Democrats prepare for their convention next week, and former Sen. Ben Sasse defends his record amid a new spending investigation from his time as president of the University of Florida.
Kamala Harris planning to hold rally in Milwaukee during DNC
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is planning a rally Tuesday, Aug. 20, in Milwaukee, according to the Harris campaign.
Reports from various news outlets say the rally is expected to be held at Fiserv Forum, the same venue where the GOP selected former President Donald Trump as its presidential nominee during the Republican National Convention in July. However, information about the rally's location has not been confirmed by the Harris campaign.
Harris last visited the Badger State on Aug. 8, with a stop in Eau Claire. She was joined by her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The stop also marks the third time since Harris become the Democratic presidential nominee that she’s come to swing state Wisconsin, a nod to its importance in the presidential election.
The visit will coincide with the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Former President Barack Obama is set to be a featured speaker at the DNC that evening.
Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump's running mate, planned to be in Milwaukee on Friday to speak at the Milwaukee Police Association. That would be his second visit to Wisconsin as the vice presidential nominee.
Poll finds higher voter enthusiasm since Harris became the nominee
Democrats and Republicans are both more likely to vote for their respective favored candidates in November’s election after Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee, according to the latest American Identity Poll from Ipsos and Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism & Citizenship, which was released Friday.
According to the survey, 31% of respondents said that the vice president taking the top spot on the Democratic ticket made them more likely to vote for Harris — including 61% of Democrats and 32% of independents — while 29% said it made them more likely to vote for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump — including 63% of Republicans and 23% of independents. Thirty-one percent said it didn’t motivate them one way or another.
Margaret Talev, director of the Institute for Democracy Journalism and Citizenship at Syracuse University, said that the results show that Harris taking over for Biden “did give Democrats a boost.”
“That suggests that there is a lot of support for her, a lot of folks who like her, who say she's likable, at least inside the Democratic Party, but also among independents,” Talev told Spectrum News in an interview. “For every two independents who said they were more likely to support former President Trump after Biden dropped out, three actually said that they were more likely to move towards Vice President Harris.”
“So it may mean that they find Vice President Harris likable,” she added. “It also might just mean that they really didn't like President Biden as a candidate, and they're happier that they have her as a choice. “
Eighty-one percent of respondents said that in the last month, they have not considered voting for a third-party candidate, compared to 18% who have. Eighty-five percent say that they have not considered voting for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., compared to just 14% who have.
Amid a busy summer in politics heading into November’s election, Harris’ replacement of Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee was the top motivating factor behind respondents’ decisions to back their favored candidate — the next one being the selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate.
Fifty-four percent of Republicans, along with 20% of independents, said that Harris picking Walz made them more likely to vote for Trump, compared to 50% of Democrats and 22% of independents who were more inclined to back the vice president.
On the flip side of that, just 22% said that Trump picking Ohio Sen. JD Vance — 50% of Republicans and 13% of independents — made them more likely to back the Republican ticket; slightly more (23%) said it made them more likely to back Harris, including 48% of Democrats and 21% of independents.
Thirty-six percent of respondents, including 65% of Democrats and 36% of independents, agree that Harris’ odds of winning are bolstered by Walz becoming her running mate, compared to 31% — 59% of Republicans and 29% of independents — who disagree.
Just 25% percent agree that Vance helps Trump’s odds of winning. Forty-one percent disagree, including 43% of independents.
Sasse defends UF presidential record amid spending allegations
Former University of Florida President Ben Sasse is defending himself as Gov. Ron DeSantis and state GOP lawmakers are calling on the state university board system to look into his spending.
UF’s student-run newspaper, The Alligator, reports Sasse spent millions of dollars on contracts to hire consultants, including some of his former staff members from when he was a U.S. Senator in Nebraska.
Many of those new hires were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars while they worked out of state. The newspaper also reports Sasse spent more than $630,000 on travel expenses.
That allowed those remote workers to fly to and from Gainesville on the university’s dime.
Earlier this week Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis called for an investigation into Sasse’s spending in a social media post saying:
“Reports of the University of Florida’s exorbitant spending by Ben Sasse’s office are concerning. As my agency can investigate fraud, waste and abuse, Florida’s Department of Financial Services will reach out to the university system’s board of governors to offer auditing support,” he said. “The board should investigate this issue to ensure tuition and tax dollars are being properly used.”
In a lengthy post on X, Sasse denied that his office was spending money inappropriately, saying the expensive projects were necessary to reform the university.
“I am confident that the expenditures under discussion were proper and appropriate, and that the folks responsible for oversight were faithful in their work,” Sasse said.
Sasse resigned as UF’s president last month saying he needed to care for his wife who had been diagnosed with epilepsy.