Impact2020: April 14, 2020
Welcome to your Impact2020 briefing for Tuesday, April 14. As President Trump continues to break from the nation’s governors on the coronavirus response, his pick in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race is dealt a defeat. Plus, we may get a late entrant into the race for the White House.
On the Ground
Trump pick rejected in Wisconsin
The results from last week’s Wisconsin elections are finally in. While Joe Biden easily defeated Bernie Sanders, who has since dropped out of the 2020 race and endorsed his former rival, in the state’s Democratic presidential primary as expected, there was one surprising result.
Liberal challenger Jill Karofsky beat conservative Justice Daniel Kelly 55% to 45%, a victory that’s giving Democrats confidence about their chances in the battleground state in November. Kelly was backed by prominent Republicans, including President Donald Trump, while Karofsky had the support of national Democrats like Biden and Sanders.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Patrick Marley writes that “Karofsky’s victory marked the first time in a dozen years that a Supreme Court challenger beat an incumbent — and just the second time in more than half a century. Her win … will shift conservative control of the court from 5-2 to 4-3.”
Still, Karofsky derided the decision to hold in-person voting during the coronavirus outbreak. “It was an untenable decision (on whether to vote), but the people of the state of Wisconsin rose up,” she said.
Credit: Morry Gash/ AP
The legal fight over the election, however, is only beginning. Chris Rickert of the Wisconsin State Journal reports: “A group of 14 Milwaukee-area residents filed a federal lawsuit Monday seeking at least a partial re-vote of last week’s election, which … was marred by long voter lines in Green Bay and Milwaukee and last-minute uncertainty over due dates for absentee ballots and whether in-person voting would proceed as scheduled.”
As for the presidential primary, Biden beat Sanders 63% to 32%, winning all 72 of Wisconsin’s counties, according to the Journal Sentinel.
Trump v. governors
In The State newspaper, Emma Dumain and Maayan Schechter outline the latest front in the ongoing battle between Trump and the nation’s governors over the coronavirus response.
“Trump says he has the power to decide when it’s safe to relax social distancing guidelines and reopen the U.S. economy — an assessment that could put the president on a collision course with governors who believe they are the ones with the authority to withdraw the restrictions on everyday life they put in place to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus,” they write.
In South Carolina, Dumain and Schecter note there’s the possibility that “could lead to an especially fraught confrontation” between the president and Gov. Henry McMaster, “one of Trump’s most loyal allies who is in charge of a state that is not due to see a peak number of COVID-19 cases for another few weeks.”
Elsewhere, the governors of Missouri and Kansas both asserted that they had the authority to decide when to end restrictions on social gathering. Gov. Mike Parson, a Missouri Republican, said the president was “well aware” of the power of states to decide when to lift restrictions, Bryan Lowry reports for the Kansas City Star.
In Ohio, GOP Gov. Mike DeWine “repeatedly declined to say directly whether he or … Trump will be the one to decide how and when to lift … coronavirus restrictions once the pandemic starts to die down,” Jeremy Pelzer writes for Cleveland.com.
In Georgia, GOP Gov. Brian Kemp said “it’s too early to tell when he will start to lift coronavirus restrictions on economic activity,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Greg Bluestein reports.
And in Texas, GOP Gov. Greg Abbott said reopening the state’s economy will be a “slow process” Patrick Svitek of the Texas Tribune reports.
Joining forces
Meanwhile, states on both coasts are banding together to fight the spread of the coronavirus and its economic effects.
Six northeast states — Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island — “are forming a council to determine the best way to crank up the economy after a shutdown of commerce that has paralyzed the U.S. for weeks,” Kris B. Mamula writes for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
And out west, the governors of California, Oregon and Washington state “announced an agreement on a shared vision for reopening their economies and controlling COVID-19 into the future,” Lauren Kirschman reports for the Tacoma News Tribune.
All nine states are represented by Democratic governors.
Obama endorses ... wait for it ... Biden
Barack Obama officially endorsed Biden in a video on Tuesday, saying his former vice president “has the character and the experience to guide us through one of our darkest times and heal us through a long recovery.”
He also had kind words for Biden’s former Democratic rival, Sanders. “Bernie’s an American original,” Obama said, “a man who has devoted his life to giving voice to working people’s hopes, dreams and frustrations.
McClatchy’s Charles Duncan has more on the endorsement.
You can get the latest 2020 presidential campaign news from David Catanese via text. Impact2020 subscribers, sign up here.
Trail Mix
Swing state watch
Republican-turned-independent Michigan Rep. Justin Amash indicated that he’s considering a late presidential bid, Beth LeBlanc of the Detroit News writes.
The Trump campaign is suing a local Wisconsin TV station for airing an ad from Democratic super PAC Priorities USA that criticizes the president’s coronavirus response, Laura Schulte reports for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Election disruption
“Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose continues to defend the integrity of voting by mail despite … Trump’s attacks on the process,” Marty Schladen reports for the Columbus Dispatch.
South Dakota voters will receive absentee ballot applications in the mail ahead of the June 2 primary, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader’s Joe Sneve reports.
Mail ballots in Georgia’s June 9 primary will be counted even without a stamp, Mark Niesse writes for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Battle for Congress
Democrat Raphael Warnock raised roughly $1.5 million over a two-month span since joining the race against Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, Greg Bluestein reports for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Republican Ted Howze is falling far behind Democratic Rep. Josh Harder in fundraising in a competitive California congressional district, Kate Irby reports for the Modesto Bee.
Number of the Day
5
Trump holds a narrow lead of 46% to 41% over Biden in the GOP stronghold of Utah, according to a new Utah Political Trends survey. Bryan Schott has more for Utah Policy.
For Planning Purposes
April 17
Wyoming primary (done by mail)
April 28
Ohio (almost entirely by mail)
What do you use at target practice?
Thanks to Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for drawing our eye to this campaign ad out of Georgia called “It’s Not Brain Surgery.” It ends at a shooting range with a COVID-19 target, but there’s so much crammed into 30 seconds you may need to watch it a few times.
We pod, too
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