The first openly lesbian governor That's Democrat Maura Healey. The former Massachusetts attorney-general is also the first female governor of Massachusetts.
John Fetterman has flipped the competitive senate seat of Pennsylvania in the Democrats' favour
Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has retained his seat
The first elected female governor of New York That's Democrat Kathy Hochul. She had been governor since former governor Andrew Cuomo resigned last year, but won the top job outright in the midterms.
The first Gen Z member in Congress That's Democrat Maxwell Alejandro Frost. The 25-year-old gun reform and social justice won a seat in Florida's 10th congressional district.
As I don't have the stomach to look elsewhere yet. Janet Mills, democrat, keeps the governorship. First US District, Chellee Pingree, democrat, held onto her seat. Second US District remains a toss-up. Jarrod Golden, democrat, leads, but doesn't have 50%+1 yet over his two challengers. If he still doesn't have 50%+1, it goes to the rank-choiced voting ("instant run-off") we have in our election system. All votes of third-place receiver are reviewed for those voter's second choice. Those second choice are then added to the two front runners to determine the winner.
Could certainly be rather worse. Always nice when Fox is saying that the Republicans need to figure out what went wrong. Trump was hardly kingmaker, ha.
I think the Democrats will probably hold the Senate, just, and we'll get a couple of years of watching McCarthy try to herd angry cats. Well, probably less than that once he realizes what a hopeless, thankless job it is.
But it’s already clear that Republicans are going to perform far worse than the typical out-party in a midterm election. Democrats appear to be on track for a result that, while certainly not spectacular if viewed in isolation, is the best midterm performance for any incumbent party since 2002. There’s nothing like the massive “wave” elections of 1994, 2006, 2010 or 2018 here, or the steady opposition gains of 2014. In 1998, Democrats did break with precedent and actually gain seats in the House and Senate, despite holding the White House. But that was a question of shrinking existing Republican majorities.
Trump's red wave hasn't happened. Not that there's been a blue wave either, but some causes for cautious optimism.
My summary for UK friends is below. I vote in Pennsylvania and got confirmation my postal ballot was counted. Pennsylvania senate seat switches to Dems! Not such good news in the House so far. The Pennsylvania election-denier governor has also been ousted by a Dem. But the Texan Rep governor stays. Mid-terms usually favour the non-ruling party, but the 'red wave' Trump predicted certainly hasn't materialised, with Trump-promoted candidates mostly losing. Except Florida. Fuck Florida. A bunch of rulings have passed to protect rights in various states - access to voting, abortion, etc. So all in all mildly positive, but not a revolution. The House looks to stay Rep-majority but possibly by only one vote.
In every state that put abortion on the ballot (California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Vermont), voters seem to be pro-choice. Three pro-choice ballot initiatives passed, and two anti-choice initiatives haven't been called yet but are behind as of 7:30 AM.
That's the only clear, consistent signal. The Senate will still be narrowly split: either a slight Republican edge, or a slight Democratic edge, but close. (Of course, a 51-49 Republican majority would be enough to give them the chairs of all the committees, so they can sit indefinitely on any legislation or nomination they don't want to vote on, so even one seat matters.) The House will probably be Republican, but not heavily. (Ditto.) Marijuana legalization passed in two states and failed in two others.
From these results, and Kansas a few months ago, perhaps the pro-lifers will learn their lesson: that abortion is too important to be left up to voters. They can outlaw it in legislatures, as long as the legislatures are sufficiently gerrymandered to be immune to voter backlash. Or they can decide (contrary to what they've been saying for fifty years) that abortion should NOT be left to the states, it should simply be outlawed nationwide, because both the disproportionate Senate and the gerrymandered House are largely immune to voter backlash.
Here in AZ, Republicans running for the top jobs have done badly so far. (Only a few races have actually been called yet as of 6:30 am.) The closest race at the moment is for my own Congressperson. The Democratic woman ran a poor race, focusing solely on abortion. Where as her opponent talked about many things in a conciliatory way. The woman is leading but narrowly.
Georgia is lost, likely to democracy for a generation. So is Florida.
Pennsylvania democracy held.
Things are looking surprisingly good in Colorado.
We won't know how everything will fall out for a few days as some states are slow counts. *waves to you from the west coast region of slow counts*
This could have been a nightmare. This could have been the last exit. I don't think it is, quite. Having followed all night... I am cautiously optimistic. Very cautiously. We'll see where we are tonight, shall we?
I'm way more content about national results than I thought.
OTOH, there are some states (I can't remember which right now but) where election deniers have taken relevant election positions, so... long-term concern.
The Michigan referrendum on abortion passed. Reproductive rights are now protected by the state constitution.
Massachusetts passed a referendum to separate "drivers license" from "proof of citizenship." MA residents who prove they can drive safely can have drivers licenses even without documenting their status as citizens or legal residents.
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172 D
199 R
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That's Democrat Maura Healey.
The former Massachusetts attorney-general is also the first female governor of Massachusetts.
John Fetterman has flipped the competitive senate seat of Pennsylvania in the Democrats' favour
Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has retained his seat
The first elected female governor of New York
That's Democrat Kathy Hochul.
She had been governor since former governor Andrew Cuomo resigned last year, but won the top job outright in the midterms.
The first Gen Z member in Congress
That's Democrat Maxwell Alejandro Frost.
The 25-year-old gun reform and social justice won a seat in Florida's 10th congressional district.
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Ga is probably heading for a run off, so we wont know for weeks yet unless something weird happens very soon.
Maine
Janet Mills, democrat, keeps the governorship.
First US District, Chellee Pingree, democrat, held onto her seat.
Second US District remains a toss-up. Jarrod Golden, democrat, leads, but doesn't have 50%+1 yet over his two challengers. If he still doesn't have 50%+1, it goes to the rank-choiced voting ("instant run-off") we have in our election system. All votes of third-place receiver are reviewed for those voter's second choice. Those second choice are then added to the two front runners to determine the winner.
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I think the Democrats will probably hold the Senate, just, and we'll get a couple of years of watching McCarthy try to herd angry cats. Well, probably less than that once he realizes what a hopeless, thankless job it is.
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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/09/democrats-did-far-better-than-expected-how-come
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My summary for UK friends is below. I vote in Pennsylvania and got confirmation my postal ballot was counted.
Pennsylvania senate seat switches to Dems! Not such good news in the House so far.
The Pennsylvania election-denier governor has also been ousted by a Dem. But the Texan Rep governor stays.
Mid-terms usually favour the non-ruling party, but the 'red wave' Trump predicted certainly hasn't materialised, with Trump-promoted candidates mostly losing. Except Florida. Fuck Florida.
A bunch of rulings have passed to protect rights in various states - access to voting, abortion, etc. So all in all mildly positive, but not a revolution. The House looks to stay Rep-majority but possibly by only one vote.
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That's the only clear, consistent signal. The Senate will still be narrowly split: either a slight Republican edge, or a slight Democratic edge, but close. (Of course, a 51-49 Republican majority would be enough to give them the chairs of all the committees, so they can sit indefinitely on any legislation or nomination they don't want to vote on, so even one seat matters.) The House will probably be Republican, but not heavily. (Ditto.) Marijuana legalization passed in two states and failed in two others.
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(For context, the Ooze lost 40 House seats, Obama 60+. There is an actual chance in hell Biden will keep the House.)
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Georgia is lost, likely to democracy for a generation. So is Florida.
Pennsylvania democracy held.
Things are looking surprisingly good in Colorado.
We won't know how everything will fall out for a few days as some states are slow counts. *waves to you from the west coast region of slow counts*
This could have been a nightmare. This could have been the last exit. I don't think it is, quite. Having followed all night... I am cautiously optimistic. Very cautiously. We'll see where we are tonight, shall we?
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OTOH, there are some states (I can't remember which right now but) where election deniers have taken relevant election positions, so... long-term concern.
good news
Massachusetts passed a referendum to separate "drivers license" from "proof of citizenship." MA residents who prove they can drive safely can have drivers licenses even without documenting their status as citizens or legal residents.
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