Archive

Morning Must Reads for Wednesday, October 26, 2016

··

Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 300th day of the year. There are 66 days left in 2016.

Sen. Mike Lee has a whopping 39-point lead over Misty Snow. A Democratic PAC launches a hard-hitting attack ad against Mia Love. The 2016 presidential campaign could be the costliest in history.

The clock:

  • Six days left to register to vote online in Utah (11/1/2016)
  • 13 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)
  • 54 days until the Electoral College meets to cast their votes for president and vice president [12/19/2016)
  • 86 days until Inauguration Day (1/20/2017)
  • 89 days until the first day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (1/23/2017)
  • 134 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (3/9/2017)

Ten talking points for Wednesday:

  1. Sen. Mike Lee is virtually assured of winning re-election this year as our latest poll shows he has a 39-point lead over Misty Snow [Utah Policy].
  2. Utahns say Hillary Clinton will most likely win the presidential election in November, but they think either Donald Trump or Evan McMullin will carry Utah’s six electoral votes [Utah Policy].
  3. A Democratic PAC launches a brutal attack ad against Rep. Mia Love [Utah Policy]. Love’s campaign has sent a “cease and desist” letter to local TV stations, warning them to pull the ad because it contains inaccuracies [Utah Policy].
  4. Gov. Mike Pence, the GOP vice presidential nominee, heads to Utah today to try and shore up what has become 2016’s most surprising battleground state [Time, Deseret News]. The fact that Pence is making a campaign stop in Utah is a sure sign that Donald Trump‘s presidential campaign is in panic mode [Utah Policy].
  5. Here’s the latest sign of a big rift between Donald Trump‘s campaign and the Republican Party. Trump will no longer hold high-dollar fundraisers to benefit the GOP. Those fundraisers help the party with their GOTV efforts and aid down-ballot Republican candidates [Washington Post].
  6. Donald Trump says Hillary Clinton‘s policy on Syria would “lead to World War Three” [Reuters].
  7. The 2016 presidential election could be the costliest in history. The candidates, political parties, and outside groups are on track to spend a combined $6.6 billion [Newsweek].
  8. The Utah gubernatorial race could set a record for campaign spending in the Beehive State. Democrat Mike Weinholtz is spending nearly $250,000 on TV ads alone [Tribune].
  9. Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams unveils his budget for 2017. The $1.2 billion proposal includes no new taxes and a modest $6.8 million increase from property and sales taxes [Tribune, Deseret News, KUER].
  10. The one-year freeze on impact fees has cost Salt Lake City more than $7 million in revenue [Tribune].

On this day in history:

  • 1774 – The First Continental Congress adjourned in Philadelphia.
  • 1825 – The Erie Canal, America’s first man-made waterway, was opened, linking the Great Lakes and Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River. 
  • 1881 – The gunfight at the O.K. Corral occurred in Tombstone, Ariz.
  • 1972 – National security adviser Henry Kissinger declared “peace is at hand” in Vietnam.
  • 2001 – President George W. Bush signed the USA Patriot Act, giving authorities unprecedented ability to search, seize, detain or eavesdrop in their pursuit of possible terrorists.