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The Tap: Tuesday, April 26, 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 #14 of The Tap, which was published on April 30, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

  • During an interview on CNN on Tuesday, Wolf Blitzer asked Jane Sanders when she planned to release her husband’s past tax returns. Sanders said, "You know, what's interesting is we released the 2014 [tax return]. Hillary Clinton hasn't released a transcript yet." According to CNN, Sanders “confirmed that she'll provide the returns when Clinton publishes her Wall Street transcripts.” Sanders added, "Honestly, Wolf, these are not the issues that are of concern to the American people. I implore you as a leading, wonderful host of a major show, please talk about the issues that concern the American people instead of delegate math and who can win or who can lose."
  • Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) voted for Ted Cruz in Pennsylvania’s primary election. Toomey said Cruz is “a solid conservative. We don't agree on everything, but having served with him in the Senate, I know Ted pretty well and I think he's got a real, real viable shot of beating Hillary Clinton in the fall."
  • The Supreme Court heard two cases. In Mathis v. United States, the court examined a provision of the Armed Career Criminal Act. In Dietz v. Bouldin, the court considered whether a judge can order jurors back for more service in a case once those jurors have been dismissed and left the courtroom.
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell “announced $5 million in funding to 20 health centers in Puerto Rico to further combat the Zika virus disease. Health centers will use this funding to expand voluntary family planning services, including contraceptive services, outreach and education, and to hire more staff.” Nearly 500 cases of Zika, the mosquito-borne disease that causes severe birth defects in babies, have been reported in Puerto Rico, and the number is expected to rise this summer.
  • Maryland held its congressional primaries.
    • In the Senate, Rep. Chris Van Hollen easily defeated fellow Rep. Donna Edwards and eight other candidates to win the Democratic nomination. On the other side of the aisle, Kathy Szeliga defeated 13 other candidates to win the Republican primary. Maryland’s Senate race is rated safely Democratic in the general election.
    • There were no surprises in the House. All incumbents seeking re-election won their primaries.
    • In Maryland’s 4th Congressional District, Anthony Brown defeated five candidates to win the Democratic nomination. He will face Republican George McDermott in the general election. This seat, which was left open by incumbent Donna Edwards’ Senate run, is rated safely Democratic in November.
    • In Maryland’s 8th Congressional District, Jamie Raskin defeated eight candidates to win the Democratic nomination in what was the most expensive House primary of the season. This was largely due to candidate David Trone, who spent over $12 million of his own money on the campaign, making him the largest self-funding candidate for U.S. House in history. Raskin will face Republican Dan Cox in the general election. This seat, which was left open by incumbent Chris Van Hollen’s Senate run, is rated safely Democratic in November.

Congress

  • The House passed HR 4820 - the Combating Terrorist Recruitment Act of 2016 by a vote of 322-79. HR 4820 proposes directing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to use the testimonies of former or estranged extremists to combat and educate the public about terrorist recruitment strategies.
  • The House passed HR 4096 - the Investor Clarity and Bank Parity Act by a vote of 395-3. HR 4096 proposes permitting “a hedge fund or private equity fund to share the same name, or a variation of the same name, as a banking entity that is an investment advisor to the hedge fund or private equity fund,” subject to certain restrictions.
  • The following bills were passed by voice vote in the House: H.R.1493 - the Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act; H.R.1684 - the Foreign Spill Protection Act of 2016; H.R.223 - the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2016; H.R.2615 - the Virgin Islands of the United States Centennial Commission Act; H.R.2908 - the National Bison Legacy Act; H.R.3583 - the PREPARE Act; H.R.4359 - the Administrative Leave Reform Act; H.R.4360 - the Official Personnel File Enhancement Act; H.R.4698 - the Securing Aviation from Foreign Entry Points and Guarding Airports Through Enhanced Security Act of 2016; and S.1523 - A bill to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reauthorize the National Estuary Program, and for other purposes.

State

  • A federal jury acquitted Washington Auditor Troy Kelley (D) of one of the 15 charges against him and deadlocked on the other 14 charges. First elected in 2012, Kelley was indicted in April 2015 on charges that included possession of stolen property, false declaration, and attempted obstruction of civil lawsuit related to his tenure as owner of Post Closing Department. Prosecutors have yet to announce whether or not they intend to retry their case against Kelley for the 14 counts on which the jury deadlocked. Kelley has said he will not run for re-election in 2016. Washington is currently under a divided government.
  • The Michigan House of Representatives approved a bill 72-36 that would increase education funding by $16.1 billion. K-12 schools, community colleges, and universities would all see a boost in funding under the plan. The bill raises the per-pupil allocation for K-12 education by a range of $60 to $120. Community colleges would receive a 3.7 percent increase in funding, while universities would receive a 3.4 percent increase. The bill also contains provisions eliminating the state assessment, M-Step, and funding that covers SAT fees for students. It would also provide $1 million to private schools “to help offset the cost of complying with state mandates” and earmark $72 million from tobacco settlement funds for Detroit Public Schools, which have faced teacher sick-outs and protests this year over school conditions. The state Senate is considering its own version of a school funding bill, which is expected to see a vote sometime this week.
  • Pennsylvania primary election:
    • State executives: In the race to replace embattled incumbent Attorney General Kathleen Kane (D), Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro (D) and State Senator John Rafferty (R) won their parties' primaries and will compete for the attorney general seat in November. Candidates for state auditor and treasurer were all unopposed and will automatically progress to the general election.
    • State legislature: In the 228 seats up for election, there were just 30 districts with Democratic primaries and 21 districts with Republican primaries. Of the 29 incumbents facing primary opposition, four were defeated, all Democratic representatives. Fourteen incumbents have been defeated in the six state legislative primaries held so far. Moving on to the general election, 57.0 percent of districts feature an unchallenged candidate. The national average currently stands at 44.8 percent of districts without major party opposition in the general election. Republicans control the Senate by 12 seats and the House by 35 seats.

Special elections

Local

  • The mayor’s office and all 15 seats on the Baltimore City Council in Maryland were up for primary election. The mayoral race became a contentious battle after Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D) announced she would not seek re-election, with 13 Democrats and five Republicans campaigning in the primary. Baltimore's last Republican mayor was elected in 1963, indicating that the winner of the Democratic primary will be the heavy favorite to win the general election on November 8, 2016.
    • State Sen. Catherine Pugh, the polling front-runner, won the Democratic primary for mayor with 36 percent of the vote. Former Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon came in second with 34 percent of the vote. Dixon served from 2007 to her resignation in 2010 as part of a plea agreement following a misdemeanor conviction on one count of fraudulent misappropriation.
    • Baltimore is the largest city in Maryland and the 26th-largest city in the United States.
  • Nine of the largest school districts by enrollment in Maryland held school board primary elections. This included the state’s two largest school districts, Montgomery County Public Schools and Prince George's County Public Schools. The general election for these districts will be on November 8, 2016. In 2016, Ballotpedia is covering 642 school board elections across America's 1,000 largest school districts by student enrollment.
    • The elections for the Howard County Board of Education saw two incumbents defeated by challengers. Both Ann DeLacy and Ellen Giles were members of a majority that supported contract renewal for the superintendent amidst concerns about district transparency. Only incumbent Janet Siddiqui advanced to the general election on November 8, 2016.
  • Maryland held primary elections for 17 county circuit court judgeships across Allegany, Anne Arundel, Garrett, Prince George's, and Washington counties, as well as in the city of Baltimore. Challengers defeated incumbents in three of these races. Another nine judgeships up for election did not appear on the primary ballot, since the incumbents are running unopposed for re-election in Baltimore, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, and Talbot counties. In Maryland, local judicial candidates run in partisan primary elections where each candidate files for both the Democratic and Republican primaries. In the general election, however, candidates run with no party affiliation listed on the ballot. The general election for these judgeships will be on November 8, 2016. In 2016, Ballotpedia is covering local judicial elections in 39 states across the United States.

Preview of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #13 of The Tap, which was published on April 23, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

  • Five states (Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania) are holding presidential primary elections for the Democratic and Republican parties on April 26. Collectively, the April 26 primaries—also known as "Northeastern Super Tuesday"—will be one of the biggest nights of the presidential nominating process since the primaries and caucuses of March 15, 2016. On the Democratic side on April 26, an estimated 384 pledged delegates are up for grabs. On the Republican side, an estimated 118 pledged delegates are at stake. For the Democrats, April 26 marks the fourth-biggest day of the presidential nominating process in terms of the number of delegates up for grabs. For Republicans, it marks the sixth-biggest day. Once the results of the April 26 contests have been tallied, three-quarters of the Democratic and Republican pledged delegates will have been allocated.
  • The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases on Tuesday. The first, Mathis v. United States, considers standards of qualifying elements governing prior predicate convictions under the Armed Career Criminal Act. The case comes on certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. In the second case, Dietz v. Bouldin, the court will review a Ninth Circuit opinion in considering whether a judge may recall jurors for service in the same case once that same judge has discharged the jury and those same jurors have left the judge’s presence.
  • Two states (Maryland and Pennsylvania) are holding congressional primary elections.
    • Maryland
      • The Democratic primary for Maryland’s U.S. Senate seat is a primary to watch. The seat is open following incumbent Barbara Mikulski’s decision to retire. Ten candidates will compete for the Democratic nomination, including U.S. Reps. Donna Edwards and Chris Van Hollen. Van Hollen has a strong lead over Edwards in fundraising, but both candidates have amassed a number of big endorsements. Maryland’s Senate race is safely Democratic, meaning that the winner of the primary is a strong favorite to win the general in November.
      • Maryland’s 4th and 8th congressional district Democratic primaries are also considered primary races to watch in 2016. The seats will be left open due to the fact that both incumbents (Edwards and Van Hollen) are seeking election to the U.S. Senate seat. As with the Senate race, both seats are safely Democratic in the general. Thus, the primary will effectively determine the next representative. Maryland’s 8th Democratic primary is the most expensive primary in the country, with total contributions from all candidates upwards of $16 million as of the FEC’s pre-primary reports. The bulk of this money comes from candidate David Trone, who has self-funded over $10 million to his campaign, making him the largest self-funding U.S. House candidate in history.
      • Incumbent Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-2) is the only candidate who will not face a primary opponent.
    • Pennsylvania
      • The Democratic primary for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat is a primary to watch. Four candidates—former U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski, former Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environment Protection Kathleen McGinty, and Braddock Mayor John Fetterman—will compete for the chance to take on incumbent Pat Toomey (R) in the general election. Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race is considered a battleground in 2016. Sestak and McGinty are the front-runners in the race. McGinty has received a number of big endorsements, including President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. She also has the financial backing of the DSCC. However, polls show a close race between McGinty and Sestak.
      • Pennsylvania’s 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary race is considered a primary to watch. Incumbent Chaka Fattah was indicted in 2015 on charges of bribery, money laundering, and bank and mail fraud, among other charges. He faces three challengers: State Rep. Dwight Evans, Lower Merion Township Commissioner Brian Gordon, and attorney Dan Muroff. Evans is the front-runner among the challengers, and he has substantially outraised the incumbent heading into the primary. The number of challengers in the race helps Fattah’s chances of holding onto the seat as they are all competing for the voters who are not supporting the incumbent.
      • Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District race is considered a battleground in 2016. Incumbent Michael Fitzpatrick (R) is not seeking re-election, leaving the seat open. Marc Duome, Brian Fitzpatrick, and Andy Warren will compete for the Republican nomination, while Shaughnessy Naughton and Steve Santarsiero will compete in the Democratic primary.
      • In the House, 26 of the 36 possible major-party primaries (72 percent) will not be contested. Only four of the 16 incumbents seeking re-election will face a primary challenger.

State

  • Primary elections: Pennsylvania
    • Pennsylvania is the only state holding statewide primaries on April 26. The state is one of 20 under divided government; Governor Tom Wolf is a Democrat, while the legislature is controlled by Republicans.
    • State executives: Three seats are up for election in 2016: attorney general, treasurer, and auditor. Incumbent Attorney General Kathleen Kane (D) will not run for a second term due to legal challenges to her ability to hold office. Kane's law license was suspended in October 2015 pending her criminal trial. Three candidates will compete for the Democratic nomination while two will compete in the Republican primary. Major party candidates in the races for treasurer and auditor are unopposed in their parties' primaries and will automatically advance to the general election.
    • State legislatures: Just 11 percent of legislative districts have primary competition. Of the incumbents running for re-election, 86.6 percent will advance past the primary without opposition. The national average since 2010 has been 77.5 percent of incumbents with primary opponents. Twenty-five state Senate and 203 state House seats are up for election.
    • State ballot measures: Voters will decide Amendment 2, which was designed to officially abolish the Philadelphia Traffic Court and remove reference of it from the Pennsylvania Constitution. The court’s duties and authority were transferred to the Philadelphia Municipal Court in 2013. Another amendment designed to increase the mandatory retirement age of judges from 70 to 75 was initially put on the April election ballot. Because of concerns regarding the clarity of the ballot language and voter turnout, state legislators postponed the judicial retirement amendment until the November election. Voters, however, could still see the question on their primary ballots as Amendment 1. Any votes cast on the amendment will be disregarded.

Special elections

Local

  • The mayor’s office and all 15 seats on the Baltimore City Council in Maryland will be up for primary election. The mayoral race became a contentious battle after Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D) announced she would not seek re-election, with 13 Democrats and five Republicans campaigning in the primary. Baltimore's last Republican mayor was elected in 1963, indicating that the winner of the Democratic primary will be the heavy favorite to win the general election on November 8, 2016.
    • Recent polling indicates that State Sen. Catherine Pugh holds a slight edge in the Democratic primary for mayor, followed by former Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, who served from 2007 to her resignation in 2010 as part of a plea agreement following a misdemeanor conviction on one count of fraudulent misappropriation.
    • On April 18, 2016, the Baltimore City Council approved a set of measures to reduce the power of the mayor related to control over city spending. Although Rawlings-Blake is expected to veto the bill, Governing magazine stated that the council will likely override her veto.
    • Baltimore is the largest city in Maryland and the 26th-largest city in the United States.
  • Nine of the largest school districts by enrollment in Maryland will hold school board primary elections. This includes the state’s two largest school districts, Montgomery County Public Schools and Prince George's County Public Schools. The general election for these districts will be on November 8, 2016. In 2016, Ballotpedia is covering 642 school board elections across America's 1,000 largest school districts by student enrollment.
  • Maryland is holding primary elections for 17 county circuit court judgeships across Allegany, Anne Arundel, Garrett, Prince George's, and Washington counties, as well as in the city of Baltimore. Another nine judgeships up for election will not appear on the primary ballot, since the incumbents are running unopposed for re-election in Baltimore, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, and Talbot counties. In Maryland, local judicial candidates run in partisan primary elections where each candidate files for both the Democratic and Republican primaries. In the general election, however, candidates run with no party affiliation listed on the ballot. The general election for these judgeships will be on November 8, 2016. In 2016, Ballotpedia is covering local judicial elections in 39 states across the United States.



The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.
March: 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
April: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30
May: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
June: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30
July: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
August: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
September: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30
October: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7• 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
November: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30
December: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 31
January: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
February: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17
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