The Federal Tap: Candidate lineups announced for first Democratic presidential debates
From Ballotpedia
June 15, 2019Issue No. 164
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
Monday, June 10
More ads released in NC-03 Republican primary runoff
- Dr. Joan Perry (R) released her first ad of the Republican primary runoff in North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District. Perry faces state Rep. Greg Murphy (R) and the winner of the runoff will face Allen Thomas (D) and Tim Harris (L) in the September 10 special election. The election will fill the vacancy left by Walter Jones (R), who died on February 10, 2019.
- So far, four ads have been released in this race. Winning for Women Action Fund has released one ad each supporting Perry and opposing Murphy, and Murphy’s campaign released an ad highlighting an endorsement from U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows (R).
- On May 1, 2019, Murphy was endorsed by Meadows, who is chair of the House Freedom Caucus. Meadows told the media that his support also brought along the support of the House Freedom Fund political action committee. Perry was endorsed by the Winning for Women Action Fund ahead of the primary, and they reiterated their endorsement on May 1. The group led by former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) made Perry its first-ever endorsement.
- So far, four special elections have been called during the 116th Congress. Three of those are for seats in the U.S. House, and one is for a seat in the U.S. Senate.
SCOTUS releases opinions on the definition of burglary, patent infringement, and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act
- Quarles v. United States was argued before the court on April 24, 2019.
- The Western District of Michigan sentenced Jamar Quarles to 17 years in prison for committing a violent felony under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). The case was appealed, vacated, and remanded. On remand, the district court again sentenced Quarles to 204 months in prison, and the 6th Circuit affirmed the ruling. The district court and the 6th Circuit agreed that Michigan law was not broader than federal law regarding the generic burglary definition from Taylor v. United States.
- The outcome: The court unanimously affirmed the 6th Circuit's ruling, holding "remaining-in burglary occurs when the defendant forms the intent to commit a crime at any time while unlawfully remaining in a building or structure."
- Justice Kavanaugh wrote the opinion. Justice Thomas filed a concurring opinion.
- Return Mail v. U.S. Postal Service was argued before the court on Feb. 19, 2019.
- Return Mail, Inc. filed a lawsuit against U.S. Postal Service (USPS) alleging the Postal Service used its patented mail processing system unlawfully and alleging it infringed upon the patent. USPS filed a petition with the Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board). The Board ruled the challenged patent claims were unpatentable. In 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Board's ruling.
- The outcome: In a 6-3 opinion, the court reversed the Federal Circuit's ruling and remanded the case. The court held the government "is not a 'person' capable of instituting" review proceedings under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act.
- Justice Sotomayor wrote the opinion. Justice Breyer dissented, joined by Justices Ginsburg and Kagan.
- Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton was argued before the court on April 16, 2019.
- Brian Newton worked for Parker Drilling Management Services (Parker) on a drilling platform fixed on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). He worked 14-day shifts and regularly worked 12 hours each day. Newton alleged he ate for 15 to 30 minutes during his shifts without clocking out and that Parker did not provide 30-minute meal periods for every five hours worked. After Parker terminated his employment, Newton sued in a state court for wage and hour violations under California law. Parker removed the case to U.S. District Court, which dismissed Newton's claims. Newton appealed to the 9th Circuit, which vacated the district court's findings, holding that the district court erred in dismissing the claims.
- The outcome: In a unanimous opinion, the court vacated and remanded the 9th Circuit's judgment, holding "to the extent federal law applies to a particular issue, state law is inapplicable" under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
- Justice Thomas wrote the opinion.
Tuesday, June 11
President Trump delays imposition of tariffs on Mexico
- President Trump (R) announced a delay in the imposition of tariffs on products from Mexico. U.S. and Mexican officials came to a final agreement on the details June 7.
- Under the terms of the agreement, Mexico will deploy its National Guard throughout its country in an effort to detain migrants traveling without legal permission, with an emphasis on its own southern border. The National Guard will also be tasked with combating human trafficking operations within Mexico. Both the U.S. and Mexico pledged to support economic development in Central America in cooperation with the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
- The agreement called for the Migrant Protection Protocols already in place on some parts of the U.S.-Mexico border to be expanded to the entire border. Under the protocols, Central American migrants seeking asylum in the United States will be returned to Mexico while their asylum claims are being processed. Mexico pledged to take responsibility for providing the migrants with food, jobs, and healthcare, while the United States promised to work towards accelerating the asylum application process. Both parties agreed to further talks in 90 days should the agreement not have the expected result.
Wednesday, June 12
U.S. Senate confirms seven federal judges
- The U.S. Senate confirmed seven Article III judicial nominees this week. The Senate has confirmed 119 of President Trump’s Article III judicial nominees—76 district court judges, 41 appeals court judges, and two Supreme Court justices—since January 2017.
- Rossie Alston was confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. After he receives his judicial commission and takes his judicial oath, the Eastern District of Virginia will have:
- One vacancy.
- Five judges appointed by Republican presidents and five judges appointed by Democratic presidents.
- Sarah Daggett Morrison was confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. After she receives her judicial commission and takes her judicial oath, the Southern District of Ohio will have:
- Three vacancies.
- Two judges appointed by Republican presidents and three judges appointed by Democratic presidents.
- Rodney Smith was confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. After he receives his judicial commission and takes his judicial oath, the Southern District of Florida will have:
- Two vacancies.
- Nine judges appointed by Republican presidents and seven judges appointed by Democratic presidents.
- Corey Maze was confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. After he receives his judicial commission and takes his judicial oath, the Northern District of Alabama will have:
- No vacancies.
- Six judges appointed by Republican presidents and two judges appointed by Democratic presidents.
- Jean-Paul Boulee was confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. After he receives his judicial commission and takes his judicial oath, the Northern District of Georgia will have:
- One vacancy.
- Four judges appointed by Republican presidents and six judges appointed by Democratic presidents.
- Pamela Barker was confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. After she receives her judicial commission and takes her judicial oath, the Northern District of Ohio will have:
- No vacancies.
- Five judges appointed by Republican presidents and six judges appointed by Democratic presidents.
- Thomas Barber was confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. After he receives his judicial commission and takes his judicial oath, the Middle District of Florida will have:
- Two vacancies.
- Seven judges appointed by Republican presidents and six judges appointed by Democratic presidents.
- Rossie Alston was confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. After he receives his judicial commission and takes his judicial oath, the Eastern District of Virginia will have:
Thursday, June 13
Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave as White House press secretary
- President Trump announced that White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders would step down at the end of June. Trump said on Twitter, “After 3 1/2 years, our wonderful Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be leaving the White House at the end of the month and going home to the Great State of Arkansas. She is a very special person with extraordinary talents, who has done an incredible job! I hope she decides to run for Governor of Arkansas - she would be fantastic. Sarah, thank you for a job well done!”
- After serving on Trump’s presidential campaign, Huckabee Sanders joined the presidential administration near the end of the transition of power. She was named the deputy assistant to the president and deputy press secretary on January 19, 2017. On July 21, 2017, press secretary Sean Spicer resigned after Trump appointed Anthony Scaramucci as the White House communications director. That day, Scaramucci promoted Huckabee Sanders to the position of press secretary.
Tracking pageviews and presidential candidates
- Long before candidates such as Donald Trump (R) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) won their elections, they had bested their opponents in pageviews on Ballotpedia.
- What trends might emerge from this year’s political contests? As part of our 2020 election coverage, we will be publishing our weekly pageview statistics for presidential campaigns. These numbers show which candidates are getting our readers’ attention.
- Overall, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg's Ballotpedia page has received 65,000 pageviews since it launched -- the most of any Democratic candidate. Andrew Yang is second with 52,000 and Kamala Harris third with 47,000. Buttigieg and Harris’ pages were published February 21, while Yang’s was published February 25.
- We’ll be updating this page throughout the campaign with new data and features, including an analysis of pageviews following the Democratic presidential debates. We hope you enjoy exploring and finding trends in the data.
- Now, here's a look at the numbers from last week:
- Former vice president Joe Biden racked up 4,916 Ballotpedia pageviews for the week of June 2 through June 8. Biden's pageview figure represents 9.6 percent of the pageviews for all Democratic candidates during the week.
- South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg had 7.2 percent of the candidate pageviews for the week, while Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) had 6.7 percent.
- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's pageviews had the largest increase of all the candidates last week, increasing 97.8 percent over his previous total. No other candidate's pageviews on Ballotpedia increased more than 30 percent last week.
- On the GOP side, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld had 7,466 Ballotpedia pageviews to President Trump's 1,413.
Friday, June 14
Candidate lineups announced for first Democratic presidential debates
- The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced the lineup for each night of the first presidential primary debates in Miami, Florida. To avoid one debate being labeled an undercard event, the DNC used a random drawing to distribute the 20 presidential candidates who qualified across the two debate segments. Here are the candidates:
- Wednesday, June 26: Cory Booker, Julián Castro, Bill de Blasio, John Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard, Jay Inslee, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, Tim Ryan, and Elizabeth Warren.
- Thursday, June 27: Michael Bennet, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, John Hickenlooper, Bernie Sanders, Eric Swalwell, Marianne Williamson, and Andrew Yang.
- To qualify by polling, a candidate needed to receive 1 percent support or more in three national or early state polls from a select list of organizations and institutions.
- To qualify by fundraising, a candidate must have received donations from at least 65,000 unique individual donors. Additionally, they must have had a minimum of 200 unique donors per state in at least 20 states.
- Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, former Sen. Mike Gravel, Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam, and Rep. Seth Moulton did not reach the polling or fundraising qualification requirements.
Congress is in session
The Senate will be in session June 17-21, and the House will be in session June 18-21. Click here to see the full calendar for the first session of the 116th Congress.
SCOTUS is in session
The Supreme Court finished hearing arguments for the October 2018-2019 term on April 24. To learn more about this term, read our review.
WHAT'S ON TAP NEXT WEEK
Where was the president last week?
- On Monday, Trump participated in a meeting about how Major League Baseball is combating human trafficking
- On Tuesday, Trump spoke at the Iowa Republican Party’s Annual Dinner.
- On Wednesday, Trump met with the President of the Republic of Poland.
- On Thursday, Trump spoke about second chance hiring and met with governors about workforce freedom and mobility.
- On Friday, Trump met with the secretary of state and the secretary of education. He also delivered remarks on expanding health coverage options for small businesses and workers.
Federal Judiciary
- 136 federal judicial vacancies
- 63 pending nominations
- 13 future federal judicial vacancies
About
The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.
