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The Federal Tap: Republicans win two NC congressional special elections
From Ballotpedia
September 14, 2019Issue No. 175
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
Saturday, September 7
Yang leads Democratic presidential candidates in pageviews on Ballotpedia for fourth consecutive week
- Each week, we report the number of pageviews received by 2020 presidential campaigns on Ballotpedia. These numbers show which candidates are getting our readers' attention.
- Andrew Yang's campaign page on Ballotpedia received 3,321 pageviews for the week of September 1-7. Yang's pageview figure represents 10.5% of the pageviews for all Democratic candidates during the week. Joe Biden had 8.7% of the pageviews for the week, followed by Elizabeth Warren with 7.7%. This is Yang's fourth consecutive week with the most pageviews among Democrats.
- Every noteworthy Democratic candidate had fewer Ballotpedia pageviews last week than the week before. The three candidates with the smallest week-over-week declines in pageviews were Beto O'Rourke (-19.2%), Amy Klobuchar (-29.7%), and Pete Buttigieg (-33.0%).
- Buttigieg remains the leader in overall pageviews this year with 111,101. He is followed by Yang with 109,257 and Kamala Harris with 100,164.
- On the GOP side, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld had 5,339 pageviews to former Rep. Joe Walsh's 4,496 and President Trump's 1,187.
Sunday, September 8
Former S.C. Gov. Sanford becomes fourth noteworthy Republican to enter 2020 presidential race
- Mark Sanford (R), a former governor and U.S. representative from South Carolina, announced that he was running for president.
- Sanford said he was running to initiate a conversation around the federal deficit. "We focus on spending, debt and deficits because our present course leads to financial disaster, jobs lost and grave injury to the American dream. Our debt is a clear and present danger to our republic," his campaign website said.
- He joins Donald Trump, Joe Walsh, and Bill Weld in the Republican primary.
Tuesday, September 10
State Sen. Bishop (R) wins NC-09 special election
- State Sen. Dan Bishop (R) defeated Dan McCready (D), Jeff Scott (L), and Allen Smith (G) in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District special election. Bishop received 51% of the vote to McCready’s 49%. The state board of elections called the special election following allegations of absentee ballot fraud in the 2018 race.
- As of September 6, the special election had seen more than $10.7 million in satellite spending, the second-highest total for a U.S. House special election (Georgia’s 6th Congressional District special election in 2017 saw $27 million spent by satellite groups). McCready’s campaign raised $5 million to Bishop’s $2 million through August 21.
- Throughout the race, Bishop highlighted his support for President Donald Trump (R), who endorsed and campaigned for Bishop, and sought to connect McCready to Democrats in Congress such as Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who Bishop called radical socialists. Bishop described himself as a “pro-life, pro-gun, pro-wall” conservative.
- McCready emphasized his plan to lower prescription drug prices and criticized Bishop’s voting record on the issue. McCready said he would “always put country over party” and pursue bipartisan legislation on healthcare, taxes, and education. He was endorsed by former Vice President Joe Biden (D).
- Trump won the 9th District by 12 percentage points in 2016. In the uncertified results of the 2018 House race, Republican candidate Mark Harris led McCready by 905 votes.
State Rep. Murphy (R) wins special congressional election in NC-3
- Greg Murphy (R) defeated Allen Thomas (D), Tim Harris (L), and Greg Holt (Constitution Party) in the special election for North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Murphy received 62% of the vote to Thomas’ 38%. The special election was called after former incumbent Rep. Walter Jones (R) died on February 10, 2019.
- Murphy campaigned on his support of President Trump and highlighted his work as a physician and state legislator. Thomas emphasized economic development, small-town revitalization, and improving access to healthcare in his campaign.
- According to campaign finance reports through August 21, Murphy raised $902,000 and spent $803,000, and Thomas raised $565,000 and spent $476,000.
- In the 2016 presidential election, Trump won the district with 61% of the vote.
Wednesday, September 11
Senate confirms six U.S. District Court judges
- The U.S. Senate confirmed six nominees to U.S. District Court judgeships. The Senate has confirmed 152 of President Trump’s Article III judicial nominees—two Supreme Court justices, 43 appellate court judges, 105 district court judges, and two U.S. Court of International Trade judges—since January 2017. At the end of the 115th Congress in January 2019, the Senate had confirmed 85 of the president’s judicial nominees.
- The confirmed nominees are:
- Stephanie Haines, confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. After she receives her judicial commission and takes her judicial oath, the court will have:
- Three vacancies
- Five Republican-appointed judges and two Democratically-appointed judges
- Ada Brown, confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. After she receives her judicial commission and takes her judicial oath, the court will have:
- No vacancies
- Ten Republican-appointed judges and two Democratically-appointed judges
- Steven Grimberg, 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 court will have:
- No vacancies
- Six Democratically-appointed judges and five Republican-appointed judges
- Stephanie Gallagher, confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. After she receives her judicial commission and takes her judicial oath, the court will have:
- No vacancies
- Eight Democratically-appointed judges and two Republican-appointed judges
- Mary McElroy, confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. After she receives her judicial commission and takes her judicial oath, the court will have:
- No vacancies
- Two Republican-appointed judges and one Democratically-appointed judge
- Steven Seeger, confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. After he receives his judicial commission and takes his judicial oath, the court will have:
- Two vacancies
- 14 Democratically-appointed judges and six Republican-appointed judges
- Stephanie Haines, confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. After she receives her judicial commission and takes her judicial oath, the court will have:
- Four of the nominees—Haines, Brown, Grimberg, and Seeger—were confirmed with bipartisan support. Gallagher and McElroy were confirmed by voice vote, meaning there is no official record indicating how many or which senators voted yea or nay. Gallagher and McElroy were also nominated to the same district court seats by President Barack Obama (D) in 2015. Their nominations were returned to the president at the sine die adjournment of the 114th Congress in 2017.
- There are 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system.
Thursday, September 12
Democratic presidential candidates debate healthcare, immigration, and criminal justice in Houston
- Ten Democratic candidates participated in the third Democratic presidential primary debate in Houston: Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Julián Castro, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Andrew Yang.
- ABC News and Univision hosted the event with Linsey Davis, David Muir, Jorge Ramos, and George Stephanopoulos as moderators.
- The candidates discussed Medicare for All, criminal justice, international trade agreements, gun violence, military strategy in Afghanistan, education, and climate change.
- For an overview of the debate, including candidate highlights and participation numbers, click here.
Congress is in session
The Senate will be in session September 16-20 and the House will be in session September 17-20. Click here to see the full calendar for the first session of the 116th Congress.
SCOTUS is on summer recess
The Supreme Court is on summer recess. To learn about the upcoming 2019-2020 session, click here.
WHAT'S ON TAP NEXT WEEK
Where was the president last week?
- On Monday, Trump spoke at a Keep America Great Rally in Fayetteville, NC.
- On Tuesday, Trump spoke at the 2019 National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week Conference in Washington, D.C.
- On Wednesday, Trump participated in a September 11th Pentagon Observance Ceremony.
- On Thursday, Trump participated in a joint fundraising committee reception in Baltimore, MD.
- On Friday, Trump met with the secretary of defense.
Federal Judiciary
- 112 federal judicial vacancies
- 45 pending nominations
- 14 future federal judicial vacancies
About
The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.
