Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton called the Supreme Court’s decision on protecting women’s sports “settled law,” but many on her left disagree—and now they’re making demands. Some candidates and caucuses are taking issue with Acton’s words and are seeking to meet with the Democrat nominee. Arienne Childrey, who is transgender, is meeting with Acton on July 28, according to the Toledo Blade. If the meeting doesn’t go a certain way, Childrey may support the Libertarian candidate for governor, Don Kissick. Childrey hopes to address Acton’s view on women’s sports and will demand that she hire a transgender staff member for her campaign. “First and foremost, I want to hear a correction to the actual terminology,” said Childrey, who is running against Republican state Rep. Angie King in Ohio’s 84th District. “There are no boys in girls’ sports. Even before this law was passed, there were no boys in girls’ sports, because trans girls are girls.” Childrey was referring to HB 68, which went into effect in 2024 after the Legislature overrode a December 2023 veto from Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. “I want her to drop the ‘settled law’ argument and point-blank state that the law, as passed, is wrong and that she will stand with the community—and that if such a bill came to her desk to undo that, she would sign it,” Childrey said. According to the Toledo Blade, Childrey noted that the Supreme Court “only decided that states are permitted to ban transgender women and girls from women’s and girls’ sports—not that states are required to do so.” The issue might night be over in Ohio. Dave Yost, Ohio’s former attorney general and current vice president of strategic research at Alliance Defending Freedom, told the Daily Signal that an effort from the American Civil Liberties Union argues the issue based on the Health Care Freedom Amendment, a state constitutional provision passed in 2011. Childrey’s comments to the Daily Signal did not address questions asked about that effort. “I look forward to hearing from Dr. Acton’s team and sincerely hope they’ll make a sincere effort to make this right, Childrey said. “I believe being a Democrat means standing for liberty and justice for all. At this time, I’m going to save further comment until the meeting has taken place.” Childrey wants these requests to be fulfilled in public. “You made a public statement that publicly hurt my community. Your apology needs to likewise be public. Otherwise, you can count me as a Don Kissick voter,” the candidate said, according to the Toledo Blade. The Kissick and Acton campaigns did not respond to the Daily Signal’s request for comment. Kissick, however, posted the Toledo Blade article to his campaign’s Facebook account. After the Toledo Blade article was published, Childrey’s Facebook account further addressed the matter, clarifying a desire to still be able to support Acton. Childrey is running against state Rep. Angie King, a Republican who represents the 84th District. King provided the Daily Signal with a statement about protecting women’s sports. “Allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports undermines fair competitions and raises legitimate concerns about the safety and privacy of female athletes,” King said. “I’m proud of the work we’ve done in Ohio to protect women’s sports. I will always oppose the extreme agenda that undermines female athletes and their right to private spaces.” The state representative also pointed out that Ohio law “recognizes two sexes, male and female, and provides that these classifications are not changeable under state law.” “It’s disappointing that we’ve reached a point in society where the basic definition of woman is debated and the state Legislature must act provide clarity in the law,” King said. Childrey is not the only one giving Acton grief for her comments. Earlier this month, the Ohio Democrats Progressive Caucus released a fired-up statement taking issue with Acton’s comments and threatening to act. The Ohio Democrats Progressive Caucus is unhappy with Amy Acton over a statement she recently saying she does not support "boys playing in girls sports," and calling the issue settled law in Ohio.The group says that statement will cost her votes and volunteers. pic.twitter.com/FO93B0WN09— Andrew Tobias (@AndrewJTobias) July 9, 2026 That statement, initially posted to Facebook, was later taken down. In a subsequent post on Monday, the Ohio Democrats Progressive Caucus explained that it had to take down its initial post after being told by the Ohio Democratic Party that it had failed to go through the official approval process. While the caucus looked to submit its removed post “through the proper channels so that it could be reposted,” a meeting with Acton was discussed, and caucus leadership grew ever-more determined to meet up. The caucus called it “a good sign” that Acton has agreed to meet with them. The Ohio Democrats Progressive Caucus has a new post explaining why they deleted the post below. ODP ordered them to do so, saying they failed to go through the official approval process and broke internal party rules by doing so. https://t.co/9RHGkaFei2 pic.twitter.com/fJrb6hQzIY— Andrew Tobias (@AndrewJTobias) July 20, 2026

If you want to know where a good deal of the modern rise of socialism is coming from, look no further than 90 miles off the coast of Florida, to Cuba. That’s certainly where American leftists have been looking for a long time. The State Department released a thorough, and perhaps to many, startling report on Monday highlighting how the authoritarian Cuban regime founded by Fidel Castro has been a prime mover of leftist activism and violence for more than half a century and poses a significant threat to the United States. The 100-page report, titled “Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism,” explained how the seemingly small Marxist gadfly has effectively made leftist ideology its chief export, which sets it apart from other, more militarily and economically powerful regimes hostile to the United States. The report argued that Cuba has leaned into a unique brand of Marxism, what it calls “Third Worldism,” to deconstruct Western Civilization and bring about a global communist revolution. From this ideology sprung forth a variety of causes often associated with the American college campus New Left. “Whereas the old Soviet left had been built around the party, labor unions, and Marxist theories of economic class struggle, the New Left was animated by Black Power, radical feminism, Third World liberation, and—above all else—the radical rejection of Western culture, history and identity in all its forms,” the report stated. Cuba didn’t just export these ideas with papers and vibes; it provided the organization for legions of true believers across the Americas and the West to carry out its agenda. And that’s where the bombshell aspect of the report comes in. It contends that Cuba is effectively the center of the far-Left’s global operations, and that this movement is the greatest threat to Western Civilization, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently said in a speech about the rise of political terrorism. The State Department paper said that Cuba aided many if not all the largest left-wing terrorist groups. “Delegations of American radicals traveled to Cuba to learn the tactics of urban terrorism and guerilla warfare,” the report said. They helped more traditional political activist groups too. The report pointed to the Venceremos Brigade, founded in the late 1960s, as one of its state-directed “political education” groups that trained political operatives in Cuba under the direction of high-level spies then released them back into the U.S. Many members of this group became politically prominent in America. One of them is Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. One of the many explosive revelations in this new State Department report is that the Venceremos Brigade—which has brought 10,000+ American left-wing activists to Cuba, including high-profile Democratic politicians like LA Mayor Karen Bass—was built and run by actual Cuban spies. https://t.co/6X7evXNifT pic.twitter.com/piW0lK2w6b— Nate Hochman (@njhochman) July 20, 2026 Cuba’s efforts to spread Marxism didn’t stop with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union. Instead, its mission merely evolved to hold together what the report called an “Anti-American Internationale.” Cuba’s Marxist organizational efforts continue. Recall the recent junket of left-wing champagne socialists in the “Nuestra América Convoy” who descended on Cuba in March to bring “aid” to the island nation in March. This group included, “Hasan Piker; Amazon Labor Union founder Christian Smalls; a delegation from the Democratic Socialists of America; former UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, former Spanish deputy prime minister Pablo Iglesias; several other current and former members of European Parliament; and Isra Hirsi, campus activist and daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D.-Minn.)” The report noted that they all returned to the U.S. with consistent messaging about the “revolutionary spirit” of Cuba and the evils of American foreign policy. And perhaps most disturbingly of all the report said that Cuba has a plan to mobilize activist organizations across the U.S., at military bases, Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, and elsewhere in the case of imminent military threats. So far, the left-leaning media’s response to the State Department report has been to dismiss its claims as part of a new “red scare” and point to Cuba’s poverty as evidence that they couldn’t possibly be such a threat to the U.S. But the authors anticipated this criticism and had a response. “To mistake Cuba’s poverty for harmlessness is to misunderstand the threat entirely,” the report argued. “Its material weakness was never the measure of its danger. Its power was always ideological, subversive, and parasitic—and it has proven remarkably durable, outlasting the Soviet empire that helped build it and grafting itself onto every new enemy of the United States that has arisen since.” That’s absolutely correct. The timing of the report is interesting. The Trump administration has aggressively pursued a strategy to break up the global “anti-American internationale” as the State Department called it. It toppled Nicolas Maduro in socialist Venezuela, an important link in the far-Left’s economic power in the New World. Much of Central and South America is now going sharply to the Right. One of the few remaining leftist regimes in Nicaragua even canceled the upcoming elections from fear that they would lose. The Trump administration had an immediate response. The Trump Administration and the international community will not stand by as the Murillo-Ortega dictatorship deepens repression at home and manufactures instability that threatens U.S. national security. Ortega’s pledge to abolish elections in Nicaragua proves his cowardice and…— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) July 21, 2026 In many ways, the Left is globally on the run. But in America, the Democratic Party is being absorbed by a rising tide of socialism. The Democratic Socialists of America, who were named as one of the Cuban-linked groups in the report, have grown larger and more influential than at any time in their history. It’s no surprise that they’ve received a boost as the U.S. puts the squeeze on Cuba and global leftism. Fun fact: DSA has been a member of the National Network on Cuba since 2019.This solidarity statement explains why DSA made Cuba activism a national priority and how that commitment grew directly out of a resolution passed at its 2019 convention. pic.twitter.com/CVxYRDvB93— Stu Smith (@thestustustudio) July 21, 2026 What should be clear from the State Department report and from recent events is that far-Left actors and their international backers in Cuba shouldn’t be underestimated. They have lost none of their ideological fervor despite the obvious and catastrophic failures of communism over the last century. A new generation of fanatics and useful idiots is ripe for activation. It’s up to us to recognize the threat and respond.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Tuesday defended America’s need for a $67 billion supplemental funding request, revealing that the conflict in Iran has cost $37.5 billion already.  “The inability to properly fund this department, the Department of War, is probably the single greatest threat this country faces,” Hegseth said during a hearing with members of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Hegseth appeared before the senators Tuesday afternoon to review President Donald Trump’s supplemental funding request for the Pentagon and for funding American troops. It was the first time Hegseth appeared for questioning since two service members were killed in Jordan last week following the ending of the ceasefire.  Throughout the hearing, senators took time to honor the fallen and to note that it was their first official hearing since Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a member of the committee, passed away.  As senators questioned Hegseth on America’s actions, the secretary often responded that the answers to their questions were classified. Neither party has been briefed on military actions in the Middle East since the ceasefire broke earlier this month. When questioning Hegseth, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., suggested that the reason the administration is having problems getting supplemental funding is because it did not ask Congress before getting into the conflict, which he called the “first strategic mistake.”  Hegseth pushed back on senators’ hesitation to grant the supplemental funding for American troops, noting that the same Senate granted five supplemental funding bills, totaling hundreds of billions of dollars, to Ukrainian troops. Group of protesters were arrested at a Senate Appropriations Hearing where @SecWar @PeteHegseth is testifying reviewing the President’s $67 billion supplement funding request for Iran. @DailySignal pic.twitter.com/tq07VQ8itc— Virginia Grace McKinnon (@virginiagmck) July 21, 2026 While the Senate is still debating its supplemental funding bill, the House has an emergency funding plan being discussed this week.  The House is voting on a $95 billion “narrow” budget resolution that includes more than $70 billion in emergency funding for the military. House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, told the Daily Signal that Hegseth worked closely with his committee to mark the legislation up, suggesting it is what the military needs.  “I think he’s actually inspired our conference, and some of our toughest members on spending for the military, that it is absolutely imperative,” Arrington said.

More than 6,000 noncitizens were mistakenly added to New Jersey’s voter registration rolls between June 2023 and June 2024, Gov. Mikie Sherrill said Tuesday. Roughly 400 of those noncitizens voted, the Democrat governor said, before adding, “We have no evidence at this time that any elections were swayed.”The names have been removed from the state’s voter rolls. Sherrill then attacked Trump for questioning the legitimacy of American elections. A ‘Serious Software Error’ The governor blamed a “serious software error” at the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, which she said automatically registered the noncitizens when they applied for driver’s licenses or ID cards, even though they answered “no” on a keypad when asked whether they were citizens. According to the New Jersey Globe, a French firm called IDEMIA owns the service provider for identity verification services that is being blamed for the error. Sherrill said the state is looking for a new software vendor and has hired an independent firm, CSG Law, to investigate the matter. According to the Globe, it is unclear when state officials at the Motor Vehicle Commission became aware of the error, which occurred under the administration of former Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy. His successor Sherrill said she is “appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen, and the lack of transparency shown by those in charge at the time.” DHS: 35,000 Noncitizens Registered in the Garden State The 6,600 figure is only a fraction of the noncitizens on the Garden State voter rolls, according to President Donald Trump and the Department of Homeland Security. In his primetime speech last Thursday, Trump claimed up to 35,152 noncitizens were registered to vote in New Jersey, with a total of nearly 250,000 noncitizens in just four states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and California. Sherrill said DHS has sent the state a letter citing the 35,152 figure. “We have asked them for any evidence of this, where they got that number, who this is,” she said. “We’ve received nothing back.” Actually, the July 16 letter itself describes where the figure comes from. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the preliminary findings came from comparing the state’s publicly available voter registration information with federal immigration records. The agency identified 19,497 New Jersey voter registrations where the individual’s name, date of birth, address, and Social Security number matched records indicating the person is a noncitizen. Mullin wrote that a broader review suggests the number could be as high as 35,152. As New Jersey-based immigration law firm Lee & Garasia warned, a noncitizen could press “yes” while navigating the screens at MVC and find themselves automatically registered to vote. New Jersey does not have robust upfront verification of citizenship, relying on self-reporting. Last year, while still serving in Congress, Sherrill voted against the SAVE Act, which would require documented proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. Mullin is urging Sherrill to work with DHS to clear the voter rolls. “The most efficient way to ensure the accuracy of our findings is to work collaboratively on identity verification,” he said in the letter. Mullin gave the state until July 30 to begin the verification process. “I hope that you share in the commitment to ensure that only U.S. citizens participate in our federal elections,” Mullin wrote. “Working together, we can more effectively protect U.S. elections.”

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested an illegal alien who had been deported five times and who had sent sexual text messages to someone he believed was a 14-year-old girl. “This sicko was arrested after repeatedly sending sexual texts to someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl,” Lauren Bis, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said in a news release first given to the Daily Signal. “His criminal history includes a conviction for driving under the influence, and he has been deported FIVE times in the past.” “ICE has lodged a detainer asking officials in South Dakota to commit to not releasing this pedophile from jail and cooperate with ICE, so that we can remove him from our country and make sure he’ll never prey on another innocent child in our country again,” Bis added. ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations division arrested 34-year-old Frederico Pascual-Jimenez, an illegal alien from Mexico, in May. According to the Department of Homeland Security, an ICE law enforcement officer had posed as a 14-year-old girl and texted the suspect in an undercover operation to target pedophiles who use the internet to prey on children. The Sex Sting When the agent sent texts saying that the “child” was young, Pascual-Jimenez allegedly responded, “I think age doesn’t matter.” The illegal alien allegedly began sending texts describing “his intentions to have sex with a child,” the DHS release states. Pascual-Jimenez allegedly wrote, “but what if you wanted to keep this relationship strictly secret—where you are mine and mine alone, and I am yours—so that whenever we’re together, I can do all the things I love doing to you?” He allegedly made demands of the “child,” including orders not to text her age. The illegal alien suspect arranged to meet the “girl” in the parking lot of a public swimming pool in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on May 27. At the scene, Homeland Security Investigations officers surrounded him and arrested him without incident. Authorities filed felony charges of enticement of a minor for indecent purposes and illegal re-entry. His criminal history includes a prior conviction for driving while under the influence, according to DHS. Pascual-Jimenez first illegally entered the U.S. through Arizona in 2001, and authorities granted him a voluntary return to Mexico. He re-entered the country illegally through Texas in April 2012 before voluntarily leaving again. He illegally re-entered the country twice through California in May 2012, and authorities deported him both times. DHS states that his second May 2012 entry constituted a felony offense. Pascual-Jimenez entered the country again in July 2012 through Texas and got deported the next month. He illegally entered the U.S. a sixth time at an unknown date and location. Illegal Alien Recidivism Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, told the Daily Signal that illegal aliens have repeatedly crossed the border going back decades. “Recidivism has been a decades-old problem at the border,” Ries said. “In fact, smugglers offer illegal aliens multiple attempts to get across the border in their smuggling fee.” “Preventing recidivism includes thorough border security to prevent the re-entry, public criminal prosecutions and convictions of recidivists, prioritizing swift deportations of recidivists, and preventing the hiring and other downstream benefits of recidivists,” she added.