WASHINGTON — If it’s Monday … The House Jan. 6 committee holds final public meeting. … The committee plans to issue no less than three criminal referrals for former President Donald Trump, per NBC’s Ali Vitali, Kate Santaliz and Haley Talbot. … President Biden meets with Ecuador’s president. … Recent Hampshire seethes at Democrats’ presidential primary calendar changes, NBC’s Natasha Korecki writes. … Donald Trump boosts Kevin McCarthy, but not RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel. … And a transparent majority of Twitter users vote for Elon Musk to step down as CEO.
But first: For all of the surprising success Democrats had within the 2022 midterms, there was one winnable race where they fell short.
Wisconsin’s Senate contest, where Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., defeated Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes.
It was the one Senate race in a state President Biden carried in 2020 that Democrats ended up losing. The defeat also took place in an election where incumbent Democratic Gov. Tony Evers won re-election, outperforming Barnes in each Wisconsin county.
So what happened?
In interviews, Democrats point to the ability of incumbency within the cycle (just one incumbent, Democrat Gov. Steve Sisolak, lost major statewide office in 2022); they point to Barnes’ relative inexperience (because the 36-year-old lieutenant governor who had never before run for federal office or statewide separate from the governor); they point to the proven fact that he got out outspent after becoming the Democratic nominee; and additionally they indicate — accurately — that he almost won, getting 49.4% and losing by just 27,000 votes.
Yet other Democrats consider his positions on crime and policing — favoring reducing the prison population, supporting ending money bail and displaying an “Abolish ICE T-shirt — hurt him in a state like Wisconsin
“Mandela’s problems on crime did him in,” said one Democratic strategist accustomed to the race. “It was at all times his biggest vulnerability.”
Added one other Democratic strategist: “Mandela’s team was fully aware there can be issues, particularly referring to crime, that the campaign would want to deal with.”
Here was one of the Republican TV ads that attacked him: “Mandela Barnes supports no money bail. That puts criminals like Darrell Brooks back on the streets. He’s more nervous about criminals than victims.” One other: “The bad guys belong in jail. Mandela Barnes belongs nowhere near the Senate.”
And here were Barnes’ responses to those attacks: “They’re claiming I would like to defund the police and abolish ICE. That’s a lie. I’ll ensure that our police have the resources and training they need,” Barnes said to camera in one ad. “Mandela doesn’t wish to defund the police. He’s very supportive of law enforcement,” said a retired cop in one other ad.
Notably, nevertheless, Barnes never directly defended his position on money bail in his TV ads.
Still, Barnes’ team believes it was the cash disparity — not the crime issue — that hurt the campaign more.
”They decided to hit on this crime message … I believe they might have chosen anything,” Barnes campaign manager Kory Kozloski told NBC News. “If we were going to get outspent 3-to-1 or 2-to-1, it was going to have an effect. That was, in my mind, the thing that was more impactful than the precise hits themselves.”
“If we had been in a position to be at parity with them throughout the whole campaign, we win this race,” Kozloski added.
Republicans did outspend Democrats over the airwaves after Barnes became the nominee, $64 million to $56 million, per AdImpact.
But Democratic groups like Senate Majority PAC and its affiliates, in addition to the DSCC, spent nearly $40 million on ads in Wisconsin during the whole cycle.
Photo of the day: Argentina wins the World Cup
Data Download: The variety of the day is … 3
That’s no less than the variety of criminal referrals the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riot on the Capitol is planning to vote on related to former President Donald Trump, NBC News’ Ali Vitali, Kate Santaliz and Haley Talbot report. The referrals include charges of obstructing an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the federal government and inciting or assisting an rebel.
The committee will meet publicly for the ultimate time on Monday afternoon and is predicted to carry those votes throughout the meeting, with a lengthy report detailing the committee’s findings expected to be released on Wednesday. Vitali, Santaliz and Talbot also report that the Jan. 6 committee plans to refer 4 GOP members of Congress to the Ethics Committee for failing to comply with a subpoena.
Other numbers to know:
58%: The share of Twitter users who said Elon Musk should step down as head of Twitter as a part of a survey Musk posted himself. He previously said he would abide by the outcomes.
50: What number of years have passed since Biden’s first wife and infant daughter were killed in a automotive accident that also injured his two sons.
54%: The share of individuals surveyed in a latest USA Today poll who ranked inflation and the economy as the primary or second top issue facing Americans in 2023.
36: The variety of years since Argentina’s national soccer team won a World Cup before they reclaimed the title, beating France in a tense final on Sunday in Qatar,
5: The variety of years to which a Qanon believer has been sentenced to prison after leading the mob that chased Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman within the Capitol on January 6.
25%: The percent drop in homelessness the White House goals to oversee across U.S. cities in the subsequent two years, USA Today reports.
Eyes on 2024: Trump boosts McCarthy, snubs McDaniel
Former President Donald Trump still holds serious sway with the Republican National Committee, making his decision not to assist RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel in her re-election bid notable.
McDaniel sports the endorsements of virtually two-thirds of the membership, greater than she must secure re-election. But while Trump could have likely quelled simmering discontent amongst some conservatives with a nod of support, he told Breitbart “I like them each” when asked whether he preferred McDaniel or California Republican National Committeewoman Harmeet Dhillon, who served as considered one of his campaign’s legal advisors.
Trump did throw one other ally a bone over the weekend — House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, who can also be facing some pressure from his right flank as a handful of Republicans say they won’t vote for him to change into speaker. In a Breitbart interview, Trump reiterated his support for McCarthy, saying, “I like him,” and warning that the attempts to disclaim him the speakership could prove “dangerous.”
In other 2024 news:
Gearing up for an additional run: NBC News reports that the White House held a series of closed-door meetings with top allies to counsel them on selling President Joe Biden’s record ahead of his expected re-election bid. The Washington Post reports that the re-elect wants to construct out an excellent more robust digital campaign than it had in 2020, whilst there still remain some doubts as as to if Biden will ultimately undergo with a bid.
Pence’s “identity crisis”: Politico reports on how former Vice President Mike Pence is handling the balancing act contained in the GOP as a serious face of the Trump administration who each broke with Trump on Jan. 6, 2021 but who hasn’t shied away from endorsing candidates who’ve questioned the legitimacy of that election.
Richmond rush: Republicans have chosen Pastor Leon Benjamin as their nominee ahead of February’s special election in Virginia’s 4th District, with Democrats set to decide on between 4 candidates on Tuesday.
Live First or Die: Recent Hampshire politicians and politicos are livid on the prospect of the Democratic Party pushing the state aside on the presidential nominating calendar, NBC News’ Natasha Korecki reports.
Will he, won’t he: Arkansas Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson told “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he’ll resolve by the primary quarter of 2023 whether he’ll run for president.
Will he, won’t he part 2: While West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin told CBS he has “no intentions” of leaving the Democratic Party, but he cryptically added he’s maintaining a tally of the politics surrounding the implementation of the signature infrastructure and spending bills he helped pass.
Say it ain’t so, Santos: The Recent York Times reports that Recent York GOP Rep.-elect George Santos’s supposed alma materand just a few supposed employers don’t have any record of him attending or working there, and likewise raised questions on various other claims from his biography.
ICYMI: What else is occurring on the planet
In an interview with NBC News’ Sahil Kapur, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reflected on Democrats’ success within the midterm elections, despite challenges within the Senate over the past two years.
An Arizona judge dismissed Republican Mark Finchem’s request for a latest Secretary of State election after he lost his November election to Democrat Adrian Fontes.
Multiple U.S. cities now have a level of Covid spread that meets the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions’ threshold to recommend masking in public spaces.