Heartland Signal Update
Welcome to the biweekly Heartland Signal update: a look at highlights from our Midwest-based newsroom. Here’s what we’ve been covering and watching:
GOP congressional candidate Anthony Hudson (MI-08) used an AI-generated Martin Luther King Jr. voice in a social media post, saying the late civil rights leader is "back from the dead" and endorsing him. Heartland Signal was first to report on the post. After we uncovered the audio, Hudson deleted the post and apologized, only to retract his apology later. The story was picked up by Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Michigan Advance, The Detroit Free Press, Fox 2 Detroit, The Daily Mail, The New York Post, The New Republic, and many more. Yikes!
Eric Hovde continues to run a disastrous Wisconsin Senate campaign, saying he has "spent a lot of time in Black culture" because he has projects in Africa. During a radio interview on Juneteenth, first reported on by Heartland Signal, Hovde told the hosts on 101.7 FM Milwaukee that he has "homeless shelters for abandoned kids" in Africa, so he ... gets it. The Washington Post, MSNBC, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, and others followed up on our reporting. Asked at a press conference about his comments, Hovde got a little frustrated.
Oklahoma State Superintendant Ryan Walters (R) has lost the password for the Education Department's website. Two years later, he has not recovered it.
OK state legislators torch State Superintendent Ryan Walters (R) for losing federal funding for schools and being locked out of his own Department of Education website for years:
— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) June 21, 2024
"So just for clarity, you do not have access to your website, to update your website?"
"Correct." pic.twitter.com/tVAfes9iSx
As West Wing Playbook said in citing our reporting, "We felt compelled to share this footage, dug by Heartland Signal ... The Veep music basically plays itself."
A GOP Pennsylvania State Rep. says providing public schools funding for free menstrual products is "Communism." (600 shares, 1k likes)
Read follow-up coverage from Esquire: Here’s a Totally Sane Republican Argument: Offering Free Tampons to Students May Lead to Communism
Pennsylvania Republican legislators booed police officers who protected the Capitol on Jan. 6. (2.6k shares, 3.6k likes)
Read follow-up coverage from The Washington Post: Several Pa. House Republicans boo officers who defended Capitol on Jan. 6
- Minnesota GOP Senate candidate Royce White clarified an FEC spending question: Yes, he spent money at a strip club, but it was for food.
- A Missouri GOP Senate candidate was charged with assault for reportedly punching a woman after a dispute over a clogged toilet. He says this is a “ploy to ruin his campaign.”
- A Kansas state representative says providing childcare subsidies drives a "stake through the heart of traditional Kansas families."
- Three Republican legislators in Ohio opposed a bill to prevent discrimination against natural hairstyles in the workplace. They are all bald.
Questions? Thoughts about these stories? Tips? Or more? Shoot me a note at thogan@heartlandsignal.com.