Impact2020: July 1, 2020
It’s the first day of July! Welcome to today’s Impact2020 briefing. Let’s take a look at why Arizona is getting more attention from both parties, the volatility over Medicaid expansion in North Carolina, and the most notable results from last night’s primaries.
On the Ground
Action in Arizona
With President Donald Trump’s support slipping in Arizona, Democratic super PAC Priorities USA is pouring an additional $831,000 in TV ads into the battleground state, McClatchy’s Alex Roarty scoops. That’s “nearly as much money as the group has spent over the airwaves in the state the entire election cycle,” reports Roarty. “Combined with digital ads, Priorities plans to spend more than $1 million total in Arizona in July.”
Why? The group’s internal data showed “more movement” in Arizona “than any other battleground state” in recent tracking. At a recent briefing, “Priorities chairman Guy Cecil identified Arizona and North Carolina as the two swing states that had shifted the most in” Joe Biden’s favor.
Credit: Evan Vucci, AP
Meanwhile, Trump is making plans to spend a considerable amount of money in Arizona and five other swing states — Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin — this fall. Cleveland.com’s Seth A. Richardson reports that the campaign has bought more than $80 million worth of TV ad time in those states between Labor Day and Election Day.
In a more immediate effort to reverse the GOP’s dip in Arizona, Vice President Mike Pence is traveling to Phoenix today, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez of the Arizona Republic reports. Pence and Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, will meet privately with Gov. Doug Ducey and state health officials as COVID-19 cases surge in the state.
Another ACA fight in NC
With the U.S. Supreme Court hearing arguments over the Affordable Care Act again, the fight over the law’s Medicaid expansion provision is taking center stage in the North Carolina Senate race, Brian Murphy reports for the Raleigh News & Observer.
North Carolina is one of 14 states that has not expanded Medicaid under the law, and it remains a “key dispute between the state’s Democratic governor and its Republican-led legislature,” Murphy writes. In his Senate race against Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, “Democrat Cal Cunningham has positioned himself as a defender of the law and proponent of Medicaid expansion.”
Tillis, a former state House Speaker, used his opposition to Obamacare to help unseat Sen. Kay Hagan in 2014.
“Just one year ago this week, give or take, he was still proudly saying that he was the speaker who made it illegal for the governor to expand Medicaid, and then he has voted repeatedly to repeal the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion is one of the key pieces of that important law,” Cunningham said in an interview.
Indeed, Tillis told Spectrum News last year that he “signed the bill that made it illegal to expand Medicaid … Because it was a bad deal, it wasn’t fiscally sustainable.” But in a statement this week, Tillis’ campaign said the senator “saved Medicaid in North Carolina” with his decision not to expand at that time.
An unfair advantage?
Three of the four candidates who are set to appear in the Kansas Republican Party’s final U.S. Senate debate are threatening to boycott over format changes they say will benefit one candidate, Bryan Lowry reports for the Kansas City Star.
Kris Kobach, Dave Lindstrom and Bob Hamilton issued a joint statement saying the switch from putting all the candidates on stage together to appearing individually on July 15 will benefit Rep. Roger Marshall.
“By demanding a format change, Roger Marshall is running from the very questions that Kansas voters deserve answers to. We call on the Kansas GOP to honor the terms put forward earlier this year and reinstate the agreed upon format,” said the joint statement.
Last week, Kobach attacked Marshall over the immigration policy, government spending and his 2008 criminal case in a debate in Wichita. “ An interview format would spare Marshall from having to share a stage with Kobach and face similar attacks,” Lowry writes.
But Sharon Golden, the executive director of the Kansas GOP, said that the change was in line with a memorandum of understanding with the candidates in January. And according to copies of the memo provided by the state GOP and Kobach campaign, it states, “Any event in which multiple candidates are present and the candidates are directed to respond to one another or are asked to each respond to questions is considered a debate.”
Trail Mix
Election results
Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper will face Republican Sen. Cory Gardner in November after defeating Andrew Romanoff in the Democratic primary, Ernest Luning reports for Colorado Politics.
GOP Rep. Scott Tipton lost his primary in Colorado’s 3rd congressional district, sending his far-right challenger, Lauren Boebert, to the general election, reports the Denver Post’s Diane Mitchell.
Early results in the GOP primary for Utah governor show Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox holding a small lead over former Gov. Jon Huntsman, the Salt Lake Tribune’s Bethany Rodgers and Taylor Stevens report.
The Republican primary in Oklahoma’s 5th congressional district is going to an Aug. 25 runoff between state Sen. Stephanie Bice and businesswoman Terry Neese, The Oklahoman’s Chris Casteel writes.
Oklahoma voters also narrowly approved a ballot measure to expand Medicaid in the state, Carmen Forman reports for The Oklahoman.
With 29% of the state’s voters participating in the June primary, Kentucky fell just short of record turnout, the Lexington Herald-Leader’s Daniel Desrochers reports.
Battleground state watch
In a survey of 220 of Florida political insiders, 72% said that holding the Republican National Convention in the state is a public health risk, the Tampa Bay Times’ Steve Contorno reports.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court will likely not rule on a voter purge case before the presidential election, the Wisconsin State Journal‘s Mitchell Schmidt writes.
Early voting is now limited to the two weeks before an election in Wisconsin after a federal appeals court ruling. WisPolitics.com has more details here.
Protest fallout
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves officially signed a bill to retire the state flag with the Confederate emblem after 126 years, Patrick Magee reports for the Biloxi Sun Herald.
Veepstakes
Allison Garfield of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin headlining an LGBTQ community event hosted by Biden’s campaign is fueling speculation she could be the first openly gay vice presidential candidate in history.
Number of the Day
72%
That’s how many Democrats who say it’s “important” Biden to pick a woman of color as his running mate, according to the latest national USA Today/Suffolk University poll.
For Planning Purposes
July 1
Pence meets with Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and state health officials in Phoenix
Biden holds a virtual fundraiser
July 2
Biden hosts a national call with Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois
Pence travels to Florida
July 7
Delaware and New Jersey hold primaries
July 8
Biden holds virtual event for high school students with Karine Jean-Pierre
“If we mask up, we can open up”
Credit: Jennifer King, The Tri-City Herald
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee gets drowned out by protesters in a briefing addressing coronavirus concerns.
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