DDHQ Morning News Spotlight: April 4, 2022

Welcome to this morning’s Decision Desk HQ Morning News Spotlight on Elections Daily as part of the Decision Desk HQ News Network.

Good morning, and thank you for stopping in at the DDHQ Morning News Spotlight. This morning we are looking at preliminary results from two European elections yesterday that show victories for parties friendly with Russian President Putin, and 51 candidates filing to run for Congress in Alaska. Let’s dive in.

Morning Headlines

• Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party has won another majority in yesterday’s election. The Putin-friendly European leader took a jab at the EU in his victory speech saying, “Our win is so huge you can see it from the Moon, never mind from Brussels”. In Serbia, another Putin-aligned European leader’s party won reelection as well. Both countries’ media has become increasingly state-dominated during their leader’s time in power and has become rife with disinformation, especially related to the war in Ukraine.
• During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” yesterday, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said he is trying to convince the state’s attorney general to drop an appeal that challenges a court order that threw out the first Congressional map passed by Democrats. He also declined to say whether he would veto the second map that was passed after that court order.
• Democrats in Pennsylvania held their first US Senate debate at Muhlenberg College in Allentown. The current frontrunner, Lt. Governor John Fetterman declined to participate, but the empty podium left for him became one of the biggest presences of the debate with all of the candidates in attendance pulling no punches with their attacks. Fetterman’s campaign has said he will participate in three other televised debates before the primary election.
• Missouri Republican Senator Roy Blunt said on ABC’s “This Week” that he will not be supporting the Supreme Court nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson, though he recognizes the importance of the moment. The retiring Senator was seen as a possible swing vote on confirmation, but so far Senator Susan Collins has been the only Republican to signal support. Voting on the confirmation is expected to happen this week.
• 51 candidates have now filed for the special US House election in Alaska to fill the seat of the late Don Young. Most notably included in that field is former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Palin has quickly garnered support from former President Trump for her bid to reenter politics. Also included in the field of 51 is North Pole City Council member Santa Claus. Yes, we are serious.
• White House chief of staff Ron Klain said yesterday that the President is confident his son did not break the law. This comes as scrutiny over Hunter Biden’s business dealings has heated up in the past week with the confirmation that a laptop dropped off at a Delaware repair shop was his, and a Washington Post report detailing new documentation of his dealings with Chinese executives.
• Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, who is a member of the Jan. 6 select committee, said yesterday that the committee is working to piece together phone calls that the former President made during a 37-minute gap in his calls log on January 6. He told CBS “Face the Nation” that “it does seem like the gaps are suspiciously tailored to the heart of the events”, and that the committee is investigating a possible cover-up of those phone records.

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