Outside money pours into Ohio races and more news from the states

Good morning! Thanks for joining us for our Tuesday edition of Daybreak. We’re starting off our lineup with news out of Tennessee.

The state Department of Health earlier this month imposed a broad immigration verification mandate on agencies serving low-income Tennesseans living with HIV/AIDS. The memo cites state law that requires verifying anyone seeking federal, state or local benefits is lawfully present in the United States. Our Tennessee newsroom reports that Nashville CARES has filed a lawsuit seeking to declare the contract changes invalid. 

In Rhode Island, a pause on new Flock automated license plate reader installations has been extended after Democratic Gov. Dan McKee announced he would leave it to the General Assembly to establish binding statewide safeguards for the surveillance technology.

And an Arizona congressman is demanding answers regarding unmarked “pop-up” immigration courts. After learning that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was using a Federal Emergency Management Agency building as an immigration court, Democratic U.S. Reps. Greg Stanton and Jamie Raskin of Maryland want to intervene.

Texas: The 56-year-old Mexican man who died while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody was a lawful permanent resident in the country, the agency said in a statement. Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias was found unconscious in his bed at the Rio Grande Processing Center on Saturday morning.

California: The Trump administration charged 28 immigrants with allegedly illegally voting or registering to vote in California in its latest push to hunt down voter fraud. Such cases are exceedingly rare and not proof elections are fraudulent.

Florida: A federal appeals court ruled school board members may be deposed about why they removed library books and classroom material. The lawsuit was brought by book publishers, parents and the PEN American Center in 2023 after Escambia County officials voted to remove library books deemed to have sensitive content.

Maryland: The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge from a group of Montgomery County parents who claim that the county’s lottery system for admission to middle school magnet programs decreases the number of Asian American students in the programs.

Louisiana: Two major coastal restoration projects got the final go-ahead to begin construction, and will together restore up to 1,700 acres of coastal shoreline and wetland habitat at a total cost of $265 million.

Pennsylvania: The state House passed a measure that would require public and private schools across the state to draft universal bell-to-bell cellphone bans for students. The House also moved a bill that would limit how law enforcement can use automated license plate readers.

See the rest of the news of the day from all 50 states, plus our D.C. Bureau and Stateline, on News From The States.

A breakdown from AdImpact Politics shows a group in support of Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy placed $5.8 million in new Ohio gubernatorial ad reservations on Oct. 8. (AdImpact Politics/X)

While voters are worrying over the cost of living and getting pummeled with campaign ads in the waning weeks of the midterm election, outside groups are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into Ohio’s races for governor and U.S. Senate, Ohio Capital Journal reports.

The candidates are spending heavily on TV spots to promote themselves, attack their opponents, or refute the attacks their opponents made about them. The factor turning a glut of campaign ads into an onslaught is spending from outside groups.

In the Ohio governor’s race, Democrat Dr. Amy Acton has repeatedly outraised Vivek Ramaswamy, her Republican opponent, but that advantage vanishes when you factor in the super PACs supporting Ramaswamy’s bid.

In its most recent quarterly report, the Ramaswamy-aligned super PAC V-PAC raised more than $18 million. A single donor, Pennsylvania billionaire Jeff Yass, wrote Ramaswamy a check for $10 million — doubling his previous contributions.

In her most recent filing, Acton reported raising $6 million in a month.

Ohio’s U.S. Senate race has drawn even more outside attention. A recent report from the advertising tracking firm AdImpact has Ohio as the most expensive Senate race in the country, with outside groups spending more than $325 million. In both races, Republicans hold a significant financial advantage. However, polling continues to suggest a relatively close race with the Democrats holding a roughly 4-point advantage in polling averages.

Rhode Island’s precious historical documents and objects already have a place to stay: the State Archives, which occupies leased space on Providence’s Broad Street, Rhode Island Current reports.

What Democratic Secretary of State Gregg Amore wants is a place where more of these treasures can be shared and seen.

A question on the ballot this year will ask voters to decide whether they want to authorize $50 million in general obligation bonds, of which up to $45 million would go toward the construction of a new Rhode Island State History Center in Providence. An additional $5 million in grants would preserve historic and cultural properties around the state.

It’s one of five bond questions on the Nov. 3 ballot, which altogether ask voters to authorize $600 million in borrowing — the biggest bond package ever put before the state’s voters.

But unlike the other questions, which focus on higher education, housing, economic development, and green energy, conservation, recreation and environmental cleanup, the ballot question concerns borrowing for something not always embraced by Rhode Island voters, who are otherwise known for being generous at the ballot box.