OnPolitics: What to know about primaries in New York, Colorado and more

Amy Nakamura and Chelsey Cox, USA TODAY
·5 min read
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The Supreme Court on Wednesday backed Oklahoma's years-long struggle for jurisdiction over certain crimes that take place on Native American land, a decision with implications for prosecutions of other crimes on Native territory.

The 5-4 decision comes two years after the nation's highest court handed down a ruling that vastly expanded what is considered Native territory in Oklahoma. Though Oklahoma officials had asked the Supreme Court to overturn that recent ruling, the high court declined to consider that request when it agreed to hear the case in January.

At issue was whether state courts in Oklahoma may hear cases involving non-Natives accused of crimes against Native Americans occurring on reservations or whether those crimes should be handled by federal courts. State officials said the 2020 decision, which vastly expanded what is considered Native territory for these purposes, threw criminal prosecutions into chaos.

The upshot of the decision is that the federal government and the state will have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by non-Natives against Natives on Native territory.

It's Amy and Chelsey with today's top stories.

Takeaways from primaries in New York, Colorado and more

Primary battles took place in five different states on Tuesday, the first time voters have flocked to the polls since the monumental Supreme Court decision knocking down Roe v. Wade.

The most notable race of the night was arguably in New York, where Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul seeks to become the first elected female governor in the Empire State’s history. Hochul easily won the Democratic nomination in her primary.

Hochul was lieutenant governor under Andrew Cuomo, who resigned amid a sexual harassment scandal.

On the Republican side were a number of candidates looking to put the seat back in the GOP column, including Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City mayor and presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani lost to Rep. Lee Zeldin in the GOP primary.

The states of Illinois, Oklahoma, and Utah also held primaries. In Illinois, two members of the U.S. House lost primaries to other incumbents who had been placed in the same newly drawn congressional districts.

Claims of 2020 voter fraud live on in 2022: Tina Peters, a Colorado election official under indictment over efforts to bolster Trump's claims of voter fraud, headed for a third place finish in a Republican primary for secretary of state.

Trump has endorsed four GOP secretary of state candidates – in Ohio, Georgia, Michigan and Arizona – as well as Pennsylvania’s GOP gubernatorial winner Doug Mastriano, who has the authority to appoint his state’s top election official. Trump’s secretary picks won in Ohio but lost in Georgia, and his Michigan hopeful has been unofficially named the GOP candidate. The Arizona race is Aug. 2.

The Trump-endorsed candidates, except for Ohio’s, are among the 13 secretary of state hopefuls in the new America First coalition, “constitutional conservatives” either supporting false claims of election fraud or pushing for what they call “Patriot” objectives like the elimination of mail-in ballots.

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Real quick: stories you'll want to read

Finland's and Sweden's NATO bid a loss for Putin

Finland and Sweden are historically neutral countries, but both have sought to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, serving a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Before Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Putin estimated the conflict would weaken the military alliance between the U.S. and NATO. But with two new members, the alliance will only grow stronger.

"Finland and Sweden are strong democracies with highly capable militaries," President Joe Biden said in a statement. "Their membership will strengthen NATO’s collective security and benefit the entire Transatlantic Alliance."

Formal approval of the applications for the nations is pending, but Turkey lifted its opposition to their membership Tuesday, clearing the final hurdle.

Allowing Finland and Sweden to join NATO would enable the alliance to potentially place troops on the Finnish-Russian border, which spans 830 miles. Both countries also sit along the Baltic Sea, giving NATO control military control over the area.

“Finland and Sweden joining NATO turns the Baltic Sea into a NATO lake, where the Russian navy will be operating on NATO terms,” said Rose Gottemoeller, NATO’s former deputy secretary general. "It will be surrounded by NATO countries on every side.”

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced Monday that NATO allies will agree at the summit to increase their rapid reaction force from from 40,000 to 300,000 troops.

Biden announces permanent troop presence in Poland: Biden pledged during the NATO conference Wednesday to bolster U.S. military presence in Europe — including a permanent base in Poland — to resolve against Putin in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Love Halloween classic "Hocus Pocus"? A teaser for the movie's sequel just dropped Wednesday. — Amy and Chelsey

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What to know about primaries in New York, Colorado and more