2020 Daily Trail Markers: Warren, Klobuchar unveil big Iowa endorsements
FROM THE CANDIDATES
CORY BOOKER
Booker released a plan Wednesday morning aimed at empowering workers and reforming workplace laws. CBS News Campaign Reporter Jack Turman says he released the plan as United Auto Workers members strike for better wages and medical coverage. In his plan, Booker calls for strengthening collective bargaining and banning "right-to-work" laws.
Booker, who supports a $15 minimum wage and protections for overtime work, also plans to close the gender pay gap by advocating for the Paycheck Fairness Act. Booker's proposal also outlines his plan to reform the tax code. In addition to repealing the Trump administration tax cuts that was passed in 2017, Booker's plan indicates his administration would push for taxing "long-term capital gains and qualified dividends at the same individual tax rate as ordinary income."
KAMALA HARRIS
Harris' team is planning a big morning before the Polk County Democrats Steak Fry, a major political event in Iowa, on Saturday. Harris will join striking McDonald's workers in Des Moines and march to a rally before the Steak Fry. Harris, who once worked at McDonald's, will join SEIU President Mary Kay Henry and McDonald's employees from Des Moines and Cedar Rapids who are pushing for a $15 per hour minimum wage and union rights. Harris previously joined striking McDonald's workers in June in Las Vegas.
Many other presidential candidates have joined fast food workers on the picket line, and Harris is the second candidate to march with them to a major Democratic event in Iowa this year, according to CBS News Campaign Reporters Musadiq Bidar & Adam Brewster. In June, Senator Bernie Sanders led a group of striking McDonald's workers in a march towards the Iowa Democratic Party's Hall of Fame Celebration.
After a rally with supporters, The Isiserettes, a well-known youth drum and drill corps in the Des Moines area, will lead Harris' crowd in a march to the Steak Fry. The Isiserettes also led then Senator Barack Obama's march to the 2007 Harkin Steak Fry. This trip will be Harris' first visit to Iowa since she left the state on August 12. A recent CBS News Battleground Tracker poll showed Harris as the top choice for 6% of registered Democrats in Iowa, down from 16% in July. Also this weekend, Harris' campaign will be hosting a house party with labor and civil rights leader Dolores Huerta in Des Moines while Harris campaigns in other parts of the state.
AMY KLOBUCHAR
Ahead of the Polk County Steak Fry this weekend in Des Moines, Klobuchar announced endorsements from six former state legislators. CBS News Campaign Reporters Musadiq Bidar & Adam Brewster note that Klobuchar has now earned 24 total endorsements in Iowa and after this weekend, she will have held 12 events across Iowa in the month of September.
The latest batch of endorsements for Klobuchar come from Linda Nelson, former state representative and past Chair of the Pottawattamie County Democrats; Roger Stewart, a former state senator from Preston; John Wittenben, a former state representative from Estherville; Katy Halloran, a former state representative and mayor of Cedar Rapids; David Johnson, a former state senator of Ocheyedan; and Pat Delunhery, a former state senator from Scott County.
Johnson, who switched his party affiliation from Republican to independent in 2016, said he wants a candidate who "has a proven track record of bringing people together." Stewart said he is endorsing Klobuchar because she "knows how to win in tough districts," adding that "she's proven this time and again in our neighboring state of Minnesota and we need a fighting like that to defeat Trump."
Klobuchar now has endorsements from 12 current and former state elected officials in Iowa, the most among all the presidential candidates. Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, and Joe Biden follow closely behind with 11 each, respectively. Klobuchar returns to Iowa on Friday with stops scheduled in Burlington, Cedar Rapids, and Des Moines
BETO O'ROURKE
Amy O'Rourke is returning to the stump for her husband's campaign in Nevada, according to CBS News Campaign Reporter Alex Tin. She's set to meet Thursday with Latino activists, small business owners, women leaders, and gun control advocates. The visit comes little more than a week after her solo debut on the trail in New Hampshire.
"Our growing Nevada team continues to reach out to voters across this critical battleground state," a spokesperson for Beto O'Rourke's Nevada state campaign said in an email. "We're looking forward to Amy meeting our volunteers, who are building momentum across Nevada."
ELIZABETH WARREN
Warren returns to Iowa on Thursday for her first visit to the state in nearly four weeks, say CBS News Campaign Reporters Musadiq Bidar & Adam Brewster. And on Wednesday morning the campaign announced Iowa State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald is endorsing Warren for president.
Fitzgerald is one of three Democrats elected to statewide office in Iowa and currently the longest-serving state treasurer in the country. One of the other statewide Democratic elected officials, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, has endorsed Montana Gov. Steve Bullock. Fitzgerald's announcement follows endorsements in recent days by Iowa state Rep. Lindsay James and state Sen. Joe Bolkom.
In a statement from the Warren campaign, Fitzgerald said the Massachusetts Senator "understands better than anyone the challenges facing working people today, and she's unafraid to call out the rich, influential and powerful forces that are responsible for those challenges."
MONEY MATTERS
ON THE $$$
The Republican National Committee announced Wednesday it raised a record-breaking $23.5 million in August and finished the month with $53.8 million cash on hand. Since the start of the 2019-2020 election cycle, CBS News Political Unit AP Sarah Ewall-Wice says the RNC has brought in $141.4 million in receipts.
"The more Democrats demonize President Trump and his supporters, the more boots we can put on the ground to re-elect him," said RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel in a statement. "Between the President's accomplishments and our grassroots infrastructure, Republicans are going to be unstoppable in 2020!"
Both the RNC and the Democratic National Committee have until Friday to file their monthly figures with the Federal Election Commission.