What Red Wave?

Last week I asked which road voters would take, the one toward fear and autocracy or the one toward hope and saving our democracy. It seems, tonight, that the latter choice, the one for hope and democracy, was chosen. That certainly makes me hopeful for the future of our nation. Many of the “stop the steal,” election deniers lost their bid for office. One of the loudest, Kari Lake, in Arizona, seems to be close to defeat tonight as Katie Hobbs has opened up a narrow, but not unsurmountable, lead, with thousands of votes still outstanding in that state governor's race. I think it would be quite nice if she lost, but according to the Washington Post, it is still too early to call this one.

In Ohio, JD Vance, the vacillating MAGA-endorsed candidate, won over Tim Ryan. I think if the Democrats had put more resources in Ohio, Ryan might have won. He ran a good campaign.

In Pennsylvania, the MAGA candidates all went down to defeat! John Fetterman won the Senate seat over Dr. Oz from New Jersey. The Democratic candidate for Governor, Josh Shapiro, beat the racist, right-wing Christian nationalist, and anti-Semitic candidate, Mastriano. (Where do they find these guys?)

In Maryland, the entire Republican state-wide ticket-with autocrats, election deniers, Qanon supporters, and white Christian nationalists-went down to defeat as Maryland elected the most diverse state-wide ticket ever. Democrat Wes Moore is only the third African American elected to a governorship in the nation. His Lt. Governor is the first female South Asian ever elected to a statewide office, his AG is also African American and the Comptroller’s office will see its’ first female office holder. Way to go, Free-staters!

Massachusetts elected its first female governor, openly gay former AG, Maura Healey.

Unfortunately, insurrection-denier, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, beat Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who, in my opinion, was the better candidate.

However, in Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer won reelection and flipped both chambers of the legislature from Republican-dominated to Democratic control. That was quite a feat.

Sadly, in Texas, Beto O’Rourke lost to Governor Abbott in the campaign for the governor’s seat. Sad, because Beto might somehow have gotten some gun legislation passed in this gun-toting state. Sad, also because Texas voters supported the governor who signed the abortion ban that drove women to other states to find necessary services.

I won’t try to mention all the wins and losses here, but thought these few were significant.

In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis, who won 4 years ago by a tiny margin, romped to victory this time with a 20-point lead over former governor Charlie Crist. Of course, everyone is now saying Florida has turned from purple to red. Just shows you what partisan redistricting, voter intimidation and felon disenfranchisement can do for a guy! His claim to fame includes bashing trans kids, silencing teachers, promoting a Christian state, banning books, and having the highest percentage of COVID deaths for any state. What a gov he might be! Perceived as his potential rival in 2024, DJT has nicknamed him Ron Desanctimonious.

Since many of his candidates went down to defeat, his right-wing buddies and other Republicans have distanced themselves from the former president. Will that dash his plans about announcing his 2024 candidacy this week? Well, he has never been well-based in reality, so I expect he will soldier on regardless of the facts. He has some idea that this will protect him from prosecution, but only official candidates might get a pass, and that is not guaranteed.

The GOP is in turmoil since their red wave has been, at best, a slightly pinkish beach foam. House and Senate members on the Republican side are calling for both Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy to step aside and let new ideas and different people come in to lead the party. Who knows where this will lead?

Young people showed up in fairly strong numbers and may have made a difference in several races. Abortion, climate change, and gun control were the issues most important to young voters. Women voters also mentioned the abortion issue as important. A few states had abortion measures on the ballot; in each case, the voters made or kept these options available.

As I write this on Sunday evening, final election returns are still trickling in across the country.

We know a few things:

The Democrats will control the Senate with 50 senators and do not need to wait until the Georgia election run-off on December 6^th to see if they are in control. However, if Warnock wins and the Democrats have 51 votes in the Senate, there will be no power-sharing as there was with a 50-50 Senate, so committees will not have to have equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans, for example. Majority Leader Schumer would have the same powers that Senator McConnell exhibited in the past.

The Democrats can continue to appoint judges and, if they give a majority of the spots to their members on the Judiciary Committee, they can report out President Bidens’ selections for judges for floor votes.

We can consider the same results for cabinet members or other nominees requiring Senate confirmation, as only a simple majority is required.

The Democrats get to fully set the agenda.

They still cannot unilaterally do away with the filibuster.

They will still need to rein in the two Senators who caused disruptions last year and would not allow the voting rights bill and other important measures to pass-Senators Sinema and Manchin.

Alaskan Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, who sometimes favored Democrats’ initiatives and voted for impeachment, has a MAGA-endorsed opponent and is in a close race with the winner not yet determined. She will face a ranked choice run-off in a few weeks.

In a speech acknowledging the Democratic control of the Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer noted the Democrats had outstanding candidates and a good agenda. He remarked that the American people rejected the divisive anti-democratic MAGA agenda of the other party.

Republican Senators Cruz and Paul will have to put aside their plans to exact revenge on Democrats who investigated their criminally inclined president; if they had listened to the evidence with an open mind, they would have also convicted him.

The House of Representatives remains in play. Several races, especially in California, are yet to be decided. Gun-toting Congresswoman Bobert from Colorado is in an unexpectedly tight race with a Democratic opponent. I would not mind it a bit if she lost!

They redistricted Katie Porter from California into a more conservative district, so she is now in a very close and undecided contest with her Republican opponent. Certainly, I would hate to see a woman with such a clear perspective on financial matters lose her seat in Congress. She could really put corporate obfuscators in the hot seat.

New York state had a close race for Governor after the Republican candidate had one supporter pour over $9 million into his race and a PAC associated with another millionaire dump hundreds of thousands of dollars into ads and other support at the last minute. Interim Governor Kathy Hochul, in the end, prevailed with 52.7 percent of the vote. Her opponent pushed the crime message, which succeeded with some voters.

Congressman Shawn Patrick Mahoney, an eight-term member and the leader of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, lost his election bid by over 3,700 votes. He lost his original district from redistricting and moved into a district with a lot of law enforcement officers. Even though he supported the police and they returned the favor in previous years, this time his opponent won the law enforcement nod and pushed the Democrats “defund the police campaign” even though it was not one of Mahoney’s issues.

Although the “defund the police” issue was not widespread, it has had legs, especially as it was publicized by media on the right long after the death of George Floyd. That incident precipitated the calls for defunding when so many were horrified by the cold-blooded murder. Conservatives have linked this cry with increasing claims of crime in the streets, making all unsafe; a claim that has been proven to be false. They continue to beat this drum, even as Democrats have proven that they believe the opposite by continually funding law enforcement.

I believe we need good, effective policing by well-trained officers. We also need accountability and for departments to make certain that the officers follow established protocols. I support the use of body cameras and know that they can protect officers from untrue accusations. However, there are still incidents when rogue officers behave badly and turn off their cameras. There are still too many mentally ill people being shot when what they need is medical care. So, while I agree we need adequate numbers of excellent officers to maintain law and order, I also believe the departments must also weed out those who are extremists and might be members of white supremacist groups or militias such as those law enforcement members who took part in the January 6^th insurrection.

There are projections by MSNBC that the Republicans will win 219 seats in the House, and for Democrats 216, with a margin of error of +/- 4 seats. 538 is projecting 221 seats for the Republicans. The Associated Press has so far called 203 seats for the Democrats and 212 for the Republicans. Americans do not wish for Republicans to conduct scorched earth investigations, but expect them to be leaders and legislators. Will they take this high road if they win? Currently, the Democrats hold 222 seats in Congress. 218 is the magic number for control of the 435-member body.

As an optimist, I am happy that democracy prevailed, and we kept the crazies at bay for a while. I still hope the Democrats might win the House. Ahh, wishes keep things alive; where is that Magic Dragon?

Anyway, ‘til next week-peace!