Forkner, who has not previously held elected office, would be facing three-term incumbent Democrat Bob Casey in the spring primary.

According to Forkner's campaign, he holds a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering with a Minor in Math from Virginia Tech. He established his own electrical engineering consulting firm and is a two time cancer survivor.

"I'm running for US Senate to give a voice to the teacher, the student, the nurse, the doctor, the electrical, the engineer, and everyday Americans everywhere," Forkner said. "I'll fight against the Washington bureaucrats and plutocrats to make healthcare universal for everyone, lower the cost of a college degree, and ensure an economic future that works for workers."

Five issues listed as priorities on Forkern's website are universal healthcare, affordable education, gun violence, protecting democracy, and economic security.

This week Republican Dave McCormick entered the Senate primary, touting endorsements from the state's Republican congressional delegation. McCormick lost the 2022 primary to Mehmet Oz by less than 1,000 votes.

McCormick formally announced the launch of his campaign in Pittsburgh on Thursday evening.

The former hedge fund CEO is the first Republican to enter the spring primary, potentially setting up a general election race against incumbent Democrat Bob Casey.

During the 2022 Senate campaign, McCormick was endorsed by several national Republicans including Senator Ted Cruz and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the crowded primary.

However, McCormick failed to get the endorsement of former President Donald Trump and lost to Trump's endorsed candidate, former television doctor Mehmet Oz, by less than 1,000 votes.

Oz would go on to lose the November general election to Democrat John Fetterman by more than 260,000 votes.

Questions that plagued Oz (who lived in New Jersey) and may surface for McCormick is his residency. According to the Associated Press, while McCormick owns a home in Pittsburgh, public records indicate McCormick “still lives on Connecticut’s “Gold Coast.”

“Dave has called Pennsylvania home for 30 years and served our country outside of Pennsylvania for an additional 13,” Elizabeth Gregory, a spokeswoman for McCormick, told the Associated Press. “It’s the place he mailed letters back to when he served in Iraq and the place where three of his daughters were born.”

Gregory added, “While he maintains a residence in Connecticut as his daughters finish high school, Dave’s home is in Pittsburgh and for the last 10 years he has owned a working farm in his hometown of Bloomsburg, which has been in the family for decades.”Dave McCormick “seriously considering” Senate run after Mastriano opts out

Prior to running for U.S. Senate in 2022 and serving as CEO of Bridgewater Associates, McCormick was an officer in the Gulf War and served in President George W. Bush’s administration with the Treasury Department.

Republican State Senator and former gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano opted not to run for U.S. Senate earlier this year. Kathy Barnette, who finished third in the 2022 Republican Senate primary, has already said she does not plan to run. No Democrats have formally announced intentions to run against Casey, a three-term incumbent.

"This is a very tough state to run statewide," Casey told abc27's Dennis Owens.

McCormick would be the first, and potentially only, Republican with statewide name recognition to enter the primary. In 2022 he lost the Republican nomination to Mehmet Oz by less than 1,000 votes on a ballot with seven candidates, four of whom each received less than 6%.

However, should he reach the general election, McCormick will be facing a three-term incumbent with a name Pennsylvania voters have known for decades.

"It's daunting," says Republican Commentator Jeffrey Lord. "It's like challenging a Kennedy in Massachusetts."

"McCormick is a very strong, impressive guy and candidate," said Republican strategist Christopher Nicholas. "We see that because Democrats have been attacking him all summer... you don't attack weak candidates. You attack strong candidates that instill fear in you."

McCormick, a former hedge fund manager who served in the military, has the funds to make a run at Casey's seat. Casey mailers are using feat to fundraise, saying they could be outspent.

"I think that does not bode well for Pennsylvania, said State Senator Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia).

In July, it was reported that Casey raised more than $4 million in three months, his best fundraising quarter ever.

Pennsylvania Democrats will paint McCormick as an out-of-touch, out-of-state rich guy with ties to China who will ignore the working class.

"Policy that would only make him and his wealthy friends a lot more wealthy, and that's not where Pennsylvania people are," said Hughes.

The 2024 election will also have ties to a presidential election as Donald Trump, who did not endorse McCormick in 2022, leads the presidential primary field.

Asa Hutchinson, the former Governor of Arkansas who's running against Trump, says "it would" be bad for McCormick to have Trump at the top of the Republican ticket.

"Donald Trump, whether you love him or not, you know, he brings controversy," said Hutchinson. He brings chaos. And that's not the path to victory. That's not the path to bring in independent voters."

McCormick will have to give voters a reason to not vote for Casey, a three-term incumbent, which will not be easy.

"It does give you a chance to have a conversation with the people about specific issues and what you've done and where you stand," said Casey, "and I look forward to that."

ODNR approves sharpshooters to thin Mill Creek Park’s deer population

The five year, 2.3 mills levy would generate about $337,000 a year for the district.

That money can be used for building and facility improvements, maintenance, construction and certain machinery or equipment.

Administrators say the levy would allow the district to have money set aside for the care and upkeep of its 12-year-old buildings.

"So they look new, they're still in fantastic condition, however, they are starting to get to a point where, you know, a little fix here, a little fix there. A roof will be coming at some point in probably the not terribly distant future," said Treasurer Jordan Weber.

If approved, it would cost the owner of a home appraised at $100,000 an extra $81 a year.

After the two levies failed last year (10-years 6.8 mills in May 2022; 10-year 5.8 mills in November 2022), officials in the Lakeview Local School District are hoping the third time's the charm. They're seeking a 10-year 4.9 mills emergency additional levy to bring in new money for the district's operating expenses.

"In the last three years, we have eliminated about $950,000 out of our budget, but it's still not enough -- we need an infusion of some more money," said Velina Taylor, superintendent of Lakeview Local School district.

The district hasn't had any new money for operating expenses since 2010. Treasurer Sean Miller said the district has been deficit spending for several years -- and the current financial forecast shows a budget in the red in three years.

"If this levy doesn't pass, we could go into fiscal caution or fiscal emergency -- in which the state would send a commission in to take over the finances of a district. Along with that, they would take all the decision-making at the local level away," Miller said.

The levy would generate a little bit more than $1.5 million per year for the district. Officials say even with the new money coming in, they still wouldn't be able to bring everything they cut back.

"We'll be able to get rid of the fees that we've put into place, and we'll be able to do some other things and protect the programs that we still have in place," Taylor said.

Miller said the district's teachers are also among the lowest paid in the area.

"The new state budget just raised the minimum salary up to $35,000 for a starting teacher. We had to raise our salary schedules just to meet that, so our teachers weren't even making state minimum," Miller said. "If this passes, maybe we could increase their salaries a tiny bit."

Taylor added in the last five years, Lakeview lost 18 teachers to other districts or higher paying jobs.

Should the levy pass, it would cost the owner of a home appraised at $100,000 an extra $172 per year.

"When you break that down, it's just under 50 cents a day -- so we think it's a reasonable ask," Miller said.

A series of public meetings is expected over the next week to gather public input.

The time-crunched panel seeks to set district boundaries for legislative candidates before Dec. 20, when they must declare for the 2024 election. To meet all the logistical and legal requirements ahead of that deadline, a final vote must be taken by Oct. 23, Secretary of State Frank LaRose has said.

The commission was required to return to the table this year because five sets of Statehouse maps that it approved last year were found unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court, which held that they violated rules against gerrymandering to benefit a single party.

Republican state Sen. Rob McColley told fellow commissioners Wednesday that his plan is largely in line with bipartisan discussions.

The maps would create a 23-10 baseline advantage for Republicans in the state Senate and a 62-37 edge in the House, not counting 5 toss-up districts in the Senate and 11 in the House.

House Minority Leader Allison Russo said those numbers are nowhere close to the partisan split among Ohio voters, which is roughly 54% Republican and 46% Democratic.

“Let's be clear," she said. "This does not, by any stretch of the imagination, meet the proportionality requirements in Section 6 (of the Ohio Constitution).”

McColley said that by his reading, other constitutional considerations trump proportionality, including minimizing county splits — which his plan attempts to do.

The commission got back to business after two Republican legislative leaders who may be rivals for the House speakership next year settled a political dispute.

Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine had reconvened the commission Sept. 13, but he was unable to do anything more than swear in its members — himself, two other statewide officeholders and four state lawmakers — because Republicans were without a co-chair. The governor canceled a second attempted meeting that week.

DeWine set the next meeting for Wednesday, but then he came down with COVID-19 — precluding him from filling in as chair while Senate President Matt Huffman and House Speaker Jason Stephens came to an agreement.

Hours before the meeting was set to begin, Huffman and Stephens announced their decision. They designated a seemingly neutral third party without a particular stake in what the districts House members run in look like next year: Republican Ohio Auditor Keith Faber, as their party's co-chair.

The two-term auditor has served previously in both legislative chambers, including a stint as Senate president. He also was the only Republican during last year's failed efforts at drawing constitutional maps who voted against any of the GOP-drawn plans.

Russo and the commission's other Democrat, Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, introduced their own Statehouse maps Tuesday, but they were rejected along party lines Wednesday.

"We wouldn't be asking for the money if we didn't need it to survive," said Trustee Greg Leonhard.

He points to shrinking local government funds and rising costs such as utilities at the township's parks. Kinsman's elected officials are turning to the voters for a five year, 1.5 mills current expenses levy that would bring money into the general fund.

"What we're getting from the state of Ohio next year is like $27,000 or something like that. With the cost of everything going up, we just can't make ends meet," Leonhard said.

Leonhard says the township has made significant improvements in the last decade, a big one being its new sidewalks. It's a project the township itself put very little money into.

"We wouldn't have any of these sidewalks if it wasn't for the generosity already of the residents of Kinsman Township, because the vast majority of the money that went for the matching funds for our grants was donations," Leonhard said

Leonhard says the goal is to continue investing in Kinsman, but in order to keep providing its current services or have matching funds for grants, the levy is needed.

The levy would generate about $60,000 a year for the township. Trustees say they wouldn't be turning to the voters if it wasn't absolutely necessary.

"If it really wasn't for the ARP funding that we got over the last two years, this is something we would have had to approach previously," Leonhard said.

If approved, the levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 appraised value home an extra $53 a year.

Struthers judge resigns from position

The five year, two mills levy would generate a little more than $600,000 total, or $120,000 a year.

The money would be put toward replacing a 27-year-old fire truck, which is currently out of service.

Fire Chief Steve Craiger says it was deemed unsafe to be on the road because of rust issues on the frame.

Even with the levy, the department will have to come up with more than $200,000 to cover the cost of a new engine, which is estimated at around $850,000.

"For us to be able to do our job, we have to have the proper equipment and currently, we do not. So it's important that the firemen that you do have, have the necessary water, firefighting equipment and we have to be able to get to your home to put the fire out," Craiger said.

Should the levy pass, it would cost the owner of a $100,000 appraised value home an additional $70 a year.

Struthers judge resigns from position

The Jewish Community Center in Youngstown welcomed people to register. The Center has been doing this for about three years and feels it's a good central location.

People were able to register as well as change their voting address if needed.

"We are interested in registering as many people as we can, but we are always interested in registering because it's important for people to be civically engaged," said Samie Winick, a JCC volunteer.

Looking toward the November ballot, Issue 1 -- surrounding reproductive rights and recreational marijuana -- will be voted on.

Oct. 10 is the last day to register to vote.

BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) - Monday night, the Boardman Civic Association hosted a candidate and issues forum. They covered topics like levies that will be on the ballot in November as well as several races.

The first levy discussed was for the Boardman Township Park District. A .3 mill renewal levy is proposed, which amounts to about $7.30 per $100,000 of home value.

"There's no new tax. It's simply a renewal of a millage that started 75 years ago," said Boardman Township Park Board member Liam Jones.

Next was the Mahoning County Children Services levy. It's a replacement levy. In 2014, voters approved a 1.85 mill levy that has decreased to 1.6 mills. The new levy would bump the levy back up to 1.85 mills.

"Placement costs are skyrocketing. Any child welfare agency including Mahoning County Children Services, one-third of our operating expenses are related to placement costs," said Richard Tvaroch, director of the Mahoning County Children Services Board.

Next on the agenda, a Mahoning County Health and Recovery Board levy. It's a 1.3 mill renewal levy, which will raise more than $5 million. If passed, it will cost homeowners about $36 per year per $100,000 of home value.

"One in four people have a mental illness. So at your table, one in four. That's about 56,000 Mahoning County residents," said Michelle Werth, clinical director of the Mental Health and Recovery Board.

Candace Rivera and Frank Zetts, who are candidates for the Boardman Local School District Board, also spoke. A third candidate was unable to attend.

Marie Dockry, A. Ross Douglass and Brian Racz, candidates for the Mahoning County Educational Service Center Board, also had a chance to speak.

Voters in Wellsville will be asked to renew the 2-mill renewal levy. In total, it would generate $67,500 to be used for improvements.

Wellsville School Superintendent Richard Bereschik said they want to use the money for the upkeep of the buildings and transportation.

"Our air handlers need a lot of work done on them, which is probably going to run around $500,000," said Bereschik. "We can use permanent improvement money on anything that lasts longer than five years."

If the renewal levy passes, it will last for five years.

The announcement is expected to come in the next few weeks. The Hill has also reported an announcement "is expected in the near future."

McCormick, who declined to comment on camera Wednesday morning, would be the first Republican to enter the race after State Senator and former gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano opted not to run. McCormick said he was "seriously considering" running after Mastriano decided not to get in the race.

Recently, McCormick has been promoting his book and appearing at events with Pennsylvania candidates, including State Treasurer Stacy Garrity.

During the 2022 campaign, McCormick was endorsed by several national Republicans including Senator Ted Cruz and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the crowded primary, but failed to get the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

Instead, Trump endorsed former television doctor Mehmet Oz, who lost the November general election to Democrat John Fetterman by more than 260,000 votes.

The 2022 race featured seven candidates on the ballot and several others who dropped out before ballots were printed. Kathy Barnette, who finished third, has already said she does not plan to run.

Questions that plagued Oz (who lived in New Jersey) and may surface for McCormick is his residency. According to the Associated Press, while McCormick owns a home in Pittsburgh, public records indicate McCormick "still lives on Connecticut’s “Gold Coast.”

“Dave has called Pennsylvania home for 30 years and served our country outside of Pennsylvania for an additional 13,” Elizabeth Gregory, a spokeswoman for McCormick, told the Associated Press. “It’s the place he mailed letters back to when he served in Iraq and the place where three of his daughters were born.”

Gregory added, “While he maintains a residence in Connecticut as his daughters finish high school, Dave’s home is in Pittsburgh and for the last 10 years he has owned a working farm in his hometown of Bloomsburg, which has been in the family for decades.”

Prior to running for U.S. Senate in 2022 and serving as CEO of Bridgewater Associates, McCormick was an officer in the Gulf War and served in President George W. Bush's administration with the Treasury Department.

The winner of the 2024 Republican primary will likely face incumbent Democrat U.S. Senator Bob Casey, who is running for a fourth term. No Democrats have formally announced intentions to run against Casey.

Todd Weddell was appointed to fill the seat during a meeting Tuesday evening by the Democratic Party Niles 1st Ward Central Committee.

The vacancy was left when Doug Sollitto was appointed as Niles City Councilman At Large.

Weddell's appointment is for the remainder of the current term.

He is also a candidate for the 1st ward seat on the November ballot.

Joyce was first elected to the House in 2018 and has served three terms in Congress. In 2022 he ran unopposed with Democrats supporting a write-in candidate. In 2020 he received 73.5% of the vote over Democrat Todd Rowley.

“In 2024, the future of our families and our communities will be at stake," said Joyce on Tuesday. "If we want to get our country back on track and end the costly failures of the far-left Biden agenda, then we must fight to defend our conservative values in Congress. That is why I’m running for re-election to represent Pennsylvania’s 13th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.”

In his campaign announcement, Joyce highlighted border security, crime, inflation, and high-speed internet as key issues.

Joyce is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and also serves as a member of both the Health and the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittees.

Before running for Congress, Joyce and his wife Dr. Alice Plummer Joyce established Altoona Dermatology Associates. Joyce received his undergraduate degree from Penn State and his Doctor of Medicine from Temple University.

The 13th Congressional District consists of all of Adams, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, and Perry counties. It also includes portions of Cumberland and Somerset counties

Among Republicans, Donald Trump is dominating the primary field, outpacing rivals with resumes as governors, diplomats and entrepreneurs that would normally prove compelling. The former president's position strength comes despite — or perhaps because of — multiple criminal indictments that threaten to overshadow any serious debate about the future of the country. And for now, the tens of millions of dollars that Republican rivals are pouring into the race are doing little to diminish Trump's stature, fueling concerns among his GOP critics who fear the primary is essentially over before it begins.

As one troubled front-runner tightens his grip on the Republican nomination, President Joe Biden is on a glide path to victory on the Democratic side. The 80-year-old incumbent is facing only token opposition for the Democratic nomination despite concerns about his age and performance from many within his own party.

Whether voters like it or not, a Trump-Biden rematch may be on the horizon, raising the prospect of a deeply uncertain election season that only intensifies the nation's political divide. Already, Trump is skipping his party’s presidential debates and his court appearances are sometimes drawing more attention than his campaign stops. And Biden has barely begun to campaign as he grapples with questions about his age and his son’s legal challenges.

“I just can’t imagine things markedly changing. So, it appears that past is prologue,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said in an interview, praising Biden's record of achievement while warning his party against underestimating Trump's political strength.

Newsom said concerns about Biden's age “are fair game and the White House knows it.”

”But if age equals results," he went on, “I’m looking forward to his 85th birthday.”

On the Republican side, dread is building among some donors and party leaders who hoped conservative voters would move past Trump given the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol he inspired and his serious legal challenges.

“A Trump-Biden rematch would be a disaster for the country. I’m very depressed about it,” said Bobbie Kilberg, a prominent Republican donor who is supporting former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. She said it’s “scary” that so many voters in her party continue to support the former president. ”I refuse to believe that Trump is our inevitable nominee.”

There is time for the 2024 landscape to shift.

Four months remain before the first votes are cast in the Iowa caucuses and the general election is more than a year away. And recent history has plenty of examples of overlooked and seemingly overmatched candidates who proved the conventional wisdom wrong. Both Trump and Biden are among them.

There are also significant variables.

Abortion continues to scramble elections — even in GOP strongholds like Kansas, Kentucky and Ohio — as voters reject Republican efforts to restrict access to the procedure. A greater backlash is possible as the courts review access to a commonly used abortion pill.

And Trump is facing 91 felony charges in criminal proceedings unfolding in Washington, New York, Miami and Atlanta. They involve everything from his handling of classified information to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election to orchestrating hush money payments to a porn actor.

The former president could be a convicted felon before the general election is decided next November. Still, party leaders — including most of his Republican primary opponents — have vowed to support him even if he's convicted. And nothing in the Constitution bars felons from assuming the presidency.

At the same time, Democratic officials are deeply concerned about the prospect of a third-party bid under the banner of No Labels, a centrist group backed by a $70 million budget actively working to secure a place on the presidential ballot in at least 20 states this year.

Group leaders insist they would nominate a candidate next spring only as “an insurance policy” should Trump and Biden win their respective primaries, which appears increasingly likely. And then, No Labels would move forward only if it's certain that its presidential nominee wouldn't unintentionally help Trump win reelection.

Democratic leaders aren't convinced.

Several current and former elected officials have been in close contact with the organization, including Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.

Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican who says he supports No Labels' mission, did not rule out running as a No Labels presidential contender himself when asked during a recent interview.

“I don’t want No Labels to run a candidate. I want the two parties to respond responsibly to the challenges before us," Cassidy said, indicating he wouldn't support Trump or Biden. He described a presidential bid of his own under the No Labels banner as a hypothetical he didn't want to comment on.

In ruling out Trump, the Louisiana Republican cited the criminal charges against the Republican former president, questions about his viability in the general election, and the former president's refusal to “be honest with the American people” about looming budget shortfalls in Social Security and Medicare.

Cassidy, a medical doctor, also raised concerns about Biden's physical and mental health. "He's just so obviously declining,” he said.

Indeed, both Trump and Biden have glaring liabilities, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Biden is “old” and “confused,” and Trump is “corrupt” and “dishonest.” Those were among the top terms Americans use when asked to describe each party's leading presidential candidates.

But leaders in both parties are willing to overlook such problems.

Young Democrats of America President Quentin Wathum-Ocama concedes that young voters aren’t necessarily enthusiastic about a Trump-Biden rematch, but he hopes that Trump’s polarizing candidacy will give Wathum-Ocama's party the energy Biden cannot.

“Yes, people want a younger generation of politicians. We’ve always talked about Joe Biden as — even he’s said — as a transitional figure in our political life,” he said. ”As much as we’re seeing folks, for whatever reason, may not be excited or whatever, to me, it comes back to democracy is on the line.”

With virtually no exceptions, Democratic officials in Congress and in key states are publicly rallying behind Biden's reelection.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Biden's strongest challenger in the 2020 Democratic primary, endorsed Biden's reelection bid hours after it was announced this spring. Biden enlisted other would-be rivals for his national advisory board. The group includes Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Newsom.

Republicans have delighted in suggesting that Newsom plans to launch a primary challenge against Biden, something the California governor has repeatedly ruled out. That's even as Newsom teases the possibility of a high-profile debate against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is among Trump's top Republican challengers.

Newsom said there would be a debate with the Florida governor, perhaps in November, although the camps are still working out the details.

“I get to do the one thing I look forward to doing more than anything else, and that’s make the case for Joe Biden and what he’s accomplished — and to do that one-on-one,” he said of a DeSantis debate. “That’s an opportunity, a platform I don’t want to walk away from.”

Meanwhile, in a show of confidence, the Trump campaign has already begun to pivot toward a general election matchup against Biden.

His team says he currently plans to skip all Republican presidential debates, sensing few consequences for skipping the first one last month. DeSantis, once thought to be a potent threat, has struggled to live up to expectations.

Trump's relationships across the party and his expansive political machine have made it extremely difficult for others to break through.

“The president benefits from having led the party for the last eight years,” said Brian Jack, Trump's political director.

Trump is leading the fight for endorsements, winning the public backing of more members of Congress and statewide elected officials than the rest of the field combined.

The other candidates are also struggling to keep up with Trump's quiet campaign to control the delegate selection rules for individual state primaries. For example, Trump officials successfully pushed California Republicans to award all of the state's 169 delegates to the winner of their March 5 primary, instead of dolling out delegates to multiple candidates based on the proportion of their vote.

The payoff for that work became clear late last week when a pro-DeSantis super PAC scaled back its operations in Nevada and other states that host Republican primary contests in March, including California, North Carolina and Texas.

Given Trump's overwhelming advantages, some of Trump's powerful allies have begun to call for other Republican presidential candidates to give up. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez ended his short-lived White House bid last week after failing to qualify for the opening debate. But at least eight high-profile opponents remain.

“It has been clear for months that President Trump will be the Republican nominee,” said Rep. Elise Stefanik, the No. 3 House Republican. “This election is the most important election in our lifetime, and I will continue to call on Republicans to coalesce our entire party apparatus behind President Trump’s campaign.”

While Trump remains the clear front-runner, he holds a wider margin nationally than he does in some of the early-voting states. And influential Republicans there aren't ready to concede the nomination to Trump yet.

Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, which hosts the second Republican primary contest after Iowa, is working to boost Trump's GOP rivals, warning that Trump is too flawed to win the general election.

Former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, who served as Trump's ambassador to China, also has doubts about the former president's chances in the general election given the legal challenges that will play out for much of next year.

“The focus of the election ought to be on Biden and his record,” Branstad said. “That’s the thing that bothers me. It plays into the hands of the Democrats.”

He added, “I think this thing is going to tighten up."

Even Trump isn't quite willing to say that he's already locked up the Republican presidential nomination.

“I don’t want to say anything’s over cause I don’t say that," Trump said Friday on WABC. “I’m not a believer until it’s over, right? As Yogi would say, ‘Ain’t over 'til it’s over.”

Government employees are being bombarded with threats even in normally quiet periods between elections, secretaries of state and experts warn. Some point to former President Donald Trump and his allies repeatedly and falsely claiming the 2020 election was stolen and spreading conspiracy theories about election workers. Experts fear the 2024 election could be worse and want the federal government to do more to protect election workers.

The Justice Department created the Election Threats Task Force in 2021 led by its public integrity section, which investigates election crimes. John Keller, the unit's second in command, said in an interview with The Associated Press that the department hoped its prosecutions would deter others from threatening election workers.

“This isn’t going to be taken lightly. It’s not going to be trivialized,” he said. “Federal judges, the courts are taking misconduct seriously and the punishments are going to be commensurate with the seriousness of the conduct.”

Two more men pleaded guilty Thursday to threatening election workers in Arizona and Georgia in separate cases. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department would keep up the investigations, adding, “A functioning democracy requires that the public servants who administer our elections are able to do their jobs without fearing for their lives."

The unit has filed 14 cases and two have resulted in yearslong prison sentences, including a 2 1/2-year sentence Monday for Mark Rissi, an Iowa man charged with leaving a message threatening to “lynch” and “hang” an Arizona election official. He had been “inundated with misinformation" and now “feels horrible” about the messages he left, his lawyer Anthony Knowles said.

A Texas man was given 3 1/2 years earlier this month after suggesting a “mass shooting of poll workers and election officials” last year, charges stated. In one message, the Justice Department said, the man wrote: “Someone needs to get these people AND their children. The children are the most important message to send.” His lawyer did not return a message seeking comment.

One indictment unveiled in August was against a man accused of leaving an expletive-filled voicemail after the 2020 election for Tina Barton, a Republican who formerly was the clerk in Rochester Hills, Michigan, outside Detroit. According to the indictment, the person vowed that “a million plus patriots will surround you when you least expect it” and “we’ll … kill you.”

Barton said it was just one of many threats that left her feeling deeply anxious.

“I’m really hopeful the charges will send a strong message, and we won’t find ourselves in the same position after the next election,” she said.

Normally, the periods between elections are quiet for the workers who run voting systems around the U.S. But for many, that’s no longer true, said Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat who has pushed back against conspiracy theories surrounding elections.

“I anticipate it will get worse as we end this year and go into the presidential election next year,” Griswold said.

Griswold said the threats come in “waves,” usually following social media posts by prominent figures about false claims the 2020 election was stolen or blog posts on far-right websites. While the nation is more informed about the threats to election workers, she worries that there haven’t been enough prosecutions and states haven’t taken enough action to protect workers.

“Do we have the best tools to get through the next period of time? Absolutely not,” Griswold said.

Election officials note that there have been thousands of threats nationwide yet relatively few prosecutions. They say they understand the high bar to actually prosecute a case but that more could be done.

Liz Howard, a former Virginia election official now at the Brennan Center for Justice's elections and government program, called on the Justice Department to hire a senior adviser with existing relationships with election officials to improve outreach.

About 1 in 5 election workers know someone who left their election job for safety reasons and 73% of local election officials said harassment has increased, according to a Brennan Center survey published in April.

The task force has reviewed more than 2,000 reports of threats and harassment across the country since its inception, though most of those cases haven't brought charges from prosecutors who point to the high legal bar set by the Supreme Court for criminal prosecution. Communication must be considered a “true threat,” one that crosses a line to a serious intent to hurt someone, in order to be a potential crime rather than free speech, Keller said.

“We are not criminalizing or frankly discouraging free speech by actions that we’re taking from a law enforcement perspective," he said.

The task force's work is unfolding at a time when Trump and other Republicans have accused the Biden administration of using the Justice Department to target political opponents, although the task force itself hasn't been targeted publicly by Republicans.

Many GOP leaders have sharply criticized the federal prosecutions of Trump and of rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and Trump himself faces a federal indictment in Washington, D.C., and a state indictment in Georgia over his efforts to overturn 2020 election results. He has denied wrongdoing and said he was acting within the law. A series of federal and state investigations and dozens of lawsuits have not uncovered any evidence the election was rigged.

Trump is the front-runner for the GOP nomination for president in 2024 and continues in his speeches and online posts to argue the 2020 election was rigged.

For many election workers, the threats have been a major driving factor to leave the job, hollowing out the ranks of experience ahead of 2024, said Dokhi Fassihian, the deputy chief of strategy and program at Issue One, a nonpartisan reform group representing election officials.

About 1 in 5 election officials in 2024 will have begun service after the 2020 election, the Brennan Center survey found.

“Many are deciding it’s just not worth it to stay,” Fassihian said.

___

Cassidy reported from Atlanta. AP Director of Public Opinion Research Emily Swanson in Washington contributed to this report.