Impact2020: April 8, 2020

Welcome to your Impact2020 briefing for Wednesday, April 8. Election operatives and officials across the country try to avoid a similar fate as Wisconsin, and Bernie Sanders officially ends his campaign.

On the Ground

An election for the history books

Voters across Wisconsin braved long lines, poor weather conditions and the threat of the coronavirus Tuesday to cast a ballot in the state’s spring elections.

Bill Glauber, Molly Beck and Mary Spicuzza wrap up a wild day for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “It was an election day for the history books, unprecedented and unimaginable. … In Milwaukee, where only five polling sites were open, the workers donned face masks and rubber gloves, handed out black pens to voters, wiped surfaces clean and kept the lines moving as best they could even as the state remained under a safer-at-home order … And votes won’t be counted until Monday, another twist in the latest chapter in this only-in-Wisconsin political story.”

Once the results are in, “a cascade of lawsuits” likely awaits, Riley Vetterkind and Kelly Meyerhofer report for the Wisconsin State Journal.

Operatives in both parties will be keeping closely watching results from the general election battleground state as they face the unprecedented task of trying to project who will turnout to vote in November amid a pandemic, McClatchy’s David Catanese and Alex Roarty write.

“Between the possibilities of wholesale changes to how elections are run, disruptive court rulings and voters’ fear for their own safety — all of which were on display in this week’s Wisconsin elections — pollsters for campaigns up and down the ballot fear they will be flying blind for the next seven months.”

Preparing for the next election

Only a few weeks after Florida voters went to the polls during the coronavirus pandemic, elections officials across the state “are attempting to make plans for elections that could include vast new numbers of mail ballots, poll workers suddenly in risky positions and landlords who may no longer welcome polling places on their property,” the Miami Herald’s David Smiley reports.

“Hoping to secure a clearer outlook, the association overseeing all the state’s local election offices sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis Tuesday requesting that he give supervisors new flexibility not currently afforded by state law.”

Sanders suspends

And now the general election campaign can officially begin: Bernie Sanders dropped out of the 2020 presidential race Wednesday, clearing the way for Joe Biden to secure the Democratic nomination, McClatchy’s Charles Duncan reports.

“As I see this crisis gripping the nation,” Sanders said during a livestream with supporters, referring to the coronavirus pandemic, “I cannot in good conscience continue to mount a campaign that cannot win.”

Despite their ideological differences, Sanders described Biden as a “very decent man” who he pledged to work with moving forward to defeat President Donald Trump.

For his part, Biden made a direct appeal to Sanders’ progressive base: “To Bernie’s supporters: I know that I need to earn your votes. And I know that might take time. But I want you to know that I see you, I hear you, and I understand the urgency of this moment. I hope you’ll join us. You’re more than welcome: You’re needed.”

McClatchy’s Summer Lin has more reaction to Sanders’ 2020 exit here.

Get the latest 2020 presidential campaign news from David Catanese via text. Impact2020 subscribers can sign up here.

Trail Mix

Swing state watch

• Trump’s Pennsylvania campaign has shifted to a digital strategy with a message focusing on how the president has handled the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Julian Routh reports.

• Georgia Democrats are preparing to text more than 1 million voters to encourage them to cast their ballots by mail, Greg Bluestein reports for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

• Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio endorsed Biden, Seth A. Richardson writes for Cleveland.com.

Election disruption

• Georgia’s May 19 primary is still on, but “the situation is deteriorating” as poll workers quit and precincts close, Mark Niesse writes for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

• The Texas Democratic Party has filed another lawsuit, aiming for more widespread mail-in balloting after seeing what happened in Wisconsin, Alexa Ura reports for the Texas Tribune.

• New Jersey will postpone its presidential primary until July 7, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Pranshu Verma scoops.

• Democratic Rep. Joe Cunningham of South Carolina called for the state’s June 9 primary to be postponed, McClatchy’s Emma Dumain reports.

Battle for Congress

• In the Kentucky Senate race, Democrat Amy McGrath raised $12.8 million in the first quarter of the year, while Majority Leader Mitch McConnell brought in $7.5 million, Daniel Desrochers reports for the Lexington-Herald Leader.

• Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey is about 3,000 signatures short of the amount needed to appear on the Sept. 1 Democratic primary ballot, the Boston Globe’s Victoria McGrane reports.

• McClatchy’s Emma Dumain reports that with the Senate Ethics Committee showing no signs of actively investigating Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, watchdog groups are pushing for more media attention.

• Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said he’s recovered from the coronavirus and is volunteering at a hospital, the Lexington-Herald Leader’s Jack Brammer writes.

Number of the Day

12,710

That’s how many Wisconsin voters who requested an absentee ballot for yesterday’s election never received one, according to data from the state’s election commission. Just over 1 million of the nearly 1.3 million absentee ballots that were sent out have been returned.

For Planning Purposes

April 10

Alaska primary (done by mail)

April 13

Wisconsin election results reported

April 17

Wyoming primary (done by mail)

April 28

Ohio primary (done by mail)

If you thought the Wisconsin reaction wasn’t wild already...

… might I interest you in Stephen Colbert’s take featuring “Chief Justice Jigsaw?”

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This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 1:39 PM.