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☆ Behind Closed Doors, Biden Campaign Gathers Major Donors in New York
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | More About Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The morning after President Biden’s fund-raiser with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, his campaign has planned a daylong retreat on Friday for 175 of his biggest financiers and fund-raisers in New York. The gathering of what the campaign calls Mr. Biden’s national finance committee will feature a half-dozen briefings from his top political advisers, including his campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, and two former top White House advisers who have moved over to help lead his campaign, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon and Mike Donilon. The meeting at the InterContinental New York Barclay hotel is a sign of how the president has drawn his financial strength not only from grass-roots contributors but also from major donors who can cut checks as large as $929,600 to the Biden Victory Fund, a shared venture of Mr. Biden and the national and state Democratic Parties. To qualify as a member of Mr. Biden’s national finance team, donors are asked to write a check for at least $47,900.

Persons: Biden’s, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, Mike Donilon, InterContinental New York Barclay, Biden Organizations: White, InterContinental New, Biden, Fund, Mr, Democratic Locations: New York, InterContinental New York

Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicOver the past week, Donald J. Trump has burned down and rebuilt the Republican National Committee, gutting the leadership and much of the staff. Shane Goldmacher, a national political correspondent for The Times, explains why the former president is trying to reinvent such a crucial piece of campaign apparatus so close to an election.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Shane Goldmacher Organizations: Spotify, Republican National Committee, The Times

“If Donald Trump is at the top of the Republican ticket, the risk of one-party rule by a Democratic Party captured by the progressive left is severe,” she wrote. In a statement, the Haley campaign praised Americans for Prosperity Action as an ally. “We thank them for their tremendous help in this race,” the statement read. We have a country to save.”The endorsement from the group, which was announced in November, was crucial for Ms. Haley. It came as she was trying to gain traction against Mr. Trump, particularly given how small her team was at the time.

Persons: Donald Trump, ”, Seidel, Ms, Haley’s, Haley, “, Trump Organizations: Republican, Democratic Party, Prosperity, Mr Locations: South Carolina, Iowa

Straining to recover after a bruising defeat in Iowa, Gov. At the same time, the shift could put new pressure on Ms. Haley in South Carolina, where she once served as governor. As Mr. DeSantis’s team licked its wounds on Wednesday, his super PAC, Never Back Down, trimmed operations in several places, including Nevada. Other staff members were also laid off, including almost the entire online “war room” team, a person with knowledge of the matter said. It was unclear how many people in all lost their jobs.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Donald J, Trump, Haley Organizations: Gov, PAC Locations: Iowa, Florida, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada

☆ Voters Look Past Legal Problems to Give Trump a Big Victory
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | More About Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Donald J. Trump won the Iowa caucuses in a landslide on Monday, a crucial first step in his bid to claim the Republican nomination in a third consecutive election as voters looked past his mounting legal jeopardy and embraced his vision of vengeful disruption. Mr. Trump’s record-breaking triumph, called by The Associated Press on Monday night only 31 minutes after the caucuses had begun, gave the former president an important win in a state that had rejected him eight years ago. Ron DeSantis of Florida finished in a distant second place, according to The A.P. His narrow edge over Nikki Haley in a state where he had increasingly banked his candidacy could provide him some much-needed money and momentum in the battle for the mantle of Mr. Trump’s chief rival. With Mr. DeSantis finishing ahead of Ms. Haley in Iowa, and her leading him in New Hampshire, the possibility of a two-person race remains elusive for foes of Mr. Trump, who fear a split field will ease his path to the nomination.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Trump’s, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, DeSantis, Haley Organizations: Republican, The Associated Press, United Nations Locations: Iowa, Florida, New Hampshire

☆ 7 Numbers That Tell the Tale of the G.O.P. Primary
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-14 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | More About Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But the Arctic air has lowered those figures — or, at least, raised serious questions of not just who will turn out, but who will benefit. Ms. Haley is expected to run strongest in more urban areas — where road conditions are less likely to be a concern — so that is an advantage for her. Mr. Trump’s team has said it has the most impassioned supporters, so put that in his potential ledger. Will Mr. Trump’s big edge dampen enthusiasm to brave the elements? voters than her weak standing among voters who didn’t graduate from college.

Persons: Haley, DeSantis, Trump’s, caucusgoers, Mr, Nikki Haley’s Organizations: New York Times, Siena Locations: nudging

The super PAC supporting Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida in his presidential campaign, which has seen a series of changes in the last month, went through another shake-up this week when it fired its new chief executive officer who had stepped in just nine days earlier, according to two people briefed on the matter. Ms. Davison was not alone in being fired, according to the people briefed on the matter. A spokeswoman for the group, Erin Perrine, was dismissed, they said, with more departures possible. The changes come as the primary enters the intense final weeks before the first nominating contest, and as Mr. DeSantis was in the Iowa celebrating the final stop in his tour of the state’s 99 counties — an achievement made possible by the organizational muscle and money of his allied super PAC, which is suffering its third round of upheaval in recent weeks.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Kristin Davison, Scott Wagner, Mr, DeSantis, Adam Laxalt, Davison, Erin Perrine Organizations: Gov, PAC Locations: Florida, Iowa

The main super PAC supporting Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign has been rocked by another significant departure, as Adam Laxalt, a friend and former roommate of the Florida governor, has stepped down as chairman of the group. Mr. Laxalt, who unsuccessfully ran to become a Republican senator in Nevada in 2022, lived with Mr. DeSantis when he was training as a naval officer. He said in the note that he was still committed to Mr. DeSantis’s becoming president. The departure represents the second major departure from Never Back Down in the last two weeks. In a statement put out by the group after the resignation, Mr. Jankowski said that his differences at the group went “well beyond” strategic arguments, without explaining more.

Persons: Ron DeSantis’s, Adam Laxalt, Laxalt, DeSantis, “, ” Mr, DeSantis’s, Chris Jankowski, Jankowski Organizations: Republican, The New York Times Locations: Florida, Nevada

The political network founded by the billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch has endorsed Nikki Haley in the Republican presidential nominating contest, giving her organizational muscle and financial heft as she battles Gov. The commitment by the network, Americans for Prosperity Action, bolsters Ms. Haley as the campaign enters the final seven weeks before the Iowa caucuses. Since the first Republican primary debate, Ms. Haley has steadily climbed in polls, even as Mr. DeSantis has slipped. Mr. Trump remains the dominant front-runner in the race. Nikki Haley is that leader.”

Persons: Charles, David Koch, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, Donald J, Trump, Ms, Haley, DeSantis, Donald Trump, ”, Emily Seidel Organizations: Prosperity Locations: Florida, Iowa

☆ In Countdown to Iowa, Trump Is Coasting, as DeSantis and Haley Clash
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | More About Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

And door knockers are fanning out from Des Moines to Dubuque and everywhere in between. The Iowa caucuses, the first contest in the Republican nominating calendar, are poised to play an especially consequential role in 2024. Far ahead in national polls, Mr. Trump is aiming for an emphatic victory on Jan. 15 in Iowa that could serve as an early knockout punch. Mr. DeSantis, the Florida governor, is betting on Iowa to pierce Mr. Trump’s growing aura of inevitability — and to reassert himself as the main rival to short-circuit Mr. Trump’s third run for president. Mr. DeSantis, who won the backing of the state’s popular Republican governor, has been barnstorming across all of Iowa’s 99 counties, bolstered by an army of door knockers paid for by his related super PAC.

Persons: Donald J, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Trump, DeSantis, Trump’s Organizations: Republican Locations: Iowa, Des Moines, Dubuque, Florida

Mr. DeSantis has a long history throughout his political career of cycling through different teams, a fact that people who have worked for him have attributed to his micromanaging style. His allies have questioned the messaging and depth of the ad-buying by the super PAC, according to two people briefed on the matter. A third said some allies believed Mr. DeSantis was being blamed by voters for the negative spots. Since they came into existence nearly 15 years ago, super PACs have traditionally handled negative messaging and advertising against a candidate’s rival. The group’s main strategist, Jeff Roe, and a board member, Scott Wagner, who is a college friend of Mr. DeSantis, had a heated argument during a discussion about money, according to people briefed on the matter.

Persons: DeSantis, Chris Jankowski, Steve Helber, . Jankowski, “, Ron DeSantis, ”, Nikki Haley, Jeff Roe, Scott Wagner, Mr Organizations: Press Locations: China, Atlanta

☆ A New Group Linked to DeSantis Allies Pops Up in Iowa
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | More About Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A new political group with ties to Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida began reserving airtime in Iowa on Monday, a surprising new player in the 2024 Republican primary that has emerged with less than two months until the Iowa caucuses. The reservations — more than $500,000 as of early Monday afternoon — were being made by an entity called Fight Right, according to AdImpact, a media-tracking company. A nonprofit by that name, Fight Right Inc., was registered in Florida last week and a super PAC with the same name was also registered with the Federal Election Commission by a Tallahassee-based treasurer, state and federal records show. The emergence of a new pro-DeSantis group at this stage of the race is unusual, in part because Mr. DeSantis has worked so closely with Never Back Down, his primary super PAC, after transferring $82.5 million to the group earlier this year.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, DeSantis Organizations: Gov, Republican, Federal Locations: Florida, Iowa, Tallahassee

It was late October and Tim Scott’s campaign manager, Jennifer DeCasper, was trying to rally the troops on an all-staff call, announcing that they would soon relocate to Iowa in a last-ditch move to salvage his floundering presidential bid. She broke the news from the back seat of an Uber, according to four people familiar with the call. As the car bumped through the streets of Chicago after a Scott speech had run long, Ms. DeCasper insisted, “We are not failing.”But by then, even many of those around Mr. Scott believed his candidacy had already run its course. And his super PAC had canceled its own television ads days before Ms. DeCasper’s staff call. From 2020 to 2022, Mr. Ellison donated $35 million to Scott-aligned groups, and a huge check had seemed a foregone conclusion when Mr. Ellison showed up at the Scott kickoff and got a shout-out from the stage.

Persons: Tim Scott’s, Jennifer DeCasper, Uber, Scott, DeCasper, “, Larry Ellison, Ellison Organizations: PAC, Scott Locations: Iowa, Chicago

Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, who tried carving out a space in the Republican presidential field with a hopeful message built on his life story — the son of a single mother, he rose from poverty to become the only Black Republican in the Senate — announced on Sunday that he was suspending his campaign. “I think the voters, who are the most remarkable people on the planet, have been really clear that they’re telling me, ‘Not now, Tim,’” Mr. Scott said on Sunday evening on Trey Gowdy’s program on Fox News. “I don’t think they’re saying, Trey, ‘No.’ But I do think they’re saying, ‘Not now.’”Mr. Scott said he had no intention of endorsing another candidate in the Republican primary race. “The best way for me to be helpful is to not weigh in,” he said. He also brushed off the idea that he could serve as someone else’s running mate.

Persons: Tim Scott of, Senate —, “, ‘, ’, Mr, Scott, Trey Gowdy’s, Trey, ”, Scott’s Organizations: Republican, Senate, Fox News, Republican National Committee Locations: Tim Scott of South Carolina

Senator Joe Manchin III said he decided to forgo re-election because he’d accomplished all his goals. But for the Democrats he’s leaving behind in Washington, the work to hold the party’s already slim Senate majority is just beginning. The state has become so conservative that only Wyoming delivered a wider Republican margin in the 2020 presidential race. “This is a huge impact,” Ward Baker, a former executive director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the group that oversees Senate races. “Manchin not running will save Republicans a ton of money — and it takes a seat off the board early.”

Persons: Joe Manchin III, he’d, Jim Justice, ” Ward Baker, “ Manchin, ” Organizations: Democrats he’s, Democratic, West Virginian, Republican, National Republican Senatorial Committee Locations: Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming

It was the undercard that underwhelmed. The third straight Republican presidential debate that former President Donald J. Trump has skipped — choosing instead to rally with supporters a few miles away — represented a critical and shrinking chance for his rivals to close his chasm of a polling advantage. And with only five candidates on the stage for the first time — Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy and Tim Scott — they all had far more time to speak. Yet they had precious little to say about Mr. Trump, even when given the chance just over two months before the Iowa caucuses. They sparred in a substantive debate that dissected disagreements over aid to Ukraine, Social Security, confronting China, banning TikTok and how to approach abortion less than 24 hours after Republicans suffered their latest electoral setbacks driven by the fall of Roe v. Wade.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, —, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott —, Roe, Wade Organizations: Social Security, Republicans Locations: Iowa, Ukraine, China

Democrats argued that the results on Tuesday night showed abortion’s resonance even in some of the country’s most conservative areas. Support for the measure enshrining abortion rights was notably higher than the backing for the Democratic candidate for Senate last year, particularly in the suburban swing counties surrounding Columbus and Cleveland. The results will almost certainly require the State Supreme Court to invalidate a six-week ban with limited exceptions that passed in 2019. Republicans have been searching in vain for a successful message on abortion ever since the Supreme Court’s decision. For nearly a half-century, Republican candidates had simply proclaimed themselves “pro-life,” without delving into the details of what that meant.

Persons: Beshear, Hadley Duvall, Duvall, Trump, Roe, Glenn Youngkin, — Organizations: Republican Party, Democratic, Court, Republicans, Republican, State Senate Locations: Kentucky, Ohio, Columbus, Cleveland, Virginia

Kim Reynolds of Iowa is expected to endorse Gov. The endorsement is set to take place as Mr. DeSantis appears in the state, according to three people familiar with the plans. Her interest in his candidacy has been clear for months, including to Mr. Trump, who criticized her for not falling in line behind him. People who have spoken with Ms. Reynolds say she has had some frustrations with the DeSantis campaign’s stumbles. But she is enraged with Mr. Trump, who has twice attacked her personally, according to those people.

Persons: Kim Reynolds, Ron DeSantis, Donald J, Trump, DeSantis, Reynolds, campaign’s Organizations: Gov, Republican, Des Moines Register, Republicans Locations: Iowa, Florida

Now, as abortion restrictions and bans in red states have become reality, the issue is again on the ballot, both explicitly and implicitly, in races across the country. In Kentucky, Democrats are testing whether abortion can provide a political advantage even in a red state, as Gov. In Ohio, a socially conservative state, a ballot question that would enshrine abortion rights in the State Constitution will measure the extent of the country’s political pivot toward abortion rights. And in Virginia, the only Southern state without an abortion ban, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, is trying to flip the script in the state’s legislative elections, casting Democrats as “extreme” and saying his party supports a “common-sense position” — a 15-week ban.

Persons: Roe, Wade, Andy Beshear, Roe —, Glenn Youngkin Organizations: Democrat, Republican Locations: In Kentucky, Ohio, State, Virginia

☆ The House G.O.P Has Its Leader. But Can He Be a Rainmaker?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | More About Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the days since he took the gavel, Mr. Johnson called Dan Conston, the president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, the main House Republican super PAC, and is expected to play a significant role in that group’s fund-raising going forward. Mr. Johnson has large financial shoes to fill. Mr. McCarthy’s transfers to the party’s House campaign committee amount to more than 25 percent of the $70.1 million raised this year. Then there are the hundreds of millions of dollars that Mr. McCarthy has helped raise in recent years for the House G.O.P.’s main super PAC, which has been closely aligned with him. “I helped build the majority, and I’m not going to walk away from it,” Mr. McCarthy said.

Persons: Johnson, Dan Conston, — Mr, McCarthy, “, I’m, ” Mr Organizations: Congressional, Fund, House Republican, PAC, —, Punchbowl News, National Republican

The super PAC supporting Donald J. Trump will begin airing an attack against Ron DeSantis in Iowa, a shift in strategy after months of focusing their messaging on their likely general election opponent. It will enter the rotation as part of an ad buy totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars by the group Make America Great Again Inc., which supports Mr. Trump. It aims to paint Mr. DeSantis, with less than three months before the state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses, as insufficiently conservative, by accusing him of supporting statehood for Puerto Rico. It marks a change in approach by the super PAC, which abandoned negative ads about Mr. DeSantis at the start of the summer. The group shifted to focusing on the likely general election opponent, and attacking President Biden, beginning in August, a move that might appeal to some primary voters but which also sent the message that Team Trump saw Mr. DeSantis as a fading threat.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Ron DeSantis, DeSantis, Biden, DeSantis’s, Andrew Romeo, Team Trump, ” Organizations: PAC, Inc, Team Locations: Iowa, Puerto Rico

☆ The Trump Loyalty Test at the Center of Republicans’ Speaker Endgame
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | More About Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana had just survived a closed-door vote to end a tumultuous period of paralysis without a House speaker on Tuesday night and was celebrating with smiling and exhausted Republican colleagues. Mr. Johnson closed his eyes and shook his head. “Next question,” Mr. Johnson said. Only hours earlier, the speakership bid of another candidate, Tom Emmer, the majority whip, had been felled amid a lobbying blitz from Mr. Trump himself. His tenure as speaker designate lasted only four hours.

Persons: Mike Johnson of, ”, Johnson, Donald J, Trump, Mr, Tom Emmer, Emmer’s, Biden’s Locations: Mike Johnson of Louisiana

Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign has found an unusual way to pay for his habit of flying in private planes: passing the cost to the better-funded super PAC that is increasingly intertwined with his operation. The super PAC, Never Back Down, pays for Mr. DeSantis’s travel only on days when the events he is attending are hosted solely by the group, the people familiar with the arrangement said. The super PAC now hosts many of his events in early primary states. Federal candidates can appear as “featured guests” of super PACs, but whether a super PAC can also pay for transportation is less clear cut. Super PACs are not allowed to coordinate with campaigns, and campaign finance experts say that Mr. DeSantis’s arrangement — in which he is campaigning for president as a guest of a super PAC — could test that rule.

Persons: Ron DeSantis’s Organizations: Gov, PAC

The main super PAC supporting Senator Tim Scott’s presidential campaign abruptly announced to donors in a memo that it was canceling millions of dollars in television ads it had reserved this fall, writing that Donald J. Trump’s strength was so ingrained among Republican voters that additional advertising would currently make little difference. “We aren’t going to waste our money when the electorate isn’t focused or ready for a Trump alternative,” Rob Collins, a Republican strategist who is a co-chairman of the super PAC, wrote in the blunt memo to donors that was circulated on Monday. The super PAC, called the Trust in Mission PAC, or TIMPAC, has been one of the largest advertisers in the race, spending roughly $5 million in Iowa alone this year. Mr. Scott’s poll numbers have hardly budged, however, and Mr. Trump remains far ahead. In addition to the super PAC, Mr. Scott’s campaign had also spent aggressively on television advertising, spending more than $12.5 million on ads to run through the end of November, the campaign said.

Persons: Tim Scott’s, Donald J, ” Rob Collins, “, Tim, Trump, Scott’s Organizations: Republican, The New York Times, Mission PAC, Mr Locations: Iowa

The push into Iowa highlights the state’s make-or-break status for Mr. DeSantis’s long-shot effort to defeat former President Donald J. Trump. Mr. DeSantis hopes a surprise victory in Iowa’s caucuses, the first voting state of the Republican nominating contest, will make enough voters see that Mr. Trump is beatable — motivating them to quickly rally around Mr. DeSantis as the only candidate able to stop him. About a third of Mr. DeSantis’s campaign staff, including senior political and communications advisers, were informed on Wednesday morning that they would be expected to move into short-term housing in Iowa and work from offices in the state. His campaign now employs 56 people, including four Iowa staff members — a number that will soon grow to nearly two dozen, making Iowa a de facto second headquarters. The relocation completes a monthslong retooling of Mr. DeSantis’s campaign, which was in dire financial straits this summer — with delayed bills and unpaid invoices piling up — and had to do two rounds of mass firings in order to remain solvent.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, redeploying, DeSantis’s, Donald J, Trump, DeSantis, — Organizations: Iowa, Republican, Mr Locations: Florida, Tallahassee, Des Moines, Iowa’s, Iowa

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