Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - February 22, 2019

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February 22, 2019

Super PAC forms to back potential presidential run by Jay Inslee   February 22, 2019: Progressive Priorities USA is launching a $100 million operation in four battleground states. Act Now On Climate forms to back a potential presidential bid by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D). Share the latest from the campaign trail.         Notable Quote of the Day “Typically they try to be fair arbiters of a process and I’ve never seen anything like it and I’ve been involved in the Republican Party for most of my life. It’s unprecedented. And in my opinion it’s not the way we should be going about our politics. … It’s very undemocratic and to say, ‘We’re in some cases not going to allow a debate, we may not have a primary.’ … And the question is, what are they afraid of?” – Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on the Republican National Committee and primary process Democrats Sen. Cory Booker is traveling to Nevada as a presidential candidate for the first time this weekend. In an interview with The Root, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro said he would consider a plan for reparations for black Americans. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard campaigned for the second time in Iowa City, Iowa. Sen. Kamala Harris hired Courtni Pugh, a strategist at Hilltop Public Solutions, to lead her California campaign. Pugh also worked on former state Sen. Kevin de León’s unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign last year. Sen. Amy Klobuchar met with 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in early February. Former Vice President Joe Biden also attended a meeting with Clinton this month. “The assumption among people who have talked to Clinton is that the former nominee will sit out the Democratic primary and get behind the eventual nominee, but one source cautioned in January that things could change based on how the primary plays out,” CNN reported. California Rep. Ro Khanna, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner, and Ben Cohen, the co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, will serve as national co-chairs for the Bernie Sanders campaign. In an interview on Pod Save America, Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she identified as a Democrat capitalist rather than a democratic socialist. "I see the value of markets and that they can produce a lot of good if they have rules. But let us all be clear: Markets without rules are theft and I am opposed to theft. ... Because I get how the system works and how it can work when it works right. And how these are the guys who are ripping it off and make it not work,” Warren said. Priorities USA Chairman Guy Cecil said that the group is launching a $100 million early operation in Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. In the latter half of the year, a second phase will begin in Nevada, New Hampshire, Arizona, North Carolina, and Georgia. Miami has launched a last-minute campaign focused on the importance of Florida’s electoral votes in the race to become the host city for the Democratic National Convention. “The last-ditch effort began in earnest in recent days as speculation mounted that Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez would pick Milwaukee, where he has both family ties and the pressure of the Democratic governors of Wisconsin and Illinois weighing on him to go with a Midwestern location,” Politico reported. The other finalist is Houston. Republicans The New Jersey State Senate passed a bill to prevent a presidential candidate from appearing on the state ballot if they do not release their tax returns. While the bill needs to also pass in the state Assembly, a similar measure succeeded in 2017 before it was vetoed by then-Gov. Chris Christie (R). President Donald Trump has declined to release his tax returns since the 2016 presidential campaign. On the Cusp: Tracking Potential Candidates James Bennet, the editorial page editor for The New York Times, announced that he would recuse himself from presidential coverage if his brother, Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, runs for president. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said he was not actively preparing a presidential campaign but cautioned that could change if Robert Mueller’s investigation or some other incident damaged the president. He is also expected to speak at a Politics & Eggs breakfast at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics this spring. The super PAC Act Now On Climate was formed to support the potential presidential campaign of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D). What We’re Reading Business Insider: Are Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden too old to run for president? Data suggests the answer is no FiveThirtyEight: How Bernie’s 2020 Map Might Change Without The #NeverHillary Vote Politico: Here's What Beto Could Unleash on Trump Flashback: February 22, 2015 Donald Trump, not yet a candidate, commented on Mexican director Alejandro Iñárritu’s film, Birdman, winning the Best Picture Oscar over American Sniper. "It was a great night for Mexico, as usual — you know, this country, the whole thing is ridiculous. This guy kept getting up and up and up. What’s he doing? He’s walking away with all the gold? Was it that good? I don’t hear that. It was certainly a big night for them,” Trump said.