University of Michigan Cancels October Debate: Campaign Update

(Bloomberg) -- The University of Michigan is withdrawing its offer to host the second presidential debate in October over coronavirus concerns, the Detroit Free Press reported Monday.

President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden were slated to face off in Ann Arbor on Oct. 15. The Free Press, which cited unnamed sources, said an official announcement would be released Tuesday.

Rick Fitzgerald, a spokesman for the university, said Monday night that he didn’t “have any information to share.” The New York Times reported that the debate would be moved to Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, citing two people familiar with the planning.

The Free Press said the decision was made out of concerns about bringing so many people to Michigan’s campus amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Michigan has had more than 67,500 cases of coronavirus and almost 6,100 deaths.

Democrats Unveil Committee to Draft Platform (8:12 p.m.)

The Democratic Party’s platform drafting committee includes a mix of longtime Joe Biden supporters as well as allies of his leading primary opponents, according to the list of members released Monday.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, an early Biden endorser who is under consideration to be his running mate, will chair the panel, the Democratic National Committee said. Another potential vice-presidential contender, Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, is also part of the 15-member group.

Other Biden allies include Tom Vilsack, the former Iowa governor and interior secretary; Don Graves, a former Biden economic and domestic policy adviser; Julie Smith, a former Biden deputy national security adviser; and Tony Allen, the president of historically black Delaware State University.

Several people with ties to Bernie Sanders, Biden’s longest-lasting nomination opponent, are on the panel, including former campaign advisers Heather Gautney, Analilia Mejia and Josh Orton. The group also include two allies of another rival, Elizabeth Warren -- New Mexico Representative Deb Haaland, a co-chair of Warren’s presidential campaign, and Massachusetts Representative Katherine Clark.

The committee also includes AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Stuart Appelbaum, the president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. -- Jennifer Epstein

New York Won’t Count Absentees for a Week (3:48 p.m.)

New Yorkers may not know the outcome of Tuesday’s Democratic primary for more than a week.

With a 10-fold increase in requests for absentee ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic, the New York State Board of Elections announced Monday that it won’t begin counting those votes until July 1 so that it can double-check county records, which means any close race will not be decided until after that.

New York has one of the lowest rate of absentee voting in the country due to strict rules. But after those were relaxed this year, about 1.8 million people requested to vote by mail in the June 23 primary.

New York residents may have to wait a week to learn the outcome of some high-profile primary face-offs, including Representative Eliot Engel’s bid to retain his seat against Jamaal Bowman, a progressive backed by Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Pennsylvania residents faced a similar delay in that state’s June 2 primary due to the new popularity of mail-in ballots, leading for calls to speed up the process by processing mail-in ballots before Election Day. -- Ryan Teague Beckwith

Coming Up:

The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for the week beginning Aug. 17 in Milwaukee, while the Republicans are slated to meet a week later with events in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Jacksonville, Florida.

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