Mississippi: GOP sets legislative agenda. Republicans now hold the governorship and the powerful lieutenant governorship, as well as a majority in both chambers of the legislature, the most clout the Magnolia State GOP has held since Reconstruction. So when Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves (R) says atop his agenda are charter schools, resumption or 2 percent of revenues going into a rainy day fund, restrictions on the state Attorney General’s (currently a Democrat) power to hire private lawyers, and the tracking of adult males who get underage girls pregnant, folks should listen. Gov. Phil Bryant (R) echoed support for two of Reeves’ proposals, the rainy day fund measure and a child protection act. Immigration reform and Medicaid changes are also likely to receive attention. 

Virginia: More abortion restrictions. With the GOP effectively in control of state government, the state senate’s passage of legislation requiring women seeking an abortion to view an ultrasound first signals what is likely to become law in the Old Dominion. Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has already promised to sign it.  

Florida: Rubio’s children “unplanned.” In an interview with Politico’s Glenn Thrush, US Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), a frequently mentioned GOP vice presidential nominee, said laughingly, “I can tell you that none of my children were planned.” Rubio, the father of four, has been critical of President Obama’s proposal to require Catholic hospitals and universities to provide free birth control to their employees.