2023-2024 Presidential, senate, house, state and city election thread

[caltrek]

New Jersey Democrats Notch Big Legislative Wins
by Dustin Racioppi
November 7, 2023

Introduction:

(Politico) Facing political headwinds and what appeared to be a motivated Republican base, New Jersey Democrats not only managed to hold onto their state legislative majorities Tuesday night but expand them.

Republicans — benefiting from the unpopularity of President Joe Biden, the collapse of two major offshore wind projects and backlash to LGBTQ-friendly policies in public schools — had been hopeful at winning a majority in the state Senate or the Assembly for the first time in more than 20 years.
But New Jersey’s nearly million-voter Democratic registration advantage and a huge lead in fundraising helped the party prevail. Final counts could not be made late Tuesday night, but Democrats won or led in virtually every competitive district Republicans needed to have a chance at regaining control in either chamber. That included Democrats reclaiming the Senate seat won by Republican Ed Durr in a national upset in 2021, when he defeated then-Senate President Steve Sweeney on a shoestring budget.

Democrats also capitalized on backlash from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, warning voters that New Jersey Republicans would chip away at abortion rights.

Read more here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politic ... AA1jzrxz

[caltrek]

Tate Reeves Beats Brandon Presley in Race for Mississippi Governor’s Office
by Adria R. Walker
November 7, 2023

Introduction:

(The Guardian) Brandon Presley conceded to the incumbent Mississippi governor, Tate Reeves, on Tuesday night after the Republican managed to hold on to his position.

During the state’s only gubernatorial debate this season, Reeves and Presley, who is related to Elvis Presley, had exchanged verbal blows, with Reeves alleging that Presley had been bought by out-of-state, liberal political interest groups. Presley hammered Reeves on his and his family’s alleged involvement in the state’s ongoing corruption scandal.

Corruption, the state’s ongoing healthcare crisis and education were at the forefront of voters’ minds this election season. In commercials and during his 82-county campaign, Presley missed no opportunities to reference Reeves’s alleged involvement in the TANF fund corruption scandal, the largest such scandal in state history, or to remind voters of Reeves’s refusal to expand Medicaid.

Though pointedly asked about it twice during the debate, Reeves refused to say whether or not he would support the efforts of the state attorney general, Lynn Fitch, to receive information about women who travel out of state to receive abortions.

After Presley pushed the issue of the state’s collapsing healthcare system, including closing hospitals and blamed the collapse on Reeves’s refusal to expand Medicaid access, Reeves announced plans to solve the hospital crisis, just months before the election, despite him and his team saying a similar plan would not work earlier this year.

Read more here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/20 ... can-wins

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

Maine Voters Reject Pine Tree Power Plan
November 7, 2023

Introduction:

(News Center Maine) MAINE, USA — Maine voters rejected the option to dissolve the state's two largest power companies, Versant and Central Maine Power, and instead create Pine Tree Power.

Question 3 asked: "Do you want to create a new power company, governed by an elected board, to acquire and operate existing for-profit electricity transmission and distribution facilities in Maine?"

This measure was created as a way to balance the high rates and customer issues from Central Maine Power and Versant Power.
The proposed takeover of two investor-owned utilities that distribute 97 percent of electricity in the state is unprecedented.

If approved, the referendum would have marked the first time a state with existing private utilities decided to scrap them all at the same time in favor of a nonprofit model. The proposal would have dismantled Central Maine Power and Versant Power and create the nonprofit utility Pine Tree Power to govern the grid instead.

Read more here: https://www.newscentermaine.com/articl ... 8461ba88

[weatheriscool]

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

I think the majority accepts LGBT people but the religious extremist are getting into government and doing things they shouldn't be doing like abortion restrictions, attacking gays and trans, etc. Religious extremist don't give a damn about the opinion of the population. Lets vote them out!

[caltrek]

Beshear Strategist Says Republicans 'Should be Ashamed and Embarrassed' by Kentucky Loss
Carl Gibson
November 9, 2023

Introduction:

(Alternet) Eric Hyers – who managed Kentucky Democratic Governor Andy Beshear's successful 2019 and 2023 campaigns — had harsh words for Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron following Tuesday's gubernatorial election.

"I think Daniel Cameron should be ashamed and embarrassed by the race he ran and so should his team," Hyers said of Beshear's Republican opponent in an interview with the Lexington Herald-Leader. "It was gross, disgusting, and just very, very craven, and I’m glad they lost and it wasn’t that close. They deserve to be embarrassed. They deserve to be made an example of how you lose with a Republican in a red state."

Hyers pointed to Cameron's attacks on transgender students, and ads Cameron ran suggesting Beshear favored gender reassignment surgery for teens, as examples of key mistakes the campaign was able to capitalize on.

"I think it was a massive error, they did it poorly and it’s good they overshot in the way they did it," Hyers said. "We learned this: you can’t make someone believe something about someone that is clearly false."

Similar to Ohio, abortion played a key role in Beshear's reelection, and Hyers — who also managed the gubernatorial campaigns of former governors Steve Bullock (D-Montana) and Gina Raimondo (D-Rhode Island) — said Cameron's biggest weakness was his "no exceptions" stance on abortion, even in the cases of rape and incest. Hadley Duvall, who was sexually assaulted by her stepfather at age 12, agreed to tell her story for an ad attacking Cameron for his hard-line stance on abortion. Hyers said that ad was a "critical turning point" for the Beshear campaign.

Read more here: https://www.alternet.org/beshear-strat ... ashamed/

[caltrek]

Senator Joe Manchin Announces He Won't Seek Reelection in 2024
by Deirdre Walsh
November 9, 2023

Introduction:

(NPR) West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin announced Thursday that he will not run for reelection in 2024. The decision means Democrats face an uphill climb to keep their narrow majority in next year's election

Manchin says he offered to change political parties if he was a 'problem' for Dems

Democrats already faced a tough map in 2024 to keep control of the Senate. They have 23 seats on the ballot and the most contested ones are in red states like Ohio, Montana and West Virginia.

Manchin says he accomplished what he set out to do for his home state. But he added he's not done with politics
"What I will be doing is traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together," Manchin said in a video released on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.

Manchin has previously suggested he might be open to a third party bid to run for president. Several Republicans were already running against Manchin - including Governor Jim Justice and Congressman Alex Mooney. The head of the Senate GOP's campaign committee Steve Daines released a statement saying "we like our odds in West Virginia."

Read more here: https://www.npr.org/2023/11/09/1211907 ... n-retire

[weatheriscool]

I&I/TIPP: Trump +47, Biden +68

Trump 60%
DeSantis 13%
Ramaswamy 7%
Haley 5%

Biden 72%
Williamson 4%
Phillips 4%

https://tippinsights.com/biden-trump-in ... tipp-poll/

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

Glenn Youngkin Spent Millions and Republicans Still Lost in Virginia
by Arianna Coghill
November 8, 2023

Introduction:

(Mother Jones) After months of interviews, TV appearances, and hype, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin—and his vision of himself as the new standard bearer of how to win as a Republican—ran into a problem: He lost. On Tuesday, Youngkin’s dreams of helping bring about a GOP-led General Assembly were crushed. The state’s Democrats secured the majority in both the House of Delegates and the state senate. The loss thwarted the GOP’s effort at complete legislative control and potentially finished Youngkin’s presidential aspirations. In the process, millions of dollars in PAC donations were flushed down the toilet.

“The emperor has no clothes except for a red sweater vest,” Sen. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) told the Virginia Mercury as the election results were announced. With all 140 legislative seats up for grabs, Democratic candidates flipped the Republican’s previous 52-48 majority in the House and maintained their control in the Senate, according to unofficial elections results.

As my colleague Ari Berman, reported, this year’s election cycle was a particularly critical one. Virginia’s previously divided government prevented Youngkin, and the formerly Republican House, from passing contested pieces of legislation, including a 15-week abortion ban. The governor spent a good chunk of 2023 touring the Old Dominion state to change that. And his political action committee, Spirit of Virginia, was reportedly one of the largest spenders in this election cycle, which was already poised to be notably costly compared to others. As my colleague Abby Vesoulis noted, The Spirit of Virginia poured $7.7 million into this year’s legislative candidates. Youngkin, a former CEO for a major private equity company, even included $500,000 of his own cash towards their election efforts, according to the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP). None of it mattered. He lost.

“Virginia voters sent a very clear message by resoundingly embracing inclusion, equity, and civil rights at the ballot box,” said Del. Marcia Price (D) in a statement to Mother Jones. “They rejected fear-mongering and destructive culture wars. Not even the Republican’s dog whistles and scare tactics could suppress the people’s support for the common sense solutions that Democrats prioritize.”

Read more here: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/ ... lections/

[caltrek]

Jill Stein Launches Another Presidential Campaign In Surprise Green Party Bid
by Molly Bohannon
November 9, 2023

Introduction:

(Forbes) Two-time Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein announced she’s entering the race for the White House in 2024, emphasizing in her announcement how the two-party system is “broken” and “has failed us” in the latest notable third-party or independent challenge to the widely expected rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump on the major party tickets.

Key Facts

Stein said in a video announcing her run that “the political system is broken (and) the two Wall Street parties are bought and paid for,” adding: “the ruling parties that got us into this mess aren't getting us out.”

Stein said she is running on a “pro-worker, anti-war, climate emergency agenda.”

As recently as July, Stein was helping run Cornel West’s presidential campaign as a Green Party candidate and had called him “the right person for America” — but West announced in October that he was changing his candidacy and running as an independent candidate.

1.4 million. That’s how many votes Stein received in the 2016 presidential election, according to the New York Times — just over 1% of votes cast, in the best showing for a Green Party candidate since Ralph Nader in 2000.

Read more here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollyboha ... 917a66a7

[weatheriscool]

In Kansas school board races, voters reject candidates pushing culture war issues

TOPEKA — Kansas communities rejected multiple far-right candidates for school boards in what a national education group has characterized as a U.S.-wide trend of demanding “real solutions” on the local level.

In many of Tuesday’s statewide school board races, conservative candidates who campaigned on culture war issues, backed by national right-wing groups, were defeated by their more moderate opponents.

Candidates with connections to Moms for Liberty failed to gain much traction in the state. The extremist group platforms against LGBTQ and racially inclusive school curriculum and has advocated for book bans. MFL was started by Florida women who opposed pandemic-era school closures and mask mandates.

The American Federation of Teachers said school board elections across the U.S. reflected a pushback against outside conservative influences.




https://kansasreflector.com/2023/11/10/ ... ar-issues/

[weatheriscool]

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

ME: Voters reject RSU14 candidates calling for 'parents' rights,' limiting book access

Windham voters on Tuesday rejected school board candidates calling for parents’ rights and limiting book access in the Windham Raymond School District RSU14.

Of the four people vying for two open seats, incumbent Marjorie (Marge) Govoni and challenger Joseph Kellner successfully earned three-year terms. Challengers Dawn Miller and Justin Whynot did not.

The vote totals in descending order were Govoni with 2,803, Kellner with 2,574, Whynot with 2,306 and Miller with 2,089, according to election results from the town of Windham.

At the Windham High School polling place Tuesday, voters told Maine Morning Star the school board race was top of mind.

https://mainemorningstar.com/2023/11/08 ... ok-access/

[weatheriscool]

Biden is going to fucking ass rape Trump in 2024 election. That primary a few nights ago show that people love the policies and are tired of the republicans. Shit hasn't changed since 2020 and people will reject Trump outright.

[weatheriscool]