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Daily Briefing

Good Monday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 310th day of the year. There are 55 days remaining in 2017.

The clock:

• The 2017 election is tomorrow (11/7/2017)
• 77 days until the opening day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (1/22/2018)
• 122 days until the final day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (3/8/2018)
• 365 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
• 1,093 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Today's political TL; DR -

• Utah lawmakers have already opened nearly 1,000 bill files ahead of the 2018 session [Utah Policy].
  
  
• Our "Political Insiders" expect Provo Mayor John Curtis to win Utah's special Congressional election on Tuesday [Utah Policy].
  
  
• PODCAST: On this week's "Beg to Differ," Bryan Schott and Mike Winder speak with Utah GOP Chairman Rob Anderson [Utah Policy].
  
  
• The Utah GOP reverses course and decides to continue their lawsuit against SB54 as long as the party incurs no new costs for the legal action [Deseret News, Tribune].
  
  
• Rep. Rob Bishop is getting closer to his stated goal of "invalidating" the Endangered Species Act [Chicago Tribune].
  
  
• Two candidates in Cedar Hills have been disqualified from Tuesday's ballot for not filing their required campaign finance disclosures. The disqualifications will all but decide the mayoral race and the race for city council [Deseret News].
  
  
• Voters in Blanding will decide Tuesday whether the city will allow beer and wine to be sold there. The city is one of the last "dry" communities in Utah [Associated Press].
  
  
• Rep. Justin Fawson wants to shift the focus of sex education in Utah's schools away from human sexuality to reproductive health [Deseret News].
  
  
• The number of homeless people who are staying at the downtown shelter has jumped since the state initiated Operation Rio Grande earlier this year [Tribune].
  
  
• The headhunter the University of Utah is using to help find a new president for the school will charge a minimum of $100,000 [Deseret News].

National headlines:

• Another mass shooting. A gunman clad in black shot and killed 26 people at a church near San Antonio on Sunday [San Antonio Express].
  
  
• Must read! It's been one year since Donald Trump pulled off the biggest upset in American politics since Truman beat Dewey. Here's a delicious oral history of the 2016 election that's well worth your time [Esquire].
  
  
• Senate Republicans are expected to unveil their own version of tax reform this week [Politico].
  
  
• Sen. Rand Paul was assaulted in his home over the weekend. Paul suffered five broken ribs and bruises to his lungs. It is unclear when he will return to Washington [Washington Post]. Paul's absence could cause problems for Republicans trying to pass tax reform by using a procedural method that only requires a simple majority [Politico].
  
  
• During his visit to Asia, President Donald Trump jabbed at Japanese officials, saying they should make more cars in the United States [Politico].
  
  
• Democrats lead Republicans on the generic congressional ballot question by the largest margin in decades, but their chances of taking control of Congress in 2018 could be hampered by low turnout [Washington Post].
  
  
• Here's how Russians were able to hack Democratic emails during the 2016 election [Associated Press].
  
  
• At least nine people connected with President Donald Trump's campaign had contact with Russians during the 2016 election [Washington Post].
  
  
• A Russian billionaire investor bought significant stakes in Facebook and Twitter using hundreds of millions of dollars from the Kremlin [New York Times].
  
  
• Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross did not end his investment in a shipping firm that has significant ties to a Russian oligarch sanctioned by the U.S. and Vladimir Putin's son-in-law [New York Times].
  
  
• Former DNC interim chair Donna Brazile says she could find no evidence that the 2016 Democratic primary was rigged to favor Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders [ABC News].
  
  
• A new poll shows President Donald Trump's job approval rating has fallen to the lowest point for any president at this point in their first term in the last 70 years [Washington Post].
  
  
• Even if Democratic New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez is convicted in his bribery trial, Democrats might resist efforts to expel him from the Senate [Politico].

On this day in history:

• 1528 - Shipwrecked Spanish conquistador Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca becomes the first known European to set foot in the area that would become Texas.
  
  
• 1860 - Abraham Lincoln is elected as the 16th President of the United States.
  
  
• 1861 - Jefferson Davis is elected president of the Confederate States of America.
  
  
• 1869 - Rutgers College defeats Princeton University 6-4 in the first official intercollegiate football game.

Today At Utah Policy

Lawmakers have already opened nearly 1,000 bill files ahead of the 2018 session By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor Well, here we go again....

No shocker on Tuesday. "Political Insiders" say Curtis will win CD3 election By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor No surprise here. Our "Political Insiders" expect Republican John Curtis to win handily on Tuesday....

Guest opinion: How Utah voters should tackle education tax questions By Christine Cooke, Sutherland Institute Voters are being asked to weigh in on tax hikes for public education both in the form of a state ballot initiative (next year possibly) and by way of school bonds right now....

Beg to Differ podcast: Where have all the ballots gone? By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor On this week's pod:The Utah GOP drops their lawsuit against SB54. We speak with party chair Rob Anderson about the decision and a possible effort to remove him by the state central committee....

Policy News

Real Women Run fall networking social Real Women Run hosts an evening of networking and discussion for women who want to get involved in politics as candidates, campaign managers, or community leaders on November 14 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at Log Haven....

Medical Innovations Pathways expands During his address at the annual Utah Life Science Summit, Gov. Gary R. Herbert announced the Utah Medical Innovations Pathways program has expanded to four additional school districts....

Wise Words

Problems

"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." Albert Einstein

Lighter Side

Too Busy

"I saw that Starbucks just unveiled its holiday cups, which had illustrations that customers can color in themselves. It's perfect for people who are too busy to make their own coffee at home, yet still have enough time to color in a coffee cup." Jimmy Fallon