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Wednesday’s Talking Points – April 13, 2016

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Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 104th day of the year. There are 262 days left in 2016.

Paul Ryan says he’s not in the mix for the GOP presidential nomination. Donald Trump complains the GOP nomination process is stacked against him. A majority of Utahns support the new dual-track path for candidates to get on the primary ballot.

The clock:

  • Ten days to the Utah Republican and Democratic State Conventions (4/23/2016)
  • 26 days to the last day a veto override session may begin (5/9/2016)
  • 76 days to the 2016 Utah primary election – (6/28/2016)
  • 96 days to the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland (7/18/2016)
  • 103 days to the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia (7/25/2016)
  • 209 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)
  • 285 days until the first day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (1/23/2017)
  • 330 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (3/9/2017)

Ten talking points for Wednesday:

  1. House Speaker Paul Ryan crushed the hopes and dreams of many Republicans saying he would not accept the GOP presidential nomination if it were offered to him at the party’s convention in Cleveland this year [New York Times, NBC News].

  2. Ted Cruz has likely secured enough delegate support to block Donald Trump from winning the GOP presidential nomination on a second ballot [Washington Post].

  3. Trump is complaining that the GOP nomination process is stacked against him because the party doesn’t want him to win [CNN, Politico]. GOP Chairman Reince Priebus fired back saying “give me a break” [NBC News].

  4. Some big-name Republicans may skip the GOP convention this summer [CNN].

  5. What would happen if the Democratic “superdelegates” had to vote for the same candidate that won their state? Hillary Clinton would still have a significant lead over Bernie Sanders [Washington Post].

  6. A new poll shows most Utahns, including a majority of Utah Republicans, support the new dual-path system for candidates to get on the primary ballot [Utah Policy].

  7. Rep. Mia Love is raising big bucks for her rematch with Democrat Doug Owens [Tribune, Deseret News].

  8. Sen. Mike Lee is dropping his challenge to Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso for a top Senate leadership spot [Washington Post].

  9. Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski bans city-sponsored travel to North Carolina and Mississippi due to anti-LGBT legislation passed by those states [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune, 2 News].

  10. A Utah group that supports medical marijuana says they will not attempt to get the issue on the 2016 ballot [Associated Press].

On this day in history:

  • 1861 – At the start of the Civil War, Fort Sumter in South Carolina fell to Confederate forces.
  • 1964 – Sidney Poitier became the first black performer in a leading role to win an Academy Award.
  • 1970 – An oxygen tank exploded aboard Apollo 13 en route to a planned moon landing. One of the three astronauts aboard, Jack Swigert, famously said, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” The mission was aborted.
  • 1999 – Jack Kervorkian was sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison for the second-degree murder of a man whose assisted suicide was videotaped and shown on “60 Minutes.”