Good morning and welcome to the new DDHQ Morning News Spotlight. Every morning you can check in with us to find a succinct round-up of what is topping the headlines going into each day, and what is coming on the horizon. The first weekend of March Madness is now in the books, but midterm madness is just heating up. Let’s dive into the morning headlines.
Morning Headlines
- Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been hospitalized since Friday with flu-like symptoms according to a statement from the Court. According to the statement, he has an infection that is being treated with intravenous antibiotics and is expected to be released in the next few days. Justice Thomas still plans to participate in this week’s cases.
- Hearings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson are set to begin today. If confirmed she would be the first black woman to sit on the Supreme Court. Republicans have hinted at what objections they may raise to her nomination ranging from affirmative action to child pornography sentencing. All 50 Democratic senators have signaled their support for her nomination. She was confirmed to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals last year with the support of three Republican senators.
- Yesterday was the first major debate in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania’s open US Senate seat. Candidates met at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh for a Sunday afternoon debate. While candidates seemed to agree on most of the issues, there were differing opinions on how best to deal with climate change, and on expanding the Supreme Court. Following the debate, a pro-Conor Lamb super PAC put out a memo saying the campaign is going to have to get rough for Lamb to have a chance at catching Fetterman. The document outlines potential negative messaging that could be used against Fetterman to highlight his views as farther left than what most Pennsylvanians realize, and therefore in their estimation, out of touch with the state’s electorate.
- In Ohio, a candidate forum for the Republicans hoping to replace Rob Portman in the Senate was a heated affair that looked at times like it might even get physical. Josh Mandel and Mike Gibbons had an especially heated moment where the two came face to face and threats were exchanged.
- The Ohio redistricting commission is set to start from the beginning again today at drawing new legislative maps after their first three attempts were struck down by the Ohio Supreme Court. They are planning on taking a different approach this time by hiring outside mapmakers and mediators. They’ll have to move fast, as the court set March 28 as the deadline for new maps to be submitted. The Court also ruled late Friday that objections to the Congressional map would have to be made through a new filing. If plaintiffs decide to re-submit their lawsuits, the process will be drawn out even longer, making the May 3 primary date that already may be difficult to achieve, impossible.
- Don Young, the longest-serving member of the House, passed away on Friday at the age of 88. He was a fierce advocate for his home state of Alaska. A special election will be held to finish his term. It will be the first ranked-choice election in Alaska following their passage of the new election system back in 2020.
Upcoming Elections
| Tues March 22 | SC State House 18 Special GOP Primary |
| NY State Assembly District 43 Special General | |
| Sat March 26 | LA State House 101 Special Primary |
| Tues March 29 | SC State Senate 31 Special General |
| Tues April 5 | SC State House 18 Special GOP Primary Runoff (if necessary) |
| GA State House 45 Special General | |
| PA State House 19 Special General | |
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| Milwaukee, WI Mayoral Special General | |
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| Thurs April 7 | NY State Assembly 20 Special Election |
| Tues April 19 | CA State Assembly 17 Special General |