with Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, one of Iowa's two senators who will vote on Kennedy's confirmation.

Wyoming's State Capitol building has been a National Historic Landmark since 1987 and last month, the Department of the Interior updated the designation with a new context: women's suffrage.

The updated federal designation honors Wyoming's important role in being the first governing body to allow women the full right to vote, in 1869, when the area was a recognized territory. When Wyoming joined the union in 1890, local leaders brought women's suffrage with it.

Keren Meister-Emerich, a member of the League of Women Voters of Cheyenne, said there were national attempts to block the move.

"That was a big controversy nationally," Meister-Emerich pointed out. "And the governor said, 'Well, we'll wait a hundred years if you don't let our women come in voting.' So, very different from other states."

Wyoming, the 44th state to join the union, coincidentally ranks 44th in the nation for the proportion of women currently in its state legislature, according to the Center for American Women and Politics.

It is difficult to tell what the state's historical motivations were for women's suffrage.

Robin Hill, a member of the Governor's Council for the Wyoming Women's Suffrage Celebration and a representative of League of Women Voters of Wyoming, said some theories include territorial leaders wanting more women to move there, one political party believed it would win women's votes, or women pressed male members of the legislature with a strong case for suffrage.

"My view, or my hope anyway, is that all those motivations might have played a part, but maybe they didn't need a whole lot of motivation," Hill observed. "Maybe it just seemed like the obvious thing to do at the time."

The 19th Amendment federally recognized women's right to vote in 1920, more than 50 years after the Wyoming territory did so. Wyoming has other claims to women's rights fame, including the country's first woman appointed to public office, first women jurors and first woman governor.


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