Situational awareness - April 10, 2018

Situational awareness - April 10, 2018

Good Tuesday morning from Salt Lake City.

A GOP candidate wasn't a Republican when he filed to run for office. Mia Love's big fundraising haul. Federal agents raid the office and home of Donald Trump's lawyer.

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Tick Tock

• 6 days until the signature-gathering deadline for statewide ballot initiatives (4/16/2018)
• 11 days until the Utah GOP State Convention (4/21/2018)
• 18 days until the Utah Democratic State Convention (4/28/2018)
• 27 days until the final day a veto override session may begin (5/7/2018)
• 77 days until the 2018 Primary Election (6/26/2018)
• 211 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
• 294 days until the first day of the 2019 Utah Legislature (1/28/2019)
• 940 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Take a minute and subscribe to the "Bernick and Schott on politics" podcast. Listen to Utah's bestpoliticall analysis while you're on the go. Hosts Bryan Schott and Bob Bernick have more than 60 years combined experience covering Utah politics, so they bring you knowledge and insight that's unprecedented. You can subscribe using iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

Here are the news stories driving Tuesday

The Republican candidate who wasn't a Republican

GOP U.S. Senate candidate Sam Parker was not registered as a Republican when he filed to run for the party's nomination. He blames a "glitch" for the situation, but the Utah Elections Office says Parker personally changed his registration from unaffiliated to Republican and back twice since 2016 [Utah Policy].

Love's big fundraising haul

Rep. Mia Love raised $750,000 during the most recent reporting period but also posted campaign expenses totaling more than $450,000 [Utah Policy].

Other Utah headlines

• Salt Lake City leaders say support for a proposed sales tax hike to fund a number projects in the city is "overwhelming" [Deseret News].
   
• Rep. Mike Kennedy, who is running for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination, is meeting with small groups of delegates ahead of next week's Utah GOP Convention [Daily Herald].
   
• Most Utah families will pay more in state taxes next year because the Utah legislature failed to make changes based on the federal tax legislation passed by Congress last year [Tribune].
   
• Members of Utah's congressional delegation want President Trump to respond to an apparent chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians [Deseret News].
   
• Bob Farrington, founder of the Downtown Alliance, died from cancer at the age of 66 [Deseret News].
   
• A big power outage affected more than 50,000 Utahns along the Wasatch Front Monday afternoon [Deseret News].

National headlines

• The FBI raided the office, home, and hotel room of Donald Trump's longtime lawyer Michael Cohen. Agents seized records and documents related to several topics, including payments to an adult film star. The raids were not the work of special counsel Robert Mueller. Instead, they are related to information uncovered as part of Mueller's investigation that Mueller brought to officials in the DOJ [New York Times].
   
• Cohen is being investigated for possible bank fraud, wire fraud, and campaign finance violations [Washington Post].
   
• The raid on Cohen's office has angered President Trump, who openly mulled during a meeting whether he should fire special counsel Robert Mueller [CNN].
   
• On Tuesday morning President Trump tweeted "Attorney-client privilege is dead," and "A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!!"
   
• Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating a $150,000 payment to Trump's foundation from a Ukrainian steel magnate for a talk Trump gave during the presidential campaign [New York Times].
   
• The annual federal budget deficit is projected to be over $1 trillion in 2020 because of increased spending and the big tax cut package passed by Congress [New York Times].
   
• Senate Republicans are sticking by embattled EPA head Scott Pruitt because they are worried they would be unable to get a potential replacement through a bruising confirmation process [Politico].
   
• Florida Governor Rick Scott jumps into the race for U.S. Senate. The contest against incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson could be the most expensive U.S. Senate race in history, with estimates saying the two men could spend upwards of $200 million [Politico].
   
• Troops sent to patrol the border with Mexico will help maintain roads, fly drones for surveillance and clear brush. However, they will not be arresting migrants attempting to cross into the U.S. illegally [Washington Post].
   
• Uh oh...Russia has reportedly figured out how to jam U.S. drones in Syria [NBC News].
   
• U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth becomes the first senator to give birth while in office, delivering a baby girl on Monday [Chicago Sun-Times].
   
• The largest Facebook page dedicated to Black Lives Matter was discovered to be a scam with ties to a white man living in Australia [CNN].

On this day in history

• 1816 - Congress approves the creation of the Second Bank of the United States.
   
• 1866 - the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York by Henry Bergh.
   
• 1912 - RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton, England on her maiden and only voyage.
   
• 1925 - The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is first published.
   
• 1970 - Paul McCartney announces he is leaving The Beatles for personal and professional reasons.

Today At Utah Policy

GOP U.S. Senate candidate blames a 'glitch' for not being registered as a Republican when he filed for office; Elections officials say that's unlikely
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sam Parker was not registered as a member of the Utah Republican Party until 8 days after he filed to run for the GOP nomination. ...

Love posts big fundraising numbers, but big expenses too
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Rep. Mia Love raised just under $750,000 during the first quarter of 2018, but her campaign also spent a whopping $450,000 during the same period....

Guest opinion: Fears about Bolton as national security adviser are unfounded
By Andy Pierucci
General H.R. McMaster is out, Ambassador John Bolton is in as President Donald Trump's National Security Adviser and the world will be a better place for this decision....

Trade mission connects Utah companies to opportunities in Mexico
By World Trade Center Utah
Gov. Gary R. Herbert is leading a delegation of 27 Utah companies and organizations on a trade mission to Mexico City and Baja, California this week....

Policy News

Downtown mourns a great loss
The Downtown Alliance issued the following statement today on the passing of Robert Farrington who led the Downtown Alliance from its inception in 1991 until 2009.  The founder of the Downtown Alliance, Farmers Market, Live Green, Lights On! and Salt Lake City's Fi...

Sen. Lee calls for congressional vote before force used in Syria
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) issued the following statement Monday morning in response to the reported use of chemical weapons in Syria....

Fox files 'Quantifying the qualitative'
We had a prominent member of the Site Selectors Guild in town last week on a site visit. ...

Population increase in Utah provides opportunities to employers
St. George, Utah is the fastest growing metro-area in the nation according to the US Census Bureau, with total population growth of 4.0% between July 2016 and July 2017....

Local Headlines

Salt Lake Tribune

Self-driving cars in Salt Lake City? Downtown chosen to be lab for 'smart city' wireless technology.

Utah internet experts size up Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's impending visit to Congress

Why does Utah have a high suicide rate? A researcher is starting a years-long search for answers.

Utahns with large families could be paying a lot more in state taxes next year

Gehrke: More than two months later, mother who sought sanctuary in Utah church is still a welcome guest

Deseret News

Jackie Biskupski: We have a chance to make a difference for refugees living in Utah

Editorial: Dispelling the myth of the trade deficit

New Salt Lake wireless test area designed to fuel innovations of the future

As vote on sales tax hike nears, Salt Lake City leaders say public support is 'overwhelming'

Mitt Romney's Senate campaign war chest includes $1 million from his presidential bids

Members of Utah's congressional delegation call for response to Syrian attack

National Headlines

Alan Dershowitz: Today is a 'very dangerous day for lawyer-client relations' (Washington Examiner)

China Is Studying Yuan Devaluation as a Tool in Trade Spat (Bloomberg)

Homeless in Seattle (Weekly Standard)

News is entertainment and entertainment is news (The Hill)

CBS execs are freaking out over looming Charlie Rose expos (Page Six)

Mr. Zuckerberg goes to Washington - so let's stop acting like he can't handle it. He can. (Recode)

The biggest Black Lives Matter page on Facebook is fake (CNN)

Troops sent by Trump to border will fly drones, gather intel - and clear brush, too (Washington Post)

Arizona Supreme Court strikes down in-state tuition for 'dreamers' (Arizona Republic)

Trump administration rewrites ACA insurance rules to give more power to states (Washington Post)

YouTube targets young kids with ads, say privacy advocates, urging FTC to investigate (Los Angeles Times)

Wise Words

Improvement

"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self." Aldous Huxley

Lighter Side

No Biggie

"I read that dozens ofFacebook accountslinked to the Kremlin have been taken down. Russian hackers didn't mind. They were like, "Eh, even we don't trust Facebook anymore." Jimmy Fallon