Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - April 21, 2016
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Thursday's Leading Stories
- The Associated Press reported that Ted Cruz was “mathematically eliminated” from winning the Republican nomination on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention after failing to win a single delegate in the New York primary. In a radio interview on Wednesday, Cruz said that no other Republican presidential candidate could reach the threshold of 1,237 delegates either. “We are headed to a contested convention. At this point, nobody is getting 1,237. Donald [Trump] is going to talk all the time about other folks not getting to 1,237; he’s not getting there either. None of us are getting to 1,237,” he said. (ABC News, Associated Press)
- Former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wy.) endorsed John Kasich on Wednesday. “He also has the right temperament and realistic leadership skills required to advance smart and bold reforms to reduce the nation’s debt and deficit so that we can restore fiscal sanity in Washington. Further, he has a proven record of experience that is wholly unknown to Ted Cruz and Donald Trump,” Simpson said in a statement. (Politico)
Polls
- Hillary Clinton is leading Bernie Sanders in Pennsylvania by 13 points with 52 percent support, according to a Monmouth University poll released on Wednesday. “Pennsylvania is considered a swing state in the November election. The Monmouth poll finds that a small number of Democrats may defect from the party if their favored candidate does not get the nomination. If the general election is between Clinton and Donald Trump, 81% of Pennsylvania Democratic primary voters say they would commit to supporting Clinton while 11% say they would vote for Trump. If Sanders is the nominee, 78% of Pennsylvania Democratic primary voters would back Sanders while 11% would vote for Trump,” the pollsters noted. (Monmouth)
- Clinton also leads in California, Connecticut, and Delaware by single-digit margins, according to three polls released on Wednesday by Quinnipiac University and Gravis Marketing.
- California: Clinton (47 percent) vs. Sanders (41 percent). (Gravis)
- Connecticut: Clinton (51 percent) vs. Sanders (42 percent). (Quinnipiac)
- Delaware: Clinton (45 percent) vs. Sanders (38 percent). (Gravis)
- Donald Trump has double-digit leads in two upcoming New England primary states. According to Quinnipiac University, Trump leads John Kasich, 48 percent to 28 percent, in Connecticut. Gravis Marketing found Trump leading the Republican field in Delaware by a margin of nearly 40 points. (Quinnipiac, Gravis)
Democrats
- According to the Center for Public Integrity, Hillary Clinton spent $3.62 per vote in New York. Bernie Sanders won votes at the higher cost of $9.03 per vote. For comparison, Donald Trump only spent 13 cents per vote. (The Center for Public Integrity)
Hillary Clinton
- While speaking at a Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day event at the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama called Hillary Clinton “an impressive woman.” She said, “I think Hillary Clinton is a phenomenal woman, and I’ve gotten to know her, and I think she’s made some pretty major contributions over the course of her life.” (Politico)
- Clinton’s campaign released an ad, “My Mom,” which features Erica Smegielski, the daughter of Sandy Hook Elementary School principal Dawn Hochsprung, discussing her mother’s murder and belief that “Clinton is the only candidate that has what it takes to take on the gun lobby.” (The Huffington Post)
- According to spokesman Justin Barasky on Wednesday, the pro-Clinton Priorities USA super PAC raised $11.8 million in March. Barasky added that pledged donations will bring the organization’s total haul to at least $116.2 million this election cycle. Priorities USA has reserved $125 million in television and digital advertising to begin following California’s primary on June 8. (CNN)
- Clinton’s campaign raised $29.3 million in March and ended the month with $29 million cash on hand. According to The Wall Street Journal, although Sanders outraised Clinton by more than $16 million, she finished the month ahead because of her lower spending rate. (The Wall Street Journal)
- Clinton campaign chair John Podesta said in an interview published by The Boston Globe on Thursday that Clinton would be open to an all-female ticket. “We’ll start with a broad list and then begin to narrow it. But there is no question that there will be women on that list,” Podesta said. (The Boston Globe)
Bernie Sanders
- When asked on Wednesday if Bernie Sanders would remain in the Democratic Party regardless of the outcome of the primary, Sanders’ campaign manager Jeff Weaver said, “Well, he is a Democrat. He’s said he’s a Democrat, and he’s gonna be [supporting] the Democratic nominee, whoever that is.” Weaver then affirmed that Sanders was “a member of the Democratic Party now for life.” (Politico)
- The Sanders campaign raised $46 million in March and finished the month with $17 million cash on hand. (The Wall Street Journal)
- On Wednesday, Democratic National Committee Chair (DNC) Debbie Wasserman Schultz commented on the Sanders campaign’s charge that Clinton’s campaign was improperly benefiting from a joint fundraising agreement with the DNC. “Both candidates have a joint fundraising agreement that it is exactly like the joint fundraising agreements that we’ve had with our previous candidates for president. There is absolutely nothing different in the way that we have spent money and raised money with Secretary Clinton. Senator Sanders has chosen not to exercise the use of his joint fundraising agreement, but we have absolutely no violations and we are running the joint victory fund with the Clinton campaign exactly according to the way we are supposed to,” Wasserman Schultz said. (Fox Business)
Republicans
Ted Cruz
- Ted Cruz accused Trump on Wednesday of avoiding more Republican primary debates because he lacked substance. “It’s been 41 days since we’ve had a Republican debate, because Donald Trump is unwilling to stand on stage and debate, because he can’t defend his positions or his policies,” he said. (The Hill)
- On Wednesday, Cruz’s campaign released “War Room,” a two-minute promotional video that dramatizes a Hillary Clinton campaign meeting. In the clip, actors portraying Clinton’s team review statements Trump has made and express concerns over Cruz’s appeal. (The Week)
- Cruz’s campaign raised $12.5 million in March and had $8.8 million cash on hand at the end of the month. (The Wall Street Journal)
John Kasich
- John Kasich appeared at the Republican National Committee spring meeting in Florida on Wednesday to mingle with committee members, all of whom are delegates. According to Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges, Kasich was the only presidential candidate expected to attend. "All 168 national committee members of course are voting delegates. When you're publicly saying your campaign is all about collecting delegates, what's a few hours away from another town hall, where maybe you can influence enough of the vote to pick up a delegate or two, versus going down and maybe meeting people for the first time to sell your message. It's certainly time well-spent,” Borges said. (Cleveland.com)
- Kasich’s campaign raised $4.5 million in March. With expenditures at $4.6 million, Kasich closed the month with $1.2 million cash on hand. (Politico)
- In an interview with The Washington Post on Wednesday, Kasich said the current Republican Party “doesn’t like ideas.” He continued, “They want to be negative against things. We had Reagan, okay? Saint Ron. We had Kemp, he was an idea guy. I’d say Paul Ryan is driven mostly by ideas. He likes ideas. But you talk about most of ’em, the party is knee-jerk ‘against.’ Maybe that’s how they were created.” Kasich also discussed several policy points, including calling for an end to the Commerce Department and linking the Departments of Education and Labor. (The Washington Post)
Donald Trump
- Following his near-sweep of New York’s delegates, Donald Trump tweeted on Wednesday, “Ted Cruz is mathematically out of winning the race. Now all he can do is be a spoiler, never a nice thing to do. I will beat Hillary!” In response, Cruz said, "The reason why he has so many of his media surrogates repeating the mantra that the race has got to be over now is because he knows he cannot earn a majority of the delegates in Cleveland.” He added that Trump was “a fringe and marginal candidate.” (NBC News)
- In an internal memo leaked on Wednesday, Trump’s campaign predicted he would secure the nomination on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention with 1,400 delegates. In addition to emphasizing talking points against the Republican delegate selection process, the memo provided commentary about Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. It noted that her “email scandal is going to loom large over the next several months. If anyone else had done what she had done, they would already be in prison.” (The Washington Post)
- According to hedge fund manager Anthony Scaramucci, Trump will need approximately $500 million to compete against Hillary Clinton in a hypothetical general election matchup. (Yahoo! Finance)
- Trump loaned his campaign $11.5 million in March, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission. The Trump campaign spent more than the Cruz campaign for the first time, as well, with expenditures at $13.8 million. (Politico)
Third Party Candidates
Jill Stein (Green Party)
- Jill Stein joined the University of Massachusetts Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign at a rally on Wednesday to encourage the university to divest from fossil fuels. (MassLive.com)
See also
- Presidential election, 2016
- Presidential candidates, 2016
- Presidential debates (2015-2016)
- Important dates in the 2016 presidential race
- Polls and Straw polls
- 2016 presidential candidate ratings and scorecards
