Good Friday morning from Salt Lake City. There are 55 days left in 2015.
Becker needs to win 65% of the outstanding ballots to win another term as mayor. The LDS Church announces a policy change toward same-sex couples. Huckabee and Christie dropped from the main GOP debate stage.
The clock:
- 80 days to the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (1/25/2016)
- 87 days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus – (2/1/2016)
- 95 days to the 2016 New Hampshire Primary (tentative) – (2/9/2016)
- 126 days to the final day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (3/10/2016)
- 137 days to the Utah Republican and Democratic caucus meetings (3/22/2016)
- 169 days to the Utah Republican and Democratic State Conventions (4/23/2016)
- 236 days to the 2016 Utah primary election – (6/28/2016)
- 368 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)
Friday’s top-10 headlines:
- Ralph Becker needs to get approximately 65% of the remaining uncounted ballots to catch Jackie Biskupski, which is a very tall order [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
- Same-sex marriage backlash. The LDS Church announces that members living in same-sex relationships are apostates [Washington Post, Tribune, Deseret News, Daily Herald].
- Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee are dropped from the main event for the next GOP presidential primary debate [Washington Post, New York Times, CNN Money].
- State leaders want to get construction on the new prison underway as soon as possible [Tribune, Deseret News].
- Former Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank takes a job at the Center for Policing Equity [Tribune, Deseret News].
- Bob Bernick says Gov. Herbert and lawmakers can and should step in to end the SB54 legal mess [Utah Policy].
- A judge rules a law to block access to streams on private lands violates the Utah Constitution [Tribune, Deseret News].
- Rep. Rob Bishop wants to restrict the federal government’s ability to buy land in the West [Tribune].
- A group aiming to impose term limits on appointees by the governor drops their effort to get that issue on the 2016 ballot [Utah Policy, Tribune].
- New York’s Attorney General is investigating whether Exxon Mobil misled the public and investors about the risks of climate change [Washington Post].
On this day in history:
- 1860 – Abraham Lincoln defeated three other candidates for the presidency.
- 1869 – In the first formal intercollegiate football game, Rutgers beat Princeton, 6-4.
- 1888 – Republican Benjamin Harrison was elected president, beating incumbent Grover Cleveland in the Electoral College, even though Cleveland led in the popular vote.
- 2009 – The U.S. unemployment rate reached 10.2 percent in October, the highest rate in 26 years.
