An Ecuadorian congressional candidate survived an assassination after a gunman shot at her just one day after a presidential candidate was murdered following a campaign event.

Estefany Puente revealed that she was driving a vehicle with her father and a campaign staffer when two men aboard a motorcycle opened fire on Thursday in Queveo, a city in the province of Los Ríos.

Shots fired by one of the suspects grazed Puente’s left arm and also shattered the car’s front shield window. Her father and a campaign staffer were in the car as well and were not injured.

‘Today I have been the victim of an attack against my integrity,’ Puente wrote on her Facebook.

The politician, who is running for a National Assembly seat, said the attack was the latest example of what residents in Quevedo, Los Ríos and in all of Ecuador are experiencing because they ‘have been forgotten by an inoperative government, wrapped in corruption, mafias, the result of previous governments (of the fugitives) and the current one, of those who negotiate with criminal groups and are protected by such.’

DailyMail.com reached out to Puente for comment. 

Authorities were reviewing surveillance cameras in the area in hopes of identifying the suspects, who were still on the run as of Friday afternoon.

Puente, who previously sought office in the Quevedo city council, is running under the Popular Unity Movement, said she remained determined to continue to work with the party’s presidential candidate Yaku Pérez to root out corruption from public institutions and jailed ‘white collar’ criminals.

The attack comes as Ecuador was still reeling from the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio on Wednesday.

The 59-year-old, who was running under the Build Ecuador Movement, was being escorted out of a school gym in Quito when he was shot moments after he stepped inside a vehicle.

President Guillermo Lasso said the suspects threw a grenade into the street while escaping. but it did not explode. Police later destroyed the grenade with a controlled explosion. 

One Colombian suspect died following a shootout with the police and six others were arrested. A judge ordered them held in preventive custody for 30 days.

Court records showed that the six suspects were charged with illicit trafficking of substances. Two of the defendants were charged July 5 with reception of stolen goods.

All the men had previous criminal records in Ecuador and Colombia, an Ecuadorean police spokesperson said.

A search of the public records database run by the Colombian police listed three of the men as having no criminal record, while the remaining three were listed as ‘currently not required by any judicial authority.’

A week before his murder, Villavicencio participated in a virtual interview with Colombian television news network NTN24 and revealed that he had been threatened by the Sinaloa Cartel, the notorious Mexican criminal organization founded by the jailed drug lord Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, and one of its main associates in Ecuador, José ‘Fito’ Macías, the jailed boss of Los Choneros gang.

Villavicencio, a married father of five, said the menaces were the byproduct of a campaign pledge to tear down criminal organizations who were linked to political figures.

‘What these threats that come from the Sinaloa Cartel do is demonstrate is that our government program is a program that precisely aims to break and dismantle these criminal drug trafficking structures in collusion with political actors, and this is perhaps the most important thing,’ he said.

Ecuador’s Interior Minister Juan Zapata said the killing was a ‘political crime of a terrorist nature’ seeking to disrupt the August 20 elections. 

Lasso declared three days of national mourning and a state of emergency that involves deploying additional military personnel throughout the country.

In his final speech before he was killed, Villavicencio promised a roaring crowd that he would fight corruption, including among police forces, and imprison more criminals.

‘Here I am showing my face. I´m not scared of them,’ Villavicencio said in a statement before his death, naming Macías by his alias, ‘Fito.’

Former President Donald Trump made a rare appearance at an event with other presidential candidate to tell an Iowa crowd that ‘there is only one candidate’ who can ‘win the election big.’ 

Trump was the final speaker at the Republican Party of Iowa’s Lincoln Dinner, which was attended by 13 Republican hopefuls, each only given 10 minutes to speak.

It was clear that the ex-president won the crowd – receiving standing ovations and more applause than any other candidate – with the only Republican to bring up Trump’s legal turmoil booed offstage. 

Whether he could win the next election after losing the last was another story, but he pointed to all sorts of polling data to make his case, claiming that his chief primary rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ‘is losing to Biden in all cases.’ 

‘I wouldn’t take a chance on that one,’ he said, garnering laughs. 

DeSantis managed only a gentle contrast, offering himself as the most electable of the field. And former Vice President Mike Pence delivered his familiar warning of ‘the siren song of populism.’

Trump didn’t bother with any of the other hopefuls – only calling out the Florida governor.  

‘I’ve been an unwavering warrior for Iowa ethanol and I will remain your ethanol champion, very important to you economy. Ron DeSanctus has aggressively fought against ethanol, which I think would be devastating for Iowa,’ he said, starting out his assault. 

Trump talked up his relationship with Iowa in other ways too. 

Many in the GOP field are running an Iowa-or-bust strategy, so if Trump squashes them in the January 15 caucuses, he has a much easier path to the nomination. 

‘I’m here to deliver a very simple message Iowa has never had a better friend in the White House than President Donald J. Trump,’ he said at the top. 

He later gave himself credit for saving the Hawkeye State’s first-in-the-nation caucus position.  

‘I won Iowa twice by really a lot. And together we will crush crooked Joe Biden. The most crooked president in the history of our country by a lot. He’s also grossly incompetent, he doesn’t know what he’s doing, he’s destroying our country,’ Trump said. 

The ex-president only briefly brought up his mounting legal woes, with Special Counsel Jack Smith filing a surprise superseding indictment Thursday, alleging that Trump had ordered surveillance footage at Mar-a-Lago wiped. 

‘By the way, if I weren’t running, I would have nobody coming after me,’ he said. ‘If I was losing by a lot I would have nobody coming after me – they wouldn’t be coming after me.’ 

Only rank outsider Will Hurd, a former U.S. Representative, dared remind the 1,200 or so Iowa Republicans gathered at the Des Moines convention center of the brewing legal storm.

‘Donald Trump is not running for president to represent the people that voted for him in 2016 and 2020,’ he said. ‘Donald Trump is running to stay out of prison. And if we elect …’

He was cut off by boos and jeers. ‘I know. I know… The truth is hard,’ he said before wrapping up his speech a minute and a half early, hurrying offstage. 

Another longshot candidate, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, also called out Trump by name. 

He was also the only candidate – who went over the 10-minute time limit and had his microphone cut off.  

DeSantis shied away from hitting Trump directly, reheating his stump speech that majors on cutting down the federal government, focuses on his achievements in Florida and talks up the culture wars.

He did allude to Trump’s controversial handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, when touting how he kept Florida open. 

‘You don’t coddle bureaucrats like Dr. Fauci, you bring them in and you say, “You are fired,” DeSantis said. 

Earlier he pointed out to DailyMail.com, that Trump keeping Fauci on staff was one of the areas where he’s openly criticized the ex-president.  

‘He elevated Fauci, he left him in there, he didn’t fire him. I would have done just the opposite,’ DeSantis said. 

But the Florida governor ended with what might be his most important contrast with a president who failed to secure a second term in 2020: electability.

‘We either win this election and make good on all the promises that we’re making, or the Democrats are going to throw this country into a hole that’s going to take us a generation to come out of,’ he said.

‘I believe that decline is a choice. I believe success is attainable, and I know that freedom is worth fighting for. 

‘This is our chance in 2024 to send the Biden Harris administration to the dustbin of history where it belongs.’

Half the room rose from their seats and their plates of chicken and mashed potatoes for a rousing round of applause. 

Pence used the chance to take a swing at his old boss.

‘Joe Biden has been a disaster for America. And I understand the temptation to cling to what is familiar over leadership fitted to the times,’ he said in a familiar refrain from his stump speech.

‘But I believe we must resist the politics of personality, and the siren song of populism unmoored to conservative values, because different times calls for different leadership to defeat Joe Biden.’

Some of the candidates had fun with the latest Biden family drama, with the president and first lady acknowledging their seventh grandchild for the first time.

They did so in a statement to People magazine, as the Bidens head to their Rehoboth Beach home for summer vacation. 

‘Our son Hunter and Navy’s mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward,’ it said. 

‘This is not a political issue, it’s a family matter,’ Biden’s statement continues. ‘Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy.’

Former U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley alluded to the news, as she talked about how easy it would be to pass one of the mental competency tests she’s pitched for office holders older than 75.  

‘There aren’t a tough test,’ she said. ‘What town were you born in? How many grandchildren do you have?’ she added to laughs. 

Hutchinson, who appeared directly after her onstage, used a similar line: ‘I know how many grandchildren I have – seven.’ 

Nearly two-thirds of Democratic voters would prefer another candidate besides Biden in 2024

• Just 26 per cent of Democratic voters think the party should nominate President Biden in 2024
• His approval rating is just 33 per cent in the new New York Times / Sienna College poll 

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor For Dailymail.com

Published: 07:49 EDT, 11 July 2022 | Updated: 09:22 EDT, 11 July 2022

GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ similarity to Donald Trump would make him a ‘dangerous’ presidential candidate in 2024.

In an interview with the New York Times, the conservative Trump critic said she could support a Republican nominee – but not one that peddled the ex-president’s election fraud claims.

Nor could she back DeSantis, Cheney suggested, despite the GOP governor’s skyrocketing popularity over his opposition to the Biden administration on COVID-19 mandates and legislation that Democrats have described as anti-LGBTQ.

‘I think that Ron DeSantis has lined himself up almost entirely with Donald Trump, and I think that’s very dangerous,’ she said.

Cheney added that she ‘would find it very difficult’ to support DeSantis.

Both DeSantis and Trump – as well as Cheney herself – have suggested they are considering running for higher office in 2024.

But the former president has been the most forthright of the trio, hinting at nearly every public appearance that he’s given serious thought to a third campaign.

He’s even teased that he may announce a decision before November’s midterm elections – a move that appears to be making GOP lawmakers nervous.

And according to South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds, it would play right into Democrats’ hands just as voters head to the polls to decide which party will control Congress for the latter half of President Joe Biden’s term.

‘Democrats, right now, would love to see President Trump announce before 2022,’ Rounds said on ABC News’ This Week on Sunday.

‘I think the reason why is because they’d like to have that draw attention away from the 2022 election and the candidates that they’ve got.’

He contended that Biden’s low approval – which is just 37 percent, according to a new ABC/Ipsos poll – has the president’s party anxious to shift the narrative.

‘And the other thing here is, is that right now with President Biden as far underwater as what he is, their principles, their issues, the fact that inflation is at over 9 percent, GDP is down, I think this is a good time for them to try to be looking at other things to talk about,’ Rounds said.

Trump addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas on Saturday night, touting his claimed victories and telling the crowd: ‘We may have to do it again.’

Like in previous years, the ex-president also dominated a straw poll of attendees asked about their thoughts on 2024. 

Without Trump in the mix, DeSantis took 65 percent of support – finishing dozens of points ahead of runner-up Senator Ted Cruz, who had 6 percent. 

Rounds on Sunday would not commit to supporting Trump in 2024, but did not speak out against the ex-president either. 

‘In this particular case, I’m going to focus on the 2022 election. We’ve got to win that back,’ the South Dakota Republican said.

He anticipated a ‘wide open field’ of candidates coming to the forefront. 

‘I’ll keep my powder dry for the 2024 run. Let’s see who else is coming up,’ Rounds said.

Cheney herself has also signaled in rhetoric that she’s looking to appeal to a wider field of supporters.

She’s likely going to lose her seat as Wyoming’s lone legislator in the House of Representatives next week, but has not ruled out a bid for president in 2024.

The conservative lawmaker is up against a Trump-backed primary challenger after her vote to impeach the ex-president over the US Capitol attack drew his ire. 

Multiple polls suggest that Cheney’s opponent Harriet Hageman will sail to an easy victory. The Wyoming GOP is backing Hageman after expelling Cheney, as are House Republican leaders.

But her anti-Trump rhetoric and leadership as vice chair of the January 6 committee has already earned Cheney support across the aisle. 

And she’s leaned into it in an attempt to relate to voters across the country, her New York Times interview suggests.

Cheney told the outlet that Wyoming moms are looking for ‘somebody who’s competent’ to lead.

She also more closely aligned herself with moderate Democrats with a history of service in US national security than fringe members of her own party.

‘I would much rather serve with Mikie Sherrill and Chrissy Houlahan and Elissa Slotkin than Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, even though on substance certainly I have big disagreements with the Democratic women I just mentioned,’ Cheney said.

‘But they love this country, they do their homework and they are people that are trying to do the right thing for the country.’ 

A majority of Democrats say they want a new leader to run for election in 2024, in a further sign that Joe Biden could end up becoming a one-term president.  

Only 35% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents want to see Biden stick around while the poll suggests the majority, 56%, would like to see the Democratic party choose someone else. 

The findings were revealed by  a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, as speculation mounts that the 79 year-old president – the eldest in American history – will be too old to remain in office. 

The lack of fervor for President Biden is not because Democrats think Biden is doing a terrible job. 

In fact, the President’s overall approval rating across Americans of all political affiliations increased from 36 percent in July to 43 percent in September.

On the other side of the aisle, Republicans seem to have have more excitement for Trump to run again than Democratic voters feel for Biden, although there was bad news for the 45th president too. 

The figures suggest Republicans and GOP-leaning independents, are completely split on whether Donald Trump should make a third run at the White House. 

The poll suggests GOP voters are split 47%-46% on Trump to the nominee.

That level of support sits 20 points lower than when he was nominated in 2020, as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is touted as a new challenger for the role.

The figures appear to show that voters from all ideologies want to see fresh faces enter politics. 

The poll also calculated a 2024 presidential election that would essentially be a repeat of the 2020 vote. 

In the hypothetical match-up between the same two contenders, Biden would have the support of 48 per cent of the poll respondents, while Trump would get 46 per cent – in effect, ‘too close to call’.

Among registered voters, the result flips, with 48 per cent opting for Trump, and 46 per cent deciding to go for Biden.  

Trump is still the favored candidate to run in this poll despite 52 per cent of Americans saying he should be charged with a crime in any number of federal investigations that he is now facing. 

If Trump does not run, a decision the former president is likely to delay for as long as possible, there are inklings that Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis could edge his name onto the GOP’s ticket.

DeSantis, a pugnacious governor has used the power of his office to rise to national prominence by shunning COVID-19 lockdowns, mocking Biden’s age and abilities, penalizing Disney World for opposing a new state law limiting discussion of LGBTQ issues in schools, and recently flying Venezuelan immigrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard.

Biden has held political events in Democratic strongholds like Maryland and New York in recent weeks.

And before the appearance of Tropical Storm Ian, he had planned to visit Florida in a grassroots rally in Orlando to show how he may build the case for his reelection. 

While former president Donald Trump has long been considered the Republican frontrunner in 2024, recent polls show DeSantis higher in Florida. 

Control of the Senate is up for grabs in November’s Midterms. But Republicans are favored by nonpartisan election analysts to erase Democrats’ 221-212 House majority. 

Doing so would give them the power to block Biden’s legislative agenda and to launch potentially politically damaging investigations into his administration.

But Democrats’ fortunes have improved in recent weeks. A national Reuters/Ipsos poll concluded on September 12 found that 37% of Americans would prefer to vote for a Democratic congressional candidate, with 34% preferring Republicans and 15% still undecided.

The end of Roe v. Wade has galvanized support for pro-choice Democrats. Biden’s war efforts in Ukraine appear to be paying off, and inflation has softened slightly – although price increases still remain excruciatingly high.  

Democrats in close contests in the are still outperforming Biden in polls, and some have expressed concern that appearing with the president will make their elections a referendum on his popularity. 

Last weekend, Biden would not commit to running for re-election in 2024, though he told CBS News that is the current plan.

‘My intention, as I said to begin with, is that I would run again,’ he said. ‘But it’s just an intention. But is it a firm decision that I run again? That remains to be seen.’

Vice President Kamala Harris polls poorly among voters, with California’s moderate Governor Gavin Newsom currently getting involved in national politics.

On Saturday, Newsom denied plans to run for president in 2024 or 2028, although few would be surprised if he changed his mind.  

On Friday, Republicans unveiled a sales pitch for governing packed with promises — but light on specifics — on a checklist of hot-button issues from crime to immigration and the economy, as they seek a path back to power in the midterm elections.

With just over 40 days to go until the nationwide polls that decide who controls Congress, the ‘Commitment to America’ marks the party’s first attempt to formally shape a concrete policy agenda beyond simply hammering President Joe Biden.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has slammed the Republicans’ ‘whole-hearted commitment’ to Trumpism, accusing them of seeking to criminalize women’s health care and threaten democracy.

Biden, meanwhile, has dismissed the ‘Commitment to America’ as a ‘thin series of policy goals with little detail’ that illustrated the hold of the MAGA movement on Republicans.

The president has sought to keep abortion top of the agenda as he vowed to sign nationwide protections into law in the event of big Democratic gains in Congress.

‘Americans can choose,’ the president told a gathering of the largest US teachers’ union in Washington. Abortion, guns and health care, are all ‘on the ballot’ in November, he said.

Democrat charged with being DRUNK behind the wheel: Candidate in key California race apologizes for ‘irresponsible’ decision to drive

By James Franey, Senior U.S. Political Reporter For Dailymail.Com

Published: 19:39 EDT, 3 May 2023 | Updated: 19:56 EDT, 3 May 2023