Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - March 1, 2019

Newsletters Daily Brew Weekly Brew Hall Pass

Specialty

Ballot Measure Monthly The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Robe & Gavel

Previous edition

Next edition

March 1, 2019

Florida and Michigan are no longer rated toss-ups   March 1, 2019: Washington Gov. Jay Inslee became the 13th Democratic contender to enter the 2020 presidential race. Sabato’s Crystal Ball has moved Florida and Michigan out of the toss-up category. Share the latest from the campaign trail.         Notable Quote of the Day “They have the right to jump in and lose. That’s fine. They’ll lose horribly.” – Ronna McDaniel, Republican National Committee chairwoman on primary challengers to Trump Democrats Cory Booker is visiting South Carolina and Alabama this weekend. Three Democratic candidates will participate in televised town halls hosted by CNN at the SXSW Conference on Mar. 10: Pete Buttigieg, John Delaney, and Tulsi Gabbard. With Julián Castro visiting Idaho and Utah this week, Houston Chronicle published an overview of his campaign’s decision to use a 50-state strategy rather than focus on the early voting states. Jay Inslee, the governor of Washington, announced that he was running for president. He said in a video statement, “I'm running for president because I am the only candidate who will make defeating climate change our nation's number one priority.” His longtime adviser, Aisling Kerins, will manage his campaign. Bernie Sanders is being interviewed on The View Friday morning. Elizabeth Warren is making her second visit to Iowa as a presidential candidate this weekend. Andrew Yang participated in a New Hampshire live stream hosted by WMUR as part of their Conversations with the Candidate series. Watch it here. Republicans Politico reported on the vacancy at the top of the pro-Donald Trump America First Action super PAC. “They're not technically equipped [for 2020] until they get a chairman in place. It's not going to be as effective as it has been until they get a chair,” said Doug Deason, an America First Action finance committee member. Bill Weld responded to Ronna McDaniel’s comments on a primary challenge to President Trump. He said that “her endorsement of Donald Trump for president is an attempt to silence the voices of millions of Republicans across America who have every right to be heard.” On the Cusp: Tracking Potential Candidates In an interview with CNBC’s John Harwood, Larry Hogan discussed the circumstances under which he would run for president and what other Republicans have shared with him about the Trump administration. CNN pointed to several signs that Beto O’Rourke is planning to enter the presidential race. On the email list he built through his Senate campaign: "It had been dormant since December, until O'Rourke's team sent five emails over the last eight days -- a step that could help remove inactive addresses, re-engage recipients and prevent new messages from being sent to spam ahead of a major announcement." The Main Event Sabato's Crystal Ball released their initial 2020 Electoral College ratings with 248 votes at least leaning Republican and 244 at least leaning Democratic. Notably absent from the toss-up column are Florida and Michigan, which were labeled as leaning Republican and leaning Democratic, respectively What We’re Reading CNN: How Beto O'Rourke will change the 2020 race The Hill: Inside Joe Biden's campaign in waiting Politico: RNC assembles team to reelect Trump Flashback: March 1, 2015 The Los Angeles Times discussed a possible presidential run from Jerry Brown, the governor of California. Brown, who had run against Bill Clinton in the Democratic primary in 1992, did not enter the race.