Ballotpedia’s Weekly Presidential News Briefing: September 7-13, 2019

Every weekday, Ballotpedia tracks the events that matter in the 2020 presidential election.

Now, we’re bringing you the highlights from our daily briefings in a weekly format so you can stay up-to-date on the 2020 election with one weekly email.

Here’s the latest from the campaign trail.

Candidates by the Numbers

There are 10 new candidates running since last week, including five Republicans. In total, 850 individuals are currently filed with the FEC to run for president.

Notable Quotes of the Week

“Put another way, if you’re wondering why candidates such as Castro and Booker aren’t gaining more traction despite seemingly having run competent campaigns, the answer may have less to do with them and more to do with the fact that the field has a lot of heavyweights. Biden is a former two-term vice president; Sanders was the runner-up last time and basically built an entire political movement, and Warren and Harris have been regarded as potential frontrunners since virtually the moment that Donald Trump won the White House. The years that produce volatile, topsy-turvy nomination races, such as the 1992 Democratic primary, tend to be those where a lot of top candidates sit out, perhaps because they’re fearful of running against an incumbent with high approval ratings.”

– Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight

“A 10-person debate is difficult to pull off, and ABC deserves credit for producing an event that liberated the participants from the tyranny of overly strict timing. The less frantic pace of the discussion meant the candidates did not feel the need to interrupt the moderators and each other, which made this a more watchable debate than some. Does it change anything? Doubtful. Was it a decent debate? Yes.”

– Alan Schroeder, professor at Northeastern University

“This was not a debate that will live in history. One reason is the awful format. Sit the candidates around a table, four or five at a time, with a trained facilitator, and have conversations about subjects that matter—such as the climate crisis that ABC apparently felt wasn’t critical enough to discuss except in passing.”

– Larry Sabato, Center for Politics founder

Week in Review

2020 Dems debate healthcare, immigration, and criminal justice in Houston

Ten Democratic presidential candidates debated Thursday night in Houston, Texas. ABC News and Univision broadcast the debate, and Linsey Davis, David Muir, Jorge Ramos, and George Stephanopoulos moderated.

The candidates discussed Medicare for All, criminal justice, international trade agreements, gun violence, military strategy in Afghanistan, education, and climate change. Joe Biden had the most speaking time at 17.4 minutes. Andrew Yang spoke the least at 7.9 minutes. Here are the highlights:

Joe Biden emphasized the cost of other candidates’ healthcare plans and questioned how Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren would pay for their proposals. He said his healthcare proposal would allow people to keep private insurance, with out-of-pocket expenses capped at $1,000. Biden said that criminal justice needed to focus on rehabilitation and that non-violent offenders should not be in jail. He said he was the only candidate to beat the NRA nationally and that buyback programs should be used on assault-style weapons. Biden defended the Obama administration’s immigration policies, saying children were not locked up and families were not separated. He said he would increase asylum processing. On trade, Biden said the issue with China was not the trade deficit but intellectual property theft and World Trade Organization violations. He said Afghanistan is comprised of three separate regions and cannot be put together as one country. On education, Biden said funding for poor schools should be tripled from $15 billion to $45 billion and that home conditions and learning should be improved. When asked about resilience, Biden discussed losing his wife and daughter when he was first elected to the U.S. Senate.
Cory Booker said the party needed to unite to defeat Donald Trump. He said that while he supported Medicare for All, progress on healthcare should not be sacrificed on the altar of purity. He said there is systemic racism and environmental injustice and called for the creation of a White House Office on Hate Crimes. Booker said clemency should be given to 17,000 people who are serving time for non-violent drug-related offenses and that prison sentences are too long. He advocated a gun licensing program and said there needs to be more courageous empathy to effect change. Booker said the United States needed to strengthen its relationship with allies like Canada, Germany, and France. On climate change, Booker said he opposed corporate consolidation in factory farming. He also said discussions of the military should include improving conditions for veterans. Booker said education needed a holistic solution that includes raising teachers’ salaries and combating poverty. When asked about resilience, Booker pointed to his experience working with tenant leaders in Newark in 2002.
Pete Buttigieg said his healthcare proposal, Medicare for All Who Want It, would give people the opportunity to see that the public alternative was better than private insurance. He criticized the tone of the debate when Joe Biden and Julián Castro argued over healthcare. To address systemic racism, Buttigieg proposed investing in black entrepreneurs and historically black colleges and universities. He said individuals who supported Donald Trump’s immigration policies were supporting racism. Buttigieg called for community renewal visas and city-issued municipal IDs. On trade, Buttigieg said Trump’s policies were making American leadership absent on the world stage. He said that under his administration, authorizations for the use of military force would have a built-in three-year sunset. On education, Buttigieg said teachers needed to be respected and paid more. When asked about resilience, Buttigieg pointed to his experience serving in the military as a gay soldier under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and acknowledging his sexuality when running for re-election as mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
Julián Castro said the Democratic Party needed to build a young and diverse coalition to win. He said Joe Biden’s healthcare plan would leave 10 million people uninsured and that Biden forgot what he said earlier in the debate about whether individuals would be automatically enrolled in Biden’s plan. Castro said his plan would automatically enroll individuals into the system and allow them to hold onto private health insurance if they chose to. He said he was the first candidate to put forward a police reform plan. On immigration, Castro said Biden wanted to take credit for Barack Obama’s successes but didn’t want to be accountable for the critiques of the administration. Castro said he would not give up on DACA and that he would push for immigration legislation in his first 100 days in office. He said the United States should use leverage in trade negotiations to improve human rights in other countries and called for a Marshall Plan for Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. On education, he said schools were segregated because neighborhoods were segregated and that there needed to be more transparency and accountability from charter schools. When asked about resilience, Castro pointed to his resignation from a law firm to cast a city council vote against a former client’s development plan that he did not believe provided sufficient environmental protections.
Kamala Harris directed her opening statement at Donald Trump, saying he would have been indicted but for the Department of Justice policy against charging sitting presidents with crimes. She said her Medicare for All proposal gave people a choice between a private and public plan and that Trump needed to be defeated because his administration was trying to get rid of protections for individuals with preexisting conditions. Harris discussed her record as a prosecutor and said she would shut down for-profit prisons on her first day in office. She also said she would take executive action to ban the import of AR-15 weapons. On trade, Harris said she was not a protectionist Democrat. She said China needed to be held accountable for intellectual property theft and substandard products. She also said the United States needed to work with China on the issue of North Korea. She said as attorney general of California, she took on fossil fuel companies. On education, Harris said she would invest in historically black colleges and universities to produce more black teachers. When asked about resilience, Harris pointed to her experience running for district attorney and attorney general as a black woman.
Amy Klobuchar emphasized her Midwestern roots and said she wanted to be a president for all of America rather than half of the country. She said she supported creating a public option but opposed Bernie Sanders’ healthcare bill because it would eliminate private insurance. She also said she worked with Sanders on a legislative amendment to allow less expensive drugs to come into the United States from places like Canada. Klobuchar said that when she served as county attorney, she fought for justice for murdered black children, increased prosecution of white-collar crimes, and diversified the office. She said she would move forward on the Second Step Act, which would reduce sentences for non-violent offenders in local and state jails. Klobuchar said she supported what she called an “assault weapons” ban, magazine limitations, universal background checks, and closing certain gun-related loopholes. Klobuchar criticized the Trump administration’s tariff policy, saying it was harming farmers and could bankrupt the country. On climate change, Klobuchar said she would rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, bring back the Clean Power rules, and reestablish gas mileage standards. When asked about resilience, Klobuchar discussed her fight for extended hospital stays for new mothers before she entered public office.
Beto O’Rourke said in his opening statement that the El Paso shooter was inspired to kill by Donald Trump and that the current state of politics incentivized fighting and making differences without distinctions. While discussing the racial wealth gap, O’Rourke said he would sign a reparations bill to address systemic racism. He said he supported a mandatory buyback of AR-15 and AK-47 rifles. On immigration, O’Rourke said American policy should be written in the image of diverse cities like Houston. He said that no child should be caged, there needed to be accountability for the deaths of seven individuals in immigration custody, and Dreamers should immediately be made U.S. citizens. O’Rourke called for zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, pre-disaster mitigation grants to vulnerable communities, renewable wind and solar energy technology, and regenerative agriculture. When asked about resilience, O’Rourke pointed to the survivors of the El Paso shooting.
Bernie Sanders said the country was moving toward an oligarchic society and that he would challenge those in power. He defended the $30 trillion cost of his Medicare for All proposal, saying that the status quo would cost $50 trillion. He said his system would prevent people from going bankrupt because of a cancer diagnosis. Sanders said he opposed ending the filibuster and would instead use a budget reconciliation law to pass legislation on guns, Medicare, and climate change. He criticized NAFTA and said that wage stagnation was partly due to bad trade policies. Sanders said a difference between him and Joe Biden was Sanders’ vote against the use of military force in Iraq. He called Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro a tyrant and said his definition of democratic socialism was reflected in Scandinavia and not Venezuela. On education, Sanders said every teacher should make at least $60,000 each year. When asked about resilience, Sanders pointed to his earlier unsuccessful runs for U.S. Senate and governor in Vermont. Sanders was the fourth-most active participant, speaking for 13.7 minutes.
Elizabeth Warren said she would partly pay for her Medicare for All proposal through a wealth tax on the richest individuals and corporations. She said families needed to consider the total cost of healthcare rather than their tax bill. She said her plan would prevent individuals from having to argue with insurance companies and having coverage denied. Warren said gun legislation cannot be passed until systemic issues of corruption are addressed. On immigration, Warren said she wanted to expand legal immigration and create a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and their families. She also said there was a border crisis because Central America needed more assistance. On trade, Warren said human rights activists should be at the negotiating table for trade deals. Warren said troops in Afghanistan need to return home and that some problems abroad should be solved through diplomatic and economic solutions. She also endorsed Jay Inslee’s climate change plan. On education, she said there should be universal childcare and universal pre-K for children under five. When asked about resilience, Warren pointed to her journey to law school after being dismissed from her teaching job because she was pregnant.
Andrew Yang announced he would give $1,000 per month to 10 families who visited his campaign website as a demonstration of his Freedom Dividend proposal. He said health needed to be incentivized over revenue in the American healthcare system and pointed to the Cleveland Clinic as an example. Yang said he would return the level of immigration to what it was under the Obama administration. On trade, Yang said he would not immediately repeal tariffs against China. He also said he signed a pledge to end forever wars and that he did not believe the United States was good at rebuilding other countries. On education, Yang said student outcomes that are determined outside of the school, including student stress levels and income, could be better addressed by giving money directly to families and neighborhoods. When asked about resilience, Yang pointed to his experiences as an entrepreneur.

Prior to the debate, Donald Trump launched a media campaign in Texas that included two full-page newspaper ads targeting Biden, Castro, and Warren, and a flyover ad criticizing socialism.

The next Democratic debate will be held on October 15-16, 2019. In addition to the 10 candidates already discussed, Tom Steyer qualified for the debate this week with the release of a Nevada poll from CBS News/YouGov.

Republican primary field grows to four candidates

Mark Sanford, a former governor and U.S. representative from South Carolina, announced Sunday that he was running for president. “I think we have to have a conversation about what it means to be a Republican,” he said, referencing the federal deficit and government spending.

Joe Walsh and Bill Weld will attend an unsanctioned Republican debate on Sept. 24, 2019. A spokesperson said Sanford would attend if a scheduling conflict was resolved. Trump was invited but did not respond. Business Insider will stream the event live.

Trump held a rally Monday at the Crown Expo Center in North Carolina, where two congressional special elections took place Tuesday. Both Republican candidates won.

Four states cancel their primaries and caucuses

Republican state parties in Arizona, Kansas, Nevada, and South Carolina canceled their respective primaries and caucuses.

Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward said in a statement, “By opting out of the presidential preference election, our united Republican Party of Arizona will save taxpayers millions as we look ahead to the general election on Nov. 3.”

Michael McDonald said, “As the chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, my job is to ensure not only President Trump’s victory in Nevada, but also to elect more Republicans down the ballot. It would be malpractice on my part to waste money on a caucus to come to the inevitable conclusion that President Trump will be getting all our delegates in Charlotte.”

Walsh called the move disenfranchisement, while Weld questioned what Trump was afraid of.

Odds and ends on the campaign trail

Eight candidates participated in a political ad on gun violence produced by an advocacy organization founded by former Rep. Gabby Giffords, Giffords’ Courage to Fight Gun Violence. The ad, which is part of a six-figure digital ad buy, features Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren.
Biden hired Maju Varghese, an Obama White House adviser, as his chief operating officer.
Tim Ryan released a policy album on music streaming service Spotify that includes 10 tracks with his positions on gun violence, immigration, and other issues.
Tom Steyer is airing two new ads in Iowa, Nevada, and South Carolina as part of a $1 million campaign. One ad is focused on Trump’s inherited wealth and the other on climate change.

Want more? Find the daily details here:

Poll Spotlight

Staff Spotlight

Michael Glassner is a Republican strategist and longtime Bob Dole aide with extensive experience in management. Glassner graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in political science in 1985.

Previous campaign work:

2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign, deputy campaign manager
2008 John McCain presidential campaign, director of vice presidential operations
2000 George Bush presidential campaign, Iowa advisor
1996 Bob Dole presidential campaign, senior political advisor
1992 Bob Dole U.S. Senate campaign, campaign manager
1988 Bob Dole presidential campaign, executive assistant to the candidate

Other experience:

2008 – present: C&M Transcontinental, president
2014-2015: American Israel Public Affairs Committee, regional political director for the southwest
2001-2008: IDT Corporation, senior vice president for external affairs
1998-2001: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, chief of staff to the chairman
1998-2001: The International Commission on Missing Persons, senior advisor to the chairman
1986-2001: Staff of U.S. Senator Bob Dole

What he says about Trump: “Unsurprisingly, Donald Trump had absolutely no interest in the conventional approach followed by all establishment politicians, as this president has always been his own best strategist…President Trump took a calculated gamble with his unorthodox reelection strategy, and the bet is paying off — huge!”

Flashback: September 9-13, 2015

September 9, 2015: Antivirus software creator John McAfee launched an independent presidential campaign.
September 10, 2015: Bobby Jindal spoke at the National Press Club about Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
September 11, 2015: Rick Perry became the first noteworthy Republican candidate to suspend his presidential campaign.
September 12, 2015: Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, and Scott Walker campaigned at the Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Iowa State Cyclones football game.
September 13, 2015: Hillary Clinton spoke about her family at the Foundry United Methodist Church’s bicentennial celebration.

Trivia

How many sitting presidents have lost their bids for renomination?