5 Jun 2024

Menendezes and rematches: Takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries

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Mary Ellen McIntire and Daniela Altimari | CQ-Roll Call (TNS)

Voters in Iowa, Montana, New Jersey and New Mexico settled House and Senate primary battles on Tuesday. South Dakota also voted, but there was no contest in either party for its one House seat.

Along with nominating a senator’s son for another term in his father’s old House seat, voters also queued up several November rematches in battleground districts and picked nominees for open seats who are virtually certain to be in the next Congress.

Here are 10 takeaways from the races.

1. Senator’s indictment doesn’t hurt Rep. Menendez

In New Jersey’s 8th District, voters didn’t punish the son for the alleged crimes of the father.

Democratic Rep. Rob Menendez is on track to win a second term in his father’s old House seat, after defeating primary challenger Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla in the deep-blue North Jersey district. Menendez had less than 54% of the vote when The Associated Press called the race at 9:19 p.m. Bhalla had 36%, and a third candidate, businessman Kyle Jasey, had nearly 11%.

Menendez drew a primary challenger months after his father, Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, was charged in a corruption case for which he is currently on trial in Manhattan federal court. The younger Menendez has not been accused of any crimes or connected to the alleged scheme that involves bribes for the senator using his influence.

Rob Menendez has maintained much of his support among New Jersey Democrats, unlike his father. Although Bhalla was the top fundraiser as of May 15, outside groups stepped in and spent $1.8 million, 75% of it going to support Menendez. That included Congressional Hispanic Caucus BOLD PAC spending $486,000 supporting his campaign, and another super PAC called BOLD America spending $570,000 opposing Bhalla and supporting Menendez.

In November, Menendez will face Republican Anthony Valdes, who was unopposed Tuesday in the GOP primary. The race is rated Solid Democratic by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales.

2. Downing to vie for Rosendale’s seat

In Montana’s open 2nd District, Republicans voted to nominate state Auditor Troy Downing from a field of nine candidates, including former Rep. Denny Rehberg.

Downing, who got President Donald Trump’s endorsement on Monday night, had about 36% of the vote and Rehberg 17% with an estimated 89% of the vote counted. The AP called the race at 11:27 p.m. Eastern time.

Incumbent Rep. Matt Rosendale, after initially saying he would run for Senate and then that he’d run again for the House, ultimately decided not to seek reelection.

Downing will face Democratic former state legislator John Driscoll, who won 34% of the vote in a four-candidate race that was called at 1:55 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday.

The race is rated Solid Republican, so the GOP nominee has a strong chance of winning the seat in November.

3. Bashaw to face Kim

Rep. Andy Kim officially secured the Democratic nomination for Menendez’s Senate seat in New Jersey, garnering 80% of the vote against two opponents when the AP called the race at 8:14 p.m.

“I took a chance to run for Senate eight months ago on the belief that people are fed up with our broken politics and are ready for a new generation of leadership fighting for change,” Kim, who is in his third term in the House, said in a statement. “New Jersey has a choice: the chaos and corruption of Bob Menendez and Donald Trump, or the politics that works for families struggling to get by.”

He’ll face hotelier Curtis Bashaw, who won the Republican primary despite Trump endorsing rival Christine Serrano Glassner, the mayor of Mendham. Bashaw had 56% of the vote to Glassner’s 28% when the AP called the race at 9:08 p.m. Two other candidates shared the rest of the vote.

Menendez did not run in the Senate primary as he battles corruption charges, but on Monday he filed to run in the November election as an independent.

Inside Elections rates New Jersey’s Senate race as Solid Democratic. But Kim warned that Menendez’s independent run could play spoiler and give Republicans a chance to flip the seat. Even so, Republicans haven’t made the Garden State part of their strategy to flip the Senate.

4. No surprises in key Montana Senate race

In Montana, Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and his leading GOP opponent, Tim Sheehy, quickly dispatched primary adversaries Tuesday and continued their focus on the general election.

Tester, one of the Senate’s most vulnerable incumbents, turned back a challenge from Navy veteran Michael Hummert, while Sheehy defeated former Montana Secretary of State Brad Johnson and environmental contractor Charles Walking Child in the Republican primary.

Tester has already amassed one of the largest campaign war chests of any Democratic incumbent: He had about $11.8 million on hand as of May 15, far outpacing Sheehy’s $2.2 million.

But Sheehy is a top GOP recruit, and Republicans are hopeful that the businessman and former Navy Seal can use his personal wealth to unseat Tester, who was first elected in 2006. Trump won the state by more than 16 points in 2020.

The battleground race, which will help determine which party controls the Senate, is rated a Toss-up by Inside Elections.

5. Ex-senator’s daughter will try to flip Senate seat

Neither party’s candidate for Senate in the New Mexico — Democratic incumbent Martin Heinrich and Republican challenger Nella Domenici — faced a primary challenge.

The race is rated Solid Democratic, and Biden won the state by nearly 11 points in 2020.

But the GOP hopes that Domenici — the former chief financial officer of the world’s largest hedge fund and daughter of Pete Domenici, New Mexico’s last Republican senator — will make the contest competitive.

6. Conaway backed for Kim’s seat

Herb Conaway Jr., a member of the New Jersey Assembly, defeated fellow Assembly member Carol Murphy in the Democratic primary for the 3rd District seat, vacated by Kim’s Senate run.

Conaway had 48% of the vote to Murphy’s 26% when the AP called the race at 9:22 p.m. Three other candidates shared the rest of the vote.

Conaway was backed by outside groups including VoteVets, New Politics and Moms Demand Action, which spent $570,000 to support his campaign, according to FEC filings.

Conaway will face Republican winner Rajesh Mohan, who won a four-way primary with 39% of the vote. That race was called at 10:28 p.m.

Kim flipped a Republican-held seat when he was first elected in 2018, but the district became more Democratic when the state map was redrawn after the 2020 Census. Inside Elections rates the November race as Solid Democratic.

7. Kean, Nunn facing races rated Tilt Republican

Matchups were set for races in New Jersey’s 7th District and Iowa’s 3rd District that rank high on both parties’ lists of key battlegrounds this year.

In New Jersey, the anticipated race between Republican Rep. Thomas H. Kean Jr. and Democrat Sue Altman is now official.

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Kean easily won his primary on Tuesday against Roger Bacon. He had 74% of the vote when the AP called the race at 8:15 p.m. Altman was unopposed.

With a rating of Tilt Republican, the 7th District will have the state’s most competitive House race this fall and could be one of the most closely watched races nationally. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with House GOP leaders, has already spent $85,000 supporting Kean and opposing Altman.

Kean, the son of a former governor who remains popular, flipped the seat in 2022. Altman led the state’s Working Families Party, a progressive group that pressed Democrats who control state government, before stepping down to run for Congress.

In Iowa’s 3rd District, Lanon Baccam, the son of Laotian refugees who served in the Iowa National Guard, easily won his primary Tuesday and will face freshman Republican Rep. Zach Nunn.

Baccam defeated business owner Melissa Vine with 85% of the vote when the AP called the race at 9:13 p.m. Eastern time, shortly after the polls closed.

The district also is rated Tilt Republican, and Trump won there by about half a percentage point in 2020.

Altman and Baccam are part of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “Red to Blue” program, which offers challengers access to additional resources and training.

“This could once again be one of the closest races in the country, and there’s no better candidate than Lanon Baccam to flip this seat,” DCCC Chair Suzan DeBene said in a statement.

8. Iowa rematch set

In Iowa’s 1st District, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks handily turned back a primary challenge from fellow Republican David Pautsch, an advertising executive whose son, an Army corporal, was killed in Iraq in 2009.

Miller-Meeks, who was first elected in 2020, when she won by just six votes, won renomination by 12 points, though early returns had pointed to a closer race against advertising company owner Pautch.

Miller-Meeks’ nomination sets the stage for another November showdown with Democratic former state Rep. Christina Bohannan, who did not face a primary contest. Miller-Meeks beat Bohannan by nearly 7 points in 2022.

Miller-Meeks and Bohannan each had about $1.8 million on hand as of mid-May. The race is rated Lean Republican by Inside Elections, and Trump won the district by 2 points in 2020.

9. Montana rematch set

In Montana’s 1st District, Rep. Ryan Zinke handily defeated fellow Republican Mary Todd, capturing 75% of the vote in a race the AP called at 10:39 p.m. Eastern time.

Zinke will once again battle Democrat Monica Tranel, a lawyer who twice competed in the Olympics as a member of the U.S. women’s rowing team. Tranel, who did not have a primary contest, lost to Zinke by about 3 points in 2022.

Tranel had about $1.5 million on hand in mid-May; Zinke had $2.5 million.

Inside Elections rates the race Lean Republican. Trump won the 1st District, which covers a swath of western Montana from Kalispell to Bozeman, by 8 percentage points in 2020.

10. New Mexico rematch set

Neither candidate faced a primary challenge in the coming rematch in a battleground southern New Mexico district. Democratic Rep. Gabe Vasquez will once again face Republican former Rep. Yvette Herrell for the right to represent the state’s 2nd District.

In 2022, Vasquez ousted Herrell by 1,350 votes, or less than 1 percentage point. Both parties are expected to devote significant resources to the race, which is rated a Toss-up by Inside Elections.

©2024 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Visit cqrollcall.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

5 Jun 2024

Boeing’s Starliner launches on historic 1st human spaceflight for NASA

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — A pair of NASA astronauts have finally taken their historic ride on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner making its first-ever human spaceflight Wednesday morning.

Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams were back for a third time in a month once again taking a ride out to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 to climb on board the spacecraft sitting atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that lifted off amid mostly clear skies at 10:52 a.m. to take the pair to the International Space Station.

“Let’s get going,” said Wilmore minutes before launch. “Let’s put some fire in this rocket and let’s push it to the heavens where all these tough Americans have prepared it to be.”

Let’s relive liftoff of #AtlasV carrying #Starliner #CFT for @NASA and @BoeingSpace! pic.twitter.com/MxlAZE45aK

— ULA (@ulalaunch) June 5, 2024

The pair are flying the Crew Flight Test mission, a followup to two uncrewed test flights of Starliner, the first of which came in 2019. That mission was a partial failure as it was not able to rendezvous with the ISS forcing a 2 1/2-year delay to Boeing’s program to remedy hardware, software and management issues. The second uncrewed test flight in 2022 made it to the ISS, but post-launch review and preparation for the CFT brought further delays with more hardware issues popping up.

But half a decade later, Williams and Wilmore were set to fly, entering quarantine on April 22. Finally, on May 6, they tried for the first time to take off from the Space Coast, but an issue with a fluttering valve on ULA’s upper Centaur stage scrubbed that attempt with about two hours to go on the countdown clock. Then a second attempt this past Saturday was scrubbed within four minutes of launch because of ULA computers not synching at the launch pad.

“I am very impressed with my colleagues for being such optimists and such professionals.” said NASA astronaut for future Starliner crew member Mike Fincke during NASA’s live commentary leading up to launch. “They’ve been in quarantine for a long time. You know we’ve been waiting for over five years to get Starliner launched, but they are very, very excited about today. You can see that they’re focused on getting the job done and they are very ready for this mission.”

In the end, the third attempt went smoothly.

“Everything was fine. No hiccups, no drama and nothing to worry about,” Fincke said. “So I was really happy for Butch and Suni and happy with the whole team. … Now we just got to get to space station.”

The duo began suiting up before 6 a.m. at KSC’s Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Building venturing out after 7:30 a.m. to climb aboard the updated Starliner-themed Airstream Astrovan for the ride over to neighboring Cape Canaveral and make their way back on board the Starliner spacecraft.

Before driving over, they played a traditional prelaunch game with chief of the astronaut office, Joe Acaba, not leaving until they had lost to Acaba — this time in a quick game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. The idea is that losing that game is the worst thing that happens on a launch day.

“Speaking as a child of the 70s, a lot of us watched “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood” and Mr. Rogers would tell us to take our time to do it right, and that’s what we’re doing here,” Fincke said.

Just before 9 a.m., teams waited the conclusion of a weather brief before moving forward with hatch closure, but were given the go for hatch closure with less than two hours to go before launch.

“We are ready. We’re smiling out here, see you in a couple weeks,” said Wilmore.

Pictures: Launch day for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner on Crew Flight Test

The astronauts will spend just over 25 hours making their way to the ISS set to dock Thursday at 12:15 p.m., where they will spend about eight days on board before returning to Earth for a landing in one of five locations in the desert in the southwestern United States.

If successful, this will be the final required mission for Boeing under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program to achieve certification and set up regular rotational missions to the ISS, sharing duties with SpaceX.

“We need that access,” said NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free. “So right now we have we have one provider giving us that access to the space station. This will give us a second provider, which means if we have a problem with either, we have ways to get our crews to and from station, which helps keep the tempo that we’ve had for 23 years of having humans in low-Earth orbit, but also that opportunity to get the crews back if there’s an issue at all and keep that presence going.”

Wilmore and Williams will spend time on both the way up and down from the ISS testing out manual control overrides among other facets of the mostly automated spacecraft.

“There’s a thought of how things should be, but then there’s the reality how things need to be,” said Wilmore ahead of the launch attempt. “That’s what this test is all — everything we do is test. It’s been a process over the years that is such a benefit in all aspects of the capabilities of this spacecraft, and we’re excited to be a part of it.”

The pair are former Navy test pilots and veterans of two spaceflight each, with both having traveled on board Russia Soyuz capsules as well as the space shuttle. Wilmore is commander and joined NASA’s astronaut corps in 2000 while Williams joined in 1998.

Williams was given the honor to name the capsule after it landed, and dubbed it Calypso, in deference to oceanographer Jacques Cousteau’sfamed vessel. The zero-gravity indicator for the mission follows the maritime theme, a stuffed narwhal that is also named Calypso.

The flight comes just over four years since SpaceX made its first crewed flight to the ISS with its Crew Dragon spacecraft, which has since flown 13 times carrying 50 humans to space. That includes the four members of Crew-8 awaiting along with the rest of the seven-person crew of Expedition 71 aboard the ISS.

Starliner is only the sixth ever U.S.-based spacecraft to fly with NASA astronauts following Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, the space shuttleand SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. Williams is the first woman to fly on an orbital test flight among NASA’s spacecraft.

Starliner will also become the first U.S.-based capsule to make a land touchdown as Crew Dragon, Apollo, Gemini and Mercury all made waterlandings, as will the Artemis program’s Orion capsule that has yet to fly with humans. Russia’s Soyuz, though, features land touchdowns.

It also marked a return of human launches from Cape Canaveral’s launch pads, which last saw a crewed flight in 1968 with the launch of Apollo7. Every Apollo mission afterward as well as the space shuttle and Crew Dragon launches have come from nearby Kennedy Space Center.

It’s the first time an Atlas V has flown with humans as well, although earlier iterations of the Atlas rocket flew several human spaceflights in the early 1960s including John Glenn’s historic trip to space as the first American to each orbit in 1962.

This also marked the 100th launch of an Atlas V rocket, and Wilmore had a special message for ULA after launch.

“They’ve been a member of the family for a long time, but now it’s official, and we want to welcome them to human spaceflight,” he said.

5 Jun 2024

Ukraine uses US weapons to strike inside Russia, a Western official tells AP

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By AAMER MADHANI (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine has used U.S weapons to strike inside Russia in recent days, according to a Western official familiar with the matter.

The weapons were used under recently approved guidance from President Joe Biden allowing American arms to be used to strike inside Russia for the limited purpose of defending Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

The official was not authorized to comment publicly on the sensitive matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Biden’s directive allows for U.S.-supplied weapons to be used to strike Russian forces that are attacking or preparing to attack. It does not change U.S. policy that directs Ukraine not to use American-provided ATACMS or long-range missiles and other munitions to strike offensively inside Russia, U.S. officials have said.

Ukrainian officials had stepped up calls on the U.S. to allow Kyiv’s forces to defend themselves against attacks originating from Russian territory. Kharkiv sits just 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Russian border and has come under intensified Russian attack.

In advancing in the northeast Kharkiv region, Russian forces have exploited a lengthy delay in the replenishment of U.S. military aid. In addition, Western Europe’s inadequate military production has slowed crucial deliveries to the battlefield for Ukraine.

On Tuesday, White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters that he could not confirm that Ukraine had used U.S. weapons at targets in Russia.

“We’re just not in a position on a day-to-day basis of knowing exactly what the Ukrainians are firing at what,” Kirby said. “It’s certainly at a tactical level.”

According to a June 3 report from the Institute for the Study of War, Ukrainian forces struck a Russian S-300/400 air defense battery in Belgorod Oblast, likely with the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, on June 1 or June 2. The air defense system was located roughly 60 kilometers (about 40 miles) from the current front line in northern Kharkiv Oblast and more than 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the city of Kharkiv, which is within the range of HIMARS, the institute reported.

Confirmation of the strikes comes as Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, visited Qatar, which along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has been a key mediators in prisoner swaps and other negotiations between Russia and Ukraine since the war began.

—-

Associated Press writer Tara Copp contributed to this report.

5 Jun 2024

Prosecutors want Donald Trump to remain under a gag order at least until he’s sentenced July 11

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By MICHAEL R. SISAK (Associated Press)

NEW YORK (AP) — Manhattan prosecutors urged a judge Wednesday to keep Donald Trump ’s gag order in place in his hush money criminal case at least until the former president is sentenced in July, opposing a defense request that the restrictions be lifted following his felony convictions last week.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo told Judge Juan M. Merchan in a letter that the Manhattan DA’s office opposes any immediate termination of the gag order, which bars Trump from commenting about witnesses, jurors and others tied to the case — but not the judge himself.

The court “has an obligation to protect the integrity of these proceedings and the fair administration of justice at least through the sentencing hearing and the resolution of any post-trial motions,” Colangelo wrote.

On Tuesday, Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove had asked Merchan to end the gag order, arguing there was nothing to justify “continued restrictions on the First Amendment rights of President Trump” now that the trial is over.

In issuing the gag order in March, Merchan noted that prosecutors had sought it “for the duration of the trial.” Colangelo argued, however, that the order was “based not only on the need to avoid threats to the fairness of the trial itself” but also the judge’s “obligation to prevent actual harm to the integrity” of the case.

Colangelo said prosecutors favor having both sides submit written arguments to the court on the gag order issue in the next few weeks — a step that, if Merchan agrees, would keep the restrictions in place at least until nearly the end of the month.

A message seeking comment was left for Blanche.

Trump was convicted last Thursday of 34 counts of falsifying business records arising from what prosecutors said was an attempt to cover up a hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election. She claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier, which he denies.

Trump is scheduled to be sentenced July 11. His conviction is punishable by up to four years behind bars, but prosecutors have not said if they would seek incarceration and it’s not clear if Merchan would impose such a sentence. Other options include a fine or probation.

Blanche and Bove argued in their letter Tuesday that Trump is entitled to “unrestrained campaign advocacy” in light of President Joe Biden’s public comments about the verdict last Friday, and continued public criticism of Trump by his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen and Daniels, both key prosecution witnesses.

Trump’s lawyers also contend the gag order must go away so he’s free to fully address the case and his conviction with the first presidential debate scheduled for June 27.

Merchan issued Trump’s gag order on March 26, a few weeks before the start of the trial, after prosecutors raised concerns about the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s propensity to assail people involved in his cases.

Merchan later expanded it to prohibit comments about his own family after Trump made social media posts attacking the judge’s daughter, a Democratic political consultant. Comments about Merchan and District Attorney Alvin Bragg are allowed, but the gag order bars statements about court staff and members of Bragg’s prosecution team.

Trump has continued to operate somewhat under the idea that he’s still muzzled, telling reporters Friday at Trump Tower: “I’m under a gag order, nasty gag order.”

Referring to Cohen, Trump said, “I’m not allowed to use his name because of the gag order” before slamming his lawyer-turned-courtroom foe as “a sleazebag.”

During the trial, Merchan held Trump in contempt of court, fined him $10,000 for violating the gag order and threatened to put him in jail if he did it again.

Trump’s use of the term “sleazebag” to describe Cohen just before the trial rankled prosecutors, but was not considered a gag order violation by the judge. Merchan declined to sanction Trump for an April 10 social media post, which referred to Cohen and Daniels by that insult.

The judge said at the time that Trump’s contention that he was responding to previous posts by Cohen that were critical of him “is sufficient to give” him pause on whether prosecutors met their burden in demonstrating that the post was out of bounds.