Good Monday morning from Salt Lake City. There are 101 days left in 2015.
Ben Carson and Bernie Sanders top their party's presidential fields in Utah. Carson says a Muslim should not be elected president. Count My Vote leaders say the two sides in the lawsuit over SB54 cannot negotiate a settlement that changes the law.
The clock:
- 43 days to the 2015 election – (11/3/2015)
- 119 days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) – (1/18/2016)
- 126 days to the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (1/25/2016)
- 129 days to the 2016 New Hampshire Primary – (1/26/2016)
- 171 days to the final day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (3/10/2016)
- 281 days to the 2016 Utah primary election – (6/28/2016)
- 414 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)
Monday's top-10 headlines:
- Despite trailing in early primary and caucus states, Democrat Hillary Clinton has extended her national lead over Bernie Sanders [CNN].
- In Utah, a new poll shows Ben Carson is tops among the GOP field while Sanders and Vice President Joe Biden are the top picks among Democrats [Utah Policy].
- So much for not requiring a religious test to hold office. Ben Carson says in an interview that he does not believe a Muslim should be the president [The Hill].
- Pope Francis visits Washington, D.C. this week. His liberal views and policies have some Congressional Republicans feeling a bit of heartburn over his visit [CNN].
- A judge has ordered the state and Utah GOP to mediate a solution in the lawsuit over SB54. Leaders of the Count My Vote group say that's not legal because the two parties cannot alter existing law [Utah Policy].
- Ralph Becker and Jackie Biskupski are laying out their respective visions for Utah's capital city ahead of November's election [Deseret News].
- Biskupski wins the endorsement of LGBT leaders in Salt Lake City [Tribune].
- The prison relocation could be a potent political issue in the 2015 and 2016 elections [Deseret News].
- Utah's job growth was tops for the entire nation in August [Deseret News, Associated Press].
- The Utah ACLU is threatening a lawsuit unless the state does better providing legal defense for poor Utahns [Tribune].
On this day in history:
- 1780 – American Gen. Benedict Arnold gave plans to the British for the surrender of West Point, N.Y. Arnold's name was forever after associated with the word "traitor."
- 1792 – The French National Convention voted to abolish the monarchy.
- 1937 – J.R.R. Tolkien published "The Hobbit."
- 1981 – Sandra Day O'Connor received a unanimous vote in the Senate to become the first female member of the U.S. Supreme Court.
- 1983 – Interior Secretary James Watt described a special advisory panel as consisting of "a black…a woman, two Jews and a cripple." Watt later apologized and resigned.
