The media was pilloried in 2016 for giving its viewers and readers the impression there was little chance Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton could lose and for “missing” the phenomenon that was President Donald Trump. This year, editors and executives from several major news outlets told POLITICO they will be prepared for any surprises — and will make sure their audience is, too. “We’re ready for every outcome,” said CNN Washington bureau chief Sam Feist. [POLITICO]
Happy Election Day.
Topping the news: A judge threw out a last-minute lawsuit filed against Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen over missing ballots, ruling that she complied with state election law in issuing by-mail ballots to voters in a timely manner. [Trib] [DNews] [Fox13] [KUTV]
-> The U.S. Justice Department is sending a watchdog to San Juan County on Election Day to monitor polling locations during its first election with new boundary lines. [Trib] [DNews] [Fox13]
-> Campaign tactics have taken a religious turn as Election Day bears down on Utah, with some voters receiving a campaign mailer depicting a favorite scripture within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint that encouraged voters to elect a Republican candidate. [Trib]
Tweets of the day: From @ConanOBrien: “This is an unbelievable statistic: 18% of all statistics are falsely inflated 106% of the time.”
-> From @aedwardslevy: “At least it’s onlypollthatmattersday”
-> From @BarackObama: “When we've been at such crossroads before, Americans have made the right choice. Not because we sat back and waited for history to happen -- but because we marched, and mobilized, and voted. We made history happen.”
Happy Birthday: To former state Rep. Richard Greenwood.
In other news: Some 44 percent of registered voters in Utah have already cast their ballot as of Election Day, marking a strong turnout compared to the 2014 elections, in which only 46 percent of registered voters cast their vote. [Trib] [APviaDNews]
-> Republican Rep. Norm Thurston of Provo wants to end daylight saving time, and is contemplating whether to put the question to voters as a non-binding ballot question in the next round of elections. [Trib]
-> Salt Lake City is the likely front-runner for another Winter Games bid by the United States Olympic Committee set to be announced by the end of the year — due largely to calculated steps on the part of the city and state to keep their name in the conversation. [Trib]
-> An Afghan national army pilot who served alongside Maj. Brent Taylor, the North Ogden mayor who was killed in an insider attack on Saturday while stationed in Kabul, wrote an emotional letter to Taylor’s wife mourning the loss of his comrade. [Trib]
-> Taylor’s remains were returned to the United States in Delaware early Tuesday morning as his wife, Jennie, and other family members looked on. [Trib]
-> Gov. Gary Herbert swore in two members of the newly restructured Utah Transit Authority board on Monday, urging them to work to restore public trust in the agency. [Trib]
-> The Utah Transit Authority will hold a public hearing on Nov. 14 by to receive input on its 2019 budget proposal. [DNews]
-> From medical marijuana to an open Senate seat and a close battle for Congressional District 4, here are the headliners in Utah’s midterm elections. [KUTV]
Nationally: New sanctions on Iran went into effect Monday, and experts are concerned they will lead to price increases for oil and gasoline. But it remains to be seen who will feel the brunt of the sanctions. [NYTimes] [BBC] [WSJ]
-> Congress has largely stopped doing its job of keeping the president in check and creating compromises between competing groups and has instead become a weakened legislative branch where party leaders dictate agendas and government shutdowns are commonplace, according to a new analysis of congressional data and documents by the Washington Post and ProPublica. [WaPost]
-> A record number of LGBTQ+ candidates are running for office this year, with at least 244 in the 2018 midterm, all of them Democrats. Some 21 are gunning for Congress and four for governor. [NYTimes]
-> Turnout numbers aren’t just high in Utah. At least 31 million citizens had voted nationwide as of Monday morning — far more than the 19 million who had voted at this time in 2014. [CNN]
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-- Taylor Stevens and Cara MacDonald
https://twitter.com/tstevensmedia and Twitter.com/carammacdonald