What's News
REDISTRICTING ROUNDUP: Florida’s redistricting special session begins today. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) released his proposed map Monday ahead of the session. The new lines attempt to carve up four Democratic-held seats—two in South Florida, one in Tampa, and one in Orlando. The map appears to immediately threaten Reps. Daren Soto (D-09), Kathy Castor (D-14), Jared Moskowitz (D-23), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-25). Democrats are favored in eight of 28 seats in Florida. The new lines could also displace Reps. Maxwell Frost (D-10), Lois Frankel (D-22), and Frederica Wilson (D-24), potentially creating some member-on-member primaries. President Trump would have won all of the new districts by at least 10 points. (Florida Politics/Punchbowl News)
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SEE YOU IN COURT. The proposal is likely to face several legal challenges. National Democratic Redistricting Foundation President John Bisognano told Hotline earlier this month he expects his group to challenge the map. Florida voters passed an anti-gerrymandering law in 2010. (Hotline reporting)
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REACTION. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement: “DeSantis’s gerrymander is blatantly illegal and political malpractice. … See you in Court.” (release)
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EVERY SESSION IS SPECIAL. “The House and Senate will convene for their floor sessions at 10 a.m. and noon, respectively, and the governor’s office will make the legal case for the redrawn maps. A vote on the map could come as early as Wednesday.” (Florida Playbook)
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VIRGINIA. Virginia Supreme Court justices probed on Monday whether the state Legislature was in compliance with the constitution when it asked voters to approve a mid-cycle gerrymander. The justices “focused on whether the new congressional districts should be invalidated because of the process used by lawmakers” and attorneys for both sides focused their arguments on their definition of the word ‘election.’ The state constitution requires a ballot question to be proposed in the middle of “two separate legislative sessions, with a state election sandwiched in between.”
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ARGUMENTS. The Legislature’s first vote on the redistricting amendment occurred last October, after early voting for Virginia’s general election had begun. Republicans argue that “‘election’ means the entire period during which people can cast ballots” while Democrats countered saying election is defined as the actual day of the election—in this case, the first Tuesday of November.
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NOT DONE. This case isn’t the last we’ll hear from Virginia courts over the legitimacy of the state’s new maps. “Republicans have filed at least two additional legal challenges, which also are winding their way through the courts.” (AP)
WHCD SHOOTING: White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles “will hold a meeting this week with officials from the White House operations team, the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security to discuss security protocol at events with the president.” The Secret Service was reportedly “already reevaluating its security footing” ahead of major events including the nation’s 250th anniversary, the World Cup, and rallies ahead of the midterms. (AP)
- ABOUT LAST NIGHT. “A flood of misinformation, conspiracy theories and false claims about the shooting … spread online at a notable and concerningly speedy rate, mostly about the baseless theory that the incident had been staged.” The quickness to doubt Saturday’s events has “become the default response for a growing number of Americans, deepened by the loss of trust in institutions and supercharged by starkly partisan politics.” (NBC News)
WHITE HOUSE: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and two other Justice Department lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Richard Leon “to lift his order halting” Trump’s $400 million ballroom, arguing the attack at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner proves the space is needed. “It is not clear whether the White House Correspondents’ Association, a private organization, would seek to hold its annual celebration in the White House ballroom.” (Washington Post)
REPUBLICANS: With high gas prices and war in Iran, “anxious Republicans are confronting a foreboding political climate that party leaders fear could lead to a wipeout in the fall if it does not improve.” As Republicans recall their 2018 losses, they say one improvement “is how organized and centralized the Trump operation is in the efforts to keep power.” (New York Times)
- BALLROOM BLITZ. “Senate Republicans are releasing a flurry of proposals to finish Trump’s ballroom.” Sen. Tim Sheehy’s (R-MT) proposal “would authorize the project without using taxpayer money—a contrast to one from” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), which would allocate $400 million for the ballroom. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) released a third bill that would expedite the review process for White House projects. (Semafor)
- SLOW DOWN. Republicans’ competing proposals show they are not on the same page for the ballroom, and “Democrats are not convinced that the $400 million ballroom is needed, seeing little connection between the gunman who targeted the Washington Hilton and Trump’s long-sought venue, which is too small to host the correspondents’ dinner.” GOP leaders are hesitant to add language approving the ballroom to the already tenuous party-line immigration funding plan that can pass without Democratic support. (Semafor)
2028 WATCH: As he seeks a third term, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) “is riding his battles with” Trump “to national prominence.” Explaining why he’s pushed back on the president so much, Pritzker said, “Every day you let an authoritarian go unchecked is another day that people are losing their rights and maybe even losing their lives.” (TIME)
NC SEN: Former RNC Chairman Michael Whatley’s traffic offenses are coming under scrutiny as he centers his campaign on tackling crime in the state. “According to court records in 14 different traffic cases reviewed by NC Newsline from North Carolina and Virginia, Whatley has repeatedly avoided facing the law, failing to appear in court in four North Carolina traffic cases and being found guilty in absentia in four traffic cases in Virginia.” (NC Newsline)
MI SEN: Democratic candidates running to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D) are flaunting their union support ahead of the primary. National Nurses United endorsed 2018 GOV candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D), a former Wayne County Health Department director and a proponent of Medicare for All, in the primary. (Politico) Boilermakers Local 169 endorsed Rep. Haley Stevens (D-11), a leader among union endorsements. (release)
TEXAS: A Texas Public Opinion Research poll (April 17-20; 1,018 LVs; +/-3.3%) found state Rep. James Talarico (D) in competitive general election matchups against Sen. John Cornyn (R) and state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R). Talarico led Paxton, 46%-41%, in a head-to-head race with 9% undecided. In another scenario, Talarico got 44%, Cornyn got 41%, and 11% were undecided.
- GOV RACE. In the governor’s race, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) led state Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D), 48%-43%, with 7% undecided. (Texas Tribune)
CA GOV: CBS News/YouGov survey (April 23-27; 1,479 RVs; +/-4.2%) found former Fox News host Steve Hilton (R), 2020 presidential candidate Tom Steyer (D), and former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra (D) statistically tied. Hilton got 16%, Steyer got 15%, Becerra got 13%, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco (R) got 10%, and former Rep. Katie Porter (D) got 9%. Other candidates got 9% and 26% were undecided. (CBS News)
PA GOV: All living former Pennsylvania governors released a bipartisanship statement Monday “calling on state leaders and lawmakers to prioritize the safety of” Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and his family after state Treasurer Stacy Garrity (R), his presumptive opponent this year, “declined to pay for more than $1 million in security upgrades” for his home. Shapiro and his family were the target of political violence last year when a man set fire to the governor’s mansion during Passover. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
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