Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows on Saturday said her home was swatted amid escalating threats over her removal of Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 primary ballot.

In a statement posted to Facebook, Bellows said she was the target of a swatting — when a false emergency call results in a strong police response to a residence — Friday night, after her home address was posted online.

“Many of you have asked if Brandon and I are safe,” Bellows wrote. “We are away for the holiday weekend. We were not home yesterday when threats escalated, and our home address was posted online. It was a good thing because our home was swatted last night,” she added.

Maine State Police said an unknown male called a regional communication center Friday evening saying that he had broken into a home in the Augusta area, according to local station WGME13. Police confirmed the home as Bellows’. Officers found the home empty, and an investigation remains ongoing.

At least three Republican members of Congress have said they were the target of swatting incidents this week: Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), and Rep. Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.). No one was harmed in the incidents.

Such episodes have also affected numerous state and local officials both Republican and Democratic, and come amid increasing concern for the security of politicians and lawmakers in an era of heightened partisanship ahead of the 2024 elections.

Bellows on Friday defended her decision to bar Trump from the ballot, telling POLITICO that the former president did not meet the constitutional requirements for holding high office.

Bellows made the call to eject Trump on the grounds that he engaged in insurrection for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, violating the 14th Amendment amid a broader effort to overturn the 2020 election result.

Trump had previously attacked the decision and posted a link to Bellows’ biographical information on his Truth Social account. He further followed a post with the comment: “Fisherman, Loggers, & Lobsterman, who voted for President Trump overwhelmingly, are furious with this non-Lawyer Sec. of State.”

While the Maine Department of Public Safety did not release a motive for the swatting call, Bellows said in an interview with the Associated Press that it stemmed from her decision to remove Trump from the ballot.

The swatting attempt came after her home address was posted on social media by a conservative activist, Bellows said. “And it was posted in anger and with violent intent by those who have been extending threatening communications toward me, my family and my office,” she added.

In the immediate wake of her decision, Bellows said she felt protected by authorities as Maine’s secretary of state.

However, she condemned the swatting and threats in her Saturday post: “This behavior is unacceptable. The non-stop threatening communications the people who work for me endured all day yesterday is unacceptable. It’s designed to scare not only me but also others into silence, to send a message.”

The presidential election year is finally upon us — and with it, many important questions.

Will a challenger emerge who can pose a significant threat to Donald Trump’s renomination? What are the signs that a rematch of the 2020 election might end differently? And which party will have the upper hand in the pitched battle to control Congress?

There are key data points that will answer all of these questions, if one knows where to look.

Here are 24 of those numbers to watch in the new year:

1.

Donald Trump’s share of white evangelical Christian votes in Iowa

Eight years ago, Trump lagged with white evangelicals in Iowa (21 percent, tied with Marco Rubio for second place), who made up roughly six-in-10 caucusgoers, according to the entrance poll. But he’s now dominating this bloc — leading Ron DeSantis 56 percent to 22 percent, according to a recent Fox Business poll — foreclosing any path for DeSantis or Nikki Haley to usurp him.

2.

Nikki Haley’s vote share among women in New Hampshire

If Haley is going to pull off an upset in the second GOP contest, she’ll need to improve upon a gender gap that’s developed in recent weeks: The strongest woman presidential candidate in Republican Party history is running better with men than women. A St. Anselm College poll this month, which showed Haley at 30 percent overall, found the former South Carolina governor only 6 points behind Trump among men, 40 percent to 34 percent, but a whopping 25 points shy of Trump among women, 48 percent to 23 percent.

3.

Write-in vote share for “Joe Biden” in New Hampshire

The president’s name won’t be on the ballot in the first-in-the-nation primary next month thanks to the president’s efforts to put South Carolina first in the Democratic contest lineup, but his allies have launched a write-in campaign in an effort to deny Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) any oxygen off the bat. Still, the move isn’t without risk if the write-in effort falls short of expectations.

4.

Biden’s approval rating

Historically, presidents with approval ratings significantly below 50 percent have lost reelection. As of Friday, Biden’s average approval rating stood at 40.5 percent, according to RealClearPolitics.

5.

Number of Donald Trump convictions before Election Day

Between state charges in New York and Georgia, plus federal cases in D.C. and South Florida, the former president is currently facing 91 felony counts. Though the charges don’t seem to be deterring Republican primary voters, polling suggests a conviction could have a small but significant impact on Trump’s standing with the electorate.

6.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index

The year ended with an uptick in consumer confidence measures, a possible sign of an improving economic outlook moving into the election year. Unlike other data that measures economic conditions, this stat is mostly based on how consumers feel about the country’s financial situation — and their own.

7.

Number of states where Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is on the ballot

The glut of third-party candidates is complicating the electoral math, with Kennedy holding the greatest appeal in polls so far. A super PAC supporting his candidacy is starting the qualification process with a targeted list of large and competitive states, and Kennedy’s campaign says its goal is to get him on the ballot everywhere. Kennedy, Cornel West or a potential No Labels ticket could draw enough votes to be decisive in states where they’re on the ballot.

8.

Number of general election debates for president

The bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates has scheduled the customary three meetings between the candidates (plus one for their running mates). But the Republican National Committee’s promise to boycott the commission raises questions about whether we’ll get to see any televised debates at all.

9.

Number of states visited by Biden in the final two months of the campaign

For all the talk of Biden hiding in his basement in 2020, he made 57 campaign stops in 13 states from Sept. 1 through Election Day, according to the Chicago Tribune. He won’t have pandemic restrictions to deal with this time, but he’ll have to juggle his day job as president.

10.

General election turnout rate

Will 2024 be more like 2020, or more like 2016? The turnout rate may hold the answer. In 2016, when the country wasn’t enamored with its candidates, about 61 percent of adult citizens voted, according to the Census Bureau. But in 2020 — with relatively positive views of Biden and Trump — 67 percent voted.

11.

The enthusiasm gap

The signs were there in 2016, when Trump voters were more enthusiastic than those backing Hillary Clinton. Biden’s 2020 victory — powered more by voters casting ballots to oppose Trump than elect Biden — is a historical aberration. That dynamic is repeating itself even with Biden in the White House: Most of those who say they’ll back the president say they are doing so more to oppose Trump than support the incumbent.

12.

The Biden-Trump split among voters who dislike both Biden and Trump

Views of both Biden and Trump — especially Biden — are more negative than they were last time, making this a key voting bloc. A recent Fox News poll showed Biden actually leading among the voters who don’t like him and Trump by 8 points, even though he trailed by 4 points overall.

13.

The Biden-Trump split among voters who “somewhat disapprove” of Biden’s job performance

Part of the secret to Democrats’ better-than-expected midterm results was the fact that voters who said they “somewhat disapprove” of the job Biden was doing as president didn’t abandon the party, breaking roughly evenly among the two parties. Can Biden hold onto enough of those voters when he’s on the ballot himself?

14.

The Biden-Trump split among women voters without college degrees

A subgroup that loops together two countervailing electoral trends — the widening gender and education gaps — women without college degrees made up roughly a third of the 2020 electorate, according to AP VoteCast, which showed Biden beating Trump by 2 points, roughly equal to his 4-point overall victory.

15.

Biden’s vote share among voters younger than 30

Biden won 61 percent of voters between the ages of 18-29 in 2020, according to AP VoteCast. Some polls now show Trump running neck-and-neck with Biden or even leading among the youngest slice of the electorate — raising questions about whether there’s actually been a marked shift among this bloc or it’s a false signal.

16.

Biden campaign ad spending in Florida

The Sunshine State is moving rapidly to the right. Democrats maintain they aren’t writing off its 30 electoral votes yet, but notably the Biden campaign ad blitz in the second half of 2023 didn’t include Florida — and save for North Carolina was concentrated exclusively in states the president won in the last election.

17.

Republican ad spending on abortion messaging

Of the $428 million spent on abortion ads in the 2022 midterms, according to AdImpact, the vast majority was spent by Democrats. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s PAC was more proactive this year, but the GOP still lost the race to control the state legislature. There’s little sign of abortion diminishing as a motivating force for voters; will Republicans find a message on which to campaign, or will they avoid it?

18.

Number of states with abortion ballot measures

From Kansas to Ohio, abortion rights are undefeated at the ballot box in the post-Dobbs era. Activists in a number of red or battleground states, including Arizona, Florida and Nevada, are trying to put initiatives on their 2024 ballots.

19.

National murder rate

The murder rate is down about 13 percent from last year — the biggest annual drop ever. But will that decrease the salience of crime, which led to Republican gains in places like New York last year, as an issue next November?

20.

Number of competitive Republican Senate primaries

Republicans only need to flip one Democratic-held Senate seat to win control of the chamber if they also win the White House — and with West Virginia almost a sure thing after Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin’s retirement announcement, the GOP is already on the brink of the majority. But in most of their targeted seats — including Montana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin — the party faces the prospect of a knock-down, drag-out primary or has one already ongoing.

21.

Candidates on the Arizona general-election ballot for Senate

Will Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) attempt an uphill independent bid for a second term, or will the fate of her seat come down to a more conventional Democrat (Rep. Ruben Gallego) vs. Republican (former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake) race?

22.

Democrats who qualify for the general election for Senate in California

For much of 2023, it looked like Reps. Adam Schiff and Katie Porter were on a collision course for a Democrat-vs.-Democrat general election next November. But Republican Steve Garvey’s rise in the polls is jeopardizing that matchup — mostly to Porter’s detriment, according to polls that show Schiff inching out in front of the pack.

23.

House districts flipped by Democrats in New York

Now that the state’s highest court has given New York Democrats a green light to redraw their congressional map, how aggressive the party gets could very well determine which party controls the House after the election. It’s possible Democrats could flip as many as six seats, with the first one potentially coming in a Feb. 13 special election to replace expelled former Rep. George Santos.

24.

Number of House retirements

So far, 35 House members have said they won’t seek reelection — a list that doesn’t include the seven who’ve died, been expelled, resigned or said they will soon resign. Of those 35 retirees and members seeking other offices, 23 are Democrats — potentially complicating the party’s path back to the majority. And historically the retirement peak comes right after the holidays, so stay tuned for more.

LOS ANGELES — California Assemblymember Vince Fong’s congressional hopes remain alive after a judge ruled Thursday he could proceed as a candidate to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

The ruling by Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne W.L. Chang caps off a chaotic start in the race to succeed the former House speaker, who is retiring at the end of the month.

The decision rejects the argument by California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, whose office said Fong’s candidacy violated state election code. Chang said such statute “is inapplicable to Fong and cannot be used as a reason to preclude him” from the primary ballot.

Fong issued a celebratory statement soon after the ruling was handed down.

“Today’s ruling is a victory for the voters of the 20th Congressional District, who will now have the opportunity to select the candidate of their choice in the March 5th election,” he said. “I am grateful that Judge Chang upheld the integrity of our elections and sided with Central Valley voters against an overreaching Sacramento politician.”

At issue was whether Fong could remain on the ballot as a congressional candidate, even though he had already filed for reelection for his Assembly seat after opting not to seek McCarthy’s seat. Fong changed his mind after state Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), who was widely seen as a strong potential contender, surprised the Central Valley by declining to run.

By that point, the deadline to withdraw from the ballot as an Assembly candidate had passed. Fong filed for a congressional run anyway, which Weber said violated state law against appearing on the same ballot twice for different positions. After Weber said Fong would not appear on the list of certified candidates for the 20th congressional district, Fong sued to stay on the ballot.

Thursday’s hearing delved into arcane interpretations of state election law, with Fong’s lawyers arguing that state law did not explicitly prohibit a politician from serving in both Congress and the state legislature.

The judge’s ruling, while favorable to Fong, contained a distinct note of concern about his candidacy. Change wrote the outcome of her decision “may result in voter confusion and the disenfranchisement of voters if Fong is ultimately elected for both offices but does not retain one. Moreover, it somewhat defies common sense to find the law permits a candidate to run for two offices during the same election.”

Chang issued her ruling minutes before the 5 p.m. deadline for the Secretary of State to produce a list of certified candidates for the district.

Fong, who once worked as McCarthy’s district director and was immediately endorsed by his former boss, is well-positioned as a front-runner, given his established profile in the district and access to the former speaker’s political network.

But the confusion over Fong’s eligibility prompted a number of other hopefuls to enter the race for the solidly Republican district. Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux and Kyle Kirkland, a wealthy Fresno casino-owner and philanthropist, are among those seeking the seat, as well as David Giglio, who entered the race months earlier as a far-right challenger to McCarthy.

John Fetterman’s had a rollercoaster of a year.

In January, he was sworn into office as Pennsylvania’s new Democratic senator despite suffering from a debilitating stroke on the campaign trail. In doing so, he managed to flip the only seat in the upper chamber during the 2022 cycle. Six weeks after assuming office, he checked himself into a hospital for clinical depression.

Fetterman emerged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as an unlikely evangelizer of mental health treatment, something medical professionals applauded as a stigma-busting move that could save lives.

But in the last few months, Fetterman has returned to the place where he’s most comfortable: as a highly skilled troller. Only this time, his targets have often been allies in the progressive movement who have long seen him as an icon. In the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Fetterman has emerged as one of the most vocal supporters of the country in the Senate.

We sat down with Fetterman earlier this month to talk about his disagreements with the left, his beef with Democratic strategist James Carville, why the app formerly known as Twitter is no longer on his phone and his predictions for 2024. Fetterman used a service on his phone that instantly transcribed our conversation as he continues to deal with auditory processing challenges from his stroke.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Are you surprised that so many progressives disagree with you on Israel?

I mean, of course I expected that there will always be a diversity of opinions, and that as long as things go that the Democratic caucus might splinter more. … I would be the last man standing to be absolutely there on the Israeli side on this with no conditions.

I grieve, and it’s awful the incredible civilian deaths and the suffering. It’s awful. War is hell, as they say. But only one side has used civilians as human shields. Only one side has broken the cease-fires. Only one side will systematically rape, torture and mutilate Israeli women and girls in the most unspeakable, awful ways. … Without destroying Hamas, there will be no enduring peace and a stable, two-state solution.

What about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? Should he remain in power?

He’s the leader that we have. And that’s the leader that we’re working with.

Even some Israelis are frustrated with him.

To me, it’s not a referendum on Netanyahu. It’s just what we have to do to stand with Israel. And I do agree with the prevailing opinion that Hamas must be destroyed.

But should Netanyahu stay in power, yes or no?

I don’t have a vote in that. That’s for the Israeli citizens. They have much more at stake. But what I can say [is] I believe that an overwhelming majority of Israeli citizens would want a senator standing with them and their right to destroy Hamas [and not] somebody that would splinter or peel away when things continue and as more and more antisemitism continues to go across college campuses, across our nation.

You have some newfound fans on the online right because of your views on Israel. What do you make of them?

I don’t spend any time on Twitter and that’s the truth. I encourage you — you can check my personal phone. I couldn’t even get on Twitter if I had to.

When did you decide X, formerly known as Twitter, wasn’t worth it?

It was not very helpful to promoting mental health.

Is this something you realized in the last year?

Very much so.

[Editor’s note: A Fetterman staffer said he still drafts “all the memes” on his social media accounts, but he tells his aides to press send.]

Biden’s campaign hasn’t yet announced any battleground staff in Pennsylvania. Should the campaign be more built out in the swing states at this point?

I don’t give anybody advice unless on fashion. … All I do know is that the president will win Pennsylvania. And I do believe if he wins Pennsylvania, and I believe he will, he will be a second-term president.

We’ve talked about this a few months ago, and you told me then you thought Biden would win Pennsylvania and win the overall election. But things have gotten worse for him since. Trump is now ahead in many polls.

But that doesn’t really matter. There’s a whole lifetime in politics between now and next November as well. I’m not worried about that. And I’m very vocal about this, too, while there are Democrats that are being very critical about the president. … I’ll use this [as] another opportunity to tell James Carville to shut the fuck up. Like I said, my man hasn’t been relevant since grunge was a thing. And I don’t know why he believes it’s helpful to say these kinds of things about an incredibly difficult circumstance with an incredibly strong and decent and excellent president. I’ll never understand that.

(Editor’s note: Asked if he’d like to respond, Carville said other Democratic senators “apparently haven’t gotten the memo yet” that he’s not relevant. “His colleague Sen. Casey asked me to host a fundraiser with him last week,” he said. “Sen. Brown asked me to go to Cleveland to campaign with him.” Of Fetterman, he added: “I’m glad he’s feeling better.”)

When I talk to voters, they’re worried about inflation. They really don’t like the economy. Are you not hearing that?

To me, it’s going to come down to good and evil and personalities and everything about this, too. It’s going to be a gut check kind of a situation where it’s just like, really? Really, really, as you’re going into the voting booth, do we want chaos and somebody that is in three or four criminal hearings? Is this somebody that you want to be their finger back on the button? Or do you want to have a decent and very effective president that has gotten us through the pandemic, addressed inflation and has been a real masterclass of diplomacy with Israel?

And that’s the thing. And if you want to be more pissed off about a $16 McDonald’s extra meal, I don’t know.

Is Biden the only Democrat who can beat Trump?

I really am not worried about that because he is my guy. And he is going to be the Democrats’ guy, and I’m proud to campaign with him.

What do you think of Dean Phillips, the Democrat who’s mounted a longshot primary campaign against Biden?

I really don’t believe anyone can honestly think that the gelato guy is going to beat Trump. And he has the right to spend his money to figure out that thesis, but I don’t think it’s going to end well for him.

You traveled to Iowa recently, where you were very critical of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, saying he is “running for president right now” but doesn’t have the “guts to announce it.” Why?

I wasn’t so critical about Newsom. I just simply said that it seems kind of strange to challenge a candidate of a race that you’re not involved in. … It’s also strange that you are going to make a very splash visit to China when the leaders are actually coming to your very own state … a couple of weeks later. Or making donations to obscure South Carolinian politicians.

Do you think he’s laying the groundwork to run in 2024 if something happens to Biden?

I think that he’s a great governor. And he’s an incredible part of the Democratic Party. That’s it. Two things can be true at the same time.

What about you? Would you ever run in 2028 for president?

Fundamentally, about politics, you never go get high on your own supply. And I’m not thinking about 2028. I am only making sure to prioritize 2024.

Outgoing California Rep. Anna Eshoo’s biggest tech regret isn’t what you’d expect: It’s immigration reform.

“We would not be the nation that we are without being an immigrant nation. And immigrants play a very important role in the technology industry. So many come to the United States to be educated here,” Eshoo, whose district covers Silicon Valley, said Sunday during an interview on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki.”

“We have the finest colleges and universities,” Eshoo continued. “Certainly, Stanford University, which is the geographic center of my district. But once they’re educated, if they cannot get a green card, they have to leave.”

Eshoo, 81, announced last month that she won’t seek reelection in 2024, capping a more than 30-year career as a member of California’s House delegation. She’s one of roughly three dozen House members who are already heading for the exit next year.

Discussing comments about immigration she made in The Washington Post, Eshoo also expressed regret Sunday about the wording of part of a 1996 law — Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — that protects websites from being sued over much of the content that other people post on their sites.

“I think we made a mistake, many, many years ago. I understand what we were thinking and why we did what we did at the time, because the Internet was really nascent then,” she said of the law — but Section 230 meant “they [would] not be liable for anything.” And that, she said, “was a mistake.”