Campaign Report
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Campaign Report
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Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has locked in a crucial conservative endorsement as she continues to make headway in the battle for the GOP nomination.
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© AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
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Americans for Prosperity Action, the Charles Koch-backed group with deep pockets, announced this week that it’s backing the former ambassador to the United Nations.
The group said in a news release that its endorsement comes with “a multimillion dollar ad campaign” in support of Haley starting this week.
AFP Action senior adviser Emily Seidel said Haley “offers the best opportunity to improve the lives of all Americans.”
“She has what it takes to lead a policy agenda to take on our nation’s biggest challenges and help ensure our country’s best days are ahead,” Seidel wrote in a memo on the endorsement. “With the grassroots and data capability we bring to bear in this race, no other organization is better equipped to help her do it.”
Former President Trump, who appointed Haley to the U.N. post, has maintained a commanding lead in the GOP primary fight, but Haley’s stock has started to rise after a series of debates among GOP candidates other than Trump.
Haley’s campaign confirmed this week that she has already banked ballot access in 21 states and territories, noting she’s the only Republican who has seen “upward momentum in polls.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), once seen as the presumptive No. 2 candidate, has faltered in many recent polls.
“Republicans across the country are tired of losing and ready to move on from the drama of the past,” Rick Wiley, Haley campaign political adviser said a a news release. “That’s why Team Haley has been working around the clock to make sure Nikki Haley quickly qualifies to be on the ballot in all 50 states and territories.”
The Iowa caucuses will take place Jan. 15, and will be the real first test for the GOP candidates. DeSantis recently won the endorsement of influential Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vander Platts.
Recent national polls have shown Trump averaging about 61.6 percent support among Republican voters to DeSantis’ 13.7 percent and Haley’s 9.8 percent, according to Real Clear Politics.
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Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, I’m Elizabeth Crisp. Each week we track the key stories you need to know to stay ahead of the 2024 election and who will set the agenda in Washington.
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Key election stories and other recent campaign coverage:
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Former Vice President Mike Pence initially did not want to preside over the count of electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2021, amid pressure from then-President Trump to overturn the election results, according to a new report from ABC News. ABC News spoke with sources familiar with what Pence told federal investigators led by special counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Sources told the outlet …
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Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie said Tuesday that he will not sign a law enacting a six-week abortion ban. Christie made his stance on the issue known during an appearance on “CNN This Morning,” responding to a question from co-host Phil Mattingly about fellow presidential contender Nikki Haley’s stance on the issue. “I would not sign a six-week national abortion ban,” Christie told Mattingly. …
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The Biden campaign on Tuesday seized on former President Trump’s assertion that he was “seriously looking at alternatives” to the Affordable Care Act, warning a second Trump presidency could harm millions of Americans with preexisting conditions. President Biden’s reelection team, in a memo first shared with The Hill, cautioned that repealing ObamaCare would strip protections from up to 135 million Americans with preexisting …
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Upcoming news themes and events we’re watching:
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- 48 days until the 2024 Iowa presidential caucuses
- 343 days until the 2024 election
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DeSantis, Newsom set to debate on Thursday
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The red state vs. blue state showdown among two of the country’s highest-profile governors has arrived.
After weeks of hyping the debate between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will meet on Fox News in an event that will air at 9 p.m. ET Thursday.
Fox host Sean Hannity will moderate the 90-minute event.
DeSantis, who is seeking the GOP presidential nomination for 2024, has been a top target of Newsom, seen as a star on the Democratic front and a possible future White House contender.
The two have clashed over culture war issues including abortion rights, LGBTQ advocacy and education.
The governors agreed to the debate back in September, when DeSantis was creeping up on GOP frontrunner former President Trump. DeSantis’s star has since started waning, while former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has risen in polls as the Republican candidates have debated.
“I think for Newsom the opportunities may be a little bit less than initially anticipated,” Eric Schickler, a professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley, told The Hill’s Niall Stanage.
“When this first came about, it looked like DeSantis was going to be Trump’s main rival — and, because of that, DeSantis had established himself as the No. 2 enemy of people on the left.”
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Michigan race for open House seat heats up
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© Graeme Jennings/Pool via AP
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Michigan Board of Education President Pamela Pugh has announced she is running for Congress after Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) said he won’t seek reelection next year.
“Voters in the 8th district are grappling with many of the same challenges I’ve heard all across the state over the past six months,” Pugh said in a statement. “First and foremost they want economic dignity and safe communities, and they want leaders with the courage to fight for democracy and the freedoms we all hold dear like reproductive choice.”
Pugh, 52, previously said she would run for the Senate but switched after Kildee’s announcement, citing constituent support. Kildee has been in Congress since 2013. He announced earlier this year that he had been diagnosed with cancer that was successfully treated.
Republicans, who currently hold a razor-thin majority in the House, have sought to make the central Michigan district a key target ahead of the 2024 cycle. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has rated the district a toss up, after Kildee announced his plans to retire.
Republicans Martin Blank, who is a trauma surgeon, and Paul Junge, who lost to Kildee in 2022, are also running for the seat.
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Branch out with a different read from The Hill:
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) denounced former President Trump’s attacks on top figures that endorsed the governor’s presidential run, calling his condemnation “out of bounds.” DeSantis, in an interview Monday evening with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, said people should have the right to have a preference in the primary without being attacked for making an endorsement, referencing Trump’s criticism of top …
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley for not showing interest in a proposed debate with him on Fox News. As he appeared on pundit Laura Ingraham’s program Monday, DeSantis was asked why Haley has not accepted an invitation to debate, which the host had proposed she host on her show. “Well, she probably wouldn’t like what the debate would be about. I mean, I think she has taken …
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Local and state headlines regarding campaigns and elections:
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Who won’t receive Alabama’s $150 tax rebate? Payments start this week (AL.com)
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Cities crack down on homeless encampments. Advocates say that’s not the answer (Associated Press)
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Gov. Greg Abbott jumps out of plane with 106-year-old World War II vet (The Texas Tribune)
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Election news we’ve flagged from other outlets:
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Senate Races to Finish Border Talks, Pass Ukraine, Israel Aid (The Wall Street Journal)
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DeSantis Faces Critical Decision on Cruise Ships in Key West (The New York Times)
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Pence told Jan. 6 special counsel harrowing details about 2020 aftermath, warnings to Trump: Sources (ABC News)
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Key stories on The Hill right now:
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Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) on Tuesday moved to force a vote on expelling Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), teeing up a third and potentially historic vote on the embattled lawmaker’s ouster. Garcia called his resolution to expel Santos to the floor as a privileged measure Tuesday afternoon, a procedural gambit that forces the chamber to … Read more
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The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in early December on a case that has the potential to broadly reshape the U.S. tax code and cost the government hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue. At issue in Moore v. United States is the question of whether the federal government can tax certain types of “unrealized” gains, which are … Read more
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Opinions related to campaigns and elections submitted to The Hill:
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You’re all caught up. See you next time!
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