Campaign Report
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Campaign Report
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DeSantis-Disney feud heats up
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Disney alleged in a new lawsuit against DeSantis that the governor has waged a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” after the company spoke out against a law, dubbed by critics as “Don’t Say Gay.”
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The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Tallahassee, is the latest development in a more than year-old feud between the Walt Disney Co. – one of Florida’s largest private employers – and DeSantis, who has castigated the company as the epitome of so-called “woke” corporate culture.
The feud stems from Disney’s opposition to the Parental Rights in Education Act, which prohibits classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation from kindergarten through the third grade. DeSantis signed that measure into law last year. Since then, DeSantis has moved to punish Disney by taking over the company’s self-governing district, which includes the company’s sprawling theme parks and resorts, and appointing his own board to oversee municipal services.
DeSantis has also proposed to ramp up state oversight of Disney World’s rides and attractions, and even suggested earlier this month the possibility of building a new state prison next to the company’s theme parks.
In its lawsuit, Disney argued that the governor has carried out a campaign of retribution for what amounted to the company exercising its First Amendment right to free speech.
Despite the lawsuit, DeSantis doesn’t appear likely to back down. Speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem, where he’s visiting as part of a multi-country trip billed as an “international trade mission,” the Florida governor brushed off the lawsuit as “political” and insisted that it doesn’t have any legal merit.
Picking a fight with a major company – and a critical part of Florida’s economic engine – might seem like an unusual move for a governor heading rapidly toward a 2024 presidential bid. But the feud could pay dividends when it comes to the GOP’s conservative base. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday found that while most voters overall believe DeSantis is punishing Disney for exercising free speech, nearly two-thirds of Republicans – 64 percent – say the governor is rightfully rolling back Disney’s special privileges.
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Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, I’m Max Greenwood. 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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Nineteen GOP Michigan state legislators have endorsed Gov. Ron DeSantis for president in 2024, though the Florida Republican hasn’t officially announced he’s running. The pro-DeSantis political action committee Never Back Down announced that state Rep. Byran Posthumus and 18 other Michigan conservatives are backing DeSantis after he visited the state earlier this month. Posthumus, who led a letter effort earlier this year …
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Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley bashed President Biden over his age, saying he isn’t likely to make it until 86 years old, which would be his age at the end of a second term. “I think we can all be very clear and say with a matter of fact that if you vote for Joe Biden, you really are counting on a President Harris because the idea that he would make until 86 years old is not something that I think is likely,” …
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Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mon.), who is expected to face a tough campaign for reelection next year, on Thursday released bloopers to a campaign video in which he pushes Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) into a wall that then breaks. “See how determined he is,” Booker joked in the video on Twitter, pointing to the crack in the wall that Tester pushed him into. “This is actually Tester’s version of giving me the finger.” “That’s exactly what …
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Upcoming news themes and events we’re watching:
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- 170 days until Louisiana’s gubernatorial primary
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196 days until Kentucky’s and Mississippi’s gubernatorial generals
- 558 days until the 2024 general election
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Jim Justice launches bid for Manchin’s Senate seat
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© AP Photo/Chris Jackson, File
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West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is challenging Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) for his Senate seat.
Justice, a former Democrat who switched parties in 2017, filed paperwork on Thursday to run for the seat after hinting at a campaign for months. He’s expected to make a formal announcement later today, Caroline reports. He’s the second prominent Republican to launch a bid for Manchin’s seat, joining Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.) in the GOP primary.
Manchin hasn’t yet said whether he’ll seek reelection next year, though Republicans are hoping that Justice’s entrance into the race could nudge the Democratic senator to retire after his current term ends.
Manchin is one of very few Democrats who has proven his ability to compete in a deeply conservative state that voted overwhelmingly for former President Donald Trump twice. He also represents the reddest state of any Senate Democrat.
Despite his winning track record in West Virginia, he’s still expected to face an uphill battle if he opts to seek reelection in 2024. He eked out a narrow 3-point victory during his last reelection bid in 2018 and while he’s held up several of his party’s legislative priorities in recent years, he’s likely to face aggressive attacks from his Republican rivals over his support for President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Justice is expected to make his Senate bid official at 5 p.m. today. You can check out a livestream of that announcement here.
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The debate drama continues
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© AP Photo/Michael Conroy
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When Donald Trump suggested this week that he could skip a Republican presidential debate this summer, it sent a wave of deja vu through the party. The former president has skipped or threatened to skip debates before, and his latest complaints about the debate schedule underscored the challenge the GOP now faces in running an open primary after years of holding up Trump as its one true standard bearer.
During an appearance on Fox News on Wednesday, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel downplayed the possibility of a Trump-less debate.
“I talk to President Trump all the time,” she said. “We’ve talked to all the potential candidates. We’ve let them know the schedule. We’ve announced the debates.”
“But every campaign and every candidate is going to have to make a decision,” she added. “He’s going to have to make that decision. I think he’ll do it.”
But Trump isn’t doing anything to walk back his threats. In fact, he doubled down on Wednesday on the idea of skipping the first Republican presidential debate in August, suggesting that there’s no need to hold such an event given his staggering lead over the rest of the GOP field in polls.
“When you’re way up, you don’t do debates. If you’re even or down you do debates, but when you’re way up, what’s the purpose of doing the debate?” Trump said on the “Cats & Cosby Show” with hosts John Catsimatidis and Rita Cosby.
Of course, there’s plenty of time for Trump to change his tune. Still, his remarks are just another reminder of how unpredictable the nascent Republican primary is shaping up to be.
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Branch out with a different read from The Hill:
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West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) filed paperwork Thursday to run for the state’s Senate seat with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) up for reelection in 2024. The move puts the West Virginia Republican one step closer toward officially launching a Senate campaign for Manchin’s seat. Justice is expected to officially launch his campaign for Senate later Thursday following months of speculation. Justice, 72, …
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ActBlue, the main fundraising platform for Democratic candidates and organizations, said it raised nearly 25 percent more money in the first quarter of 2023 than it did during the same period four years ago, when the party was ramping up to defeat then-President Trump. The total amount of money raised in the last three months was 24.7 percent higher than the same period in 2019, the organization said in a release. ActBlue said …
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Local and state headlines regarding campaigns and elections:
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Florida Senate approves controversial elections bill (The Orlando Sentinel)
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Hutchinson, a ‘consistent conservative,’ officially launches 2024 White House run (Arkansas Democrat Gazette)
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Two Texas ‘Trump Train’ participants settle lawsuit claiming they harassed 2020 Biden campaign bus (Texas Tribune)
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Election news we’ve flagged from other outlets:
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Trump can’t stop Pence from testifying to Jan. 6 grand jury, court rules (The New York Times)
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Dems prep to hammer GOP debt bill on campaign trail (Politico)
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2024 presidential outlook: Meet the new race, same as the old race (Roll Call)
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Key stories on The Hill right now:
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Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a measure that would have allowed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to be added to the Constitution. Senators voted 51 to 47 to invoke cloture on a motion to proceed, falling short of the 60 votes it it needed. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) were the lone Republicans … Read more
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President Trump’s legal team again turned to Congress in an ongoing criminal investigation, penning a letter to the House Intelligence Committee asking it to “formalize procedures for investigations” that would make such matters civil rather than criminal cases. The 10-page letter to Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) obtained by The Hill … 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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