President Joe Biden will try to demonstrate that last year's infrastructure law is alleviating the country's supply chain debacles when he visits Portsmouth Harbor in New Hampshire on Tuesday.
Biden’s destination is the state’s only deep water harbor, making it a critical way station for home heating oil, fiberoptic cables and rock gypsum, which is used to produce drywall.
Under the $1 trillion infrastructure law, $1.7 million will be used to dredge the harbor's shipping channel and basin. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers already spent $18.2 million to make it easier for larger ships to access the harbor, a project intended to reduce delays that cause higher prices for consumers.
Overall, the law includes $17 billion for upgrading port facilities at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has caused havoc on international supply chains.
Biden's trip is his second to New Hampshire as president. The state was his first stop after he signed the infrastructure legislation in November, and he spoke in front of an old bridge that's overdue for repairs.
The president has repeatedly focused on these kinds of initiatives as his more ambitious agenda to boost education, social services and climate change initiatives remains stalled.
With the midterm elections approaching later this year, Biden is eager to convince voters that one of his administration's top accomplishments is creating concrete progress after years of unfulfilled promises from his predecessor, President Donald Trump, who never cut a deal on infrastructure spending.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — State Rep. Phil Lyman was selected as the Utah Republican gubernatorial nominee at the party's convention Saturday, though political observers say incumbent Gov. Spencer Cox remains the likely favorite in the upcoming primary.
Lyman, a former county commissioner turned legislator best known for organizing an illegal ATV ride in 2014 in protest of a federal land decision, won about two-thirds of votes from delegates, who tend to skew to the right.
Utah GOP voters generally prefer moderates in statewide elections, however, so the more moderate Cox, who took office in 2021, is seen as well positioned for the June 25 primary. He has gathered enough signatures to qualify for that ballot despite not getting the nod from the convention, and would go on the general election ballot in November if he wins in June.
All eyes were on the crowded race to succeed U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, the state's best-known centrist Republican, who often made waves for opposing former President Donald Trump and other leaders of the party.
The pool of nearly a dozen Republicans vying to replace Romney includes a congressman, a Trump-backed mayor, a former state legislative leader and the lawyer son of Utah’s longest-serving U.S. senator. While some have sought to align themselves with farther-right figures such as Trump and Utah's other senator, Mike Lee, others have distanced themselves in an effort to appeal to the widest swath of voters.
“This seat gets to be sort of a flashpoint between the two major factions of the party in the state,” Utah State University political scientist James Curry said. “On one hand you have the more moderate faction that Romney really embodied, not just here but nationwide, versus the more pro-Trump faction that often hasn’t been as successful with Utah voters when there’s been a viable moderate option.”
Trump made a last-minute endorsement in the Senate contest for Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs, writing Saturday morning on his Truth Social platform that Staggs is a “100% MAGA” candidate who knows how to create jobs, stop inflation, grow the economy and secure the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump's endorsement could carry Staggs, 49, through the convention weekend but may not translate to success at the ballot box. Republican Party nominations historically have had little bearing on who Utah voters choose to represent them.
Staggs supporter Eric Buckley, a Davis County delegate, celebrated the endorsement and said he's confident it will be well received by Utah voters. Buckley said he already had vetted the Senate contenders months before and chosen to back Staggs — the first to enter the race even before Romney announced he wasn't seeking reelection.
“It was his stance on the corruption in D.C. that exists and his promise to stand up against the moderate Republicans and the Democrats pushing through their agenda without any type of resistance,” Buckley said of his support for Staggs.
Even some GOP delegates who support other top contenders — former state House Speaker Brad Wilson and U.S. Rep. John Curtis — said they may vote for Staggs as the party nominee because he is a convention-only candidate, meaning he has not collected signatures to guarantee his spot on the primary ballot. Delegates often reward those who hang their fate on the convention process, rather than circumventing the vote.
Both Wilson and Curtis already have collected enough signatures to qualify for the primary regardless of Saturday’s outcome. Staggs and other convention-only candidates must earn at least 40% of votes Saturday to advance.
Tim Lindsay, a Cache County delegate who attended the convention wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, said although he supports Trump, the former president's endorsement will have little impact on how he votes. His vote will go to “the most conservative candidate” who has not collected signatures.
“That's a cheap way out,” Lindsay said of signature gathering. “I respect a candidate who respects the convention process.”
Wilson, 55, has endorsed Trump's reelection bid and promises to be a “conservative fighter” on Capitol Hill. His elaborate expo booth in the convention hall featured a tractor plowing through a pile of cinder blocks labeled the “Biden Agenda.”
Curtis, 63, who is seen as the more moderate of the two frontrunners, has been compared to Romney for pushing back against hardliners in his party, particularly on climate change. He is expected to have broad appeal among primary voters.
Davis County delegate Jonathan Miller, who donned a “Team Mitt” baseball cap, said Curtis is his pick to replace the retiring senator because he already has proven himself in Congress as someone who works across the aisle to get things done.
The 2014 protest ride organized by Lyman came after federal officials closed a southeast Utah canyon to motorized vehicles to protect Native American cliff dwellings, artifacts and burials. Lyman argued that the closure was an overreach by the federal government.
He was sentenced in 2015 to 10 days behind bars and three years of probation, accused by federal prosecutors of using his position as a county official to encourage people to break the law. (Seems like missing some info here. Trial? Conviction?)
Lyman has since leveraged his notoriety over the protest to boost his political career, vowing to stand up to any federal overreach.
Carson Jorgensen, a candidate for Utah governor and the former chairman of the state Republican Party, talks to delegates at the Utah Republican Party Convention, Saturday, April 27, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
Supporters of Utah state Rep. Phil Lyman, a candidate for governor, and other Republican delegates, boo incumbent Gov. Spencer Cox as he takes the stage at the Utah Republican Party Convention, Saturday, April 27, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox smiles at the crowd of nearly 4,000 Republican delegates as they greet him with loud boos at the state Republican Party Convention, Saturday, April 27, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
Utah state Rep. Phil Lyman, a candidate for governor, addresses nearly 4,000 delegates at the Utah Republican Party Convention, Saturday, April 27, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
FILE - Mitt Romney smiles during a campaign event, June 20, 2018, in American Fork, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
Glen Turnbow, a Tooele County delegate, asks questions about election security before an electronic vote at the opening session of the Utah Republican Party Convention, Saturday, April 27, 2024, at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
Robert Axson, chairman of the Utah Republican Party, addresses nearly 4,000 delegates at the opening session of the party's annual convention, Saturday, April 27, 2024, at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
