Month: December 2016

Trump Transition Floats Red State Senate Democrats as Potential Cabinet Nominees

Two leaks coming out of New York today that have some Democrats worrying:

Manchin’s office has denied the Politico report. Heitkamp was invited to meet with Trump tomorrow and accepted the invitation. According to CNN’s Manu Raju, she did not rule out accepting a job in the new administration.

Some context to this: first, both Heitkamp and Manchin are Democrats up for re-election in 2018 in states that Trump won easily and have become more Republican in recent years. Second, if one or both of them accepted, that would weaken Democratic opposition in the Senate, from the current 52-48 majority to 53-47 or 54-46. Why? Because the sitting Republican governors in North Dakota and West Virginia would be able to appoint their replacements, who would most certainly be Republicans.

CORRECTION: Earl Ray Tomblin, the current governor of West Virginia, is a Democrat. If Manchin were to accept a position in the Trump administration, he would nominate a Democrat as a temporary replacement, but Republicans would have the opportunity to win that Senate seat during the next election cycle.

Keith Ellison’s Controversial Comments From His Past Getting Renewed Scrutiny

Several news and political organizations have been reviewing and publicizing Rep. Keith Ellison’s writings about Zionism, Nation of Islam founder Louis Farrakhan, and slavery reparations from more than two decades ago.  CNN did an in-depth review which you can read here. They became an issue during his first congressional run ten years ago. He has since disavowed his involvement with the Nation of Islam and has been defended by Jewish organizations like the Anti-Defamation League and J Street. His past writings and views are drawing renewed scrutiny since Ellison announced his candidacy for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee.

Ellison wrote this blog post on Medium explaining his background and the context for some of the issues at the time that are now being raised against him. It’s a start, but clearly he will have to address these issues from his past publicly and privately to convince DNC members to elect him as chairman.

UPDATE: Bad news for Ellison. The Anti-Defamation League has released a statement retracting its previous defense of Ellison, citing a recording of a 2010 speech – after he had been elected to Congress – which they describe as “deeply disturbing and disqualifying.” Here’s the relevant excerpt:

New information recently has come to light that raises serious concerns about whether Rep. Ellison faithfully could represent the Democratic Party’s traditional support for a strong and secure Israel. In a speech recorded in 2010 to a group of supporters, Rep. Ellison is heard suggesting that American foreign policy in the Middle East is driven by Israel, saying: “The United States foreign policy in the Middle East is governed by what is good or bad through a country of 7 million people. A region of 350 million all turns on a country of 7 million. Does that make sense? Is that logic? Right? When the Americans who trace their roots back to those 350 million get involved, everything changes.”

Rep. Ellison’s remarks are both deeply disturbing and disqualifying.  His words imply that U.S. foreign policy is based on religiously or national origin-based special interests rather than simply on America’s best interests. Additionally, whether intentional or not, his words raise the specter of age-old stereotypes about Jewish control of our government, a poisonous myth that may persist in parts of the world where intolerance thrives, but that has no place in open societies like the U.S. These comments sharply contrast with the Democratic National Committee platform position, which states: “A strong and secure Israel is vital to the United States because we share overarching strategic interests and the common values of democracy, equality, tolerance, and pluralism.”

Read the statement in its full context here.

UPDATE II: Here’s Ellison’s response to the ADL statement.

Former California Speaker John Perez Running for Xavier Becerra’s Congressional Seat

Former California Assembly speaker John Perez – who announced yesterday he was considering a run for DNC chairman – announced he will be running for Congress. This just in from Democratic strategist Dave Jacobson:

Perez apparently sent out a press statement shortly after the Becerra news broke.

If Perez is going to run for Becerra’s seat in California’s 34th congressional district, that would presumably take him out of contention for the DNC chairman race.

Becerra Chosen to be Next Attorney General of California

The Los Angeles Times just sent out a news alert announcing Governor Jerry Brown has appointed Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) to be the next attorney general of California, taking over for outgoing Attorney General Kamala Harris who was recently elected to the U.S. Senate.

More details:

Becerra, 58, has served 12 terms in Congress and was making a bid to become the ranking Democrat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee when Brown called him unexpectedly to offer the job.

“It’s a phenomenal opportunity,” Becerra said. “It means I get to be home a lot more.”

Becerra, who is the highest-ranking Latino in Congress, would be the state’s first Latino attorney general.

He worked in the Civil Division of the attorney general’s office from 1987 to 1990 before entering Congress. Becerra earned a law degree from Stanford Law School and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University.

He said in an interview Thursday morning he had always wanted to return to the office.

Becerra, if confirmed, would be the first attorney general appointed by a governor since Thomas Lynch, who was tapped by former Gov. Pat Brown in 1964.

The choice will no doubt send political shock waves through California because Becerra was not on any of the widely circulated lists of picks. Before Nov. 8, the conventional wisdom had been that the governor would choose a caretaker, perhaps even a career staffer who would simply carry out the office’s functions through the 2018 elections.

Becerra must be confirmed by the state Senate and Assembly, both handily controlled by Democrats.

The office of attorney general is perhaps second only to the governor in power, with broad authority to file sweeping legal action and defend California law.

UPDATE: Here’s the statement from Becerra:

 

North Carolina State Board of Elections Orders Recount in Durham County

The North Carolina State Board of Elections ordered a machine recount of 90,000 votes in heavily Democratic Durham County, a request backed by Pat McCrory’s campaign and the state Republican Party. The board’s decision came down to a 3-2 vote on party lines.

More details on the 90,000 votes in question, from the Raleigh News & Observer:

The roughly 90,000 votes under scrutiny in Durham were added to the statewide tally around 11:30 p.m. on election night. McCrory, who is seeking a second term, appeared to be leading statewide until those votes were added to the total; Democrat Roy Cooper, North Carolina’s attorney general, has been leading in the count ever since.

Baker said the late shift could have reminded voters of fraudulent elections in which corrupt officials added to the vote count if their candidate was behind. He said that practice was once common in Madison County, a rural county near Asheville where he lives.

“I’m not saying that’s what happened here,” Baker said. “I personally don’t have any reason to doubt that any information entered was correct.”

Another Republican board member, Rhonda Amoroso of Wilmington, cited past election problems and staffing changes in Durham County as one reason to hold a recount. “I think right now we have a taint,” she said.

McCrory’s campaign said he won’t seek a statewide recount if the Durham votes are recounted. Election officials there said the recount would take about eight hours, so it’s possible the governor’s race could be settled by the end of the week.

In the latest numbers on Wednesday, Cooper’s lead was above 10,000 votes for the first time as the final counties were finishing counting absentee and provisional ballots. Several more counties are expected to finish their tallies by the end of the week; McCrory isn’t eligible for a statewide recount unless the margin is less than 10,000.

Reaction from the Cooper campaign:

Reaction from the McCrory campaign:

What’s the end game in all this? According to News & Observer political reporter Colin Campbell:

Ilyse Hogue’s Platform for the DNC

There has been a lot of speculation about whether or not NARAL Pro-Choice America president Ilyse Hogue is going to enter the DNC chair race or not. There are currently four declared candidates (Ray Buckley, Howard Dean, Keith Ellison, and Jaime Harrison) and at least three others said to be considering a run (Hogue, former California Assembly speaker John Perez, and Emily’s List president Stephanie Schriock).

One thing Hogue has done is publish a detailed agenda or platform (which you can read here) of what she thinks the party needs to do to reform and move forward.

She has also picked up the endorsement of liberal blogger Markos Moulitsas.

Former California Assembly Speaker Considering Getting In DNC Chair Race

John Perez, former speaker of the California Assembly, is considering entering the race for DNC chairman, according to a recent interview with Politico’s Carla Marinucci. Perez – who is openly gay – also said issues of importance to LGBT citizens are a concern now with the incoming administration and both chambers of Congress under Republican control:

Perez told attendees at Tuesday’s conference that there is an immediate need for the Democratic Party to protect LGBT voters against possible action by conservative activists buoyed by the Trump win.

For LGBT voters, “everything is on the table — and everything is very scary — when you look at both houses of Congress,’’ he said. “Trump has spoken in very unclear terms about … issues in the LGBT community. Hence, he’s been very clear,’’ said Perez. Vice President-elect Mike Pence, he said, is “one of the most ardent opponents of equality, who has advanced the notion of legalizing discrimination.”

He said his concerns go beyond marriage equality. “Fundamentally, it’s people being able to live free of fear for their personal safety and their economic stability,” he said.

He also said he was still “evaluating” on whether or not to run for the position.