Impact2020: May 27, 2020
Welcome to your Impact2020 briefing for Wednesday, May 27. Why President Trump’s visit to Florida is about more than the SpaceX launch, North Carolina faces a new GOP convention deadline, and more partisan squabbling over California’s vote-by-mail order.
On the Ground
‘A relaunch of America’
For the first time in nearly a decade, astronauts will launch from American soil and President Donald Trump is slated to be there to watch it happen. Francesca Chambers and David Smiley explain in the Miami Herald why the SpaceX launch, taking place in the battleground state of Florida, is important for Trump.
“The launch from Florida’s Space Coast is a ready-made opportunity for the … president, who in his first term has prioritized space exploration, to push his message that America is open for business. The launch also offers Trump — unable to hold his signature rallies due to coronavirus restrictions — a dramatic homecoming at a crucial period, with states reopening and Election Day less than six months away.”
Credit: David J. Phillip, AP
GOP Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida called the launch “hugely symbolic on a number of levels,” adding that “in the wake of this virus, it’s a relaunch of America.”
But Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Terrie Rizzo chalked up Trump’s visit as politics as usual.
“While we celebrate the SpaceX launch and are grateful it’s taking place in our state, let’s be clear that Donald Trump is not coming to Florida because the success of this mission depends on the president’s presence — he’s coming to campaign in the largest battleground state in the country,” Rizzo said.
The ultimatum
Trump is also adding further pressure on North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to ensure the Republican National Convention in Charlotte will be able to go forward as planned in late August.
“I would say within a week that certainly we have to know. if he can’t do it, if he feels he’s not going to do it, all he has to do is tell us. And then we’ll have to pick another location. And I tell you a lot of locations want it,” Trump said.
Before Trump’s comments, Cooper said public health and safety, not politics, would be the “guiding star” of a decision about the convention. As Jim Morrill and Brian Murphy note for the Charlotte Observer, “It was the first time Cooper, a Democrat, had personally responded to Trump’s Monday tweets threatening to move the convention from Charlotte.”
The exchange “reflected the tension between state officials like Cooper who are gradually reopening the economy and those like Trump who want it done more quickly,” write Morril and Murphy.
Once expected to bring 50,000 people, there could be fewer people at the convention in a state that just moved into phase two of its reopening. North Carolina health officials have asked convention organizers to provide written plans about how they would ensure the health of anyone at the convention.
Vote-by-mail fact check
Republicans are challenging California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order allowing all California voters to cast their ballot by mail, calling it a “recipe for disaster” that will trigger widespread fraud and abuse. Trump even chimed in on Twitter, saying the Democratic governor will be presiding over a “rigged election.”
David Lightman fact-checked those claims for the Sacramento Bee, finding “that independent studies and experts have repeatedly found that voting by mail does not lead to much abuse at all.”
“In fact, any sort of voter fraud is rare. The federal Centers for Disease Control is encouraging mail-in voting where allowed,” Lightman writes. “In a special California House election last month that was conducted largely by mail, the Republican won a seat that had been held by a Democrat last year.”
For the first time ever, Twitter also fact-checked Trump’s tweets about voting in California, urging readers to “get the facts about mail-in ballots.”
Trail Mix
Election disruption
A West Virginia mail carrier is accused of tampering with absentee ballot requests and has been charged, McClatchy’s Mitchell Willetts reports.
In North Carolina, voting rights and social justice groups organized a virtual day of action pushing for changes to a new absentee ballot bill, the Raleigh News & Observer’s Will Doran reports.
A mail-in ballot surge suggests fewer people will vote early in-person for the June primary, according to some county election clerks in Indiana. David J. Kim has the story for the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Philadelphia’s election chief is warning that coronavirus budget cuts are a threat to the November election. More from the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jonathan Lai and Laura McCrystal.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson moved a Medicaid expansion amendment from the November general election ballot to the August primary ballot, Jason Hancock writes for the Kansas City Star.
Battle for Congress
Republicans have conceded that California congressional candidate Ted Howze’s chances of election are now “impossible” after national GOP groups and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pulled endorsements, Kate Irby reports for the Modesto Bee.
Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s “office has confirmed that the U.S. Department of Justice has closed an investigation into recent stock trades made on her behalf,” Tia Mitchell reports for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Rep. Roger Marshall of Kansas has filed an objection after the Kansas Secretary of State’s office rejected his request to have “Doc” appear in his name on the ballot in the U.S. Senate race, Bryan Lowry reports for the Kansas City Star.
New Mexico may be on the cusp of electing an all-female U.S. House delegation, notes the AP’s Russel Contreras.
Two state agencies say Former Kansas City Chiefs player Dave Lindstrom’s Senate campaign is violating Kansas law by raffling a jersey signed by Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes, reports Bryan Lowry for the Kansas City Star.
Number of the Day
3
That’s how many percentage points separate Trump and Joe Biden in the reliably Republican state of Utah, according to a new UtahPolicy/KUTV 2 News survey conducted by Y2 Analytics.
For planning purposes
May 27
Trump travels to Florida for the SpaceX launch
Biden holds a virtual fundraiser
June 2
Primaries in Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Washington, D.C.
June 6
Virgin Islands holds its Democratic caucus
June 9
Georgia and West Virginia hold primaries
June 23
Kentucky and New York hold primaries
Ctrl+Z and flatten that curve...
This satirical video from The Daily Show reimagines Microsoft Excel for state governors “tired of manipulating [their] coronavirus data.”
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This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 11:49 AM.