What Went Down On Night 3 Of The RNC

Burgess Owens, a former NFL player who is running for Congress in Utah, is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It will be interesting to watch how Mormons vote this year in states like Utah, Nevada and Arizona — like white Evangelical Protestants, they are very politically conservative, but unlike white Evangelical Protestants, they are not big fans of Trump.

During the protests that followed the police killing of George Floyd, we saw Trump’s approval rating drop to one of its lowest points of the past two-and-a-half years. At the same time, support for Black Lives Matter surged. As we discussed on the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast last night, some of that new support form BLM has dropped off as Floyd’s killing faded from the headlines ,and unrest in places like Portland and Chicago became more prominent. This week we are seeing much more focus put back on police violence with the shooting of Jacob Blake and subsequent athlete strikes. I am curious if we will see support for BLM rise again, and, likewise, if Trump’s approval falls.

Burgess Owens, the third former NFL figure to speak tonight, is the Republican candidate in Utah’s swingy 4th Congressional District. With Rep. Will Hurd retiring, Owens is one of the GOP’s best bets to have a Black member of their caucus next year. (Byron Donalds in Florida’s 19th District is also a pretty safe bet to win.)