Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City.
Romney and Curtis roll to easy wins. Hughes resigns from the inland port board. The Supreme Court upholds Trump’s travel ban.
I saw an early screening of Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp on Tuesday. I can report the movie is a total blast. Funny and inventive, with lots of incredible special effects. See this film!
TICK TOCK
- 132 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
- 215 days until the first day of the 2019 Utah Legislature (1/28/2019)
- 860 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)
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HERE ARE THE STORIES WE’RE WATCHING TODAY
Romney reboot
Mitt Romney drubs Rep. Mike Kennedy in their U.S. Senate primary. Romney is now a heavy favorite to win in November [Utah Policy].
Trump tweets
President Donald Trump congratulated Romney on his win early Wednesday morning. “Big and conclusive win by Mitt Romney. Congratulations! I look forward to working together – there is so much good to do. A great and loving family will be coming to D.C.” he wrote [Twitter].
Curtis cruises
Rep. John Curtis posts a comfortable win over Chris Herrod, pulling in about 75-percent of the vote on Tuesday [Utah Policy].
Primary roundup
Legislative incumbents were able to fend off primary challenges on Tuesday night. Voters picked nominees in other significant races, too [Utah Policy].
Time to get rid of the convention system
Jared Whitley argues that Romney’s huge win over Kennedy proves it’s time to junk the caucus/convention system [Utah Policy].
Inland port shuffle
LaVarr Webb says Speaker Greg Hughes did the right thing by withdrawing from the Inland port board, but he almost blew the whole thing up in his attempt to win the chairmanship [Utah Policy].
Consumer attitude
Utahns are confident about the current state of the economy, but they’re worried about the future [Utah Policy].
OTHER UTAH HEADLINES
- House Speaker Greg Hughes resigns from the inland port board after discovering his property holdings made him ineligible to hold a spot on that body [Deseret News, Tribune].
- Utah gets an extra week to respond to Count My Vote’s legal challenge seeking to secure a place on November’s ballot [Deseret News].
- A new study suggests Utah’s vote-by-mail system is boosting turnout among millennials [Tribune].
- China’s decision to no longer import plastic trash from around the world could lead to rising recycling fees across the Wasatch Front [Tribune].
NATIONAL HEADLINES
- National Security adviser John Bolton will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to plan a summit meeting with President Donald Trump [Washington Post].
- President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin may meet next month in Helsinki [Politico].
- A federal judge barred the Trump administration from separating migrant children from their parents at the border and ordered immigration officials to reunite already-separated families within 30 days [Washington Post].
- A group of 18 attorneys general, mostly Democrats, sued the Trump administration over their policy of separating migrant children from their parents, saying the practice is “irrationally discriminatory’ [CNN].
- The Supreme Court upheld the Trump administration’s travel ban as constitutional in a 5-4 decision [CNN].
- The House is nearing a vote on a compromise immigration bill put forward by House Speaker Paul Ryan. The bill is not expected to pass [ABC News].
- A 28-year old Latina unseated the 4th ranking House Democrat in a primary election on Tuesday [ABC News].
- The Supreme Court ruled California cannot require “crisis pregnancy centers” to give information about the availability of abortion services elsewhere in the state [ABC News].
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
- 1844 – Joseph Smith, founder of the LDS Church, and his brother Hyrum Smith are killed by a mob at the Carthage, Illinois jail.
- 1898 – The first solo circumnavigation of the globe is completed by Joshua Slocum from Briar Island, Nova Scotia.
- 1950 – The U.S. decides to send troops to fight in the Korean War.
- 1974- President Richard Nixon visits the Soviet Union.
