Wednesday News: Hong Kong Protests; “Biden leads Trump by ‘landslide proportions’ in new national poll”; “Primaries across Virginia contain lots of surprise, no clear message”; Chaz’s Post-Primary Ratings Look Good for Dems!

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, June 12. Also, click on the image of Chaz’s post-primary legislative ratings, which now have the Virginia House of Delegates as “Lean D” and the State Senate as “Likely D.” Now, it’s up to us to make this happen!

• Hong Kong police fire tear gas as protesters bear down on legislature (“Demonstrators have called on the government to drop its support for a bill that would allow extraditions to China.”)
• Hong Kong police fire rubber bullets as protests turn to violent chaos
• Senators clinch votes to rebuke Trump on Saudi arms sale
• Trump doesn’t want to be impeached — but he is fascinated by ‘the I-word’
• White House Will Preview Mueller Evidence Before Nadler Review: Admin Officials (“The chairman hailed his deal with DOJ. But the situation may be more complicated than it looks.”)
• Trump praises Kim Jong Un as having ‘tremendous potential’ (Sick.)
• The President* Just Sent a Valentine to Kim Jong Un Because Nothing Matters (“Donald Trump makes nice with the North Korean dictator who nerve-gassed his half-brother.” Demented.
• August recess under threat as yearly spending bills pile up (Republicans can’t govern.)
• Harris: Justice Dept. ‘Would Have No Choice’ But To Prosecute Trump After Presidency
• A Post photographer snapped an image of Trump’s alleged secret Mexico deal. Here’s what it says. (“Confronted with skepticism, President Trump produced a folded piece of paper from his breast pocket. While the document’s legitimacy is unclear, here are some observations of the lower-level signatures, the reference to refugees, and other details.”)
• The House Probably Won’t Flip in 2020 (“So far, signs are good for Pelosi’s team”)
• Pelosi’s Agenda Is Popular — Much More So Than Impeaching Trump
• Read: Joe Biden’s remarks as prepared for delivery in Iowa
• Biden leads Trump by ‘landslide proportions’ in new national poll
• More brutal 2020 poll numbers for Trump (“Quinnipiac University has for the first time conducted national head-to-head polls matching up Trump and some of the leading Democratic presidential hopefuls. None of the matchups is good for Trump. Trump trails all six by between five and 13 points, with Joe Biden holding the biggest advantage and the lesser-known candidates — Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) and Mayor Pete Buttigieg — holding the smallest leads.”)
• As Biden and Trump battle in the trenches, Buttigieg attacks from higher ground (“Analysis: The military veteran mayor suggested U.S. foreign policy and national security would be stuck in the past with either the president or the former vice president at the helm.”)
• The U.S. still hasn’t done nearly enough to stop election interference (“It is a dereliction of duty for Congress and the administration to delay action on preventing hacking.”)
• Jon Stewart demands congress act for 9/11 responders: ‘They did their jobs – do yours’ (“The former Daily Show host testified before the House judiciary committee on Tuesday alongside first responders and victims”)
• Laura Ingraham: Congress wants to change America “demographically” and “in ways that nobody voted for” (She’s a white supremacist and/or panders to white supremacists.)
• Ken Cuccinelli’s appointment won’t help our immigration problems (“Other than Stephen Miller, I cannot imagine anyone who thinks this selection is a good idea.”)
• Video: Tim Kaine Calls on Mitch McConnell to Hold Votes on Bills to Prevent Gun Violence
• AG Mark Herring Files Suit to Block T-Mobile and Sprint Megamerger
• Virginia Primary Day 2019 Results: Live Blog
• Virginia Primary Day 2019: Open Thread
• Primaries across Virginia contain lots of surprise, no clear message
• After scandal and stint in jail, Joe Morrissey wins Virginia state Senate primary (“Sen. Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) hung on to his seat by a narrow margin after his first primary challenge in 40 years.”)
• With primary win, Joe Morrissey is Virginia’s newest comeback kid (Gack!!!)
• Joe Morrissey stuns Sen. Rosalyn Dance and rebukes Democratic establishment
• Sens. Saslaw and Hanger hang on; Del. Bob Thomas loses to conservative challenger
• Progressive challengers oust longtime prosecutors in Northern Virginia (“The shift marks a stunning change: Neither challenger has prosecuted a case in state court, but they bested incumbents with more than 60 years of experience between them in the court system. The outcomes are also a major victory for Democratic megadonor George Soros, who funded a political action committee that pumped more than $1 million into the contests in an effort to tip them toward the challengers. Experts said the level of giving was probably unprecedented for a single donor in countywide races in Virginia.”)
• Primary Tuesday: GOP delegate felled from the right; Democratic giant barely fends off progressive hopeful; and Morrissey wins (but not from jail this time)
• Democrats choose Del. Debra Rodman to take on Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant
• Democrats pick Amanda Pohl to run against Sen. Amanda Chase (Good Amanda – Pohl – versus really bad Amanda – Chase. Go Amanda Pohl!)
• Reeves cruises to Republican nomination for 17th District Senate seat, will face Laufer (Go Amy Laufer!!!)
• O’Quinn, Wampler sweep GOP primary wins (No surprises here.)
• Finnegan wins Democratic primary for 26th district (Very impressive win here for Finnegan.)
• Milde unseats Del. Thomas in Fredericksburg-area Republican primary
• Hashmi wins Democratic primary, will take on Sen. Sturtevant in November (Hashmi is very impressive, really glad she won. Now, let’s make sure we help her defeat Republican Sturtevant this November – this is one of our top priorities for the fall!)
• Sen. Favola tops challenger in Arlington primary
• Virginia Progressives Running To The Left Of Incumbents Fall Short At Polls (Bizarre headline; in fact, both Parisa Tafti and Steve Descano ran to the “left” of incumbents – and won! Also, Yasmine Taeb ran to Dick Saslaw’s left and BARELY lost, but only with another candidate running to Saslaw’s left siphoning off more than Saslaw’s margin of victory. Also, Democratic Socialist Lee Carter defeated Mark Wolfe, who ran to Carter’s RIGHT. Basically, the headline of this article is the 180-degrees opposite of reality. WTF?)
• Henrico chief deputy, two incumbents for Board of Supervisors win in Tuesday primaries
• Incumbents win Republican nominations for Hanover County Board of Supervisors
• Subramanyam wins Democratic nomination in 87th House District (Suhas is a great guy, very impressive, and I’m really happy he’ll be going to the Virginia House of Delegates)
• Former technology policy adviser to Obama administration wins Va. House of Delegates primary (“Suhas Subramanyam clinched the Democratic nomination Tuesday night.”)
• Unofficial results: Carroll wins GOP primary for Matoaca seat on Chesterfield Board of Supervisors
• Hannah wins Democratic nomination for Loudoun County sheriff (Very happy Hannah won!)
• Higgins routs Meyer in 13th Senate District Republican primary (The Virginia GOP continues in the extreme-right direction.)
• Avoli secures Republican nomination for 20th District House of Delegates race (Go Jennifer Lewis!)
• Hudson defeats Galvin to win an open House of Delegates seat in Charlottesville (I’m very excited Hudson’s win, really looking forward to seeing what she can do in the House of Delegates!)
• Hudson wins nod for 57th in landslide (Basically, a 2:1 win over an impressive opponent. Wow.)
• Cheryl Turpin to face Jen Kiggans in Virginia Senate battle; Lynwood Lewis easily wins (Huge win for Turpin, who now MUST win in November – this is a crucial race, and I urge Democratic activists to really focus energy, money, etc. on it!)
• Mugler wins in 91st House district, Batten will face Downey in 96th (Interesting one here, with the more conservative Democrat, endorsed by Sen. Kaine, Sen. Warner, Rep. Scott, etc., beating a Democratic Socialist)
• Mugler wins in 91st House district, Batten will face Downey in 96th (Very impressive win for Downey in the 96th!)
• Sen. Emmett Hanger defeats Tina Freitas (In this case, a normal conservative Republican defeated an extreme-right nutter.)
• Vienna Primary Election: Jeff McKay, Walter Alcorn Win (Congratulations to Alcorn, who will be an excellent member of the Fairfax County Board!)
• Burke Primary Election: Jeff McKay, James Walkinshaw Win (Congratulations to James Walkinshaw, who I’ve known since he was a young campaign manager back in 2005.)
• BREAKING: Palchik Wins Democratic Nod for Providence District Seat (VERY impressive win for Palchik, over some strong opponents.)
• Lusk wins Lee District Supervisor primary (Also, VERY impressive win for Lusk, again against three strong opponents.)
• Newcomer Raheel Sheikh wins Democratic primary in the Coles District (I like Raheel a lot; we need to help him win this November!)
• McKay wins primary for Chairman, Lusk for Lee
• Kenny Boddye wins Democratic primary in the Occoquan District supervisor’s race (Very happy for Kenny’s win; now let’s help him win in November!)
• Newcomer Margaret Franklin beats Supervisor Frank Principi in primary for Woodbridge District supervisor (Franklin is impressive, while Principi took this race for granted for a long time. Impressive victory for Franklin!)
• Ashworth wins Democratic primary in commonwealth’s attorney’s race (Very impressive win for Ashworth over a strong opponent!)
• Munley: Seven ways to stop the pipeline
• Saines wins Democratic nomination for Loudoun County Sterling District Supervisor seat
• The fog surrounding the Bijan Ghaisar case grows thicker (“The Ghaisar family shouldn’t have to learn that a decision is imminent from a lawyer representing the officers.”)
• Another enjoyable June day, with some rain tonight