We Did it: Hickenlooper, McGrath win Senate primaries, Tipton upset in Colorado — Inside Biden’s vice presidential search — New York City won’t count absentee ballots for another week

Jul 01, 2020

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Quick Fix

— John Hickenlooper and Amy McGrath, the DSCC-backed candidates in Colorado and Kentucky, both won their primaries — while Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Colo.) was upset in CO-03.

— Joe Biden's campaign has been quietly working with women-focused organizations as they try to land on a runningmate.

— New York City election officials won't start counting the windfall of absentee ballots they received for the June 16 primary for another week, delaying a call in several contested primaries.

Good Wednesday morning, and happy July. Email me at zmontellaro@politico.com and follow me on Twitter at @ZachMontellaro.

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Days until the New Jersey (presidential and downballot) and Delaware (presidential) primaries: 6

Days until the Maine primary and Alabama and Texas primary runoffs: 13

Days until the Democratic convention: 47

Days until the Republican convention: 55

Days until the 2020 election: 125

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TopLine

ABOUT LAST NIGHT — The DSCC went two-for-two. After a bruising month, Hickenlooper emerged victorious, dispatching Andrew Romanoff in the Colorado Democratic Senate primary for the right to face Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.). Campaign Pro's James Arkin : "Democrats across the ideological spectrum, both nationally and locally, rallied around the former governor. Romanoff, who has run on a liberal platform, argued that Hickenlooper's moderate stances don't meet the moment and has said the ethics ruling shows the former governor would put the seat in jeopardy. But many Democrats in the state argued Hickenlooper was still the best candidate to face Gardner this fall." Romanoff also immediately endorsed Hickenlooper.

We also have results in Kentucky, after election officials counted all the absentee ballots from last Tuesday's election. McGrath outlasted Charles Booker in the Democratic Senate primary and will face Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in November. More from James : "Though she was the frontrunner throughout the race, McGrath faced a spirited challenge from Booker, a liberal first-term state representative who surged in momentum in just three short weeks to turn the race from a sleepy affair into one of the most closely-watched Senate primaries this year."

But the most surprising result of the night came in the House in CO-03, where Tipton lost a primary challenge to Lauren Boebert, a conservative restaurateur and gun-rights activist. Boebert, who has flirted with the QAnon conspiracy theory (here's more from CPR's Caitlyn Kim), will face off against Democrat Diane Mitsch Bush, who lost to Tipton in 2018 by 8 points. Campaign Pro's Ally Mutnick has more on the fourth incumbent to officially go down this cycle. (And not to mention another Republican endorsed by President Donald Trump to lose.)

In KY-06, Democrat Josh Hicks easily won the nomination to face GOP Rep. Andy Barr. (This was the seat McGrath lost in 2018.)

In OK-05, Republicans Terry Neese, a businesswoman, and state Sen. Stephanie Bice advanced to an Aug. 25 runoff. The winner will ultimately face freshman Democratic Rep. Kendra Horn.

In UT-04, Republican Burgess Owens, a former NFL player, cruised to victory in his four-way primary and will face freshman Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams. The GOP primary in the safe, red UT-01 remained uncalled, with Blake Moore and Bob Stevenson neck-and-neck.

In Utah, the GOP gubernatorial primary also remains uncalled. Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox had a small lead over former Gov. Jon Huntsman when we closed up shop early Wednesday morning, but this race is likely to remain uncalled, because ballots postmarked by Election Day but received afterward will still count.

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Presidential Big Board

VEEPSTAKES — Biden's campaign have met with both EMILY's List and the Barbara Lee Political Office to discuss the veepstakes. "The vice presidential selection committee has also contacted Democratic consultants who have expertise in running campaigns with female candidates, especially Hillary Clinton and her 2016 run, though they have yet to speak formally to the former presidential nominee," POLITICO's Marc Caputo reported. "The selection committee, advisers say, hasn't finished assembling a final shortlist of candidates for consideration by Biden".

MEET THE PRESS — Biden took questions from reporters after giving a speech assailing Trump's response to the coronavirus in Delaware, the first time he's done so in months, POLITICO's Chris Cadelago and Natasha Korecki.

THE REELECT — Trump's campaign has constantly tried to sell himself as an outsider, which "could be a tough sell because voters tend to view re-elections as more of a report card on the current officeholder than a binary choice between two candidates," The Wall Street Journal's Julie Bykowicz and Michael Bender wrote.

ON THE AIRWAVES — The Democratic super PAC Priorities USA is putting an additional $831,000 into TV ads in Arizona this month, McClatchy's Alex Roarty reported.

THE CASH DASH — Biden has started to quietly raise money for a transition committee, The New York Times' Shane Goldmacher reported. It is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit created on May 1 in Delaware and has raised nearly $700,000.

STAFFING UP — Biden's campaign announced senior staff in Michigan. Eric Hyers will be state director, Mariah Hill and Justin Johnson will be deputy state directors, Eddie McDonald will be senior adviser, Ed Duggan is political director and Rose Dady is coalitions director.

— A shakeup at the top of the Trump campaign: Michael Glassner, who organized rallies, has been reassigned and Jeff DeWit will be chief operating officer, per Axios' Jonathan Swan. The moves was orchestrated by Jared Kushner, Axios reported. Glassner will oversee the campaign's lawsuits and the campaign denied it had anything to do with the Tulsa rally.

POLLS POLLS POLLS — A new national survey from Pew Research Center has Biden with a strong lead. The poll has Biden at 54 percent to 44 percent (3,577 registered voters; June 16-22; +/- 2.0 percentage point MOE).

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Down the Ballot

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND — If you're waiting for a final call for those tight New York City House primaries, keep waiting. The New York City Board of Elections executive director Michael Ryan said that Staten Island won't start counting absentee ballots until Monday, and the rest of the city will start on July 8, per POLITICO New York's Bill Mahoney . "If we have to sacrifice speed for accuracy, we will always err on the side of accuracy and not give into the pressure to speed things up," Ryan said.

STAYING PUT — Trump's campaign has axed plans to hold an Alabama rally to boost Republican Tommy Tuberville, right before the former Auburn football coach faces off against former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the Senate primary runoff, CNN's Kaitlan Collins and Kevin Liptak reported. (The Trump campaign never announced a rally, but CNN reported in mid-June that one was being planned.)

ON THE AIRWAVES — Rep. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) is up with an ad slamming Senate primary opponent Kris Kobach. "Kansas could tip the scales" in control of the Senate, the ad's narrator says, while a picture of Kobach and the text "a repeat loser" is on screen. "We can't afford to lose this time."

— Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is up with another ad. The ad features Caroline Sweeney and her son Aidan praising Collins' work on diabetes, a common theme in Collins' ads.

— Senate Majority PAC and SomosPAC launched a Spanish-langauge campaign in the Arizona Senate race boosting Democrat Mark Kelly. The TV ad (and a similar radio spot) are positive bio spots focused on Kelly's military service. The campaign is backed by a seven-figure buy and will soon have a digital component.

— Democrat MJ Hegar, who is running in the July 14 Texas Senate runoff, is up with a new TV ad. The ad talks about family separation at the border and says "we stand together against the systemic racism that has hurt Black Americans for far too long."

FIRST IN SCORE — PANDEMIC POLITICS — Door-knockers are slowly returning. Heritage Action for America, the political arm of the influential conservative think tank, announced that canvassers would begin knocking on doors in Wisconsin, Iowa, North Carolina and Pennsylvania for its Project 2020 campaign. The group said in a press release that "the campaign will employ updated health and sanitation procedures, including social distancing, hand-sanitizing, and moving elderly individuals to call-only lists." Jessica Anderson, the group's executive director: "We are excited for Project 2020 to lead the nation in effective, proven safety measures to ensure that volunteers, workers, and every individual we come into contact with is protected from COVID-19."

ENDORSEMENT CORNER — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is jumping into the GOP primary runoff in TX-23, backing Raul Reyes, The Texas Tribune's Patrick Svitek reported. (House GOP leaders prefer Tony Gonzales in the open, battleground district.) Cruz' leadership PAC will also run a six-figure TV campaign boosting Reyes.

FIRST IN SCORE — THE CASH DASH — Freshman Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin had a big quarter in MI-08. She'll report $1.4 million in fundraising for the second quarter of the year, with $4.7 million in cash on hand.

COUNTING HEADS — Two new political appointees at the Census Bureau are causing angst, POLITICO's Daniel Lippman reported, increasing worries that the count will be politicized. More: "Last Monday, Commerce deputy secretary Karen Dunn Kelley informed Census Bureau director Steven Dillingham and his career deputy, Ron Jarmin, that the two new appointees, Commerce aides Nathaniel T. Cogley and Adam Korzeniewski, had been installed in senior roles at the Census Bureau — a move that blindsided both of them, according to a Census Bureau official."

(INTERNAL) POLL POSITION — An internal poll from Democrat Christina Hale has her with a narrow lead in the open seat IN-05. In the GBAO poll, Hale is at 51 percent to 45 percent for Republican nominee Victoria Spartz (500 likely voters; June 25-28; +/- 4.4 percentage point MOE). Biden leads Trump 53 percent to 43 percent in the district.

— An internal poll from the DCCC has a tight race in TX-06, which has largely remained off everyone's radar. The poll, which was conducted by the DCCC's internal data shop, has freshman GOP Rep. Ron Wright at 45 percent to Democratic nominee Stephen Daniel's 41 percent (376 likely voters; June 24-28; +/- 4.8 percentage point MOE).

THE PROCESS — The OSET Institute, an election technology research organization, is warning in a new paper that America's election infrastructure has processes that are "especially harmful" to Black Americans, POLITICO's Laura Barrón-López writes in to Score. "If black Americans cannot trust the vote then no one can," Jonathan Lancelot, a co-author of the OSET paper titled "Systemic Racism in U.S. Elections" told Laura.

The paper explores voter ID laws, restrictions to polling sites, and other forms of disenfranchisement for Black people. To help minority populations maintain their voter registrations to fight intentional or accidental voter purges, OSET recommends implementing a free service via text or email that monitors a person's voter registration and "notifies voters if their status has been changed."

— The Atlanta Hawks have volunteered their home arena to be turned into a massive polling station ahead of the state's Aug. 11 runoff and for early voting for the general election, after the city was besieged by long lines during the primary, per ESPN's Kevin Arnovitz.

STAFFING UP — Tori Taylor and Catherine Vaughan were promoted to co-executive directors of Swing Left, a grassroots Democratic group. Co-founder Ethan Todras-Whitehill is now the group's president.

CODA — QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Well it was really an interesting primary to watch wasn't it? I really didn't know what to make of it. I just kind of watched it with interest like everyone else." — McConnell on the Kentucky Democratic Senate primary.

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