Baca wants to return to Congress as a Republican. (CQ Roll Call)
Former Democratic California Rep. Joe Baca is running for a seat in the House, this time as a Republican.
Baca previously served in Congress as a Democrat from 1999 to 2013, before losing to fellow Democrat Gloria Negrete McLeod. In 2014, Baca ran for a seat in California’s 31st district but failed to make it out of the primary. California has a top-two primary system, where voters can choose any of the candidates in any party and then the top two candidates square off in the general election.
Baca will be facing the eventual winner of the 2014 race, Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., and will be one of three other Republicans running for the seat, along with Aguilar, another Democrat and another candidate whose party was not specified.
In 2015, Baca changed parties, saying it reflected his “core Christian” values. Baca was considered a moderate Democrat in Congress, having been a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.
Contact Garcia at EricGarcia@cqrollcall.com and follow him on Twitter @EricMGarcia
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Fiorina is throwing her support to Cruz. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Sen. Ted Cruz isn’t having much luck getting the endorsements of his Senate colleagues, but he has picked up one from a former foe: Carly Fiorina.
“Ted Cruz is a fearless fighter for our constitutional rights. He has spent his life protecting Americans’ God-given liberties, and he has always stood by his word. Unlike the status-quo political class in D.C., Ted Cruz didn’t cower when he got to Washington – he stood unequivocally for the American people. I know Ted, and he’ll do the same as president,” the former chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard said in a statement.
Judge has been in Washington meeting with Democrats, who are targeting Grassley anew. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Sen. Charles E. Grassley is an institution in Iowa, and started the year a prohibitive favorite to win a seventh term. But as the point man for blocking consideration of a Supreme Court nominee, the Republican is getting some concerted needling from Democrats determined to paint him as the poster boy of congressional obstructionism.
They are even bringing in one of Grassley’s potential opponents to the Capitol to help make that point.
“Iowans believe you are elected to do that job,” former Iowa Lt. Gov. Patty Judge said Tuesday after joining Democrats for their Tuesday policy lunch. Full story
Tuesday night was a good one for Donald Trump. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Donald Trump stayed strong in the south and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s campaign looked weak, despite high-profile endorsement in the Republican primaries. On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won by a large margin over Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders in Mississippi, continuing her southern dominance, though in Michigan, Sanders pulled out a close win and a stunning upset. And the race continues.
So what’s next for the campaigns and how will they adjust strategies before upcoming debates and important primaries?
Democratic ad seeks to gain ground with voters in the New Hampshire Senate race by magnifying GOP turmoil on the campaign trail and its position on an Obama Supreme Court nominee. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Democrats love to criticize Republican senators about Donald Trump’s candidacy and the Supreme Court vacancy. Now, they’re combining the two issues into one TV ad.
A Super PAC aligned with Senate Democrats is airing a new ad aimed at New Hampshire Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte, linking her refusal to consider a new Supreme Court justice with the front-runner of the GOP presidential primary.
The 30-second spot starts with a clip of Trump urging senators to delay confirmation — before a narrator says that Ayotte wants to let the former reality TV star fill the open slot.
Sanders won a surprise victory over Clinton, but she still has a commanding lead in the delegate count.(Meredith Dake-O’Connor/CQ Roll Call)
Presidential hopeful Bernard Sanders scored a narrow, upset victory Tuesday over Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in the Michigan primary, blunting her momentum even as she secured a lopsided win in the Mississippi contest.
Clinton will emerge with more delegates but with new doubts about her campaign’s appeal to blue-collar voters as she heads into important primaries in such industrial states as Ohio, Illinois and Missouri on March 15.
Sanders predicted his campaign would be more successful in the weeks ahead.
“Frankly we believe that our strongest areas are yet to happen,” the Vermont senator said. “We’re going to do very very well on the West Coast.”
On the Republican side, Donald Trump won both the Mississippi and Michigan primaries, making it harder for the three other GOP contenders to lay claim to the presidential nomination. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the Idaho caucuses Tuesday night.
“So many horrible, horrible things said about me in one week,” Trump told an audience in Florida. “It shows you how brilliant the public is that they realize these were lies.”
In Michigan, Sanders spent countless hours and more than $1 million for ads in recent weeks, hoping to appeal to working class voters. He focused heavily on the issue of free trade, arguing that foreign trade deals have taken manufacturing and other jobs away from American workers, especially in the Rust Belt.
Sanders spoke about his opposition to the North American Free Trade Deal in the 1990s. He also has highlighted his opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Trade is considered a hot-button issue, with Ford Motor Co. saying it opposed the trade accord in its current form in November. About 60 percent of the voters who were concerned about the trade issue voted for him, exit polls showed.
Clinton stressed her strong support for President Barack Obama and her intention continue to pursue his policies. About 63 percent of the voters who support continuing Obama’s policies voted for Clinton, the polls showed.
Sanders was projected by the Associated Press to win Michigan, leading Clinton by less than 2 percentage points with 99 percent of the ballots counted. The narrow margin in the race means the candidate will split Michigan’s 130 Democratic delegates.
However, Clinton still maintains a commanding lead in the delegate count needed to win the nomination.
Joe Trippi, who served as campaign manager for Democrat Howard Dean’s 2004 run, said not much has changed due to the way the party apportions delegates to each candidate.
“It doesn’t do you any good when your wins are by a few points,” he said, contrasting it with Hillary’s victories in southern states. “He has some big wins, but they have been few and far between.”
Exit polls Tuesday also reflected trends common in other states: Sanders won about 80 percent of voters younger than 30, while Clinton took about two thirds of the African-American vote. For Clinton, that was a smaller share than in other contests. In Mississippi on Tuesday, for instance, she won nine out of 10 African American votes.
Clinton’s projected 60-point margin of victory in Mississippi continued a string of wins in southern states, which began with South Carolina and continued through Super Tuesday last week. Mississippi has 36 Democratic delegates in play.
She and Sanders will also compete in Florida Ohio, Illinois and Missouri and North Carolina on March 15, as well as Northern Marianas Caucus on Saturday. Republicans have caucuses in the Northern Marianas and Washington, D.C. on Saturday, along with the five state primaries on March 15.
In the Republican race, Donald Trump won handily in Michigan, beating out Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who had been pushing for a strong finish in the state. Kasich came in second, followed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, with 59 delegates up for grabs.
In Mississippi, Trump beat back a challenge from Cruz, who earned the endorsement of Gov. Phil Bryant and who expected to perform well with evangelical voters. Instead Trump beat Cruz among the evangelical population, exits polls show. Cruz, came in second, followed by Kasich and Rubio. Forty Republican delegates were in play.
In Michigan, voter turnout was also higher than in previous elections. The Detroit News reported that the Secretary of State’s office projected that roughly 2 million voters, about 27 percent of the state’s voters, turned out, making it a primary with one of the highest voter turnouts in recent history.
Contact Garcia at EricGarcia@cqrollcall.com and follow him on Twitter @EricMGarcia.
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Clinton won an easy victory in Mississippi. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Hillary Clinton secured a lopsided win ahead of Bernie Sanders in the Mississippi Democratic primary Tuesday night, while Donald Trump scored a solid victory in the GOP field, according to early reports.
Clinton continued her string of victories in Southern states, winning nine out of 10 votes in Mississippi’s African-American community. Mississippi has 36 Democratic delegates in play for the race.
Donald Trump beat back a challenge from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who earned the endorsement of the state’s Gov. Phil Bryan and who expected to perform well with evangelical voters. Instead Trump beat Cruz among the evangelical population, exits polls show. Cruz, came in second, followed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich and then Sen. Marco Rubio. Forty Republican delegates were in play.
Clinton and Trump have both won a series of Southern states, including Arkansas, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia.
Contact Garcia at EricGarcia@cqrollcall.com and follow him on Twitter @EricMGarcia.
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Cruz takes the stage at a town-hall style interview in Raleigh. (Al Drago/CQ Roll Call)
RALEIGH, N.C. — As a former pastor, Fred Wolfe has seen plenty of evangelical Christians make a distinction between religion and politics. They look for “toughness, not morals” in their candidates, he said, and so are probably voting for GOP front-runner Donald Trump this year. Wolfe himself, though, is canvassing for Sen. Ted Cruz in North Carolina.
“He’s the first Republican candidate I’ve been able to support with a clean conscience,” said Wolfe, 37, one of many conservative Christians who turned out to the hear the Texas Republican speak at Calvary Baptist Church here.
“You see your Christianity by the fruit you display,” said Debby Taylor, who believes the tide is turning slightly in Cruz’s favor. Her No. 1 issue, she said, is abortion. As for Trump, she said she’s not convinced that “he has a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.” And she was troubled by Trump’s crude comments in last week’s GOP debate: “It’s very sad that you cannot let your children see the process of watching a presidential election.”
Duckworth takes issue with GOP tweet. (Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Illinois Senate candidate Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., criticized the National Republican Senatorial Committee for releasing a tweet that appeared to be a swipe at her status as a disabled veteran.
Earlier in the day, the NRSC released a now-deleted tweet saying, “Tammy Duckworth has a sad record of not standing up for our veterans.” Duckworth lost both of her legs during the Iraq War while piloting a helicopter. Full story
McGinty ran a seven-figure spot in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. (Meredith Dake-O’Connor/CQ Roll Call)
Democratic Pennsylvania Senate candidate Katie McGinty released her first ad of the campaign season that will run through the state’s April 26 primary.
The ad features McGinty, a former candidate for governor and former chief of staff to Gov. Tom Wolf, speaking about the U.S. adding 14 million new jobs since the Great Recession while manufacturers work in the background talking. Full story
Bloomberg, right, said his run could have the effect of electing Cruz or Trump. (CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will not run for president 2016, quelling months of speculation he was considering a bid.
In an op-ed on BloombergView, the billionaire media mogul and political veteran wrote that his decision was based on careful consideration, and thanked supporters. Full story
(Click to enlarge.)
“Which presidential hopeful are you endorsing?”
It’s a question Republican lawmakers have been hearing most often, especially with a Donald Trump in the mix. Democrats have largely been left out of the conversation. While many Democrats in Congress have coalesced around former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and a few have backed Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders, several members of the caucus have not given an endorsement.
The 27 uncommitted Democrats largely fall into four different categories:
New Democrats: This business friendly, moderate coalition is chaired by Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis. The coalition generally favors the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which both Sanders and Clinton oppose; Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, was one of the 28 Democrats to support Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). Albio Sires, D-N.J., is generally liberal but broke with the party on the Keystone XL Pipeline and Cuba normalization.
Blue Dog Democrats/Risky Districts: Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., represents a Republican district and is arguably the most conservative Democrat in the House. He and Arizonan Kyrsten Sinema, another “Blue Dog,” are being targeted by the NRCC. Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill., is in a safe district but opposes the Affordable Care Act and is staunchly pro-life; he did not endorse Barack Obama for re-election. Sanford D. Bishop Jr. of Georgia has often opposed environmental regulation and is socially more conservative than many House Democrats.
Party Heavyweights: Certain members of the Democratic Party are senior ranking members, head committees or are part of congressional or political leadership, and therefore likely will stay out of the primary fight. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has come close but has not definitively endorse Clinton. When the Congressional Black Caucus PAC endorsed Clinton for president, House Benghazi Committee ranking member, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., was one of only two abstentions in the endorsement. As chair of the Democratic National Committee, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida has said, she is neutral in the primary, despite some Sanders supporters seeing her as being supportive of Clinton, whom she endorsed in 2008. Montana Sen. Jon Tester is chair of the DSCC. Perhaps the most high-profile non-endorsement is Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who has her own following as a party leader.
Progressive Caucus: Many progressives have been critical of Clinton’s speaking fees at financial institutions or question her progressive bona fides. This may be the root of why some members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus have withheld their endorsement. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., is critical of the TPP. Reps. Alan Lowenthal of California and Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, are also members of the caucus. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., was the only member of Congress to oppose the Afghanistan War.
Contact Garcia at EricGarcia@cqrollcall.com and follow him on Twitter @EricMGarcia
Contact Clearfield at AlexClearfield@cqrollcall.com
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Cruz’s unexpectedly strong victories in Maine and Kansas give some Republicans fresh hope that Trump will fail to win the 1,237 delegates necessary to clinch the nomination. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Michael Najvar is part of the Republican Party’s electoral bedrock: The 67-year-old Texan says he has voted for every GOP presidential nominee since Ronald Reagan. But that’s a streak that might end this fall, the Donald Trump supporter says, if rival campaigns and party bosses use a contested convention to block the New York billionaire from the presidential nomination.
“If they used a brokered convention, they’d destroy the GOP,” says Navjar, who attended the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday wearing Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” red hat.
Women in matching red elephant skirts ride the escalator at the CPAC conference. Some think Donald Trump could have problems in a general election fight over comments some view as sexist. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
As we all know by now, Donald Trump wants the voters of America to know that he is well-endowed, that women love him, and that he “cherishes” them.
But some of the women in his party aren’t impressed.
Several strategists pointed out the difference in tone between Democrats’ and Republican debates. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Sunday was the Democrats’ turn in the debate spotlight. The setting was indeed newsworthy. The host city for the CNN debate was Flint, Mich., where residents continue to deal with a toxic water crisis. The two candidates, Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, both have spoken about challenges in Flint, and issues of racial and economic fairness and accountability of government.
After splitting wins on Saturday, and before Tuesday’s primaries, how did they do? Several Democratic-leaning analysts who weighed in favored Clinton:
