December 6, 2019: Nancy Pelosi announced that the House of Representatives will draft articles of impeachment against Donald Trump. Former Secretary of State John Kerry endorsed Joe Biden.

     Each Friday, we highlight a presidential candidate’s key campaign staffer.

Kevin Sheekey is a longtime Bloomberg staffer with experience in the public and private sectors. He has worked with Bloomberg since 1997. Sheekey graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in economics in 1988.

Previous campaign work:

• 2005 Michael Bloomberg (R) New York mayoral campaign, campaign manager
• 2001 Michael Bloomberg (R) New York mayoral campaign, campaign manager

Other experience:

• 2010-2019: Bloomberg LP, Global head of communications, public policy, and marketing
• 2006-2010: City of New York, Deputy Mayor for Government Relations
• 2003-2004: New York City Republican National Convention Host Committee, president
• 2002-2003: Office of the Mayor of New York City, special assistant
• 1997-2001: Bloomberg LP, public affairs lead
• 1992-1996: Office of Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.), chief of staff
• 1988-1992: Office of Rep. James Sheuer (D-N.Y.), chief of staff

What he says about Bloomberg:

“Mike is getting in this race because he thinks that Donald Trump is an existential crisis, and he thinks he’s on a path to victory…He’s getting in to alter that dynamic.”

Notable Quotes of the Day

“On Nov. 2, 2010, I won the first of three elections for governor in Wisconsin. That same day, someone registered the domain name RecallScottWalker.com. They were out to get me from day one. This is one of many striking similarities between the current impeachment process in Washington and the recall election in Wisconsin. … 

In the end, the protests and, ultimately, the recall energized our base. Surprisingly, it also turned off a majority of independent voters. They believed that the process was not fair. We won the recall election with more votes than in the original election.

I believe that the same thing can happen with Mr. Trump. Recent polls in Wisconsin and other battleground states suggest that Democrats have overplayed their hands. The public is growing increasingly frustrated with the ‘Do Nothing Democrats.’”

– Scott Walker, former governor of Wisconsin

“Allan Lichtman, a distinguished professor of history at American University, explained that even if the Senate doesn’t convict Trump, being impeached by the House will negatively impact his odds of getting reelected. Lichtman developed a political forecasting model that helped him successfully predict the outcomes of the last nine elections. The model is based on 13 ‘keys’ that determine whether or not an incumbent party will hold the White House.

‘Once Donald Trump becomes only the third American president to be charged with impeachment by a vote of the full House, that will turn the scandal key against him,’ Lichtman explained. That’s only one key. It could trigger others to turn against him, Lichtman continued. For example, it could prompt a serious Republican or third-party challenger, or it could possibly fuel the rise of an inspirational, charismatic candidate on the Democratic ticket.”

– Leandra Bernstein, Sinclair Broadcast Group

Democrats

• Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, and Tom Steyer will attend a presidential forum in Iowa on labor issues on Saturday. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is hosting the event.
• Booker, Buttigieg, Julián Castro, Klobuchar, and Steyer are speaking at the United States Conference of Mayors’ presidential forum on Friday in Iowa.
• Michael Bennet will continue to campaign in New Hampshire over the weekend with town halls and meet-and-greets scheduled.
• Former Secretary of State and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry endorsed Biden on Thursday.
• Michael Bloomberg announced his gun violence platform on Thursday while campaigning in Aurora, Colorado. He called for establishing mandatory background checks for private sales, requiring a buyer to have a permit before making a gun purchase, and passing federal red flag laws.
• Castro crossed the fundraising threshold for the December debate, tweeting on Thursday that he received contributions from 200,000 donors. He needs to reach the polling threshold in four eligible polls to qualify.
• John Delaney will campaign in Iowa on Friday.
• Tulsi Gabbard will campaign in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Friday.
• Deval Patrick hired Matt DeFalco as his Nevada state director and national veterans outreach director. DeFalco previously worked with the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada and on Seth Moulton’s 2020 presidential campaign.
• Sanders issued a plan on Friday to expand broadband internet access as part of a Green New Deal infrastructure initiative. 
• Elizabeth Warren will campaign in New Hampshire on Saturday with stops in Rochester and Rye. She also hired PaaWee Rivera as her Colorado state director.
• Marianne Williamson will campaign in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Saturday.
• Andrew Yang is holding a fundraiser in Texas on Friday.

Republicans

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Thursday that the House of Representatives will draft articles of impeachment against Donald Trump. 
• Joe Walsh wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal about Republican state parties that canceled their primaries.
• Newsweek interviewed Bill Weld about the Republican Party, executive power, and his campaign strategy.

Flashback: December 6, 2015

Bernie Sanders wrote an op-ed in The Des Moines Register calling on Congress to stop the merger between drug corporations Pfizer and Allergan.