Donald Trump Hires Political Insider for Delegate Team
Donald J. Trump added another reinforcement to his delegate-wrangling operation on Monday with the hiring of Ken McKay, the former campaign manager for Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, to help lead his effort to secure the Republican presidential nomination.
Mr. McKay is the latest longtime political insider to join Mr. Trump’s campaign as he makes a final push to win the 1,237 delegates needed to become the nominee. He recently hired Paul Manafort to be his convention manager, and Rick Wiley, who was Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign manager, as an adviser.
“He will support our delegate operations team and bolster our ground-game efforts,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. McKay in a statement. “He brings tremendous experience to the job, and I know he is up to the task of working with my team.”
The new hire comes as Mr. Trump’s two remaining rivals, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, have teamed up in an effort to make it harder for the Manhattan businessman to win the remaining states.
Mr. McKay was previously chief of staff of the Republican National Committee, serving until he resigned in 2010 after it emerged that the national party spent thousands of dollars at a California sex club. He went on to serve as political director for the Republican Governors Association and was also an adviser to the presidential campaign of Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana.
“I am very honored to have the opportunity to work with Mr. Trump and such a resilient campaign,” Mr. McKay said. “There is no question that he is the presumptive nominee, and will unify our party to take back the White House in November.”
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Paul Ryan Continues to Push Agenda Alternative to Donald Trump
The House may be a tad light on the legislative front these days, largely focusing on bills like those that target the Internal Revenue Service and that have no chance of being signed by President Obama. But on the message front, Speaker Paul D. Ryan is keeping busy.
Mr. Ryan, who plans to roll out a policy platform this spring, has already been trying to build a social media and youth movement around the House Republican agenda. This week, Mr. Ryan will participate in a town-hall-style event at the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service. In advance of that event, his office has rolled out its latest video holding up Mr. Ryan as a man with a plan, though the details of that plan, obliquely intended to distract from the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump, are very much a work in progress.
While Mr. Ryan has repeatedly said that he has no intention of becoming his party’s nominee this year, he has been busy creating a personality and policy alternative to run alongside the presidential effort to provide both a platform for House Republicans to run on and a foundation to rebuild if Republicans fall apart in November.
Mr. Ryan is not a candidate. But his videos continue to make it seem as if he is running for something.
Candidates Make Final Push in Five Northeastern States
New York was a coveted electoral prize, but the real battle for supremacy in the Northeast will be waged on Tuesday, with primaries in five densely populated states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
Just how seriously are the candidates taking these primaries? Consider this: Donald J. Trump, never known for his ambitious schedule on the trail, will cram in three events on Monday – in Warwick, R.I., and in Westchester and Wilkes-Barre Township, Pa.
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont will spend the day in Pennsylvania. He has scheduled events in two of the state’s biggest cities, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
As Hillary Clinton heads to Indiana, before the May 3 voting there, her husband, former President Bill Clinton, will hold rallies on Monday in New Haven and Hartford, Conn., with former Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona and her husband, Mark E. Kelly.
Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio will split his time between Maryland, where he will campaign in Rockville, and Pennsylvania, where he will hold events in McKees Rocks and Philadelphia.
For now, Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton appear poised to perform well across the Northeast, polls show.
Mr. Sanders was asked on Sunday why he had lost so many states where the income gap is large, given his outspokenness on the issue. His answer was characteristically blunt.
“Well, because poor people don’t vote,” Mr. Sanders said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I mean, that’s just a fact.”
Find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via Facebook, Twitter and the First Draft newsletter.
