Good Friday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 120th day of the year. There are 246 days left in 2016.
John Boehner rips Ted Cruz. Gary Herbert’s campaign is holding “speed dating” fundraisers for generous donors to his campaign. Jonathan Johnson has a steep hill to climb in June’s primary.
The clock:
- 60 days to the 2016 Utah primary election – (6/28/2016)
- 80 days to the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland (7/18/2016)
- 87 days to the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia (7/25/2016)
- 193 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)
- 269 days until the first day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (1/23/2017)
- 314 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (3/9/2017)
Ten talking points for Friday:
- Tell us how you really feel. Former Speaker of the House John Boehner calls Ted Cruz “Lucifer in the flesh” and the “most miserable son of a bitch” he has ever worked with [Politico]. Sen. Mike Lee defended Cruz against Boehner’s attacks, calling the former speaker’s remarks “really vile stuff” [Politico]. Rep. Peter King says comparing Cruz to Lucifer unfairly gives the devil a bad name [Politico].
- Political insiders say Donald Trump will get his clock cleaned in November by Hillary Clinton in the major battleground states [Politico].
- Gov. Gary Herbert‘s campaign is giving brief one-on-one meetings to big donors to his primary election against Jonathan Johnson, but his campaign insists there is no quid-pro-quo situation [Tribune, Deseret News].
- If you look at the numbers, Jonathan Johnson has a very steep hill to climb in the primary election against Herbert [Utah Policy].
- Salt Lake County Republicans say they were unaware of rumors that County Recorder Gary Ott was may be suffering from diminished mental capacity during the 2014 election. Ott’s Democratic opponent that year says the situation was common knowledge [2 News].
- National Democrats say Donald Trump may be the “x-factor” that allows Doug Owens to upset Rep. Mia Love in November [Tribune].
- Rep. Jason Chaffetz is taking the Obama administration to task for not deporting thousands of undocumented immigrants who have been convicted of crimes [Tribune].
- Two groups of Utah County residents want a public vote to stop a rapid bus transit project in Orem and Provo [Tribune].
- The number of people who used public transportation to get to the State Capitol during the most recent legislative session was up more than 50% over the previous year [Deseret News].
- Will Ferrell is set to play Ronald Reagan in an upcoming film. The movie, reportedly titled “Reagan,” will deal with the 40th president’s battle with dementia, telling the story of a White House intern who is tasked with making the president think he is an actor playing the role of the commander-in-chief in a film [The Hill]. Reagan’s family lashed out at the report, saying the film is in poor taste, and Ferrell is “ignorant” about Alzheimer’s disease [The Hill].
On this day in history:
- 1913 – Gideon Sundbach of Hoboken, N.J., was issued a patent for the zipper.
- 1975 – U.S. Marine, Air Force, and CIA Air America helicopters evacuated hundreds of American civilians and Vietnam War military support personnel and thousands of South Vietnamese from Saigon – the day before North Vietnamese overran the city and South Vietnam surrendered.
- 1992 – Rioting erupted in Los Angeles after a jury in Simi Valley, California, acquitted four white police officers of nearly all charges in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King.
- 2012 – Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton were wed in a ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey.
