Thursday’s Talking Points – May 5, 2016

Good Thursday morning and Happy Cinco de Mayo from Salt Lake City. Today is the 126th day of the year. There are 240 days left in 2016.

Former Senator Bob Bennett passes. John Kasich drops out, leaving Donald Trump as the GOP nominee. Gov. Gary Herbert and Johnathan Johnson call for an end to Common Core.

The clock:

• 54 days to the 2016 Utah primary election – (6/28/2016)
• 74 days to the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland (7/18/2016)
• 81 days to the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia (7/25/2016)
• 187 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)
• 263 days until the first day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (1/23/2017)
• 308 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (3/9/2017)

Ten talking points for Thursday:

1. Former Senator Bob Bennett passes at the age of 82. He served three terms in the U.S. Senate and was ousted from office by the Tea Party in 2010 [Politico, Washington Post, Utah Policy, Tribune, Deseret News, 2 News].
2. John Kasich ends his campaign for president, leaving Donald Trump as the last man standing in the GOP race [New York Times, Bloomberg, FiveThirtyEight].
3. House Speaker Greg Hughes is crowing that his support for Trump turned out to be prescient [Utah Policy]. Other Utah Republicans are reluctantly falling in line behind the presumptive GOP nominee [Tribune, Deseret News, 2 News].
4. While Democrats are licking their chops over a Trump candidacy, there are some reasons he could win the White House in November [Politico, Washington Post].
5. Who might Trump select as his running mate? Speculation is running rampant [The Hill, New York Times].
6. Both Gov. Gary Herbert and challenger Jonathan Johnson call for an end to SAGE testing and Common Core [Tribune, Deseret News].
7. Critics are beginning to wonder if Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski has a long-term plan for Utah’s capital city [Tribune].
8. Here’s what it would look like if Utah’s members of Congress had to wear the logos of their donors [2 News].
9. Sen. Mike Lee snags a much-coveted slot on the Republican national convention Rules Committee [Politico].
10. The Justice Department says North Carolina’s transgender bathroom law violates the Civil Rights Act [Politico, New York Times, CNN].

On this day in history:

• 1821 – Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on the island of St. Helena.
• 1925 – Biology teacher John Scopes was arrested for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution in violation of Tennessee state laws.
• 1961 – Astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space during a brief sub-orbital flight from Cape Canaveral.
• 1985 – President Ronald Reagan attended a wreath-laying ceremony at a military cemetery in Bitburg, West Germany. The visit drew worldwide condemnation because 49 members of the Waffen SS were buried there.