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The Federal Tap: Mixed opinions: Will Tuesday's AZ-08 special election be competitive

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April 20, 2018Issue No. 109

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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, April 14

DFL declines to endorse in MN-08, backs Craig (D) for re-match against Lewis (R) in MN-02

  • The Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) declined to endorse any candidate in Minnesota's 8th Congressional District at its multi-ballot district convention. Former FBI analyst Leah Phifer (D) and former state Rep. Joe Radinovich (D) were the remaining candidates on the tenth and final ballot, but neither crossed the 60 percent threshold of support necessary for an endorsement.
  • Phifer said, "We were consistently ahead on all 10 ballots which I think means we built the strongest ground game across all 18 counties and made sure no voices were left unheard."
  • Radinovich highlighted an endorsement from incumbent Rep. Rick Nolan (D) at the convention. Nolan's office later clarified that it was a preference rather than an endorsement and noted that "he will reserve judgment until he sees who decides to run in the primary."
  • In Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District, the DFL endorsed former healthcare executive Angie Craig (D) on the first ballot, setting up a re-match between her and incumbent Rep. Jason Lewis (R) in November. She lost to Lewis in 2016 by less than two percentage points.

Monday, April 16

Blankenship accuses McConnell of meddling in West Virginia Senate election following new super PAC’s $700,000 anti-Blankenship ad campaign

  • Former coal magnate Don Blankenship (R) accused Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) of meddling in the U.S. Senate election in West Virginia.
  • “McConnell should not be in the U.S. Senate, let alone be the Republican Majority Leader. He is a Swamp captain. … The Russians and McConnell should both stop interfering with elections outside their jurisdictions,” Blankenship said in a statement.
  • Blankenship’s criticism follows the launch of a $700,000 anti-Blankenship ad campaign from the newly formed Mountain Families PAC. The super PAC has no formal ties to party leadership, but it was registered by a former Republican National Committee officer and has paid media and consulting firms previously used by the Senate Leadership Fund.
  • Blankenship is self-funding his campaign and has spent more than $1.1 million since November 2017 on media buys. He faces state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) and Rep. Evan Jenkins (R-W.Va.) in the Republican primary next month on May 8, 2018.

Tuesday, April 17

Club for Growth endorses Michael Cloud in TX-27 GOP primary runoff

  • The Club for Growth is backing Republican activist Michael Cloud over former Texas Water Development Board Chairman Bech Bruun in the TX-27 Republican primary runoff on May 22. The race will likely decide who replaces Blake Farenthold (R) in Congress.
  • Although Bruun led Cloud in endorsements and fundraising ahead of the March 6 primary, Cloud drew strong support from Victoria County and finished just behind Bruun with 33.9 percent of the vote. Bruun garnered 36.1 percent of the vote, with most of his support coming from Nueces County, where Corpus Christi is based. A May 22 runoff was called because neither candidate reached 50 percent of the vote.
  • The Club for Growth said that the race “presents the choice between an outsider – Michael Cloud – and the career bureaucrat, Bech Bruun." Media coverage has focused on Cloud’s unexpectedly strong performance due to his support from conservative activists. All other Republican candidates from the March 6 primary endorsed him as did the campaign arm of the House Freedom Caucus.
  • Heading into the runoff, Bruun still leads Cloud in fundraising and has picked up endorsements from Texas Railroad Commission Chairwoman Christi Craddick and Portland Mayor David Krebs. Prior to the March 6 primary, he was endorsed by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Rep. Roger Williams.
  • The Club for Growth is backing candidates in four of the five Republican primary runoffs in Texas that will likely decide replacements for departing Republican incumbents. The other endorsed candidates are Bunni Pounds (Jeb Hensarling’s 5th district seat), Ron Wright (Joe Barton’s 6th district seat), and Chip Roy (Lamar Smith’s 21st district seat). The group has not endorsed a candidate in the race for Ted Poe’s 2nd District seat.

Kevin McCarthy and House Freedom Caucus back opposing candidates in OH-16 GOP primary

  • U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the heir apparent to outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan, supports Anthony Gonzalez in the Republican primary for Ohio’s 16th Congressional District. The House Freedom Caucus—a group of conservative House Republicans who blocked McCarthy’s 2015 speakership bid—is supporting Gonzalez’s rival, state Rep. Christina Hagan.
  • Although both are millennial Republicans, Gonzalez and Hagan have competing visions of the GOP’s future. Hagan is a strong supporter of President Donald Trump and has made him and his agenda the centerpieces of her campaign. In addition to support from the Freedom Caucus, she has been endorsed by former Trump White House officials Anthony Scaramucci and Sebastian Gorka.
  • Gonzalez supports some of Trump’s policies, but he rarely mentions the president on the campaign trail and has said that U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), a prominent Trump critic, is his role model in Congress. McCarthy gave $10,000 to his campaign. Other donors and supporters include U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Oh.), U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.), and U.S. Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-Oh.).
  • Tension between McCarthy supporters and the House Freedom Caucus may be rising in the aftermath of Ryan’s decision not to seek re-election. On the same day Ryan endorsed McCarthy to replace him as speaker, former Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Oh.) said he may also run for the position. Republicans’ ability to select the next speaker depend on them keeping control of the House in the 2018 elections.

Wednesday, April 18

Trump confirms that Pompeo met with Kim

  • President Donald Trump said that Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo, who is also Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. He wrote in a tweet, "Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un in North Korea last week. Meeting went very smoothly and a good relationship was formed. Details of Summit are being worked out now. Denuclearization will be a great thing for World, but also for North Korea!" A White House official clarified that the meeting took place the during Easter weekend. Pompeo is the highest-level U.S. official known to have met with a North Korean leader since 2000 when then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met with Kim Jong Il. Trump and Kim are expected to meet face-to-face sometime in June.

Thursday, April 19

Scott boosts media spending in Florida Senate race this week to $3 million with new campaign ads

  • Gov. Rick Scott (R) is spending $1 million on a Spanish-language ad for the U.S. Senate election in Florida, bringing his total media spending this week to $3 million. The ad, which highlights job creation in the state, will air in the Miami, Tampa and Orlando media markets.
  • Earlier this week, he spent $2 million on an ad buy calling for term limits for members of Congress. “In Washington, they say term limits can’t be done. That’s nonsense. We don’t work for them, they work for us,” Scott says in the ad.
  • Scott, who personally spent $75 million to win the governor's house in 2010, is expected to clear the Republican field.
  • He will face three-term incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) in November in what could become the most expensive race of the year.

Appeals court upholds injunction against justice assistance grant criteria aimed at sanctuary jurisdictions

  • The United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit released a ruling upholding a nationwide injunction against the Department of Justice’s revised requirements for receiving Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants. In the ruling by a three-judge panel, Judge Ilana Rovner wrote, "If the Executive Branch can determine policy, and then use the power of the purse to mandate compliance with that policy by the state and local governments, all without the authorization or even acquiescence of elected legislators, that check against tyranny is forsaken." This ruling keeps the September 2017 injunction in place originally established by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber while the City of Chicago's lawsuit proceeds in federal court.
  • On July 25, 2017, the Department of Justice announced that jurisdictions wishing to receive JAG funds must comply with two new conditions: 1) must honor requests by federal immigration officials to receive 48-hour notice prior to releasing certain detainees, and 2) must allow federal immigration officials access to local jails and prisons in order to interrogate prisoners. Localities already were required to allow communication between local law enforcement and federal immigration officers to receive the grants.
  • The City of Chicago filed suit in August 2017 to block implementation of the new requirements. On September 15, 2017, Leinenweber ordered a preliminary injunction to block the new criteria. In his ruling, Leinenweber said, "The court finds that the city has established that it would suffer irreparable harm if a preliminary injunction is not entered." The injunction applied nationwide because Leinenweber concluded that the issues presented by Chicago could also apply to other cities.

Ted Cruz endorses Mary Taylor for governor of Ohio

  • Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) endorsed Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor (R) to succeed term-limited Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) Thursday.
  • Taylor and Attorney General Mike DeWine (R) are the only candidates who filed to appear in the May 8 Republican primary. Taylor has previously been endorsed by Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Rand Paul (R-KY). DeWine has been endorsed by former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA).
  • Six candidates filed for the Democratic primary, including former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray (D) and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D).

Congress is in session

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

SCOTUS is in session

The Supreme Court heard six arguments this week. 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, April 23

Net neutrality rules end

  • The 2015 Open Internet Order, also referred to as net neutrality rules, will end on Monday and be replaced by the Restoring Internet Freedom Order, which was published by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on February 22, 2018. Under net neutrality rules, internet service providers (ISPs) are considered a public utility and are regulated like gas, water, electric, and phone service companies. ISPs are prohibited from blocking or slowing web traffic or providing paid internet fast lanes. Under the new 2018 rules, ISPs will not be regulated as a public utility. ISPs will have to disclose their practices, and the FCC and Federal Trade Commission will investigate any anti-competitive behavior.
  • The new order is being challenged by 23 state attorneys general. Members of Congress are also trying to keep net neutrality in place. In February, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to reverse the FCC's repeal of its net neutrality regulations. Markey announced that 50 senators said that they would vote for such a resolution.

Tuesday, April 24

Red district becomes competitive in special election in Arizona’s 8th

Candidate filing deadline in Michigan

  • In November 2018, Michigan will hold elections for U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, state executive offices including governor, Michigan State Senate and House of Representatives, state and local judicial positions, and county positions. Also on the ballot are special elections for Michigan's 13th Congressional District, most recently held by John Conyers Jr, and special elections in Michigan State Senate District 2 and Michigan House of Representatives District 68. To appear on the primary ballot in any one of these races, party candidates must file for election by April 24, 2018. Independent candidates have until July 19, 2018, to file for the general election.
    • Potential candidates must file an affidavit of identity and nominating petitions. State legislative and county level candidates may pay a $100 fee instead of filing nominating petitions. Filing paperwork for federal, statewide, and multi-county state legislative district offices must be submitted to the Michigan Secretary of State. Filing paperwork for single-county state legislative district offices must be submitted to the appropriate county clerk.
    • Primary elections will be held August 7, 2018, and the general election will take place on November 6, 2018.

Candidate filing deadline in South Dakota

  • The filing deadline for independent candidates running in South Dakota elections will pass. Federal and state offices on the ballot this year will include one at-large U.S. House seat, eight state executive offices including the governor and lieutenant governor, all 35 state senate seats, all 70 state house seats, and one of the five seats on the state supreme court. The state's primary is on June 5, and the general election is on November 6, 2018. If a primary runoff is needed, it will be held on August 14.

Wednesday, April 25

Committee hearing for Secretary of Veterans Affairs nominee Ronny Jackson

  • Ronny Jackson, President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of veterans affairs, will appear before the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Jackson is a U.S. Navy rear admiral who serves as the White House physician to the president.

Where was the president last week?

 

  • On Monday, President Donald Trump held a roundtable discussion on taxes in Florida.
  • On Tuesday, Trump met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan at Mar-a-Lago.
  • On Wednesday, Trump had meetings and held a press conference with Abe at Mar-a-Lago.
  • On Thursday, Trump visited Naval Air Station Key West and had a briefing with Joint Interagency Task Force South, United States Southern Command, and United States Northern Command.
  • On Friday, Trump participated in a roundtable with Republican National Committee supporters in Palm Beach, Florida.

Federal Judiciary

 

  • 149 federal judicial vacancies
  • 73 pending nominations
  • 31 future federal judicial vacancies


About

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

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