2020 Elections

The New York Times reports: On Nov. 11, Mr. Trump tweeted that he would be “meeting with representatives of the vaping industry, together with medical professionals and individual state representatives, to come up with an acceptable solution to the vaping and E-cigarette dilemma.” The announcement on Twitter took West Wing advisers by surprise, and one senior official said no meeting …

Business Insider reports: Former Vice President and 2020 Democratic hopeful Joe Biden doubled down on his reserved stance over legalizing marijuana and said his questions over its status as a gateway drug hold him back from supporting legalization. Biden was speaking at a Las Vegas town hall when he claimed that “there’s not nearly been enough evidence” to confirm if …

The New York Times reports: Ahead of a potential Democratic presidential run, former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York reversed his longstanding support of the aggressive “stop-and-frisk” policing strategy that he pursued for a decade and that led to the disproportionate stopping of black and Latino people across the city. “I was wrong,” Mr. Bloomberg declared. “And I am …

The New York Times reports: Pete Buttigieg continues to surge in Iowa, leapfrogging Senator Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to hold a commanding lead among likely Democratic caucusgoers, according to a new poll from The Des Moines Register. The poll showed that Mr. Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Ind., was the first choice …

Axios reports: Cenk Uygur, founder of the liberal news site The Young Turks, announced he is running to replace Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.), in a tweet Thursday night. The state of play: Uygur is also running against former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos — who, in 2017, pled guilty to making false statements to the FBI about Russian contacts. The …

Fox News reports: Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman announced Thursday morning that he is running for his old job once again. Huntsman left the governorship in the middle of his second term in 2009 to serve as ambassador to China in the Obama administration. He recently finished a two-year stint as ambassador to Russia under President Trump, which ended when …

The Associated Press reports: Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg may be weighing a run for president, but he won’t be on the ballot in the New Hampshire primary. Bloomberg’s team says the billionaire media mogul will not file in the state ahead of a Friday deadline to get on the ballot. Bloomberg is still deciding whether to launch …

CBS News reports: Deval Patrick, the former governor of Massachusetts, has announced that he is running for president in the 2020 race. Patrick made it official in an online video posted early Thursday morning. Patrick will be a guest on “CBS This Morning” on Thursday for his first interview following his announcement. A CBS News contributor since September, Patrick will …

The New York Times reports: Former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts told senior Democrats Wednesday that he will enter the presidential race, according to two party officials, reversing his decision last year to forgo a run and adding yet more volatility to an unusually fluid Democratic primary. Mr. Patrick was calling a list of Democrats to inform them of his …

The Hill reports: Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld (R) filed paperwork Wednesday declaring himself a candidate in the Republican presidential primary in New Hampshire next year. Weld, along with former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), is waging a longshot challenge to President Trump in the 2020 GOP primary for the presidential nomination. Former Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) dropped his primary bid …

Courthouse News reports: Democrat Mike Espy on Wednesday announced his run for the Mississippi Senate seat he sought in a tight special election last year, setting up a potential 2020 rematch with Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith, who was dogged by controversy for a remark expressing a willingness to attend a public hanging. Espy, 65, rose to national prominence after being elected …

The Washington Post reports: Former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford ended his presidential primary challenge to President Trump on Tuesday, blaming the impeachment drama in Washington for crowding out a discussion of policy issues. Sanford, who launched his protest campaign two months ago, announced his decision during a news conference in New Hampshire. He had been planning to file in …

Just in from Monmouth University: Four candidates are currently vying for the top spot in Iowa’s caucuses – Buttigieg (22%), Biden (19%), Warren (18%), and Sanders (13%). Compared to Monmouth’s August poll, Buttigieg has gained 14 points (up from 8%) and Sanders has gained 5 points (up from 8%), while Biden has lost 7 points (down from 26%), and Warren’s …

Just in via press release: National Nurses United, the nation’s largest union of registered nurses, announces today that it will endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. Nurses cite how Sanders’ leading platform closely aligns with nurses’ values on a whole host of issues, including rebuilding America’s labor movement to restore workers’ rights and his trailblazing leadership …

The New York Times reports: Former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts has told Democratic officials that he is considering making a last-minute entry into the 2020 presidential race, according to two Democrats with knowledge of the conversations, the latest evidence of how unsettled the party’s presidential primary is less than three months before the Iowa caucuses. Mr. Patrick has told …

Politico reports: Mayor Bill de Blasio panned former Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s potential run for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, calling his predecessor “a billionaire who epitomizes the status quo.” De Blasio has already run and folded his own campaign for the Democratic nomination, which never found much support among voters. The current mayor, who won his office in 2013 largely …

Rolling Stone reports: “I want to be a dual citizen and vote. When I recently applied for American citizenship, I passed the test. It was a conversation where I was asked many questions. I answered them truthfully and passed,” rocker Neil Young wrote Friday on his site. “Recently however, I have been told that I must do another test, due …

The Hill reports: Lawyers representing Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) on Monday called on Hillary Clinton to retract her comments alleging that the 2020 hopeful was a favorite candidate of the Russians, accusing her of defamation. “Your statement is defamatory, and we demand that you retract it immediately,” Gabbard’s lawyer wrote in a letter, demanding that Clinton “immediately” verbally retract the …

Mediaite reports: LA Times reporter Evan Halper appeared to have captured a remarkably newsworthy moment when during an interview with presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg, the South Bend Mayor laid blame of Donald Trump at the feet of former President Barack Obama. The last paragraph included the following comment “The failures of the Obama era help explain how we got Trump,” …

New York City’s ABC News affiliate reports: New York Congressman Peter King announced Monday morning he will not be seeking re-election in 2020. “After 28 years of spending 4 days a week in Washington, D.C., it is time to end the weekly commute and be home in Seaford,” the longtime GOP representative said in a statement posted to his Facebook …