The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, Carolyn Fiddler, and Matt Booker, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.
Leading Off
● KS-Sen: While the radical anti-tax Club for Growth has not endorsed a candidate in the GOP contest for this open seat, they're taking action to make sure an old adversary goes down. Politico reports that the group has reserved $2.1 million for a buy against Rep. Roger Marshall that will start June 9 and last until the Aug. 4 primary.
Marshall clashed with the Club back in 2016 when he challenged their ally, Rep. Tim Huelskamp, for renomination in the 1st Congressional District. The Club ultimately spent $420,000, which was a serious sum in this rural western Kansas seat, on ads, including a spot declaring that Marshall "supports more Washington debt, opposes full repeal of Obamacare, supports internet sales taxes, and funded a Democrat's campaign." Huelskamp had made just too many enemies during his time in Congress, though, and Marshall dispatched him 57-43.
Campaign Action
The Club now has the chance to avenge its 2016 defeat, and its intervention in this race could give former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who looks like Marshall's main rival, a boost. Kobach got some other welcome news earlier this week when businessman Bob Hamilton joined the GOP primary that already included Kansas Turnpike Authority chair Dave Lindstrom and state Senate President Susan Wagle; Hamilton's presence could further split the non-Kobach vote.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his allies aren't publicly backing anyone, but they've made it clear that they're opposed to Kobach. Kobach waged a chaotic gubernatorial campaign last cycle that ended in defeat against Democrat Laura Kelly, and his many detractors fear that he could make this general election uncomfortably competitive in a state that hasn't elected a Democratic senator since 1932. Major outside groups haven't aired ads against the former secretary of state, but the NRSC reportedly told state Republicans last year that it would take action to stop him from taking the GOP nomination.
Election Changes
Please bookmark our statewide 2020 primary calendar and our calendar of key downballot races, both of which we're updating continually as changes are finalized.
● Alabama: Republican Gov. Kay Ivey says she opposes legislation that would remove Alabama's excuse requirement for voting absentee. Ivey said that such a move "raises the potential for voter fraud," though her office did not respond to follow-up questions as to why she thinks so. Almost three dozen states allow voters to cast ballots by mail without an excuse and none have reported any non-trivial problems with fraud as a result.
Republican Secretary of State John Merrill previously relaxed the state's excuse requirement, allowing any voter to request an absentee ballot for the state's July 14 primary runoffs by checking a box labeled "I have a physical illness or infirmity which prevents my attendance at the polls" on their ballot applications. Ivey says she plans to avail herself of this option. In a recent interview, Merrill said that only "liberal extremists" are interested in expanding mail voting even though he supported a bill to eliminate the excuse requirement in 2017.
● Arizona: Arizona's Republican-run legislature went into recess last week without considering a proposal by Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs to allow the state to conduct its Aug. 4 downballot primaries or the November general election by mail. Lawmakers are set to reconvene on April 13.
● Arkansas: A federal judge has rejected a lawsuit seeking to extend the deadline by which absentee ballots cast in Arkansas' March 31 primary runoffs must be received in order to count. Under Arkansas law, absentee ballots must be received by Election Day. The suit, backed by the NAACP, had asked that officials accept any ballots they receive within at least 10 days of the election, so long as they are postmarked by Election Day. The judge said that plaintiffs lacked standing and left the current deadline in place.
● Idaho: Republican Gov. Brad Little has rejected a request by Secretary of State Lawerence Denney to move Idaho's downballot primary from May 19 to June 16 or later and instead has decided to conduct the primary entirely by mail. However, Little did not indicate that the state would mail absentee ballots or ballot applications to voters; he only promised he would work with election officials "to refine the absentee voting process for these unique circumstances."
It's also unclear whether the state will provide any in-person voting options for the many voters who are not able to participate by mail. Without such options, Idaho could leave itself vulnerable to a lawsuit.
● New Mexico: Twenty-seven of New Mexico's 33 county clerks have asked the state Supreme Court to order that the state's June 2 presidential and downballot primary be conducted by mail. In their request, the clerks specify that some in-person voting locations would remain in operation to assist those unable to vote by mail. Democratic Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who is named as the defendant is the clerks' suit, recently said that "an all-mail election is not likely."
● New York: Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed an executive order rescheduling the special election for Queens borough president for June 23. The election had originally been set to take place on March 24, but New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio canceled it on March 15. Over the weekend, Cuomo signed another order that consolidated New York's presidential primary and a number of other special elections with the state's primaries for downballot office, which are also set for June 23.
● Ohio: Civil rights groups, including the League of Women Voters, have filed a lawsuit asking that a federal judge order Ohio officials to delay the state's April 28 primaries and mail ballots (with postage-paid return envelopes) to every voter who has not yet voted.
Under a new law recently signed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, the state will eliminate almost all in-person voting. Instead, it will send postcards to voters explaining how to request an absentee ballot application. Voters would then have to print out applications on their own, or request one be mailed to them, and then mail them in—they cannot be submitted online. They would then have to mail in their absentee ballots.
The voting rights advocates who've brought this suit say there isn't enough time to complete this multi-step process before April 28 and want the court to pick a new date. Plaintiffs also say the state's voter registration period, which ended on Feb. 18, must be immediately re-opened until 30 days before voting concludes in order to comply with federal law.
● South Carolina: South Carolina's Election Commission has made a number of recommendations to Republican Gov. Henry McMaster and the GOP-run legislature to ensure the state's elections can run properly despite the threat of the coronavirus. Those suggestions include:
- Removing the excuse requirement to vote absentee
- Allowing voters to request absentee ballots online
- Removing the requirement to have witnesses sign absentee ballots
- Moving to a vote-by-mail system in which every voter would be sent a ballot
- Allowing early voting for the first time
Lawmakers would have to pass a bill to enact these changes, or to postpone the state's June 9 downballot primaries. However, legislators recently adjourned without taking any action on elections and have not set a date to reconvene, while McMaster has said he will defer to the legislature.
● South Dakota: South Dakota's Republican-run legislature has passed a bill allowing local governments to delay any local elections scheduled for April 14 through May 26 to any Tuesday in June. The law would not apply to the state's June 2 presidential and downballot primaries, though local elections could be rescheduled for that date. The measure now goes to Republican Gov. Kristi Noem for her signature.
● Vermont: Republican Gov. Phil Scott has signed a bill making a number of temporary changes to Vermont election laws to address the coronavirus pandemic. Among the most significant, Democratic Secretary of State Jim Condos now has the power to order that any election this year be conducted by mail, as long as Scott agrees.
● West Virginia: Republican Gov. Jim Justice says that he could wind up postponing West Virginia's May 12 presidential and downballot primaries, promising on Monday that he would make an announcement "very soon."
Senate
● GA-Sen-B: Democratic Rep. and civil rights legend John Lewis endorsed pastor Raphael Warnock this week in the November all-party primary.
● MA-Sen: State Democratic Party chair Gus Bickford announced that he was recommending that the party committee vote on Saturday to cancel the May 30 convention, and that both Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy III had reached an agreement on how to proceed.
Both sides agreed that, based on Markey's strong performance in the pre-convention caucuses held to choose delegates, the incumbent would have won the party convention and therefore would be awarded the party endorsement. Candidates in Massachusetts statewide races need to take at least 15% of the vote at their convention to make the primary ballot, and the two campaigns acknowledged that Kennedy would have surpassed this threshold. Bickford said that he would therefore request that Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin list both Markey and Kennedy on the September primary ballot.
● South Carolina: Candidate filing closed Monday for South Carolina's June 9 primary, and the state has a list of candidates available here. A June 23 runoff will take place in contests where no one took a majority in the first round of voting.
● SC-Sen: While Sen. Lindsey Graham took just 56% of the vote in the 2014 GOP primary against several candidates running to his right, the incumbent has redefined himself in recent years as a Donald Trump toady. Graham, who particularly impressed conservatives with his loud and angry defense of Brett Kavanaugh during the 2018 Supreme Court fight, doesn't face any serious intra-party opposition this time.
National Democrats are supporting former state party chair Jaime Harrison, who has the primary to himself. Both Graham and Harrison have raised plenty of money, but it will be extremely difficult for Harrison to score a win here. South Carolina backed Trump 55-41, and Team Blue hasn't won any statewide race since 2006, let alone a federal contest. Daily Kos Elections rates this contest as Safe Republican.
House
● IN-05: The anti-tax Club for Growth has waded into the crowded June GOP primary for this open seat and endorsed state Sen. Victoria Spartz.
● NC-11: GOP Rep. Mark Meadows officially resigned from the House on Monday to become Donald Trump's fourth chief of staff. It is not clear yet if there will be a special election for the final months of Meadows' term or if his seat will remain vacant until the new Congress convenes early next year.
● NY-17: Assemblyman David Buchwald is up with his first TV spot ahead of the June Democratic primary for this open seat. The candidate talks about the ongoing coronavirus crisis and declares, "Doctors, nurses, first responders, teachers, and leaders are delivering for New Yorkers while Trump fails us."
● SC-01: Democrat Joe Cunningham pulled off a miraculous 51-49 win in 2018 in this 53-40 Trump seat along the South Carolina coast, and four Republicans are running to try to take it back.
The GOP candidate who has the most outside support by far is state Rep. Nancy Mace. Mace has House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and the anti-tax Club for Growth in her corner, and she ended 2019 with a large financial advantage over her intra-party rivals. The only other primary contender who has brought in a notable amount of money is Mount Pleasant Town Councilwoman Kathy Landing, who has self-funded most of her campaign. Bikers for Trump founder Chris Cox and Brad Moe, who chairs the Lowcountry Affordable Housing Coalition, are also in.
