Tweet of the Day

NC-SEN: North Carolina emerges as key battleground for Senate control

Welcome to The Hill's Campaign Report, your daily rundown on all the latest news in the 2020 presidential, Senate and House races. Did someone forward this to you? Click here to subscribe.

We're Julia Manchester, Max Greenwood and Jonathan Easley. Here's what we're watching today on the campaign trail.

In the race for control of the Senate, there are signs that one state in particular is emerging as the key to the majority: North Carolina.

Over the past week, the two top Republican and Democratic super PACs focusing on Senate campaigns have booked nearly $50 million in fall ad reservations in North Carolina – nearly twice as much as the combined $25.7 million the two groups spent in Iowa, the state with the second highest investment.

The state is set for a general election match-up between Republican Sen. Thom Tillis and Democrat Cal Cunningham. Campaign aides and operatives on both sides of the aisle see the race as something of a bellwether for their parties' larger political fortunes.



https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/490486-the-hills-campaign-report-north-carolina-emerges-as-key-battleground-for

"You didn't ask what would have happened if we did nothing."

What. The. Ever. Loving. Fuck!!!!!!

Trump rejects Obamacare special enrollment period amid pandemic

The Trump administration has decided against reopening Obamacare enrollment to uninsured Americans during the coronavirus pandemic, defying calls from health insurers and Democrats to create a special sign-up window amid the health crisis.

President Donald Trump and administration officials recently said they were considering relaunching HealthCare.gov, the federal enrollment site, and insurers said they privately received assurances from health officials overseeing the law's marketplace. However, a White House official on Tuesday evening told POLITICO the administration will not reopen the site for a special enrollment period, and that the administration is "exploring other options."

The annual enrollment period for HealthCare.gov closed months ago, and a special enrollment period for the coronavirus could have extended the opportunity for millions of uninsured Americans to newly seek out coverage. Still, the law already allows a special enrollment for people who have lost their workplace health plans, so the health care law may still serve as a safety net after a record surge in unemployment stemming from the pandemic.

Numerous Democratic-leaning states that run their own insurance markets have already reopened enrollment in recent weeks as the coronavirus threat grew. The Trump administration oversees enrollment for about two-thirds of states.





https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/31/trump-obamacare-coronavirus-157788

Rick Wilson: There is a very different tone in this presser.

Governor Lamont Announces Mortgage Payment Relief During COVID-19 Crisis

Jesus Christ they have a slide with 100,000 listed as their "goal".

This is a freaking nightmare.

Biden hails front-line health care workers in new ad

Former Vice President Joe Biden expressed solidarity with health care workers and first responders combating the coronavirus pandemic in an ad released Tuesday.

"This is a war, and these are our soldiers," Biden says in the digital ad, titled “American Heroes,” over footage of paramedics and nurses. The ad is airing in battleground states.

"As president, I wouldn't send an American soldier anywhere in the world without all the equipment and protection they need. We should not do any less for the heroes on the frontlines in this battle we're in now," Biden continues.

Amid the pandemic, the former vice president says, “we’re being challenged, tested, pushed to our limits, and I couldn’t be prouder of the American people and how they’re responding.” Biden emphasized that health care workers and first responders demonstrate “the soul of this nation.”



https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/490434-biden-hails-frontline-health-care-workers-in-new-ad

All Iowa voters to get absentee ballot request form

Every registered voter in Iowa will be sent an absentee ballot request form ahead of the state’s June 2 primary, the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office announced Tuesday.

"My office will be mailing an absentee ballot request form to every registered voter in Iowa for the June 2 primary. Includes postage paid for returning request to county auditor. We're encouraging Iowans to vote by mail starting 4/23 to help reduce spread of #COVID19," Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a tweet.

he ballot request forms will be sent in mid- to late April, according to the Des Moines Register.

The primary for state and federal elections is scheduled to take place as planned, but Pate is reportedly encouraging voters to vote by the mail-in absentee ballots out of safety due to the coronavirus pandemic.


https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/490443-all-iowa-voters-to-get-absentee-ballot-request-form

Elizabeth Warren to Trump and Mnuchin: We're watching you

In one of the least surprising moves ever, President Trump declared barely moments after Congress sent him its $2 trillion economic rescue package that he would not abide by a key restriction on all the money it contains for bailing out businesses.

Trump announced that he saw no legal obligation to cooperate with an inspector general created by the new law to audit how his Treasury Department hands out some $500 billion in funds — immediately reviving the worst fears of progressives that Trump would treat the bailout money like a slush fund to hand out to misbehaving corporations.

Into this breach is stepping Sen. Elizabeth Warren. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the Massachusetts Democrat seeks to put Trump and Mnuchin on notice, in a novel way that will bear watching.

At stake is whether true public need will be served by this massive rescue effort, or whether Trump, Mnuchin and big corporations will hijack it to their benefit even as the rest of the country endures extraordinary hardship amid a horrific public health emergency and a brutally punishing recession.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/31/elizabeth-warren-trump-mnuchin-were-watching-you/