Impact2020: April 9, 2020
Welcome to your Impact2020 briefing for Wednesday, April 8. President Trump and his Florida allies take different views on mail balloting, progressives take stock of Bernie Sanders’ exit, and Joe Biden tries to make inroads with his former rival’s base.
On the Ground
The mail voting debate
As more states consider adopting mail balloting for their 2020 primary and general elections to give voters more options amid the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump has upped his attacks on the practice, claiming it is a “terrible thing” that is rife with fraud. But in one critical swing state, Republicans are still pushing voting by mail.
The Miami Herald’s David Smiley reports that “in Florida — where Trump claimed full-time residence last fall and voted by mail in last month’s Republican presidential primary — Republicans didn’t just write the book on mail voting turnout, they also wrote the laws.” Mail balloting “now accounts for about a third of the vote cast in statewide elections.”
Smiley notes that “in 2016, when Trump beat Hillary Clinton in Florida, Republicans cast more than 1.1 million mail ballots, about 60,000 more than were cast by Democrats. Election officials expect mail voting to continue to increase this year before the Aug. 18 primary and Nov. 3 general election as both Republicans and Democrats encourage voters to request mail ballots. … Some election supervisors are promoting the method themselves.”
A loss and a gain
Bernie Sanders’ exit from the presidential race was disappointing for many who are part of the progressive movement, but some liberal leaders remain optimistic about the future, McClatchy’s Alex Roarty writes.
But with the Vermont senator losing decisively once the race turned into a one-on-one battle with Joe Biden, many progressives say that they need to learn from the mistakes of his campaign to win future elections. They’re encouraged, however, that Sanders’ “unapologetically leftist vision for the country was adopted more swiftly and uniformly than any of them expected — including from Biden himself.”
“Joe Biden’s going to be one of the most progressive nominees for president in history, and that’s because the entire Democratic Party has been moved forward on these issues,” said Charles Chamberlain, the executive director of Democracy for America, a grassroots liberal advocacy group.
Credit: Matt Rourke, AP
Biden may have an easier time winning over Sanders’ base than Clinton did four years ago, McClatchy’s David Catanese reports.
Biden’s advisers point to three reasons: “Biden’s visible and behind-the-scenes overtures on progressive policy, a considerably less contentious primary than … 2016, and the much higher stakes to remove Trump from office.”
“We did not wait until Sen. Sanders came to his conclusion to start this outreach and this work,” said Symone Sanders, a senior adviser to the Biden campaign, “... and we’ve seen a willingness to engage with us because we’re not doing it for press purposes.”
Former presidential candidate Tom Steyer said Biden’s most effective pitch to holdouts would focus on the issues: “He’s going to have to inspire them and reassure them that a lot of the values Bernie represented are going to be part of his platform and are in his heart.”
Another dynamic that could help Biden is the apparent fondness between him and Sanders “that could forge a more trusted alliance over time,” Catanese notes.
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Another primary
Sanders remains an option on the ballot in Alaska’s Democratic presidential primary, the Anchorage Daily News’ James Brooks reports. The primary is being conducted entirely by mail, and ballots must arrive by tomorrow.
Sanders said in his exit video that supporters could still vote for him, and that if he got enough votes, it could help the push for a more progressive policy platform at the Democratic National Convention.
Fifteen delegates are at stake in the Alaska primary. A candidate needs 1,991 pledged delegates to become the Democratic nominee. The latest numbers show Biden at 1,217 and Sanders at 914.
Results are expected Saturday, two days ahead of Wisconsin’s results.
Trail Mix
Election disruption
Missing absentee ballots are the latest problem for Wisconsin and some elections commissions are already making moves to investigate the issues, report Patrick Marley, Alison Dirr and Mary Spicuzza for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Georgia’s primary has been delayed again, this time from May 19 to June 9, Mark Niesse writes for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said all the state’s voters will be able to cast absentee ballots for the June 23 primary, the New York Daily News’ Denis Slattery reports.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam postponed the state’s June 9 primary to June 23, Caleb Stewart reports for WHSV-TV.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy officially postponed the state’s June 2 primary until July 7, saying “I don’t want a Wisconsin,” Brent Johnson of NJ Advance Media reports.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills said the state will likely be forced to delay its down-ballot primaries until July, but Secretary of State Matt Dunlap said that he would prefer an all-absentee ballot election in June instead, Jessica Piper of the Bangor Daily News writes.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon introduced legislation to expand mail-in voting and reduce in-person polling places in the state during the coronavirus pandemic, Stephen Montemayor writes for the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Lawmakers will consider changing Utah’s primary election date from June 30 to August 4 during a special session of the legislature next week, Lisa Riley Roche reports for the Deseret News.
Battle for Congress
Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia said “she will no longer invest in stocks for individual companies, an attempt to push past the criticism she faces about transactions made on her behalf during the coronavirus pandemic,” Tia Mitchell reports for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez is getting unmatched exposure for his coronavirus response as he runs for Congress in South Florida. David Smiley, Douglas Hanks and Alex Daugherty have the details in the Miami Herald.
Church and state
Kansas Republican leaders revoked Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s order limiting religious gatherings to 10 people ahead of Easter. Kelly called the decision “shockingly irresponsible” as the state sees a jump in coronavirus deaths, Jonathan Shorman, Amy Renee Leiker and Michael Stavola report for the Wichita Eagle.
Number of the Day
17,850
That’s the number of mail-in ballots Alaska Democratic Party officials said they received by Wednesday for the primary.
For Planning Purposes
April 10
Alaska primary (done by mail)
April 11
Alaska election results reported
April 13
Wisconsin election results reported
April 17
Wyoming primary (done by mail)
April 28
Ohio primary (done by mail)
“We got sucked into it”
Yes, the household of Sen. Kamala Harris is also streaming “Tiger King” and the former prosecutor weighs in on the Carol Baskin speculation.
Get more
McClatchy’s Beyond the Bubble team returns with a new episode TODAY. Listen as Alex Roarty, Adam Wollner, and David Catanese mark the beginning of the general election. Download it on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts
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This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 12:59 PM.