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08/28/2018 08:03 AM EDT


By Nolan D. McCaskill (nmccaskill@politico.com or @NolanDMcCaskill)

WHAT TO WATCH -- The last big primary day of the midterms has finally arrived. Though Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) and Florida Gov. Rick Scott are expected to face off in the general election against Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), respectively, Tuesday's Florida and Arizona primaries also feature a handful of high-stakes congressional races that are critical to Democrats' effort to win back the House. Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) is also competing to succeed Scott as governor. President Donald Trump endorsed DeSantis over state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam. Democrats, however, see DeSantis as the weaker general-election candidate due to his
ties to Washington and embrace of the president.

"Two out of three women running in open House Democratic primaries in 2018 have won, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis," Steven Shepard and Elena Schneider report. "But it's not clear whether the year of the woman is coming to Arizona's 2nd District, where former Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick is seeking to return to Congress. Kirkpatrick, who unsuccessfully challenged Sen. John McCain in 2016, is locked in a nasty, personal primary battle against Matt Heinz, the 2016 congressional nominee and former state legislator. Heinz has run to the left of Kirkpatrick, a DCCC-endorsed candidate who took moderate votes in Congress when she represented a different, more rural, House seat."

In Central Florida, three Democrats -- Reps. Darren Soto, Al Lawson and Stephanie Murphy -- are facing primary challenges from opponents trying to outflank them from the left. And though Tuesday's Arizona Senate primary is all but decided, McSally's margin over former state Sen. Kelli Ward and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio are worth watching. "Can she clinch a majority of the vote, or will Ward and Arpaio still draw relatively large shares of support from voters?" they ask. "The numbers will provide clues about where the post-McCain Arizona GOP is headed -- and one can bet Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who will name McCain's replacement in the coming days, will be paying
attention." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=135949f203797c904bbf7f61ebe40a988519c989febea6bd55ee93a2c0a93391efbe74567a716a7cfcb1f134f535a718

Related: "A Trump Endorsement Can Decide a Race. Here's How to Get One," by The New York Times' Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=135949f203797c90825b2686dae26ead05c56d40dc4915048f810fae96a6fb30fdc54ac860531e2c34a8b30cfff94cd1

TRUMP BACKS OFF MCCAIN -- The president issued a statement Monday saying he respects the late Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) service and a proclamation ordering flags to fly at half-staff until McCain's interment. The move was a reversal from a White House that raised its flag Monday morning until mounting pressure prompted a switch. Meanwhile, in Congress, McCain's desk in the Senate chamber was draped in a black cloth and topped with a vase of white roses, and senators continued their glowing tributes to their now-former colleague, who succumbed to brain cancer Saturday.

"[Monday] had begun with the remarkable sight of the flag flying atop the White House's flagpole, while just beyond the building, at the Washington Monument, others fluttered midway down the poles that circle the obelisk," The New York Times' Katie Rogers, Nicholas Fandos and Maggie Haberman report. "The president stubbornly refused repeated requests from officials as senior as Vice President Mike Pence and John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, to acknowledge Mr. McCain's death with a formal and unifying statement." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=064748192f92b1b922c1ee67a23fc7cc59231eb870f35fbec80cffbd815f88677fcf6b62233306288eb7a6a48c15b1b5

On the Hill, Senate Republicans were disappointed by the White House's initial lack of deference. Raising the White House's flag "should not have happened," Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) added that she couldn't understand why the White House lowered the flag "for such a brief period of time." "Trump's proclamation on raising the White House flag came soon after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) ... asked the Pentagon for assistance in flying flags at half-staff on all government buildings," Elana reports. "The Senate also unanimously passed a resolution in McCain's honor late Monday." More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=064748192f92b1b98327bf8887c119809526ee28756753293a4a8362b2da60192fb2a5275feba1560025d413554929fb

Related read: "In farewell statement, McCain takes one last swing at Trump," from Rebecca Morin: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=064748192f92b1b9187d418bff714c39203fff6bbd354614beadfce8684b81318b099310e4ad49bd3f8db80b5cd47cce

MCCAIN TO BLAME? -- Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) said McCain was "partially to blame" for the controversy over the flag. "John McCain is partially to blame for that because he is very outspoken," Inhofe told reporters. "He disagreed with the president in certain areas and wasn't too courteous about it." Inhofe, a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, also complimented McCain repeatedly, calling him a hero several times. "But when asked what he thought about Trump not using that word for McCain, Inhofe brushed it off," CNN's Ashley Killough reports. Inhofe said he had "no opinions about that," but, "He was my hero." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=064748192f92b1b95ec246ec3859c04ec36bce50d6886f319659ad04ae079af11a000426546933c6b4bf1016b827e68e

Inhofe may have earned a whipping. "Anybody who in any way tarnishes the reputation of John McCain deserves a whipping," Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) said in a floor speech Monday. His remarks, however, were aimed at Trump, not Inhofe. "[I]n what appeared to be a shot at the president, who feuded with the Arizona Republican and received five Vietnam draft deferments, Isakson said 'most' of McCain's detractors 'didn't have the guts to do the right thing when it was their turn,'" the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Tamar Hallerman writes. "So I would say to the president or anybody in the world, it's time to pause and say, 'This was a great man,'" Isakson said. More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=064748192f92b1b92360e4b0cbc58ec74b9ed7225ceec130e0ea3ca50fbbbfd295e73169f0ceafda20b30c92ce561a45

GOOD MORNING! Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Tuesday, Aug. 28.

MONDAY'S MOST CLICKED: The New York Times' report on Rep. Duncan Hunter's (R-Calif.) party life and political unraveling was the winner.

DUCEY'S DILEMMA -- As he focuses on reelection, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey will also have to name a successor to Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) seat who won't alienate a statewide electorate but is deferential to President Donald Trump and the White House. "For the president, the decision offers an opportunity to blot out McCain's most dramatic legislative move in the Trump era: casting the deciding vote against Obamacare repeal, and dooming the administration's first big legislative initiative," Christopher Cadelago, Daniel Strauss and Theodoric Meyer report. "Ducey hasn't started making calls to prospective replacements for McCain ... and has yet to broach the subject with groups heavily
invested in the pick, including the Republican Governors Association and others in Washington."

The governor won't attend any campaign events until McCain is laid to rest, and a Ducey adviser says the governor won't even engage in conversations about the appointment until McCain's interment. "Ducey tends to hold things close to the vest and is hard to predict," they write. "But one new candidate whose name has increasingly come up could help the governor in his own reelection fight and satisfy the pro-Trump wing of the party while honoring the memory of the six-term senator: Maj. Gen. Michael McGuire, a career military pilot who also serves as adjutant general for the state." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=064748192f92b1b9937a0e00035bfc11176e221a0f0677a0458c7ddacd644430e246370ddfe5accf5e5bece1948a9a3a

ALABAMA REPUBLICANS SILENT ON SESSIONS -- House Republicans' Alabama delegation has been remarkably quiet as Attorney General Jeff Sessions endured his latest round of criticism and humiliation at the hands of Trump, who has accused the man he nominated to lead DOJ of being "missing in action" and "scared stiff." "Amid this latest confrontation, not one member of the House delegation from Alabama has tweeted a word of support for Sessions except Rep. Gary Palmer, who responded only to what he claimed was negative media attention and publicly defended the attorney general," Kyle and Rachael report.

Trump has repeatedly attacked Sessions over his recusal from the department's Russia probe, which the president has long dismissed as a "witch hunt." Sessions' decision to step aside, however, put Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in charge, leading to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. "A source familiar with the ongoing dispute said the absence of a more aggressive public effort to back Sessions shouldn't be read as an erosion of support," they write. "Rather, those who once made public declarations had now simply resorted to private calls, choosing not to elevate an intraparty dispute in the waning weeks of the campaign." Much more:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=064748192f92b1b90023e2b6892b00577e278efa0edca117d1ed83fe0d9d969416309e6eb551d30bda23301e0c7b797c

N.C. MAP UNCONSTITUTIONAL -- A panel of judges said North Carolina's congressional districts were unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor Republicans and may need to be redrawn before the midterms. "The judges acknowledged that primary elections have already produced candidates for the 2018 elections but said they were reluctant to let voting take place in congressional districts that courts twice have found violate constitutional standards," The Washington Post's Robert Barnes writes. North Carolina lawmakers may ask the Supreme Court to weigh in -- "The court traditionally does not approve of judicial actions that can affect an election so close to the day voters go to the polls," he
notes. But the court has just eight members as Brett Kavanaugh awaits confirmation. A tie would leave the lower court's decision in place. Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=064748192f92b1b920f3b26fd28907dcdfe1339ee38b0a1123429e1ee87ec2d22f8bd9ecc50dabd566c630383467cc33

SO WHAT? HUNTER STILL LEADS -- Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) leads by 8 points in a new poll conducted after he and his wife were indicted on charges of misusing campaign funds. In a head-to-head with Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, Hunter leads among California's 50th Congressional District's likely voters surveyed 47 percent to 39 percent. Trump won the district by 15 points in 2016. "Among Republicans, 77 percent of likely voters said that despite his indictment, they would vote for Hunter if the election was held today, the [Survey USA] poll found," according to The Hill's Michael Burke. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=064748192f92b1b915cb85a0e1d98aa2cae7f206970ad020c031a94d21546f566e69eb6bc5bf026ddf33a31e87f94a95

Flashback: While Hunter is now infamous for the campaign finance allegations revealed against him last week, one irony is his father, Duncan Hunter Sr., who served from 1981 to 2009, got dinged a bit for his own issues. Tim Burger, who covered Congress for Roll Call in the 1990s, flagged to us his April 29, 1993, story: "Acting as Just an 'Average Guy,' Rep. Hunter Asks Help to Boost Selling Price of His Land: Fairfax Supervisor Tries to Get Ordinance Changed for Him But Meets Opposition." Peter Baker and Charles W. Hall also did a similar story for the Washington Post that day ("His Lot Is Not a Happy One"). Burger's article: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=064748192f92b1b9e0e0d0f23ca51e573e0ba54198eb8e046623f461f2d4bedb7d34524190de387d107d836a9a8ef89c and the Post
piece: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=064748192f92b1b9db80a70e4569f24c0469a75eca66174e1184dae3e6af8fbf099a89ba6835af255e7f59c3b93d7865

MAINE ATTORNEYS MAKE CASE AGAINST KAVANAUGH -- More than 230 Maine attorneys are urging Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Angus King (I-Maine) to oppose Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation. The attorneys say Kavanaugh's confirmation would threaten federal protections for a woman's right to choose and unravel the Affordable Care Act. They also accuse him of showing a "pattern of dishonesty" and having an "extreme partisan background." "There are many appropriate roles for such a partisan to continue to serve the public, but replacing Justice Kennedy on the United States Supreme Court should not be one of them," they write.

"Especially at a time when the President, his business, his campaign, and his foundation, are subjects of civil and criminal investigation and prosecutions in multiple state and federal jurisdictions, some of which unquestionably will end up before for the Supreme Court, the appearance of impartiality is as important today as it has ever been," they continue. Collins and King are publicly undecided, though Collins appears to be leaning toward backing Kavanaugh while King is leaning toward opposing his confirmation. Collins met with Kavanaugh a week ago, but King is not among the 65 senators the White House says have met with the nominee, whose confirmation hearings begin next week. The
letter: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=064748192f92b1b9c8fa0707c63e97a96ba8a1feb7d5edefde3b2e396d14044eca857324a0a02623566a3a65f93e3af9

TODAY IN CONGRESS -- The Senate meets at 10 a.m. to resume consideration of HHS assistant secretary for family support nominee Lynn A. Johnson. At 10:40 a.m., the chamber will vote on Johnson's nomination and hold a procedural vote on Richard Clarida to be vice chairman of the Federal Reserve System's Board of Governors. Additional roll call votes are possible. The House is out.

AROUND THE HILL -- Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) will hold a conference call briefing to outline how Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh would be a direct threat to net neutrality if confirmed beginning at 11:30 a.m. The call-in number is 800-230-1085, and the password is Net Neutrality Conference Call.

Senate Republican and Democratic leaders will hold separate press conferences after their weekly policy lunches starting around 2 p.m. in the Ohio Clock Corridor.

MONDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER -- Penny Farthing was first to correctly guess that William Bankhead was the former House speaker whose daughter, Tallulah Bankhead, was a star of the silver screen and said to be the inspiration for the character Cruella De Vil.

TODAY'S TRIVIA -- From Penny: Who was the only House speaker whose wife was the daughter of a president? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way: nmccaskill@politico.com.

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