Democratic Megadonors Considering 2018 Gubernatorial Runs

Good scoop from Politico’s Gabriel Debenedetti:

Four weeks out from Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election, Democrats may soon be launching a few unorthodox, mega-rich candidates of their own.

In three major states with a governor’s mansion up for grabs in 2018, a big-name, politically active billionaire or multimillionaire is taking steps toward a run — donors looking to take matters into their own hands after 2016’s gutting losses.

In Florida, it’s John Morgan, a wealthy attorney who has long been one of the Democratic Party’s biggest swing-state fundraisers. In Illinois, it’s J.B. Pritzker, the businessman and philanthropist with a history of pumping cash and Chicago political support toward Hillary Clinton. And in California, it’s Tom Steyer, the hedge fund manager-turned climate activist who used the 2014 and 2016 election cycles to become one of the left’s single biggest donors, to the tune of over $140 million. And more may be on the way.

It’s an unexpected development that stands to inject new life into the Democratic Party — but it also exposes the lack of clear pipeline for young, rising Democrats after a series of losses, at a time when they are down to just 18 governors across the country, from 29 just eight years ago.

“There seems to be a feeling that we need to look beyond the normal folks we always look to, the normal types,” said Elisabeth Pearson, the Democratic Governors Association’s executive director, who said the party was discussing a “need to look beyond the type of people who have been elected before, and look at who else might be out there.”

California is a Democratic stronghold. Incumbent governor Jerry Brown will be retiring at the end of his current term, which means the Democratic primary is where the competition will really be in this race. Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom and former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa are running for the job as well, so how Steyer might fit into this race is not known at the present time.

Illinois and Florida are both under Republican control, but will be in different circumstances in 2018.  Illinois incumbent Bruce Rauner will be running for re-election, while Florida incumbent Rick Scott is term-limited and Republicans will be defending an open seat.

UPDATE: Here is a post-election tweet from John Morgan linking to a Medium post outlining his vision for what the next governor of Florida should do.

 

New Hampshire Congressional Delegation Endorses Ray Buckley

The Granite State’s congressional delegation issued a joint statement endorsing New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman Ray Buckley to be the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The statement, posted on the Facebook page of the Ray Buckley for DNC Chairman group, reads in part:

We write to you as the first all-female, all-Democratic Congressional delegation in our country’s history to urge you to support Ray Buckley as the next chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Each of us survived Republican tides that swept across the country this year and in 2014 in no small part because of the strong state and local Democratic Party organizations in New Hampshire. As the chair of the NH Democratic Committee for the last ten years and vice-chair for the preceding eight years, Ray Buckley led the effort to build the state Democratic Party into the effective grassroots operation it is today.
Ray has the vision, energy and commitment to reform the DNC and utilize it to reinvigorate state and local parties across the country.
Beyond the state’s congressional delegation, Union Leader political reporter Dan Tuohy also noted, “DNC members from NH also cheering Buckley on.”

Jaime Harrison Calls Trump Twitter Feud with Union Official “Disgusting”

The Carrier deal that got Donald Trump an initial blitz of good press a few days ago took a twist when Chuck Jones, president of United Steelworkers 1999 which represents Carrier employees, told the Washington Post that the president-elect “lied his ass off” by embellishing or exaggerating the number of jobs saved by the deal.

As was the case with Khizr Khan and Alicia Machado during the presidential campaign, President-Elect Trump couldn’t let it go. He took to Twitter to strike back at his critic:

South Carolina Democratic Party chairman and DNC chairman candidate Jaime Harrison took to Twitter for his own response:

There are no statements from Ray Buckley or Keith Ellison about the controversy, though Buckley did retweet several comments about it, including one by Jaime Harrison.

Here’s the response from United Steelworkers:

UPDATE: Here’s the response from AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka:

Branstad Nomination Gives Democrats a Possible Pickup Opportunity in Iowa

Donald Trump chose Iowa governor Terry Branstad to be his ambassador to China, an offer that Branstad accepted.  The vacancy for Iowa’s chief executive would be filled by Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds until the 2018 election. Branstad – who was already the state’s longest serving governor – was up for reelection, but now Democrats will have the opportunity to run against Reynolds. This would give Democrats an opportunity to win another governorship, in a state Trump won by a slightly larger margin than Texas.

The Democratic Governors Association went through the opposition research on Reynolds and forwarded this Politico story mentioning her as a potential U.S. Senate candidate in 2014. Depending on the political and economic winds in two years, as well as candidate recruitment, this could be a good opportunity for Democrats to get a win.

Ohio 2018 Senate Race Begins to Take Shape

Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel announced he will be running to unseat Democratic senator Sherrod Brown in 2018, a potential rematch of their 2012 contest which Brown won by 5 points. Mandel has been using Trump rhetoric in public campaign events as well as his campaign announcement video. Also interested in a possible run is Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio), a more moderate Republican more aligned with Governor John Kasich who refused to endorse Donald Trump during the presidential election.

Brown was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 and re-elected in 2012 – both very favorable cycles for Democrats. Donald Trump won Ohio by 8 points in the last election. Historically, the party that controls the White House tends to lose seats during midterm elections, though the Senate Republicans have a very favorable calendar for 2018. The question is what will the national and local dynamics be after two years of Trump as president. If times are good and he retains the popularity that got him elected, then odds are Sherrod Brown will be in for a tough race.  If the economy is bad or Trump is mired by unpopularity, having such a close association with him could be a negative for a candidate like Mandel.

Ellison Will Resign from Congress If Elected DNC Chairman

Following up on this report in the Washington Times yesterday, as well as pressure from other DNC candidates and Democratic Party insiders, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) told his hometown newspaper he would commit to being a full-time Democratic National Committee chairman if he is elected to the position:

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison will vacate his congressional seat if he wins the chairman job at the Democratic National Committee, he told the Star Tribune Wednesday morning.

Ellison conceded Wednesday that a full-time chair is what the party wanted after the losses of the 2016 presidential and congressional elections. He said he came to the decision after difficult soul-searching and hearing from the more than 400 voting members of the DNC who said they wouldn’t vote him as long as he was a sitting member of Congress.

The previous chair, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, was a Florida congresswoman.

“Serving my neighbors in Congress and fighting for them has been the best job I’ve ever had,” Ellison said, in an e-mail. “Whether it was for immigration reform, worker’s rights, gender equity, or social justice, we stood side by side so that every person in American … is treated with respect and given every opportunity to succeed. Until the DNC Chair election, I plan to continue doing just that.”

If Ellison wins and vacates his seat, Minnesota governor Mark Dayton – a Democrat – will call for a special election in 2017 to fill the seat, which represents the reliably Democratic stronghold of Minneapolis.  Ultimately, the Democratic minority in the House of Representatives wouldn’t change or be affected much.

By pledging to do so, Ellison takes the issue off the table for the rest of his candidacy. Whether that will lead to more support for his candidacy among committee members – the 447 party insiders who will elect the next chairman – remains to be seen.

Senate Democrats Urge Heitkamp and Manchin to Turn Down Trump Offers

Following up on this story from a few days ago, CNN’s Manu Raju and Ted Barrett are reporting Senate Democratic leaders Charles Schumer and Dick Durbin are urging their colleagues Heidi Heitkamp and Joe Manchin to not accept any positions in the Trump administration, at the risk of weakening the Democratic Party’s hand in the Senate.

Neither Heitkamp nor Manchin would say much about the nature of their discussions with the incoming administration, but when Manchin was asked about the possibility of the GOP picking up his Senate seat if he were to take a job with the administration, he said, “The people of West Virginia sent me here… I got to do what I can to make sure I’m helping my people.”

If Trump picks one or both of them to be in his cabinet, that would leave Democratic ranks in the Senate at 53-47 or 54-46 for at least the next two years. Depending on the political winds two years from now, the Republicans could potentially expand on that majority during the midterm elections, though the general historical trend has been that the party in power loses congressional seats during midterms.

Ray Buckley Promises “Radical Reform” If Elected DNC Chairman

New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman Ray Buckley did an interview with my friend/former colleague Paul Steinhauser of NH1 News.

Here are some of the key quotes:

Continue reading “Ray Buckley Promises “Radical Reform” If Elected DNC Chairman”

Joe Biden Leaves the Door Open for a 2020 Presidential Run

Vice President Joe Biden was visiting the U.S. Senate today when he had this very interesting exchange with reporters:

Vice President Joe Biden told a small group of reporters Monday that he may run for president in 2020.

“Yeah, I am. I am going to run in 2020,” Biden said when asked if he would run for office again. When asked what role he would seek, the 74-year-old vice president responded: “For president. And also, you know so, what the hell man, anyway.”

The vice president said, however, he wasn’t making a commitment to run when reporters asked if he was kidding.

“I’m not committing not to run. I’m not committed to anything. I learned a long time ago, fate has a strange way of intervening,” he said.

Biden would be 77 years old on Election Day in 2020.

If he did throw his hat in the ring, he would probably have the most name recognition of anyone in the rumored Democratic field. Democrats from all ends of the spectrum admire and respect him for his work as senator and vice president. The only downside other than his age would be the fact that he has already run unsuccessfully for the nomination twice. The upside: the Melania Trump RNC speech controversy would neutralize the plagiarism scandal that derailed Biden’s 1988 run.

On the other hand, there is another real question Democrats will have to ask themselves: would a Biden 2020 run help, hurt, or delay their efforts to rebuild the party’s bench, as well as deny an opportunity for new national leaders to emerge?

DNC Chairman Candidates and Democratic Senator Respond to DAPL Decision

There was a big development over the weekend in the ongoing protests about the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in North Dakota: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied the easement for the DAPL to be built under Lake Oahe, a big win for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe which had opposed the project.

Here is how the declared candidates for the DNC chairmanship stand on the DAPL issue:

Rep. Keith Ellison:

South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jaime Harrison:

“I applaud the Army Corps for heeding the concerns of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and agreeing that an alternate route for the DAPL is needed to protect the safety and dignity of the nearby Reservation. While I was discouraged that the process proceeded as far as it did without necessary consultation, today’s announcement is a welcome indication that the Obama Administration has heard the voices of the Standing Rock Sioux and their many supporters. I hope the federal government builds on today’s decision to foster appropriate respect for Indigenous peoples in the future. And make no mistake: if the Trump Administration attempts to reverse today’s decision, or otherwise disregards the legitimate interests and concerns of Indigenous peoples, the Democratic Party will stand strongly with the first Americans.”

Because she is up for re-election in 2018, I’m also including Democratic senator Heidi Heitkamp’s statement as well:

“It’s long past time that a decision is made on the easement going under Lake Oahe,” said Heitkamp. “This administration’s delay in taking action — after I’ve pushed the White House, Army Corps, and other federal agencies for months to make a decision — means that today’s move doesn’t actually bring finality to the project. The pipeline still remains in limbo. The incoming administration already stated its support for the project and the courts have already stated twice that it appeared the Corps followed the required process in considering the permit. For the next month and a half, nothing about this project will change. For the immediate future, the safety of residents, protesters, law enforcement, and workers remains my top priority as it should for everyone involved. As some of the protesters have become increasingly violent and unlawful, and as North Dakota’s winter has already arrived – with a blizzard raging last week through the area where protesters are located — I’m hoping now that protesters will act responsibly to avoid endangering their health and safety, and move off of the Corps land north of the Cannonball River.

“Additionally, our federal delegation and governor have been working together in a bipartisan effort to push for more federal resources for law enforcement who have worked day and night through weekends and holidays to support the safety of our communities. The administration needs to provide those funds – whether the protesters remain or not.”

There is no statement from New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley at this time. This post will be updated if that changes.

UPDATE: I received the following statement from Ray Buckley:

“I am pleased that the Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to explore alternate routes for the Dakota Access Pipeline. We need to ensure the protection of sacred and historic tribal sites as an integral part of American history and our larger culture.

“This victory belongs to the people of the Standing Rock Reservation and all the supporters and protestors who have passionately defended the land.”