Once-unlikely coalition forms to protect voters’ will and more news from the states

Good evening. Tonight we begin with a look at the long effort between labor unions and abortion rights groups in Missouri to turn an unlikely alliance into power at the ballot box — particularly when it comes to protecting the will of voters. 

In Utah, the federal government backed away from converting a warehouse into a massive immigrant detention center, but arrests haven’t slowed. 

The GOP’s path to retaining its slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives is narrowing as the midterm elections near, a political analyst says. 

And in Tennessee, the governor and airport officials announced support for an effort to rename the Nashville airport in honor of Dolly Parton.

A coalition of Missouri labor unions and reproductive rights groups announced a $1 million campaign this month aimed at defeating Republican lawmakers who voted to repeal the state’s paid sick leave requirement. Not long ago, such a partnership would’ve seemed unusual and unlikely, Missouri Independent reports. 

But years of organizing — and repeated battles with the Republican-controlled legislature over abortion rights, worker protections and the initiative petition process — have drawn the movements increasingly close together.

In recent years, voters have repealed a right-to-work law passed by legislators, voted to expand Medicaid, approved abortion rights and higher wages, and defeated legislative efforts to eliminate the state income tax and add barriers to the petition process. 

Now comes another test. In November, Missourians will be asked whether they want to repeal the abortion rights amendment they approved in 2024 and reinstate an abortion ban.

Clarke Wheeler, a senior policy analyst with the National Women’s Law Center, said labor unions and reproductive rights groups in Missouri have excelled at connecting their issues in a way that resonates with voters. Missouri, she said, is a “shining example of the power of cross-movement organizing and what it looks like on the ground in real life.”

Related: If Virginia’s reproductive rights amendment passes, challengers say they’ll fight to overturn it in court

Federal officials have called off their plan to convert a Salt Lake City warehouse into a sprawling detention center, but that doesn’t mean immigration enforcers have less of a presence in the state, Utah News Dispatch reports. 

“That could not be further from the truth,” said Utah immigration attorney Christopher Vizcardo. 

Statewide, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested at least 613 people in June, more than any other month in President Donald Trump’s second term, according to data compiled by the Deportation Data Project. The number dipped slightly in July, down to 548.  

Nationally, the number spiked last month. The Department of Homeland Security this week reported arresting roughly 51,000 immigrants in July, the highest monthly total to date.  

As it tries to hit a goal of 2,000 arrests per day, the Trump administration is using new tactics, such as detaining more people at airports, including immigrants whose visas expired while their applications for legal status were still pending. They include one of Vizcardo’s clients, detained at the baggage claim at Salt Lake City International Airport last month after returning from a business trip, he said.  

More immigration coverage:

A federal judge ruled against a 2024 New Mexico law that imposed a seven-day waiting period for gun purchases, Source NM reports. But a spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said her office will almost certainly appeal the ruling.

Citing a sharp uptick in gun violence, the Legislature approved House Bill 129 during the 2024 legislative session, and Lujan Grisham signed it soon afterward. The law imposes a “cooling off” period of a week for gun purchases, except for law enforcement, those with concealed carry permits and those who sell guns to immediate family members. 

The National Rifle Association and other pro-gun organizations backed the lawsuit. John Commerford, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, celebrated the decision Friday, saying “a right delayed is a right denied.”

Nevada: Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo is seeking a presidential emergency declaration following the Hawk Fire, which has burned through 15,085 acres and destroyed 47 homes.

Idaho: Three Democratic U.S. senators are demanding the Trump Administration investigate allegations that a federal official pushed for additional resources to fight a small wildfire near his ranch.

Maryland: Republicans prevailed in a second case challenging a new state redistricting law backed by the Democratically controlled Legislature, sending the issue to the state Supreme Court. 

New Mexico: Democratic Attorney General Raúl Torrez sued the U.S. Department of Justice seeking records related to allegations that Drug Enforcement Administration agents knowingly let fentanyl flow into the state.

Arkansas: Saline County agreed to pay $275,000 to the former library director who was fired after speaking against local conservatives’ push to limit children’s access to books.

Nebraska: The Republican attorney general has asked the state Supreme Court to settle a dispute over whether the city of Lincoln must put charter amendments before voters in November, as he believes, or next May, as city officials assert.

Wisconsin: Flock Safety, the multibillion-dollar producer of Flock automatic license plate reader cameras, spent $102,000 last year lobbying state lawmakers for a grant program to buy more cameras. The bill failed. 

Arizona: As municipalities cancel Flock contracts amid reports of police misuse and surveillance concerns, Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes is planning a review of the technology.  

Wilfred Pace, who is helping lead an effort to save Bull Swamp Colored School and Community Center in Orangeburg, South Carolina, describes the school's history at Central Carolina Community Foundation's office on Aug. 27. (Photo by Skylar Laird/South Carolina Daily Gazette)

South Carolina once had thousands of Black schools. Many closed as public school systems were required to desegregate. They were then left to deteriorate, often forgotten by surrounding communities.

Recognizing the difficulty many alumni associations face in navigating complicated barriers to saving the state’s historic Black schools, the Central Carolina Community Foundation on Thursday launched the South Carolina Historic Black Schools Preservation Network.

The network is meant to act as a way for alumni associations and nonprofits to pool their knowledge and resources about funding sources, historical designations and research.

So far, the effort involves about a dozen long-closed K-12 schools. But the work is also open to historically Black colleges and universities. 

Read more from South Carolina Daily Gazette.

With fewer than 70 days until midterm elections, Democrats remain favored to regain the majority in the U.S. House, States Newsroom’s D.C. Bureau reports. 

President Donald Trump’s anemic approval ratings amid the war in Iran, concerns over the economy and a coalitional shift within the party mark some of the largest headwinds facing Republicans heading into November, according to election analysts and political scientists interviewed by States Newsroom. 

Though the GOP’s mid-decade redistricting push could help them shore up several seats and the battleground of competitive districts stands relatively small, Democrats maintain an edge to win the House, said Erin Covey, an editor specializing in U.S. House races for the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter. 

“I would say that Republicans have a path to holding the House, but they kind of have to pitch a perfect game at this point in the cycle,” Covey said.  

The GOP’s current House majority stands at 218-212. The Cook Political Report lists 21 House races as toss-ups, with Republicans defending 16. 

Related: Cook Political Report shifts Florida gubernatorial race from ‘solid’ to ‘likely’ Republican

Meanwhile, at the state level, some Democrats are aiming to emulate Republicans in building power, Stateline reports.

“One of the things the right has known for decades is that by moving state policy, you move national policy,” said Gaby Goldstein, the founder and president of State Futures, a nonprofit launched last year that coordinates hundreds of Democratic lawmakers across the states.

Few on the right have been as influential as the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. Founded in 1973, ALEC touts over 2,000 lawmakers as members — nearly a quarter of the country’s total state lawmakers. Despite fierce criticism, the organization has made an indelible mark on state policy by pushing hundreds of pieces of model legislation that have reshaped public education, state labor laws and taxation. 

State Futures is among a growing number of progressive groups looking to combat the influence of groups such as ALEC. Experts say the left has years of work ahead if it wants to match the prowess of the organized right, which coalesced more readily around a few core issues. 

But the second Trump administration has rallied Democrats across the states seeking to oppose federal policies. This year, State Futures has worked with lawmakers who proposed nearly 250 bills in state capitols seeking to place limits on federal immigration efforts. 

On Friday afternoon, the Trump administration appealed a federal judge’s temporary pause on a U.S. Postal Service regulation that places new restrictions on mail-in voting, the D.C. Bureau reports. 

Democrat-led states and voting rights groups refiled lawsuits earlier this week to try to stop the administration from implementing the rule, arguing that it impedes states’ power to administer elections, comes too close to the November midterms to be implemented and would disenfranchise voters that depend on mail-in voting.

Since his loss in the 2020 election, President Donald Trump has continued to deny the official results and baselessly sow doubt about election integrity. With an executive order to restrict mail-in voting and lawsuits demanding states turn over their voter rolls, Trump and his administration have been pushing for more federal involvement in how elections are run. That has some state leaders preparing for worst-case scenarios. 

In Episode 43 of the Stories From The States podcast, you’ll learn about how state attorneys general are getting ready for the possibility of federal agents at the polls and contested election results. 

Subscribe to Stories From The States on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Nashville International Airport officials announced plans Friday to rename the airport in Dolly Parton’s honor, Tennessee Lookout reports. 

Lee, a Republican, discussed the idea this week with Parton’s team after the legendary singer, songwriter and philanthropist died at age 80, and they said they were touched by the idea and open to the form of recognition, according to a release from the governor’s office.

“Dolly Parton’s extraordinary life is forever woven into the fabric of our state,” Lee said. “From her rural mountain home in East Tennessee to global stages, Dolly carried the Volunteer spirit with her.”

Lee said he believes naming the airport in her honor would be a fitting way to welcome travelers to Nashville where her music has a strong legacy. Besides selling millions of albums and winning multiple awards, Parton established the Dollywood Foundation and Imagination Library to provide scholarships, provide books worldwide to young children and provide aid during disasters such as the Gatlinburg fire and Hurricane Helene that ravaged East Tennessee areas.

Doug Kruelen, president and CEO of the airport, said in the statement he supports the proposal, calling the airport the “front door to Music City.”