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The Federal Tap: Endorsements ahead of Tuesday's Texas primaries

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March 2, 2018Issue No. 102

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Week in review
On tap next week

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Here's what happened in federal politics last week. To see what happened in state and local politics, click here.

Saturday, February 24

House Intel Committee releases Democratic surveillance memo

  • After being approved for release by the Trump administration, the House Intelligence Committee released a memo written by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) in response to the GOP's memo on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to obtain information about Carter Page. The memo states that "FBI and DOJ officials did not 'abuse' the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) process, omit material information, or subvert this vital tool to spy on the Trump campaign." It also states that several sources in addition to Steele were used to obtain the initial October 21, 2016, warrant to surveil Page and to obtain three renewals. Additionally, it states that the Department of Justice "informed the [FISA] Court accurately that Steele was hired by politically-motivated U.S. persons and entities and that his research appeared intended for use 'to discredit' Trump's campaign."
    • Commenting on the memo, Schiff said in a statement, “The Democratic response memo released today should put to rest any concerns that the American people might have as to the conduct of the FBI, the Justice Department and the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court]."
    • President Donald Trump also weighed in on the memo, writing on Twitter, “The Democrat memo response on government surveillance abuses is a total political and legal BUST. Just confirms all of the terrible things that were done. SO ILLEGAL!”

Herrell receives endorsement of New Mexico GOP in CD-2 Republican Primary

  • State Rep. Yvette Herrell (R) was endorsed by the New Mexico Republican Party Saturday, defeating her rival, former state party chairman Monty Newman, by a 58 percent to 26 percent margin. Because of this, Herrell will have the first spot on the Republican primary ballot in the race to replace U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce (R) in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District. Pearce is retiring from the U.S. House to run for governor.
  • Newman, who was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and leads the field in fundraising, said that Herrell won a “symbolic victory among insiders” that would not necessarily translate to the wider electorate.
  • Newman is associated with the wing of the New Mexico Republican Party sympathetic to Gov. Susana Martinez (R), while Herrell is associated with the party activists who oppose Martinez, according to New Mexico political writer Joe Monahan. Monahan pointed to Newman's relationship with Jay McCleskey, an advisor to Martinez, and his background as state party chairman as signs of his factional alliance. He quoted a party insider who supported Herrell as saying, "With activists so solidly and decisively behind [Herrell] she's going to be hard to beat."
  • There are three Democrats running for the seat. The 2nd Congressional voted for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton by about 10 points in the 2016 presidential election and is rated “Likely Republican” by ratings agencies.

California Democratic Party declines to endorse Senate candidate, de León receives majority of votes

  • The California Democratic Party declined to endorse incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) or state Sen. Kevin de León (D) for the U.S. Senate in California at its state convention. Feinstein is "the first incumbent senator in recent memory who will run in June’s primary without official backing," according to The Washington Post. De León received more votes than Feinstein—54 percent to 37 percent—but failed to reached the 60 percent threshold for an endorsement.
  • California utilizes a top-two primary system, which allows all candidates to run and all voters to vote but only moves the top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, to the general election. The election will be held on June 5, 2018.

No Democratic Party endorsement in California's 25th Congressional District

  • The California Democratic Party opted against an endorsement in the 25th Congressional District at its state party convention. Twenty-eight convention delegates voted to endorse attorney Bryan Caforio in the race, eight voted for nonprofit executive director Katie Hill, and 17 voted not to endorse, leaving both front-runners shy of the 60 percent required for an endorsement.
  • Caforio, who came within 6.2 points of unseating Republican incumbent Steve Knight in 2016, had been expected to get the endorsement. He won 72.9 percent of the vote at a pre-endorsing conference in January. According to Javier Panzar of the Los Angeles Times, that was enough for his "endorsement to be placed on the party's consent calendar at the state party convention in San Diego this month - all but guaranteeing an endorsement from the party."
  • However, The Intercept reported, Caforio "fell short of an endorsement against progressive challenger Katie Hill amid rumors that the party brass flipped on the race because of Hill's fundraising prowess." As of the most recent campaign finance reporting deadline on January 31, Hill had reported $697,087 in total receipts to Caforio's $678,114 and $382,848 in cash on hand to his $377,203.

Tuesday, February 27

Lesko tops Montenegro in AZ-08 special election Republican primary; Tipirneni wins Democratic nomination

Filing deadline for Maryland candidates

  • The filing deadline for candidates running in Maryland elections passed. Federal and state offices on the ballot this year will include a U.S. Senate seat, eight U.S. House seats, four state executive offices including the governor and attorney general, all 47 state Senate seats, all 141 state House seats, two of the seven seats on the state court of appeals, and three of 13 seats on the state court of special appeals. Local offices on the ballot will include several municipal offices in Baltimore as well as circuit court judgeships and school board positions across the state. Ballotpedia's featured elections in Maryland this year include the Democratic primaries for governor and the 6th Congressional District and the general election contest for governor. The state's primary is on June 26, and the general election is on November 6, 2018.

Supreme Court issues three new opinions

  • The United States Supreme Court published three new opinions, bringing its total for the term to 11. All three of the new opinions are in cases argued last November. The cases are Jennings v. Rodriguez, Merit Management Group v. FTI Consulting, and Patchak v. Zinke.
  • In Jennings, the Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit’s interpretation of a federal statute on immigration detention. The Ninth Circuit had concluded that the statute required the government to hold periodic bail hearings for plaintiffs who challenged the government’s determination that they should be deported. In an opinion authored by Justice Samuel Alito, the court ruled 5 -3 that the Ninth Circuit’s interpretation was implausible. Alito wrote that the Ninth Circuit’s application of the doctrine of constitutional avoidance, which courts sometimes use to choose between plausible interpretations of a statute, was inappropriate in this case. Alito concluded that the language of the statute did not provide for any bail hearings for detainees in this situation. However, he noted that on remand, the Ninth Circuit will still have to rule on the merits of the plaintiffs’ constitutional claims--that is, whether a statute that does not provide for any bail hearings during indefinite detention of non-U.S. citizens can pass constitutional muster. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a concurring opinion, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote a dissent, joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor. Breyer would have used the doctrine of constitutional avoidance in this case because he believed the statute would be unconstitutional if it were not read to provide for bail hearings. Justice Elena Kagan recused herself from the case.
  • So far this term, the court has agreed to hear 74 cases. Of those 74, it has heard argument in 48.

Wednesday, February 28

Pence casts ninth tie-breaking vote as VP

  • The Senate voted 49-49 on Russell Vought's nomination to be the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vice President Mike Pence broke the tie to confirm Vought. It was his ninth tie-breaking vote. Read more about the history of tie-breaking votes cast by vice presidents here.

Hope Hicks announces resignation

  • Hope Hicks announced that she would resign as communications director for the Trump administration. In a statement, Hicks said, "There are no words to adequately express my gratitude to President Trump. I wish the president and his administration the very best as he continues to lead our country." Trump responded in the following statement: “Hope is outstanding and has done great work for the last three years. She is as smart and thoughtful as they come, a truly great person. I will miss having her by my side, but when she approached me about pursuing other opportunities, I totally understood. I am sure we will work together again in the future.” According to The New York Times, Hicks had considered leaving for several months. Her resignation came a day after she testified before the House Intelligence Committee regarding the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

Filing deadline for North Carolina candidates

  • The filing deadline passed to run in elections across North Carolina. In 2018, North Carolina voters will elect 13 candidates to the U.S. House, all 50 state senators, and all 120 state house seats. This was also the filing deadline for multiple county-level, municipal, and school board elections in the state. The general election is scheduled on November 6, 2018.
  • As of March 2018, North Carolina operates under a divided government. Throughout the country, there are 16 states with divided governments. A total of 26 states have Republican trifectas, while eight states have Democratic trifectas. A state government trifecta is a term used to describe a single-party government where one political party holds the governor’s office and a majority in both chambers of the state legislature.

Election forecaster moves PA-18 special election to “Toss-up”

  • Political forecaster Nathan L. Gonzales of Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales changed his race rating for the March 13 special election in Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District from "Lean Republican" to "Toss-up.” The ratings change came a day after David Wasserman of The Cook Political Report made the same switch.
  • "Republicans have spent nearly two months attacking Democrat Conor Lamb with television ads, but he's not only still standing but well-positioned to take over a GOP seat in western Pennsylvania that Donald Trump won by 19 points in 2016, 58-39 percent," Gonzales said, adding that, "State Rep. Rick Saccone, the GOP nominee, doesn't have the baggage that Roy Moore brought to the Alabama Senate special election, but he is a stark contrast to the younger, more telegenic Democrat and has proved to be a mediocre fundraiser."
  • Lamb, Saccone, and Libertarian candidate Drew Miller are competing for the remainder of former Rep. Tim Murphy's (R) unexpired term. Murphy resigned from Congress in October 2017, following reports that he had asked a woman with whom he had an extramarital affair to have an abortion. Recent court-ordered changes to the state's congressional district maps will not impact the March special election, but they will be in place by the time the special election winner would have to run for re-election in the fall. According to Gonzales, Lamb would be most likely to run in the new 17th Congressional District in November while Saccone would be expected to run in the new 14th District.

Thursday, March 1

Candidate filing deadline in Arkansas

  • The deadline for candidates seeking election in Arkansas was Thursday, March 1. Arkansas voters in 2018 will weigh in on four U.S. House of Representatives seats, governor and six other state executive positions, 18 out of 35 state senate seats, all 100 state house seats, one state supreme court justice, and two seats on the Arkansas Court of Appeals.
  • Arkansas is currently represented by four Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives. The state became a Republican trifecta following the 2014 elections when the Republican Party took back control of the governor’s office and retained control of both legislative chambers. Republicans maintained their trifecta in the 2016 elections. Entering the November 2018 election, Arkansas is one of 26 Republican state government trifectas.

Candidate filing deadline in Mississippi

  • The deadline for candidates seeking election in Mississippi was Thursday, March 1. One seat on the U.S. Senate and four seats on the U.S. House are up for election in 2018. Mississippi is currently represented in Congress by Republican Senator Roger Wicker, three Republican U.S. Representatives, and one Democratic U.S. Representative.
  • There is also one seat on the state supreme court and five seats on the Mississippi Court of Appeals up for election.
  • Entering the November 2018 election, Mississippi is one of 26 Republican state government trifectas.

Candidate filing deadline for non-incumbents in Nebraska

  • The deadline for non-incumbents to file for election in Nebraska passed on March 1. Nebraska voters will elect one member to the U.S. Senate, three members to the U.S. House of Representatives, governor and seven additional state executive positions, and 24 of 49 state senate seats. The filing deadline also passed to run in school board and municipal elections. A primary election will be held on May 15, 2018, and the general election is scheduled on November 6, 2018. The incumbent filing deadline passed on February 15, 2018.
  • Nebraska is one of 26 states that operates under a Republican trifecta. A state government trifecta is a term used to describe a single-party government where one political party holds the governor’s office and a majority in the single chamber of the state legislature.

Ted Cruz endorses Ron Wright in TX CD-6 Republican primary

  • U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) endorsed former Tarrant County Tax Assessor Ron Wright in the Republican Primary for Texas’ 6th Congressional District. Wright is one of 11 candidates running for the 6th Congressional District, which is currently represented by Joe Barton (R). Barton announced his retirement in November after a nude photograph of him that he sent to a woman with whom he was having a relationship was made public.
  • Wright leads the field in endorsements and fundraising. He said that he will join the House Freedom Caucus if elected. His top rival is former Navy pilot Jake Ellzey, who was endorsed by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) and is second in fundraising. Ellzey said he would remain independent from House caucuses if elected. Both Wright and Ellzey have said they oppose the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program of which Barton was a supporter.
  • Cruz’s endorsement of Wright is the fifth that he has issued for Republican primaries in open Texas congressional seats. Six Republican incumbents from Texas’ U.S. House delegation have announced their retirements. Cruz’s other endorsements were for Kathaleen Wall (Ted Poe’s 2nd District seat), Van Taylor (Sam Johnson’s 3rd District seat), Bunni Pounds (Jeb Hensarling’s 5th District seat), and Chip Roy (Lamar Smith’s 21st District seat). The only open race where Cruz has not issued an endorsement is for the 27th Congressional District, which is being vacated by Blake Farenthold.

Trump announces plan to impose steel and aluminum tariffs

  • During a listening session at the White House with representatives from the steel and aluminum industries, President Donald Trump said that his administration would announce tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum in an attempt to support U.S. steel and aluminum industries. He said he would likely sign the order next week. The administration's decision to impose tariffs was based on reports from the U.S. Department of Commerce "that determined imports of steel and aluminum are eating away at domestic production capacity in those two sectors and pose a threat to U.S. national security interests," according to Politico. The Commerce Department found that having to import metal hurt that military's ability to make weapons, tanks, and aircraft. Although Congress controls international trade, the administration "is using a Cold War-era law that allows an administration to unilaterally impose restrictions such as Mr. Trump’s metals tariffs on national-security grounds. Congress gave the president that power through Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962," according to The Wall Street Journal.
    • The announcement was criticized by many Republicans and the international community and praised by some Democrats and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. Their responses can be viewed here.

Congress is in session

The Senate will be in session Monday through Friday. The House will be in session Monday through Thursday.

SCOTUS is in session

The U.S. Supreme Court is not scheduled to any additional arguments next week. To date, the court has agreed to hear arguments in 74 cases; of those 71 cases, the court has heard arguments in 48 cases. To learn more about this term, read our overview.

WHAT'S ON TAP NEXT WEEK

Here's what is happening in federal politics this week. To see what happened in state and local politics, click here.

Monday, March 5

Scheduled DACA end date will pass without changes to the program

  • Under the Trump administration's September 2017 order, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was supposed to end on March 5, 2018. Federal judges in San Francisco and New York issued preliminary injunctions requiring the Trump administration to continue renewing DACA permits. While the cases against the Trump administration work their way through the courts, DACA recipients can continue to renew their permits to live, work, and go to school in the U.S. The permits are issued for two-year periods. Without the injunctions, DACA recipients would have lost their benefits after their individual permits expired following the stated March 5, 2018, end date for the program. Congress is continuing to work on a permanent solution for DACA recipients.

Tuesday, March 6

Texas statewide primary election

  • Texas will hold the first statewide primary election of 2018 on Tuesday. One U.S. Senate seat and all 36 U.S. House seats will be on the ballot. In the Senate, incumbent Ted Cruz (R) faces four challengers in the Republican primary. In the Democratic primary, U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, Sema Hernandez, and Edward Kimbrough are competing for the nomination.
    • The Republican Party currently holds a 25-11 majority in the House. There are 8 open seats (6 Republican and 2 Democratic) in 2018. Of the incumbents seeking re-election, 53.6 percent face a primary challenger. A total of 63.9 percent of all possible U.S. House primaries in Texas are contested in 2018.

Oregon candidate filing deadline

  • The filing deadline for candidates running in Oregon elections will pass. Federal and state offices on the ballot this year will include five U.S. House seats, two state executive offices including the governor and labor commissioner, 15 of the 30 state senate seats, all 60 state house seats, three of the seven seats on the state supreme court, and three of the 13 seats on the state court of appeals. Local offices on the ballot will include several municipal offices in the city of Portland and Multnomah County. The state's primary is on May 15, and the general election is on November 6, 2018.

Friday, March 9

California filing deadline to pass

  • The filing deadline for California’s federal elections is March 9. One U.S. Senate seat and 53 U.S. House seats will be on the primary election ballot on June 5. The two candidates who receive the most votes in that primary, regardless of party, will advance to the general election on November 6. If no incumbent files for a specific seat, the filing deadline will be extended to March 14.

Idaho candidate filing deadline

  • The filing deadline for candidates running in Idaho elections will pass. Federal and state offices on the ballot this year will include two U.S. House seats, seven state executive offices including the governor and lieutenant governor, all 35 state senate seats, all 70 state house seats, one of the five seats on the state supreme court, and two of the four seats on the state court of appeals. Local offices on the ballot will include several municipal offices in Ada County as well as school board elections in Boise. The state's primary is on May 15, and the general election is on November 6, 2018.

Georgia candidate filing deadline

Where was the president last week?

 

  • On Monday, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence hosted the 2018 White House Business Session with governors from across the country. Trump then had lunch with Pence, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt. In the afternoon, Trump met with credit union representatives. He also met with Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
  • On Tuesday, Trump met with Republican members of the Senate about renewable fuel standards. In the afternoon, Trump met with Republican members of the House about trade. He then made an announcement regarding additional leadership in the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
  • On Wednesday, Trump and first lady Melania Trump attended the arrival ceremony for the late Rev. Billy Graham. In the afternoon, Trump met with a bipartisan group of members of Congress to discuss gun violence and school safety.
  • On Thursday, Trump hosted a meeting on school safety at the White House. He then had lunch with Pence and Defense Secretary James Mattis. In the afternoon, he met with senators. He also held a meeting with steel and aluminum executives.
  • On Friday, Trump and Pence attended the funeral service for Rev. Billy Graham in North Carolina. In the evening, Trump spoke at the Republican National Committee Annual Spring Retreat Dinner at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

Federal Judiciary

 

  • 148 federal judicial vacancies
  • 62 pending nominations
  • 33 future federal judicial vacancies


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The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.

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