NATIONAL NEWS

Federal judge dismisses lawsuit over effort to close Arkansas Republican primary

May 7, 2025, 3:05 PM

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal judge has tossed out a lawsuit aimed at making Arkansas’ GOP primary open only to registered Republicans.

U.S. District Judge Brian Miller on Monday granted the motion to dismiss the lawsuit that had been filed by about two dozen of the delegates from the state Republican Party’s convention last year.

The lawsuit stemmed from delegates at the state Republican Party convention voting to allow only registered GOP voters to participate in the party’s primary. The party’s executive committee in July nullified that proposal and several other actions by the convention, saying proper steps weren’t taken to consider them.

“Although plaintiffs’ positions are understandable, their claims must be dismissed because federal court is not the appropriate forum to resolve their dispute,” Miller wrote in the seven-page order.

Voters in Arkansas aren’t required to choose a party when they register, and the majority of voters don’t pick Republican or Democratic.

Attorney General Tim Griffin, whose office represented the state in the case, said he appreciated the judge dismissing the case.

“This dispute was settled within the Republican Party of Arkansas months ago,” Griffin said in a statement. “It never made sense for the state to be sued over it.”

The lawsuit had named the Arkansas Republican Party chairman, the secretary of state and members of the state board of election commissioners as defendants.

Jennifer Lancaster, the lead plaintiff in the case, said she and the other delegates were “prayerfully and strategically” considering their next steps.

“We stood up to protect the Republican Party from being hijacked by Democrats voting in our primaries,” Lancaster said in a statement. “We believe that Republican nominees should be chosen by Republican voters. That’s not radical — it’s foundational.”

National News

Musk oxen are shown Saturday, May 10, 2025, at the Musk Ox Farm in Palmer, Alaska. (AP Photo/Mark T...

Associated Press

An Alaska Mother’s Day tradition: Mingling with ice age survivors on a farm

PALMER, Alaska (AP) — It is one of Alaska’s favorite Mother’s Day traditions, getting up close and personal with animals that have survived the ice age. All moms get a daisy and free admission Sunday at the Musk Ox Farm in Palmer, about an hour’s drive north of Anchorage. Once inside they will have the […]

2 hours ago

From left Bobby Gumpright and Jermaine Hudson talks with the Associated Press on Tuesday, April 29 ...

Associated Press

A split jury and a lie sent him to prison. Now he’s working to change Louisiana’s law

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — As 18-year-old Bobby Gumpright rode his bike home from his bartending job in New Orleans in 1999, he began to concoct a story about why he didn’t have any money. In the throes of addiction and not wanting to admit he had spent his paycheck on drugs, Gumpright lied to […]

2 hours ago

A pedestrian walks past the St. Vincent Jewelry Center in the Jewelry District of Los Angeles, Frid...

Associated Press

Economic jitters and soaring gold prices create a frenzy for US jewelry merchants

LOS ANGELES (AP) — At the biggest jewelry center in the United States, Alberto Hernandez fired up his machine on a recent day and waited until it glowed bright orange inside before shoveling in an assortment of rings, earrings and necklaces weighing about as much as a bar of soap: just under 100 grams, or […]

2 hours ago

Tufts University student from Turkey, Rumeysa Ozturk, who was arrested by immigration agents while ...

Associated Press

Turkish Tufts University student back in Boston after release from Louisiana detention center

BOSTON (AP) — A Tufts University student from Turkey returned to Boston on Saturday, one day after being released from a Louisiana immigration detention center where she was held for over six weeks. Upon arrival at Logan Airport, Rumeysa Ozturk told reporters she was excited to get back to her studies during what has been […]

4 hours ago

FILE - Johnny Rodriguez poses for a photo in Nashville, Tenn., July 3, 1996. (AP Photo/Christopher ...

Associated Press

Mexican-American singer Johnny Rodriguez, whose 1970s country hits topped charts, dies at 73

Country-music star Johnny Rodriguez, a popular Mexican-American singer best known for chart-topping hits in the 1970s, including “I Just Can’t Get Her Out of My Mind,” “Ridin’ My Thumb to Mexico” and “That’s the Way Love Goes,” has died. He was 73. Rodriguez died Friday, according to social media statements posted by his daughter, Aubry […]

10 hours ago

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller speaks to reporters outside the White House, Frida...

Associated Press

Trump team mulls suspending the constitutional right of habeas corpus to speed deportations. Can it?

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller says President Donald Trump is looking for ways to expand its legal power to deport migrants who are in the United States illegally. To achieve that, he says the administration is “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus, the constitutional right for people to legally […]

12 hours ago

Federal judge dismisses lawsuit over effort to close Arkansas Republican primary