November '23 Mid Terms

[RobDownSouth]

Yay to the Democrats taking both houses in Virginia. I had myself driven, painfully, to the polls and voted in the car to do what I could to that end. Locally, a progressive Democrat kept former Supreme Court Scalia's hard MAGA daughter off the local school board.

That giant flushing sound you heard last night was Glenn Youngkin's presidential ambitions going down the toilet.

He was quite forthright in his election day message on Fox News:
“We have been completely straightforward and clear. I will back a bill to ban abortion.”

The Democratic response was immediate and just as forthright. State Senate President Louise Lucas:
“You heard him. Vote today or he will have his hands on every poonanny in Virginia.”

https://twitter.com/x/status/1721924201639035354

 

[butters]

LOSER republican rants against city that rejected his bid in a typically trumpian tantrum:

Brian Robinson, a Republican who ran an unsuccessful campaign to represent New York City's 4th City Council district, raged against the entire city shortly after losing to incumbent Democrat Keith Powers by nearly 50 points.

"NYC is irredeemable," he fumed. "Congratulations to [Keith Powers].The city has blindly chosen its own suicide. Jews, get out while you can. My family will be. To the Nazi machine machine that killed a great city: You are a grave disappointment."

went down about as well as one might expect with NYers

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...p&cvid=4a55e24b13d64f1189965301910680db&ei=84

 

[butters]

Texas votes to ratify 13 of the 14 constitutional amendments on their ballot

Voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 1 to protect “the right to engage in farming, ranching, timber production, horticulture, and wildlife management.”

they rejected a mandatory retirement age for judges and state justices

The most consequential amendments for taxpayers that passed were 3, 4 and 9. They permanently ban a wealth tax, implement property tax reform measures and increase retired teachers' pensions.

Proposition 6, 7, 8 and 14 create a $1 billion Texas Water Fund, a $5 billion Texas Energy Fund, a $1.5 billion broadband infrastructure fund, and a $1 billion Centennial Parks Conservation Fund, respectively.

more details about all of the measures adopted in the article

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/t...p&cvid=4a55e24b13d64f1189965301910680db&ei=88

 

[jaF0]

So, `24?

 

[ToPleaseHim]

Even without Columbus, Cincy and Cleveland (The Big C’s), Issues 1 and 2 would have passed.

 

[butters]

Dem Gabriel Amo wins election to the House for Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District, replacing David Cicilline, who retired from Congress earlier this year, beating republican gerry leonard though that was no surprise in a blue district

Amo, the son of Ghanaian and Liberian immigrants, served under President Joe Biden as the deputy director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and as special assistant to the president, where he was a liaison to local governments. He also previously served as a liaison to governors and state elected officials in the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs under former President Barack Obama.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...-amo-wins-rhode-island-congressional-district

 

[butters]

State Sen. John Whitmire and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, both longtime Houston Democrats, led a crowded field of 16 other candidates in the race. But neither garnered enough votes to win Tuesday’s election outright and avoid a runoff. They will face off again in a Dec. 9 overtime round.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...31&cvid=fdb26a204c904cbe8295e3cc2ed9e69e&ei=9

 

[jaF0]

'A complete failure': Senate Republicans on a punishing election night​

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/ip3/abcnews.go.com.icoABC|3 hours ago
Senate Republicans on Wednesday took a hard look at Tuesday night's punishing election results in some key battleground states, and they're not pleased with what they're seeing. "Yesterday to me was a complete failure," said Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

Not to me Thom Thom.

I think it could have, should have gone better though. More Orange should have been flushed.

 

[dkovic77]

'A complete failure': Senate Republicans on a punishing election night​

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/ip3/abcnews.go.com.icoABC|3 hours ago
Senate Republicans on Wednesday took a hard look at Tuesday night's punishing election results in some key battleground states, and they're not pleased with what they're seeing. "Yesterday to me was a complete failure," said Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

Not to me Thom Thom.

I think it could have, should have gone better though. More Orange should have been flushed.

“No, I represent Alabama, I know how we stand," Tuberville said. "So, as a national party, I don't think there'll be any movement on that. I don't think the country changes I think just sometimes you have momentum shifts in different directions."

You sure Tubs? I’m sure you know what Floridians think, not so sure about Alabama. Plus, most people don’t really want you holding up all of these military promotions… so as far as “knowing how we stand,” you don’t have that one covered.

 

[butters]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...p&cvid=91d64816d0124308a4db9b3b868158a1&ei=63

Democrats have successfully flipped a seat in New Jersey’s General Assembly in a deep-red district that has not elected a Democratic legislator in three decades.

he was formerly a republican and has been voted in alongside republican incumbent 'Republican Assemblyman Sean Kean in the 30th District.'

Decision Desk HQ projects that Democrat Avi Schnall has won a seat in the assembly, unseating incumbent Republican Assemblyman Ned Thomson. Voters in each New Jersey legislative district choose two assembly members to represent them, so the contest was a four-way race featuring two Democrats and two Republicans.

The district will now have a relatively rare split delegation between its assembly seats, with one Democrat and one Republican representing its residents.

sounds fair

 

[jaF0]

"formerly a republican "

Unless he switches back.

 

[lovecraft68]

There's one democrat running in our house I always vote for and have since he was our city councilman. He does a great job and is a lot more left of center than the rest of dems here.

At this point, other than him, I vote for any indy on the ballot and if there's no indy I'll skip over it.

I'm done being told I need to pick between blue shit and red puke

 

[butters]

Republicans on Long Island, New York, scored a historic victory on Tuesday night, solidifying gains they have made in the area and providing a small bright spot in an otherwise disappointing night nationwide.

Republican Ed Romaine defeated Democrat Dave Calone on Tuesday to become the first Republican to win the Suffolk County executive position in 20 years.

Romaine won with 56% of the vote by a margin of 26,000 votes, the Associated Press projected. "This is a political earthquake," former Sen. Al D’Amato, R-N.Y., told the New York Post.

you'll have to forgive the extreme language ... "political earthquake", lol, but it is fox news and it is a republican so....

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...p&cvid=91d64816d0124308a4db9b3b868158a1&ei=70

 

[butters]

"formerly a republican "

Unless he switches back.

there's that....

 

[ll74]

There's one democrat running in our house I always vote for and have since he was our city councilman. He does a great job and is a lot more left of center than the rest of dems here.

At this point, other than him, I vote for any indy on the ballot and if there's no indy I'll skip over it.

I'm done being told I need to pick between blue shit and red puke

Good luck with your expectations.

Probably should do some work to get your independent candidates elected instead of just throwing your vote that nobody gives a shit about.

But what do I know.....?

 

[butters]

Democrat Michael Feggans unseated Republican Del. Karen Greenhalgh in a race for the Virginia House of Delegates, helping Democrats flip control of the lower chamber.

Feggans, an Air Force veteran, defeated incumbent Greenhalgh, an entrepreneur, in the Virginia Beach-based 97th District, giving Democrats a win in the toss-up district.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...1&cvid=05cbe625a808407a9a60be28263f1c79&ei=22

 

[butters]

Trump Blames “Axis of Idiots” (DeSantis, McConnell, Youngkin, Kemp) for Electoral "Shellacking"​

Trump rejects blame for electoral loss, signals to MAGA to attack Youngkin

https://www.meidastouch.com/news/tr...nnell-youngkin-kemp-for-electoral-shellacking

 

[butters]

late to the results' table, looks like Seattle's moving more to the center, with the more 'progressive' incumbents flapping in the wind (barring a big swing to the left in the final votes being counted:

Why it matters: Four of the nine City Council seats are guaranteed to flip this election, and a fifth would become vacant if council member Teresa Mosqueda wins her race for County Council.

• That means the election results — however they shake out — will cause big political shifts at City Hall.

Between the lines: If Morales and Lewis lose, the council's shift toward the political center will be more profound. Both incumbents are considered the more progressive candidates in their races.

That said, Anderstone added that Morales can still win if later ballot counts skew heavily progressive. Similarly, Lewis still could win in a nailbiter, he said, citing past elections where left-leaning candidates have made significant gains after election night.

• Ron Davis, the more progressive candidate running in District 4, also still has a chance of besting Maritza Rivera; as of Wednesday, Rivera led by more than 10 percentage points, Anderstone said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...1&cvid=3fa469bf709743b2feac42b5e65d6eb3&ei=25

 

[butters]

Texas votes to ratify 13 of the 14 constitutional amendments on their ballot


they rejected a mandatory retirement age for judges and state justices

on this point from my earlier post:

the mandatory retirement age they reject was 79, which would have added another 4 years onto the current 75.

the linked article didn't make that clear, which led me to assume (silly me) that it meant there was NO mandatory retirement age

The lopsided failure of Proposition 13 — which would have raised the mandatory retirement age for state judges by four years — stood out in an mostly quiet off-year election in Texas. For one, it was the lone ballot item that voters singled out for rejection among 14 proposed changes to the Texas Constitution. Measures that passed included raises for retired teachers and changes to farm regulations.

Since 2011, voters in Arizona, Ohio, New York and Hawaii have rejected ballot measures to raise the retirement ages for judges. But similar efforts won approval in Pennsylvania and Florida.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...1&cvid=813179705728423fa759013707424ce2&ei=16

this all plays into the whole 'too old, get outta here' vibe being introduced by both sides of the aisle in the year before election night.

 

[butters]

in New Jersey, after dems did so well, the GOP are doing a 180 on mail-in voting:

In the aftermath of the GOP’s lackluster showing Tuesday, Republican officials and operatives are stressing the importance of mail-in voting to the GOP’s electoral future, urging the party’s legislative candidates to temper campaign messaging, and sounding the alarm about Democrats’ dramatic fundraising advantages.

dems have spent time building on mail-in voting, making it easier for some to cast their ballots without the undue burden of waiting in (potentially) excessively long lines that some workers can't take time off to wait in and voters with health issues might need to avoid.

trump spent too much time scaring republicans about the process, and it means they're losing out on getting votes (at least that's the official story, not that people are finding trumplicans repugnant)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...1&cvid=542413d7a44f47e38ab8cb99306d1c9f&ei=37

 

[butters]

meanwhile, in Mississippi, where they should have been expecting a high turnout because of the governor race, legal filings have been taking place:

Secretary of State Michael Watson said one Hinds County precinct opened 15 minutes late, nine ran out of ballots and one conducted emergency balloting for an undisclosed amount of time.

One precinct in Clinton had 100 people in line but only 14 ballots available at 6:45 p.m., while another ran out of ballots three times but only received 100 more each time, according to the court filing by Mississippi Votes.

One precinct in nearby Byram had no ballots for two hours while a second had just 25 to 30 ballots and a long line of voters, the group said. A third location ran out of ballots and poll workers told people to leave because the precinct would not receive more ballots and the workers would not allow voting by affidavit ballot, according to the filing.

Hannah Hoang, 25, a college student, said she was busy Tuesday and went to vote just before the usual poll-closing time of 7 p.m. She said her watch showed 6:58 p.m. when she arrived at the Fondren Presbyterian Church precinct in Jackson, but poll workers showed her a clock that showed 7:02 p.m. She said they told her she had arrived too late.

Hoang said she knew about the court order requiring polls to remain open until 8 p.m., but she left because the poll workers would not let her vote. She said she went home and called a voter-protection hotline, and a person told her she still had the right to cast a ballot.

She said her precinct was locked when she returned, and she was directed to go to a precinct in another church across the street. That one was open, and Hoang said she voted by affidavit ballot.

a mix of human error in pre-ordering ballots? something more shady? incompetence? simple human hubris?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/b...aa8021cbaa96c51&ei=11&fullscreen=true#image=2

 

[butters]

reasonably interesting breakdown of why dems did well in Virginia

WASHINGTON (AP) — The election results this week in Virginia suggest that Republicans must essentially run the table in competitive areas across the state in order to find overall success at the ballot box. Democrats won full control of the General Assembly despite losing in key swing districts.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...31&cvid=edbcc22d12fb45ab9ecfa7a0da591cb1&ei=9

 

[jaF0]

Education​

This school board made news for banning books. Voters flipped it to majority Democrat​

November 11, 2023 • The Central Bucks school board has made national headlines for its heated meetings and book banning policy. On Tuesday, voters flipped the board from majority Republican to majority Democrat.

 

[RobDownSouth]

Education​

This school board made news for banning books. Voters flipped it to majority Democrat​

November 11, 2023 • The Central Bucks school board has made national headlines for its heated meetings and book banning policy. On Tuesday, voters flipped the board from majority Republican to majority Democrat.

This article details the consequences of MAGA pushing their cultural agenda too far. The general public was absolutely fed up with the grandstanding clowns on the school board. "Inclusion leads to Zionism and Communism!" Oh really?

 

[YDB95]

Bucks County used to be very red. It's now a textbook example of how Republican extremism has pushed the suburbs to the Democrats.