BOSTON — Elizabeth Warren laughed at the notion of running for Senate when Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank broached the idea early this year. At the time, the fiery Harvard law professor was caught in a political stalemate over whether she should lead the new federal consumer watchdog agency that she is widely credited with inventing. Republicans reviled her, and she had never run for elected ...

With federal disaster relief funds close to running dry, the Senate is set to vote on a $7 billion aid bill to replenish them. Democrats hope to garner the 60 votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster.

Senate Democrats unveiled legislation yesterday providing $6 billion in new disaster aid to help both victims of Hurricane Irene and past disasters dating to Hurricane Katrina. A Senate Appropriations panel responsible for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s budget approved the measure by voice vote. At the same time, the measure’s author said that with FEMA’s disaster aid coffers running ...

RICHMOND — Adam Light, a Republican running for state Senate in southwest Virginia, has advocated ending Social Security and Medicare. Former Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick, a GOP candidate in Northern Virginia, said Darwin’s theory of evolution “was used by atheists to explain away the belief in God.” Dick Black, running in Loudoun and Prince William counties, was criticized by leaders of his own ...

Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge has become a top focus of Senate Democrats seeking a strong contender for next year's election in the redrawn state Senate seat that includes Riverside, Corona and Moreno Valley. Loveridge, perhaps the region's best-known Democrat, had previously ruled out running for any of the redrawn Assembly, Senate and congressional districts that include Riverside.