Category: 2020 election

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Biden Holds Huge Lead Nationally Among Black Voters

Former Vice President Joe Biden
The Washington Post reports former Vice President Joe Biden holds a huge lead nationally among black American voters.

Former vice president Joe Biden is far and away the favored candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination among black Americans, boosted by his personal popularity, his service in the Obama administration and perceptions that he is best equipped to defeat President Trump, according to a national Washington Post-Ipsos poll.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) occupies second place in the Democratic field among African American voters, easily outdistancing the remaining candidates in the race. Sanders is leading among black voters under age 35, replicating his success with younger white voters in other national polls. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) runs third.

(via Washington Post)
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Latest New Hampshire Poll Shows Tight 4-Way Race With Buttigieg Slightly Ahead

Photo of Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Mayor Pete Buttigieg

L-R Sen. Bernie Sanders, Mayor Pete Buttigieg
The latest poll from Monmouth University shows Pete Buttigieg with a slight lead in the upcoming New Hampshire primary. Of the Democratic voters polled, 20% expressed support for Buttigieg, 19% for former Vice President Joe Biden, 18% for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and 15% for Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. The survey also showed 7% of Democratic voters remain undecided.

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Buttigieg Picks Up Endorsement From Congressional Black Caucus Member

Pete Buttigieg & Rep. Anthony Brown
Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg has picked up his first endorsement from a member of the Congressional Black Caucus as Rep. Anthony G. Brown (MD-4) announced his support today. From the Washington Post:

“I firmly believe that Pete Buttigieg is the guy to lead our nation after we defeat Donald Trump and have to pick up the pieces and repair the damage of the last four years,” Brown said in an interview. “He’s well-versed and studied and really diligent about the issues from a policy standpoint.”

As Buttigieg has vaulted to the top tier of the Democratic field, he has struggled to attract support from African American voters and leaders. Brown will serve as a national campaign co-chairman, the first endorser the campaign has named to that position.

Brown acknowledged Buttigieg has received criticism for how he has approached racial issues in South Bend, but he said Buttigieg has not shied away from the critiques.

“We all suffer criticism,” Brown said. “The question is, how well do you take that criticism and sort of transform it into an overall constructive approach to addressing the challenges that are being raised? And I think he is really good at that and is open to it.”

Brown — who represents Maryland’s 4th Congressional District, just outside Washington — has other connections with Buttigieg. Both attended Harvard University and both are military veterans.

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Poll: Joe Biden Continues To Lead By Double Digits

Former Vice President Joe Biden (image via Instagram)

From The Hill:

Former Vice President Joe Biden leads the field of Democratic presidential hopefuls by double digits a month ahead of the Iowa caucuses, according to a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released exclusively to The Hill.

The poll shows Biden registering 30 percent support among Democrats nationally. In a relatively distant second place is Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who notched 17 percent in the survey. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is lingering in the No. 3 spot with 12 percent support. No other candidate registered double-digit support. Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg came in fourth place at 7 percent, while former tech executive Andrew Yang notched 3 percent support.

Still, recent polls in early primary and caucus states show a more fluid race. 

An Emerson College survey of likely Iowa Democratic caucusgoers released last month showed Biden and Sanders in a statistical tie for first place, with 23 percent and 22 percent support, respectively.

And a WBUR-MassINC poll of New Hampshire Democrats from December showed Buttigieg and Biden knotted at the top with 18 percent and 17 percent, respectively. Sanders wasn’t far behind in that survey, with 15 percent support.

And here’s some eye-popping news – former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has tied Warren for third place in the latest Hill/HarrisX poll:

The former New York City mayor is now in a dead heat for third place with top-tier candidate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who also received 11 percent support. Biden, meanwhile, continues to lead the Democratic field with 28 percent followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at 16 percent.

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Trump, Sanders, Yang & Buttigieg Announce Fundraising Totals

Mayor Pete Buttigieg campaigns in Iowa
Pete Buttigieg raised more than $24.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to the New York Times. Buttigieg’s campaign announced it had now received more than two million donations from more than 733,000 people since he entered the race, and 326,000 people had donated to the South Bend mayor’s effort in the fourth quarter. Since entering the race, the 37-year-old White House hopeful has raised more than $76 million. CBS News reports Sen. Bernie Sanders scored $34.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. Sanders’ best fundraising month was December, when he collected 900,000 donations totaling over $18 million. Still seeking a last-minute boost in the polls that would allow him to qualify for the January Democratic debate, entrepreneur Andrew Yang’s presidential campaign announced he had raised $16.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 putting him among the Democratic field’s top five fund-raisers. And over in Trump Land, the Donald’s re-election campaign pulled in $46 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. The Trump campaign begins the 2020 re-election year with cash on hand of $102.7 million. Update – Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s campaign announced the Democrat from Hawaii raised $3.4 million in the last quarter of 2019. The New York Times reports Joe Biden reported raising $22.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, a significant improvement from his lackluster fund-raising performance in the previous three months.

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Julián Castro Drops Out Of Democratic Presidential Race

Former HUD Secretary Julián Castro
The New York Times reports former housing secretary Julián Castro is ending his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Julián Castro, the former housing secretary who was the only Latino candidate in the Democratic primary, said Thursday he would end his bid for the presidency, capping a yearlong campaign where he struggled in polls but remained a policy pacesetter on immigration and fighting poverty.

Throughout his campaign, Mr. Castro, 45, a native of San Antonio who spent five years as its mayor, portrayed himself as an unapologetic liberal who was shaped by his humble beginnings and had been overlooked by the press. Though he created some memorable moments as he championed progressive policy and challenged his rivals on the campaign trail, Mr. Castro failed to catch on with voters and was unable to break into the upper tier of a crowded primary field. His exit is the latest departure of a candidate of color from a field that began as the most racially diverse ever in a Democratic primary.

“I’ve determined that it simply isn’t our time,” Mr. Castro said in a nearly four-minute video message released by his campaign, which included a montage from his year on the trail, including visits to the border and a homeless encampment in Oakland. “Today it’s with a heavy heart, and profound gratitude, that I will suspend my campaign for president.”

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Pete Buttigieg Continues To Surge In Iowa

Mayor Pete Buttigieg campaigns in Iowa
After taking lots of hits and attacks for his time working at global consultancy firm McKinsey, skepticism over his appeal to black voters, and the whole ‘wine cave’ thing, Democratic White House hopeful Mayor Pete Buttigieg is still surging in Iowa. From Iowa Starting Line:

Despite the new scrutiny, Buttigieg has seen his crowd sizes in Iowa swell this month, including five separate events with over 1,000 people each. Among those were a statement-making 2,000-person rally in Coralville, right in Iowa’s most liberal county, and a West Des Moines event this weekend that brought out 1,200.

Between those, he took a tour of rural counties and mid-size towns, often producing turnouts that local Democratic leaders say are the largest they’ve seen since Barack Obama’s 2008 caucus campaign. Around 500 showed up in Ottumwa and Fort Madison each for Buttigieg yesterday, and over 240 packed a theater in Centerville, a town of 5,500 near the Missouri border.

The Starting Line notes that many Iowans they spoke to have heard very little, or aren’t concerned about, issues with his time at McKinsey. Here’s what some of the town hall attendees had to say about the 37-year-old openly gay candidate: • Julie Gentz, 69, retired educator: “I just need some hope. I feel like this is a Kennedy moment … It’s a Kennedy moment in one respect, and it’s an Obama moment in the fact that he’s not just your run-of-the-mill politician.” • Laura Miller, 30: “He has his way of uniting all of us from different backgrounds and cultures, and just reminding us that we’re all human.” • Roger Mills, retiree: “I think he’s a person who has a great deal of spirituality in him, and I think he’s a person who can lead us into a different form of consciousness of peace and love. He quotes passages from the Bible. That intrigues me. It gives me hope.” • Tom Lucas, veteran: “He speaks from the heart because he is a veteran. It’s not a canned speech from some speechwriter. He’s worn the boots, he’s part of the brotherhood.” The most recent poll, from Iowa State University, shows Buttigieg with a three-point lead over his fellow Democrats. RealClearPolitics average of Iowa polls shows him up 2 points. Also, two of the other top tier candidates – Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT)  – may find themselves locked down in Washington as part of the jury in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. That could leave a wider opening for Buttigieg and former Vice President Joe Biden to campaign across Iowa in the weeks leading up to the February 3 caucuses.

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Bloomberg Has Already Spent $120 Million On Super Tuesday Ads

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg announces official entry into 2020 presidential race
Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg said before he entered the 2020 Democratic primary race he would spend “whatever it takes” to beat Donald Trump, and he wasn’t kidding. The Hill reports Bloomberg has reportedly spent about $120 million in digital and television ads since joining the presidential race last month.

The billionaire candidate is targeting large Super Tuesday states such as California and Texas, spending more than $13 million in each of those states, Politico reported Wednesday. Bloomberg has also spent that much in Florida, which votes a week after Super Tuesday, according to the news outlet.

Politico reported that Bloomberg has already outspent all of his competitors. Billionaire Tom Steyer has reportedly spent $83 million in ad buys, the second most, followed by South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who has reportedly spent $19 million.

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Poll: Alabama Sen. Doug Jones Trails 3 GOP Challengers

Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL)
As expected, Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, who took office in 2018 after a tight race against serial sexual assaulter Judge Roy Moore, looks to be in trouble for reelection. Via the Montgomery Advertiser: According to the poll (from JMC Analytics and Polling), which tested head-to-head match-ups with five Republicans seeking the nomination for Jones’ seat: • Former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville leads Jones 47% to 40%, with 13% undecided • Former U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions leads Jones 46% to 41%, with 13% undecided • U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne leads Jones 44% to 40%, with 16% undecided In what appeared to be pandering to conservative voters in his state, Jones recently said on ABC’s “This Week” that the allegations that Donald Trump exploited Ukraine for his political benefit are “serious” and “impeachable,” but added that there are “gaps” in the House’s case and that he is willing to acquit Trump in a Senate trial if “those dots aren’t connected.”