people

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — The Republican establishment, after his three Tuesday night wins, continues to fret that Donald Trump is costing the party support among the demographics it most needs to court: Hispanics and women. And the candidate's behavior at a rally here Wednesday night — his second in the state this week — didn't give them any reason to feel comfortable with the idea of him becoming the nominee. It was another exercise in eviction. "This is lots more fun than a Trump rally, right?” the GOP front-runner yelled, watching as police in the Crown Coliseum forcibly removed protesters.  An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday showed 60 percent of voters think Trump is hurting the GOP's image. Some conservatives echoed those concerns at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington last weekend.  

But Republican primary voters in the NBC/WSJ poll were almost evenly split about whether Trump is positive or harmful to the party. Plenty of Trump's supporters, especially women for whom the economy is more important than social issues, told Roll Call they believe Trump is actually widening the GOP tent by bringing in not just new voters, but voters who see him as more willing to negotiate than Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.  

FORT WASHINGTON, Md. — The last two Republican presidential nominees forcefully denounced Donald Trump on Thursday, but at one of the largest conservative confabs of the year, the GOP front-runner's name hardly came up.  

In fact, explicit references to the presidential race were few and far between at the first day of speeches at the Conservative Political Action Conference.  

In a laborious and at times heated hearing Friday afternoon, Indiana's Election Commission voted not to uphold combined challenges to Rep. Todd Young's appearing on the GOP Senate primary ballot.  

Democrats challenged Young's place on the ballot earlier this month, arguing that he submitted fewer signatures from the 1st District than the requisite 500. The Indiana Election Division found Young's campaign had 501 signatures from the 1st District.  

On the eve of her state's GOP presidential primary, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley threw her support behind Marco Rubio.  

One of the most vulnerable members of the House is lurking in the shadows outside of New Hampshire's presidential spotlight.  

Attention on the Republican presidential candidates in the Granite State's first in the nation primary on Tuesday would normally be a golden opportunity for a down-ballot incumbent like GOP Rep. Frank C. Guinta, who has $12,000 in his campaign account, to hitch a ride, boost his visibility and secure some much-needed donations.  

Facing a redrawn 4th District much friendlier to Democrats, Virginia Republican Rep. J. Randy Forbes has decided to run for the 2nd District, currently held by retiring Rep. Scott Rigell .  

Democratic county chairs in New York's 19th District are meeting Saturday to select their candidate of choice in a must-win seat for the party to make gains in the House.  

Democrats have no shortage of interested people in this Hudson Valley district that President Barack Obama carried twice. But the 19th isn't classically blue. It's rural and agricultural, and Democrats are anxious about landing a candidate who fits the turf — someone who will allow them to capitalize on presidential-year turnout and GOP Rep. Chris Gibson finally being off the ballot .  

Former North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan is back to splitting her time between Washington and the Tar Heel State. She's just not doing what she thought she'd be doing, or what Democrats hoped she would be doing in 2017.  

After narrowly losing her 2014 re-election, Hagan taught at the Harvard Institute of Politics , and on Monday, she started a new job at the lobbying firm Akin Gump  in Washington, D.C.  

Another, albeit expected, Republican  has announced that he's joining the crowded GOP field to take on Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in Colorado.  

State Rep. Jon Keyser, a major in the Air Force Reserves who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, announced his candidacy Monday, casting 2016 as a national security election in which his military experience would given him an advantage.  

It's not unusual for Maine Gov. Paul LePage's comments to make national news.  

The two-term Maine Republican has a penchant for speaking off the cuff in a similar tell-it-like-it-is manner as the presidential candidate whom he's endorsed, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.