The Tap: Thursday, April 14, 2016

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

Review of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #12 of The Tap, which was published on April 18, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

• A raucous ninth debate between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders took place on Thursday evening in Brooklyn, just five days before the pivotal New York primary election. The debate was announced on April 4 after weeks of negotiations between the Clinton and Sanders camps over the date and venue of a ninth debate. The last time that the two had debated was on March 9 in Miami. A Ballotpedia survey of more than 90 Democratic and Republican political insiders found Clinton to be the winner of the debate, with more than 70 percent of Democratic respondents arguing that the former secretary of state outperformed Sanders. One insider noted that Clinton “looked confident, cool, presidential and very righteous—one of her best nights thus far.”
  • See also: CNN Brooklyn, New York Democratic Debate, Topics and participation in the CNN Democratic debate, and Insiders Poll: Who won the ninth Democratic debate

• Palm Beach County Deputy Prosecutor Adrienne Ellis announced that Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump's campaign manager, would not be prosecuted on charges of simple battery stemming from an incident with former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields. Elllis said, “We're not charging him because he was reacting to what he perceived as a potential threat.”
• John Kerry condemned the dangerous flight maneuvers conducted by Russian Su-24 jets near the USS Donald Cook on April 11 and April 12. Kerry said, “We condemn this kind of behavior. It is reckless. It is provocative. It is dangerous. And under the rules of engagement that could have been a shoot-down. People need to understand that this is serious business and the United States is not going to be intimidated on the high seas … We are communicating to the Russians how dangerous this is and our hope is that this will never be repeated.”
• Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced that the United States will conduct “joint South China Sea patrols — and eventually air patrols — with the Philippines, while dispatching U.S. troops and combat aircraft there on more frequent rotations.” Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said that the presence of U.S. forces, "will deter uncalled-for actions by the Chinese." Officials from the Philippines asked “the U.S. to help convince China not to build in the nearby Scarborough Shoal, which is viewed as important to Filipino fishermen.” According to The Navy Times, “Carter said the United States will be keeping nearly 300 troops, including Air Force commandos armed with combat aircraft and helicopters, in the Philippines through the end of the month.”
• FILING DEADLINE: New York congressional filing deadline
  • There are 27 U.S. House seats in New York. Currently, 18 are held by Democrats and nine are held by Republicans.
  • The U.S. Senate seat currently held by Chuck Schumer (D) will be up for election in 2016. Ballotpedia rates the race as safely Democratic.
  • There are five U.S. House battleground districts in 2016. Ballotpedia has identified NY-1, NY-3, NY-18, NY-19, and NY-22 as battleground districts. Three of the five are currently held by Republicans, while the remaining two are held by Democrats.
  • New York’s candidate list is still largely incomplete. Ballotpedia will update our candidate lists once a complete list is available.

State

• Gov. Charlie Baker (R) and House Speaker Bob DeLeo (D) were among the state officials who launched a bipartisan campaign to oppose the marijuana legalization initiative likely to appear before Massachusetts voters in November. Late in 2015, the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Massachusetts submitted over 70,000 signatures to force the Massachusetts Legislature to consider its initiative. The group will have to collect a little over 10,000 signatures by a deadline in July 2016 in order to put it before voters in November, provided state lawmakers do not enact the law themselves by May 3, which is very unlikely. Marijuana-related measures are certified for the ballot in Nevada and Florida and were proposed in over a dozen other states.
• Chris Sgro (D) was first appointed to District 58 of the North Carolina House of Representatives on April 9, 2016, by the Guilford County Democratic Party Executive Committee to replace Ralph Johnson (D). Gov. Pat McCrory (R) issued a proclamation on April 14, 2016, that officially appointed Sgro to the state House. Sgro, who currently serves as the executive director of Equality NC, has said that his top priority for the upcoming legislative session, which begins on April 25, is to repeal House Bill 2. The bill overruled a local LGBT ordinance and banned local governments from setting up their own anti-discrimination rules. The bill also restricted bathroom use to a person's biological sex. The local ordinance would have allowed transgender people to use the bathroom of their choosing based on the gender with which they identify.

Preview of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #11 of The Tap, which was published on April 11, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

• The ninth Democratic debate
  • A ninth debate between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will take place in Brooklyn on April 14, just days before the New York primary election on April 19. The debate was announced on April 4, following weeks of negotiations between the Clinton and Sanders campaigns over the date and venue of a ninth debate.
• FILING DEADLINE: New York congressional filing deadline
  • There are 27 U.S. House seats in New York. Currently, 18 are held by Democrats and nine are held by Republicans.
  • The U.S. Senate seat currently held by Chuck Schumer (D) will be up for election in 2016. Ballotpedia rates the race as safely Democratic.
  • There are five U.S. House battleground districts in 2016. Ballotpedia has identified NY-1, NY-3, NY-18, NY-19, and NY-22 as battleground districts. Three of the five are currently held by Republicans, while the remaining two are held by Democrats.