• The Triangle gets a visit today from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who (in case you hadn’t heard) also is running for the GOP presidential nomination. He’ll discuss his economic ideas and lay out a tax plan at an address at a Garner industrial facility. Be sure to follow @CarolinaJournal on Twitter for live updates and check Carolina Journal Online for a full report.
• Also dropping by this week: Vermont U.S. Sen. and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who’ll be in Greensboro Friday Sunday for a rally.
• Rep. Mark Meadows, R-11th District, who may file a motion to remove House Speaker John Boehner from his leadership post, is in the news for improperly reimbursing mileage expenses for his former chief of staff. Politico reports that Kenny West received from taxpayers more than $400 for mileage expenses after he left Meadows’ office. Meadows reimbursed the expenses from his own bank account and reported the infraction to the Committee on House Administration.
• Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-9th District, continues facing questions about the real estate business he surrendered upon entering Congress. The Charlotte Observer reports that the FBI and the IRS are looking into personal loans Pittenger made to his campaign account.
• For several decades, activists and political observers have said environmental issues are poised to be important campaign issues to voters, only to learn that pocketbook issues, crime, and national security matters ultimately crowd out green concerns. The 2016 race may be no different. The League of Conservation Voters has purchased TV ads opposing Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr’s stance on President Obama’s regulations limiting carbon-based energy production. Gov. Pat McCrory’s environment secretary Don van der Vaart recently penned an op-ed calling out Attorney General Roy Cooper (who’s running against McCrory) for not joining legal action to block the regulations. Even so, political scientists doubt the environment will supplant more traditional election issues.
• The Democrats who want a shot at GOP Lt. Gov. Dan Forest are ramping up their campaigns. Former state Rep. Linda Coleman, who lost the 2012 general election to Forest by several hundred votes, so far faces retired lobbyist Richard Wilson of Cary, Durham tax attorney Ron Newton, and Buncombe County Commissioner Holly Jones.
• Todd Poole, who recently stepped down as executive director of the N.C. Republican Party, has taken over as chief of staff for Rep. Richard Hudson, R-8th District.
