Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - April 8, 2019

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April 8, 2019

Biden says he’ll be the last candidate to announce   April 8, 2019: Cory Booker raised $5.1 million in the first quarter of 2019. Joe Biden says that he’ll be the last candidate to announce if he enters the presidential race. Share the latest from the campaign trail.         There are 11 more candidates running since last week, including nine more Democrats, one more Republican, and one more Green. In total, 670 individuals have filed with the Federal Election Commission to run for president. Notable Quote of the Day “I think in the end it’s way too early to know if they’re connecting beyond their essential surge. One of the things I think that people don't realize is how easy it is to raise $10 million now.” – Joe Trippi, Democratic strategist Democrats Cory Booker raised $5.1 million in the first quarter of 2019. More than 80 percent of the contributors were first-time donors to Booker, his campaign said. Pete Buttigieg appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” before giving a speech at an LGBTQ Victory Fund event Sunday. He said his marriage strengthened his faith and questioned evangelical support for Donald Trump. Julián Castro held his first California rally over the weekend, discussing his immigration platform and Central America foreign policy. During an interview with MSNBC’s Rev. Al Sharpton, John Delaney spoke about his policy proposals for black communities and his support for a study on reparations. Tulsi Gabbard performed Hawaii Army National Guard duty over the weekend. Kirsten Gillibrand held a roundtable on paid family leave in New Hampshire Saturday with the Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy. Kamala Harris tweeted over the weekend that she would “double the size of the Civil Rights division of the Justice Department because our government must have the resources to defend our voting and civil rights from discriminatory laws.” John Hickenlooper will make his second visit to Iowa this week with six stops beginning Friday. Jay Inslee signed a bill raising the legal age to buy tobacco and vaping products in Washington from 18 to 21. The law goes in effect on January 1, 2020. Amy Klobuchar made her first campaign visit to Nevada Sunday and will speak at the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ 2019 Annual Transportation Conference Monday. Wayne Messam will make his first campaign visit to New Hampshire on May 2. The Beto O'Rourke campaign said that O’Rourke now disagreed with his 2016 vote on the development of offshore drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. A spokesman said he previously supported research into offshore drilling to “get off of our foreign reliance on resources in oil and gas that has caused so much foreign wars and American lives and troops and resources,” but that he would not cast the same vote today. Tim Ryan held a kickoff rally for his campaign in Youngstown, Ohio, Saturday. While campaigning in Iowa, Bernie Sanders said that felons should be able to vote while they are incarcerated. “You’re paying a price, you committed a crime, you’re in jail. That's bad. But you’re still living in American society and you have a right to vote. I believe in that, yes, I do,” he said. Elizabeth Warren campaigned in Nevada, discussing her Oklahoma roots and climate change. Andrew Yang said there should be a psychologist monitoring the mental health of executive officials. “We should have a psychologist in the White House that’s looking in on the mental health of the executive branch, because it doesn’t make any sense to me to have that much power and responsibility without some sort of mental health professional monitoring,” he said in an interview with Stephen Dubner on Freakonomics Radio. The Democratic Party of Washington announced Sunday it would use a primary rather than caucus to allocate delegates. The state will use the vote-by-mail system to apportion delegates to candidates and caucuses and conventions to select the delegates to represent the state. Axios compiled a list of which presidential candidates have appeared or are scheduled to appear on Fox News, noting the divide in the Democratic Party on whether to engage with the network. Republicans Donald Trump spoke at the annual meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition Saturday in Las Vegas. How do you win in Iowa in a crowded field? Join us as we speak with Jeff Roe, Republican strategist and campaign manager for Ted Cruz’s presidential run, playing a key role in Cruz’s 2016 win in the Iowa caucuses, and Jeff Hewitt, Democratic strategist, including for the Clinton-Gore campaign, on the unique challenges of campaigning today. Reserve your spot today! On the Cusp: Tracking Potential Candidates Michael Bennet reiterated Sunday that he still planned to run for president following his cancer diagnosis. “I’m looking forward to running in 2020. This obviously was unexpected. But we caught it early. It’s something that I think we’re going to be able to treat. And I don’t think it should keep me off the trail,” he said. Joe Biden said Friday that he intended to be the last candidate to announce his candidacy. “Even if I knew for certain that I was going to run for president back at Thanksgiving, my intention from the beginning was to be the last person to announce. Give everybody else their day, then I get a shot, and then off to the races,” Biden said. What We’re Reading CNN: A guide to the hottest 2020 presidential campaign swag The New York Times: How Old Is 37? Depends on Your Gender Politico: Why Beto and Buttigieg Pretend to Be Kennedys Flashback: April 8, 2015 Hillary Clinton hired Iowa political strategist Troy Price as her state political director. Price is now the chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party.