Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 181st day of the year. There are 185 days left in 2016.
Herbert blasts Johnson. Snow makes history as Utah’s first transgender federal nominee. Chaffetz easily fends off a primary challenge.
The clock:
- 19 days to the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland (7/18/2016)
- 25 days to the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia (7/25/2016)
- 132 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)
- 208 days until the first day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (1/23/2017)
- 253 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (3/9/2017)
Ten talking points for Wednesday:
- Stunning! Gov. Gary Herbert overwhelms GOP challenger Jonathan Johnson by a 44-point margin [Utah Policy, Tribune, Deseret News].
- Misty Snow makes history, becoming the first transgender federal nominee in Utah. She defeated fellow Democrat Jonathan Swinton to earn the right to take on Republican Sen. Mike Lee in November [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
- Incumbent Republican Jason Chaffetz races to an easy victory over challenger Chia-Chi Teng in Utah’s 3rd Congressional District [Utah Policy, Tribune, Deseret News].
- Most legislative incumbents fend off challenges on Tuesday night, but former Speaker of the House Mel Brown might be in trouble [Utah Policy, Tribune, Deseret News].
- Fred Healy and Jeff Silvestrini advance to November’s election in the race for Millcreek Mayor, but Healy may not make it that long as he’s been diagnosed with cancer [Tribune, Deseret News].
- Two State School Board incumbents look like they may be headed to defeat in Tuesday’s primary vote [Tribune].
- Donald Trump rips a number of free trade agreements, vowing to tear up NAFTA and kill the Trans-Pacific Partnership, in a speech on Tuesday [Bloomberg].
- Donald Trump claims he gave millions to charity, but an investigation shows he has actually donated less than $10,000 over the last seven years [Washington Post].
- Donald Trump‘s lawyer Michael Cohen accused Hillary Clinton of murdering an ambassador and selling uranium to Russia [Politico].
- A suicide bomber attack at an Istanbul airport leaves 36 dead and 147 injured [CNN].
On this day in history:
- 1853 – The U.S. Senate ratified the $10 million Gadsen Purchase from Mexico, adding more than 29,000 square miles to Arizona and New Mexico.
- 1972 – The Supreme Court ruled capital punishment was unconstitutional.
- 2009 – Bernie Madoff, mastermind of a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, was sentenced to 150 years in prison.
