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The progressive crime agenda, largely pushed by liberal mega donor George Soros, suffered a major defeat in deep blue California this week after voters soundly rejected progressive prosecutors and policies, which experts tell Fox News Digital represents a major sea change.

“I think that this is broader than just a message from people who care about crime,” Cully Stimson, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation and co-author of the book “Rogue Prosecutors: How Radical Soros Lawyers Are Destroying America’s Communities,” told Fox News Digital.

“This is a massive mandate and cry for help from the general population that we want our state back. We want our counties back, and we want our cities back and that our failed social experiments have had enough time, and they’re an absolute, abysmal failure.”

California voters overwhelmingly voted in favor of Prop 36 on Tuesday, which rolled back key provisions of Proposition 47 which was advertised by Democrats in the state as progressive crime reforms that would make the state safer.

NEW PRISON DATA BLOWS UP NARRATIVE THAT LOW-LEVEL DRUG OFFENDERS ARE FILLING UP US PRISONS: EXPERTS

But in the last several years, retail chains and mom-and-pop shops have been hit hard by theft, smash-and-grab robberies and organized retail crime gangs, while cities like San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles have been ravaged by rises in property crime and retail theft.

“For too long, Gavin Newsom, George Gascón and Democrat leaders have been trying to tell voters not to believe what they were seeing when it comes to crime,” Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told Fox News Digital. “They wanted to gaslight the public into thinking that our eyes have been lying to us. Well, the people have spoken in an overwhelming fashion. The results in the LA DA race and the Prop 36 race make it clear that Californians are done with the Democrats’ soft-on-crime experiments that put our communities’ safety at risk.”

When Proposition 47 passed in 2014, it downgraded most thefts from felonies to misdemeanors if the amount stolen was under $950, “unless the defendant had prior convictions of murder, rape, certain sex offenses, or certain gun crimes.”

LOS ANGELES DA GEORGE GASCON DEFENDS RECORD ON CRIME: ‘I KNOW HOW TO KEEP COMMUNITIES SAFE’

Every single county in the state voted in favor of Prop 36, which won by an overall margin of 70.4% to 29.6% with 54% of the votes on Thursday.

“You see all of these Walgreens, the first In N Out Burger to close, all these CVS in downtown San Francisco and L.A closing, these mom-and-pop shops closing because you’re literally telling people you can steal up to $950, and nothing’s going to happen to you,” Stimson told Fox News Digital. “Nobody with an ounce of common sense, left or right, thinks that that is a good idea. That is not reimagining criminal justice. That is a cancer unleashed on society under the fig leaf of reform.”

Progressives suffered another major loss in the city of Los Angeles, where District Attorney George Gascón, backed by Soros, was defeated by former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman as crime was seen as a top issue of the election cycle.

CALIFORNIA CRIME CRISIS: DOZENS OF CRIMINAL DEFENDANTS HANDED ‘GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARD’ ON TECHNICALITY‘

Stimson told Fox News Digital that Gascón’s policies were essentially a “middle finger” to victims and that the “Achilles heel” of the progressive prosecutor movement continues to be the “invalidity and lack of common sense” that leads “directly to rising crime rates.”

“That’s why Gascón is going to go down as the worst DA in the history of the county, maybe the country,” Stimson said. 

After losing his re-election campaign, Gascón suggested that it was part of a “rightward shift across America” that he called “heartbreaking.”

“Democrats have a long road ahead, but the work is more vital than ever, and our commitment will not waver,” Gascóon said. “Nevertheless, I have called Mr. Hochman and wish him the best as Los Angeles County’s next district attorney. I’m deeply proud of what we’ve accomplished over the past four years and grateful to the communities who have been and will always be the heart of criminal justice reform.” 

Gascón, who was a co-author of Prop 47, was ushered into office in 2020 amid a reckoning over police misconduct and national calls for criminal justice reform. His directives – such as the elimination of cash bail, not seeking the death penalty and refusing to try underage defendants charged with violent crimes as adults – were panned by critics as being too soft on crime. 

CALIFORNIA CITY EXPERIENCING ‘PERFECT STORM’ OF CRIME AND SCANDAL: ‘VACUUM OF LEADERSHIP’

In another loss for Soros-backed prosecutors in the Golden State, Alameda County, California, District Attorney Pamela Price was recalled early Wednesday, less than two years after taking office, following backlash for her alleged soft-on-crime approach.

Oakland Democratic Mayor Sheng Thao, who faced heat from her constituents amid rising crime, grand theft auto street muggings, was also ousted from office after her recall effort passed with 65% of the vote.

In San Francisco, where crime has been a major concern with voters, Democratic Mayor London Breed lost her re-election campaign.

“I don’t think this has really cabined to people who cared about crime,” Stimson said. “This is just we want our beautiful state back. We want our beautiful cities back. And your cancerous failed social experiment, your social pandemic that you’ve unleashed on us is gone. We’re done. We’re done with this. And that’s what’s happening.”

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“So, Pamela Price, losing, getting recalled. That’s a no-brainer. George Gascón losing 2 to 1. That’s a no-brainer. Prop 36 passing, that’s a no-brainer because it was the epitome of stupid and a hard thing for people to acknowledge is that Trump didn’t win because Black men are misogynists and Hispanic men are misogynists. Gascón didn’t lose because Black men are misogynist and Hispanics are misogynists. Price wasn’t recalled because of that. Prop 36 didn’t pass because of that. These things happened because the policies, in action or proposed by the other side, were dumb. Were a failure. And on the criminal law side, were deadly.”

Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph, Louis Casiano and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report

The Democratic mayor of Mississippi’s capital and its top county prosecutor were indicted Thursday amid an FBI sting operation regarding allegations that city officials were accepting payments in order to sweeten future real estate deals.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens II and Jackson City Councilman Aaron Banks were hit with charges of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, honest services wire fraud and money laundering, according to the Department of Justice.

Lumumba, son of the late Republic of New Afrika leader Chokwe Lumumba, released a video statement denying ever accepting a bribe and calling the indictment a “political prosecution” intended to “destroy [his] . . . reputation.”

“Jackson residents, it is with great disappointment that I come before you. My legal team has informed me that federal prosecutors have, in fact, indicted me on bribery and related charges,” he said. 

FLASHBACK: DOBBS LEAK AN ‘EGREGIOUS ACT’: MISSISSIPPI ATTORNEY GENERAL

“There is no coincidence, and its timing being just before the upcoming mayoral race. My legal team will vigorously defend me against these charges. Again, while I am disappointed, I am not deterred, so I ask for your patience and your prayers during this process. Thank you.”

DOJ criminal division chief Nicole Argentieri said following the indictment that public officials who abuse their positions of power to “enrich themselves undermine public confidence in government.”

“The Justice Department is committed to restoring that confidence by working with its law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute public corruption.”

The indictment alleges that between October 2023 and May 2024, Owens facilitated monetary bribes to Jackson officials on behalf of two people posing as Tennessee developers who were in fact FBI undercover agents.

“Owens instructed the developers that, for their project to succeed, they needed to secure the support of certain public officials in Jackson through bribery,” the Department of Justice said in a statement. He was later accused of making false statements to an FBI agent.

Banks, the councilman, allegedly solicited a $50,000 bribe, including an initial $10,000 cash payment, for future votes supporting the development in the Mississippi capital.

MISSISSIPPI 2024 ELECTION RESULTS

The three officials were in a bugged room on a yacht in Broward County, Florida, negotiating what they believed to be the developers’ payments when they were caught, according to the local Mississippi Clarion-Ledger.

Prior to heading south, Owens reportedly told the mayor that he had done background checks on the “developers” and said, “they’re not FBI, by the way.”

One undercover agent reportedly asked the officials to move forward a deadline for an “SOQ,” or statement of qualifications, required for the planned hotel development, and Lumumba reportedly went ahead and made a phone call.

Another agent then handed the mayor five checks worth $50,000 total. After returning to Mississippi, the funds were reportedly deposited in the mayor’s campaign account, according to the paper.

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“I am not guilty, and so I will not proceed as a guilty man,” Lumumba later told supporters at a public appearance, according to NBC News.

Owens said the indictment is a “horrible example of a flawed FBI investigation.”

“We think the truth has to come out that cherry-picked statements of drunken locker room banter is not a crime,” he said after pleading not guilty.

President-elect Donald Trump, who plans to carry out mass deportations once he returns to the Oval Office, told NBC News that the effort is “not a question of a price tag.”

“It’s not a question of a price tag. It’s not — really, we have no choice. When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, and now they’re going to go back to those countries because they’re not staying here. There is no price tag,” Trump said when questioned about his plan’s cost, according to the outlet.

Prior to winning the election, Trump promised to initiate the “largest mass deportation” in U.S. history.

Immigration was the second-most important issue to voters, according to the Fox News Voter Analysis, and Trump won 88% of voters who ranked it as their top issue.

‘LIBERATION DAY’: WHAT TO EXPECT FROM PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP ON BORDER SECURITY, IMMIGRATION

Now that he has secured a decisive victory in the 2024 White House contest, he will have the opportunity to fulfill his pledge after taking office next year.

Trump earned an Electoral College blowout, shellacking Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race, winning states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan that he previously won in 2016 but then lost in 2020.

The president-elect has announced that his campaign manager, Susie Wiles, will serve as his chief of staff.

NEW YORK DEM WARNS ‘VILIFYING VOTERS OF COLOR AS WHITE SUPREMACISTS’ PUSHES ‘THEM FURTHER INTO TRUMP’S CAMP’

“Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected,” he said in a statement. 

“It is a well deserved honor to have Susie as the first-ever female Chief of Staff in United States history,” Trump noted.

Trump has spoken to various world leaders since winning earlier this week.

TRUMP NAMES SUSIE WILES AS FIRST FEMALE WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF IN HISTORY

He has also spoken to President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., is in contention for a role in the new Trump administration, Fox News Digital is told.

Stefanik became the first congressional leader to back President-elect Trump’s third White House campaign when she endorsed him in November 2022.

She is now being discussed as a potential candidate for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, two people familiar with such discussions told Fox News Digital.

One said Stefanik was “high on the list” of potential candidates.

HERE ARE THE MOST TALKED-ABOUT CANDIDATES FOR TOP POSTS IN TRUMP’S ADMINISTRATION

But for Stefanik and other House lawmakers in contention for Trump administration roles, their chances will depend heavily on where the majority falls in their chamber.

Republicans are bullish about keeping the House majority after victories in the Senate and White House on election night.

But the outcome will likely come down to a handful of close races in California, Arizona, Alaska and Oregon – and both sides anticipate the margin being close.

Replacing a House member, even one from a district that heavily favors one party or the other, generally takes at least several weeks. And Republican leaders have already signaled they would not want to waste any time in utilizing their majorities in Congress to forward Trump’s agenda.

It’s not immediately clear who else is in contention for the UN ambassador role.

HOUSE LEADERS MOVE QUICKLY TO CONSOLIDATE POWER IN SHOW OF CONFIDENCE FOR REPUBLICAN MAJORITY

Stefanik would have familiarity with foreign affairs as a senior member of the House permanent select committee on Intelligence and the House Armed Services Committee.

The New York Republican has been a vocal supporter of Israel since the Oct. 7 terror attack by Hamas.

She’s also one of Trump’s closest allies in Congress, having headlined multiple “Women for Trump” rallies and other events for him on the campaign trail.

Stefanik announced to House colleagues on Thursday that she is running for her current leadership role as chair of the House GOP conference again.

Stefanik’s office did not return a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Notably one of Trump’s prior UN ambassadors was Nikki Haley, who challenged the president-elect for the 2024 Republican nomination before dropping out and eventually endorsing him.

Fox News Digital was also told that another House member, retired Green Beret Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., is in consideration for a Trump administration role. Waltz is being looked at as a potential candidate for Defense Secretary, though Trump is also considering options from the private sector and others, Fox News Digital was told.

SHUTDOWN STANDOFF LOOMS IN CONGRESS’ FINAL WEEKS BEFORE TRUMP’S RETURN TO WHITE HOUSE

In addition to serving in the military before coming to Congress, Waltz was an advisor for Defense Secretaries Robert Gates and Donald Rumsfeld, and spent time in the private sector as CEO of defense contractor Metis Solutions.

He’s currently on the House Armed Services and Intelligence committees with Stefanik, in addition to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Waltz’s office did not respond to an email requesting comment.

Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital when asked for comment about the possible appointments, “President-Elect Trump will begin making decisions on who will serve in his second Administration soon. Those decisions will be announced when they are made.”

President Biden made a series of gaffes, mistakes and surprising comments while Vice President Kamala Harris rallied national support for her run for the Oval Office. 

Biden campaigned for and endorsed Harris this cycle, but amid the roughly 100-day Harris-Walz campaign, he also made a series of mistakes that likely hurt her chances of winning the election. Biden initially ran for re-election this year before dropping out in July as concerns mounted over his mental acuity and age. 

Fox News Digital examined the last roughly 100 days of the campaign cycle and compiled the top missteps and surprising comments that became fodder for the Trump campaign before the 45th president sailed to re-election on Tuesday. 

BIDEN CONGRATULATES TRUMP, PLEDGES ‘PEACEFUL AND ORDERLY’ TRANSFER OF POWER

“Donald Trump has no character. He doesn’t give a damn about the Latino community,” Biden said during a campaign call at the White House. “Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage.

“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.” 

WHITE HOUSE ALTERED BIDEN’S ‘GARBAGE’ TRANSCRIPT DESPITE CONCERNS FROM STENOGRAPHERS

Biden’s comments set off a lightning storm of criticism from Republicans nationwide, with some comparing it to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” comment during a fundraiser during her failed 2016 campaign, which was viewed as likely undermining her campaign.

The White House attempted to backtrack on Biden’s comment, saying it was in reference specifically to remarks made during Trump’s massive Madison Square Garden rally. Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, host of the popular podcast “Kill Tony,” sparked backlash after he cracked a joke hours ahead of Trump taking the stage at Madison Square Garden that Puerto Rico is a “floating island of garbage.” 

“Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporters at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage — which is the only word I can think of to describe it,” Biden wrote in a post on X. “His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation.”

Despite efforts to walk the comments back, Trump and his campaign leaned into the derogatory comment, with Trump donning a bright orange sanitization vest and climbing into a “MAGA”-decorated trash truck during a Wisconsin campaign event. 

Biden went viral on social media in September, when he visited Pennsylvania voters at the Shanksville Fire Station on the anniversary of 9/11, after participating in a wreath-laying ceremony at the town’s memorial site for United Airlines Flight 93. 

BIDEN SHOCKS THE INTERNET BY DONNING TRUMP 2024 HAT: ‘THIS ISN’T AI’

While in the firehouse, he spoke with a Trump supporter and decided to put the man’s pro-Trump hat on his head. 

“BREAKING: Kamala did so bad in last night’s debate, Joe Biden just put on a Trump hat,” the Trump war room said on X of the footage. 

“At this point even Joe Biden is voting for President Trump,” State of Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis quipped online. 

“Joe Biden just put on a Trump 2024 campaign cap. This is not a joke… he really did,” broadcaster Piers Morgan wrote, with an emoji of a monkey covering its eyes.

The White House also confirmed the footage was real and defended the bizarre scene as Biden spreading a message of unity to voters. 

“At the Shanksville Fire Station, @POTUS spoke about the country’s bipartisan unity after 9/11 and said we needed to get back to that. As a gesture, he gave a hat to a Trump supporter who then said that in the same spirit, POTUS should put on his Trump cap. He briefly wore it,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates wrote on X.

In another unexpected wardrobe choice, first lady Jill Biden set social media ablaze earlier this week when she wore red-colored pantsuit to vote on Tuesday. Red is the color of the Republican Party, sparking commenters to joke that perhaps Jill Biden voted for Trump as a protest to Democrats calling on President Biden to exit the presidential race over the summer. 

As two hurricanes ripped through the southeast U.S. in October, Harris slammed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ response to the natural disasters, with her campaign claiming his office denied phone calls from the Harris team. 

“People are in desperate need of support right now and playing political games with this moment, in these crisis situations, these are the height of emergency situations, it’s just utterly irresponsible, and it is selfish,” Harris told reporters of DeSantis. 

BIDEN UNDERMINES HARRIS CLAIM THAT RON DESANTIS IS POLITICIZING HURRICANE RESPONSE: ‘DOING A GREAT JOB’

Biden declared a day after Harris’ remarks that the GOP governor was doing a “great job” and thanked him for his efforts to assist Floridians. 

“The governor of Florida has been cooperative. He said he’s gotten all that he needs. I talked to him again yesterday, and I said – no – you’re doing a great job, it’s all being done well, and we thank you for it,” Biden said. “There was a rough start in some places, but every governor, every governor – from Florida to North Carolina – has been fully cooperative and supportive.”

DeSantis later shot back at Harris’ claims that he was playing politics with the storm, accusing her of being the actual culprit of engaging in political gamesmanship.  

“I’ve worked on these hurricanes under both President Trump and President Biden. Neither of them ever tried to politicize it. She has never called on any of the storms we’ve had since she’s been vice president until apparently now,” DeSantis said. “Why, all of the sudden, is she trying to parachute in and inject herself when she’s never shown any interest in the past? We know it’s because of politics, we know it’s because of her campaign.”

“Harris is not even in the chain of command. She has no role in this,” DeSantis added. “The idea that I should be, like, worrying about her when I’m focused on the task at hand is just quite frankly absurd.”

In another surprising incident during the election cycle, Biden was caught on camera playfully biting babies dressed in Halloween costumes at a trick-or-treat event last month. Biden playfully biting the babies unfolded as Trump campaigned in Wisconsin while dressed in the sanitization vest in rebuke of Biden’s “garbage” comment. 

BIDEN SEEN BITING BABIES IN-COSTUME AT WHITE HOUSE HALLOWEEN EVENT

TRUMP VOWS TO LEAD ‘GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA’ IN VICTORY SPEECH: ‘FIX EVERYTHING’

Trump secured the massive election win early Wednesday morning, after key battleground states such as Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia voted in his favor. 

“Every citizen, I will fight for you, for your family and your future. Every single day, I will be fighting for you. And with every breath in my body, I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve. This will truly be the golden age of America. That’s what we have to have. This is a magnificent victory for the American people that will allow us to make America great again,” Trump said during his victory speech in the dead of night. 

Harris held an election watch party at her alma mater, Howard University, in Washington, D.C., but did not publicly join her supporters as the election results began trending in Trump’s direction. Biden spent the night of the election at the White House, skipping the party. 

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel and Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report. 

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.    

Democrats are reportedly discussing whether to call on Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to immediately resign in an effort to avoid her replacement potentially being made under President-elect Donald Trump, Politico reports.

Democrats lost their Senate majority to Republicans in the 2024 election, which, according to one Democratic senator, prompted discussion over whether to initiate an immediate replacement of Sotomayor, 70, during their remaining two months in control of the chamber.

The concerns stem from the possibility of Trump filling her seat if it becomes vacant during his presidency. However, with the former president taking office in just two months, any proponents of a quick turnaround replacement have a short window to act.

“She can sort of resign conditionally on someone being appointed to replace her,” a Democratic senator told Politico Playbook. “But she can’t resign conditioned on a specific person. What happens if she resigns and the nominee to replace her isn’t confirmed, and the next president fills the vacancy?”

JONATHAN TURLEY: TRUMP’S VICTORY PUTS AN END TO DEMOCRAT ATTACKS ON ONE BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT

The Democrat also told the outlet that there remain two top concerns about the idea: confirming a new justice under Congress’ already packed schedule and whether any members would be willing to go on the record against Sotomayor.

SUPREME COURT REJECTS LAWYER MICHAEL COHEN LAWSUIT AGAINST TRUMP OVER ALLEGED RETALIATION

Proponents of the idea would have to guarantee enough Senate votes to ensure a quick confirmation before Trump takes office, which one source told Playbook, could face a potential roadblock from members such as retiring Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., if they do not support the replacement.

Those discussing a potential replacement for Sotomayor are already eyeing D.C. Circuit Judge J. Michelle Childs, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2009.

The Democrats are also considering focusing their remaining time in leadership on the appointment of lower-court judges waiting to be confirmed.

Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Maura Healey says that her state police will “absolutely not” be cooperating with the expected mass deportation effort by the incoming Trump administration, warning that she will use “every tool in the toolbox” to “protect” residents in the blue state.

Healey was asked on MSNBC on Wednesday whether the Massachusetts State Police would assist the federal government in the mass deportation of illegal immigrants. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to launch the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history” to deport millions of illegal immigrants.

“Following the Eisenhower Model, we will carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history,” Trump said during the campaign.

‘NOW’S THE TIME’: TRUMP VICTORY HAS BIDEN ADMIN BRACING FOR MIGRANT SURGE AT SOUTHERN BORDER

However, Healey made her position clear.

“No. Absolutely not,” she said when asked if state police would help the administration.

“I do think it is important that we all recognize that there is going to be a lot of pressure on states and state officials. I can assure you we’re going to work hard to deliver,” she said.

Healey launched a number of lawsuits against the last Trump administration as attorney general of the state and indicated a lot of resistance could be coming in 2025, including litigation and the use of regulation and executive authority.

“Some realities need to be noted and that is in 2016, we had a different situation in the courts, and I am sure there may be litigation ahead, there is a lot of other ways people are going to act and need to act for the sake of their states and residents,” she said. “There’s regulatory authority and executive powers and the like, there’s legislation also within our state.”

‘LIBERATION DAY’: WHAT TO EXPECT FROM PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP ON BORDER SECURITY, IMMIGRATION

“So I think the key here is that, you know, every tool in the tool box has got to be used to protect our citizens, to protect our residents and protect our states and to hold the line on democracy and the rule of law as a basic principle.”

Massachusetts has been one of a number of states that have been overwhelmed by the migrant surge coming from the southern border.

Last year, she declared a state of emergency in the state due to the surge and called for federal action. She also acknowledged that the state’s policies may be a draw for migrants.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

“Many of these families are migrants to Massachusetts, drawn here because we are and proudly have been a beacon to those in need,” she wrote in a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

She also blamed “a confusing tangle of immigration laws, an inability for migrants to obtain work authorization from the federal government, an increase in the number of people coming to Massachusetts, and the lack of an affordable housing supply in our state.”

Healey called for Mayorkas to press Congress and use executive action to remove barriers for work permits for migrants, “address our outdated and punitive immigration laws” and to provide additional financial assistance to the state.

Her state has also prioritized work authorizations, job training, English classes and rehousing assistance for migrants. It said earlier this year that it has helped 3,785 migrants apply for work authorization, and enrolled more than 1,100 in English classes.

A toss-up Maine House race between incumbent Democrat Rep. Jared Golden and his Republican challenger Austin Theriault is heading to a ranked-choice tabulation after no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, officials say. 

The tightly contested race in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District is one of several that will decide whether Democrats keep control of the House of Representatives or lose it to Republicans, with President-elect Donald Trump gearing up to return to the White House in January. Trump won the district in the presidential race.

As of Friday morning, the balance of power in the House is still undecided, with Republicans at 211 seats to Democrats at 199 seats. A total of 218 seats are needed for the majority.

With nearly 98% of the vote in as of Friday morning, Golden is leading Theriault by just 1,414 votes, according to The Associated Press.  

The Democrat already declared victory Wednesday over Theriault, who is a Maine state representative and former NASCAR driver, saying at the time that he was up by around 3,000 votes with “very few outstanding ballots.” 

REPUBLICANS WITHIN STRIKING DISTANCE OF HOUSE MAJORITY AS KEY RACES REMAIN TOO CLOSE TO CALL 

“Any viable path to a win for my opponent has closed, so I’m here to declare victory,” Golden told reporters. “Anyone who has observed this race knows that this was my toughest election yet. Across the country, no Democrat has withstood stronger headwinds from the top of the ticket, the pundits or the organized opposition.” 

The Maine secretary of state announced late last night that the contest is now heading to a ranked-choice tabulation that will begin in the state’s capital of Augusta next week, WMTW reported. 

Both Golden and Theriault were running for the House seat alongside write-in candidate Diane Merenda. 

Because nobody reached a majority, second-choice votes from Merenda supporters and ballots that were submitted without a first-choice mark will be redistributed among the candidates’ totals, according to WMTW. It also reported that Theriault plans to request a recount that would start after the ranked-choice tabulation. 

HOUSE LEADERS MOVE QUICKLY TO CONSOLIDATE POWER IN SHOW OF CONFIDENCE FOR REPUBLICAN MAJORITY 

“The rules are clear: A ranked-choice run-off is required only if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of first-choice votes. When the clerks reported returns on Tuesday, Congressman Golden was the candidate who received more than 50 percent of first-choice votes,” Golden’s campaign told the station. “Voters have a right to see elections decided both accurately and expediently. State Rep. Theriault has asserted his right to a recount by hand and Congressman Golden agrees to it. So let’s just do it, rather than incur the delays and expenses of a ranked-choice run-off.” 

Theriault wrote on X that “This is the closest federal or statewide race in modern Maine political history, so let’s work together to ensure an accurate count and that the final result reflects the will of the people.” 

“We were significantly outspent, but the closeness of our race against a three-term incumbent is a testament to your hard work and commitment to improving our country,” he added. 

The Maine secretary of state’s office did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

President-elect Donald Trump made history twice this week, first by winning the White House for a second time as a former president, and then by naming Susie Wiles to be his chief of staff.

Wiles, a longtime GOP operative and advisor to Trump, will be the first woman to hold that coveted position in American history. By all accounts, she has earned it. Wiles is credited with tightening up Trump’s campaign operations after his 2020 loss and helping him win both the Electoral College and national popular vote in 2024 – an achievement that has eluded Republican candidates for president for 20 years.

“Susie Wiles just helped me achieve one of the greatest political victories in American history, and was an integral part of both my 2016 and 2020 successful campaigns,” Trump said in a statement on Thursday, announcing her White House appointment. 

“Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected. Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again. It is a well deserved honor to have Susie as the first-ever female Chief of Staff in United States history. I have no doubt that she will make our country proud,” he said. 

TRUMP CHIEF OF STAFF SUSIE WILES ONCE HELPED NFL BROADCAST LEGEND FATHER PAT SUMMERALL BEAT ALCOHOLISM

However, while Wiles is known, respected and even feared in Florida, she is not well-known in Washington, D.C., and certainly not nationally. So who is Susie Wiles? Here are five things to know about the next White House chief of staff: 

Wiles is the daughter of late legendary NFL broadcaster Pat Summerall. Summerall was an NFL champion kicker and the lead color commentator alongside John Madden on CBS for more than two decades.

During his broadcast career, Summerall admitted to becoming an alcoholic. In his 2006 biography, he recounted how his daughter, Susie, staged an intervention for him and helped him break addiction.

“Dad, the few times we’ve been out in public together recently, I’ve been ashamed we shared the same last name,” Wiles said in a letter that was read during the intervention, according to Summerall’s 2006 autobiography, “On and Off the Air.”

Summerall wrote that the words of his daughter inspired him to take steps to address his addiction. 

In the late 1970s, Wiles was hired as an assistant to Summerall’s old teammate on the New York Giants, someone who went on to have a long and successful career in the House of Representatives and later be nominated for vice president. That was none other than the late Jack Kemp, one of the chief backers of former President Ronald Reagan’s supply-side economics theories and architect of the Regan tax cuts. 

Wiles went on to work for Reagan himself as a scheduler for his 1980 presidential campaign and later the White House. She left Washington, D.C., for Florida in the 1990s and served as chief of staff to John Delaney, the mayor of Jacksonville. She also worked as the district director for Rep. Tillie Fowler in Northeast Florida. 

SUSIE WILES, THE ‘ICE BABY,’ IS A TOP CONTENDER FOR TRUMP’S CHIEF OF STAFF, SOURCES SAY

Delaney heaped praise on Wiles in an interview for Politico Magazine. “I’ve described her as a political savant — just otherworldly sort of political instincts,” he said. 

Wiles continued to be a fixture of Florida politics for decades, eventually helping a health care executive named Rick Scott become governor in 2010. Scott is now Florida’s junior senator and this week is celebrating his re-election to a second term. 

Wiles has worked for every stripe of Republican imaginable, from moderate to hard-line conservative. However, she surprised her friends and allies when, in 2015, she decided to become the Trump campaign’s co-chairwoman in Florida. 

“As a card-carrying member of the G.O.P. establishment, many thought my full-throated endorsement of the Trump candidacy was ill advised — even crazy,” Wiles told the New York Times in a rare public statement. 

Though faced with skepticism, Wiles explained to the Tampa Bay Times at the time that she believed no other Republican running for the presidency in 2016 was prepared to deliver the change she felt Washington, D.C., needed. She said national Republicans had developed “an expediency culture” and lost sight of core principles. 

“I said, ‘I don’t want this to continue.’ I think it seriously will damage our republic and who among that group can really have the fortitude to shift what I’ve seen happening over all these years?” Wiles told the paper.

It turned out that her instincts were right. Trump won the primary and shocked the political establishment by defeating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in an upset. 

In 2018, a young Florida congressman named Ron DeSantis decided to run for governor. He won a contested Republican primary thanks to Trump’s endorsement, but his campaign was struggling and behind in the polls.

With a little more than a month before the election, DeSantis hired Wiles to right the ship. Her guidance is largely credited with pushing DeSantis over the finish line in a narrow victory over disgraced former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum.

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However, a rift grew between DeSantis and Wiles after the election. Politico reported that state first lady Casey DeSantis was suspicious of Wiles’ growing influence and power in the governor’s orbit. Eventually, Wiles was edged out of DeSantis’ inner circle.

She wound up back in Trump’s orbit for his unsuccessful 2020 campaign and remained a close and valued advisor as he plotted a return to the White House in 2024. She was with the Trump campaign when DeSantis mounted his own campaign for president, and many suspect Trump’s team used Wiles’ insider knowledge of DeSantis to defeat the Florida governor.

In January, Wiles responded to a report on X that DeSantis had cleared his campaign website of upcoming events.

“Bye, bye,” she wrote. 

In addition to her work on political campaigns, Wiles is a registered lobbyist. 

Federal disclosures filed in April show Wiles was a lobbyist for the tobacco company Swisher International while running the Trump campaign. The documents show she worked to influence Congress on “FDA regulations.” 

WIles is the co-chair for the Florida and Washington, D.C., offices of Mercury Public Affairs, a lobbying firm whose clients include AirBnB, AT&T, eBay, Pfizer, Tesla, and the Embassy of Qatar, although she is not a registered lobbyist for any of those clients. 

Previously, Wiles worked for Ballard Partners, a Florida-based firm started by lobbyist Brian Ballard. 

Fox News’ Jackson Thompson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A Donald Trump presidency is sure to have reverberations at the United Nations (U.N.), and first on the chopping block could be its funding. 

The U.N. currently relies on the U.S. for about a third of its budget. President Biden increased U.S. financial contributions to the U.N., boosting it from $11.6 billion in 2020 to $18.1 billion in 2022. This gives a new administration wiggle room to withhold funds to the U.N. if its global interests do not align with the U.S.’, a notion some Republicans have already pushed for. 

The U.S. gave about three times as much that year as the next-highest contributors, Germany at $6.8 billion and Japan at $2.7 billion. 

“They will have to recalibrate now very much again in the Trump administration that will, I believe, be much more attentive, engaged and monitoring of the U.N.,” predicted Hugh Dugan, a longtime member of the U.S. delegation to the U.N. 

“There are teams there that have been sleepwalking the last few years without U.S. pressure on accountability, efficiency and effectiveness.”

Trump will be in office when the international body elects its next secretary general in 2026, and the U.S. will have veto power over any candidate. 

“Over the next year and a half, it’s going to make an effort to look more managerially competent to avoid some of the stern green eyes seated across here – attention that Elon Musk and the Trump team will want to bring to the consideration of the secretary general selection.”

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Trump would also likely once again withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accords and the U.N. Global Compact on Migration. 

The U.N. particularly relies on the U.S. for global aid programs. In 2022, it provided half of all contributions to the World Food Programme, and about a third of all contributions to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the International Organization for Migration.

“There’s no doubt the U.N. is frightened and horrified,” of Trump taking office, said Hillel Neuer, executive director of U.N. Watch. 

“We’re going to see budget cuts,” he said. “The most memorable being UNRWA.” 

Trump cut funding to the organization that distributes aid to Palestinians in Gaza. Biden led the U.S. in reinstating that aid and earmarking $1 billion for UNRWA – before freezing that aid when it was revealed that some employees had links to Hamas. 

“I would say the Human Rights Office, which is based in Geneva, the U.N. Human Rights Council, America gives voluntary funds to that bureaucracy. I could see that being cut,” Neuer said. 

Some wonder whether Trump and a Republican-led Congress might try to withdraw the U.S. from the U.N. entirely. The GOP-controlled House passed a spending bill in June that would eliminate funding for the U.N.’s regular budget.

However, despite an adversarial tone toward global institutions, Trump is not expected to stop dealing with the U.N. altogether. In his first administration, he enjoyed a good relationship with Secretary General António Guterres, inviting him to the White House, and seemed to enjoy his yearly address to the General Assembly and the pageantry of world leaders traipsing through the New York City headquarters. 

“He engaged personally up there quite a lot. And during the opening of the General Assembly, he brought the White House up there, frankly, and lived up there for that week every year and operated. He recognizes the value of the organization, if just as a meeting place,” said Dugan.

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Trump could also seek to push candidates for leadership over agencies like UNICEF and the World Food Programme that challenge U.N. orthodoxy and encourage American employment across the agency to counter China’s growing influence. 

China doubled the number of its nationals employed at the U.N. to nearly 15,000 from 2009 to 2021. 

“This was very much in the mind of the Trump administration when I worked in the White House that China’s growing its influence in subtle and not so subtle ways throughout the organization, affording it a globalized platform of legitimacy that they’re ready and willing to exploit to their national ends,” said Dugan. 

“The U.S. has to study the terrain of the organization better and identify, in particular, the key posts and influential offices that we should show up with our best talent and make sure that we are effective. The Chinese have been doing that really well.”

Additionally, though the Biden administration did buck a number of U.N. resolutions that targeted Israel, he was naturally more supportive of international organizations as a whole.