Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated results in Virginia’s gubernatorial poll. This post has been updated to reflect accurate results.
Good morning, it’s Tuesday, October 7, 2025. In today’s edition, lawmakers consider AI’s role in health care; SCOTUS to hear challenge to conversion therapy ban; Utah adopts new U.S. House maps:
Top Stories
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: Lawmakers in 46 states introduced more than 250 bills addressing AI’s role in health care. Seventeen states enacted 27 of those bills, with three more sitting on California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) desk. Many of the proposed measures require doctors and patients be told when they are interacting with AI systems.
Others prohibit or address discrimination by AI tools, including bills passed in Maryland and Texas. Five states adopted bills limiting insurers’ use of AI to deny coverage. And about 20 proposed bills focused on AI use in clinical contexts, ranging from administrative tasks to direct communication with patients. In March, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed the first bill regulating mental health chatbots. (Pluribus News)
LGBTQ RIGHTS: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments today in a legal challenge to bans on conversion therapy. About half the states have banned conversion therapy for minors. The challenge comes from a Colorado counselor who argues the law violates her free speech rights. (Associated Press)
NATIONAL GUARD: A federal judge declined to block the Trump administration from deploying 400 members of the Texas National Guard to Chicago. Judge April Perry set a full hearing on the lawsuit, brought by Illinois and Chicago, for Thursday. (WTTW)
REDISTRICTING: The Utah legislature has adopted a proposed redistricting plan dubbed Option C, which now goes before Judge Dianna Gibson for approval. The map is the most Republican-friendly version lawmakers considered; it divides Salt Lake County, the state’s lone Democratic stronghold, into two separate districts. (Deseret News)
ECONOMY: The federal Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the Dallas-based Texas Stock Exchange’s request to operate as a national exchange. The exchange is set to begin listing stocks for sale next fall as it prepares to compete with the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq. (Texas Tribune)
MORE: Maryland has begun accepting loan applications for federal workers who are working without pay during the government shutdown. The state will offer $700 loans to federal workers. (Baltimore Sun)
In Politics & Business
VIRGINIA: A Christopher Newport University Wason Center poll finds former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D) leading Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R) 52% to 42%. In the race for lieutenant governor, state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D) leads radio host John Reid (R) 48% to 39%, while former Del. Jay Jones (D) leads Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) 49% to 43%. (Wason Center)
The poll was conducted before news about Jones’s inflammatory text messages, which came out over the weekend.
SOUTH CAROLINA: A new Trafalgar Group survey finds Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette (R) leading the GOP primary field for governor with 20% of the vote, followed by U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R) at 16%, Attorney General Alan Wilson (R) at 12% and U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman (R) at 9%. A full 41% of Republican voters remain undecided. (Trafalgar)
CALIFORNIA: A new poll from the firm co/efficient finds 54% of California voters back Proposition 50, the measure to redraw the state’s U.S. House district maps. Just 36% say they oppose the measure, backed by Gov. Newsom. The poll found President Trump’s approval rating at just 35%, while 47% approve of Newsom’s job as governor. (Sacramento Bee)
PEOPLE: Iowa Sen. Claire Celsi (D) has died at 59. Celsi had entered hospice care last month after struggling with an undisclosed medical issue for several months. (Iowa Capital Dispatch) Our condolences to Celsi’s family, friends and supporters.
By The Numbers
$30.7 million: The amount candidates and outside groups spent on New Jersey Assembly races this year, a new record high and well above the previous record of $18.3 million spent in 2015. The Election Law Enforcement Commission attributed the spike in spending to a 2023 law that increased maximum donations from $2,600 to $5,200. (New Jersey Monitor)
At least 8: The number of school board elections in Virginia in which no candidate is listed on the ballot. Candidates in some of the vacant races are mounting write-in campaigns, but Virginia has a long history of uncompetitive races: 52% of school board elections were uncontested in 2024. (Cardinal News)
31%: The growth of global solar generation in the first half of 2024. Wind energy generation grew by 7.7%, while fossil fuel generation dropped by less than 1%. (Associated Press)
2.7 million: The number of copies of Taylor Swift’s new album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” that sold on the first day it was available. It’s the highest number of albums ever sold on release day. (Associated Press)
Off The Wall
An alleged vandal broke into the Washington State Capitol Building in Olympia late Sunday, causing damage and setting fire to parts of the building before being apprehended by police. Authorities said the vandal was experiencing a mental health crisis and had no political motivation. He is being held in Thurston County jail on charges of burglary, arson and malicious mischief. (Pluribus News)
Ryan Ramos celebrated his 5th birthday party with an homage to his favorite president, the late Jimmy Carter. Ramos’s mom posted videos of her son online, which got the attention of Carter’s daughter Amy and grandson Hugo Wentzel. The family sent Ryan a gift with merchandise from Carter’s 100th birthday celebration. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
Quote of the Day
“The bigger challenge on that isn’t so much getting people to vote yes. It’s just even getting some people to understand what a retention vote is, because this is really the first time it’s ever been heavily contested.”
— Pennsylvania Democratic Party chair Eugene DePasquale, on a retention vote facing three state Supreme Court justices this year. If the justices, all Democrats, lose the vote, it would wipe out Democrats’ 5-2 majority on the high court, leaving a 2-2 partisan divide for two years. (Associated Press)