Good Thursday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 119th day of the year. There are 247 days left in 2016.
Ted Cruz taps Carly Fiorina as his running mate. Bernie Sanders lays off hundreds of campaign staffers. Jason Chaffetz’s GOP primary opponent files a complaint about his campaign spending.
The clock:
- 61 days to the 2016 Utah primary election – (6/28/2016)
- 81 days to the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland (7/18/2016)
- 88 days to the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia (7/25/2016)
- 194 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)
- 270 days until the first day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (1/23/2017)
- 315 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (3/9/2017)
Ten Talking Points for Thursday:
- Ted Cruz, whose hopes of winning the GOP nomination are fading, tries to shake up the race by naming Carly Fiorina as his running mate [Politico, Washington Post, Real Clear Politics]. Cruz’s tapping of Fiorina as a potential VP echoes Ronald Reagan‘s naming of Pennsylvania Republican Richard Schweiker a few weeks before the GOP convention in 1976 [NBC News, ABC News].
- Donald Trump delivered a speech in Washington, D.C. laying out his foreign policy vision. The address failed to impress many foreign policy insiders who wonder if he can play with the big boys in that arena [New York Times, Politico].
- Bernie Sanders laid off hundreds of campaign staffers on Wednesday, which is probably not good news for his chances of winning the Democratic nomination [Politico, New York Times].
- Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for a “hush money” scheme he used to cover up his sexual abuse of young men on a wrestling team he coached [Politico, NBC News].
- Rep. Mike Noel wants Attorney General Sean Reyes to investigate groups advocating for the Bears Ears to be named as a new national monument [Tribune, Deseret News].
- A new poll shows Sen. Mike Lee with a big lead over his potential Democratic opponent, Jonathan Swinton [Utah Policy].
- Rep. Jason Chaffetz‘s Republican primary opponent, Chia-Chi Teng, filed an FEC complaint against him over his campaign spending [Deseret News, Tribune].
- A new report finds charter schools in Utah get less funding than public schools, but the gap is closing somewhat [Utah Policy, Tribune, Deseret News].
- A new state audit details how the former Kane County treasurer was able to steal thousands of dollars without much oversight from other county officials [Deseret News].
- The Utah Transit Authority will hand out $647,000 in bonuses this year. None of that money will go to top executives [Tribune].
On this day in history:
- 1788 – Maryland ratified the U.S. Constitution, becoming the seventh state of the Union.
- 1789 – The most famous of all naval mutinies took place aboard the HMS Bounty. The crew set Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors adrift in the South Pacific.
- 1945 – Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, his mistress and several of his friends were executed by Italian partisans.
- 1975 – North Vietnamese forces advanced to the outskirts of Saigon in the Vietnam War. Two days later, South Vietnam surrendered.
- 1994 – Former CIA officer Aldrich Ames pleaded guilty to spying for the Soviet Union.
