Campaign

The Hill’s Campaign Report: Primary night in Kentucky and New York

by Max Greenwood,Julia Manchester and Jonathan Easley - 06/23/20 4:50 PM ET

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: PROGRESSIVES FACE TESTS IN NEW YORK AND KENTUCKY PRIMARIES

Progressives are hoping for big wins in New York and Kentucky this evening as voters across the two states head out to vote in a number of critical primaries.

In Kentucky, Democratic establishment favorite Amy McGrath will face off against progressive state Rep. Charles Booker (D) in the primary that will determine who will go up against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in November.

A survey conducted by the progressive firm Data for Progress showed Booker leading McGrath by eight points in Kentucky.

Meanwhile, in New York, former middle school principal Jamaal Bowman is looking to pull off a major progressive upset against 16-term Congressman Eliot Engel in the state’s 16th District.

Bowman’s campaign announced on Friday that he had raised $2 million during the campaign from more than 65,000 individual donors, touting the strength of his progressive base. Additionally, a Data for Progress survey showed Bowman up 10 points over Engel. The congressman’s campaign, on the other hand, said their internal polling showed Engel leading Bowman by eight points.

Regardless, Booker and Bowman are seen as the leaders of a progressive pack looking to make gains in tonight’s primaries.

Booker gave Bowman a shoutout on Twitter today, telling voters to imagine the two of them in in Washington, D.C., together.

Sending love to my Brother @JamaalBowmanNY as he fights to shock the world in New York. Imagine the two of us in D.C. together!

Let’s make that happen. Sign up to call voters today for both of us here: https://t.co/PRIxlbxxzr. pic.twitter.com/JfYVVeV4Nw

— Charles Booker (@Booker4KY) June 23, 2020

Other key races to watch include Rep. Yvette Clarke’s (D-N.Y.) primary against progressive Adem Bunkeddeko, who nearly defeated her last cycle in 2018. Additionally, Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) is facing her first ever primary challenge.

Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who made waves in 2018 when she defeated longtime Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) in 2018, is facing a primary challenge from journalist Maria Michelle Caruso-Cabrera.

Rep. Jerry Nadler is facing challenges in the 10th district from progressives Lindsey Boylan, a former aide to Cuomo and Jonathan Herzog, a former staffer on tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang’s presidential campaign. His colleague, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) is taking on Suraj Patel, Lauren Ashcraft and Peter Harrison in the state’s 12th district primary.

—Julia Manchester

READ MORE:

New York Democrats brace for a night of potential stunners, by Jonathan Easley and Julia.

Five things to watch for in Tuesday’s primaries, by Jonathan and Max Greenwood.

Kentucky and New York brace for days-long vote count, by Max.

FROM THE TRAIL:

The Commission on Presidential Debates announced on Tuesday that it will move an Oct. 15 debate between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden from Michigan to Florida after the University of Michigan backed out of the event due to concerns about the coronavirus. The debate will now be held at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami. The Hill’s Marty Johnson reports.

The Trump campaign has tapped Deputy White House Press Secretary Hogan Gidley to take over as its top spokesperson. That job was previously held by Kayleigh McEnany, who was named White House press secretary in April. The Hill’s Brett Samuels reports.

Dozens of former national security officials are banding together to back Biden in the presidential election, Reuters’ Tim Reid reports. The group includes more than two dozen officials who served in the presidential administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George Bush, per Reuters’ reporting, and is set to endorse Biden publicly in the coming weeks.

PERSPECTIVES:

Alan Abramowitz: If Georgia primary was an attempt at voter suppression, it failed badly.

Ileana Lehtinen & Trey Grayson: Why expanded voting options are critical for this election.

MONEY WATCH:

Sen. Bernie Sanders’s political team announced that the former presidential candidate had raised more than $750,000 and activated his vaunted volunteer network on behalf of a dozen down-ballot candidates running in primaries on Tuesday. Misty Rebik, the executive director of Friends of Bernie Sanders, said the effort was part of the senator’s goal of “building a movement.” “He’s using the power he’s built to lift up candidates who are running on the bold agenda working families in our country so desperately need,” Rebik said in a statement.

House Majority PAC (HMP), the super PAC aligned with House Democratic leaders, is pumping an additional $3.5 million into television ad reservations in Texas and Arizona ahead of the November general elections, bringing its total spending on ad reservations for the cycle to $72.5 million, the group announced Tuesday. The latest reservations include $550,000 in the Phoenix media market and another $2.9 million in Houston.

POLL WATCH:

HARVARD/HARRIS – PRESIDENTIAL

Biden: 56% (+3)

Trump: 44% (-3)

AXIOS/COLLEGE REACTION – VP PICK (AMONG COLLEGE VOTERS)

Warren: 28%

Harris: 19%

Abrams: 13%

Whitmer: 11%

Klobuchar: 8%

Rice: 7%

Bottoms: 6%