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In the tightest states, new voting laws could tip the outcome in November

By Matt Vasilogambros, Stateline

Editor’s note: This series explores the priorities of voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as they consider the upcoming presidential election. With the outcome expected to be close, these “swing states” may decide the future of the country.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Some voters are already casting early ballots in the first presidential election since the global pandemic ended and former President Donald Trump refused to accept his defeat.

This year’s presidential election won’t be decided by a margin of millions of votes, but likely by thousands in the seven tightly contested states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Related ArticlesNational Politics | Changing demographics and the political calculus of anti-immigrant rhetoric in swing states National Politics | Will abortion swing the first post-Roe presidential election? National Politics | When business is booming but daily living is a struggle National Politics | The issues and states that will determine who wins the White House

How legislatures, courts and election boards have reshaped ballot access in those states in the past four years could make a difference. Some of those states, especially Michigan, cemented the temporary pandemic-era measures that allowed for more mail-in and early voting. But other battleground states have passed laws that may keep some registered voters from casting ballots.

Trump and his allies have continued to spread lies about the 2020 results, claiming without evidence that widespread voter fraud stole the election from him. That has spurred many Republican lawmakers in states such as Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina to reel back access to early and mail-in voting and add new identification requirements to vote. And in Pennsylvania, statewide appellate courts are toggling between rulings.

“The last four years have been a long, strange trip,” said Hannah Fried, co-founder and executive director of All Voting is Local, a multistate voting rights organization.

“Rollbacks were almost to an instance tied to the ‘big lie,’” she added, referring to Trump’s election conspiracy theories. “And there have been many, many positive reforms for voters in the last few years that have gone beyond what we saw in the COVID era.”

The volume of election-related legislation and court cases that emerged over the past four years has been staggering.

Nationally, the Voting Rights Lab, a nonpartisan group that researches election law changes, tracked 6,450 bills across the country that were introduced since 2021 that sought to alter the voting process. Hundreds of those bills were enacted.

Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, cautioned that incremental tweaks to election law — especially last-minute changes made by the courts — not only confuse voters, but also put a strain on local election officials who must comply with changes to statute as they prepare for another highly scrutinized voting process.

“Any voter that is affected unnecessarily is too many in my book,” he said.

New restrictions

In many ways, the 2020 presidential election is still being litigated four years later.

Swing states have been the focus of legal challenges and new laws spun from a false narrative that questioned election integrity. The 2021 state legislative sessions, many begun in the days following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, brought myriad legislative changes that have made it more difficult to vote and altered how ballots are counted and rejected.

The highest-profile measure over the past four years came out of Georgia.

Under a 2021 law, Georgia residents now have less time to ask for mail-in ballots and must put their driver’s license or state ID information on those requests. The number of drop boxes has been limited. And neither election officials nor nonprofits may send unsolicited mail-in ballot applications to voters.

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp said when signing the measure that it would ensure free and fair elections in the state, but voting rights groups lambasted the law as voter suppression.

That law also gave Georgia’s State Election Board more authority to interfere in the makeup of local election boards. The state board has made recent headlines for paving the way for counties to potentially refuse to certify the upcoming election. This comes on top of a wave of voter registration challenges from conservative activists.

A ‘Wait Here To Vote’ sign is seen in a polling location as voters check in to cast ballots on May 21, 2024 in Atlanta. Georgia is among the battleground states that since the 2020 presidential election has enacted new laws that could restrict voting access. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

In North Carolina, the Republican-led legislature last year overrode Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto to enact measures that shortened the time to turn in mail-in ballots; required local election officials to reject ballots if voters who register to vote using same-day registration during early voting do not later verify their home address; and required identification to vote by mail.

This will also be the first general election that North Carolinians will have to comply with a 2018 voter ID measure that was caught up in the court system until the state Supreme Court reinstated the law last year.

And in Arizona, the Republican-led legislature pushed through a measure that shortened the time voters have to correct missing or mismatched signatures on their absentee ballot envelopes. Then-Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, signed the measure.

“Look, sometimes the complexity is the point,” said Fried, of All Voting is Local. “If you are passing a law that makes it this complicated for somebody to vote or to register to vote, what’s your endgame here? What are you trying to do?”

Laws avoided major overhauls

But the restrictions could have gone much further.

That’s partly because Democratic governors, such as Arizona’s Katie Hobbs, who took office in 2023, have vetoed many of the Republican-backed bills. But it’s also because of how popular early voting methods have become.

Arizonans, for example, have been able to vote by mail for more than three decades. More than 75% of Arizonan voters requested mail-in ballots in 2022, and 90% of voters in 2020 cast their ballots by mail.

This year, a bill that would have scrapped no-excuse absentee voting passed the state House but failed to clear a Republican-controlled Senate committee.

Read more: More states consider voter ID laws amid conflicting research on their impact

Bridget Augustine, a high school English teacher in Glendale, Arizona, and a registered independent, has been a consistent early voter since 2020. She said the first time she voted in Arizona was by absentee ballot while she was a college student in New Jersey, and she has no concerns “whatsoever” about the safety of early voting in Arizona.

“I just feel like so much of this rhetoric was drummed up as a way to make it easier to lie about the election and undermine people’s confidence,” she said.

Vanessa Jiminez, the security manager for a Phoenix high school district, a registered independent and an early voter, said she is confident in the safety of her ballot.

“I track my ballot every step of the way,” she said.

Ben Ginsberg, a longtime Republican election lawyer and Volker Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the think tank Hoover Institution, said that while these laws may add new hurdles, he doesn’t expect them to change vote totals.

“The bottom line is I don’t think that the final result in any election is going to be impacted by a law that’s been passed,” he said on a recent call with reporters organized by the Knight Foundation, a Miami-based nonprofit that provides grants to support democracy and journalism.

Major expansions

No state has seen a bigger expansion to ballot access over the past four years than Michigan.

Republicans tried to curtail access to absentee voting, introducing 39 bills in 2021, when the party still was in charge of both legislative chambers.

 GOP  passed, but Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed them.

The next year, Michigan voters approved ballot measures that added nine days of early voting. The measures also allowed voters to request mail-in ballots online; created a permanent vote-by-mail list; provided prepaid postage on absentee ballot applications and ballots; increased ballot drop boxes; and allowed voters to correct missing or mismatched signatures on mail-in ballot envelopes.

Voters check-in at a polling location for the Michigan primary election at Oakman Elementary School on Feb. 27, 2024, in Dearborn, Michigan. Michigan was one of the swing states that greatly expanded voter access since 2020. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/TNS)

“When you take it to the people and actually ask them about it, it turns out most people want more voting access,” said Melinda Billingsley, communications manager for Voters Not Politicians, a Lansing, Michigan-based voting rights advocacy group.

“The ballot access expansions happened in spite of an anti-democratic, Republican-led push to restrict ballot access,” she said.

In 2021, then-Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, signed into law a measure that transitioned the state into a universal vote-by-mail system. Every registered voter would be sent a ballot in the mail before an election, unless they opt out. The bill made permanent a temporary expansion of mail-in voting that the state put in place during the pandemic.

Nevada voters have embraced the system, data shows.

In February’s presidential preference primary, 78% of ballots cast were ballots by mail or in a ballot drop box, according to the Nevada secretary of state’s office. In June’s nonpresidential primary, 65% of ballots were mail-in ballots. And in the 2022 general election, 51% of ballots cast were mail ballots.

Last-minute court decisions

Drop boxes weren’t controversial in Wisconsin until Trump became fixated on them as an avenue for alleged voter fraud, said Jeff Mandell, general counsel and co-founder of Law Forward, a Madison-based nonprofit legal organization.

For half of a century, Wisconsinites could return their absentee ballots in the same drop boxes that counties and municipalities used for water bills and property taxes, he said. But when the pandemic hit and local election officials expected higher volumes of absentee ballots, they installed larger boxes.

Every way that you make it easy for people to vote safely and securely is good. – Jeff Mandell, general counsel and co-founder of Law Forward

After Trump lost the state by fewer than 21,000 votes in 2020, drop boxes became a flashpoint. Republican leaders claimed drop boxes were not secure, and that nefarious people could tamper with the ballots. In 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, then led by a conservative majority, banned drop boxes.

But that ruling would only last two years. In July, the new liberal majority in the state’s high court reversed the ruling and said localities could determine whether to use drop boxes. It was a victory for voters, Mandell said.

With U.S. Postal Service delays stemming from the agency’s restructuring, drop boxes provide a faster method of returning a ballot without having to worry about it showing up late, he said. Ballots must get in by 8 p.m. on Election Day. The boxes are especially convenient for rural voters, who may have a clerk’s office or post office with shorter hours, he added.

“Every way that you make it easy for people to vote safely and securely is good,” Mandell said.

After the high court’s ruling, local officials had to make a swift decision about whether to reinstall drop boxes.

Read more: Swing states prepare for a showdown over certifying votes in November

Milwaukee city employees were quickly dispatched throughout the city to remove the leather bags that covered the drop boxes for two years, cleaned them all and repaired several, said Paulina Gutierrez, executive director of the City of Milwaukee Election Commission.

“There’s an all-hands-on-deck mentality here at the city,” she said, adding that there are cameras pointed at each drop box.

Although it used a drop box in 2020, Marinette, a community on the western shore of Green Bay, opted not to use them for the August primary and asked voters to hand the ballots to clerk staff. Lana Bero, the city clerk, said the city may revisit that decision before November.

New Berlin Clerk Rubina Medina said her community, a city of about 40,000 on the outskirts of Milwaukee, had some security concerns about potentially tampering or destruction of ballots within drop boxes, and therefore decided not to use the boxes this year.

Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell, who serves the state capital of Madison and its surrounding area, has been encouraging local clerks in his county to have a camera on their drop boxes and save the videos in case residents have fraud concerns.

A risk of confusing voters

Many local election officials in Wisconsin say they worry that court decisions, made mere months before the November election, could create confusion for voters and more work for clerks.

“These decisions are last-second, over and over again,” McDonell said. “You’re killing us when you do that.”

Arizonans and Pennsylvanians now know that late-in-the-game scramble too.

Read more: New voter registration rules threaten hefty fines, criminal penalties for groups

In August, the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated part of a 2022 Arizona law that requires documented proof of citizenship to register on state forms, potentially impacting tens of thousands of voters, disproportionately affecting young and Native voters.

Whether Pennsylvania election officials should count mail ballots returned with errors has been a subject of litigation in every election since 2020. State courts continue to grapple with the question, and neither voting rights groups nor national Republicans show signs of giving up.

Former Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar, who is now president of Athena Strategies and working on voting rights and election security issues across the country, said voters simply need to ignore the noise of litigation and closely follow the instructions with their mail ballots.

“Litigation is confusing,” Boockvar said. “The legislature won’t fix it by legislation. Voter education is the key thing here, and the instructions on the envelopes need to be as clear and simple as possible.”

To avoid confusion, voters can make a plan for how and when they will vote by going to vote.gov, a federally run site where voters can check to make sure they are properly registered and to answer questions in more than a dozen languages about methods for casting a ballot.

Matt Vasilogambros covers voting rights, gun laws and Western climate policy for Stateline. He lives in San Diego, California. Arizona Mirror’s Caitlin Sievers and Jim Small, Nevada Current’s April Corbin Girnus and Pennsylvania Capital-Star’s Peter Hall contributed reporting.

Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on Facebook and X.

Horoscopes Oct. 5, 2024: Jesse Eisenberg, build a future that offers satisfaction

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Jesse Eisenberg, 41; Scott Weinger, 49; Kate Winslet, 49; Guy Pearce, 57.

Happy Birthday: Put more thought into money management. Be innovative and disciplined, and you’ll devise a genius approach to living within your budget. Manipulating your experience and skills to fit what’s trending will motivate you to build a future that offers satisfaction and the freedom to do as you please. Personal growth and confidence will promote better relationships. Charm, compassion and consistency will lead to success and happiness. Your numbers are 7, 15, 21, 27, 32, 38, 44.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Look for opportunities and learn from those who have already achieved what you want. Be attentive and willing to do the prep work; the outcome will be more valuable than anticipated. A partnership looks promising but exhausting. Pay attention to detail and manage the outcome. 3 stars

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Embrace opportunity and own the results. Focus on home, family and meaningful relationships. Review your life and monetary expectations. Consider how you can meld work and play better to reach your goal. Turning your dream into a reality by being open to change will require discipline, drive and freedom. 3 stars

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Reason, simplicity and faith in yourself will help quantify the best path forward. View the big picture and eliminate unnecessary steps before you begin your journey. Preparation is the facilitator that gets you where you want to go. Be dominant in your pursuits, and success will follow. 3 stars

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Overthinking will be your downfall. Cast your fate to the wind, go with the flow, unleash your creativity, and display who you are and what you can achieve. Talk is cheap if you don’t follow through; let your actions be your path to success. Romance is favored. 5 stars

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Rethink your plans before you act. Spend more time preparing and deciphering what’s important. Intelligence and efficiency will outperform cutting corners to appease others. Feeling comfortable with your plans and promises will help you avoid getting caught in awkward situations. Make self-care, health and personal finances a priority. 2 stars

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Lay down some ground rules before you get involved in something or with someone. Offer a clear description of what you are willing to do or contribute before breaking ground. Someone you unnerve with your attention to detail should indicate a need for apprehension. Proceed with caution. 4 stars

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Broaden your outlook, and you’ll discover a unique way to use your attributes to get what you want. Attend events that inspire you and offer connections to people who can contribute to prospects you want to pursue. An exciting encounter will lead to commitment. 3 stars

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Don’t play with fire. Consider every angle and be precise. Assess the time, cost and importance of anything you want to pursue for those you intend to include in the effort. You have plenty to gain if you are direct, efficient and passionate about moving forward. Romance is on the rise. 3 stars

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Determine what you enjoy most and emphasize that when dealing with partners, friends and associates. By offering to do what you feel passionate about, you will motivate others to step up and contribute their best. Build a strong team, and something good will happen. 3 stars

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Anger solves nothing; use your energy to outshine and activate your plans. Surround yourself with support, not criticism. Pave the way for success, and you will achieve suitable results and the praise you crave. Love yourself and be proud of what you accomplish. Romance is favored. 4 stars

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Take a moment to breathe, observe and rejuvenate. Be astute regarding money, investments and health. Designate time and cash to your well-being, acquiring peace of mind and a clear picture of what to do next. Participate in functions that offer insight and opportunity. Only change what’s necessary. 2 stars

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You’re sitting in a good position. Do whatever it takes to meet someone inviting. Take advantage of an investment opportunity, or choose an optimum way to enhance your health and appearance. The world is your oyster; observe what’s available. Romance is in the stars. 5 stars

Birthday Baby: You are informative, dedicated and passionate. You are aggressive and wielding.

1 star: Avoid conflicts; work behind the scenes. 2 stars: You can accomplish, but don’t rely on others. 3 stars: Focus and you’ll reach your goals. 4 stars: Aim high; start new projects. 5 stars: Nothing can stop you; go for gold.

Visit Eugenialast.com, or join Eugenia on Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn.

Want a link to your daily horoscope delivered directly to your inbox each weekday morning? Sign up for our free Coffee Break newsletter at mercurynews.com/newsletters or eastbaytimes.com/newsletters. 

The issues and states that will determine who wins the White House

By Kevin Hardy, Stateline

Editor’ s note: This five-day series explores the priorities of voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as they consider the upcoming presidential election. With the outcome expected to be close, these “swing states” may decide the future of the country.

It’s been a wild few months in the presidential race: President Joe Biden dropped out and Vice President Kamala Harris captured the Democratic nomination. Former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania and was targeted again at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Despite the historic lead-up to Election Day, the race has now settled into familiar territory: Much like 2020’s contest, top political strategists on both sides of the aisle expect control of the White House could come down to just a few thousand votes in a handful of battleground states.

“This is not going to be an election where you will see a landslide. It’s going to be won in the margins in six to seven swing states,” Democratic strategist Donna Brazile told a crowd of state lawmakers from across the country last month.

Brazile, who ran Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, shared the stage with Republican strategist Kellyanne Conway, who managed Trump’s 2016 campaign and advised him in the White House.

Unsurprisingly, the pair disagreed on much.

But while speaking at the National Conference of State Legislatures in Kentucky, the two senior strategists framed the race similarly to the 2020 contest, when fewer than 50,000 votes in Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin separated Biden and Trump from an Electoral College tie.

“It is a different race. It has turned in very short time, but the issue set hasn’t changed at all,” Conway said. “And I think that’s what’s important here.”

Like last cycle, the two campaigns are pouring millions into Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

In “The Deciders” series, States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, explores the political issues and groups of voters that could make the difference in those seven states and, consequentially, in the race for the White House.

Unsurprisingly, economic issues — namely, stubbornly high prices — are proving central for many voters across the swing states. But voters also are concerned about immigration, abortion access and the future of the Supreme Court.

Read more: Swing states prepare for a showdown over certifying votes in November

In states such as Michigan and Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, labor unions could prove instrumental for Harris after years of significant gains by organized labor.

In Georgia and North Carolina, Black voter turnout could make the difference, while Latino voters are closely divided in Nevada after helping propel Biden to victory there four years ago. In every swing state, campaigns are focused on all-important suburban voters.

The election’s outcome also could be shaped by the work of officials who have been debating who can vote and which votes should count since the mayhem of the last presidential contest.

Four years ago, a false narrative that questioned the security and integrity of elections took hold in some legislatures. New laws changed ballot-counting practices and made it more difficult to vote in many states, including swing states. In states such as Michigan and Wisconsin, there is broad concern that despite the checks and balances built into the voting system, local Republicans tasked with certifying elections will be driven by conspiracy theories and refuse to fulfill their duties if Trump loses again.

Fears that these efforts could sow chaos and delay results is not unfounded: Over the past four years, county officials in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania have refused to certify certain local elections.

With such a close race, voter turnout and motivation will be key in all the battleground states.

As in other swing states, North Carolina’s 16 Electoral College votes could hinge on how political independents vote, said Carter Wrenn, a longtime Republican strategist who has worked on many campaigns.

And those independents can be unpredictable in North Carolina: Their votes helped both Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Trump carry the state in the last two general elections.

“It’s the independents that are up for grabs, and they don’t mind splitting a ticket at all,” Wrenn said. “Ultimately, in the general election, that’s the key group.”

The economy

In every state this year, the economy is a central issue.

It is a different race. It has turned in very short time, but the issue set hasn’t changed at all. – Republican strategist Kellyanne Conway

As Trump tries to fault Harris and Biden for the high costs of everyday living, polling shows voters blame Harris less for the situation than they did Biden — though likely voters profess more confidence in Trump’s ability to manage the economy.

For her part, Harris has unveiled plans to lower prices of rent, homebuying and groceries, arguing she will remain focused on the middle class from Day One, contrasting her ideas with what she characterizes as Trump’s catering to billionaires.

In Georgia, Republicans and Democrats alike have found success in recent statewide campaigns by highlighting similar kitchen table issues. After attending a Harris rally in Savannah last month, Georgia voter Sarah Damato said she doesn’t believe Trump will fight for the middle class.

At the event, the vice president told listeners she would lower costs by fighting corporate price-fixing and touted her proposal for a “care economy,” a set of progressive proposals including benefits for parents of newborns and credits for first-time homebuyers.

“Kamala Harris made it very evident today that the American family is the most important thing on her mind these days, and she’s going to make it easier for each one of us to have a brighter future,” Damato said.

Read more: Harris unveils plan to curb price gouging, boost child tax credit, tackle rent hikes

In Kenosha, Wisconsin, meanwhile, Republican Party volunteer Sharon Buege said she supports the GOP ticket because she sees the race as a matter of “good versus evil.” Speaking outside a news conference by Trump running mate J.D. Vance, Buege said she opposed “the whole left agenda,” adding that her top issues in the race were border security, the economy, human trafficking, homelessness and “indoctrination” in public schools.

At that same news conference, a man who would only give his name as “John” said the economy and inflation mattered most: “I don’t need a reminder of why to support Trump. I can get that every time I go to the gas station or grocery store.”

Groups of voters

With Republicans looking to run up margins in rural parts of the battleground states and Democrats banking on big leads in cities, the suburbs remain pivotal.

In Georgia, diverse and growing suburbs have helped move the state from reliably red to purple.

In the state’s two largest suburban counties of Cobb and Gwinnett, Biden picked up more than 137,000 votes in 2020 over 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, according to data from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. The same year, Trump boosted his total by just under 32,000 votes over his 2016 performance.

The Trump campaign boasts a mighty in-state operation: nearly 15,000 volunteers signing up between mid-July and the end of August, nearly 300 events scheduled for September, and 4,000 neighborhood organizers and canvassers — known as Trump Force Captains — joining the cause in July and August.

But Team Harris says they are running the largest Georgia operation of any Democratic presidential campaign cycle, with more than 200 campaign staff in 28 offices. Harris’ recent visit to the more conservative south side of the state marked her 16th trip to Georgia since becoming vice president and her seventh trip this year.

This is not going to be an election where you will see a landslide. It’s going to be won in the margins in six to seven swing states. – Democratic strategist Donna Brazile

Harris is hoping to fire up the young, diverse Democratic base, but her team also is hoping she can hang onto or expand on Biden’s coalition of older, affluent, educated and largely white suburbanites.

“Those are the people who are actually kind of pivotal and who will modify or change their behavior,” said University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock.

“These people are largely Republicans, but they can’t bring themselves to vote for Donald Trump or for Republicans who are closely associated with him,” Bullock said.

Larry Ceisler, a Philadelphia public affairs executive and political analyst, said the four suburban Philadelphia counties surrounding Pennsylvania’s largest city are key to winning that state. Once a Republican bastion, the so-called collar counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery have swung strongly in the other direction since 2016.

That complicates messaging for both campaigns, Ceisler said. Trump’s anti-abortion stance and Harris’ effort to back away from her earlier statements against fracking — both positions that appeal to rural and western Pennsylvania voters — are potential liabilities in suburbs.

Democrats have a 343,000-voter registration advantage over Republicans in Pennsylvania. But the state has been decided by narrow margins in the last two presidential elections.

Daniel Mallinson, an associate professor of public policy and administration at Penn State Harrisburg, noted that the Trump campaign has paid attention to Black and Latino voters.

“One of the weaknesses that Biden had as a candidate was he had weakening support among African American voters. And then Trump has actually done fairly well, particularly in some other states, like in Florida, with Latino voters,” Mallinson said, adding that Harris’ nomination changes the equation somewhat.

After Democrats seemingly all but wrote off Arizona for Biden, the contest there is proving more winnable for Harris. Biden narrowly won Arizona in 2020, but he had been hemorrhaging Latino support this year.

In the manufacturing-heavy upper Midwest, labor unions could prove consequential in not only persuading voters but also motivating them to the polls.

Biden was the first sitting president to visit a picket line when the United Auto Workers last year took on the “Big Three” Detroit automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — by going on strike. That effort led to significant increases in pay and benefits for workers.

UAW members protest in support of the union strike at the Ford Assembly Plant on the South Side on October 7, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)

The UAW, which in August announced a national campaign to motivate its 1 million active and retired members to vote for Harris, says its membership accounted for 9.2% of Biden’s 2020 votes in Michigan alone.

“To me, this election is real simple,” UAW president Shawn Fain told a crowd of about 15,000 people last month at a rally in Detroit for Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. “It’s about one question. It’s a question we made famous in the labor movement: Which side are you on?”

Political weaknesses

While Democrats are more motivated than when Biden was the presumptive nominee, they still face internal conflicts, the most high-profile of which has been about the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Dee Sull, a Las Vegas attorney who works in immigration and family law, is a registered Democrat who said she would never vote for Trump. Yet she doesn’t really want to vote for Harris, leaving her “very torn” this election.

“I believe our foreign policy in Gaza is completely ridiculous. I’m very disturbed,” she said of U.S. military aid to Israel. “If we’re going to spend money, I want it spent on my kids here — on my neighbors’ kids here.”

Related ArticlesNational Politics | Changing demographics and the political calculus of anti-immigrant rhetoric in swing states National Politics | Will abortion swing the first post-Roe presidential election? National Politics | When business is booming but daily living is a struggle National Politics | In the tightest states, new voting laws could tip the outcome in November

Sull said both parties have silenced the voices of those who protest the death and destruction in Gaza. And she was irritated that Palestinian American activists were not allowed to speak at the Democratic National Convention last month.

Sull won’t sit out the election, but said she would prefer to vote for a third candidate with a viable shot at winning.

“Probably like a lot of Americans would if they had that opportunity,” she said.

For Trump, voters’ overwhelming support for abortion rights could prove a huge liability in swing states.

While Trump has wobbled in recent months on whether he would veto a national abortion ban, the Supreme Court justices he appointed dismantled abortion access across the country in 2022 — an unpopular position even in red states such as Kansas, Kentucky and Ohio that since have voted to expand abortion rights.

In Wisconsin, Planned Parenthood stopped offering abortions at its health clinics after the court’s Dobbs decision because of an 1849 “trigger” state law that immediately took effect. Wisconsin women lost all abortion services there for a year and a half, until a court re-interpreted the state law.

This summer’s shakeup has reset the race, said Amy Walter, publisher of The Cook Political Report, an independent, nonpartisan newsletter that analyzes elections. So far, likely voters in the swing states view Harris more favorably than Biden, she said. But with Trump benefiting from an electorate skeptical of the state of the economy, the newsletter characterized the race as “a battle of inches.”

The campaigns both face a lot of voters who are disenchanted with politics altogether, or else unhappy with their options.

Amy Tarkanian, a conservative television commentator who once lauded Trump to national audiences and was chair of the Nevada State Republican Party in 2011-12, said she’s at “a complete loss” this year. She remains a Republican, even after the state party heavily criticized her when, two years ago, she endorsed a pair of Democratic candidates for state offices.

“I’m not happy, or necessarily sold on Kamala,” Tarkanian said. “… But I absolutely do not want to vote for Donald Trump.”

Kevin Hardy covers business, labor and rural issues for Stateline from the Midwest. Arizona Mirror’s Jim Small, Michigan Advance’s Anna Liz Nichols and Jon King, Nevada Current’s Hugh Jackson, NC Newsline’s Galen Bacharier, Pennsylvania Capital-Star’s Peter Hall and John Cole, Georgia Recorder’s Ross Williams, and Wisconsin Examiner’s Ruth Conniff and Henry Redman contributed reporting.

Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on Facebook and X.

Friday Night High School football: White, Collins, Wirth lead Monterey past Aptos

APTOS — Vibrant practices with smiles splashed across their faces, even as temperatures soared this past week. At times, it has been missing at Monterey. Perhaps taking a step back and rediscovering that passion was the perfect antidot.

Whether it was the pressure to live up to heightened expectations before the football season began, or having its confidence challenged after a pair of losses, the response has been encouraging.

“We had our best week of practice,” Monterey coach Alex Besaw said. “It was a direct reflection of what we did Monday through Thursday.”

The Toreadores put together their best performance of the season, matching their season high for points in a 42-14 win over Aptos.

“The season is full of peaks and valleys,” Besaw said. “We’ve had our share of valleys. We have to learn that in football and the game of life. You don’t turn your back on a family member. There will be more adversity.”

In their first two Gabilan Division games, the Toreadores have outscored the opposition 84-21, as they gear up to face six-time defending Gabilan Division champion Salinas next Friday at Monterey Peninsula College.

The game is coming during Monterey’s fall break.

“The conversation immediately turned over to Salinas after the game,” said Besaw, a former assistant at Salinas. “Don’t fall into the trap of being off from school, and use it to not have an energetic week of practice.”

On the road for the third straight week, the Toreadores were balanced and efficient on offense, with Preston White completing 8-of-11 passes, with four of those completions going for touchdowns.

“This was a big game for us,” Besaw said. “We were on the road again. With traffic, it was a long bus ride. It’s a well-coached team. And it was Aptos’ homecoming.”

Last fall Monterey turned its season around, using a kickoff return from Kavon Collins as time expired in a wild 48-43 win, igniting a four-game winning streak.

While there were no late game dramatics this time, Collins — who has an offer from Northern Arizona — had another big game, turning five catches into 102 yards and three touchdowns, giving him eight touchdowns in two games against Aptos.

“We’ve put ourselves in a good position being 2-0,” Besaw said. “It’s a long season. We still haven’t played our best football. But tonight was one of the best games we’ve played all year long.”

The leadership values that Besaw has been seeking all fall from a group of 19 seniors that have been up since their sophomore years has begun to develop.

“Preston (White) has been a lot more vocal than he has in the past,” Besaw said. “And Soakai (Funaki) has been our anchor on defense and leading by example.”

The senior linebacker finished with 14 tackles, three for losses for Monterey, with Jamar Aquino adding six tackles and a pair of sacks.

“Aptos was a tough read,” Besaw said. “It is a disciplined football program with an identity on offense. It tested our ability to be disciplined on defense.”

The Toreadores created four turnovers, and recovered an onside kick, with Kai Vaughn and Dakota Ordonio both intercepting passes that led to points.

White and Collins hooked up three times for touchdowns. In three seasons together, the pair have connected 35 times for touchdowns. Tailback Enobong Wirth added 128 yards and two touchdowns on the ground for Monterey.

Carmel 66, King City 33: For all the offensive firepower that the Padres had on display, it was a kickoff return to open the second half that changed the complexion of the game.

For the second time in the game, Simeon Brown ran back a kickoff 70 plus yards for a touchdown, igniting a run of 14 points over the first 2:15 of the second half in Carmel’s 66 point eruption.

The win also tied a school record for consecutive regular season wins (18) for the defending Mission Division South champions, who improved to 6-0 on the season.

“I thought the offense was efficient tonight,” Carmel coach Golden Anderson said. “We scored on all but our last drive. We had the two touchdowns on special teams. It was kind of a sparring match in the first half.”

Brown’s kickoff return, coupled with an interception that led to a Hudson Rutherford touchdown pass extended Carmel’s lead to 30 in the third quarter.

“The kickoff return was big,” Anderson said. “It was still a two-score game at the time. King City had a good game plan. It isn’t always what we didn’t do. It’s what the opponent did. King City has some guys that made plays.”

That would include quarterback Junior Manriquez, who had two touchdown runs and tossed a touchdown for the Mustangs, while Carson Tidwell went over 100 yards rushing.

“We learned tonight that we can compete at a high level when we execute,” King City coach Mac Villanueva said. “Offensively, we did some great stuff against them. That’s just an extremely well-coached team with some quality athletes.”

Rutherford picked a part the King City defense with three touchdowns passes, while Ashton Rees had touchdown runs of 19 and 65 yards, giving him 12 touchdowns on the season.

Rutherford connected with Ty Arnold, Matt Maxon and Brooklyn Ashe for touchdowns, while Maxon also caught a touchdown pass from Kaleb Herro. Connor Reilly closed the scoring.

Carmel, who is on fall break next week, will have a bye week before it hosts Rancho San Juan in two weeks.

“It’s unique for us,” Anderson said. “It comes at a nice time. We’ll have a couple of days of practice and give them a break. Let the kids go on college trips, or let their parents take them out of town. All of us need to recharge the batteries.”

North Salinas 47, Rancho San Juan 0: Concerns about looking ahead to its matchup with Pacific Grove were squashed in the opening minutes when the Vikings produced 21 points in the first six minutes of the game.

“I was worried about us being overconfident,” North Salinas coach Ben Ceralde said. “A lot of these kids played together, live down the street from each other. You can see their campus from ours. I was pleased with how well we performed.”

Posting back-to-back shutouts for the first time in 35 years, the Vikings tuned up for their first ever meeting in Pacific Grove next Friday, as both teams are 2-0 in the Mission Division South.

“I have not really looked at a lot of film of them,” Ceralde said. “I told the boys that Pacific Grove is as well-oiled machine. If we are undisciplined, they’ll take advantage of us.”

Last year North Salinas snapped the Breakers six game winning streak to start the season with a 50-6 decision, enroute to returning to the playoffs.

The 47 points against Rancho San Juan was a season high for North Salinas, who blanked Greenfield 20-0 last week.

“We had a lot of good energy tonight, good communication,” Ceralde said. “We executed very well. We had a good week of practice.”

Izaiah Gonzalez accounted for three touchdowns for North Salinas, throwing a pair of touchdown passes to RJ Leota, while catching a touchdown pass from Kai Ceralde.

Freshman Dylan Reynoso rushed for three of touchdowns, while Sean Nimuan returned a fumble for six.

Alisal 24, Monte Vista 14: Not only did a week off enable the Trojans to get four starters back from injuries, but it also enabled them to refocus on the start of league play.

“The most important part is we got healthy,” first year Alisal coach Francisco Estrada said. “We got our running backs back. Both were huge in pounding the ball on offense. We got two guys back, who were big on defense.”

Special teams also answered the call as Gus Matias broke up 14-14 tie in the fourth quarter with a 34-yard field, enabling the Trojans to slip past Monte Vista.

“That was huge,” Estrada said. “It was one of those decisions where we were in no-man’s land. He’s worked hard on his craft. He sunk it right throw the uprights.”

A three-point lead became a 10-point cushion with 4:56 remaining when Hector Politron connected with Jordan Lopez on a 38-yard touchdown pass.

“The good thing right know is we are 1-0 in league,” Estrada said. “We told the team we’ll enjoy the victory. Now it’s on to North County. Being in league means every game is the most important game and every game is a must win.”

Politron added a 15-yard touchdown run. while Nate Perra took a jet sweep 25 yards to give Alisal a 14-8 lead with 6:04 left in the third quarter.

The Trojans collected four turnovers to stall a potent Monte Vista offense, as Javier Estrada and Alex Gomez both had interceptions, while Carlos Zamora and Efren Posadas recovered fumbles.

“I can count on my fingers how many times they ran the ball,” Estrada said. “We knew Monte Vista had some big weapons. The quarterback is really good. The receiver is at a different level. The plan was to make somebody else beat us.”

Estrada was referring to quarterback Dominic Pierini and receiver Nico Downie, who hooked up eight times for 145 yards and a score. Downie has 51 catches for over 1,000 yards through six games this year.

The 14 points was a season low for the Mustangs, who fell to 0-2 in the Mission Division North.

Crystal Springs Union 52, Trinity 0: Starting the game with just 10 players, the Warriors finished with nine in being blanked in 8-man football.

Eli Robertson had an interception for Trinity, who slipped to 2-2 overall. The Warriors will visit Pinewood of Los Altos Hills next Friday.

High School football: Soquel controls the clock in running past Palma

SOQUEL — Addressing the team before boarding the bus back to Salinas, Jeff Carnazzo didn’t mince words about what he feels or perceives is a lack of leadership.

“I told the team after the game I don’t care where the leadership comes from,” the Palma coach said. “We have to get that back if we’re going to chase our goals.”

For the first time since Palma’s playoff streak began 39 years ago, it is starring at an 0-2 league start after being humbled by host Soquel 32-14 in a battle of reigning state divisional champions.

“There are some similarities to last year in that are backs are against the wall again,” Carnazzo said. “Schemes are schemes. I didn’t forget how to coach. But as coaches, we have to work on their psyche and challenge them to lead.”

Carnazzo, the all-time leader in wins as a football coach in the county, was referring to last fall’s 0-5 start — forced to forfeit three wins, in which Palma needed a win its league finale just to clinch a playoff spot.

“We can’t use youth as an excuse,” said Carnazzo, in reference to 13 sophomores seeing extensive time. “I’m not happy with how we played in the second half. We didn’t compete like we competed in the first half.”

The Chieftains (3-3 overall) have been their own worst enemy, having given up three defensive touchdowns in the last seven quarters. The two defensive touchdowns against Salinas were the difference in the game.

Since dropping their first two games of the season by identical 14-7 scores to two perennial playoff teams, the Knights have won three straight, outscoring opponents 122-27.

“We were dominated in the second half,” Carnazzo said. “Soquel is a very talented on both sides of the ball and is strong up front. We need that leadership to kick in.”

The Chieftains, who fell 39-25 last week to reigning Gabilan Division champion Salinas, were outscored 26-0 during one stretch of the game against Soquel after taking a brief 7-6 lead on the first of two David Garcia touchdown runs.

“We had some momentum,” Carnazzo said. “But we struggled all night to stop their un. Soquel went on long sustained drives. It was doing what we like to do to other teams and that’s hold on to the ball. We were pretty frustrated.”

Despite an interception in the second quarter from Eli Mercurio, the Chieftains were held to four possessions in the first half as Soquel chewed up the clock with its ground game.

“I’ll watch film tonight, and go back to the drawing board on Monday and figure out how we’re going to improve up front on the defensive side of the ball,” Carnazzo said. “When a team can run on you, it’s a punch to the gut.”

The Chieftains defense had given up just one offensive touchdown in their first four games of the season, with a pair of shutouts. They have allowed seven touchdowns on defense in two Gabilan Division games.

Palma, who hosts Aptos next Friday at Rabobank, has dropped three games this year to a state champion, a state finalist and a reigning Gabilan Division champion, whose combined records are 13-3.

Ironically, all three of the Chieftains losses have come on the road. They are unbeaten when hosting a game, which they will do for three of their final four games.

“Young team or not, you have to string four quarters of football together,” Carnazzo said. “We have yet to do that this year. Our focal point in practice has to be stopping the run. We can’t keep giving up long sustained drives.”

Soquel piled up 374 yards for the game, 258 of which came on the ground, with tailback Tyreis Lundy finishing with 161 yards and a pair of touchdowns on just 14 carries.

Garcia, who had one carry against Salinas, may have earned a few more touches in what is becoming a crowded backfield for Palma, after rushing for 41 yards and two touchdowns. Eli Dukes added 71 yards on just 13 carries.

“He (Garcia) is the third back we’ve talked about,” Carnazzo said. “He’s earned more carries after tonight. He was a bright spot for us.”

Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch: A fixture in the conversation about sustainable seafood

EDITOR’S NOTE: As the Monterey Bay Aquarium counts down to its 40th anniversary this month, The Herald is doing a series of stories taking a closer look at the history, programs and behind-the-scenes management of the region’s most popular attraction. Today a look at Seafood Watch, a sustainable seafood advisory list. To read previous articles in the series visit https://www.montereyherald.com/tag/aq...

MONTEREY – In the past few years, “sustainable” has become somewhat of a buzzword, with companies around the world scrambling to brand their products in a way that will make them appealing to eco-conscious customers.

Making sure these companies actually live up to their claims of sustainability has only become more important, especially when it comes to seafood. Since the 1970s, the amount of fish stocks that were at sustainable levels has dropped from 90% to 66%, and 90% of these fish stocks are being fished at or above their sustainable limit.

To the staff of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, it was a no-brainer to do something to address this issue. In the nearly 40 years since the aquarium opened its doors, its impact has expanded far beyond the boundaries of the building. One of its farthest-reaching programs is Seafood Watch, a sustainable seafood advisory list that provides guides for everyone from people shopping at the grocery store, to restaurants, to large food companies such as Whole Foods.

It “is really considered the global gold standard for science-based seafood sustainability,” Julie Packard, the executive director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, told the Herald recently.

With the help of Seafood Watch and others, over 80% of grocery businesses in the United States and the European Union have committed to sourcing sustainable seafood. But the program wasn’t always the national scale phenomenon it is now. In fact, its foundation was something of an accident, said Erin Hudson, the Seafood Watch program director at the aquarium. In 1997, the aquarium opened up a temporary exhibit on sustainable seafood, titled “Fishing for Solutions: what’s the catch?” and focused on concepts of overfishing and bycatch.

An Aquarium guest sits at the Real Cost Cafe and learns about sustainable seafood practices. (Arianna Nalbach – Monterey Herald)

To match the theme of the exhibit, the aquarium’s cafe modified its menu to feature more sustainably sourced seafood, and placed informative cards on each of the cafe tables to explain the changes. Aquarium staff noticed that people were taking these cards home and realized that there was a demand for information on sustainable seafood.

“That was kind of the light bulb moment, and the Seafood Watch program was born,” Hudson said.

Seafood Watch’s guides divide fish into three different categories: green-rated, which are the most sustainable options, yellow, which are good alternatives if no green-rated seafood is available, and red, which should be avoided. The guide can be found online at https://www.seafoodwatch.org/

These recommendations are all based on scientific studies and surveys, and the ratings can vary even within fish species depending on how and where the fish was harvested. Chinook salmon, for example, are a good buy if they were farmed in New Zealand, but not so good if they were caught in Puget Sound.

At Seafood Watch’s outset in 1999, they developed one small card featuring a handful of species. But as demand grew, the amount of species grew from 32 in 2002 to over 300 species as of this year. In addition to printed cards, they also have a website and an app, where you can find guides by species or region, as well as for more specific food types such as sushi. For people on a last minute run to the grocery store, the simple regional guides should do the trick, says Hudson. But for those who want to dig deep, there is extensive information on each of the 300 species.

Although the program started out as a user-friendly production for individuals, a big part of its impact has been through the restaurant industry. “Culinarians are ambassadors for sustainable seafood,” Hudson explains. “They reach people in a very unique way through food.”

Seafood Watch partners with both restaurant behemoths like the Cheesecake Factory and individual chefs at smaller establishments. However, making seafood sustainable can be more difficult than just following a guide.

At the cafe that started it all, Monterey Bay Aquarium Executive Chef Matt Beaudin says he never has a dull day of work. One day he might be working with purveyors at U.S. Foods, the next talking to an abalone diver in San Diego. Part of the challenge of his job, he explains, is finding seafood that is both sustainable and tasty. “A lot of the time as a chef, I find that sure, it’s green rated, but it doesn’t always translate to good flavor on the plate.”

Beaudin remembers tasting the perfect green-rated Chinook salmon and wanting to buy it for the cafe, but his seafood purveyor didn’t sell it. After some convincing, however, the purveyor began selling this salmon, and now it is the go-to at restaurants all across the Monterey Bay area. “If doing the right thing is easy, everyone will do the right thing,” he explains.

But sourcing sustainable seafood hasn’t been easy for everyone. Hajime Sato, the James Beard award-winning chef and owner of Sozai, a sushi restaurant in Detroit, Michigan, decided to implement sustainable seafood in his restaurant more than 15 years ago, when questions from students in his classes prompted him to research the sourcing of common sushi fish. More than a decade later, he still struggles every day to make sure his restaurant is both sustainable and profitable. Part of the issue is distribution. According to Sato, one company distributes ingredients for nearly 80% of all sushi restaurants in the U.S. and they often don’t offer the fish Sato wants to buy. This is because consumers are used to certain types of sushi, he says, which usually use fish that aren’t sustainable.

“When people go to a sushi restaurant, they know exactly what they want to get, and if we don’t have it, then they’re going to leave,” Sato explained.

 

Wild-caught salmon is considered one of the best choices by the prestigious Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program. (Monterey Herald Archive)

Sato has worked hard to create his own distribution system, ordering from dozens of different purveyors and paying high shipping costs as a result. At his former sushi restaurant in Seattle, sales went down 20% when they moved in a more sustainable direction. However, Sato hasn’t let the difficulty of pursuing sustainable seafood deter him from the cause.

“Once you know what you know, don’t you want to change?” he asked. “What I’m doing shouldn’t be anything special.”

Sato’s relationship with Seafood Watch hasn’t always been an easy one. Although he has known of and used Seafood Watch’s guidelines for years, he says that the organization didn’t always approve of many of his seafood choices, such as bycatch octopus that would have otherwise been wasted.

However, this year he partnered with the program to launch informational articles about sustainable sushi, and craft some recipes as well. “We have the same goal,” he said. “If there’s any chance of us saving the ocean in the future, we need to work together.”

Beaudin hopes to make sourcing sustainable seafood easier for chefs like Sato. In the past year, he has worked with major restaurant supplier U.S. Foods to formulate a list of green rated and good alternative seafood for chefs and other buyers to use while making purchases. Beaudin plans on sending these guides back to Seafood Watch to circulate amongst culinarians.

By working with companies at the source, Beaudin thinks sustainable seafood will only become easier to buy. “Having to think non-stop about what fish you’re using, it can be overwhelming,” he acknowledged. “If we can make the models easy, that’s the way to go.”

As excited as he is about Seafood Watch’s partnerships with big companies, Beaudin emphasizes that a lot of the power to effect change lies with individual consumers. After all, if no one wants to buy sustainable fish, no one will serve it. “Never underestimate the importance of personal decisions when it relates to sustainability,” he said.

Sato agrees and emphasizes that in order for any change to happen, consumers have to start asking questions. “Break away from the four or five fish that you might be eating, and then start asking that little question to the chefs, ‘what’s local,’ ‘what’s in season,’ ‘what’s sustainable?’” he said. “You ask a question to the fishmonger or the restaurant, they might think it’s a good marketing tool. And if they get these questions a lot, then maybe things will change.”

“We can slowly, maybe, change things one or two percent. That’s what the general public can do, just a little bit more.”

Monterey Police asking for public’s help in cold case

The Monterey Police Department, in conjunction with the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office Cold Case Task Force, asked for the public’s help in identifying human remains found in 2010.

Police found the lower half of a human leg on a beach in Monterey on Dec. 30, 2010. The leg, which was intact below the knee, appeared to have been in the ocean for several weeks.

The department has been working with Othram, a private forensics lab based in Texas to conduct special testing to try and identify the heritage and background of the person the remains belonged to.

Initial results tentatively identified the leg belonging to a Southeast Asian male, possibly Vietnamese, Cambodian or Laotian between 20 and 50 years old.

A DNA sample from the leg was uploaded to the California Department of Justice’s Missing and Unidentified Persons Section DNA database, but no matches were found. To police, this meant no known missing person’s report could be matched to the leg.

Since then, the police have been working with the District Attorney’s Cold Case Task Force, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Office, California Department of Justice and Othram to help conduct additional DNA testing.

Othram started Forensic Genetic Genealogy in 2023, the use of DNA analysis and traditional genealogy research to help identify investigative leads in both unidentified human remains cases and violent crimes.

If potential family members are located, police can use a DNA comparison to confirm the identity. This will also help police determine how the remains ended up in Monterey Bay and the circumstances surrounding their presumed death.

Anyone with information regarding the investigation is encouraged to contact Monterey Police Department Cold Case Investigator Bill Clark, assigned to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office Cold Case Task Force at (831) 646-3971, or email at bclark@monterey.org.

What to do with 2 million Marriott points? Get a Bellagio fountain show

By Sally French | NerdWallet

Most people spend their hard-earned hotel points on, well, hotels. Atlanta-based accountant Scott Krupa spent more than 2.4 million Marriott Bonvoy points at the Bellagio Las Vegas Hotel and Casino for a chance to choreograph his own Fountains of Bellagio performance, a water show with lights and music that takes place at the fountains outside of the iconic Las Vegas Strip hotel.

Set to the song “Beautiful Day” by U2, his choreography debuted in August 2024 and now joins a rotation of 40 possible fountain shows that run every 15 to 30 minutes every afternoon and evening.

How Krupa redeemed points for the Bellagio fountain show(Photo courtesy of Marriott)

Krupa exchanged his points through the Marriott Bonvoy Moments program, which allows members to redeem for experiences like concert and sporting event tickets. Some experiences sell at fixed prices, while others — like the fountain show experience — involve a bidding system.

Krupa said bidding for this experience was open for nearly two months. Five minutes before closing, it was going for just 1.3 million Bonvoys. But within the last few minutes, it went up by more than 1 million points.

“I knew this was truly the one [experience] I wanted to do,” Krupa says. “I was prepared to bid as much as I had.”

NerdWallet values 2.4 million Marriott Bonvoy points. That places Krupa’s winning bid at about $21,600.

How Krupa earned 2 million Marriott points

Krupa says that, while he vacations more than most people, he’s not obsessive about earning Bonvoy points. He says he’s been charging most of his purchases to a Marriott-branded credit card for years, but he’s not a travel hacker who constantly churns credit cards to maximize welcome offers.

Krupa said he considered saving his points to travel during retirement or redeeming his points for another Marriott Bonvoy Moments package, such as a stay in Monaco for the Monaco Grand Prix, an annual Formula One motor racing event.

“I’d been waiting for the right thing to bid on — something that no number of phone calls and no amount of money could buy,” Krupa says. “The Bellagio show was the right one.”

What goes into making a custom Bellagio fountain show

Choreographing a Bellagio fountain show is incredibly complex. Show choreographers account for technical challenges, like the time needed to refill the tubes with sufficient air pressure to shoot the water into the sky. Songs are broken up into millisecond segments, with every water and light motion meticulously planned.

To choreograph the show, Krupa flew to the Los Angeles studio of WET, which is the water feature design firm behind the Bellagio show. It’s also the team behind other famous water installations, such as the HSBC Rain Vortex at Jewel Changi Airport, which is often considered the best airport in the world.

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Krupa covered his own airfare, but the Bonvoy Moment he bid on included a hotel stay in Los Angeles, a private tour of the studios and a work session with the WET team to choreograph the show.

Once the show was ready for debut, Krupa and his fiance flew to Las Vegas. Marriott covered the hotel stay and a tour of the mechanical room underneath the 8.5-acre lake where the show takes place.

“This is the kind of experience that truly defines one in a lifetime opportunity,” he says.

And while Krupa says he was willing to spend every last point to his name, he didn’t have to.

“Let’s just say I didn’t spend them all,” he says. “Now I’m saving again for another Bonvoy Moment.”

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Sally French writes for NerdWallet. Email: sfrench@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @SAFmedia.

The article What to Do With 2 Million Marriott Points? Get a Bellagio Fountain Show originally appeared on NerdWallet.

‘Saturday Night’ review: Skimming the surface of the very first ‘SNL’

Making a movie about famous funny people: super hard. Audiences spend half the time watching it performing stupid checklist tricks in their minds. (Is the nose right? Did that really happen? Wasn’t the real person taller? Sexier? More talented?) It’s no way to give any docudrama, or docu-comedy, a fair shake.

Backstage stories about those famous funny people: even harder. Capturing the personalities and the vibe behind the fingers-crossed launch of an extraordinarily influential TV phenomenon has — as Desi Arnaz used to scold Lucille Ball on “I Love Lucy,” in earlier show business era — a lot of explaining to do, and deciding. Do we make it inside-baseball for comedy nerds, or more of a general-interest thing to win over new fans while satisfying the pre-sold ones? Aim for relative fidelity to the historical record, or chase the spirit but not the letter, for example, of the 90-odd minutes preceding the first live episode of NBC’s “Saturday Night” on Oct. 11, 1975?

“Saturday Night” is about those 90-odd minutes. It has its moments, and some effective performances. But it’s all moments, really, without much momentum until the final stretch before showtime. As for the truth quotient, well, some of it happened, some of it didn’t; some of it happened but not this way; and too many essentially factual bits feel hoked-up and made-up, with a coating of smugness about putting one over on the squares. I’m all for putting one over on the squares, and always have been. But getting all sanctimonious about it? Score one for the squares.

To this relative non-scholar of “Saturday Night Live,” as the show was renamed two seasons after its debut, director and co-writer Jason Reitman’s treatment is all surface and ’70s slow-zooms for atmosphere. The screenplay, co-written by Gil Kenan, preoccupies itself with lionizing a major figure in contemporary comedy, producer Lorne Michaels, whose importance does not here translate to a compelling protagonist. It’s more a writing problem than an acting problem, but as played by Gabriel LaBelle (“The Fabelmans”), Michaels emerges in “Saturday Night” as an intuitive savant, dreamy and diffident and one of the more undefined figures ever to center a comedy about comedy.

The set-up: As a hedge against contractual negotiations with Johnny Carson and “The Tonight Show,” the NBC brass green-lit an unproven counterculture variety show starring, initially, Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), John Belushi (Matt Wood), Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt), Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien), conspicuously underused Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris) and the rest.

Producer/creator Michaels and company found themselves with at least 200% too much show for the first show, with its ungainly lineup of sketches, musical guests (Janis Ian and Billy Preston), Jim Henson’s Muppets (destined for a quick ejection from this universe of snark) and guest-host segments (George Carlin did the honors for the first episode).

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Like a wannabe ’70s Robert Altman film, “Saturday Night” drifts, glides, weaves and bobs from subgroup to subgroup readying this imminent probable disaster. In dressing rooms and hallways, or smoked-filled offices with a little cocaine here and there (though “a little” seems less than historically accurate), we spend time with Michaels and his soon-to-be-ex-wife and creative partner Rosie Shuster (Rachel Sennott) as they put out various fires, some literal. In one undisclosed location or another, there’s Belushi, who hasn’t signed a contract yet, or Jane Curtin (Kim Matula), or the network’s weekend late-night programming head Dick Ebersol (Cooper Hoffman). It’s a zoo and there’s a llama in the hallway to prove it. This detail is both false and true; the llama didn’t make its first appearance backstage or on-air until a few shows later.

The ferment feels more like a half-remembered blur in “Saturday Night.” The standoffs backstage, with tempers rising, settle for conventional snobs versus slobs comedy, the open-secret ingredient in so many “SNL”- and National Lampoon-derived movies that came later. In Reitman’s “Saturday Night” the show and all its creators portray the slobs; the snobs are the censors, the network brass and old-school celebrities such as Milton Berle (played here by J.K. Simmons, with a partially glimpsed prosthetic penis). Can this mild-mannered Canadian, Michaels, triumph against such forces?

The script periodically brakes for a reflection on the show’s “visionary” breakthrough-ness, or a hushed observation of the chaotic brilliance of it all. (At one point, we hear that Belushi will be “more important than Brando. He’ll be studied.”) If the crew putting that first episode together, with Scotch tape and a little luck, truly had time to commemorate their colleagues’ genius an hour, or a half-before, before showtime, I hope they came off less precious in real life.

Visually Reitman and cinematographer Eric Steelberg try a little of everything, swish-panning between two sides of an argument, twice or thrice too often, or shooting in tight, spatially crammed telephoto images to underscore the sweatbox vibe. Elsewhere the camera trails after the backstage doings and undoings in long, verité style takes. The idea is a swirl of creativity under pressure, but with strange interludes of Zenlike calm and self-conscious rumination, less persuasively realized, even up against the deadline.

Dying is easy. Comedy is hard. Comedy about comedy may be hardest of all. In 2024 a movie about a live-TV countdown to destiny, once upon a time in ’75, needs more than moderately skillful reverence, and reaction shots of people cracking up at colleagues, to show us what it might’ve been like to be there.

“Saturday Night” — 2 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for language throughout, sexual references, some drug use and brief graphic nudity)

Running time: 1:48

How to watch: Premiered Oct. 3

Phillips is a Tribune critic.

‘The Franchise’ review: What’s the opposite of satire? HBO’s comedy skewering the movie business attempts to find out

Hollywood loves a navel-gazing satire about the movie business. Audiences do too, when given a good reason, from the upbeat mockery of 1952’s “Singin’ in the Rain,” to the excoriation of a studio executive in 1992’s “The Player,” to the empty platitudes about representation in 2023’s “American Fiction.” But don’t look for any of that wit or bite in HBO’s eight-episode series “The Franchise,” which is little more than the TV equivalent of a boiled piece of chicken.

“Tropic Thunder” might actually be the better comparison. The 2008 comedy was premised on the idea that filmmaking isn’t a miracle of controlled chaos, it’s just chaos. But at least it had things to say about hubris and bad judgment, whereas there are no ideas animating “The Franchise.” Just as crucially, the jokes don’t land, maybe because the show also lacks the courage to bite the hand that feeds.

Creator Jon Brown’s credits include “Veep” (from Armando Iannucci, who is also an executive producer here) and “Succession” (created by another Iannucci alum, Jesse Armstrong) and those titles might be selling points for some, but I’m not sure the smug, fast-talking snark that defines this style of comedy has legs. We can disagree, but if you watched HBO’s short-lived and far less acclaimed “Avenue 5” — yet another Iannucci project that Brown worked on — you have a sense of what “The Franchise” has in mind, which is very little at all.

Somewhere in England, a cast and crew are at work on a superhero movie called “Tecto: Eye of the Storm” and the tunnel vision of a crass Kevin Feige-esque studio executive (Darren Goldstein) has him making all kinds of harsh, panic-driven dictates. “Without our tentpole, we don’t have a tent,” he says, “and without a tent, we get eaten in our sleep by nine-year-old TikTok kids with superhero fatigue, which is not a real illness and a scam.” Instead of understanding the job at hand, the director (Daniel Brühl) treats this formulaic megaproject with the seriousness of Shakespeare.

Egos abound and no one seems particularly good at their jobs, but that’s beside the point. They are self-absorbed and mildly obnoxious, with their endless tantrums and humiliations, but rarely is their desperation funny. Everything feels like it’s in air quotes, and while the show acknowledges the sexism that exists amongst many movie fandoms, it conspicuously ignores the racism (maybe because Brown decided “Tecto” would only star white actors). It’s impossible to parse the movie’s lore, which is an intentional and a halfway decent gag, but is that what we’re going for: Halfway decent? No one says the word “streaming” once. The series could have been made 15 years ago, that’s how little it has to say about the current anxieties around the theatrical side of the business.

“The Franchise” is an exercise in watching good actors struggle through terrible scripts, namely Himesh Patel as the harried first assistant director, Lolly Adefope as the third (there is no second assistant director, which may be the most subtle of jokes) and Richard E. Grant as a seasoned theater actor who can’t believe he signed up for this garbage. Aya Cash is the producer gritting her teeth until she can move on to something less soul-crushing, and Billy Magnussen is the deeply insecure, possibly untalented star. Collectively, they more or less ignore their hapless director and it’s conspicuous that Brühl has no comedic point of view for the character. Then again, the show doesn’t either.

“The Franchise” — 1 star (out of 4)

Where to watch: 9 p.m. Sundays on HBO (and streaming on Max)

Nina Metz is a Tribune critic.