Good Monday morning Utah from the Tribune political desk! Thanks for reading “The Rundown”.
🌦 Expect cloudy skies this morning with rain showers in the afternoon across northern Utah today. Highs will be around 60 degrees. In southern Utah, you’ll see lots of sun this morning with winds building in the afternoon and a high in the mid-60s.
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(Manuel Balce Ceneta | AP) Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks to reporters after House Republicans voted to oust her from her leadership post as chair of the House Republican Conference because of her repeated criticism of former President Donald Trump for his false claims of election fraud and his role in instigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, May 12, 2021.
Here’s who attended a Utah fundraiser for Rep. Liz Cheney
Two weeks before she hosted a fundraising event for Utah freshman Republican Blake Moore, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney visited Salt Lake City for her own fundraising event. Federal Election Commission filings submitted late last week give us an idea of who donated to Cheney’s re-election effort.
Some of the more well-known attendees:
Sen. Mitt Romney and his wife Ann gave the FEC maximum of $2,900 for Cheney’s primary and general election campaigns, totaling $5,800 each.
Maura Carabello, President, and Owner of the Exoro Group - $1,500
Don Stirling, Executive Director, Miller Family Office - $1,000
Adam Gardiner, former state director for Sen. Mitt Romney - $2,900
Lucidpress CEO Owen Fuller, who served on Gov. Spencer Cox’s transition team and headed up a PAC for Cox’s gubernatorial run in 2020, donated $1,000 to Cheney.
Former Rep. Ben McAdams also donated $1,000.
Cheney has drawn the ire of former President Donald Trump and his supporters for pushing back on his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Here’s what you need to know for Monday morning
🚨 Breaking overnight: Colin Powell, the first Black U.S. secretary of state, died at the age of 84 from COVID complications. [CNN]
🗳Former President Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud have Republicans in Georgia worried. A survey found 5 percent of Republican voters in that state would sit out the 2022 election. [NYT]
🏛 Democrats in Congress are racing to pass two spending bills before the end of the year. [Politico]
🚢 Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg warns supply chain issues will continue into next year. [CNN]
🗳 The Tribune’s Matt Canham breaks down the crowded and confusing race for Sandy mayor. Eight candidates are vying for that job in next month’s election. [Tribune]
😷 Education Secretary Miguel Cardona says the Biden Administration is reluctant to withhold education funding from states that won’t enforce mask mandates. [Axios]
🏥 Former President Bill Clinton was released from the hospital after six days. [LA Times]
🪧 Hundreds of thousands of workers in America are going on strike. So far, there have been nearly 200 strikes against employers this year. [WaPo]
TV and film crews came to an agreement with Hollywood studios avoiding a strike that could have shut down hundreds of productions. [AP]
🏛 Members of Congress are questioning whether Amazon executives misled them on the company’s business practices. [WSJ]
🇨🇳 Experts worry the focus on fighting terrorism after 9/11 allowed China to grow into a superpower unchecked. [NBC News]
🏭 Sen. Kirk Cullimore is sponsoring the most aggressive clean air legislation the Legislature has seen, Robert Gehrke writes. [Tribune]
🏛 Utah’s once-a-decade redistricting process is starting to wrap up. [Tribune]
➡️ Vice President Kamala Harris travels to Nevada today to discuss climate change and drought at Lake Mead. [AP]
💵 The top 1% of households in the U.S. now hold more wealth than the entire middle class. [Bloomberg]
➡️ Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy says he favors cognition tests for elderly leaders of all three branches of government. [Axios]
🗳 A leader of the effort to block a controversial tax reform measure won a special election to replace Rep. Craig Hall in the Utah Legislature. [Tribune]
🦸 Superman’s motto is changing to “Truth, justice, and a better tomorrow.” [Variety]
About those U.S. Senate fundraising totals
On Friday, we reported on the fundraising totals for the three Republican candidates for U.S. Senate.
Former State Rep. Becky Edwards provided “The Rundown” with a press release about her campaign’s fundraising total that said she had raised more than $725,000 “so far.” We interpreted that to mean her campaign had raised that amount in the quarter. That was incorrect.
That is her total fundraising since she entered the race in May, including the $275,000 she loaned to her campaign.
Edwards raised just $220,635 in the last quarter, putting her behind Mike Lee and Ally Isom.
Edwards reported $483,235 in cash on hand at the end of the quarter.
We regret the error.
Monday morning’s Utah news roundup
Utah
Shooting not to kill. This Utah case fuels a debate that frustrates police. [Tribune]
Shipping container apartments’ opening delayed by global shortages, developer says. [Tribune]
Vandalism spike in Washington County and other Utah School districts linked to a social media challenge. [Tribune]
How Utah plans to replace its state prison with a ‘world-class’ community. [Deseret News]
Utah, other states ask court to side with Texas in abortion lawsuit. [Fox 13]
Elections
West Valley City mayoral candidates speak to a big challenge: Getting residents to stay. [Tribune]
COVID-19
17 more Utahns die of COVID-19; 75 have died in the past week alone. [Tribune]
New survey reveals how Utah students are weathering the COVID-19 pandemic. [Deseret News]
Front-line fatigue: COVID resurgence leaves ICU doctors feeling ‘heavy in the soul.’ [Deseret News]
Studies hope to help families hit financially by pandemic. [Fox 13]
Environment
Two men paddled across the fringes of Great Salt Lake to document its decline. Here’s what they saw. [Tribune]
Religion
Latter-day Saint apostle’s multimillion-dollar stock win from his long corporate career fits with church history. [Tribune]
Opinion
Scott Abbott and Sam Rushforth: Utah congressional delegation promotes a monumental fraud. [Tribune]
Zion National Park needs major improvements. Here are some ideas, from the Editorial Board. [Tribune]
George Pyle: What I learned about Salt Lake City by hearing leaders explain it to out-of-towners. [Tribune]
Opinion: What if our politicians were more like entrepreneurs? [Deseret News]
🎂 You say it’s your birthday?!!
Happy birthday to state Senators Curt Bramble and David Hinkins and former state Rep. Sue Duckworth.
Got a birthday you’d like us to recognize in this space? Send us an email.
