Politics in the key of life: Stevie Wonder is lending some star power to endangered Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu as she heads into a Dec. 6 runoff with Rep. Bill Cassidy. The Associated Press reports the legendary musician is performing at a $1,000-per-person fundraiser Dec. 1 in New Orleans to drum up campaign cash for the Big Easy Committee, a joint committee that supports Landrieu and the Democratic State Central Committee of Louisiana. The event is being advertised as an “Intimate Evening with Stevie Wonder.” For $5,000, a couple also can attend a smaller “patron reception” with the musician.
There’s a world going on underground: Shale drillers are planning on production growth with fewer rigs despite a worldwide glut that has sent crude prices to a four-year low. As Bloomberg reports, companies including Devon Energy Corp., Continental Resources Inc. and EOG Resources Inc. all say they expect to pump more from their prime properties while cutting back in their least productive prospects. “There’s a lot more production coming online this year and in the first half of 2015,” says Jason Wangler, an analyst at Wunderlich Securities Inc. in Houston. “This isn’t a machine that you can turn on and off with a switch. It’s going to take months, if not quarters, to turn it around.” Read the full story.
By the numbers: After an Election Day that featured a wave of new voting restrictions across the country, data and details about who cast a ballot are being picked over to see if tighter rules swayed the outcomes of any races or contributed to the lowest voter turnout in 72 years, The New York Times reports. Nationally, this year’s turnout was the worst in a midterm election since 1942, providing ammunition to those arguing the restrictive laws make it harder to vote. Despite the national trend, 14 states had higher turnout compared with the 2010 midterms, including Louisiana, driven by some of the country’s most hotly contested Senate races. Read the full story.
