
Republicans set to expand House majority with victory in Ohio special election
CNN
Republican Michael Rulli will win the special election for Ohio’s 6th Congressional District, CNN projects, helping his party expand its narrow House majority.
Republican Michael Rulli will win the special election for Ohio’s 6th Congressional District, CNN projects, helping his party expand its narrow House majority. Rulli, a Youngstown-area state senator and an executive for his family’s grocery store chain, is projected to defeat Democratic Air Force veteran Michael Kripchak in the race for the sprawling district along the Ohio River in eastern Ohio. Rulli will succeed former Rep. Bill Johnson, a seven-term Republican who resigned in January to become the president of Youngstown State University. Rulli was the heavy favorite going into Tuesday in a district that Donald Trump would have carried by 28 points under its current lines in 2020. On his way to winning the GOP nomination in March, Rulli earned endorsements from former Ohio GOP Chairwoman Jane Timken, Ohio Rep. David Joyce, who represents a neighboring district, and the US Chamber of Commerce.Tuesday’s election was the first of two matchups between Rulli and Kripchak this year. The two are set to face off again in November, when they will compete for the full two-year term that begins in January. Adding Rulli to their ranks will help Republicans pad their slim House majority. The party will hold 219 seats to Democrats’ 213, with three vacancies: those left by the resignations of Republicans Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin and Ken Buck of Colorado and by the death of New Jersey Democrat Donald Payne Jr.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.

Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.

Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.










