NASHVILLE — State lawmakers from Hamilton County have named Rep. Patsy Hazlewood, R-Signal Mountain, as chair of the seven-member local delegation to the state Capitol, an apparent historic first for a woman.

More than four decades ago, Lamar Alexander won a ticket to the governor's mansion after he walked more than 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) around Tennessee in a plaid shirt and hiking boots.

Tennessee House Republicans chose to maintain the status quo this week as GOP Caucus members unanimously renominated House Speaker Cameron Sexton, reaffirmed William Lamberth as majority leader and retained Rep. Jeremy Faison as caucus chairman after his spirited election contest with Rep. Robin Smith of Hixson.

Tennessee House Republicans have voted to close off their caucus meetings to the public and the media and keep their current slate of legislative leaders in place.

In a time of plague and raw division, President-elect Joe Biden appealed for unity Wednesday in a Thanksgiving-eve address to the nation asking Americans to "steel our spines" for a fight against the coronavirus that he predicted would continue for months.

Two rural Tennessee county mayors have enacted first-time mask mandates ahead of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, citing rising COVID-19 case counts and hospitalizations.

County election workers across Georgia on Tuesday began a machine recount of the roughly 5 million votes cast in the presidential race in the state, just days after completing a hand tally that confirmed President-elect Joe Biden's lead.

Wisconsin's partial presidential recount entered its fourth day Monday, with very few changes in vote totals as President Donald Trump's attorneys appeared to be focused on a legal challenge seeking to toss tens of thousands of ballots, including the one cast by an attorney for the campaign.

The General Services Administration ascertained Monday that President-elect Joe Biden is the "apparent winner" of the Nov. 3 election, clearing the way for the start of the transition from President Donald Trump's administration and allowing Biden to coordinate with federal agencies on plans for taking over on Jan. 20.

President-elect Joe Biden on Monday tapped Obama administration veterans for top national security positions, signaling a stark shift from the Trump administration's "America First" policies that disparaged international alliances, career diplomats and other veteran government officials.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden is expected to nominate Antony Blinken as secretary of state, according to multiple people familiar with the Biden team's planning.

Almost six months after the death of George Floyd, criminal justice reform advocates are cheering the election of a handful of progressive prosecutors, the passage of ballot initiatives designed to ease mass incarceration and the decriminalization of drugs in several states.

President Donald Trump sought to leverage the power of the Oval Office on Friday in an extraordinary attempt to block President-elect Joe Biden's victory, but his pleas to Michigan lawmakers to overturn the will of their constituents appeared to have left them unswayed.

One spent the week at his home in Delaware carefully trying to build a government and preparing to take on a pandemic.

Many Republican lawmakers in states where coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have surged are not only rejecting statewide mask mandates. They're also resisting rules requiring them in their own capitols.

President-elect Joe Biden is moving quickly to fill out his administration and could name top leaders for his Cabinet as early as next week.

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a stalwart supporter of President Donald Trump, on Friday referred to Democrat Joe Biden as the country's "president-elect," a comment her staff later said was a mistake.

A disparity in voter turnout between Republican and Democratic precincts in Hamilton County helped fight off an influx of Democratic voters in the 2020 presidential election, keeping the county red.

Coronavirus infections are ravaging South Dakota, where more than half of tests have come back positive for weeks.

As they seek to overturn — or at least cast doubts on — the results of the Nov. 3 presidential election, President Donald Trump and his Republican allies have zeroed in on a routine and common process: post-election audits.

President-elect Joe Biden is adding four Obama-Biden administration veterans to his top ranks as he continues to build out his White House team.

If you've lost your job during the pandemic, and with it your health insurance, you may think that Obamacare plans are too expensive and therefore not worth seeking.

Senate Republicans unanimously voted on Thursday to renominate Senate Speaker Randy McNally to a third term in the top legislative leadership position.