Good Monday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 172nd day of the year. There are 194 days left in 2016.
Herbert maintains his massive lead on Jonathan Johnson. GOP delegates seek to block Donald Trump. His poor standing among Mormons could hurt Trump’s efforts to win Nevada.
The clock:
- Eight days to the 2016 Utah primary election – (6/28/2016)
- 28 days to the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland (7/18/2016)
- 34 days to the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia (7/25/2016)
- 141 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)
- 217 days until the first day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (1/23/2017)
- 262 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (3/9/2017)
Ten talking points for Monday:
- A group of GOP delegates is working on a plan to block Donald Trump from winning the Republican nomination at the convention in Cleveland [Washington Post]. Those delegates are raising money and plan to hire staff as part of their effort to derail the presumptive nominee [Washington Post].
- Donald Trump‘s troubles with Mormon voters could hurt his efforts to win the critical battleground state of Nevada in November [Politico].
- Donald Trump suggests the U.S. should employ more racial profiling following the nightclub massacre in Orlando [Reuters].
- Former GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio is expected to launch a bid for another term in the U.S. Senate after previously saying he would not seek re-election [CNN].
- Gov. Gary Herbert has a 38-point lead over Jonathan Johnson among likely Republican voters according to a new survey ahead of next Tuesday’s primary [Utah Policy].
- Gov. Gary Herbert declines an invitation for a televised debate with Jonathan Johnson before next week’s primary election [Deseret News].
- Utah GOP chairman James Evans met with presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump over the weekend, urging him to campaign in Utah after polls showed a potentially close contest with Hillary Clinton in November [Tribune].
- Former Utah Congresswoman Enid Mickelsen‘s role as head of the rules committee at next month’s GOP convention in Cleveland could put her in the middle of a fight to stop Donald Trump from becoming the party’s nominee [Tribune, Deseret News].
- Former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt campaigned for Republican candidates who got on the primary ballot using the new signature gathering route instead of the traditional caucus/convention system [Tribune, Deseret News].
- Another prominent political handicapper calls the Mia Love vs. Doug Owens rematch a tossup [Deseret News, Tribune].
On this day in history:
- 1214 – The University of Oxford in England was chartered.
- 1837 – Queen Victoria ascended the British throne following the death of her uncle, King William IV.
- 1893 – A jury in New Bedford, Mass., found Lizzie Borden innocent of the ax murders of her father and stepmother.
- 1963 – The United States and the Soviet Union agreed to establish a hot-line communications link between Washington and Moscow.
