Impact2020: March 19, 2020
Welcome to your Impact2020 briefing for Thursday, March 19. Joe Biden appeared to make inroads with a critical voting bloc in Tuesday’s election. And after several states have postponed their primaries, leaders in states with upcoming elections are wondering: should we do it, too? A look at their dilemmas...
On the Ground
‘Refuting the narrative’
Heading onto Tuesday’s primary elections, one of Joe Biden’s most glaring weaknesses was with Hispanic voters. But the results show that he made significant inroads with that voting bloc in two key general election states, Arizona and Florida.
Data from those states found that Biden trounced Bernie Sanders “in Florida among Hispanic voters, romping in precincts located in heavily Cuban, Venezuelan, Nicaraguan and Puerto Rican communities,” Bianca Padró Ocasio, David Smiley and Alex Daugherty report for the Miami Herald. “In Arizona, exit polling by CNN suggested that Biden split support among Latinos with Sanders — an accomplishment, considering Sanders’ early dominance in western states.”
“It was reaffirming to see him win all of the Latino enclaves in Florida,” said Mayra Macías, executive director for the Latino Victory Fund, a super PAC that has endorsed Biden. “It’s a direct refuting of the narrative that Biden doesn’t have Latino support.”
More time, please
Calls for sending ballots in the mail to every American as a way to fight the spread of the coronavirus are growing, including the introduction of a national vote-by-mail plan this week in the U.S. Senate, Daugherty reports for the Miami Herald.
In Florida, a group of advocacy organizations filed a motion urging Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Elections Canvassing Commission to allow voters who couldn’t make it to the polls on Election Day to request and return a vote-by-mail ballot.
While there’s some time to send a ballot to people who haven’t voted yet during a pause in the primary calendar, there are some concerns. University of Florida political science professor Daniel Smith “cautioned that the current standards for mail-in ballots in Florida lead to discrepancies where certain votes are rejected in one county but not in others.”
Not taking chances
There were also questions about whether Missouri voters would be legally allowed to cast an absentee ballot due to the virus. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson went ahead and issued an executive order delaying the April 7 municipal elections until June 2, Jason Hancock of the Kansas City Star reports.
In Washington, Secretary of State Kim Wyman asked Gov. Jay Inslee to cancel the April 28 special election to protect poll workers, reports The Tacoma News Tribune’s James Drew.
Social distancing in action
McClatchy’s Beyond the Bubble podcast team is still hard at work while isolated in their homes. Download the latest episode packed with 2020 political news later today. It’s available on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts
Trail Mix
March Madness
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey postponed the March 31 runoff elections until July 14, saying “it’s a very wise decision to ask for an absentee ballot,” reported Brian Lyman of Montgomery Advertiser.
Rep. Don Young of Alaska didn’t vote on a federal coronavirus relief package in Washington, D.C., a day after downplaying the threat of the virus for senior citizens at a luncheon in Palmer, reports Kyle Hopkins of the Anchorage Daily News. In his remarks, Young called the virus “the beer virus” and said “this is blown out of proportion about how deadly this is.”
Spring Break
Pennsylvania state lawmakers are split on moving the date of their April 28 primary, writes Julian Routh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a proclamation allowing local governments to postpone May 2 elections until Nov. 3, reports Chuck Lindell of the Austin American-Statesman.
Wisconsin could find itself in an interesting position if it goes through with its April 7 election. Craig Gilbert of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes, “it will be the only major contest in the Democratic presidential race for the next six weeks.” And possibly Sanders’ “only real chance for him to make anything like a ‘last stand’ between now and late April.”
Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs is urging state legislators to let counties run upcoming elections entirely by mail, Andrew Oxford of the Arizona Republic reports.
The U.S. Census Bureau suspended employee field operations until April 1 due to the coronavirus outbreak, raising concerns about a possible delay of the once-a-decade process. McClatchy’s Kate Irby explains what that could really mean.
Battle for Congress
Republican Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona is suspending her door-to-door campaigning and TV ads even as recent polls suggest she’s tied or trailing her opponent, Democrat Mark Kelly, reports the Arizona Republic’s Yvonne Wingett Sanchez.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida became the first member of Congress to test positive for coronavirus, Daugherty reports for the Miami Herald. Rep. Ben McAdams of Utah also tested positive, the Salt Lake Tribune’s Thomas Burr reports.
And then there were two...
“I’m suspending my presidential campaign, and offering my full support to Vice President Joe Biden,” said Tulsi Gabbard in a video announcement on Thursday.
‘Beeing at Home’
The demands for social distancing (and lack of political events) has late night show hosts finding new ways to reach out to their audiences. Samantha Bee kicks things up a notch by going into “survival mode.”
Quick reminders:
Impact2020 subscribers can get REAL texts from McClatchy’s David Catanese about all the latest developments on the campaign trail.
Did someone forward this to you? Cool! Please consider signing up here for our daily rundown of 2020 election news from McClatchy’s 30 newsrooms and other local journalists.
This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 1:03 PM.