The Hill’s Campaign Report: LIVE: Trump from Gettysburg | The many unknowns of 2020 | Omar among those facing primary challenges
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.
LEADING THE DAY:
The Gettysburg Address might be about to take on a whole new meaning.
President Trump said Monday he plans to deliver his Republican National Convention acceptance speech either at the White House or “the great battlefield” in Gettysburg, Penn., the site of a Civil War battle and President Abraham Lincoln’s famed address.
As The Hill’s Brett Samuels reports — both locations could pose potential legal challenges. The GOP convention is just two weeks away.
EVERYTHING IS UNCERTAIN
Where Trump speaks isn’t the only uncertainty in one of the strangest campaign seasons in memory.
The coronavirus has rocked the plans of Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, whose own convention is to begin next week.
Another big unknown — when will we know the results of the November elections?
Check out these remarks today from Federal Elections Commission (FEC) Commissioner Ellen Weintraub:
“Let me just tell everybody, we’re all going to need to take a deep breath and be patient this year because there’s a substantial chance we are not going to know on election night what the results are. Probably for the presidency, but maybe for many other races that are important to people, and that’s OK. If it takes a little bit longer to count all the votes accurately, that’s what we need to do in order to ensure that everyone’s vote counts.”
BIDEN PICK NEARS
Biden is expected to announce his veep ticket any time now.
Charlamagne Tha God, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Nick Cannon and a number of other Black men urged Biden to pick a Black woman as his running mate in an open letter, warning that he will lose the election if he does not. Among the women of color Biden is believed to be considering: Former national security adviser Susan Rice, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Reps. Val Demings (D-Fla.) and Karen Bass (D-Calif.).
But…friends like these?
Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown (D) wrote an editorial advising Harris to “politely decline” being the vice presidential candidate if Biden offers it to her. Brown argued that Harris would have far more influence and a brighter political future if she were attorney general in a Biden administration.
PRIMARY ELECTIONS:
We are on the eve of yet another primary night, this time in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Georgia, Vermont and Connecticut.
Squad member and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is competing in the most intriguing primary race of the night. Minnesota Democrats are expecting a tight race to the finish between her and Attorney Antone Melton-Meaux in Minnesota’s 5th District.
- The race is expensive — Omar had $1.1 million cash on hand as of June 30, while Melton-Meaux had roughly $2 million in the same time period. Melton-Meaux raised more than $3 million in the second quarter, compared to less than $500,000 for Omar. Incumbent House members are rarely outraised by those margins.
- Additionally, the super PAC Americans for Tomorrow’s Future spent more than $600,000 against Omar late last month. But Omar has endorsements from all the biggest names in Democratic and progressive politics, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The state party has been pulling out all the stops to boost Omar, and her progressive allies are marshaling their resources to get her reelected.
- Omar’s fellow squad members, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) have both fended off well-funded primary challengers in recent weeks.
Down south, Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene and John Cowan are facing off in Tuesday’s run off Republican primary in Georgia’s 14th District
- Greene’s bigoted remarks and support for conspiracy groups, like QAnon, have thrust the race into the national spotlight
- Greene and Cowan won 40 percent and 19 percent of the primary vote on June 9, respectively
- An internal poll conducted by Cowan’s campaign last month showed the race tied at 38 percent
- The winner of tonight’s runoff stands a good chance of winning the solidly Republican district in November.
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