Party Politics: Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus implored party leaders in Hollywood, Fla. yesterday to get behind the eventual nominee, no matter who it may be. Without naming Donald Trump, he urged the organization to shake off the accusation that the nomination process is rigged.

Even while Priebus was speaking, Katie Packer, the chairwoman of the Republican anti-Trump Our Principles PAC, said, “I think it’s very clear he doesn’t live up to our standards as a party.” Still, the “stop Trump” movement is failing to gain traction. They’ve failed to wallpaper television screens with anti-Trump commercials while the party has voted against changing convention rules, which could play in Trump’s favor.

The Felon Vote: Virginia’s Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe has issued an executive order to allow about 200,000 convicted felons who’ve done their time to register and vote.

The loss of voting rights affects mostly black Americans who are more likely to vote for a Democrat. McAuliffe’s order could make a difference in the November presidential election.

Pressure is mounting for state governments to restore voting rights to felons, but the issue has made seesaw progress. Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin reversed a similar ban by his Democratic predecessor. In Maryland, the legislature overrode Gov. Larry Hogan’s 2015 veto and restored voting rights to felons.

Lead Poisoning: It’s only April 23d and more than 1,000 people have been shot in Chicago, according to records compiled by the Chicago Tribune. That puts the city on pace for 4,000 shootings this year; an enormous number. Last year the figure was 2,988.

The vast majority of shootings are not fatal. So far this year, 161 people have been murdered.

Nation: Eight people were killed “execution style” yesterday in southern Ohio, 80 miles east of Cincinnati. The victims, who were found in three homes, all belonged to the same family. One was a mother with a four-day-old baby at her side. Survivors included the baby, a six-month-old and a three-year-old. A manhunt is underway for an unidentified killer.

>An East Georgia man killed five people before shooting himself.

>The website TMZ reports that rocker Prince had overdosed on the painkiller Percocet when his airplane had to make an emergency landing last week to get him to a hospital. An autopsy was performed yesterday, but no cause of death was announced.

Hermit Kingdom: North Korea appears to have fire a missile from a submarine off its northeast coast, according to the South. The North’s ability to fire ballistic missiles from undersea is a threatening development.

Test Pattern: Lawsuits by former employees of Al Jazeera America continue against the defunct news network. Complaints allege anti-Semitism, sexism, and failure to deliver promised promotions. But the interesting thing is that court papers reveal that in 2013 and 2014, the network lost $585 million.

Cartoon Candidate: In the April 25^th edition of The New Yorker, all of the captioned cartoons have a Donald Trump theme.

-Two guys sitting in a bar looking at a third and one says, “He used to think he was Napoleon — now he think’s he’s Trump.

-St. Peter sitting in front of an enormous wall says, “The best part is we got hell to pay for it.”

-Donald Trump, being sworn into office, saying, “… and will to the best of my ability, which is terrific ability, by the way. Everyone agrees, I have fantastic ability. So there’s no problem with my ability, believe me …”

-30-