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08/15/2018 07:58 AM EDT


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

DEM CANDIDATES POISED TO MAKE HISTORY -- Former National Teacher of the Year Jahana Hayes could become the first black woman to represent Connecticut in Congress. State Rep. Ilhan Omar is likely to become the first Somali-American elected to Congress -- and join Michigan's Rashida Tlaib as the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress next year. And Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who won his primary for state attorney general despite domestic abuse allegations that surfaced over the weekend (Ellison denies the allegations), could become the first Muslim to win statewide office.

More results: Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) won the party's nomination for governor. "Walz, himself a teacher (and Army veteran) ... who compiled a centrist voting record in Congress, cashed on his bet that running in a statewide primary was preferable to seeking reelection in a district Trump carried by 15 points in 2016," Steven Shepard reports. "He starts as a slight favorite in the general election against Republican Jeff Johnson."

Democratic Iraq War veteran and former Pentagon official Dan Feehan will face Republican Jim Hagedorn in the general election for Walz's seat. And former Democratic state Rep. Joe Radinovich will face President Donald Trump-endorsed GOP St. Louis County Commissioner Pete Stauber in Rep. Rick Nolan's (D-Minn.) district, which the president also won by 15 points in 2016. Nolan lost his bid for lieutenant governor. More top takeaways from Tuesday: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb4b13e3b2fb14782b90de4e90b100ae1261b2e167a1e33703537ba2dd7866b6b6d814cd45e3ea5cfc6c598a0456a670

Related: "Keith Ellison Wins Primary In Minnesota, As DNC Reviews Domestic Abuse Allegations," by NPR's Domenico Montanaro: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb4b13e3b2fb1478b04a25860ebd1578bc13c2a17ff0546f57a79e822fc33fd4492fa36fdc013c2b53f629a31c82ab41 and "Trump's Endorsements: The Loyalists, Rising Stars and Safe Bets He's Picked," from The New York Times' Audrey Carlsen and Isabella Grullón Paz: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb4b13e3b2fb14787f706808a481ac2eca26182c387a0e2fdb8fbb3457bcb61bd84e72784be4b3336fee5eaab007030b

RYAN PICKS WINNERS -- House Speaker Paul Ryan-endorsed candidates won their primaries in Wisconsin: State Sen. Leah Vukmir will challenge Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), one of 10 Democratic incumbents up for reelection in a state Trump won in 2016, while former Ryan aide Bryan Steil secured the GOP nomination to replace Ryan in Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District. "Vukmir topped veteran Kevin Nicholson, each of whom had their own billionaire super PAC-funding backers in the race," Elena Schneider reports. "But in a show of party unity, [GOP megadonor Richard] Uihlein and Diane Hendricks, a megadonor who backed Vukmir, are scheduled to co-chair a fundraiser Friday for the nominee."

Steil will face off against Randy Bryce this fall. "Bryce, an ironworker who has raised millions of dollars after going viral on social media last year, won the Democratic nomination over Cathy Myers, a Janesville school board member," Elena notes. While Republicans are looking to flip two House seats in Minnesota, Democrats are hoping to reelect both incumbents in the Senate. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith will both be on the ballot. State Rep. Jim Newberger will run against Klobuchar, while state Sen. Karin Housley will challenge Smith for the remainder of former Sen. Al Franken's (D-Minn.) term. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb4b13e3b2fb14783fadefbb0bd1b17e62f0d57df391864f6ea791abb585abd0c2adffc707e9eabd2029c48b5979c6a8

HAPPY WEDNESDAY! Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Aug. 15.

What is it really like for women hitting the campaign trail in 2018? Beginning today, Women Rule's three-part podcast series entitled, "Women Rule: Tracking the candidates," will focus on the gritty realities of running for office. Tune in each Wednesday in August to hear from three women running for office, the challenges and opportunities they face and the lessons other women can take from their campaigns.

TUESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Roll Call's report on the president shouting out -- but not endorsing -- Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) at a signing ceremony at Fort Drum, New York, was the winner.

SENATE IN SESSION -- Senators will return to Washington today after a reduced recess. The chamber is expected to confirm two more appeals court judges this week: A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr. and Julius Ness Richardson, both of South Carolina. "The Senate already has installed 24 appellate judges since Trump was sworn in, the highest number for a president's first two years in office," The Washington Post's Sean Sullivan and Mike DeBonis report. "[T]he Senate's rapid approval of appellate judges is likely to have its own broad impact on the nation, as the 13 circuit courts will shape decisions on immigration, voting rights, abortion and the environment for generations." More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb4b13e3b2fb147807b96c4233dcc0d4486babfc7632548ef547cf897e4cf468d9e7b3430dacfe516b9821b16bcd49bc

But it's the Supreme Court that gets most of the attention. And with lawmakers back in town, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's meetings with senators will resume. Kavanaugh is set to meet with Sens. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) today and scheduled to meet with more Democrats this month. As the Post's Seung Min Kim reports, citing a White House official, Senate Judiciary Committee members Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) have scheduled individual meetings with Kavanaugh. "All ... will question the nominee at his confirmation hearings, which are scheduled for the first week of September," she adds.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) met with Kavanaugh before recess, and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) will meet with him on Tuesday. "Most Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), had refused to meet with the nominee until a separate fight over Kavanaugh's documents were resolved," she writes. "But Democrats and Republicans never reached a deal in the dispute." White House spokesman Raj Shah said Kavanaugh will have met with nearly half the Senate after Wednesday's conclaves. A White House official said the nominee will meet with nine more senators before he goes before the judiciary panel. More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb4b13e3b2fb1478e824d502457cde45bac0ad2d9d87d39f103f5935b6fae05f83d9c64a7f5ac79433df728ccbb91fbb

Related read: "Business looks to Kavanaugh to extend Supreme Court hot streak," via Lorraine Woellert: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb4b13e3b2fb147888620d57d62cf0ab826b315a9d530023293ac1c3dfc0b7f7a325832f9f7afbbc5ae943af08dd759e

CLYBURN SEES PATHWAY TO SPEAKERSHIP -- Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (D-S.C.) won't challenge Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) directly for speaker if Democrats win the House. But if Pelosi falls short of a majority, "There's a pathway" for Clyburn to become the first black speaker, he said. "There's no question about that." Clyburn expressed a willingness to serve as a "transitional" leader -- a bridge between the current and next generation of leaders -- but dismissed any notion of being "a custodian, a symbolic figurehead without lasting influence," McClatchy's Emma Dumain and William Douglas write. Clyburn, however, would likely have to defeat Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) for
the post.

"Surrounded by allies and supporters at the Congressional Black Caucus Institute's annual policy forum in Tunica, Miss., last weekend, Clyburn spoke more frankly and openly than he had before about how he would approach the top job in the House's leadership," they continue. CBC members account for 45 of the 193 House Democrats, so black lawmakers will have a large say in who becomes the next speaker with a Democratic majority. "You cannot get to 218 (votes) to be speaker without the Black Caucus," CBC Chairman Cedric Richmond (D-La.) said. "If we hold, you cannot get the speakership without us. I'm just doing math right now. You can't get there without the Black Caucus." More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb4b13e3b2fb147894cf931d7dc8ebc9a3cd7a797d20b3379017c80fc07a739b1aa8e792d6fbbc29beb0109dd4418f85

NEVER GONNA GET IT -- Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has news for anyone who wants Russia to admit to interfering in the 2016 election: not happening. Paul said Russian officials refused to acknowledge any meddling in the 2016 campaign during his recent trip to Moscow and Saint Petersburg. "Paul, a top Trump ally, called hopes that Russia would eventually admit to the interference 'naive' and said the United States should cease expecting a diplomatic confession from Russian President Vladimir Putin or members of his government," The Washington Post's Robert Costa reports.

"It's like asking a country to admit to spying. Are we going to wait until the end of time?" Paul said. "Their answers were similar to what Putin has said. They said they didn't do it and they had no intention of doing it. People who want something beyond that are never going to get it." On Monday, the Kentucky senator said he accepts that Russia interfered in 2016 and "discussed very explicitly how we don't want it to happen again" with Russian leaders. "But Paul said he did not linger on the issue because he believes that intelligence agencies in any nation, including the United States, operate in secrecy and would rarely if ever admit to details of their covert activity," Costa writes.
Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb4b13e3b2fb1478fe537e21e002f69d5e6269f51014856efc48644a458d4206a9bb0796653424cf6aa3b0bfe827a9d2

Related: "Senate Intel Wants To Follow The Money In The Russia Probe. But Treasury Isn't Making That Easy," per BuzzFeed News' Emma Loop and Jason Leopold: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb4b13e3b2fb14781074d4afd5f231ef3b33d5344993955c7d3fd26542396bc7bf9d3253aaf6b462227d6fc51593a599

GARY JOHNSON FOR SENATE -- Former Libertarian presidential candidate and two-term Gov. Gary Johnson has filed paperwork to run for Senate in New Mexico, where Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) is up for reelection. "His campaign manager said a formal announcement would come soon," The Associated Press' Morgan Lee reports. "Johnson remains popular in New Mexico and his entry into the U.S. Senate race that Democrats have been favored to win could complicate the party's national effort to hold seats or make gains in the chamber." The GOP nominee is Albuquerque-based construction contractor Mick Rich, a political newcomer who ran unopposed in the state's GOP primary.

"In New Mexico, Johnson has been known for direct positions on policy and occasionally goofy behavior, once twirling a toy pig above his head at a news conference as he refused to sign a state budget proposal -- unless pigs were to fly," Lee adds. "Registered Libertarians make up a tiny sliver of the New Mexico electorate -- less than 1 percent of registered voters. But the share of unaffiliated voters has steadily grown to 22 percent. Democrats dominate voter registration rolls, but the state has swung back and forth between Republican and Democratic governors for decades." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb4b13e3b2fb147830615b49e287ad4748213803841196e63af3db6699231f0ca2fc86954fa324c8dc082d2b06b80d07

FAMILY FEUDS -- It's not just Bob and Bobby Goodlatte whose family disagreements have caught people's attention. As Roll Call's Morgan Phillips reports, the Goodlattes are just the latest example. Kevin Nicholson, who lost Wisconsin's GOP Senate primary Tuesday, had already lost his family's political support a while ago. Nicholson's brother and parents maxed out their campaign contributions to Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.). And remember the Conyers? Former Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) endorsed his son to succeed him, but his great-nephew also ran for the seat. The nephew didn't make it beyond last week's Democratic primary, and the son didn't even make it on the ballot.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) doesn't believe in "dynastic politics." So his son, who's running for Congress in New Hampshire, isn't among the dozens of candidates he has endorsed since his failed presidential run in 2016. "It could be that Sanders the elder sees this as a chance to disavow the dynasty politics of the Bushes, Clintons, Kennedys and Trumps," Phillips writes. "Or he may want to keep a bit of distance between himself and his son, who is seen as a relatively weak candidate."

And don't forget the Indiana Brauns. Mike Braun, the pickup-truck-driving brother who's rarely clad in a suit and tie, is running for Senate. Steve Braun, the suit-wearing, Porsche-driving brother, lost his primary for a congressional seat. Mike Braun's consulting team also worked with one of his brother's primary opponents, and Steve Braun donated to one of his brother's primary opponents, albeit before he entered the Senate race. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb4b13e3b2fb1478d648dc81bcd29dcb1c4328e44ec11667b9a6e6664ccb5fed0d68e417dad1d972f3ee5f0329454bf5

TODAY IN CONGRESS -- The Senate meets at 12 p.m. to resume consideration of judicial nominee A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr. At 5:30 p.m., the chamber will hold a procedural vote on Quattlebaum's nomination. The House is out.

AROUND THE HILL -- 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.

Sens. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) will hold separate meetings with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER -- Florian Wicki was first to correctly guess that President George Washington had just one tooth at the time of his inauguration.

TODAY'S TRIVIA -- Both of Minnesota's senators will be up for reelection in November. When is the last time a state held elections for both Senate seats on Election Day, and in which state or states did this occur? 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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