Jul 5, 2017

Paul Ryan's Democratic challenger raised $430k in 12 days

Randy Bryce for Congress / YouTube

Randy Bryce, the ironworking Democrat challenging Paul Ryan in Wisconsin's 1st district, followed up last month's splashy introduction video with some news: his fledging campaign raised more than $430,000 in just 12 days.

By the numbers: Via Twitter, Bryce said that his campaign had over 16,000 donors from all 50 states — with the average donation at around $25.

Why it matters: Today officially marks one-third of the way between the 2016 presidential election and the 2018 midterms, so if Bryce can maintain this momentum, he might give Ryan a fight in what's sure to be a closely watched race next fall.

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Amy Harder

Exclusive: Civil rights leaders oppose swift move off natural gas

Photo Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

Top American civil-rights activists are opposing an abrupt move away from natural gas, putting them at odds with environmentalists and progressive Democrats who want to ban fracking.

Driving the news: In recent interviews, Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and National Urban League President Marc Morial said energy costs are hitting people of color unfairly hard. These concerns, expressed before the coronavirus pandemic, are poised to expand as paychecks shrink across America.

Go deeper4 mins ago - Energy & Environment

Axios

For some, coronavirus pushes new issues to top of national agenda

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

The coronavirus pandemic is helping shift policy priorities for some Americans, according to results from an online caucus the Glover Park Group provided to Axios.

Why it matters: Crises can force the nation to acknowledge bipartisan problems that are often neglected due to lack of a political motivation to solve them.

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Rebecca Falconer, Orion Rummler, Marisa Fernandez

U.S. coronavirus updates: Death toll exceeds 2,500

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

The novel coronavirus has now infected over 143,000 people in the U.S. — more than any other country in the world, per Johns Hopkins data.

The big picture: COVID-19 had killed over 2,500 people in the U.S. by Sunday night. That's far fewer than in Italy, where over 10,000 people have died — accounting for a third of the global death toll. The number of people who've recovered from the virus in the U.S. exceeded 2,600 Sunday evening.

Go deeperUpdated 19 mins ago - Health