Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, is the No. 1 most attacked presidential candidate in the race so far.
DeSantis is solidly in the No. 2 spot in the GOP primary, sitting squarely behind former President Trump in the race for the White House.
However, while DeSantis sits at No. 2 in the GOP polls, he is No. 1 across all candidates when targeted by negative independent expenditures.
WHITE HOUSE SAYS BIDEN ‘PRAYING’ FOR HAWAII FAMILIES AFTER GIVING ‘NO COMMENT’ BEFORE
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, is the number one most attacked presidential candidate in the race so far. (AP/Maya Alleruzzo)
Independent expenditures are the costs paid by campaigns to target other candidates in a race, typically funding opposition research.
Currently, DeSantis has endured over $20.2 million in negative independent expenditure spending.
Compared to Presidents Biden and Trump, DeSantis is being hit more than both of them by millions of dollars.
Biden has taken the second-most brunt of negative spending, clocking in at $9.2 million,
Trump sits just below Biden at over $8.1 million in negative independent expenditures.
DeSantis campaign communications director Andrew Romeo told Fox News Digital that "Republicans, Democrats, and the legacy media are united in their full-on assault of Ron DeSantis because he is the only candidate who can beat Joe Biden."
"We know they will never call him the winner and we fully expect the onslaught of attacks to reach a new level on the debate stage next week, but taking arrows on behalf of the American people is nothing new for DeSantis," Romeo said.
"It doesn't matter how much they come after him, Ron DeSantis will never back down," he added.
Compared to Presidents Biden and Trump, DeSantis is being hit more than both of them by millions of dollars. (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
As DeSantis and former President Donald Trump compete for the GOP nomination in 2024, a new survey suggests that the Florida governor has a greater chance at beating President Biden among Virginians next cycle.
A Virginia Commonwealth University poll found that in a hypothetical 2024 matchup between the Republican nominee and Biden, who will be 82 at the time of the next election, respondents favored DeSantis over Trump.
In a 2022 rematch, 40% of respondents said they would vote for Trump, while 43% said they would vote for Biden.
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When the competing candidates were DeSantis and Biden, the margin tightened, with both locking in 41% support.
The majority of respondents, 54%, said they disapprove of how Biden is currently handling his job as president.
Fox News Digital's Joe Schoffstall contributed reporting.
DES MOINES, Iowa – Former President Donald Trump may not show up at the first Republican presidential primary debate, but that doesn’t bother North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
The multi-millionaire former software company CEO turned two-term governor who’s a dark horse for the 2024 GOP nomination said in a one-on-one interview with Fox News Digital as he walked through the Iowa State Fair that "we’re looking forward to the debate. We’re excited to be there, and we’re excited regardless of who shows up."
Burgum is one of eight candidates (so far) who have met the Republican National Committee’s criteria to make the debate stage at the Fox News hosted showdown on August 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That list also includes Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and entrepreneur and best-selling author Vivek Ramaswamy.
"It’s obviously an opportunity for us," Burgum said in his Friday interview," because…of the eight candidates who’ve made the stage, we’re the least well know. By definition that gives us the most upside. And part of that is – we’ve already defied the odds because when we launched people said he’ll never make the debate stage. People said you could never build a global software company in Fargo, North Dakota. People said we would never get elected governor when we were down 60 points six months before the primary. So, we like our position, and we are looking forward to the debate."
THIS REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE DROPS $10 MILLION OF HIS OWN MONEY INTO HIS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, is interviewed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds at the Iowa State Fair, on August 11, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)
Burgum’s not well known outside his home state of North Dakota and has been running a positive campaign to date, as he introduces himself to voters.
Asked if he’ll have to eventually throw some punches, the governor said "people don’t know who we are and I think people need to find out who we are, what we’ve done, what our vision is for the country. Presidential campaigns need to be about the future, not about the past. If it gets down to two people, then that would be the time to create differentiation but in the meantime, we’ve just got to keep telling our story."
PENCE SAYS TRUMP'S MISSING AN OPPORTUNITY AT THE IOWA STATE FAIR
But Burgum was apparently critical of some of his rivals, questioning whether they had the experience needed to serve as president.
"I think one of the criteria for running for president ought to be some of your relevant experience," he emphasized.
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And Burgum pointed to those candidates who "haven’t had an opportunity to work in an executive branch role, which is what the presidency is, that would include people being governor, or if you haven’t worked in the private sector."
"I think a lot of Americans would look forward to having president who understands what working Americans are actually going through and what it takes to make payroll every two weeks, what I’ve been doing since I was 26 years old. And what it means to cut you own pay to make sure you’ve got enough money to pay people that are working for you," Burgum stressed. "These are things that I think are prerequisites and we’re counting on the voters to understand that."
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.
The Different Steps & Statuses in HCM Recruiting
Below are all statuses possible in HCM Recruiting, with some notes for each.
Requisition Status & Status Details
Draft - Hiring Manager or Hiring Manager Assistant has initiated a Requisition and saved it. Recruiter will need to complete the requisition, review it and submit it for approval.
Pending - Recruiter has submitted the Requisition for review/approval, which is in progress.
- Approval - Pending- Requisition is pending approvals - please review appropriate report to locate where the requisition is in its approvals.
- Approval - Rejected- Requisition has been rejected along the approval chain. Hiring Manager and/or Hiring Manager Assistant should view the Progress tab to see any notes or comments. HM/HMA will need to redraft the requisition (using the actions button), make appropriate edits and resubmit (SAVE AND CLOSE) for review/approval.
Job formatting - In Progress - Recruiter will format the job and either post it for the intended time-frame or mark it as Open for Sourcing for direct hires.
Open - Requisition has been reviewed by the Recruiter and is currently posted.
- Posted - Requisition is currently posted.
- Not Posted - Requisition is currently open for direct hire.
- Unposted - Recruiter/System has unposted the requisition.
- Expired - Posting parameters have been met, and the job is no longer posted for applicants.
Filled - The number of openings has been met and candidate's for this requisition submitted and processed.
Canceled - Requisition has either been canceled by the Hiring Manager, Hiring Manager Assistant or Recruiter due to failed pool, duplicate requisition or other potential unfixable error with the requisition.
Deleted - Requisition was created in error and has been deleted by either the Hiring Manager, Hiring Manager Assistant or Recruiter.
Benefited Requisition - Candidate Step & Status Details
Screen (Requires Approval)
- To be Reviewed by Hiring Manager - The candidate has applied for the requisition and needs to have their application reviewed by the Hiring Manager and/or Search Committee.
- Request Approval to Interview - Hiring Manager or Assistant marks candidates for review in the system and has provided the completed screening matrix to HR for review.
- Approved to Interview - The Hiring Manager has provided the matrix to HR and may move forward with 1st round interviews.
- Rejected by Employer - Hiring Manager or Assistant marks candidate that is no longer being considered.
- Withdrawn by Candidate - Hiring Manager or Assistant marks candidate that has withdrawn from consideration. Candidate may also withdraw themselves from consideration.
Interview
- Interview to be Scheduled - Hiring Manager or Assistant needs to schedule interviews.
- Interview Scheduled - Hiring Manager or Assistant has scheduled interviews.
- Interview Successful - Proceed to Reference Check - Hiring Manager or Assistant indicates 1st round interviews are completed, and the candidate is moving forward in the process.
- Additional Interview to be Scheduled - Hiring Manager or Assistant indicates candidates progressing to a 2nd round of interviews.
- Additional Interview Scheduled - Hiring Manager or Assistant indicates 2nd round interviews are scheduled.
- Additional Interview Successful - Proceed to Reference Check - Hiring Manager or Assistant indicates 2nd round interviews are completed, successful and moving forward in the process
- Rejected by Employer - Hiring Manager or Assistant marks candidate that is no longer being considered.
- Withdrawn by Candidate - Hiring Manager or Assistant marks candidate that has withdrawn from consideration. Candidate may also withdraw themselves from consideration.
Reference Check (Recruiters Only)
- Proceed to Reference Check - Hiring Manager may use this status to signal the recruiter to kick off reference checks.
- Sent to Candidate - Recruiter will initiate the reference check for candidates indicated by the Hiring Manager or Assistant, and supported by the required matrix.
- In Progress - System generated status indicating that the candidate has provided information for their references and the check is in progress.
- Completed - System generated status indicating that the references for the candidate have provided their feedback for the candidate and the Reference Check Report is available. Recruiter will download the report and send it to the Hiring Manager or Assistant. This report is confidential and cannot be released to the candidate or others not associated with the search.
- Rejected by Employer - Recruiter marks candidate that is no longer being considered.
- Withdrawn by Candidate - Recruiter marks candidate that has withdrawn from consideration. Candidate may also withdraw themselves from consideration.
Pre-Offer (Requires Approval)
- Candidate Selection Under Hiring Manager Review - Final Candidate Selection is currently being deliberated by the Hiring Manager or Assistant. No offers can be made at this stage. The Hiring Manager or Assistant MUST provide their final and complete matrix to HR for a comprehensive review. See next step.
- Final Candidate Submitted for Approval - Hiring Manager or Assistant have marked the final candidate(s) for review/approval. Hiring Manager or Assistant MUST provide their final and complete matrix for a final review.
- Final Candidate Approved - Final review are complete and the Hiring Manager or Assistant has received confirmation from the Recruiter to move forward with VERBAL negotiations.
- Rejected by Employer - Recruiter marks candidate that is no longer being considered.
- Withdrawn by Candidate - Recruiter marks candidate that has withdrawn from consideration. Candidate may also withdraw themselves from consideration.
Verbal Offer
- Verbal Offer to be Made - Hiring Manager or Assistant may make the verbal offer and/or indicates that a verbal offer has been made to the top candidate.
- Verbal Offer Accepted - Hiring Manager or Assistant indicates the verbal offer has been accepted by the top candidate.
- Proceed to Written Offer - Hiring Manager or Assistant may use this status to signal to the recruiter that they are ready to kick off the background check and start the written offer process.
- Rejected by Employer - Hiring Manager or Assistant marks candidate that is no longer being considered.
- Withdrawn by Candidate - Hiring Manager or Assistant marks candidate that has withdrawn from consideration. Candidate may also withdraw themselves from consideration.
Background Check
- Proceed to Background Check -The Hiring Manager or Assistant may use this status to signal to the recruiter to kick off a background check.
- Background Check Initiated - The recruiter has initiated the background check process. The candidate has received an email to initiate this step with detailed instructions. Email comes from our 3rd party vendor: Sterling Talent Solutions.
- Background Check Pending - The candidate has provided the necessary information and their check is currently in progress
- Background Check Complete - The background check is completed and pending review from the appropriate Recruiter. Once reviewed, the recruiter will either contact the department or finalize the hire.
- Rejected by Employer - Hiring Manager or Assistant marks candidate that is no longer being considered.
- Withdrawn by Candidate - Hiring Manager or Assistant marks candidate that has withdrawn from consideration. Candidate may also withdraw themselves from consideration.
Offer
- To be Created - Hiring Manager will initiate and create the offer. This offer will go to the Recruiter (once SAVED) for a final review. The Recruiter will perform their review and submit the offer for approvals.
- Rejected - An approver on the offer workflow/approval chain has rejected the offer for some reason - The Hiring Manager or Assistant will view the comments in the progress history tab and reach out to the Recruiter if necessary.
- Has Declined - The top candidate has declined the offer.
- Draft - The offer has been drafted by the Hiring Manager. The offer has NOT been submitted for review or approval at this time.
- Approval in Progress - The offer approval is currently in progress and is pending one or more approvers.
- Approved - The offer has been approved. Next available action is for the Recruiter to extend the offer to the candidate.
- Extended - The recruiter has extended the offer to the candidate. The candidate MUST review and electronically accept the offer. Instructions are emailed to them.
- Accepted - Offer has been accepted by candidate. The next available step is for the recruiter to either finalize the hire, proceed to the 2nd pass if SSN/DOB/Gender is missing or initiate a background check if required.
- Refused - The offer has been refused by the candidate and is possibly in negotiations with the Hiring Manager or Assistant.
- Rejected by Employer - Recruiter marks candidate that is no longer being considered.
- Withdrawn by Candidate - Recruiter marks candidate that has withdrawn from consideration. Candidate may also withdraw themselves from consideration.
Move to HR (Recruiters Only) - This action is only available to Recruiters and submits the hire to HR Core for processing. Once a hire has been "Moved to HR", they will go through an overnight feed that will provide them security to WyoCloud as a "Pending Worker". They will be able to obtain UW login credentials, login to WyoCloud and go through basic tasks related to Onboarding.
Non-Benefited Requisition - Candidate Step & Status Details
Work Study Eligibility Check (for Work Study positions only) - Hiring Managers will NOT be able to see anyone in these statuses. The will only see those that have passed the eligibility check and may be moved forward in the hiring process for Work Study.
- Work Study Eligibility to be Verified- Candidate has applied to the job. The system will automatically run an eligibility check via Banner integration.
- Work Study Failed Screen - System eligibility check has run and the student either has not been awarded work study for the term selected, or there is a potential data entry error in the W# or other entered information. Hiring Manager or Assistant will not see anyone that is indicated as not eligible.
- Work Study Passed Screen - Candidate is confirmed as work study eligible and may proceed in the work study hiring process.
- Rejected by Employer - Recruiter marks candidate that is no longer being considered.
- Withdrawn by Candidate - Recruiter marks candidate that has withdrawn from consideration. Candidate may also withdraw themselves from consideration.
Work Study Eligible - Candidates have passed the Banner eligibility check and are available for Hiring Managers and Assistants to view.
- Hiring Manager to be Reviewed- Hiring Manager or Assistant may review the application to see if qualifications are in line with the posted position.
- Proceed to Interview - Hiring Manager or Assistant indicates that the candidate will be moved forward to the Interview stage.
- Rejected by Employer - Recruiter marks candidate that is no longer being considered.
- Withdrawn by Candidate - Recruiter marks candidate that has withdrawn from consideration. Candidate may also withdraw themselves from consideration.
Screen
- To be Reviewed by Hiring Manager- Hiring Manager or Assistant may review the application to see if qualifications are in line with the posted position.
- Proceed to Interview - Hiring Manager or Assistant have marked candidates indicating which are moving forward for a 1st round interview.
- Rejected by Employer - Recruiter marks candidate that is no longer being considered.
- Withdrawn by Candidate - Recruiter marks candidate that has withdrawn from consideration. Candidate may also withdraw themselves from consideration.
Interview
- Interview to be Scheduled - Hiring Manager or Assistant may schedule or indicates they are scheduling interviews.
- Interview Scheduled - Hiring Manager or Assistant indicates interviews are scheduled.
- Interview Successful - Hiring Manager or Assistant indicates the completed interview was deemed successful and the hiring manager wants to move forward with the process.
- Rejected by Employer - Recruiter marks candidate that is no longer being considered.
- Withdrawn by Candidate - Recruiter marks candidate that has withdrawn from consideration. Candidate may also withdraw themselves from consideration.
Background Check
- Proceed to Background Check - Hiring Manager or Assistant may use this status to signal to the recruiter to kick off a background check, if required.
- Background Check Initiated - The recruiter has initiated the background check process. The candidate has received an email to initiate this step with detailed instructions. Email comes from our 3rd party vendor: Sterling Talent Solutions.
- Background Check Pending- The candidate has provided the necessary information and their check is currently in progress
- Background Check Complete - The background check is completed and pending review from the appropriate Recruiter. Once reviewed, the recruiter will either contact the department or finalize the hire.
- Rejected by Employer - Recruiter marks candidate that is no longer being considered.
- Withdrawn by Candidate - Recruiter marks candidate that has withdrawn from consideration. Candidate may also withdraw themselves from consideration.
Offer
- To be Created- Hiring Manager will initiate and create the offer. This offer will go to the Recruiter (once SAVED) for a final review. The Recruiter will submit the offer for approvals.
- Rejected - An approver on the offer workflow/approval chain has rejected the offer for some reason - The Hiring Manager or Assistant will view the comments in the progress history tab and reach out to the Recruiter if necessary.
- Has Declined - The top candidate has declined the offer.
- Draft - The offer has been drafted by the Hiring Manager or Assistant. The offer has NOT been submitted for review or approval at this time. The recruiter must review, finalize and submit the offer.
- Approval in Progress - The offer approval is currently in progress and is pending one or more approvers.
- Approved - The offer has been approved. Next available action is for the Recruiter to extend the offer to the candidate.
- Extended - The recruiter has extended the offer to the candidate. The candidate MUST review and electronically accept the offer (this applied to Work Study and Temporary Lecturers - all other offers are accepted automatically. Instructions are provided by email to the candidate.
- Accepted - Offer has been accepted by candidate. The next available step is for the recruiter to either finalize the hire, proceed to the 2nd pass if SSN/DOB/Gender is missing or initiate a background check if required.
- Refused - The offer has been refused by the candidate and is possibly in negotiations with the Hiring Manager or Assistant.
- Rejected by Employer - Recruiter marks candidate that is no longer being considered.
- Withdrawn by Candidate - Recruiter marks candidate that has withdrawn from consideration. Candidate may also withdraw themselves from consideration.
Move to HR (Recruiters Only) - This action is only available to Recruiters and submits the hire to HR Core for processing. Once a hire has been "Moved to HR", they will go through an overnight feed that will provide them security to WyoCloud as a "Pending Worker". They will be able to obtain UW login credentials, login to WyoCloud and go through basic tasks related to Onboarding.
Graduate Assistant Requisition - Candidate Step & Status Details
GA New
- GA Eligibility to be Verified - In the status, the system will automatically run an eligibility check. Program information, degree level and courses registered for will appear in the candidate file. Upon completion of the eligibility check, the system will automatically update the candidate's status to "Under Review - Academic Affairs".
- Eligibility Passed - Automatic system review may indicate in the Progress notes that the candidate passed the eligibility check.
- Eligibility Failed - Automatic system review may indicate in the Progress notes that the candidate passed the eligibility check. This will be further reviewed by Graduate Education in Academic Affairs.
- Rejected by Employer - Recruiter marks candidate that is no longer being considered.
- Withdrawn by Candidate - Recruiter marks candidate that has withdrawn from consideration. Candidate may also withdraw themselves from consideration.
Academic Affairs Review - a review of all Graduate Assistants being hired is completed by Michele Peck from Graduate Education. Hiring Managers shall not move anyone in a GA status - as they are automatically brought through the process by either the system, Michele Peck and/or a Recruiter.
- Under Review - Academic Affairs - This hire is pending review by AA/Graduate Education. Michele Peck will perform her review and pass the candidate through appropriately - if there are any issues, she will reach out to the Hiring Manager or Assistant.
- GA Passed Academic Affairs Screen- Graduate Education has deemed this hire approved to move forward. Once in this status, the recruiter is signaled to work with the Hiring Manager or Assistant to move forward with the Offer process.
- Rejected by Employer - Recruiter marks candidate that is no longer being considered.
- Withdrawn by Candidate - Recruiter marks candidate that has withdrawn from consideration. Candidate may also withdraw themselves from consideration.
Offer
- Offer to be Created- The Recruiter will draft and submit the offer for processing.
- Rejected - An approver on the offer workflow/approval chain has rejected the offer for some reason - The Hiring Manager will view the comments in the progress history and reach out to the Recruiter if necessary.
- Has Declined - The top candidate has declined the offer.
- Draft - The offer has been drafted by the Hiring Manager or Assistant. The offer has NOT been submitted for review or approval at this time.
- Approval in Progress - Current Business Process does NOT require system approvals for a GA Offer.
- Approved - Current Business Process does NOT require system approvals for a GA Offer.
- Extended - The recruiter has extended the offer to the candidate. The GA Offer is automatically accepted, the candidate does NOT have to take any action.
- Accepted - Offer has been accepted on behalf of the candidate by the recruiter. The next available step is for the recruiter to either finalize the hire, proceed to the 2nd pass if SSN/DOB/Gender is missing or initiate a background check if required.
- Refused - The offer has been refused by the candidate and is possibly in negotiations with the Hiring Manager or Assistant.
- Rejected by Employer - Recruiter marks candidate that is no longer being considered.
- Withdrawn by Candidate - Recruiter marks candidate that has withdrawn from consideration. Candidate may also withdraw themselves from consideration.
Move to HR (Recruiters Only) - This action is only available to Recruiters and submits the hire to HR Core for processing. Once a hire has been "Moved to HR", they will go through an overnight feed that will provide them security to WyoCloud as a "Pending Worker". They will be able to obtain UW login credentials, login to WyoCloud and go through basic tasks related to Onboarding.
Abortion has become a driving issue since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, coming up again and again everywhere policy is decided: in legislatures, courts, the Oval Office and voting booths in Kansas, Ohio, Wisconsin and elsewhere. Republicans are struggling to adjust to a political environment in which an issue that motivated their base for decades has become a serious general-election liability.
His Supreme Court appointees doomed Roe, but he is noncommittal on a national ban.
More than perhaps any other Republican, former President Donald J. Trump is responsible for the current state of abortion access: He appointed three of the six Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade and the judge who invalidated the approval of the abortion drug mifepristone.
He signed a six-week ban in Florida but has equivocated on a national ban.
The new ban signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida in April is a more aggressive posture than he took in 2022, when Florida enacted a ban after 15 weeks. Mr. DeSantis, facing re-election at the time, did not commit to going further. (Whether the six-week ban takes effect is contingent in part on whether a court upholds the 15-week ban.)
He supports a 15-week national ban, and has left the door open to something stricter.
After some initial waffling, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina confirmed in April that he supported a federal ban on abortion after 15 weeks’ gestation — and suggested that he would support an even stricter ban if Congress could pass one.
He opposes a national ban but supports six-week state bans.
The entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has said that abortion should be left to states while nonetheless calling it “murder.” He has said he supports six-week bans at the state level.
She supports a 15-week national ban but also calls for more contraception access.
If we want to talk about a federal law,
let’s talk about consensus.
Let’s humanize the situation rather than
demonizing the situation.
Can’t we all agree that we don’t want to see
late-term abortions?
Can’t we all agree that we should encourage
more adoptions and better-quality adoptions so
those kids feel more love and not less?
Can’t we agree there should be more access to contraception?
Can’t we agree that doctors and nurses who don’t believe
in abortion shouldn’t have to perform them?
And can’t we agree that any woman that has an abortion
shouldn’t go to jail and get the death penalty?
Can’t we start there?
He is the staunchest abortion opponent in the field.
Former Vice President Mike Pence has been more open than most Republicans about his opposition to abortion.
He opposes a national ban unless the states reach a “consensus.”
Former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey has said he wouldn’t sign a federal abortion ban unless he saw a “consensus” at the state level.
He has indicated support for a 15-week national ban, but outlined exceptions.
In response to questions from The Times, former Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas said: “I don’t foresee federal consensus on abortion legislation. I expect the abortion question to be handled at the state level.”
He signed a near-total ban in North Dakota but opposes a national ban.
“It’s amazing — we’ve spent 50 years of the pro-life movement fighting to have Roe v. Wade overturned so that the decision could return to the states, and about 24 hours later, the same people say, ‘No, now it’s been turned over to the states, now we’ve got to have the feds back involved again.’”
Will Hurd
Former United States RepresentativeHe says he would sign a 15-week national ban.
Former Representative Will Hurd of Texas has expressed his support for a 15-week federal ban, while suggesting that he doesn’t think passing one is politically realistic. His campaign did not respond when asked if he would support a ban earlier in pregnancy if Congress could pass one.
He supports a 15-week national ban with exceptions.
The exceptions supported by Mayor Francis X. Suarez of Miami include rape, incest and life-threatening emergencies. He described his stance to The Associated Press as “a position that will save a tremendous amount of babies.” (More than 93 percent of abortions are performed before 15 weeks.)
Combination Vaccines
Several options for improvement of RTS,S-based vaccines are being investigated. Sequential immunization schedules with RTS,S/AS02 combined to prior PfCSP DNA vaccination[89,130] or CS-expressing adenovirus 35[85] or followed by CS-expressing live MVA[131] have been investigated. A multistage, multiantigen recombinant vaccine based on RTS,S and MSP-1 from the 3D7 strain is under evaluation at WRAIR.[119]
The Molecular Immunology unit of the Swiss Tropical Institute in cooperation with Pevion Biotech Ltd and the Institute for Organic Chemistry (University of Zürich, Switzerland) is developing a candidate malaria vaccine based on synthetic peptides displayed on the surface of reconstituted influenza virosomes. This new antigen-delivery system is based on phospho-lipid-anchored antigenic peptides mixed with nonbounded phospholipids and influenza surface glycoproteins, creating virus-like particles, supposed to be strong inducers of B- and T-cell immunity.[132] The aim of this formulation is to be able to include several antigenic peptides and develop a multiantigen, multistage vaccine. Presently, two virosome formulations,both including a synthetic peptide mimicking an important part of the native protein, one comprising a CS-like sequence (PEV 301)[133] the other an AMA1 like sequence (PEV 302),[134] were taken to clinical evaluation. A Phase I clinical trial was conducted at the University Hospital of Basel, followed by a Phase IIa trial at the Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine, at Oxford University, UK. A rapid age de-escalation Phase Ib study will be conducted in Mali.[154,155]
The Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) has developed vaccine candidates based on a replication-deficient adenovirus derived from wild-type serotype 5 through several gene deletions that encode P. falciparum genes from the 3D7 strain. One construct expresses CS, another AMA1. A Phase I/IIa trial is ongoing in the USA. Volunteers seronegative for adenovirus serotype 5 will receive each construct individually or combined. Vaccine protection against experimental sporozoite challenge will be evaluated.[154]
Investigators from the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research and the Australian Cooperative Research Center for Vaccine Technology in Queensland, the Walter and Eliza Hall Research Institute and the Swiss Tropical Institute have developed a vaccine candidate combining MSP-1, MSP-2 and the ring-stage infected erythrocyte surface antigen (RESA) adjuvanted with Montanide. In a small Phase IIa challenge study, this candidate vaccine failed to induce a reduction or delay in parasitemia, but in a subsequent Phase I/IIb trial in children in Papua New Guinea, it showed a reduction in parasite density in some vaccinees compared with controls[135] but the selective pressure was restricted to parasites expressing the 3D7 allelic form of MSP-2.[136] To date, this was the first successful blood-stage vaccine to show some vaccine efficacy. Future vaccine candidates will include the opposite dimorphic form of MSP-2, FC27.
A chimeric molecule called PfCP-2.9, including MSP1-19 and the C-terminal region of AMA1, expressed in P. Pastoris, and formulated with Montanide ISA 720, is in development in China. Anti-PfCP-2.9 sera from immunized animals inhibited in vitro growth of two P. falciparum parasite strains. A Phase I clinical trial is ongoing with support from the MVI and the WHO.[137]
The Statens Serum Institute (SSI) in Denmark has developed, with EMVI support, a malaria vaccine candidate based on a recombinant hybrid including the 85-213 sequence of glutamate-rich protein (GLURP) and the C-terminal part of MSP-3, expressed in Lactococcus lactis.[138] GLURP is expressed both at the pre-erythrocytic and erythrocytic stages of infection. A Phase I trial using the GLURP vaccine candidate segment showed the induction of antibodies that exert in vitro a dose-dependent inhibition of parasite growth in the presence of monocytes.[139] Adult trials with the combination vaccine ca-ndidate adjuvanted with aluminum hydroxide are ongoing. An EMVI-supported Phase Ia trial is ongoing in Tuebingen, Germany, and an AMANET-supported Phase Ib trial is ongoing in Lambaréné, Gabon.[154]
The county building in Wailuku is pictured on Tuesday, the first day that most candidates were able to pull nomination papers for the 2022 elections. More than 20 candidates pulled papers statewide, including six in Maui County. The Maui News / COLLEEN UECHI photo
More than 20 political candidates statewide were issued nomination papers on Tuesday, the first day candidates could pull and file for the upcoming elections, officials said.
“We can’t say for sure if that’s busy or not because it is only for statewide and county contests and this year candidate filing opened a month later,” said Scott Nago, the state’s chief elections officer in an email Tuesday afternoon.
A legal challenge last week over newly drawn-up state legislative districts by the 2021 State Reapportionment Commission has put on hold nomination papers and filing for state Legislature seats and U.S. representative offices. But county contests, including county councils, mayoral offices in Maui and Kauai counties, Office of Hawaiian Affairs seats, U.S. Senate, governor and lieutenant governor are not affected, as these are countywide or statewide offices that are not impacted by redrawn districts.
Nago also said that the Legislature amended Hawaii law to delay the opening of candidate filing from Feb. 1 to March 1 specifically for the 2022 elections because the overall reapportionment plans would be delayed due to the COVID pandemic.
Reapportionment is conducted every 10 years following the U.S. census. A commission of members selected by state lawmakers is tasked with ensuring each political district is created equally using census data.
Last week a group of 11 Hawaii residents filed a petition with the Hawaii Supreme Court challenging the recently adopted reapportionment plans that will alter how some Hawaii residents, including those on Maui, will be represented at the State Capitol. The residents said the plans were unconstitutional as the new State and House districts did not align.
The challenge is against the Reapportionment Commission and its members, the state Office of Elections and Nago.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Hawaii Supreme Court set an oral argument in the case for 2 p.m. March 15.
There will also be a Reapportionment Commission meeting at 3 p.m. Monday via Zoom to discuss the legal challenge.
Both Nago and Maui County Clerk Kathy Kaohu said Tuesday afternoon that they have not seen any real problems resulting from the hold on some filings due to the legal challenge.
Kaohu said she has not received many calls and Nago said he had not received any reports of confusion over the ruling.
But his office on Oahu has received calls asking about the court order and whether the office knows when the order will be lifted.
On Maui, Kaohu said that six candidates filed nomination papers at the County Clerk’s Office on Tuesday. Three people seeking state legislative office had appointments of Tuesday but had to reschedule due to the legal challenge.
Candidates need to make an appointment to enter the clerk’s office and can only have one other person with them during the appointment.
The appointment system was developed in the 2020 election cycle as the clerk’s office remained open while many other government offices shut down due to COVID.
Kaohu said the appointment system was put in as a safeguard for health and safety and has worked well, as large groups of people are no longer coming in with a candidate. In the past, supporters would join candidates to celebrate as they pulled or filed papers.
With the big groups, it was difficult for staff at times to converse and work with candidates on important questions about their candidacy as well as ensure the candidates understood the procedures.
The filing period ends on June 7. Kaohu said that they will accept the nomination papers up to 4:30 p.m. on the deadline and that staff will help process those papers that day even for those who do not have an appointment.
Kaohu said candidates with questions may call their office at (808) 270-7749.
Nago said that while some of the county offices need an appointment to pull or file papers, the Office of Elections on Oahu does not require an appointment.
* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.
