Tag: Democratic Party

Marg Elliston, chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, lauded the party’s recent electoral wins and sought to prepare local party activists for 2020 during a visit to Roswell recently. Last year, she was elected chair of the state party. Michelle Lujan Grisham — many are long-sought legislative goals by progressives. New Mexico has demonstrated its Democratic leanings in recent presidential elections, with the party’s nominee carrying the state’s five electoral votes in five of the last six presidential elections. Elliston said she talked recently in Taos with a political scientist who described the state as not blue or red, but “violet.” Even within the party ranks, there is not unanimity. Unlike members of the House, the state Senate is only up for re-election every four years. Part of the diversity of opinion within the party and state politically, is between urban and rural areas. State Democrats in 2018 helped the Chaves County party invest in a campaign headquarters and sent volunteers to help energize voters. Democrats did not field a candidate in any of the state legislative or judicial races in Chaves County. The state party will be working with the county parties to try to encourage people to run in those areas that have been neglected by Democrats.

The growing acceptance of women in politics and in the workforce is highlighted by the General Social Survey, a widely respected trend survey that has been measuring views of gender and society since the 1970s. The share of Americans who say women are as suited for politics as men is up 6 percentage points since 2016, when Hillary Clinton became the first woman to win a major party’s presidential nomination, and 14 points since 2008, when she lost a grueling primary battle to Barack Obama. In 1974, just 49 percent said so. Democrats are somewhat more likely than Republicans to say so, 89 percent to 80 percent, though the share in both parties has grown in recent years. The survey found 9 percent of women saying they have been discriminated against at work because of their gender. The share of Democrats who support preferential hiring for women is up to 46 percent, from 35 percent in 2016. Within the GOP, a gender gap persists on attitudes toward women in the workforce. Republican men are more likely than Republican women to say it is better for women to stay at home while men work, 37 percent to 22 percent. Similarly, while 18 percent of Republican women think preschool children suffer if their mother works, 39 percent of Republican men say this. About a third of Republicans (35 percent) say the same.

But the candidates don’t want to discuss any of this. “It’s more about the donor amounts than the dollar amounts.” But, Ms. Dacey added of big donors, “They still need them.” Two prominent candidates, Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have disavowed the traditional money circuit entirely — a safe bet for Mr. Sanders, whose online donor network amply funded his 2016 run, but a far riskier gambit for Ms. Warren, who has a far smaller base of low-dollar contributors. He has held no fund-raisers so far and has none planned yet in the future, according to his campaign. [Keep up with the 2020 field with our candidate tracker.] “When I see a 202 number these days, I don’t usually answer it,” said Amber Mostyn, a Houston-based attorney and prominent Democratic fund-raiser, joking about the Washington area code and the number of candidates who have reached out for help. According to several donors as well as invitations obtained by The New York Times, four senators — Mr. Booker, Ms. Gillibrand, Ms. Harris and Ms. Klobuchar — have been particularly aggressive on the national donor circuit. John Hickenlooper of Colorado and Gov. So while a recent trip by Ms. Harris to Texas drew headlines for her decision to rally in the home state of Mr. O’Rourke, the visit was also about raising money, with a fund-raiser at the Dallas home of Jill Louis, a partner in the law firm K&L Gates. Mitchell Berger, a longtime South Florida fund-raiser and self-described political “dinosaur,” who fondly recalls his work on behalf of a young Al Gore in 1987, rattled off the names of five candidates that had called him. In April, Steven Rattner and Blair Effron, two prominent donors in New York, are planning a dinner for unaligned donors to discuss how and when to engage in a primary contest that is more unpredictable than any in a generation.

He will govern under that new affiliation alongside fellow commissioners Tim Corrigan and Beth Melton, both Democrats. Monger, who registered as a Democrat at age 17, has been frustrated with the direction of the party at the state and national levels. It was not the first time during his tenure as a commissioner that he saw a single party rule the trifecta of the state legislature. When Monger was first elected, in 2000, Republicans held that control under Gov. This time, things feel different. He feels that leftist lawmakers are using their newfound power to push more extreme legislation that does not reflect the interests of a majority of Coloradoans, especially in more rural areas like Routt County. “We in rural Colorado are really not getting much of a vote.” Both Corrigan and Melton voiced support for Monger’s decision and do not expect it to change the way their relationship with him. Monger’s political switch did not come as a surprise to Corrigan, who has seen firsthand the commissioner’s growing frustration over the direction of the Democratic Party. Corrigan, who has been a Democrat since he registered to vote at 18, still finds that the party reflects his own values — at least, for the most part. He has not decided if he will run again in 2020, but if he does, he wants his political affiliation to reflect what he brings to the table.

The president challenges 2020 Democrats on their climate change warnings and the Green New Deal while addressing supporters in Grand Rapids; Peter Doocy reports. FOX News operates the FOX News Channel (FNC), FOX Business Network (FBN), FOX News Radio, FOX…

And given the court's conservative lean, they could do so again in this most recent case, which involves House district maps drawn by state legislatures in Maryland and North Carolina. But ending gerrymandering might not be that easy, in part because both parties occasionally benefit from the process. What is gerrymandering? How gerrymandering works In most states, the legislature draws up new congressional maps following the conclusion of the U.S. census, which takes place every ten years. The state's governor then has to approve the new map by signing it into law. A number of states, most recently Utah, have tried to sidestep partisan redistricting by creating independent commissions tasked with drawing maps that better reflect the will of voters. States like Utah are also trying this approach, creating independent commissions that would limit legislatures' involvement in redistricting. Democrats have scored major victories at the state level in recent elections, and according to The Washington Post, they would now have the ability to draw the boundaries of 76 House seats nationwide should redistricting happen tomorrow. Another 113 seats would be drawn by independent commissions, while 60 would be redrawn in states where Republicans and Democrats share control of the state government. Why 2020 matters for gerrymandering Unless the Supreme Court intervenes, the 2020 elections remain Democrats' best hope of undoing Republican gerrymanders and instituting new maps.

It’s often been said that Donald Trump destroyed all precedents in his astonishing rise to the presidency in 2016. And one of the unusual things about him was his complete lack of prior experience in public office or running for public office. A few major-party nominees were closer to Trump in the empty resume department (notably 1904 Democratic nominee Alton Parker, a state judge, and 1940 Republican nominee Wendell Willkie, a utility executive), but for the most part, especially in more recent times, the major parties have nominated former or current senators and governors. That could help explain why two candidates (one potential and one actual) who together have 81 years of experience in elected office, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, top every poll. But as Nathaniel Rakich of FiveThirtyEight observes, voters tend to adapt their view of desirable candidate qualities to how they see their preferred candidates, more than the other way around. Thus Republicans told Pew pollsters early in the 2016 cycle that they valued experience over “new ideas” until Trump emerged as a favorite and flipped that particular script. The near–draft-level interest in former Georgia state legislator Stacey Abrams is unusual, too. It’s possible that while Trump hasn’t totally dispelled an interest in experience among voters in either party, Democrats are less worried than they might normally be about sending up a relative novice to oppose him; it’s not like Trump is going to depict himself as the wise, credentialed, steady hand on the tiller. It’s notable that candidates at both ends of the experience spectrum — Biden and Sanders, and O’Rourke and Buttigieg — are thought to be potentially strong among the white working-class voters so important to Trump’s 2016 election and 2020 reelection prospects. Perhaps all that’s going on is that against the terrifying Trump Democrats are valuing perceived electability above all.

Good Wednesday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today. _____________________ • A new fight over the Affordable Care Act broke out on Tuesday, as Democrats denounced the Trump administration for asking a federal appeals court to invalidate it. The surprise decision, which could leave 21 million people without health insurance if the court agrees, gave Democrats a chance to move past impeachment and discuss kitchen-table issues like health care. • The most enduring legacy of Robert S. Mueller’s investigation may be his decision not to take action on President Trump’s norm-shattering interventions in the law enforcement system. • As the Trump administration celebrates Mr. Mueller’s finding that the president did not conspire with Russia, a darker theme is emerging: a message that Mr. Trump’s perceived enemies will pay. • Scientists at the Interior Department spent years examining the threat that pesticides present to hundreds of endangered species. “We’re not focused on impeachment,” said one. • Joseph R. Biden Jr. said Tuesday that he regretted his role in the 1991 hearings over Anita Hill’s sexual harassment allegations against Clarence Thomas, who became a Supreme Court justice. That episode could be a vulnerability if Mr. Biden runs for president.

Sure, the market for Democratic presidential candidates is getting a little saturated. Because there's almost never a downside to running. The candidates of the crowded fields in the last few presidential elections — even the also-rans — almost always came out ahead or, at worst, ended up in the same place. No Democrat will say they're running for something else, like vice president or cabinet secretary. But that's where some of them will end up, if the Democratic nominee beats President Trump. If Trump wins, some of them are young enough to give it another try in four years. And if that doesn't happen, they can always become a cable news talking head. A quick look at the "whatever happened to them" file: Hillary Clinton (2008) became Barack Obama's secretary of state before moving on to that other presidential race. Joe Biden (2008) became his vice president. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham and Rand Paul (2016) all went back to the Senate.

By Betty Jean Grant As an informed citizen, one has an obligation and a duty to protect the public’s trust in its government, all public agencies and to abide by the rules and regulations put in place to make sure these policies are adhered to. There have been at least five articles and two editorials published in The News over the past month detailing the irregularities and possible unapproved activities of the Western New York Community Action Organization’s board of directors and its lawyer and legal adviser. All of these published reports and not one peep out of Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown or even our U.S. senators, Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. Not one word of concern from Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes or State Sen. Timothy Kennedy, who in his capacity as chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee was instrumental in recommending former comptroller Mark Schroeder to the long-vacant position of state commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles. It is also troubling that the person who was endorsed by the Democratic Party to be the next city comptroller, and who will be responsible for oversight and for conducting audits of the CAO, is a personal friend and political ally of Mayor Brown, Sen. Kennedy and the CEO of the Community Action Organization. What is mind-boggling is that this individual was just appointed to this CAO board to replace the improperly fired board members who called for the audit in the first place. At a time when precious dollars to fight Buffalo’s poverty rate are decreasing or are being eliminated, we cannot have a situation where politically connected agencies and their managers are held to a different standard than the rest of us. The four longtime board members who were removed and the several honest and brave former CAO employees who were fired should be commended for coming forward in their effort to be the stewards of resources that are desperately needed. This region cannot afford to disregard or to make light of what these courageous women have brought forth and determined to be improprieties in the management of an agency that is in charge on tens of millions of dollars allocated to Western New York to increase the living standards of the poorest among us. Betty Jean Grant is a former member of the Erie County Legislature, from which she retired in 2017.