Why California is taking so long to count votes in key primary races

2026-06-06T09:00:00.000Z / The Washington Post

The state is an outlier in taking days to count most votes, but supporters of the system say it is designed to enfranchise more people while protecting against fraud.

June 6, 2026 at 5:00 a.m. EDT Today at 5:00 a.m. EDT

An election worker moves mail-in ballots to be counted at a Los Angeles County processing center on June 2. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images)

By Praveena Somasundaram

California’s notoriously slow ballot count persists despite attempts to fix the problem, leaving key races in the Tuesday primary uncalled and unleashing a new round of baseless conspiracy theories.

Officials knew before the election that they would be accused of vote-rigging, as they have in past cycles in which Republicans lost ground as late ballots were counted. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed bills aimed at a faster count. Last month, he urged election authorities to process ballots quickly.

以色列与黎巴嫩真主党继续交火，黎巴嫩南部局势不断紧张。周五（6月5日）在黎南的纳巴蒂耶（Nabatieh），一辆汽车遭以军击中起火燃烧。 （路透社）

（贝鲁特综合电）黎巴嫩总统奥恩周五（6月5日）指责伊朗在与美国谈判时利用黎巴嫩为谈判筹码，要求伊朗停止干涉黎巴嫩内政。这是奥恩至今对伊朗和黎巴嫩真主党做出极为严厉的批评。伊朗已将黎巴嫩停火作为与美国达成和平协议的先决条件。

奥恩接受美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）访问时说，黎巴嫩人民正在为伊朗的利益付出代价，并对以色列和真主党之间的战争感到厌倦。

他指伊朗把黎巴嫩当成跟美国谈判的筹码，并说：“这是无法令人接受的。”

同天，黎巴嫩总理萨拉姆在贝鲁特举行的记者会上，直接向伊朗领导人喊话，他说：“请放过我们（黎巴嫩）的南方，不要再把黎南及当地居民当作谈判筹码。”

萨拉姆又说：“我们是一个主权国家的人民，我们拒绝成为其他国家开战的公开战场。”

黎巴嫩政府说，自3月以来，以色列的袭击已造成黎巴嫩境内数千人死亡，约120万人流离失所。以军占领黎南大片土地。

自去年被议会选举为国家元首以来，奥恩一直敦促真主党和平解除武装。在以色列与真主党战斗初期，他呼吁真主党与以方面对面会谈，这进一步加剧了他与真主党的矛盾。

真主党周四反对黎巴嫩和以色列在美国斡旋下于华盛顿达成的停火协议。按照以黎的协议，真主党必须停止攻击，真主党武装人员必须撤出黎巴嫩南部。真主党领袖卡西姆称，黎巴嫩和以色列在华盛顿举行的直接会谈，遭到广大黎巴嫩民众的反对。

对此，奥恩周五回应说：“这不是你们的国家，这是我们的国家。”他又说：“你们没有权利干涉我们的国家。”

奥恩表示，真主党必须明白，除了通过谈判和外交手段，没有其他办法可以解决以黎问题。

他也说，处理真主党问题是黎巴嫩的责任，以色列自身无力解决。

奥恩指出，即使以色列夷平黎巴嫩整个国家，也永远无法实现铲除真主党的目标。“他们（以色列）已在加沙试过了，哈马斯至今依然存在。”

针对奥恩的指责，伊朗外长阿拉格齐周六在社交媒体平台X上说，如果黎巴嫩是伊朗的谈判筹码，美伊早就达成协议，他促请奥恩把黎巴嫩从真正的敌人手中拯救出来。

Spearfisher killed in Australia’s third fatal shark attack in 4 weeks

June 6, 2026 / 7:41 AM EDT / CBS/AP

A spearfisher was killed on Saturday in Australia’s third fatal shark attack in four weeks, police said.

The 35-year-old man was spearfishing with family off Michaelmas Island near the port city of Albany in Western Australia state when he was attacked before noon local time, a police statement said.

The man was brought by boat to Albany where paramedics were waiting but he could not be revived, police said. Authorities suspect a 15-foot white shark was responsible. Gregory Sharp, a commercial fisherman in the area, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation there has been an increase in shark activity in the area recently.

“We do see an increase in larger sharks this time of the year, particularly chasing the sardine and the salmon along the coast, which is quite normal,” he said.

The spate of three fatalities is extraordinary in a nation that has averaged around three shark deaths a year in recent decades.

The last fatality was on May 24 when 39-year-old spearfisher Michael Jensz suffered unsurvivable head injuries in an attack on the Great Barrier Reef off Australia’s northeast coast. Bull sharks had been seen in the vicinity. Rob Parsonage, another boat charter operator with a vessel in the area at the time of the attack, said “the sharks are competing with the fishermen.”

A week earlier, on May 16, a 13-foot white shark fatally mauled 38-year-old spearfisher Steve Mattabonni northwest of Albany near Rottnest Island. The attack was witnessed by the man’s friends, Western Australia Police Sgt. Michael Wear said at the time. His friends tried to save him, but he could not be resuscitated after being bitten on the legs.

Mattaboni’s wife, Shirene, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that he had two young children. The family’s “hearts are irrevocably broken,” she said.

Australia’s only other fatal shark attack this year occurred in January, when a 12-year-old boy died in a hospital days after he was mauled by a bull shark in Sydney Harbor. Nico Antic’s family said he and friends had been jumping in the water when the attack happened. Recent rains had made the water murky, CBS News previously reported. Poor water quality is “really conducive” to shark activity, according to Australian officials.

Australian scientists believe increasingly crowded waters and rising ocean temperatures are swaying sharks’ migratory patterns, which may be contributing to a rise in attacks.

The International Shark Attack File, a database of global shark attacks maintained by the University of Florida, has recorded more than 1,280 shark incidents around Australia since 1791, including more than 250 fatal incidents.

Shark attack survivor helps prevent attacks
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/she-was-attacked-by-a-shark-at-15-heres-how-this-teen-is-helping-to-prevent-future-attacks/

She was attacked by a shark at 15. Here’s how this teen is helping to prevent future attacks.

(02:34)

Raúl Castro makes first public appearance since Trump administration charged him with murder

June 6, 2026 5:19am EDT / Fox News

Castro was charged with conspiracy to kill US nationals, destruction of aircraft and four counts of murder

By Michael Sinkewicz Fox News

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6396539927112

Raúl Castro indicted for 1996 shoot-down of American pilots

Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., discusses the indictment of former Cuban President Raúl Castro on murder and conspiracy charges tied to the 1996 shoot-down of two civilian aircraft that killed four American pilots on ‘Sunday Night in America.’

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Former Cuban leader Raúl Castro made his first public appearance Friday since the Trump administration charged him with murder over the 1996 shoot-down of planes operated by a Cuban exile group.

Castro appeared on state television during an Interior Ministry celebration in Havana, according to Reuters.

The appearance came weeks after the Department of Justice unsealed an indictment accusing Castro of playing a role in the downing of two aircraft operated by the Miami-based exile organization Brothers to the Rescue nearly 30 years ago.

Castro was charged with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft and four counts of murder.

DOJ, TREASURY INVESTIGATE NONPROFITS AND LEADERS ALLEGEDLY COORDINATING WITH CUBA IN INFLUENCE CAMPAIGN

Raul Castro waves a Cuban national flag during a May Day parade at Revolution Square in Havana, May 1, 2025.(AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Castro, who turned 95 on Wednesday, was last seen publicly during May Day celebrations in Havana, days before the indictment was unsealed.

Prior to his May Day appearance, Castro had remained out of public view for months, appearing only at a public ceremony in Cuba’s capital in January honoring 32 Cuban soldiers killed during the U.S. military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The indictment centers on a February 1996 incident in which Cuban military aircraft allegedly shot down two unarmed civilian planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue, killing four men: Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña and Pablo Morales.

OBAMA’S BASEBALL OUTING WITH CASTRO REIGNITES FURY AFTER TRUMP DOJ DROPS HAMMER ON CUBAN LEADER

Fidel Castro and his brother Raul Castro attend a parade in Havana, Cuba, on Dec. 2, 1996.(Sven Creutzmann/Mambo Photography/Getty Images)

Prosecutors allege the aircraft were flying outside Cuban territory when they were destroyed.

The indictment came amid rising tensions in the Caribbean and a series of comments from Trump and his surrogates hinting at possible regime change in the island nation.

President Donald Trump previously praised the indictment, saying Cuban Americans whose families suffered under the communist regime had waited decades for accountability.

TRUMP DECLARES NATIONAL EMERGENCY OVER CUBA, THREATENS TARIFFS ON NATIONS THAT SUPPLY OIL TO COMMUNIST REGIME

Former Cuban Vice President Jose Machado and dictator Raul Castro are seen in Cuba.(Yamil Lage/Getty Images)

“We have big news on Cuba, as you know, with the indictment of Castro,” Trump said. “A lot of people have suffered very big, very, very, at levels that few people would understand.”

Trump also suggested tensions with Cuba would not escalate following the indictment.

“There won’t be escalation,” he said. “We won’t have to.”

MADURO’S CAPTURE IS ‘BEGINNING OF THE END’ FOR CUBA’S REGIME, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE CHAIR SAYS

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and former Cuban leader Raul Castro stand together at an event.(Ismael Francisco/Cubadebate/AP:Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)

Still, the decision to indict Castro fueled comparisons to the pressure campaign Trump previously used against Maduro.

“At the very least, it means symbolically that he is now set up just as Nicolás Maduro was,” Christine Balling, a Cuba expert at the Institute of World Politics and former advisor to U.S. Special Operations Command South, previously told Fox News Digital.

The U.S. indicted Maduro on narco-terrorism charges while tightening sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector, backing opposition efforts to remove him from power and increasing military operations in the Caribbean.

“I don’t think that we are necessarily going to conduct the same operation,” Balling said. “Raúl Castro is 94 years old. It might not be worth the trouble.”

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Still, Balling argued that the indictment sent “a very straightforward message that we are 100% behind the fall of the Castro regime.”

Fox News Digital’s Robert McGreevy, Greg Wehner and Morgan Phillips, along with Fox News’ David Spunt, Bill Mears and Jake Gibson contributed to this report. Reuters also contributed to this report.
Michael Sinkewicz is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to michael.sinkewicz@fox.com

Screwworm border closure fuels beef boom in Mexico, gloom in Texas

2026-06-06 10:00:01 UTC / Reuters

Closing the border to Mexican cattle threatens the survival of a 70-year-old Texas feedlot, and pushes profits back to Mexico

June 6, 2026 10:00 AM UTC Updated 10 mins ago

A drone view shows cattle in a pasture in Castanos, Mexico, June 2, 2026. Mexico’s beef exports are growing as U.S. producers face shrinking herds and market pressure following Washington’s halt to cross-border cattle shipments. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

Lubbock Feeders has been fattening cattle in West Texas since Dwight Eisenhower was U.S. president. Now, row upon row of pens sit empty.

The 70-year-old feedlot in Lubbock, Texas, is on the brink of closure after a halt to U.S. imports of Mexican livestock last year dried up the supply that formerly accounted for most of the cattle it raised, according to one of its owners.

Kyle Williams walks inside the feedlot, where customised feed consisting of corn, hay, fertiliser and other nutrients is prepared, at Lubbock Feeders in Lubbock, Texas, U.S., April 22, 2026. REUTERS/Annie Rice

Lubbock Feeders has 350 acres of feedyard pens in Lubbock, Texas, U.S., April 22, 2026. REUTERS/Annie Rice

Kyle Williams sits at his desk at Lubbock Feeders, a feedlot he has worked at for 26 years and that is now on the brink of closure due to beef supply chain issues, in Lubbock, Texas, U.S., April 22, 2026. REUTERS/Annie Rice

The U.S. government closed the border to Mexican livestock a year ago, hoping to keep out New World screwworm, a flesh-eating pest that Mexican authorities have struggled to control. This week, the first case of screwworm in 60 years was confirmed on a Texas cattle ranch, representing a fresh challenge to the U.S. beef industry, already hampered by scarce supplies, President Donald Trump’s trade policies and a pernicious drought.

It’s a brighter story in Mexico’s northern border state of Coahuila, where farmers who used to send live cattle north are now exporting beef to the United States. Rancher Enrique García’s pens were recently full of black cattle eagerly awaiting an afternoon feeding. He has doubled his workforce, including to fatten cattle and process beef, with aspirations to sell his product to U.S. consumers.

In Texas, the nation’s biggest cattle-producing state, closing the border has forced the $100 billion U.S. beef industry to contract. But in Mexico – where screwworm has infested nearly 28,000 animals – the beef industry has capitalized on the setback to build up its own feedlots to keep cows longer and prepare them for slaughter, as well as expand processing facilities. Moving up the supply chain like this can be profitable. In the first four months of 2026, Mexican beef exports to the U.S. soared.

A worker handles pieces of meat at a slaughterhouse, while Mexico’s beef exports grow as U.S. producers face shrinking herds and market pressure following Washington’s halt to cross-border cattle shipments, in Saltillo, Mexico, June 2, 2026. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

“If they end up feeding and processing them in Mexico, how are we winning?” said Kyle Williams, manager and part owner of Lubbock Feeders. “We’re giving this to them on a silver platter, the feeding industry. That’s work, that’s labor, that’s people that are not getting to do it here in the U.S.”

A cow shaped pin on a map in Bobby Swift’s office at Lubbock Feeders in Lubbock, Texas, U.S., April 22, 2026. REUTERS/Annie Rice

U.S. CATTLE HERD SHRINKS

U.S. beef prices set record highs this year as domestic cattle supplies dropped to a 75-year low because of the ban on cattle imports from Mexico and drought conditions that fueled wildfires across the Plains and drove American producers to slash their herds.

The U.S. formerly imported more than a million cattle a year from Mexico, representing about 4% to 5% of all cattle sold for U.S. beef production, according to industry data.

The animals from Mexico were fattened at U.S. feedlots and then sent to U.S. processing plants, supporting jobs along the way, feeders said. The jobs included truckers who transported livestock, farmers who raised crops to feed the animals, and meatpacking workers who butchered cattle into steaks and hamburger meat.

A drone view shows cattle eating at a feedlot in Saltillo, Mexico, June 1, 2026. Mexico has raised its beef exports to the United States despite a ban on moving live cattle moving north. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

A worker sprays water on a piece of meat at a slaughterhouse in Saltillo, Mexico, June 2, 2026. Mexico has expanded its meat processing facilities since Washington closed the border to live cattle in an effort to stop the spread of screwworms. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

Now, those cattle are largely staying in Mexico to be raised and slaughtered.

“They’re building infrastructure in Mexico,” Williams said. “They’re forced to figure it out.”

The USDA could resume imports safely with cattle inspections and treatments at ports of entry, he added. “Those protocols are in place. There’s been training on both sides of the border. Let the cattle move.”

The screwworm is a parasitic fly that can infest any warm-blooded animal when the females lay eggs in wounds. It can be treated, if caught early. During an epidemic in the 20th century, the U.S. dropped trillions of sterile flies over hotspots from a fly production plant in Texas that it is now working to resurrect. The massive eradication effort ended the epidemic, but it took the cattle industry 30 years to recover, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said last year in justifying the border closure with Mexico.

Suspending cattle movement can slow the spread of the pest, Rollins said this week.

Lubbock Feeders stopped bringing in cattle months ago because high prices for the animals sourced from U.S. ranches meant the business could lose more than $200 per head, Williams said. The feedlot has the capacity to house up to 40,000 cattle but its headcount has dropped to about 4,000.

Bobby Swift, the feedlot’s 57-year-old assistant manager, now arrives at work later because there is little work to do. One of his duties, checking on the cattle, takes just 22 minutes because there are so few, he said.

Bobby Swift sits in his office at Lubbock Feeders, a feedlot he started working at in 1988 and that is now on the brink of closure due to beef supply chain issues, in Lubbock, Texas, U.S., April 22, 2026. REUTERS/Annie Rice

“When you’re as slow as we are, mentally it takes an effect on you,” said Swift, a 30-year employee whose father and grandfather worked at Lubbock Feeders.

REBUILDING THE HERD IS SLOW

The rising cost of beef has become an affordability issue among consumers ahead of U.S. midterm elections as they also grapple with increased fuel costs. President Donald Trump has tried to address it by urging cattle producers to lower prices, ordering the Department of Justice to investigate meatpackers, and allowing low-tariff imports from Argentina. But what would help drive down prices more is a larger U.S. cattle herd.

U.S. meatpackers are waiting for American cattle producers to expand their herds to boost beef output, a process that can take two years.

Producers said Trump’s push for larger low-tariff beef imports from Argentina made it harder to convince them to rebuild herds. The move upset ranchers but has failed to bring down costs for consumers.

Producers also have been reluctant to increase production because of risks from dry weather and uncertainty over future profits.

In Tulia, Texas, 74 miles (119 km) north of Lubbock, farmer Eddie Womack said he may cut his herd to 200 cows from about 600 cows unless rain arrives this summer to ease a severe drought that left him without crops to use as feed. He bought feed at higher costs instead.

“We go through another devastating year and we’ll have to say, ‘We’re gone. We’ve got to sell,’” said Womack, 63.

MEXICAN PRODUCERS PROFIT

García is one of many beef producers expanding in Mexico.

He began fattening cattle on a small scale four years ago to diversify his business after previously exporting about 900 head annually to Kansas. The U.S. border closure accelerated his shift and helped boost his income by 8% to 10%, García said.

Item 1 of 11 A drone view shows cattle in a pasture, while Mexico’s beef exports grow as U.S. producers face shrinking herds and market pressure following Washington’s halt to cross-border cattle shipments, in Castanos, Mexico, June 2, 2026. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

[1/11]A drone view shows cattle in a pasture, while Mexico’s beef exports grow as U.S. producers face shrinking herds and market pressure following Washington’s halt to cross-border cattle shipments, in Castanos, Mexico, June 2, 2026. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

With screwworm now present in the U.S., the border is unlikely to reopen soon, which García said this week is encouraging him to build out his beef production business.

“In the end, we are going to get to the United States just the same, but now with meat,” he said.

Mexico’s exports to the U.S. surged by 23% in the first four months of 2026, according to Mexico’s main meat producers council, which aims to double shipments next year.

Coahuila, one of Mexico’s main beef-exporting states, is pushing to expand federally and U.S.-certified slaughter and packing capacity to support exports with help from the Mexican government, said Isaias Montemayor, the state’s deputy minister of livestock and rural infrastructure.

“The passing of the months has taught us that if these producers add value,” Montemayor said, “they can obtain a profit equal to or even greater than what they would get if they exported live calves.”

Rollins said that suspending imports of Mexican cattle successfully delayed screwworm’s incursion into the U.S. and that ports of entry would remain shut to Mexican cattle until further notice.

The White House referred questions to the USDA, which said in a statement: “Efforts at the federal, state, and local levels have been focused on containing the pest and implementing protocols.”

We go through another devastating year and we’ll have to say, ‘We’re gone. We’ve got to sell,

Eddie Womack

Rogelio Perez of Mexico’s National Confederation of Livestock Organizations said the border closure had forced Mexico’s industry to adjust, and ended up strengthening it. “The profit from producing meat now stays in Mexico with a consequent impact on the American industry,” he said.

MEATPACKERS UNDER PRESSURE

The border closure has pressured U.S. meatpackers, in addition to some cattle feeders, by exacerbating already tight domestic supplies. Processors such as Tyson Foods TSN.N have reported steep losses in U.S. beef businesses as costs for cattle outpaced gains in beef prices.

U.S. meatpacking executives said they need more cattle to operate plants efficiently and that resuming imports from Mexico would have the biggest impact on supplies over the next 12 to 18 months.

Silvina Rodriguez, who worked at a Tyson Foods meatpacking plant for over a decade, hugs her coworkers as they finish their last shift before the plant’s final shutdown later that month, in Lexington, Nebraska, U.S. January 16, 2026. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

Tyson Foods slashed operations this year at a beef plant in Amarillo, Texas, about 195 km (120 miles) north of Lubbock, and permanently shut a massive beef plant in Nebraska. The company said it made the cutbacks, which eliminated jobs for thousands of workers, to be more competitive.

Rivals JBS and Cargill have faced rare labor disputes at U.S. beef plants, pushing back against workers’ demands for higher pay.

Darin Parker, president of global meat distributor PMI Foods, said USDA should reopen the border.

“It’s quintessential Americana to be in the beef industry,” Parker said. “We need to really protect this industry.”

A Maine gubernatorial candidate is running as a political outsider. His last name is Bush

2026-06-06T10:30:10.038Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/06/politics/jonathan-bush-maine-governor-dynasty

• Jonathan Bush, nephew of former President George H.W. Bush, is running for governor of Maine as a political outsider.
• The crowded GOP primary on Tuesday will test whether the Bush brand still resonates with Republican voters in a party transformed by President Donald Trump.
• Bush is also not the only candidate with a famous political name running this cycle.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

For the better part of four decades, a member of the Bush family held office somewhere in the United States, a run that seemed to end in 2023 when former Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush left office.

But Jonathan Bush, running for governor of Maine, hopes to restore the tradition.

The nephew of former President George H.W. Bush and cousin of former President George W. Bush is trying to break through a crowded GOP field in Tuesday’s gubernatorial primary and put the state in play this fall.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Join John King at CNN’s Magic Wall as he breaks down primary election results and takes your questions live on Tuesday night, starting at 8pm ET/5pm PT.

His family has a long, rich history in Maine, where generations have summered, practiced philanthropy, and put down roots. Pictures of Bushes adorn the walls of businesses in Kennebunkport, the seaside town that hosts the family compound; the promontory where it stands is called “Walker’s Point;” and a major children’s hospital in Portland is named after first lady Barbara Bush.

But in 2026, it’s an open question whether the Bush name still has purchase with Republican voters in a party transformed by President Donald Trump. And the governor’s race in Maine is one of several 2026 contests testing Americans’ feelings toward political dynasties.

For his part, Bush is confronting the question head-on.

“I’m Jonathan Bush,” he says in an ad. “Now hold on, I know what you’re thinking – not another Bush. I get it. But hear me out: I might be different than what you’re expecting. First, I’m not low energy anything.”

The biting reference to his cousin Jeb Bush’s unsuccessful 2016 presidential campaign, which foundered against Donald Trump’s anti-establishment mockery, reflects the challenge facing a Bush seeking office ten years later.

In an interview with CNN, Bush said the family name “was very much an anchor” in the early days of his campaign.

“Mainers don’t want an insider right now, they’ve got an allergy to somebody who’s part of the system. They feel like the system has betrayed them. So, when they hear the name Bush, they imagine somebody who’s sort of all wired up,” he said.

So Bush, 57, is not running as the keeper of the family legacy. Instead, he’s casting himself as an “an outsider” who wants to disrupt healthcare, education and establishment politics, focusing on his private sector background in his pitch to voters.

Raised in Manhattan before relocating to Maine as an adult, Bush stresses that he’s never lived in Texas, a family stronghold, nor worked in Washington, DC.

The father of seven launched his campaign in Belfast, a midcoast town where Athenahealth, the healthcare technology company he co-founded in 1997, once employed more than 900 people, and highlights he and his wife’s deep family histories in the Pine Tree State.

Bush argues that his personal story and his message, calling for a “shakeup” in Augusta’s current Democratic administration, is resonating with voters. And polling has shown some momentum for Bush in the race’s closing stretch as he’s ramped up advertising; a survey from the University of New Hampshire in May found him climbing into second place, although still significantly behind frontrunner Bobby Charles.

But he’s also contending with a Republican Party that has consolidated around Trump’s Make America Great Again movement nearly two decades after President George W. Bush, and his more traditional brand of GOP establishment politics, left office.

Over that time, the Bush family has found itself increasingly at odds with Trump and that movement. Trump’s early forays into politics included sharp criticism of former President George W. Bush and the Iraq War; bitter clashes with Jeb Bush in the 2016 presidential primary hardened the feelings; and Billy Bush, Jonathan Bush’s younger brother, figured prominently in the “Access Hollywood” scandal that nearly undid Trump’s first presidential bid.

By 2022, cousin George P. Bush’s unsuccessful campaign for Texas attorney general encapsulated the shifting landscape, as he was snubbed for Trump’s endorsement despite solicitous appeals to his base.

Mark Brewer, a political science professor at the University of Maine, suggested that Bush is in “a tough spot.”

“I mean, you’re not only a Bush, which obviously he is,” he said. “Most people may think of Bush and its place within the Republican Party. It’s more of the kind of typical establishment wing of the Republican Party, which is right now very much out of favor.”

While he noted that some more traditional Republicans in Maine, like Sen. Susan Collins, have held on in the Trump era, Brewer said the Bush name was likely to be more of an anchor than benefit in the primary.

Phil Harriman, a former Republican state senator and conservative commentator, said he thought it’s been to Bush’s benefit to address his roots, and where he differs from his family.

“He came across initially as the Energizer Bunny, or a jackrabbit, he was on the go all the time. And I think at first he may have kind of off-put some voters ” he said. “And then he started reintroducing himself, taking the family name head-on, and then began to separate himself, knock on what makes him unique.”

In characterizating himself as an outsider, Harriman sees Bush’s perspective as “I’m not in Augusta, as opposed to, I’m new to politics. If you’re a Bush, you’re not new to politics.”

The latest Bush on the ballot is also not the only one with brand name recognition running this cycle — in Maine and across the country.

Two Democratic gubernatorial candidates’ parents are current Maine officeholders – Hannah Pingree, the daughter of US Rep. Chellie Pingree, and Angus King III, the son of independent US Sen. Angus King. The scion of another famous family, Jack Schlossberg – grandson of President John F. Kennedy – is running for Congress in New York’s 12th Congressional District.

“People sort of talk about Bushes like they’re Kennedys, and there’s a master plan. There’s no master plan, there’s no ranking committee, you know,” Bush said. “It’s a group of people that have had an extraordinary series of lightning bolts in terms of public service in their lives, but are very loving and very moral, a good model,” he said, noting that “I’m living in 2026, not ’06 and not ‘86.”

Another wildcard Bush faces in his bid for the Blaine House: Maine’s ranked-choice voting system.

His top rival in the GOP primary is Charles, a former US assistant secretary of state who has emerged as the field’s loudest conservative voice, and its most polarizing. Other candidates include former state Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason; University of Maine trustee and biotech entrepreneur Owen McCarthy; former Planet Fitness President Ben Midgley; and a handful of lesser-known contenders.

In a statement to CNN, Charles criticized Bush as a “never Trumper,” arguing that Maine is “a small state, and it’s easy for people to get to know you, which means it’s also easy for them to see through you.”

Asked about how he sees the role of the Bush name in Tuesday’s primary, Charles said it’s a question worth raising: “Is this the last nail in the coffin for a family name that keeps losing races across the country? Seems so.”

Bush, meanwhile, has said he would welcome the president’s support.

Under the primary rules, if no candidate clears a majority after the first round, the lowest vote-getters are eliminated and their supporters’ second-choice votes are redistributed until someone reaches 50%.

That structure could benefit Bush, appearing to finish the race with momentum. Charles, despite leading in first-round estimates, is seen as a candidate with a narrow ceiling, strong among committed conservatives but with limited appeal as a second choice.

“I think the conventional wisdom here is that Bobby Charles is going to have the most votes and the question becomes, how close can Jonathan Bush get to him in the first round,” Harriman said. “And then, do the people who voted for their second choice decide they would move in his direction.”

The Democratic side is also crowded, with Pingree and King competing against former state Senate President Troy Jackson, Nirav Shah, the former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and former Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.

Maine has not elected consecutive governors from the same party since 1952, a historical pattern that could work in the Republican nominee’s favor, with the outgoing two-term Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. But the general election will also feature independent Rick Bennett, a former Republican state senator seen as a viable spoiler.

The national environment adds another variable. Midterm elections have historically punished the president’s party in Congress, and Maine’s governor’s race may not be insulated from the broader political mood.

But, Brewer, the political scientist, noted, “In a general, maybe the Bush name is a little more of a benefit than an anchor – but my answer depends on which election we’re talking about.”

Harriman also wondered if there could be a subliminal messaging benefit to the name. “Clearly there’s something in those chromosomes that says, like, I need to serve,” he said.

https://x.com/JonathanBushME/status/2036124844882825697/video/1

6月3日，位于科威特城的科威特国际机场遭到袭击后，监控录像的截图显示，现场冒出浓烟和大火。 （路透社）

科威特民航局宣布，科威特空域因安全隐患封闭两个小时后，已经恢复空中交通运行。

科威特民航局星期六（6月6日）在通过国家通讯社发布声明中说，在与相关部门协调并确认局势稳定、潜在威胁消除后，航班运行已在星期六上午6时15分（新加坡时间11时15分）恢复。

新华社引述民航局称，科威特空域暂时关闭是出于安全考虑，此前该国空域遭到袭击，当局称这些袭击是伊朗的挑衅行为。

此次暂时封闭空域是由于科威特防空系统对军方所称的敌对导弹和无人机威胁作出反应。

科威特和巴林当地时间星期六凌晨拉响防空警报。据伊朗媒体报道，伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队公共关系部门当天发表声明称，在美军空袭伊朗部分地区后，伊朗对美军位于科威特的空军基地和位于巴林的美军第五舰队设施发动导弹袭击。

美国中央司令部的声明称，伊朗关于破坏位于巴林的美军第五舰队总部的说法是虚假的。

6月3日，位于科威特城的科威特国际机场遭到袭击后，监控录像的截图显示，现场冒出浓烟和大火。 （路透社）

科威特民航局宣布，科威特空域因安全隐患封闭两个小时后，已经恢复空中交通运行。

科威特民航局星期六（6月6日）在通过国家通讯社发布的声明中说，在与相关部门协调并确认局势稳定、潜在威胁消除后，航班运行已在星期六上午6时15分（新加坡时间11时15分）恢复。

新华社引述民航局称，科威特空域暂时关闭是出于安全考虑，此前该国空域遭到袭击，当局称这些袭击是伊朗的挑衅行为。

此次暂时封闭空域是由于科威特防空系统对军方所称的敌对导弹和无人机威胁作出反应。

科威特和巴林当地时间星期六凌晨拉响防空警报。据伊朗媒体报道，伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队公共关系部门当天发表声明称，在美军空袭伊朗部分地区后，伊朗对美军位于科威特的空军基地和位于巴林的美军第五舰队设施发动导弹袭击。

美国中央司令部的声明称，伊朗关于破坏位于巴林的美军第五舰队总部的说法是虚假的。

刚果（金）的伊波拉疫情仍在社区内快速且持续传播，图为无国界医生组织（MSF）工作人员周五（6月5日）准备进入当地一家医院，协助治疗伊波拉患者。 （法新社）

（日内瓦综合电）世界卫生组织和非洲疾病预防控制中心周五（6月5日）宣布，在未来六个月投入5亿1800万美元（约6亿6716万新元），以应对刚果（金）和邻国暴发的伊波拉疫情。

这项疫情防控计划将从6月执行至11月，重点包括应急协调、监测、实验室检测、感染预防和控制，以及临床护理和社区参与。

世卫总干事谭德赛说，这项计划的目标很明确：阻止疫情在现有地区蔓延、支持正在采取应对措施的国家，同时确保邻国做好准备，能在出现病例时迅速采取行动。

刚果（金）卫生部周五说，当地确诊伊波拉病例增至452起，当中82人已病亡，目前疫情仍在社区内快速且持续传播。乌干达同日通报三起新病例，使累积确诊病例增至19起。

非洲疾控中心主任卡塞亚说，现有的援助承诺已能满足疫情防控计划的大部分需求，但这些承诺尚未转化为实际资金。

世卫组织：一名乌干达伊波拉确诊患者曾到过阿联酋
伊波拉疫情现缓和迹象 科学家寻找通用疗法

另一方面，美国周五宣布追加拨款3800万美元，用于应对伊波拉疫情。这使美国针对这波疫情的直接资助增至逾2亿美元。

美国疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）进行的情景模拟显示，如果没有强有力的公共卫生干预措施，刚果（金）的疫情可能会与2014至2016年的西非疫情规模相当，甚至更加严重。那次疫情造成超过2万8000人确诊感染，1万1000多人死亡。

CDC强调，这不是对疫情走势的预测，而仅是一个规划工具；如果能识别、隔离和治疗更多患者，就能避免最糟糕的后果。

WATCH: Hawley fumes after 4 GOP senators help sink Trump-backed voter ID law

Collins, Murkowski, McConnell and Tillis argued election integrity should be determined at the state level

June 6, 2026 4:00am EDT / Fox News

By Hannah Brennan

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Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., criticized four fellow Republicans who joined Democrats to block an effort to add the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to the Senate’s reconciliation package, saying “you can’t explain it to me why you wouldn’t vote for voter ID.”

During Thursday’s vote-a-rama, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., voted with Democrats to defeat an amendment that would have attached the election-integrity measure to the GOP’s budget package.

“I guess it’s frustration,” Hawley told Fox News Digital. “Listen, we’ve been doing this in Missouri for years. I mean voters in my state put it in our constitution.”

FOUR SENATE REPUBLICANS AGAIN UNITE WITH DEMS TO BLOCK TRUMP’S SAVE AMERICA ACT

Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., joined Senate Democrats again to kill an effort attach the SAVE America Act to the GOP’s immigration enforcement funding plan.(Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Photo by Li Ying/Xinhua via Getty Images; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“Voter ID is the most popular thing out there,” he continued. “There’s a reason for that. People want their elections to be safe, they want them to be fair. And to me, you can’t explain it to me, why you wouldn’t vote for voter ID. I just don’t understand it.”

Republicans, yet again, failed to pass the legislation Thursday night through the Senate, despite months debating the importance of attaching it to the roughly $70 billion budget reconciliation package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol.

REPUBLICANS FAIL TO ATTACH SAVE AMERICA ACT TO PARTY-LINE FUNDING PACKAGE

Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate GOP leaders are pushing forward with budget reconciliation to fund the final piece of government that had been shut down by Senate Democrats’ opposition to President Donald Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions.(Nathan Posner/Anadolu)

Many senators who voted to block the SAVE act argued that a bill dedicated to voter ID laws and protecting election integrity should be determined at state-level, and should not have federal jurisdiction.

Hawley rejected arguments that election rules should be left solely to the states, arguing Congress has long played a role in regulating federal elections.

“We make federal rules all the time for elections, you know,” Hawley said. “I mean all the time we do. And there’s nothing more basic than protecting the integrity of the ballot and that’s what this is about.”

PENCE URGES SENATE TO ‘RESTORE PUBLIC CONFIDENCE’ WITH NATIONWIDE VOTER ID LAW

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., questions acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. and Deputy FBI Director Paul Abbate during a joint Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security and Government Affairs committees hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 30, 2024.(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Congress has enacted numerous election-related laws over the years, including the bipartisan Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022, which revised procedures for certifying presidential election results.

The SAVE Act would require applicants to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections and would require voters to present photo identification when casting a ballot in federal elections.

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“37 states have voter ID already including several blue states,” Hawley said in response to the idea that election rules should be left to the state. “So I think this idea that this is like ‘this is weird, this is exotic, this is out there,’ no it’s not. Like most of our states do it.”

“Sooner or later this is going to happen because I think the American people are going to demand it.”

Hannah Brennan is a Digital Production Assistant on the Politics team. She previously interned at the Aspen Daily News, where she covered local government meetings, community developments, cultural events and nationally significant political events. Her reporting included coverage of the Aspen Security Forum and appearances by prominent leaders such as former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. She graduated early with high distinction from the University of Colorado Boulder in December 2025 and joined Fox News Digital in January 2026.