Good Thursday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 112th day of the year. There are 254 days left in 2016.
Cruz mathematically cannot win the GOP nomination on the first ballot. Gov. Herbert calls for a special session in May. The Huntsman family announces they are buying the Salt Lake Tribune.
The clock:
- Two days to the Utah Republican and Democratic State Conventions (4/23/2016)
- 68 days to the 2016 Utah primary election – (6/28/2016)
- 88 days to the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland (7/18/2016)
- 95 days to the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia (7/25/2016)
- 201 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)
- 277 days until the first day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (1/23/2017)
- 322 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (3/9/2017)
Ten talking points for Thursday:
- Pennsylvania’s odd delegate allocation rules could cost Donald Trump the GOP nomination [New York Times]. Meanwhile, Ted Cruz is having trouble winning support from his Republican colleagues in the Senate [Politico]. Cruz has been mathematically eliminated from winning the GOP nomination on the first ballot [The Hill].
- After a crushing defeat in New York, there’s not much of a path forward for Bernie Sanders to win the Democratic nomination [New York Times].
- The Huntsman family announces they are buying the Salt Lake Tribune [Utah Policy, Tribune, Deseret News, 2 News].
- Lawmakers have a sharp exchange over whether Utah should sue the federal government to take over public lands within the state [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
- Gov. Gary Herbert calls a special session of the Legislature for next month. One of the matters they’ll consider is a resolution opposing the creation of a new national monument in Utah [Utah Policy, Deseret News, 2 News].
- Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox gets into a Twitter spat with Jonathan Johnson over pornography [Tribune, Deseret News].
- Rep. Kraig Powell unexpectedly drops out of his race for another term on the Hill [Deseret News].
- Utahns give the 2016 Legislature mostly passing grades according to a new poll [Utah Policy].
- Some potential Utah delegates to the 2016 Republican National Convention are uncomfortable with demands from the Ted Cruz campaign to commit to voting for Cruz, even if there are multiple rounds of voting [Tribune].
- The U.S. Treasury announces that Alexander Hamilton will remain on the $10 bill, but five women from the suffrage movement will be on the back of the re-designed bill. Harriet Tubman will replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 [The Hill, Politico, NBC News]. Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren calls the decision to put Tubman on the $20 bill “stupid” [Politico].
On this day in history:
- 1836 – With the battle cry “Remember the Alamo!” Texas forces defeated the army of Mexican Gen. Santa Anna at San Jacinto, Texas, opening the path to Texas independence.
- 1918 – Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the German ace known as the “Red Baron,” was killed in action during World War I.
- 1980 – Rosie Ruiz, the first woman to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon, was disqualified when officials discovered she had jumped into the race about a mile from the finish.
