WASHINGTON — If it’s Wednesday … Nikki Haley formally launches her presidential bid in Charleston, S.C., per NBC’s Ali Vitali. … NBC’s Craig Melvin interviews Haley in community unique to air Thursday on “Immediately.” … Mike Pence visits Iowa. … Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., pronounces she gained’t search re-election. … President Biden travels to Lanham, Md., to debate the financial system, deficit and debt. … And NBC’s Ken Dilanian confirms that the particular counsel investigating Donald Trump’s labeled paperwork is looking for to compel the previous president’s lawyer to testify earlier than a grand jury.
However first: Because the fictional Ricky Bobby declared, “For those who ain’t first, you’re final.”
And that “Talladega Nights” expression helps clarify a presidential-campaign phenomenon we’ve witnessed over the past couple of cycles: There’s a benefit in being the primary main non-frontrunning candidate to announce a bid — like Nikki Haley is doing at present in South Carolina.
You get simply a little extra consideration than the non-frontrunners who goes second, third or fourth.
Suppose again to the 2020 cycle, when Elizabeth Warren was the primary main Democrat out of the gates, saying earlier than Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Cory Booker and Amy Klobuchar. Guess what: Warren finally completed third in that race to frontrunners Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.
In 2016’s GOP presidential contest, Ted Cruz was the primary main Republican to announce, and he in the end completed second to Donald Trump.
Backside line: For those who’re not Trump or Ron DeSantis in 2024, it helps to be the primary true non-frontrunner to get into the race.
As for the remainder of the potential 2024 GOP discipline, Mike Pence at present is in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, opposing transgender-affirming public college insurance policies.
Tomorrow, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., holds a Black Historical past Month occasion in Charleston, S.C. — the identical metropolis the place Haley launches at present — earlier than heading to Iowa subsequent week.
And this week, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is delivering coverage speeches in D.C.
The 2024 presidential race — slowly, however certainly — is selecting up velocity.
Information Obtain: The variety of the day is … 5
That’s what number of outstanding Republican girls have run for president, with Nikki Haley changing into the fifth GOP girl to hunt the White Home, based on the Heart for American Ladies and Politics at Rutgers College. Total, Haley turns into the twenty fourth outstanding girl to run for president, per CAWP.
Extra than twice as many Democratic girls have run for president than Republicans, fueled largely by the crowded discipline of Democrats who ran in 2020. A complete of 13 outstanding Democratic girls have run for the White Home in U.S. historical past, and 6 of them ran within the 2020 main.
Learn extra about previous feminine presidential candidates, and the way Haley careworn her gender in her marketing campaign announcement, on the Meet the Press Weblog.
Different numbers to know:
6.4%: The annual improve in shopper costs in January, a slight lower month-over-month however above analysts’ predictions.
11.3%: The annual improve in grocery costs in January, one thing that main grocery chains try to deal with with their suppliers.
100: The variety of President Joe Biden’s federal decide nominees the Senate has confirmed, hitting that mark on Tuesday with Appellate Courtroom Choose Cindy Chung.
$2.5 million: A minimum of how a lot the missiles used to shoot down the Chinese language surveillance balloon and the three different unidentified objects value, based on NBC Information’ Daniel De Luce and Mosheh Good points.
$10 billion: The potential price ticket of recent U.S. help to Ukraine as a part of a number of bulletins geared toward underscoring America’s dedication to the nation as its warfare with Russia hits the one-year mark, per NBC Information’ Courtney Kube and Carol Lee.
6,000: The approximate variety of Ukrainian youngsters who’ve been relocated and despatched to re-education camps by Russia, per an impartial examine sponsored by the U.S. authorities that careworn the variety of Ukrainian youngsters “forcibly transferred” may very well be considerably increased.
8: The variety of years Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon led the nation earlier than she introduced her intent to resign on Wednesday.
$5 million: The price range surplus welcoming first-term Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, as she joins eight different newly-sworn governors throughout the U.S. dealing with report price range surpluses, Politico reviews.
Headline of the day
Eyes on 2024: Feinstein makes it official
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., lastly made the announcement Tuesday that Democrats in California had been ready for — she is not going to run for one other time period and can as an alternative retire on the finish of 2024.
The writing had been on the wall. Distinguished California Democrats have already introduced they’re working for Senate (with extra on the way in which); former Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi backed a candidate (Rep. Adam Schiff) in case Feinstein wasn’t working; and the 89-year-old senator raised simply $8,800 in 2021 and 2022, closing the 12 months with much less than $10,000 within the financial institution and a half-million in debt.
However the certainty now formally clears the sphere for what’s sure to be some of the costly (if not the costliest) primaries within the nation. And it’s one much less query looming over the Senate map forward of the 2024 election.
In different marketing campaign information:
Trump picks up one other endorsement: Freshman Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., who defeated Liz Cheney in final 12 months’s GOP congressional main, is backing Donald Trump within the 2024 presidential race, per NBC’s Garrett Haake.
New York way of thinking: New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand instructed The Gothamist that she had a “beautiful lunch” with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., amid rumors that the progressive congresswoman may problem the senator in a main. Gillibrand praised Ocasio-Cortez and stated she couldn’t “consider a higher adversary for [Rep.] Marjorie Taylor Greene” on the Oversight Committee.
Texas perpetually: Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, instructed supporters he’s working for re-election to the Senate in 2024, and he’s not working for president, per the Houston Chronicle.
Chatting about China: South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem will ship a speech responding to the “risk posed by the Chinese language Communist Social gathering” on the America First Coverage Institute.
Present me your price range, I’ll present you your values: New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, who’s weighing a presidential run, laid out his price range priorities throughout a Tuesday speech, focusing explicitly on schooling licensing reform, housing and raises for state workers, per WMUR.
Second time a allure?: Democrat Adam Frisch, who misplaced to Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert in Colorado-03 by a few hundred votes final 12 months, introduced he’s working once more.
Ballot place: Senate Management Fund, a tremendous PAC aligned with Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell, launched a ballot of the West Virginia Senate race exhibiting GOP Gov. Jim Justice within the strongest place in opposition to Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, per Politico.
Casey undergoes surgical procedure: Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., underwent surgical procedure for prostate most cancers on Tuesday, and a spokesperson stated Casey’s physician “reviews that, as anticipated, the process went nicely and he confirmed that the Senator mustn’t require additional remedy.” Casey has not but stated if is working for re-election amid his most cancers prognosis.
Assist for Florida man: Membership for Development, a conservative group, is endorsing Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and plans to spend to help Scott’s re-election, per Politico. The group additionally took a swipe at McConnell, who has criticized Scott’s proposal to sundown all federal laws after 5 years until reapproved by Congress, together with Medicare and Social Safety.
ICYMI: What else is going on on the earth
Police are nonetheless struggling to determine a motive for why a gunman killed three and injured 5 on the campus of Michigan State College on Monday evening.
The U.Okay. and Qatar are serving to with oblique talks between the U.S. and Iran over a potential prisoner change, NBC Information’ Dan De Luce and Abigail Williams report.
The three unidentified objects shot down over North America in current weeks had been doubtless industrial or benign, the White Home stated on Tuesday.
