The Hill’s Campaign Report: Democrat concedes in California House race

Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, your daily rundown on all the latest news in the 2020 presidential, Senate and House races. Did someone forward this to you? Click here to subscribe.

We’re Julia Manchester, Max Greenwood and Jonathan Easley. Here’s what we’re watching today on the campaign trail. 

BREAKING NEWS: Democratic state Assemblywoman Christy Smith on Wednesday conceded defeat in the special election in California’s 25th District after vote returns showed her opponent, Republican Mike Garcia, with a comfortable lead.

The concession flips the seat that was won by former Democratic Rep. Katie Hill in 2018. Hill resigned amid a House ethics investigation into an inappropriate relationship between her and one of her congressional staffers.  

LEADING THE DAY: 

Allies of former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) are set to form six unity task forces ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August.

Biden’s campaign announced the news on Wednesday, and said the working groups will explore six policy issues — climate change, criminal justice reform, economy, education, health care and immigration. Additionally, each task force will develop recommendations for their policy area. 

Analilia Mejia from the Sanders campaign and Carmel Martin from the Biden campaign will lead the initiative. And a number of high-profile names will lead the group’s task forces. Former Secretary of State John Kerry and progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will both co-chair the climate task force, while progressive Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal and former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy will lead the health care panel.

On the economy panel, California Rep. Karen Bass and union leader Sara Nelson will lead, while Rep. Marcia Fudge and former Sanders campaign senior policy adviser Heather Gautney will co-chair the education committee. California Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard and Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, will lead the immigration task force. 

This is the strongest effort to unify the centrist and progressive wings of the party, which has been fractured since the 2016 Democratic presidential primary. And the two sides have a lot of work ahead of them. 

Progressives have made demands for left-leaning policies, like “Medicare for All” and the Green New Deal. However, the establishment wing of the party, now under Biden’s banner, has warned that these ideas may not be that realistic when Democrats are looking to gain ground in a number of swing states. Additionally, establishment Democrats have cited protecting their House majority in a number of districts they flipped in 2018. 

Progressive leaders and their supporters have signaled in the past that they will not be willing to compromise on a number of these issues and remain skeptical of Biden. Ocasio-Cortez told The New York Times last month that bringing the party together behind Biden should be “uncomfortable for everyone involved.” 

However, the progressive and establishment figures on the panel appear to be united on at least one front: defeating President Trump in November. 

“A united party is key to defeating Donald Trump this November and moving our country forward through an unprecedented crisis,” Biden said in a statement. “As we work toward our shared goal, it is especially critical that we not lose sight of the pressing issues facing Americans.”

–Julia Manchester 

 

READ MORE:

Republican flips House seat in California special election, by Max Greenwood.

Biden and Sanders allies create ‘unity task forces’ to explore policy initiatives, by Justine Coleman. 

 

FROM THE TRAIL:

Biden on Wednesday backed rent and mortgage forgiveness for those struggling to get by during the coronavirus pandemic. Sylvan Lane reports.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday grappled with the issue of “faithless electors,” and many of the justices appeared uncomfortable with the idea of unleashing Electoral College representatives to disregard the popular vote in their states. Harper Neidig reports.

 

FROM CONGRESS & THE STATES:

Republican Tom Tiffany won the special election in Wisconsin’s 7th District on Tuesday to fill the vacancy left by former Rep. Sean Duffy (R), defeating Democrat Tricia Zunker. Tal Axelrod reports.

Meanwhile, in Nebraska’s 2nd district, liberal Kara Eastman prevailed in the Democratic primary over a centrist challenger and will move on to face Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.). The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released a poll on Wednesday showing Bacon and Eastman running neck and neck. Tal reports.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday acknowledged that Republicans face a “challenging environment” as they battle to protect their Senate majority, Alexander Bolton reports.

Former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg’s new political action committee rolled out a slate of endorsements Wednesday focusing on local elected positions, J. Edward Moreno reports.

The liberal group Democracy for America (DFA) is backing former public defender Keeda Haynes’s (D) primary challenge against Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) in the race to represent Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, Jonathan Easley reports.

MONEY WATCH:

Phil Arballo, the Democrat challenging Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), has raised more than $2.1 million. Nunes, who received national attention during the Russia investigation as the top ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, will still have a cash advantage, having raised $11.7 million this cycle.

 

POLL WATCH:

PUBLIC OPINION STRATEGIES- GEORGIA PRESIDENTIAL

Biden: 47 percent

Trump: 46 percent

 

PUBLIC OPINION STRATEGIES- GEORGIA SENATE

PERDUE: 43 percent

OSSOFF: 41 percent

 

PUBLIC OPINION STRATEGIES- GEORGIA SENATE SPECIAL 

COLLINS: 19 percent

LOEFFLER: 18 percent

LIEBERMAN: 17 percent

WARNOCK: 9 percent

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

(Keep in mind these dates could change because of the outbreak.)

May 19:

Oregon primaries

 

May 22:

Hawaii Democratic primary

 

June 2:

Delaware primaries

District of Columbia primaries

Indiana primaries

Maryland primaries

Montana primaries

New Mexico primaries

Pennsylvania primaries

Rhode Island primaries

South Dakota primaries

 

June 9:

Georgia primaries

West Virginia primaries

 

June 23:

Kentucky primaries

 

July 7:

New Jersey primaries

 

July 11:

Louisiana

 

July 14:

Alabama Republican Senate primary runoff

 

August 11:

Connecticut primary

 

August 17-20:

Democratic National Convention

 

August 24-27:

Republican National Convention

 

One hopeful thing 

Broadway star Nick Cordero’s wife announced that the performer is awake after going through a medically induced coma due to coronavirus complications. 

“He is awake. … We did it,” Cordero’s wife, Amanda Kloots, announced on Instagram on Tuesday. 

Cordero has been hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles since March 30. 

While Cordero’s wife says this is certainly good news, she added that the road to a full recovery will be a tough one. 

“Even closing his eyes, takes it out of him. They’re waiting for him to regain strength. Of course, time and recovery will help with that and then eventually [physical therapy] will help him get stronger,” she said. “But he’s a true superhero.”

We’ll see you tomorrow with more campaign news of the day.