Bush besting Rubio in money race in home-state Florida — but Clinton is beating them both
Bush besting Rubio in money race in home-state Florida — but Clinton is beating them both
MIAMI (AP) — Florida’s presidential primary is nine months away, but the state’s influential donors are already speaking with their wallets. So far the news is better for Jeb Bush than for Marco Rubio in the Republican money race between home-state heavyweights — but it’s even better for Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Former Gov. Bush’s campaign drew nearly $1 million more than Sen. Rubio’s — and in two months’ less time — according to an Associated Press analysis of Federal Election Commission records that most presidential candidates filed last week. They cover fundraising activity from April through the end of June, but Bush didn’t join the race until June 15.
In all, Florida donors wrote checks totaling more than $8.6 million to the major Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, according to the AP review of all donors who listed addresses in Florida and gave more than $200. That represents more than 10 percent of the nationwide total of donations over $200 reported last week by presidential candidates, and offers one window into which candidates have an early advantage in the high-profile swing state.
Clinton —one of 16 candidates included in the analysis— grabbed more than one-third of all Florida cash, about $3 million. Bush’s campaign raked in at least $2.6 million; Rubio’s collected almost $1.8 million.
The numbers may be dry, but their impact can be large.
Trump encourages supporters to jam rival’s cellphone as GOP feud escalates
BLUFFTON, S.C. (AP) — Donald Trump pushed back ever harder Tuesday against Republicans fed up with his provocations, disclosing one opponent’s cell number in a fiery speech and lowering flags to half-staff on his properties as part of an in-your-face escalation of the feud.
Fellow GOP presidential contender Sen. Lindsey Graham called him a “jackass,” only to see floods of Trump supporters jam his phone line after Trump read Graham’s number to an audience.
Trump is now at odds with much of the Republican establishment after a series of incendiary comments, topped by his weekend mocking of Arizona Sen. John McCain’s experience as a tortured prisoner of war in Vietnam.
Since then the real estate developer and reality TV host has intensified his criticism of McCain and his record on veterans issues in the Senate, even as politicians from both parties and veterans groups have rushed to McCain’s defense.
In a speech to hundreds of supporters in Bluffton, South Carolina, on Tuesday, Trump kept on McCain, accusing him of being soft on illegal immigration.
Ohio Gov. Kasich brings his blunt ways and strong resume to a GOP race with many choices
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Saying “big ideas change the world,” Ohio Gov. John Kasich declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination Tuesday and pitched his well-rounded resume to voters who have a multitude of high achievers to size up.
Kasich, 63, launched his campaign at Ohio State University before a crowd of 2,000 at an event marking the entry of a strong-willed and sometimes abrasive governor in a nomination race now with 16 notable Republicans.
“I am here to ask you for your prayers, for your support, for your efforts because I have decided to run for president,” Kasich said in a scattered 43-minute speech packed with family anecdotes, historical references and calls for national renewal.
A veteran congressman as well as governor, Kasich is telling voters he is the only GOP candidate with experience in three broad areas of political leadership — the federal budget, national security and state government. He also spent nearly a decade at Lehman Brothers.
“I have the experience and the testing,” he said, “the testing which shapes you and prepares you for the most important job in the world and I believe I know how to work and help restore this great United States.”
Deadly bombing shows Turkey is a particularly vulnerable target for Islamic State extremists
ISTANBUL (AP) — Officials have raised concerns that a deadly bombing in southeastern Turkey is part of a campaign of retaliation by the Islamic State group for a recent crackdown on its operations in the country.
If they are right, Turkey would be a particularly vulnerable target for the extremists.
The country shares a 1,250-kilometer (775-mile) border with Iraq and Syria, putting it nearby to strongholds of the self-proclaimed Islamic State. And, as recent arrests show, the extremist group already has established its reach into Turkey.
In an intensified crackdown, Turkish officials say they have detained more than 500 people suspected of working with IS in the last six months. An operation this month netted 21 terrorism suspects in an investigation of recruitment networks in multiple parts of the country, the officials said.
The moves suggest an attempt to dismantle an entrenched presence inside Turkey. And authorities fear that Monday’s bombing in the town of Suruc that killed 32 people and wounded nearly 100 is a warning by the extremists against such a campaign.
Execution won’t come soon, if ever, even if Colorado theater shooter is sentenced to die
DENVER (AP) — The time has come for jurors to hear whether James Holmes should be executed for killing 12 people in a Colorado movie theater. But even if they choose death, Holmes could spend the rest of his life in prison awaiting capital punishment that never happens.
Colorado has executed only one person in nearly half a century, and just three people sit on the state’s death row. The man closest to seeing his death sentence carried out was granted an indefinite reprieve in 2013 by the state’s Democratic governor, who said he had doubts about the fairness of the state’s death penalty system.
“Capital punishment is on life support in Colorado,” Denver defense attorney Craig Silverman said.
As a prosecutor, Silverman secured a death penalty verdict against a man for kidnapping and killing a woman in 1984. Sixteen years later, Frank Rodriguez died on death row from hepatitis C complications.
“If you want a case that never dies, seek capital punishment and get a death verdict, and you’ll be working on it for the next 20 years,” Silverman said.
Flooding that washed out interstate bridge in California also eroded soil under other spans
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The damage to interstate highway bridges from flash flooding in Southern California’s desert over the weekend proved more widespread than initially thought, with construction crews working Tuesday to reinforce spans over three gullies.
In light of the damage, some outside engineers warned that the California Department of Transportation may need to adopt tougher design and protection standards for highway bridges, particularly with abnormally heavy rains possible in the coming months because of the ocean-warming phenomenon known as El Nino.
Flooding touched off by unusually intense rainfall of nearly 7 inches Sunday washed away boulders and soil under an elevated portion of Interstate 10 near the town of Desert Center, about 50 miles from the Arizona state line, causing the collapse of the eastbound side of the bridge and severely weakening the westbound side.
One person was hospitalized with broken ribs, a shattered knee and lacerations to his liver, and the main highway between Los Angeles and Phoenix was severed, forcing 54,000 daily vehicles to take a several-hours detour.
After the collapse, Caltrans inspectors found erosion under two other I-10 bridges a few miles to the west, and workers labored to reinforce all three spans by pouring more concrete and replacing the protective boulders that were swept away, said Mike Beauchamp, a Caltrans deputy district director.