Longtime Democratic Rep. Raúl Grijalva wants President Joe Biden to drop out of the race.
Grijalva told reporters on Wednesday that he would support Biden as the presidential candidate, but would much rather see the president drop out while he’s ahead in order to preserve Democratic footing at the national level.
“If he’s the candidate, I’m going to support him, but I think that this is an opportunity to look elsewhere,” said Grijalva in an interview with the New York Times. “What he needs to do is shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat — and part of that responsibility is to get out of the race.”
The sentiment marked a sharp departure from his last public endorsement of Biden, which was issued the day after the debate last week.
“This election is a clear choice: protect our freedoms and democracy with Joe Biden, or succumb to a convicted felon’s unhinged vengeance and reckless desire to destroy everything to save himself,” said Grijalva. “To stop Trump, we must win AZ. I’m ALL IN and will do all I can to make sure we win.”
This election is a clear choice: protect our freedoms and democracy with @JoeBiden, or succumb to a convicted felon's unhinged vengeance and reckless desire to destroy everything to save himself. To stop Trump, we must win AZ. I'm ALL IN and will do all I can to make sure we win.
Grijalva also issued a lengthy defense of the Biden administration, specifically their massive spending on projects through the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and CHIPS and Science Act. Grijalva expressed confidence that it was Biden who could usher in more aggressive progressive changes to laws and regulations on abortion, minimum wage, paid leave, climate change, corporations, and race relations.
“The Biden presidency stands in clear contrast to the extremism presented by Trump and Congressional Republicans,” said Grijalva. “It’s clear the American people have benefitted from the leadership of President Biden and his commitment to defending the freedoms and values essential to American democracy.”
Grijalva is an automatic delegate for the Democratic National Committee next month.
Conversely, Governor Katie Hobbs has doubled down her support for the president. Hobbs effectively agreed with a remark from Biden that, while he may not be a great candidate, he was better than Trump.
“As the president himself has said, don’t compare him to the almighty, compare him to the alternative. And by that metric, the choice is abundantly clear in this race,” said Hobbs.
Grijalva joins a growing coalition of top Democratic leaders urging the president to allow another to take his place as the party’s candidate such as Texas Congressman Lloyd Doggett.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also came out to question Biden’s fitness to secure a Democratic win this November, let alone carry out a second term.
“I think it is a legitimate question to say is this an episode or is this a condition?” said Pelosi.
A number of other Democratic congressmen have not completely sided with the notion that Biden should step down, but expressed concerns to the New York Times about his ability to improve his performance: Reps. Jake Auchincloss, Don Davis, Debbie Dingell, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Jared Golden, Greg Landsman, Ann McLane Kuster, Seth Moulton, Katie Porter, Mike Quigley, Jamie Raksin Hillary Scholten, Peter Welch, and Sheldon Whitehouse.
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A third Florida man has his eyes on the White House.
On Wednesday, after weeks of teasing an announcement, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez officially became the latest entry into the crowded Republican primary for president.
His speech at the Reagan Foundation the following day hit all the right notes—citing Miami’s “economic explosion” and “disciplined approach to spending” amid budget bloat in Washington—and there is little doubt that the mayor of Florida’s second-largest city will tout his role in the state’s booming economy.
Florida continues to stand out as a national model for conservative governance, with a low unemployment rate and record influx of new residents to prove it. But, before Suarez takes too much credit, voters would be wise to familiarize themselves with the mayor’s record, including how vehemently he fought against the very policies that have made Florida ‘Florida.’
After all, there would be no ‘Governor’ Ron DeSantis today if Suarez had had his way, only a ‘former Congressman.’ The mayor’s choice in the 2018 Florida gubernatorial race was Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, the progressive up-and-comer endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and backed by Democratic mega-donor Tom Steyer.
Gillum’s radical campaign platform called for ‘Medicare for All,’ a 40 percent increase in the state’s corporate income tax, and other progressive priorities that would have slammed the brakes on the Sunshine State’s forward momentum. Yet Suarez campaigned for him ahead of Election Day and ultimately cast his ballot the same. (Two months later, he attended a special inaugural ball celebrating the victory of Agriculture Commissioner-elect Nikki Fried, the Democrat who would run for the state’s highest office in 2022.)
Thankfully, DeSantis ended up in the Governor’s Mansion, while Gillum’s 15 minutes of fame ended on the floor of a hotel room under less-than-ideal circumstances. Floridians rejected Suarez’s advice and have been better off for doing so ever since.
Case in point: COVID-19.
Perhaps no issue has defined DeSantis’ reputation more than his handling of the pandemic. The governor remained unwavering in his commitment to freedom and personal responsibility, even as opponents smeared him as “Ron DeathSantis,” as lockdown lobbyists in Grim Reaper costumes stalked families at his re-opened beaches, and as media properties like “60 Minutes” devolved into baseless fever dreams aimed at undermining his vision.
Miami’s mayor was not on the side you might think.
In April 2020, Suarez opposed the governor’s plan to “soon” resume in-person learning, insisting that “it would be particularly dangerous” to re-open schools considering the “incredible amount of children who could be at risk.”
He criticized DeSantis in September 2020 for his “acceleration” toward re-opening Florida’s economy “a lot faster … than what we had planned.”
Suarez also complained in January 2021 that “we’ve been restricted from being able to put in mitigation measures,” such as public mask mandates, by the governor, despite having “tried to reach him on multiple occasions” to lobby for the power to do so. The mayor called for a national mask mandate as well, strictly enforced with “the threat of fines” and “even arrest.”
This is not the record of a small-government conservative.
His recent hasty characterization minimizing DeSantis’ subsidy fight with Disney as a “personal vendetta”—all while lobbing personal insults at the governor (he “struggle[s] with relationships” and won’t “look at people in the eye”)—makes one wonder if Suarez doesn’t have a vendetta himself, with a campaign to dilute Florida’s primary vote as its main vehicle.
In short, the 2024 presidential race’s newest candidate may sing the right tune on the campaign trail, but the Sunshine State is the beacon of freedom it is today not because of Miami’s mayor, but despite him.
Suarez told “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan last month, “I’m someone who needs to be better known by this country,” and I agree, particularly by Republican primary voters—lest his happenstance proximity to Florida’s achievements be confused for actual contributions to them.
Brian Anderson is the president of the Saguaro Group, an Arizona-based research firm.
The Arizona Supreme Court explained Thursday why it ruled last year that the name of rapper turned presidential candidate Kanye West would not be printed on 2020 General Election ballots in the state.
West announced back on July 4, 2020 that he was running as an Independent candidate for president. His multi-million dollar effort resulted in less than 66,500 votes in the 12 states where his name was on the ballot, along with another 4,000 as write-in votes in a handful of other states.
Questions were later raised as to whether West’s candidacy was simply a publicity endeavor or if he was seeking to draw votes away from Joe Biden in favor of then-President Donald Trump, as the two men had been friends for several years. But in early September, West’s Arizona campaign team submitted 57,892 signatures on nominating petitions to secure a spot on ballots across the state.
A registered voter challenged West’s candidacy in Maricopa County Superior Court where a judge declared the signatures invalid because West’s electors -those voters who would have cast Arizona’s 11 Electoral College votes if West won- never filed required paperwork before the signatures were collected.
The judge also ruled West did not personally qualify to be on ballots in Arizona as an Independent candidate because he was a registered Republican in Wyoming.
West lost his emergency direct appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court, which issued an order at the time enjoining Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs along with the 15 county recorders from listing West and his electors on 2020 General Election ballots. But the public did not learn the legal reasoning behind that decision until Thursday.
“West was required to provide the Secretary (of State) with a letter designating the names of his vice-presidential running mate and his eleven presidential electors, a statement signed by each consenting to their designation, and a nomination paper on behalf of each elector,” Justice Bill Montgomery wrote in the opinion. “Additionally, the electors were required to submit nomination petitions containing the requisite number of signatures to qualify for the ballot.”
The justices, however, determined the Maricopa County judge who heard the case last September erred in ruling that West’s Republican Party affiliation was a factor for keeping his name off the ballot. The statute about party affiliation cited by the judge only applied to the 11 Arizonans who wished to be listed as West’s electors on the ballot, Montgomery wrote.
But that error did not change the fact West was ineligible in Arizona to be on the ballot for president due to failing to secure enough valid nominating petition signatures.
“Given the dispositive effect of West’s electors’ failure to qualify for the ballot, we do not address his other arguments regarding the process for challenging nomination petitions, naming indispensable parties, and the application of laches to plaintiffs,” Montgomery wrote. “We affirm the trial court’s order.”
