May 1, 2022

Kai Kahele (replaced Tulsi in 2020) is not running for re-election, will run for HI Governor

31st House Dem not seeking reelection in 2022

https://twitter.com/bresreports/status/1519767354598694913
https://twitter.com/bresreports/status/1519769933630038016

Democratic Rep. Kai Kahele will retire from Congress, source says

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/28/politics/kai-kahele-retire-democrat-congress/index.html

(CNN) Democratic Rep. Kai Kahele of Hawaii is retiring from Congress at the end of his term, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The congressman has been telling colleagues that he intends to run for governor, according to a person close to him. That source said Kahele will make an announcement about his political future in early May.

Punchbowl News first reported that Kahele will leave Congress to run for governor. The freshman congressman, who has yet to release an official statement on stepping down, was elected in 2020 to replace Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. He was a pilot before he ran for office.

Kahele recently came under fire for his part-time work as a commercial pilot for Hawaiian Airlines, which raised questions of whether he was breaking any ethics rules for continuing his work with the airline.

Questions about Kahele's work with Hawaiian Airlines arose after the Honolulu Civil Beat published an in-depth story looking into his attendance at the Capitol this year and his personal income since he entered office. The report found that Kahele has voted by proxy at least 120 times since the start of the year, meaning another lawmaker has cast his votes for him.

snip

May 1, 2022

Kai Kahele (replaced Tulsi Gabbard in 2020) is not running for re-election, will run for HI Governor

31st House Dem not seeking reelection in 2022

https://twitter.com/bresreports/status/1519767354598694913
https://twitter.com/bresreports/status/1519769933630038016

Democratic Rep. Kai Kahele will retire from Congress, source says

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/28/politics/kai-kahele-retire-democrat-congress/index.html

(CNN) Democratic Rep. Kai Kahele of Hawaii is retiring from Congress at the end of his term, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The congressman has been telling colleagues that he intends to run for governor, according to a person close to him. That source said Kahele will make an announcement about his political future in early May.

Punchbowl News first reported that Kahele will leave Congress to run for governor. The freshman congressman, who has yet to release an official statement on stepping down, was elected in 2020 to replace Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. He was a pilot before he ran for office.

Kahele recently came under fire for his part-time work as a commercial pilot for Hawaiian Airlines, which raised questions of whether he was breaking any ethics rules for continuing his work with the airline.

Questions about Kahele's work with Hawaiian Airlines arose after the Honolulu Civil Beat published an in-depth story looking into his attendance at the Capitol this year and his personal income since he entered office. The report found that Kahele has voted by proxy at least 120 times since the start of the year, meaning another lawmaker has cast his votes for him.

snip

May 1, 2022

Senate's rejection of a Labor Department nominee is horrible news for American workers

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-04-27/column-the-senate-rejection-of-a-labor-department-nominee-is-horrible-news-for-american-workers

President Biden’s nomination of David Weil as head of the Labor Department’s all-important Wage and Hour Division died on April 7 when Weil voluntarily withdrew his name from consideration. From Weil’s vantage point, the confirmation process following his June 3 nomination had been long, drawn-out and wholly dispiriting.

Having earlier served in the job during the Obama administration, Weil came under ferocious attack by business interests and Republicans from the start, because they knew of his commitment to enforcing the labor laws on the books and the court rulings that have upheld them.

At the end, his abandonment by three Senate Democrats (Manchin, Sinema, and Kelly) sealed his fate. “I could see there was no pathway” to confirmation, Weil told me recently. The public announcement of Weil’s withdrawal came the day that Ketanji Brown Jackson won confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court, so it went almost unnoticed.

But it deserved to be more widely marked, because the loss of his nomination points to a greater setback for many battles for worker rights — among them the fight for fair pay and the right to unionize, and efforts against wage theft and workplace discrimination. Moreover, Weil’s loss was a blow for Biden, who is certainly the most pro-labor president in decades, perhaps ever.

snip

May 1, 2022

Sinema v Gallego 2024

I was told by a Sinema supporter in another thread that plenty of AZ group DU'ers think it doubtful that Gallego can win state-wide, and intimating that not supporting Sinema (or even criticising her at all on anything she does) over Gallego is playing right into the Rethugs' hands.

Is this the case?



background:

Possible challenger surges, as Sinema promises big donors she’ll protect their tax breaks

Mitch McConnell says he hopes Sinema's opposition "will be enough to keep this thing underwater permanently"

https://www.salon.com/2022/04/13/likely-primary-challenger-surges-as-sinema-promises-corporate-donors-shell-protect-their-breaks/

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., assured corporate donors on Tuesday that she would fight her party's efforts to unwind tax breaks for America's elite as Democrats try to revive portions of President Biden's stalled Build Back Better plan. Sinema, who has received more than $900,000 in donations from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other industry groups opposing Biden's plan, attended an event held by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Phoenix to assuage donors' concerns that the renewed spending negotiations may threaten their low tax rates.

"What I can't tell you is if negotiations will start again or what they'll look like," she said. "But what I can promise you is that I'll be the same person in negotiations if they start again that I was in negotiations last year." Sinema assured the group that she would oppose raising taxes on corporations with her pivotal vote in the 50-50 Senate. "You all know, the entire country knows, that I'm opposed to raising the corporate minimum tax rate," she said, adding that she opposes "any tax policies that would put a brake on any type of economic growth or forestall business and personal growth for America's industries."

https://twitter.com/jordanzakarin/status/1514214900922568713
snip

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., has emerged as a leading potential progressive primary foe after repeatedly calling out Sinema, though he would have to compete with a well-funded effort backed by Sinema's corporate supporters if he chooses to challenge her in 2024. Gallego raised more than $510,000, a personal record, in the first three months of the year — officially for his re-election bid in the House, which he is expected to win easily. That number is more than four times the amount he raised during the same period last election cycle, according to Insider. He raised a total of $1.8 million in 2020. Groups backing a potential primary challenger have also reported hundreds of thousands in donations.

Speculation about Sinema's political future has continued to mount. Along with her opposition to rolling back the Trump tax cuts, Sinema has opposed Democratic efforts to repeal the filibuster to pass legislation related to voting rights, LGBTQ protections, union protections and raising the minimum wage. Just 19% of Arizona Democratic primary voters have a favorable opinion of Sinema, according to a January Data for Progress poll, compared to 78% for fellow Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. The poll showed Gallego with a 58% favorable rating and leading Sinema by a 74-16 margin.

snip

May 1, 2022

Sinema v Gallego 2024

I was told by a Sinema supporter in another thread that plenty of AZ group DU'ers think it doubtful that Gallego can win state-wide, and intimating that not supporting Sinema (or even criticising her at all on anything she does) over Gallego is playing right into the Rethugs' hands.

Is this the case?



background:

Possible challenger surges, as Sinema promises big donors she’ll protect their tax breaks

Mitch McConnell says he hopes Sinema's opposition "will be enough to keep this thing underwater permanently"

https://www.salon.com/2022/04/13/likely-primary-challenger-surges-as-sinema-promises-corporate-donors-shell-protect-their-breaks/

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., assured corporate donors on Tuesday that she would fight her party's efforts to unwind tax breaks for America's elite as Democrats try to revive portions of President Biden's stalled Build Back Better plan. Sinema, who has received more than $900,000 in donations from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other industry groups opposing Biden's plan, attended an event held by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Phoenix to assuage donors' concerns that the renewed spending negotiations may threaten their low tax rates.

"What I can't tell you is if negotiations will start again or what they'll look like," she said. "But what I can promise you is that I'll be the same person in negotiations if they start again that I was in negotiations last year." Sinema assured the group that she would oppose raising taxes on corporations with her pivotal vote in the 50-50 Senate. "You all know, the entire country knows, that I'm opposed to raising the corporate minimum tax rate," she said, adding that she opposes "any tax policies that would put a brake on any type of economic growth or forestall business and personal growth for America's industries."

https://twitter.com/jordanzakarin/status/1514214900922568713
snip

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., has emerged as a leading potential progressive primary foe after repeatedly calling out Sinema, though he would have to compete with a well-funded effort backed by Sinema's corporate supporters if he chooses to challenge her in 2024. Gallego raised more than $510,000, a personal record, in the first three months of the year — officially for his re-election bid in the House, which he is expected to win easily. That number is more than four times the amount he raised during the same period last election cycle, according to Insider. He raised a total of $1.8 million in 2020. Groups backing a potential primary challenger have also reported hundreds of thousands in donations.

Speculation about Sinema's political future has continued to mount. Along with her opposition to rolling back the Trump tax cuts, Sinema has opposed Democratic efforts to repeal the filibuster to pass legislation related to voting rights, LGBTQ protections, union protections and raising the minimum wage. Just 19% of Arizona Democratic primary voters have a favorable opinion of Sinema, according to a January Data for Progress poll, compared to 78% for fellow Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. The poll showed Gallego with a 58% favorable rating and leading Sinema by a 74-16 margin.

snip