Campaign Report
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Campaign Report
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What Wisconsin and Chicago’s elections tell us about 2024
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Democrats – particularly progressives – are invigorated after Tuesday’s elections, notching major victories in competitive races for Wisconsin’s Supreme Court and Chicago’s mayoral office ahead of 2024.
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The Hill’s Caroline Vakil writes that Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz’s victory gives Democrats a boost in the battleground state as they prepare for the presidential election and the race for incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s seat.
Protasiewicz won the state’s vacant Supreme Court seat against conservative former state Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly, closing out one of the most expensive and closely watched races this year.
Additionally, the win continues to make Democrats more optimistic about the galvanizing effect of abortion access as an issue to voters.
“I think the reason for that is pretty straightforward: [Republicans] have got an abortion problem. And as that issue continues to drive our politics and the conversation for probably the next couple of years, they have got to figure it out or they are going to continue to struggle when it comes to putting together a statewide coalition,” Wisconsin-based Democratic strategist Joe Zepecki told Caroline.
Progressives are also feeling a big boost of momentum following the elections in Wisconsin and in Chicago.
The Hill’s Hanna Trudo reports that Brandon Johnson’s win in the Chicago mayoral race gives progressives confidence in their approach to big cities after concerns rose over the handling of policing and crime in New York. Johnson and Protasiewicz’s victories will help progressives gain traction going into next year’s elections.
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Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, I’m Julia Manchester. 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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Only a third of Americans in a new CNN poll released on Thursday said President Biden deserves to be reelected. Just 32 percent of respondents said the president should be reelected, down from 37 percent in a December poll. Another 67 percent in Thursday’s poll said they believe Biden does not deserve to be reelected. While Biden has yet to announce his reelection bid, he has repeatedly indicated that he plans to …
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Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) endorsed Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) for Senate on Thursday, marking the Arizona Democrat’s third endorsement from a House lawmaker as he vies for the seat currently held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.). “Now, more than ever, our country needs elected officials who stand firm in the face of extremist Republicans who are threatening our legal and democratic institutions,” Goldman said in a statement. …
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Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) is heading to New Hampshire this week amid speculation that he’s moving closer to a 2024 presidential bid. Scott is set to swing through the first-in-the-nation primary state next Thursday, according to his team. He’s expected to meet with voters at a Manchester, N.H., diner in the morning before huddling with local pastors and Republican leaders later in the day. The New Hampshire trip is part …
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Upcoming news themes and events we’re watching:
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- 191 days until Louisiana’s gubernatorial primary
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215 days until Kentucky’s and Mississippi’s gubernatorial generals
- 579 days until the 2024 general election
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2024 Presidential Race Watch
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Biden gets another 2024 Democratic challenger
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© AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File
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Longtime anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed paperwork on Wednesday to run for president as a Democrat, following author and former Democratic candidate Marianne Williamson.
Kennedy is the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and son of former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. He is the head of the Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine organization that often promotes unproven theories about the safety of vaccines. It has received strong criticism for its misinformation.
And Kennedy has faced backlash for the misinformation, particularly on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden has yet to formally announce his 2024 reelection bid.
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The Hill’s Karl Evers-Hillstrom dives deep into the ever-growing feud between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and the Walt Disney Co.
The company’s CEO Bob Iger went on the offense this week, calling the Parental Rights in Education Act, known by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, as “anti-business” and “anti-Florida.”
In response to Disney’s criticism of Florida Republicans’ law to limit discussion of sexual orientation and gender in schools, DeSantis led an effort to strip Disney of power it had for more than 50 years to broadly control land use in a 39-mile district surrounding its Central Florida resort.
The board overseeing the land would be directly chosen by DeSantis rather than Disney. However, Disney reached a deal with its allies on the outgoing board that would keep the corporation in control of the district and potentially give it even more power.
DeSantis has called for an investigation into Disney’s decision, calling it “collusive and self-dealing arrangements.”
You can read Karl’s full piece here.
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Branch out with a different read from The Hill:
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Adam Frisch, the Democratic challenger who nearly ousted Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) in the midterm elections last year, announced that he raised more than $1.7 million in the first quarter of 2023 as he prepares for a rematch against the Republican firebrand. Frisch raised the money in just over a month, officially launching his campaign in mid-February. His campaign said the average donation was about $36 and it received …
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Local and state headlines regarding campaigns and elections:
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom visits New College, countering DeSantis (Tampa Bay Times)
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Switching parties, Rep. Tricia Cotham is formally welcomed to NC House GOP Caucus (The News and Observer)
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Election news we’ve flagged from other outlets:
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Trump’s criminal case in New York may collide with the 2024 campaign (The Washington Post)
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Trump makes play for DeSantis donors (Politico)
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Key stories on The Hill right now:
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The Supreme Court has ruled that transgender athletes in West Virginia can compete on female school sports teams in response to a challenge by the state to allow it to enforce a law that prohibits such athletes from doing so. In a brief, unsigned order, the justices denied the state’s emergency request to lift an appeals court’s injunction, … Read more
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Democrats are voicing outrage following a report that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepted luxury trips for more than two decades from a Republican mega-donor without disclosing them. ProPublica reported on Thursday that Harlan Crow, a Dallas-based real estate developer who has donated millions to conservative causes, paid for … 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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