Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - April 9, 2019

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April 9, 2019

Klobuchar raises $5.2 million in first quarter of 2019   April 9, 2019: Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) announced he was running for president Monday night. Amy Klobuchar raised $5.2 million in the first quarter of 2019. Share the latest from the campaign trail.         Notable Quote of the Day “The favorite son dynamic is antiquated. I don’t see it happening. Not this year, not in the foreseeable future. It hasn’t been a phenomenon in a very long time.” – Dick Harpootlian, former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party Democrats Cory Booker introduced a bill to form a commission to study reparations proposals. He said in a statement that the bill would address “the persistence of racism, white supremacy and implicit racial bias in our country. It will bring together the best minds to study the issue and propose solutions that will finally begin to right the economic scales of past harms and make sure we are a country where all dignity and humanity is affirmed.” Victory Fund President Annise Parker said the group would endorse Pete Buttigieg as soon as he announces he is moving from an exploratory committee to an official run. The group spent $2 million on LGBT candidates in 2018. Julián Castro criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement that he would annex the West Bank if re-elected. “In abandoning our position as a good faith partner in the Middle East peace process, the Trump admin has enabled reckless actions like this from Netanyahu. US support for a two-state solution is on the line in November 2020,” Castro tweeted. Hawaii News Now interviewed Tulsi Gabbard about her foreign policy and candidacy. Gabbard also tweeted, “I've always supported Israel's right to exist—especially after visiting Auschwitz in 2005. That's why I'm so concerned with Netanyahu's aggressive annexation policies which will simply stoke the flames of resentment and conflict. Bad for Israel, US, Palestinians, and region.” New Hampshire Public Radio published an interview with Kirsten Gillibrand on political division in the country, national family leave programs, and gun regulation. High school seniors David Oks and Elijah Emery and Columbia University freshman Henry Williams are the driving force behind Mike Gravel’s campaign, according to Rolling Stone. Kamala Harris is reintroducing the Rent Relief Act on Tuesday, which would create refundable tax credits for households whose rent and utilities exceed 30 percent of their income. In an interview with Colorado Public Radio, John Hickenlooper reflected on his campaign. “Certainly I haven't been awash in free media," he said. "When you have Bernie Sanders and Beto O'Rourke and people who are raising tens of millions of dollars from small donors who are really swept up in their celebrity, that means you're going to start out pretty slow.” Mother Jones profiled Jay Inslee and his campaign focus on climate change. Amy Klobuchar raised $5.2 million in the first quarter of 2019 with 85 percent of donors contributing $100 or less. Wayne Messam campaigned in South Carolina Monday, including a visit with the Richland County Democratic Women’s Council. While campaigning in Iowa, Beto O'Rourke called Netanyahu racist and said, “We must be able to transcend his current leadership to make sure that that alliance is strong – that we continue to push for and settle for nothing less than a two-state solution.” The Nation profiled Bernie Sanders’ labor policies and emphasis on unions in his 2020 presidential campaign. Eric Swalwell announced on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that he was running for president. With gun safety as a central theme of his campaign, Swalwell wrote in an op-ed outlining his platform, “I’m the only candidate calling for a mandatory national ban and buyback of military-style semiautomatic assault weapons. It’s bold and will cost money, but it is constitutional and it rightly treats gun violence as a life-or-death matter.” Republicans Donald Trump is developing an environmental campaign strategy with talking points on green success stories from Trump administration policies.   On the Cusp: Tracking Potential Candidates Alec Baldwin hinted at an interest in running for president Monday, tweeting, “If I ran for President, would you vote for me? I won’t ask you for any $. And I promise I will win. Beating Trump would be so easy. So easy. So easy.” What We’re Reading FiveThirtyEight: How Eric Swalwell Could Win The 2020 Democratic Primary RealClearPolitics: Evaluating the 2020 Democratic Primary Field Texas Tribune: Why two former Beto O'Rourke staffers now say they're with Bernie Flashback: April 9, 2015 Politico published a story about Victoria Woodhull, the woman widely considered to be the first to run for president of the United States in 1872.