Good Monday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 137th day of the year. There are 229 days left in 2016.
Gov. Herbert tells donors he’s willing to go anywhere to meet with them. Poll shows Donald Trump would beat Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in Utah in November. Is Jon Huntsman on Trump’s short list for veep?
The clock:
- 43 days to the 2016 Utah primary election – (6/28/2016)
- 63 days to the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland (7/18/2016)
- 70 days to the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia (7/25/2016)
- 176 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)
- 252 days until the first day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (1/23/2017)
- 297 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (3/9/2017)
Ten talking points for Monday:
- An audio recording of Gov. Gary Herbert has him telling donors he is willing to “go anywhere” to meet with them. He also called himself “Available Jones” if they would like to meet with him and give him campaign donations [Tribune].
- A new poll shows Donald Trump would defeat either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders in Utah [Utah Policy].
- Donald Trump denies posing as his own publicist in the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s, despite audio recordings clearly demonstrating Trump pretending to be someone named “John Miller” or “John Barron.” Previously, Trump has admitted to using the aliases when talking to reporters [Washington Post].
- An analysis of Donald Trump‘s wealth shows the billionaire does not have the available cash to self-fund the rest of his presidential campaign [Wall Street Journal].
- The Sutherland Institute’s Boyd Matheson says former Ambassador Jon Huntsman is on Trump’s short list for running mate [Fox 13].
- Chia Chi-Teng, who is challenging Rep. Jason Chaffetz for the GOP nomination in Utah’s 3rd District, is proving to be a major irritant in Chaffetz’s bid for a fifth term in Congress [Tribune].
- Whoops! EDCUtah, an economic development nonprofit funded mostly by taxpayer money, failed to file tax returns for five years, which resulted in the loss of the organization’s tax-exempt status [Tribune].
- The Utah Board of Education says they will re-evaluate Common Core and SAGE testing, but only if lawmakers give them enough money to complete the task [Utah Policy, Tribune, Deseret News].
- Gov. Gary Herbert slams the directive from President Obama to public schools, mandating they accommodate transgender students in bathrooms and locker rooms, as federal overreach [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Fox 13].
- The Utah Transit Authority says they are closing some of their meetings to the public because of scrutiny by the media [Tribune].
On this day in history:
- 1868 – The U.S. Senate failed by one vote to convict President Andrew Johnson as it took its first ballot on one of 11 articles of impeachment against him. He was later acquitted of all charges.
- 1988 – Surgeon General C. Everett Koop said nicotine was as addictive as heroin or cocaine and called for the licensing of tobacco product vendors.
- 1990 – “Muppets” creator Jim Henson died at age 53.
- 2001 – Former FBI agent Robert Hanssen was indicted on charges of spying for Russia.
