Ten Things You Need to Know Today – Monday, November 23, 2015

Good Monday morning from Salt Lake City. There are 38 days left in 2015.

Bernie Sanders leads the Democratic field in Utah. Utah Republicans pick three candidates to replace the outgoing State Treasurer. Biskupski gets her transition team up and rolling.

The clock:

• 63 days to the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (1/25/2016)
• 70 days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus – (2/1/2016)
• 78 days to the 2016 New Hampshire Primary (tentative) – (2/9/2016)
• 109 days to the final day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (3/10/2016)
• 120 days to the Utah Republican and Democratic caucus meetings (3/22/2016)
• 152 days to the Utah Republican and Democratic State Conventions (4/23/2016)
• 219 days to the 2016 Utah primary election – (6/28/2016)
• 351 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)

Monday’s top-10 headlines:

1. Bernie Sanders leads a new poll of the Democratic presidential field in Utah [Utah Policy].
2. Utah Republicans pick three candidates to replace outgoing State Treasurer Richard Ellis. Gov. Gary Herbert will appoint one of them to finish the remainder of Ellis’ term [2 News].
3. Salt Lake City mayor-elect Jackie Biskupski prepares to take office in January [Deseret News].
4. Salt Lake City had 55% voter turnout during this year’s vote-by-mail election [ABC 4].
5. The Utah elections office says candidates can use either the signature-gathering process or the caucus/convention system to get on the ballot, which will likely spawn another court battle over SB 54 [Utah Policy, Tribune].
6. The White House sends a letter to the nation’s governors, including Utah Gov. Herbert, touting the rigorous process the U.S. uses to screen refugees entering the country [Tribune].
7. A few hundred Utahns rally at the state capitol to support the LGBT community [2 News, ABC 4, Fox 13, Deseret News, Tribune].
8. Lawmakers will consider more legislation in 2016 to strengthen efforts to keep sexual predators out of Utah’s schools [Standard Examiner].
9. Louisiana voters pick Democrat John Bel Edwards as their new governor over Republican David Vitter. Edwards is the first Democrat to hold that office since 2008 [NOLA.com].
10. Donald Trump defends his supporters who allegedly roughed up a black protester who was critical of Trump at a campaign rally [Washington Post, New York Times].

On this day in history:

• 1936 – Life magazine was first published.
• 1945 – World War II rationing ended in the United States on all foods except sugar.
• 1971 – The People’s Republic of China was seated in the U.N. Security Council.