Early voting begins for two North Carolina congressional special elections
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Welcome to the Federal Tap! Find information on debates, special elections, and more in our highlights of the week. Head to the complete review of the week by clicking the button below. Take note: there will be no Tap next week due to Labor Day. Enjoy your holiday!

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** DEADLINE APPROACHES FOR NEXT DEMOCRATIC DEBATES, CASTRO IS LATEST CANDIDATE TO QUALIFY
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The deadline to qualify for the next two Democratic presidential debates is August 28. Julián Castro became the 10th candidate to qualify for the September and October presidential primary debates ([link removed])) on August 20.

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Unlike the first two debates this summer, candidates must reach both a grassroots fundraising threshold and a polling threshold. They need 130,000 unique contributors with 400 unique donors per state in at least 20 states. Candidates also need to receive 2 percent support or more in four national or early state polls—Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and/or Nevada—publicly released between June 28, 2019, and August 28, 2019.

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The following nine candidates also reached both thresholds: Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Andrew Yang.

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Three candidates have crossed the fundraising bar only: Tulsi Gabbard, Tom Steyer, and Marianne Williamson. To make the stage, Steyer needs one more qualifying poll and Gabbard two. Williamson does not have a single qualifying polling.

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The next debate is scheduled on September 12-13, 2019, in Houston, Texas.

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** EARLY VOTING BEGINS FOR NORTH CAROLINA CONGRESSIONAL SPECIAL ELECTIONS 
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Early voting began August 21 for two congressional special elections in North Carolina taking place September 10. The early voting period ends September 6.

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In North Carolina’s 9th District, Dan Bishop (R), Dan McCready (D), Jeff Scott (L), and Allen Smith (G) are running in this special election ([link removed]) after the state board of elections did not certify the results from the 2018 election following an investigation into allegations of absentee ballot fraud.

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Bishop says his record in the state legislature includes working for voter ID requirements, opposing abortion, and reducing state income taxes. McCready says he'd seek bipartisan legislation on healthcare, education, and taxes in the House. McCready—who was also his party’s nominee in 2018—was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Bishop won the Republican primary against nine other candidates.

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The 2018 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+8, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 8 percentage points more Republican than the national average.

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In North Carolina’s 3rd District, Greg Murphy (R), Allen Thomas (D), Tim Harris (L), and Greg Holt (Constitution Party) are running in the special election ([link removed]) for this seat that was vacated by Walter Jones (R), who died in February.

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Murphy finished first among 17 candidates in the April 30 Republican primary and defeated Joan Perry in a primary runoff July 9. He has campaigned on his support of President Donald Trump (R) and has described himself as a consistent conservative, highlighting his work as a doctor and state legislator. Thomas won the six-candidate Democratic primary and has emphasized economic development, small-town revitalization, and improving access to healthcare.

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_The Cook Partisan Voter Index_ for this district was R+12.

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Four special elections have been called during the 116th Congress. Three of those are for seats in the U.S. House, and one is for a seat in the U.S. Senate. From 2013 to 2018, 40 congressional special elections were held in 26 states—13 for seats vacated by Democrats and 27 for seats vacated by Republicans. Four seats changed party control as a result of those elections. 

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** GOV. JAY INSLEE (D) AND REP. SETH MOULTON (D) END PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS
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Washington Gov. Jay Inslee ([link removed]) suspended his presidential campaign ([link removed]) , making the announcement on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show. He entered the race on March 1, 2019, with climate change as the top priority of his campaign.

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“Many of the campaigns started with little attention to climate, but since our campaign began, we've seen almost every serious candidate put out a climate plan; we've seen climate come up in both debates; and we now have two networks hosting nationally-televised climate forums in September,” he said.

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Rep. Seth Moulton (Mass.) also suspended his presidential campaign Friday. In an interview ([link removed]) with _The New York Times_, Moulton said, “I think it’s evident that this is now a three-way race between Biden, Warren, and Sanders, and really it’s a debate about how far left the party should go.”

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Inslee and Moulton are the fifth and six elected officials—after Richard Ojeda (W. Va.), Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Mike Gravel (Alaska), and John Hickenlooper (Colo.)—to exit the Democratic presidential primary. 

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** FORMER GOV. HICKENLOOPER (D) ANNOUNCES SENATE BID IN COLORADO
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Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper ([link removed]) (D) announced he would run for the Democratic nomination ([link removed]) for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Cory Gardner (R). Gardner is one of two Republican senators running for re-election next year in a state Hillary Clinton (D) won in 2016. Hickenlooper announced he was ending his presidential campaign on August 15.  

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Fourteen other candidates have either announced they’re running for the Democratic nomination or filed as a candidate with the Federal Election Commission. This includes four current or former state legislators -- Sen. Angela Williams, former House Majority Leader Alice Madden, former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, and former Sen. Mike Johnston. 

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The Denver Post reported ([link removed]) that at least seven previously announced candidates have said Hickenlooper’s candidacy will not impact their campaigns.

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Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, and Sabato’s Crystal Ball all rate the general election as _Toss-up._

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** YANG LED DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES IN BALLOTPEDIA PAGEVIEWS LAST WEEK
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Each week, we report ([link removed]) the number of pageviews received by 2020 presidential campaigns on Ballotpedia. These numbers show which candidates are getting our readers' attention.

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Andrew Yang's campaign page on Ballotpedia received 5,656 pageviews for the week of August 11-17. Yang's pageview figure represents 10.2% of the pageviews for all Democratic candidates during the week. Joe Biden had 8.2% of pageviews for the week, followed by Elizabeth Warren with 6.7%.

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Of the 23 noteworthy Democratic candidates, all but seven had fewer Ballotpedia pageviews last week than the week before. The three largest week-over-week increases were Tom Steyer (13.30%), Wayne Messam (7.89%), and Andrew Yang (5.78%).

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The leader in overall pageviews this year is Pete Buttigieg with 102,790, followed by Yang with 95,127 and Kamala Harris with 90,653.

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On the GOP side, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld had 16,895 pageviews to President Trump's 1,844.

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** CONGRESS IS OUT OF SESSION
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Neither the Senate nor the House will be in session next week. Click here to see the full calendar for the first session of the 116th Congress.

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** WHERE WAS THE PRESIDENT LAST WEEK?
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On Monday, Trump received his intelligence briefing.

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On Tuesday, Trump met with the President of Romania.

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On Wednesday, Trump campaigned for KY Gov. Matt Bevin's (R) re-election campaign and spoke at the American Veterans 75th National Convention in Louisville, KY.

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On Thursday, Trump presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Robert Cousy.

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On Friday, Trump traveled to Bourdeaux, France.

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** FEDERAL JUDICIARY
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112 federal judicial vacancies

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39 pending nominations

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11 future federal judicial vacancies

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