Campaign Report
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Campaign Report
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Republicans’ busy week of pitch-making
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Republican presidential hopefuls and conservative activists have a full lineup in the coming days between the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and Club for Growth donor retreat. The poll leaders, former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, are each appearing at one event – but not the same one.
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The two most prominent Republicans officially running for president will be at CPAC. Trump is speaking on Saturday and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is slated for Friday. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, also running in 2024, is speaking Friday. Potential 2024 contender and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to speak Thursday.
The Hill’s Caroline Vakil has more on who will and won’t be speaking at CPAC here.
Haley and Ramaswamy will also speak at the Club for Growth’s donor retreat, as will several potential 2024 candidates, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – absent from this year’s CPAC lineup (he spoke at last year’s event and, according to CBS News, declined an invite to this year’s). Also speaking at the donor retreat: Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu.
“While the retreat will be a notably smaller and more exclusive affair than CPAC, it’s also seen as a prime opportunity for current and would-be candidates to introduce themselves to donors,” The Hill’s Max Greenwood wrote.
Trump was not invited (Pompeo was, Max reported, but can’t attend). Club for Growth president David McIntosh told reporters last month the group would support Trump if he won the GOP nomination but expressed concern he might not win the general election.
Americans for Prosperity, a major group within Charles Koch’s Libertarian-leaning donor network, said last month that it plans to support someone other than Trump in the 2024 primary.
DeSantis’s donor retreat appearance is part of a schedule that includes fundraisers in Texas on Saturday and a reception for the Orange County GOP in California Sunday. DeSantis is also promoting his book, which was released Tuesday. More from Max on DeSantis’s increasingly campaign-y moves here.
On the Democratic side, author Marianne Williamson is officially launching her second Democratic presidential primary campaign in D.C. on Saturday. President Biden hasn’t officially announced a reelection bid, though he said he intends to run again.
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Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, I’m Amee LaTour. Each week we track the key stories you need to know to stay ahead of the 2024 election and who will set the agenda in Washington.
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Key election stories and other recent campaign coverage:
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The first big day of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is in full swing, with planned speeches from Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others. Watch CPAC live here.
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Conservative activists, elected officials and luminaries are gathering outside of Washington this week for the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an annual event that will gauge the mood of Republicans ahead of an expectedly contentious 2024 presidential primary. The event is set to draw some of the biggest names in Republican politics — including several current and would-be White House hopefuls — to National …
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Michigan Republicans are anxious about 2024 as the party recovers from a disappointing midterm and struggles to find a way to reset in a key battleground state. As Democrats look to expand on their 2022 victories with Rep. Elissa Slotkin (Mich.) announcing her campaign for the state’s open Senate seat in 2024, Republicans in the state find themselves playing defense up and down the ballot. Republicans’ chief concerns …
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Upcoming news themes and events we’re watching:
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- 33 days until Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election and Chicago’s runoffs
- 250 days until 2023’s gubernatorial and state legislative elections
- 614 days until the 2024 general election
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Johnson and Vallas in Chicago mayoral runoff
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© AP-Charles Rex Arbogast
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Incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s tenure comes to an end this year, and either Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson or former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas will succeed her. The runoff is April 4.
Crime and public safety will likely be central issues in the race, as they were in the preliminary election. Vallas was endorsed by the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police. His plan includes hiring more police officers. Johnson’s plan includes having health professionals respond to crisis calls instead of police. Before campaigning for mayor, Johnson expressed support for the “defund” movement. He’s avoided that word in his campaign and told The Hill recently he’s for “investing in what works.”
Vallas received the most votes Tuesday at 34 percent, and Johnson had 20 percent. Lightfoot was third with 17 percent. Six others ran.
In 2019’s February election, Lightfoot received the most votes in the 14-candidate field at 18 percent. As of the count Thursday, turnout this year was at 33 percent, nearing the 2019 February election’s 36 percent. Mail ballots are still being counted.
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St. Louis’s second approval voting election
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© AP Photo/Thomas Peipert, File
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St. Louis, Mo. holds its second round of city elections using approval voting next Tuesday. Voters approved the system via ballot measure in 2020. Aldermanic seats are on the ballot this year.
Approval voting is only used in one other place in the U.S.: Fargo, N.D., where voters passed it with 64 percent support in 2018.
How it works: St. Louis holds top-two primaries using approval voting. The two candidates with the most votes in races with more than two candidates on Tuesday will advance to the April 4 general election. People can vote for as many candidates in a race as they want. Unlike in ranked-choice voting (RCV), there’s no ranking candidates in order of preference. All votes are counted at the same time.
For example: In 2021, 44,571 people cast a total of 69,661 votes in St. Louis’ mayoral primary. Of four candidates, Tishaura Jones and Cara Spencer received the largest and second-largest number of votes among the 69,661 cast, so they advanced to the general.
Disapproval voting: The North Dakota House voted 74-19 for a bill last month to ban approval voting and RCV in the state. The debate includes arguments around whether these voting methods violate the “one-person-one-vote” principle, whether they allow for better representation and whether the state should determine how municipalities conduct elections.
Voters in Seattle, Wa. last year approved a ballot measure to implement either approval voting or RCV. Ultimately, 76 percent favored RCV.
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Branch out with a different read from The Hill:
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Former Vice President Mike Pence said in an interview that he disagrees with Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s latest calls for politicians to take mental competency tests, saying that U.S. citizens “can sort that out.” In an interview with CBS News that aired Wednesday, Pence told political correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns that he is “confident” U.S. citizens will choose the best candidate based on …
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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) endorsed Rep. Barbara Lee’s (D-Calif.) bid for Senate on Wednesday, as Democrats brace for what is shaping up to be a competitive intraparty battle over the open seat in The Golden State. “@BarbaraLeeForCA and I have been friends for decades, and I am proud to endorse her for U.S. Senate,” Bass tweeted. “I’ve seen her leadership firsthand,” she added. “Her work in a divided government …
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Local and state headlines regarding campaigns and elections:
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Jeylu Gutierrez Will Replace Indicted Ald. Ed Burke, Becoming 14th Ward’s 1st New Leader In 50 Years (Block Club Chicago)
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Could ‘a ton of money’ solve Missouri Democrats’ statewide election woes? (St. Louis Public Radio)
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Burlington Ballot Proposes Big Changes in City Election Rules (Seven Days)
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Election news we’ve flagged from other outlets:
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Ad costs for House races could spike in some battleground states (Roll Call)
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Ron DeSantis’ plan to make America Florida (and beat Donald Trump) (Semafor)
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Could Biden choose a new running mate in 2024? (The 19th)
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Key stories on The Hill right now:
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The House Ethics Committee has established an investigative subcommittee to look into issues surrounding Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who has admitted to numerous fabrications about his background and faced scrutiny over his campaign and personal finances, the panel announced Thursday. The committee said the panel will look into whether … Read more
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President Biden on Thursday said that he won’t veto legislation that Republicans have championed that would undo parts of a District of Columbia crime bill. The president told Senate Democrats about his intention to not veto the bill when he went up to the Capitol on Thursday to meet with the caucus, several senators reported after … Read more
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Opinions related to campaigns and elections submitted to The Hill:
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You’re all caught up. See you next time!
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