Dems and surrogates make final campaign stops in Iowa


Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing
January 31, 2020: Democratic presidential campaigns set events with candidates and surrogates across Iowa. John Delaney ended his presidential campaign.        

Each Friday, we highlight a presidential candidate’s key campaign staffer.
Daily Presidential News Briefing, Staffer Spotlight - Brigit Helgen

Brigit Helgen is a Democratic staffer with experience in political communications. She graduated from Harvard University in 2008. Helgen previously worked as Klobuchar’s chief of staff.

Previous campaign work:

  • 2014 Mark Dayton (D-Minn.) gubernatorial campaign, senior advisor
  • 2008 Tim Johnson (D-Minn.) U.S. Senate campaign, press secretary

Other experience:

  • 2017-2019: Office of Sen. Amy Klobuchar, chief of staff
  • 2016-2017: Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation, head of communications
  • 2015-2016: Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, deputy assistant U.S. trade representative for congressional affairs
  • 2011-2015: Office of Sen. Amy Klobuchar, communications director and deputy chief of staff
  • 2011: U.S. Senate Democratic Policy and Communications Center, deputy press secretary for regional media
  • 2009-2011: Office of Sen. Mark Pryor, deputy press secretary

Notable Quote of the Day

“The trick is that … there doesn’t seem to be much of a pattern in which candidates surge and which ones don’t. In 2004, the establishment candidate, Kerry, overtook the insurgent liberal in Dean. But in several other races (say, Bush in 1988), the more establishment-type candidates underperformed. Sometimes, the late movement accelerated an existing trend, and sometimes it reversed one. Trump had been gaining ground in polls right up until a few days before the 2016 caucuses, for instance, before the last round of polls showed his lead slipping — and he further underperformed on caucus night. You can find several examples of Midwestern candidates overperforming on caucus night — but one of the biggest underachievers, Gephardt in 2004, was from Missouri, a neighboring state.

So you should be prepared for surprises on caucus night — and they may be genuine surprises, not necessarily the surprises that you’re hoping for or the ones that are easiest to conceive of right at this moment.”

– Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight

Democrats

  • Michael Bennet will campaign in New Hampshire on Sunday as part of his pledge to hold 50 town halls in the state.
  • Joe Biden’s wife, Jill, will campaign across Iowa over the weekend.
  • Michael Bloomberg is launching an ad campaign in 27 states—including California, Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania—featuring two new ads focused on healthcare. He also issued a policy plan on housing affordability and homelessness.
  • Pete Buttigieg is holding GOTC town halls and rallies across Iowa over the weekend. He also announced more than 70 surrogate events throughout the state.
  • John Delaney announced on Friday that he was ending his presidential campaign. His campaign said in a press release, “John does not want the good work of his campaign to make it harder for those like-minded candidates on the bubble of viability in many Iowa precincts to advance in the Iowa caucuses and garner delegates.”
  • Tulsi Gabbard is campaigning in New Hampshire over the weekend, holding a discussion about marijuana in Concord and a town hall in Manchester.
  • Amy Klobuchar will attend GOTC events throughout Iowa over the weekend and a Super Bowl party in Johnston on Sunday.
  • Deval Patrick is campaigning in New Hampshire over the weekend with stops in Manchester, Exeter, and Portsmouth.
  • Reps. Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) are campaigning for Bernie Sanders in Iowa on Friday and Saturday. Sanders is attending a Super Bowl event in Des Moines on Sunday.
  • Tom Steyer is attending events across Iowa over the weekend, including an environmental justice town hall in Cedar Rapids on Sunday.
  • Elizabeth Warren is hosting a rally in Iowa City with Rep. Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) and in Davenport with Julián Castro on Saturday.
  • Andrew Yang is hosting town halls across Iowa on Friday and Saturday. His final rally will be in Des Moines.

Republicans

  • Donald Trump released one of two ads that will air during the Super Bowl on Sunday. The first, “Stronger, Safer, More Prosperous,” focuses on the economy and unemployment rates.
  • Joe Walsh visited Trump’s rally in Iowa on Thursday to speak with voters waiting in line.

What We’re Reading

Flashback: January 31, 2016

Donald Trump said that he did not need to win Iowa to be successful: “I don’t have to win it. I have a very substantial lead in New Hampshire.”

Click here to learn more.