Rising Tide?
November 2, 2019 10:12 AM Subscribe
Tuesday’s Election Could Be a Second Blue Wave : On November 5 voters can reject Trump and embrace criminal justice reform, rent control, and democracy in states and cities nationwide. Important races hit the ballot in Tucson, Seattle, New York, San Fransisco, Pittsburgh and more. (The Nation)
I've already happily voted against Kshama Sawant in the coming election (yay for mail-in voting). She is, unfortunately, my Seattle city council member and has made a mockery of the Seattle council. Sawant has, among other things, advocated for seizing private property (including individuals' homes) and companies (including local companies), advocated for unconditional citizenship for anyone without legal immigrant status (including criminals), and opposes measuring academic progress at all. She pretends to advocate for "working folk", who, for some reason, never seem to include the people that work at the companies she denigrates. I'm not interested in punishing companies for their success.
posted by saeculorum at 11:35 AM on November 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by saeculorum at 11:35 AM on November 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
Here in a deep-blue enclave in a deep-red state, the only nominally-contested general elections are usually in statewide races, so the municipal elections are a snoozer. This year, my only opportunity to cast even a protest vote would be to vote for the one Republican quixotically running for an at-large council seat. But given that my principal objection to the Democratic candidates is that they are materially indistinguishable from Republicans, that wouldn't be much of a protest.
I'm not sure I'd want a Kshama Sawant running things, but it sounds like she's bringing the kind of disruptive, innovative political thinking we could use a lot more of nationwide.
advocated for seizing private property (including individuals' homes) and companies (including local companies), advocated for unconditional citizenship for anyone without legal immigrant status (including criminals)
Oh hell yes. Sign me up!
(Periodic note that it is considered completely unremarkable under US law for the government to seize private property, as long as they're doing it for the shittiest possible reasons.)
posted by Not A Thing at 11:52 AM on November 2, 2019 [45 favorites]
I'm not sure I'd want a Kshama Sawant running things, but it sounds like she's bringing the kind of disruptive, innovative political thinking we could use a lot more of nationwide.
advocated for seizing private property (including individuals' homes) and companies (including local companies), advocated for unconditional citizenship for anyone without legal immigrant status (including criminals)
Oh hell yes. Sign me up!
(Periodic note that it is considered completely unremarkable under US law for the government to seize private property, as long as they're doing it for the shittiest possible reasons.)
posted by Not A Thing at 11:52 AM on November 2, 2019 [45 favorites]
I like to eat as many rich people as I can every day for breakfast myself, but Kshama Sawant is a problem for Seattle. She's the worst kind of political ally, reactionary without calculating the costs of getting things done. I'm convinced that in a skillful politician's hands the corporate head tax could have worked, or at least a compromise version of it. Instead, Amazon dug in and is just buying the city council for themselves. Socialism, yes. Love that we have someone who wears the label proudly. But she hasn't been able to communicate what that means effectively beyond sloganeering in the echo chamber of Seattle district 3, nor has she seemed to figure out how to be effective as the lone socialist on the council. You have to be on the right side of the issues, but you also gotta know how to make the sausage.
So now the good people of central Seattle get to decide between a kind of bumbling ineffective ranty but fearless champion of socialism versus a (apparently very nice) political no name who has gazillions of Amazon dollars coming out of every orifice of his body. In a city that is highly politically engaged, highly progressive, and very well educated, it's inexcusable that the biggest political race this year is between two bad choices.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 12:33 PM on November 2, 2019 [20 favorites]
So now the good people of central Seattle get to decide between a kind of bumbling ineffective ranty but fearless champion of socialism versus a (apparently very nice) political no name who has gazillions of Amazon dollars coming out of every orifice of his body. In a city that is highly politically engaged, highly progressive, and very well educated, it's inexcusable that the biggest political race this year is between two bad choices.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 12:33 PM on November 2, 2019 [20 favorites]
advocated for unconditional citizenship for anyone without legal immigrant status (including criminals)
I hate to be the one to break it to you, but it turns out there's already over 70 million criminals in this country who are (gasp) citizens.
posted by tocts at 12:34 PM on November 2, 2019 [56 favorites]
I hate to be the one to break it to you, but it turns out there's already over 70 million criminals in this country who are (gasp) citizens.
posted by tocts at 12:34 PM on November 2, 2019 [56 favorites]
Sawant...opposes measuring academic progress at all.
Really? Because according to her platform, here's what she supports re: education...
posted by palomar at 12:37 PM on November 2, 2019 [47 favorites]
Really? Because according to her platform, here's what she supports re: education...
We need to tax corporations and the rich to fully fund high-quality public education; stop the privatization of education and the corporate “reform” agenda; dramatically reduce class sizes; establish tuition-free college education for all; support teachers and students campaigning against high-stakes testing and racial disparities; expand anti-bullying efforts; fund free breakfast and lunch programs; and fight for higher wages for our educators so they can afford to live in the neighborhoods where they teach.It's fine to not support her, but maybe less of the Dori Monson talking points and more addressing her actual positions?
posted by palomar at 12:37 PM on November 2, 2019 [47 favorites]
I think citizenship should be conditional on the same terms as those that my great-grandfather was subject to.
All new citizens should have to attest that they are not a bigamist, an anarchist, or in league with the Kaiser.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:55 PM on November 2, 2019 [49 favorites]
All new citizens should have to attest that they are not a bigamist, an anarchist, or in league with the Kaiser.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:55 PM on November 2, 2019 [49 favorites]
I've been GOTV texting today for some races in VA & PA.
Two years ago, the Democrats failed to win control of the VA legislature by one seat, which was decided by a coin toss. In other words, by one vote. I'm hoping for much better this time around.
posted by MtDewd at 12:58 PM on November 2, 2019 [14 favorites]
Two years ago, the Democrats failed to win control of the VA legislature by one seat, which was decided by a coin toss. In other words, by one vote. I'm hoping for much better this time around.
posted by MtDewd at 12:58 PM on November 2, 2019 [14 favorites]
Really? Because according to her platform, here's what she supports [...] support teachers and students campaigning against high-stakes testing
In the particular case of Seattle, she repeatedly supported teacher opposition to the Measure of Academic Progress test. It was never a condition of graduation in Seattle, nor was it "high-stakes". I maintain my statement is accurate, because without the MAP, there is literally no measurement of student progress in Seattle. Unfortunately, it seems local teachers continue to oppose any testing, without providing any objective alternative.
posted by saeculorum at 1:00 PM on November 2, 2019
In the particular case of Seattle, she repeatedly supported teacher opposition to the Measure of Academic Progress test. It was never a condition of graduation in Seattle, nor was it "high-stakes". I maintain my statement is accurate, because without the MAP, there is literally no measurement of student progress in Seattle. Unfortunately, it seems local teachers continue to oppose any testing, without providing any objective alternative.
posted by saeculorum at 1:00 PM on November 2, 2019
Sawant has, among other things, advocated for seizing private property (including individuals' homes) and companies (including local companies), advocated for unconditional citizenship for anyone without legal immigrant status (including criminals), and opposes measuring academic progress at all. She pretends to advocate for "working folk", who, for some reason, never seem to include the people that work at the companies she denigrates. I'm not interested in punishing companies for their success.
I'm always curious how Americans who aren't indigenous think their ancestors ended up here. I imagine the cognitive dissonance is as high as thinking fair taxation is "punishing companies for their success".
posted by Ouverture at 1:00 PM on November 2, 2019 [55 favorites]
I'm always curious how Americans who aren't indigenous think their ancestors ended up here. I imagine the cognitive dissonance is as high as thinking fair taxation is "punishing companies for their success".
posted by Ouverture at 1:00 PM on November 2, 2019 [55 favorites]
I think citizenship should be conditional on the same terms as those that my great-grandfather was subject to.
You laugh, but my friend's wife had her American citizenship swearing-in a couple of years ago. She was required to affirm that she had never been a member of the Communist Party, or at least not for ten years.
She's Chinese. Come the fuck on, America.
posted by sciatrix at 1:01 PM on November 2, 2019 [42 favorites]
You laugh, but my friend's wife had her American citizenship swearing-in a couple of years ago. She was required to affirm that she had never been a member of the Communist Party, or at least not for ten years.
She's Chinese. Come the fuck on, America.
posted by sciatrix at 1:01 PM on November 2, 2019 [42 favorites]
I'm in District 3 too, Slarty, and I have never before this year even been tempted to write-in something facetious rather than voting. Sawant vs. Orion, however, are testing the fuck out of my resolve.
Very little about Sawant impresses me. She makes good slogans and can summon a horde of protestors at a moment's notice. Which is great if you're an outside agitator, but I know from several civil servant friends and family members that she's alienated basically everyone who know how to actually get things done. And sure, you can say 'well, that shouldn't matter, because government is for the people,' and I do agree, and I hope you get back to me when you've figured out how to solve the problem of human nature. Her record so far as part of the council supports this, and she seems to see no reason to change.
On the other hand, Orion makes me feel like the guy in They Live, except instead of OBEY & CONSUME it's just Jeff Bezos' face.
posted by a power-tie-wearing she-capitalist at 1:03 PM on November 2, 2019 [11 favorites]
Very little about Sawant impresses me. She makes good slogans and can summon a horde of protestors at a moment's notice. Which is great if you're an outside agitator, but I know from several civil servant friends and family members that she's alienated basically everyone who know how to actually get things done. And sure, you can say 'well, that shouldn't matter, because government is for the people,' and I do agree, and I hope you get back to me when you've figured out how to solve the problem of human nature. Her record so far as part of the council supports this, and she seems to see no reason to change.
On the other hand, Orion makes me feel like the guy in They Live, except instead of OBEY & CONSUME it's just Jeff Bezos' face.
posted by a power-tie-wearing she-capitalist at 1:03 PM on November 2, 2019 [11 favorites]
advocated for seizing private property (including individuals' homes) and companies (including local companies), advocated for unconditional citizenship for anyone without legal immigrant status (including criminals), and opposes measuring academic progress at all.
[citation needed]
posted by tclark at 1:04 PM on November 2, 2019 [10 favorites]
[citation needed]
posted by tclark at 1:04 PM on November 2, 2019 [10 favorites]
In the particular case of Seattle, she repeatedly supported teacher opposition to the Measure of Academic Progress test.
When teachers tell me something about the problems they're having with testing (or anything else school-related) I tend to believe them. If teachers opposed this test, why second guess them? They're the ones who would know.
posted by Weeping_angel at 1:10 PM on November 2, 2019 [57 favorites]
When teachers tell me something about the problems they're having with testing (or anything else school-related) I tend to believe them. If teachers opposed this test, why second guess them? They're the ones who would know.
posted by Weeping_angel at 1:10 PM on November 2, 2019 [57 favorites]
All new citizens should have to attest that they are not a bigamist, an anarchist, or in league with the Kaiser.
This country could only benefit from an influx of anarchist citizens.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:11 PM on November 2, 2019 [27 favorites]
This country could only benefit from an influx of anarchist citizens.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:11 PM on November 2, 2019 [27 favorites]
[citation needed]
advocated for seizing private property (including individuals' homes): "She points out that coffee shops (because they’re a kind of public space) never have the stunning views of wealthy homes and high-powered offices and imagines the old mansions of Millionaire Row publicly owned and turned into shared housing. 'When things are exquisitely beautiful and rare,' she argues, 'they shouldn’t be privately owned'"
advocated for seizing [...] and companies (including local companies): "The workers should take over the factories, and shut down Boeing’s profit-making machine [...] We can re-tool the machines to produce mass transit like buses"
advocated for unconditional citizenship for anyone: "Full legalization and equal rights for all undocumented immigrants. No to E-Verify."
opposes measuring academic progress: Unfortunately, this is from memory only, but per Wikipedia: "She unsuccessfully opposed the Seattle Public Schools Measures of Academic Progress test in public schools, and supported the teachers' boycott of the standardized tests."
posted by saeculorum at 1:12 PM on November 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
advocated for seizing private property (including individuals' homes): "She points out that coffee shops (because they’re a kind of public space) never have the stunning views of wealthy homes and high-powered offices and imagines the old mansions of Millionaire Row publicly owned and turned into shared housing. 'When things are exquisitely beautiful and rare,' she argues, 'they shouldn’t be privately owned'"
advocated for seizing [...] and companies (including local companies): "The workers should take over the factories, and shut down Boeing’s profit-making machine [...] We can re-tool the machines to produce mass transit like buses"
advocated for unconditional citizenship for anyone: "Full legalization and equal rights for all undocumented immigrants. No to E-Verify."
opposes measuring academic progress: Unfortunately, this is from memory only, but per Wikipedia: "She unsuccessfully opposed the Seattle Public Schools Measures of Academic Progress test in public schools, and supported the teachers' boycott of the standardized tests."
posted by saeculorum at 1:12 PM on November 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
This country could only benefit from an influx of anarchist citizens.
Is exactly what a Kaiserist would say.
posted by NoMich at 1:16 PM on November 2, 2019 [19 favorites]
Is exactly what a Kaiserist would say.
posted by NoMich at 1:16 PM on November 2, 2019 [19 favorites]
So... the problem with the socialist is that she has socialist positions, and has the audacity to talk about big socialist ideas in public? Because relying on some broad-outlook statements made several years ago as evidence that she's endangering your very way of life is quite a stretch.
posted by palomar at 1:27 PM on November 2, 2019 [34 favorites]
posted by palomar at 1:27 PM on November 2, 2019 [34 favorites]
I am a voter in Kshama Sawant's district and I met her in person once. (I am a cis white queer guy in my 30s, from Seattle.) She attended a queer-oriented labor/union meetup in a car garage in Georgetown/SODO run by radical queer lady collective which by the way is an awesome place. She spoke way too loudly into the PA system, I guess she has a reputation for being literally loud, but I was impressed with her. In this meeting she seemed to me to consider talking with working-class constituents and demonstrating class solidarity to be her first job. I tried to joke with her about something while she was sitting alone, I was way nervous and excited to meet all these union members and hear from them, and didn't expect to meet a city council member. She was very serious about her presence and support, and casually swatted away my self-deprecating jokes to tell me how important she felt it is to represent, well, everyone you'd expect her to stand for. She had no time for my ironic emotional distance in my jokes. She impressed the fuck out of me. Frankly it's not easy to be the lone voice of reason against a tide of moneyed white suits, and I could care less that she makes the suits uncomfortable. That's sort of the point isn't it.
This is not to say I am a full convert. Sawant's volunteers are actually super annoying on the street. I once had to physically push a Sawant volunteer who was canvassing out of my apartment building. I hope he was an outlier.
I've not met Egan Orion, but uhhh, this is all it took to dissuade me from considering him. Maybe that's not fair to his Amazon Prime political positions, or it's not fair to put a lens on his private life, but this kind of obliviousness really creeps me the fuck out. Seattle has a lot of whites who are progressive compared to much of the country, but still say and do the usual things we do because we're white fish swimming in the waters of American racism. When you compare this shit to other city council candidates, the choices are easy.
For example, in district 4 there is Shaun Scott running against Alex Pedersen, the Amazon/business money candidate. Scott talks about Seattle's racist history, and restorative justice. Also, he is constantly showing up to voter-facing events that his opponent simply no-shows at. He really gives a shit about zoning and housing, saying that our racist legacy of single-occupancy homes on parcels of land where people of color simply could not rent or own until the late 20th century, should not be "preserved in amber." I realized only a few years ago that our highway 'express lanes' allowing commuters into and out of downtown from the north half of Seattle are a racist institution, having been built during these redlining years, and he's the first candidate I've ever seen address anything like that.
Edit: This amazing tweet by the Scott campaign referencing the endless lawn signs you see here in Seattle, about "in this house, Black Lives Matter, science is real, no human is illegal," etc.
posted by panhopticon at 1:27 PM on November 2, 2019 [23 favorites]
This is not to say I am a full convert. Sawant's volunteers are actually super annoying on the street. I once had to physically push a Sawant volunteer who was canvassing out of my apartment building. I hope he was an outlier.
I've not met Egan Orion, but uhhh, this is all it took to dissuade me from considering him. Maybe that's not fair to his Amazon Prime political positions, or it's not fair to put a lens on his private life, but this kind of obliviousness really creeps me the fuck out. Seattle has a lot of whites who are progressive compared to much of the country, but still say and do the usual things we do because we're white fish swimming in the waters of American racism. When you compare this shit to other city council candidates, the choices are easy.
For example, in district 4 there is Shaun Scott running against Alex Pedersen, the Amazon/business money candidate. Scott talks about Seattle's racist history, and restorative justice. Also, he is constantly showing up to voter-facing events that his opponent simply no-shows at. He really gives a shit about zoning and housing, saying that our racist legacy of single-occupancy homes on parcels of land where people of color simply could not rent or own until the late 20th century, should not be "preserved in amber." I realized only a few years ago that our highway 'express lanes' allowing commuters into and out of downtown from the north half of Seattle are a racist institution, having been built during these redlining years, and he's the first candidate I've ever seen address anything like that.
Edit: This amazing tweet by the Scott campaign referencing the endless lawn signs you see here in Seattle, about "in this house, Black Lives Matter, science is real, no human is illegal," etc.
posted by panhopticon at 1:27 PM on November 2, 2019 [23 favorites]
"they shouldn’t be privately owned"
Mmm hmm, yes.
"The workers should take over the factories"
Well, yes.
"Full legalization and equal rights for all undocumented immigrants"
Fuck yes.
"supported the teachers' boycott of the standardized tests."
You're darn tootin'.
posted by Beardman at 1:52 PM on November 2, 2019 [56 favorites]
Mmm hmm, yes.
"The workers should take over the factories"
Well, yes.
"Full legalization and equal rights for all undocumented immigrants"
Fuck yes.
"supported the teachers' boycott of the standardized tests."
You're darn tootin'.
posted by Beardman at 1:52 PM on November 2, 2019 [56 favorites]
She unsuccessfully opposed the Seattle Public Schools Measures of Academic Progress test in public schools, and supported the teachers' boycott of the standardized tests.
I think you need to explain fully why opposition to those tests is a very bad thing. Standardized testing has long been fraught with deficiencies and outright failure, not to mention the right’s co-opting the tests as “proof” that teachers need to be fired/de-unionized, and/or schools handed over to corporations. Opposition to such plans can easily be the best idea.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:10 PM on November 2, 2019 [34 favorites]
I think you need to explain fully why opposition to those tests is a very bad thing. Standardized testing has long been fraught with deficiencies and outright failure, not to mention the right’s co-opting the tests as “proof” that teachers need to be fired/de-unionized, and/or schools handed over to corporations. Opposition to such plans can easily be the best idea.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:10 PM on November 2, 2019 [34 favorites]
In case anyone is wondering, vote Yes on all the NYC city charter stuff and vote Jumanee Williams
posted by The Whelk at 2:13 PM on November 2, 2019 [16 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 2:13 PM on November 2, 2019 [16 favorites]
Is the anti-Trump suburban revolt escalating? Watch Virginia (AP)
Nearly three years into Trump’s administration, Virginia’s leftward shift appears to be rapidly accelerating. Since the beginning of 2017, Democrats have won every statewide contest, made historic gains in the House of Delegates and picked up three additional congressional seats. And on Tuesday, Democrats are just a handful of new seats away from seizing control of both chambers of the Virginia legislature for the first time in more than two decades.posted by katra at 2:46 PM on November 2, 2019 [13 favorites]
Voters across several other states also head to the polls Tuesday, including Mississippi and Kentucky, whose high-profile gubernatorial races have attracted Trump’s direct involvement. But more than anywhere, Virginia’s lower-profile state legislative elections will test the magnitude of the GOP’s suburban slide. Democratic victories could reshape the national political landscape in 2020 — and, perhaps more broadly, politics across the South for decades. Like Virginia, suburban North Carolina, Georgia and Texas have seen explosive growth and demographic shifts in recent years that have given Democrats real momentum, even if they have yet to break through. [...]
Virginia Republican Corey Stewart, an unapologetic Trump loyalist who was beaten badly in last year’s U.S. Senate race, suggested Trump would help his party by rallying the base in Virginia in what is expected to be a relatively low-turnout election. Still, he feared that the elections could be “a complete rout” for Republicans.
Standardized testing is a tool in the attack on public education and unions. Teachers everywhere generally oppose the tests,and they have good reasons.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:08 PM on November 2, 2019 [32 favorites]
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:08 PM on November 2, 2019 [32 favorites]
Trump to Mississippi rally crowd: Impeachment is an affront to you (Politico)
Trump was speaking in Tupelo to shore up support for Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, who is running for Mississippi governor. (“I can’t believe this is a competitive race,” Trump told the audience.) With impeachment procedings looming over the race, Trump is sweeping through Southern governors’ races in a bid to boost his own election campaign.posted by katra at 3:27 PM on November 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
It's not a calculated bid to boost his own election campaign; it's an addict who needs his fix. Donnie's got a sad because the mean old Democrats are being mean to him so he needs to cheer himself up with the adoration of his cult.
posted by Weeping_angel at 3:35 PM on November 2, 2019 [18 favorites]
posted by Weeping_angel at 3:35 PM on November 2, 2019 [18 favorites]
without the MAP, there is literally no measurement of student progress in Seattle
Erm, don't students get grades? Doesn't the district track those grades?
If the grades on the report cards are not measuring student progress, what are they for? If the grades are not a meaningful way to note student understanding and progress, then the grading system needs an overhaul.
I went and looked up details about the MAP:
I can think of so very many disabilities, learning delays, and temporary conditions that would make the results meaningless. Tracking the reading and math skills of kids aged 5-7 is meaningless; there is no measure of good or bad at that age that indicates academic potential later on, nor general life competency later.
Schools need to identify kids who will need specialized assistance, but any halfway competent teacher can tell you which kids those are. (Figuring out what assistance they need, and getting it to them, are more complicated problems... also not identifiable by computerized test.)
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 3:51 PM on November 2, 2019 [36 favorites]
Erm, don't students get grades? Doesn't the district track those grades?
If the grades on the report cards are not measuring student progress, what are they for? If the grades are not a meaningful way to note student understanding and progress, then the grading system needs an overhaul.
I went and looked up details about the MAP:
The Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment is taken on a computer and typically requires about an hour each for math and reading. The assessment measures a student's developing skills through a series of questions that adapt to the child’s level of learning.AAHAHAHAHA AHAHAH hahaha hah ... no.
Students in grades 3 and above are not required to take MAP.
I can think of so very many disabilities, learning delays, and temporary conditions that would make the results meaningless. Tracking the reading and math skills of kids aged 5-7 is meaningless; there is no measure of good or bad at that age that indicates academic potential later on, nor general life competency later.
Schools need to identify kids who will need specialized assistance, but any halfway competent teacher can tell you which kids those are. (Figuring out what assistance they need, and getting it to them, are more complicated problems... also not identifiable by computerized test.)
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 3:51 PM on November 2, 2019 [36 favorites]
Well, I'm convinced; Kshama Sawant sounds great.
posted by Reyturner at 3:58 PM on November 2, 2019 [18 favorites]
posted by Reyturner at 3:58 PM on November 2, 2019 [18 favorites]
A standardized test, in and of itself, is not problematic. In fact, it's a good thing and grades students in a particular mode of assessment. The problem is that standardized tests the only assessment used to make drastic judgements on students, their teachers, the school as a whole.
Standardized tests should be measurement, but other measurements should be used as well. Put simply, progress can be measured, but that means teachers track individual students, and with large class sizes that can be impossible. Also, that puts power in the hands of individual teachers, and plenty of folks calling the shots don't want to cede that power. Much easier to put all the eggs in one basket, and hey! Just by coincidence, Pearson et al have HUGE lobbying arms to make sure standardized tests are the only game in town.
It's like telling a carpenter to build a house, then giving him just a hammer to do it.
posted by zardoz at 4:01 PM on November 2, 2019 [4 favorites]
Standardized tests should be measurement, but other measurements should be used as well. Put simply, progress can be measured, but that means teachers track individual students, and with large class sizes that can be impossible. Also, that puts power in the hands of individual teachers, and plenty of folks calling the shots don't want to cede that power. Much easier to put all the eggs in one basket, and hey! Just by coincidence, Pearson et al have HUGE lobbying arms to make sure standardized tests are the only game in town.
It's like telling a carpenter to build a house, then giving him just a hammer to do it.
posted by zardoz at 4:01 PM on November 2, 2019 [4 favorites]
I've already happily voted against Kshama Sawant in the coming election
And I have voted for her, and heartily hope for more socialist candidates more like her than unlike her.
posted by mwhybark at 4:34 PM on November 2, 2019 [21 favorites]
And I have voted for her, and heartily hope for more socialist candidates more like her than unlike her.
posted by mwhybark at 4:34 PM on November 2, 2019 [21 favorites]
My Pittsburgh city council district's race was (almost certainly) decided in the primary in May. We don't have Republicans so the big fight is the Democratic primary. No republican has been elected to a city office since the early 1930s and they don't usually even bother to field a candidate. That said, our democrats can be pretty conservative; this council race was won by a middle-of-the-road centrist over a conservative democrat who almost certainly voted for Trump in 2016. The new guy is a decent chap and I think he'll be an effect council person but not really in any danger of being endorsed by the DSA.
posted by octothorpe at 4:56 PM on November 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 4:56 PM on November 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
Over here in Seattle District 7, I voted for Andrew Lewis for my Councilmember and Abigail Doerr for King County District 4.
In that link, the two candidates look remarkably similar give or take a few decades, but I phone banked for ST3 for Abigail (she ran the campaign to pass the ballot initiative) and trust her to really know (and implicitly, heh, agree with me on) transportation policy.
Her opponent sent out a mailer saying that "she rides the bus," but Abigail Doerr actually has proposals, e.g. improve east-west connectivity, improve wayfinding, and stop relying on farebox recovery.
posted by batter_my_heart at 5:19 PM on November 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
In that link, the two candidates look remarkably similar give or take a few decades, but I phone banked for ST3 for Abigail (she ran the campaign to pass the ballot initiative) and trust her to really know (and implicitly, heh, agree with me on) transportation policy.
Her opponent sent out a mailer saying that "she rides the bus," but Abigail Doerr actually has proposals, e.g. improve east-west connectivity, improve wayfinding, and stop relying on farebox recovery.
posted by batter_my_heart at 5:19 PM on November 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
I think Boeing would make a great employee owned company, but I think they should keep making planes.
posted by BeeDo at 5:29 PM on November 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by BeeDo at 5:29 PM on November 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
I maintain my statement is accurate, because without the MAP, there is literally no measurement of student progress in Seattle.
Have they abolished grades in Seattle public schools??? Awesome!
(Bad measurement is worse than no measurement at all when the bad measurement is used as an "objective" measure to exclude people from success in society.)
posted by praemunire at 6:25 PM on November 2, 2019 [21 favorites]
Have they abolished grades in Seattle public schools??? Awesome!
(Bad measurement is worse than no measurement at all when the bad measurement is used as an "objective" measure to exclude people from success in society.)
posted by praemunire at 6:25 PM on November 2, 2019 [21 favorites]
So... the problem with the socialist is that she has socialist positions, and has the audacity to talk about big socialist ideas in public? Because relying on some broad-outlook statements made several years ago as evidence that she's endangering your very way of life is quite a stretch.
To be clear, saeculorum’s problem with the socialist seems to be that she has socialist positions. And I think that’s a perfectly valid reason to not support her. You can argue whether saeculorum and others are misinterpreting her actual campaign positions, but she hasn’t exactly made herself clear because she turns up the rhetoric depending on who her audience is, so there’s this divisiveness to her leadership that makes it hard for her to collaborate and hard for the electorate to know things about her, only to “feel” things. Sound familiar? For the record, I’m opposed to standardized testing in public schools (not the council’s jurisdiction) all for employee owned factories (first time I’ve heard of Boeing employees wanting to take over, but Boeing employs few people within Seattle city limits and none in her district). No the real problem is that in 4 years she doesn’t seem to be able to do anything besides talk about “big socialist ideas in public.” And it’s too bad because there’s huge problems coming to a head here that require the best people to fight hard and we have a lot of smart policy minded people here with great experience and yes some of them are socialists and we’re just wasting time with a blowhard.
Fortunately I get the pleasure of voting for Shaun Scott in my district, who’s a (democratic) socialist and has experience organizing for Jayapal and serving as interim council and seems like a really thoughtful guy who knows how to make an impact without alienating everyone who can help him create his vision. I think he should win easily.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 6:38 PM on November 2, 2019 [10 favorites]
To be clear, saeculorum’s problem with the socialist seems to be that she has socialist positions. And I think that’s a perfectly valid reason to not support her. You can argue whether saeculorum and others are misinterpreting her actual campaign positions, but she hasn’t exactly made herself clear because she turns up the rhetoric depending on who her audience is, so there’s this divisiveness to her leadership that makes it hard for her to collaborate and hard for the electorate to know things about her, only to “feel” things. Sound familiar? For the record, I’m opposed to standardized testing in public schools (not the council’s jurisdiction) all for employee owned factories (first time I’ve heard of Boeing employees wanting to take over, but Boeing employs few people within Seattle city limits and none in her district). No the real problem is that in 4 years she doesn’t seem to be able to do anything besides talk about “big socialist ideas in public.” And it’s too bad because there’s huge problems coming to a head here that require the best people to fight hard and we have a lot of smart policy minded people here with great experience and yes some of them are socialists and we’re just wasting time with a blowhard.
Fortunately I get the pleasure of voting for Shaun Scott in my district, who’s a (democratic) socialist and has experience organizing for Jayapal and serving as interim council and seems like a really thoughtful guy who knows how to make an impact without alienating everyone who can help him create his vision. I think he should win easily.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 6:38 PM on November 2, 2019 [10 favorites]
I don't live in Seattle, so I can't vote for Sawant, though I wish I could. Looking in from the suburbs (and as someone who works in Seattle each day), I know that when she was first elected I thought she would make a wonderfully disruptive voice on the council, and so she has. It might be completely different to be one of her constituents, but from out here I think we need someone who doesn't think like everyone (or even anyone) else.
posted by lhauser at 7:42 PM on November 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by lhauser at 7:42 PM on November 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
Sadly, I don’t have any horses in any of the races, but as far as educational standards go, look to Japan if you want to see the logical outcome of ceding educational assessment to private, for profit companies. Here, the company Benesse creates a sizeable number of the commonly taken standardized tests, while at the same time also creating and selling educational materials that literally teach to the tests they create. They are a private company, yet they have a footprint so large that they fundamentally decide what does and does not get taught in Japan, across a wide range of subjects. In essence, Japanese teachers teach towards an assessment test handed down from a private company, and schools pay that company for the texts to prepare their students to take the tests.
All students are doing is learning how to pass a very specific set of tests, and I can personally attest to how little they retain across a wide range of topics, as well as a pretty solid range of schools and levels.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:10 PM on November 2, 2019 [14 favorites]
All students are doing is learning how to pass a very specific set of tests, and I can personally attest to how little they retain across a wide range of topics, as well as a pretty solid range of schools and levels.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:10 PM on November 2, 2019 [14 favorites]
MtDewd: "Two years ago, the Democrats failed to win control of the VA legislature by one seat, which was decided by a coin toss."
Minor correction: This is what happened in the House of Delegates. The Senate would have remained in GOP hands regardless, as they elect the full chamber every four years (as opposed to staggered terms, like in the US Senate).
Even more minor correction: It wasn't a coin toss - they drew names from a bowl.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:46 PM on November 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
Minor correction: This is what happened in the House of Delegates. The Senate would have remained in GOP hands regardless, as they elect the full chamber every four years (as opposed to staggered terms, like in the US Senate).
Even more minor correction: It wasn't a coin toss - they drew names from a bowl.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:46 PM on November 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
Two good lists of races to watch: one from Daily Kos Elections, one from Daniel Nichanian.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:52 PM on November 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Chrysostom at 9:52 PM on November 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
I've already happily voted against Kshama Sawant in the coming election
I'll be sure to specifically counteract your vote, with the assurance of the rest of the household voting in kind (uncoerced), for your interactions in this thread. Cheers!
posted by CrystalDave at 12:09 AM on November 3, 2019 [5 favorites]
I'll be sure to specifically counteract your vote, with the assurance of the rest of the household voting in kind (uncoerced), for your interactions in this thread. Cheers!
posted by CrystalDave at 12:09 AM on November 3, 2019 [5 favorites]
Mod note: A few deleted; this thread is for Nov 5, 2019 state and local elections, not the 2020 presidential.
posted by taz (staff) at 4:10 AM on November 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by taz (staff) at 4:10 AM on November 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
Shout out and thanks to the people who answered my question re: the ballot initiatives in NYC’s election.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 4:52 AM on November 3, 2019
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 4:52 AM on November 3, 2019
for your interactions in this thread
For having the temerity to voice and defend an unpopular opinion on MetaFilter? Congratulations.
I'm not from the US, but I'm from here and I'm worried about us when I see such attempts to enforce unity of mind. I believe that it's saeculorum's opinions, not conduct, that provoked the ire, I don't see anything in their interactions that would merit such a reaction. If you want to let them know you'll counter their vote, do it, but don't make it about their behavior.
posted by hat_eater at 6:21 AM on November 3, 2019 [7 favorites]
For having the temerity to voice and defend an unpopular opinion on MetaFilter? Congratulations.
I'm not from the US, but I'm from here and I'm worried about us when I see such attempts to enforce unity of mind. I believe that it's saeculorum's opinions, not conduct, that provoked the ire, I don't see anything in their interactions that would merit such a reaction. If you want to let them know you'll counter their vote, do it, but don't make it about their behavior.
posted by hat_eater at 6:21 AM on November 3, 2019 [7 favorites]
I voted for Sawant when I lived in her district, but I agree with Slarty that it's hard to point to a leftist record of accomplishment in her time on the council, and I heard some of the same rumblings from people in government that Slarty has about how difficult she has been to work with.
You don't need to be on city council to be an outsider firebrand; if that's all Sawant has to offer, we (well, you, I moved to Minneapolis) should find someone more effective. Not this cycle though; certainly vote Sawant against the shirt stuffed full of Amazon dollars.
posted by Kwine at 6:58 AM on November 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
You don't need to be on city council to be an outsider firebrand; if that's all Sawant has to offer, we (well, you, I moved to Minneapolis) should find someone more effective. Not this cycle though; certainly vote Sawant against the shirt stuffed full of Amazon dollars.
posted by Kwine at 6:58 AM on November 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm not from the US, but I'm from here and I'm worried about us when I see such attempts to enforce unity of mind. I believe that it's saeculorum's opinions, not conduct, that provoked the ire, I don't see anything in their interactions that would merit such a reaction. If you want to let them know you'll counter their vote, do it, but don't make it about their behavior.
A polite endorsement for the white supremacist politics of nativism and xenophobia is still an endorsement for the white supremacist politics of nativism and xenophobia and should be vigorously challenged whenever and wherever they emerge.
posted by Ouverture at 7:20 AM on November 3, 2019 [23 favorites]
A polite endorsement for the white supremacist politics of nativism and xenophobia is still an endorsement for the white supremacist politics of nativism and xenophobia and should be vigorously challenged whenever and wherever they emerge.
posted by Ouverture at 7:20 AM on November 3, 2019 [23 favorites]
Fine! That's what others did: they offered factual corrections and challenged the opinions. But there is a world of difference between challenging opinions and excluding them from conversation. And branding interactions with others as detrimental to the conversation, when they don't merit such criticism, leads directly to excluding people from the conversation altogether. Are we really comfortable about it? Then maybe we should update the FAQ with a list of unwelcome opinions.
posted by hat_eater at 3:11 PM on November 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by hat_eater at 3:11 PM on November 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
The US currently appears to be detaining and torturing people, including children, in order to dissuade people from applying for asylum as they are allowed to by international treaties signed by the US.
Metafilter most certainly excludes my actual opinion of what even polite support for this sort of policy deserves. I am perfectly comfortable with the site excluding support for those things, even if it is only implicit and couched in politeness.
posted by Zalzidrax at 4:44 PM on November 3, 2019 [11 favorites]
Metafilter most certainly excludes my actual opinion of what even polite support for this sort of policy deserves. I am perfectly comfortable with the site excluding support for those things, even if it is only implicit and couched in politeness.
posted by Zalzidrax at 4:44 PM on November 3, 2019 [11 favorites]
Fine! That's what others did: they offered factual corrections and challenged the opinions. But there is a world of difference between challenging opinions and excluding them from conversation.
Indeed there is! White supremacist opinions of nativism and xenophobia, as Ouverture so well put it, do not deserve the legitimacy of challenge through conversation and and debate. They deserve to be excluded and silenced.
And branding interactions with others as detrimental to the conversation, when they don't merit such criticism, leads directly to excluding people from the conversation altogether. Are we really comfortable about it? Then maybe we should update the FAQ with a list of unwelcome opinions.
Most places have rules about the kinds of bigotry they don't allow, yes. The first remaining post in this thread is from a mod, about deleting the actual first post in this thread. And if you look close, you can tell exactly what it was.
"When they don't merit such criticism" is a bit of a bold assumption, and not one that's shared.
posted by kafziel at 11:08 PM on November 3, 2019 [8 favorites]
Indeed there is! White supremacist opinions of nativism and xenophobia, as Ouverture so well put it, do not deserve the legitimacy of challenge through conversation and and debate. They deserve to be excluded and silenced.
And branding interactions with others as detrimental to the conversation, when they don't merit such criticism, leads directly to excluding people from the conversation altogether. Are we really comfortable about it? Then maybe we should update the FAQ with a list of unwelcome opinions.
Most places have rules about the kinds of bigotry they don't allow, yes. The first remaining post in this thread is from a mod, about deleting the actual first post in this thread. And if you look close, you can tell exactly what it was.
"When they don't merit such criticism" is a bit of a bold assumption, and not one that's shared.
posted by kafziel at 11:08 PM on November 3, 2019 [8 favorites]
waves at the rest of the Seattle mefites
I'm over in District 6, where -- at least according to Facebook groups -- we basically have a scorched earth war of posts going on between an out of town obsessive Wills supporter and a local obsessive "Amazon sucks" Strauss supporter. Both of them seem roughly in line with each other, but, yeah, Wills is getting the benefit of a large corporate PAC donation by Amazon and Strauss is not. Wills is generally more in favor of sweeping homeless encampments, whereas Strauss... might not be? It's fuzzy, honestly.
This district (along with Slarty's D4) is the epicenter of Seattle's NIMBY base; probably D2, as well, now that I think about it. It's massively dominated by single family homes and staggering intergenerational wealth, compared to much of the city.
I honestly don't think Seattle will be pulling back from its more important policies like support for immigrants. I'm just hoping we get a reasonable CC, here; one that actually holds the mayor's feet to the fire to deliver on bike infrastructure and transit.
posted by ChrisR at 6:41 AM on November 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm over in District 6, where -- at least according to Facebook groups -- we basically have a scorched earth war of posts going on between an out of town obsessive Wills supporter and a local obsessive "Amazon sucks" Strauss supporter. Both of them seem roughly in line with each other, but, yeah, Wills is getting the benefit of a large corporate PAC donation by Amazon and Strauss is not. Wills is generally more in favor of sweeping homeless encampments, whereas Strauss... might not be? It's fuzzy, honestly.
This district (along with Slarty's D4) is the epicenter of Seattle's NIMBY base; probably D2, as well, now that I think about it. It's massively dominated by single family homes and staggering intergenerational wealth, compared to much of the city.
I honestly don't think Seattle will be pulling back from its more important policies like support for immigrants. I'm just hoping we get a reasonable CC, here; one that actually holds the mayor's feet to the fire to deliver on bike infrastructure and transit.
posted by ChrisR at 6:41 AM on November 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
After decades visiting his parents in prison, this lawyer wants to be San Francisco’s next DA (WaPo)
posted by KatlaDragon at 7:29 AM on November 4, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by KatlaDragon at 7:29 AM on November 4, 2019 [6 favorites]
Here in Grand Rapids Michigan our incumbent mayor Rosalynn Bliss is running against Daniel Schutte. Here's an example of their answers to questions about their policies:
----------------------
What would you propose to address the city’s current housing challenges?
ROSALYNN BLISS: Affordable housing continues to be a critical issue in our city. In the past couple of years, we have adopted changes to our zoning code, increased our down payment assistance program for low-income homeowners, approved a low-income housing tax policy, passed a residential rental application ordinance and supported the eviction prevention pilot program. We have actively advocated for low-income housing projects seeking low income housing tax credits from the state and are currently developing a partnership with the Michigan Land Bank that will allow us access to the tools they possess to help redevelop properties. Over the next six months we will work with community partners to complete a housing needs assessment that will provide accurate and comprehensive data and information on which to base future decisions. We will examine the effectiveness of the changes we have made over the past two years and we will begin the process to update our master plan to enable smart equitable growth.
DANIEL SCHUTTE: Educate in a personal way how any Grand Rapids citizen can acquire clean, adequate housing by following the principles given to us in God’s holy word -- the Bible.
posted by JohnFromGR at 9:52 AM on November 4, 2019 [14 favorites]
----------------------
What would you propose to address the city’s current housing challenges?
ROSALYNN BLISS: Affordable housing continues to be a critical issue in our city. In the past couple of years, we have adopted changes to our zoning code, increased our down payment assistance program for low-income homeowners, approved a low-income housing tax policy, passed a residential rental application ordinance and supported the eviction prevention pilot program. We have actively advocated for low-income housing projects seeking low income housing tax credits from the state and are currently developing a partnership with the Michigan Land Bank that will allow us access to the tools they possess to help redevelop properties. Over the next six months we will work with community partners to complete a housing needs assessment that will provide accurate and comprehensive data and information on which to base future decisions. We will examine the effectiveness of the changes we have made over the past two years and we will begin the process to update our master plan to enable smart equitable growth.
DANIEL SCHUTTE: Educate in a personal way how any Grand Rapids citizen can acquire clean, adequate housing by following the principles given to us in God’s holy word -- the Bible.
posted by JohnFromGR at 9:52 AM on November 4, 2019 [14 favorites]
My wife and I voted absentee in person (Virginia's equivalent of early voting) on Saturday, the last day it was an option. Not a packed house, but steady -- we got there and had to wait behind four other voters to get our ballots, and when we went to fill them out there were about eight other people casting votes. I've never done this before (and I just moved to a new district) so I have no idea how to gauge that turnout, but here's hoping. I'm still bitter over that damn coin flip in Norfolk.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 10:16 AM on November 4, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 10:16 AM on November 4, 2019 [4 favorites]
VPAP is your source for Virginia voting data. Most places: way up.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:23 AM on November 4, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 10:23 AM on November 4, 2019 [7 favorites]
Compared to 2015, but 2017 is the most recent comparison (even if it was also a statewide-elections year) so I'm surprised they're not looking at it too.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 10:25 AM on November 4, 2019
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 10:25 AM on November 4, 2019
I think 2015 is the most apples to apples, though? Not only did 2017 have statewide, it didn't have Senate, and 2015 did.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:46 AM on November 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Chrysostom at 10:46 AM on November 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
Here in Grand Rapids Michigan our incumbent mayor Rosalynn Bliss is running against Daniel Schutte. Here's an example of their answers to questions about their policies:
Yikes! That's not even the most cringe-worthy answer Schutte gave.
Yikes! That's not even the most cringe-worthy answer Schutte gave.
If elected, what will your top three priorities be?posted by zakur at 11:27 AM on November 4, 2019 [5 favorites]
DANIEL SCHUTTE:
1. To proclaim the glory and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only “answer” to every one of our problems and challenges.
2. To address the No. 1 “civil rights” issue of our day ... the murder of the precious and unwanted children of Grand Rapids that may be destined to be destroyed through their murder (commonly referred to as “abortion”).
3. To seek to make the city of Grand Rapids a “sanctuary city” for all unwanted children destined to be murdered through abortion.
We have a four-way race for mayor here in my smallish (pop. ~19,000) city adjacent to Portland, Maine: the Republican-nominated candidate, the Democrat-nominated candidate, then two other Dems who raised enough signatures to run after not getting the nomination in the Dem caucus - this includes the 1-term incumbent current mayor.
In the last race we had 1R, 2D and 1 Independent running - and the nominated Dem won with the other Dem close behind and the Republican pretty far behind. This year the Republican candidate is much more well known (and has actually done a lot to promote the city), but has no political experience. Everything seemed to be going along pretty well, but in the last month the animosity and Facebook meltdowns and real life fighting has increased exponentially. Glad it will be done before someone calls for dueling pistols.
With no sort of polling, there is absolutely no way to know how this is going to go. The three Ds split the vote and the R wins? Makes sense. The R and the current mayor split votes because they are both sort of "old school" city residents? Could happen. The current mayor and the nominated Dem split the established Dem vote, R performs at about the same as last election, and the outsider Dem slips in? Maybe!
(No national implications here, but I am extra-excited because it's my kid's first time voting!)
posted by mikepop at 11:33 AM on November 4, 2019
In the last race we had 1R, 2D and 1 Independent running - and the nominated Dem won with the other Dem close behind and the Republican pretty far behind. This year the Republican candidate is much more well known (and has actually done a lot to promote the city), but has no political experience. Everything seemed to be going along pretty well, but in the last month the animosity and Facebook meltdowns and real life fighting has increased exponentially. Glad it will be done before someone calls for dueling pistols.
With no sort of polling, there is absolutely no way to know how this is going to go. The three Ds split the vote and the R wins? Makes sense. The R and the current mayor split votes because they are both sort of "old school" city residents? Could happen. The current mayor and the nominated Dem split the established Dem vote, R performs at about the same as last election, and the outsider Dem slips in? Maybe!
(No national implications here, but I am extra-excited because it's my kid's first time voting!)
posted by mikepop at 11:33 AM on November 4, 2019
3. To seek to make the city of Grand Rapids a “sanctuary city” for all unwanted children destined to be murdered through abortion.
Well that presents some logistical conundrums, and by "logistical conundrums" I mean "I'm betting that if you look into how this guy has treated women up to now you'll find out that he should absolutely be in prison."
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:37 AM on November 4, 2019 [17 favorites]
Well that presents some logistical conundrums, and by "logistical conundrums" I mean "I'm betting that if you look into how this guy has treated women up to now you'll find out that he should absolutely be in prison."
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:37 AM on November 4, 2019 [17 favorites]
A very impressive slate of progressives is up for the mayoral and city council races in my town, (Aurora, CO) including one woman my husband went to high school with. The only downside is that I had to agonize over four different but equally progressive at-large council candidates for a race with two seats. I fear they might split the ballot and we'd wind up with a conservative schmuck in at least one of the at-large seats. Not sure there's much that can be done about that short of convincing some of the progressives to drop out.
posted by zeusianfog at 2:16 PM on November 4, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by zeusianfog at 2:16 PM on November 4, 2019 [3 favorites]
I am not sure if anyone is up for election in Glynn County, GA tomorrow, but you can be sure I'm going to roll by my polling place just in case.
posted by JHarris at 9:12 PM on November 4, 2019
posted by JHarris at 9:12 PM on November 4, 2019
I just voted in Northern VA. Steady turn out at polling place, had to wait a few minutes in line to pick up my ballot and to scan my ballot, more than usual wait times for a non presidential election. Come on VA, I've got my fingers crossed, don't let me down!
posted by my_metafilter_account at 5:02 AM on November 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by my_metafilter_account at 5:02 AM on November 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
I was number one hundred early morning at my voting place
posted by The Whelk at 8:09 AM on November 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 8:09 AM on November 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
We voted at 6:30am here in northwest VA. Took a selfie with Irina Khanin, our Va House of Delegates candidate, in the parking lot. We use scanned paper ballots, with the little bubbles you have to fill in. Once you're done filling in your bubbles next to your chosen candidates, you take it to a machine that looks like a large rolling trashcan topped with a Xerox machine. You feed your ballot into the scanner and an LED screen above tells you whether the machine "accepted" your ballot. (Don't get me started on how this is a poor substitute for traceability. That's another story, not this one.)
While we were there the electricity inside the polling place had some kind of surge, apparently, causing an outage for less than a minute. When the lights came back on, the ballot scanner took a while to come back to life. The two officials/volunteers kept telling people in the line forming that they were free to "leave your ballot in a box here in the back of the machine. We have a provision for this. We'll personally scan them in later."
NOPE. Only 1 of 10 people in line agreed to hand over their ballot for this provisional acceptance. Everyone else was like "Nah, I'm good with waiting" and "I don't care how long this line gets."
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 8:31 AM on November 5, 2019 [16 favorites]
While we were there the electricity inside the polling place had some kind of surge, apparently, causing an outage for less than a minute. When the lights came back on, the ballot scanner took a while to come back to life. The two officials/volunteers kept telling people in the line forming that they were free to "leave your ballot in a box here in the back of the machine. We have a provision for this. We'll personally scan them in later."
NOPE. Only 1 of 10 people in line agreed to hand over their ballot for this provisional acceptance. Everyone else was like "Nah, I'm good with waiting" and "I don't care how long this line gets."
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 8:31 AM on November 5, 2019 [16 favorites]
mikepop, does Maine have ranked choice voting for local races?
posted by Chrysostom at 9:44 AM on November 5, 2019
posted by Chrysostom at 9:44 AM on November 5, 2019
Unfortunately, our city does not. It would have been quite helpful in this situation. Portland has used it for Mayor since 2011. If this trend continues we might have to consider it!
posted by mikepop at 10:15 AM on November 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by mikepop at 10:15 AM on November 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
VPAP is your source for Virginia voting data.
I worked pretty closely with VPAP at one point in my career and they've always done rock-solid and very cool work. This one, for example, really surprised me. I did not expect that party affiliation split in the absentee ballots.
posted by martin q blank at 11:16 AM on November 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
I worked pretty closely with VPAP at one point in my career and they've always done rock-solid and very cool work. This one, for example, really surprised me. I did not expect that party affiliation split in the absentee ballots.
posted by martin q blank at 11:16 AM on November 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
VA turnout appears to be very high.
posted by Chrysostom at 3:32 PM on November 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 3:32 PM on November 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
Apparently VPAP has exploded. Throwing Heroku errors.
posted by tavella at 4:25 PM on November 5, 2019
posted by tavella at 4:25 PM on November 5, 2019
VPAP came back again for me. We picked up 11 seats in the House of Delegates. One seat is still undecided. They still aren't reporting State Senate results. I'm also getting errors from the VA Dept. of Elections. I think our elections have been getting a lot of interest tonight.
Before the Dept. of Elections site broke, I was able to check my local results. Charlottesville's elected a DSA member to City Council for first time, giving affordable housing advocates a majority.
posted by nangar at 5:26 PM on November 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
Before the Dept. of Elections site broke, I was able to check my local results. Charlottesville's elected a DSA member to City Council for first time, giving affordable housing advocates a majority.
posted by nangar at 5:26 PM on November 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
Both sites seem to be OK now. VPAP's reporting Senate results now, but it's nowhere near complete.
posted by nangar at 5:35 PM on November 5, 2019
posted by nangar at 5:35 PM on November 5, 2019
The Kentucky governor race is making me extremely anxious.
posted by palomar at 5:52 PM on November 5, 2019
posted by palomar at 5:52 PM on November 5, 2019
our big red boy Lee Carter projected to keep his seat
posted by Rust Moranis at 5:58 PM on November 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Rust Moranis at 5:58 PM on November 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
So far it looks like it's somewhere between good and better than expected on the Wasserman scale.
posted by tavella at 6:00 PM on November 5, 2019
posted by tavella at 6:00 PM on November 5, 2019
Kentucky governor Bevin trails Dem challenger in tight race (Politico)
With more than 95 percent of the vote tallied, Beshear held a narrow lead over Bevin, with less than 1 percentage point separating the two candidates. Beshear was riding wide margins in and around the cities of Lexington and Louisville, while Bevin was romping through many of the state's rural counties. [...]posted by katra at 6:07 PM on November 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
In Kentucky, Bevin is hoping to ride a surge of enthusiasm after Trump’s visit to the state on Monday night. The president urged his supporters to get out and vote for Bevin, whose abrasive governing style has led to low approval ratings that threatened his reelection in a state Trump carried by 30 percentage points in 2016. [...]
Beshear, on the other hand, is running the red-state Democrat’s playbook, focusing on public education, access to health care and other local issues. For most of this century, Democrats — including Beshear’s father, former Gov. Steve Beshear — were able to outrun Kentucky’s rightward shift at the presidential level, buoyed by an ancestral advantage in voter registration. But Tuesday’s race is widely seen as a test of whether every race is nationalized in a hyper-partisan era, defined by the latest cable news controversies out of Washington.
The Kentucky governor race is making me extremely anxious.
Per Geoffrey Skelley (538), it looks very good for Beshear.
posted by notpace at 6:09 PM on November 5, 2019
Per Geoffrey Skelley (538), it looks very good for Beshear.
posted by notpace at 6:09 PM on November 5, 2019
NYC charter and public advocate votes loom primed to go the good way
posted by The Whelk at 6:26 PM on November 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 6:26 PM on November 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
So I went to vote here in Philly after work. I am a bad citizen and didn't do much research before voting. This is usually fine, because I can usually just vote straight ticket D and if there are ballot measure questions, they are generally explained well enough that I can make an informed choice. In addition to those, there were also a bunch of judges up for re-nomination and I dunno...like, I didn't google 15 judges beforehand to make a call. I am feeling some guilt about that. Hopefully none of them are garbage monsters??? My default heuristic kicked in and I just pushed no on all the male looking names and yes on all the women looking names.
posted by lazaruslong at 6:28 PM on November 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by lazaruslong at 6:28 PM on November 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yeah, you know what's funny? It turns out that even conservative people want to have access to healthcare! "Fuck you, we're going to take away your healthcare to own the liberals" is not a winning electoral strategy, even in Kentucky! It's wild, but it's true!
There's a grownup part of me that thinks that the Democratic trifecta in Virginia, assuming that happens, should introduce some sort of non-partisan redistricting commission, and there's a petty and probably smarter part of me that thinks they should gerrymander that fucker so that no Republican is ever elected dogcatcher anywhere in the state ever again.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:28 PM on November 5, 2019 [16 favorites]
There's a grownup part of me that thinks that the Democratic trifecta in Virginia, assuming that happens, should introduce some sort of non-partisan redistricting commission, and there's a petty and probably smarter part of me that thinks they should gerrymander that fucker so that no Republican is ever elected dogcatcher anywhere in the state ever again.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:28 PM on November 5, 2019 [16 favorites]
oh but i also voted for 2 ppl from the Working Families Party because they texted me a lot and their website / issues looks dope af
posted by lazaruslong at 6:28 PM on November 5, 2019
posted by lazaruslong at 6:28 PM on November 5, 2019
Trump, to his supporters last night in Kentucky:
posted by zakur at 6:36 PM on November 5, 2019 [34 favorites]
If you lose, they are going to say Trump suffered the greatest defeat in the history of the world. You can't let that happen to me!This schadenfreude pie is delicious.
posted by zakur at 6:36 PM on November 5, 2019 [34 favorites]
Among the most delightful minor results in Virginia was that a woman who was fired after she flipped off Trump's motorcade ran for county board and won, ousting a Republican. Her district includes Trump National.
posted by tavella at 6:36 PM on November 5, 2019 [63 favorites]
posted by tavella at 6:36 PM on November 5, 2019 [63 favorites]
Looks like Kentucky governor just went blue. Called for Andy Beshear.
Once again Harlan, one of the poorest counties in the state (96% white, median income $18,000), where 60% of the people are on Medicaid, voted 70% for the guy who pledged to take away their Medicaid. Go figure. Best that I can guess is all the people on Medicaid stayed home?
posted by JackFlash at 6:39 PM on November 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
Once again Harlan, one of the poorest counties in the state (96% white, median income $18,000), where 60% of the people are on Medicaid, voted 70% for the guy who pledged to take away their Medicaid. Go figure. Best that I can guess is all the people on Medicaid stayed home?
posted by JackFlash at 6:39 PM on November 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
The Virginia State Senate majority has been called for the Democrats, and they are currently leading for the majority in the House of Delegates. (WaPo)
posted by katra at 6:46 PM on November 5, 2019 [17 favorites]
posted by katra at 6:46 PM on November 5, 2019 [17 favorites]
Democratic majority in both houses now called for Virginia! (WaPo)
posted by katra at 6:55 PM on November 5, 2019 [31 favorites]
posted by katra at 6:55 PM on November 5, 2019 [31 favorites]
Democrats just pulled off a huge win, taking control of Virginia’s state legislature, Ella Nilsen, Vox.
posted by nangar at 6:58 PM on November 5, 2019 [17 favorites]
posted by nangar at 6:58 PM on November 5, 2019 [17 favorites]
I am so frigging proud of people in Virginia. (I am irrationally emotionally invested in Virginia for someone who has never lived there. But it's the ancestral homeland, and I spent a lot of time there as a kid, and I am invested.) People in Virginia overcame all sorts of Republican shenanigans and gerrymandering and a super-voter-unfriendly voting system to win this victory, and they deserve all the credit. Go Virginia! You're a blue state now!
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:02 PM on November 5, 2019 [18 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:02 PM on November 5, 2019 [18 favorites]
Minor thing, but Jennifer Nassour, who chaired the Massachusetts Republican State Committee in the (brief) Scott Brown era tried dabbling in local politics by running for a city-council seat in Boston. She lost tonight by a 2-1 margin. Also, tonight's council results mean 8 of the 13 councilors will be women, a far cry from just 7 years ago, when then Councilor Ayanna Presley was the only woman member.
posted by adamg at 7:10 PM on November 5, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by adamg at 7:10 PM on November 5, 2019 [11 favorites]
Special election alert: Democrats have flipped Missouri HD-99, in the St. Louis suburbs, 54–46%. This is an R+11 seat, making for a remarkable 19-point D swing.
posted by The Whelk at 7:13 PM on November 5, 2019 [42 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 7:13 PM on November 5, 2019 [42 favorites]
In addition to the legislative wins, I'm proud to say that Virginia has also elected two reformer DAs: Steve Descano in Fairfax County and Buta Biberaj in Loudoun. Both won tough races against tough-on-crime fossils (although Steve's was the Democratic primary - he trashed an independent police-endorsed opponent tonight) and I can't wait to see what they do.
(Also I managed to vote for both of them in their decisive elections, since I lived in Fairfax during the primary and then moved to Loudoun two months ago. I helped!)
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:22 PM on November 5, 2019 [11 favorites]
(Also I managed to vote for both of them in their decisive elections, since I lived in Fairfax during the primary and then moved to Loudoun two months ago. I helped!)
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:22 PM on November 5, 2019 [11 favorites]
6 years ago, Rasheen was a striking Jimmy John's worker who I called up to interview for an article I was writing about the first #FightFor15 fast food strike in St. Louis. BREAKING: @SheenBean32, the very first #FightFor15 worker to go on strike in St. Louis, is the projected winner of Missouri State Assembly's 78th District!
posted by The Whelk at 7:30 PM on November 5, 2019 [26 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 7:30 PM on November 5, 2019 [26 favorites]
In ballot measure news, New York City has adopted Ranked Choice Voting (by a 73/27 margin). While RCV is a non-partisan systemic change to the way that votes are counted, it has the capability to eliminate "spoiler" candidates and improve civility in campaigns. Maine adopted RCV in 2018 and there are several other municipalities and states looking to do the same. New York City is the largest municipality to do so thus far.
posted by notpace at 7:33 PM on November 5, 2019 [27 favorites]
posted by notpace at 7:33 PM on November 5, 2019 [27 favorites]
Rosalynn Bliss appears to have won her race for mayor of Grand Rapids, MI (local ABC station). She has a >10,000 vote lead, currently. The race was mentioned upthread .
posted by miguelcervantes at 7:33 PM on November 5, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by miguelcervantes at 7:33 PM on November 5, 2019 [10 favorites]
Also in Jersey City the Anti-Airbnb amendment go passed by overwhelming approval despite airBNB spending millions in local ads against it and that's good and cool
posted by The Whelk at 7:42 PM on November 5, 2019 [25 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 7:42 PM on November 5, 2019 [25 favorites]
Predictably, Matt Bevin refuses to concede the governor's race in Kentucky, citing "voting irregularities". According to Kentucky law there will be no automatic recount and Bevin will need to foot the bill for it. Given the downballot success of other Republicans his claims of voter fraud are highly likely to be bullshit and he will probably lose.
posted by notpace at 8:21 PM on November 5, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by notpace at 8:21 PM on November 5, 2019 [10 favorites]
If you lose, they are going to say Trump suffered the greatest defeat in the history of the world. You can't let that happen to me!
What I wouldn't give for a major paper to run with "Trump Suffers Greatest Defeat in the History of the World" as the headline tomorrow.
posted by jedicus at 8:37 PM on November 5, 2019 [29 favorites]
What I wouldn't give for a major paper to run with "Trump Suffers Greatest Defeat in the History of the World" as the headline tomorrow.
posted by jedicus at 8:37 PM on November 5, 2019 [29 favorites]
The Sanctuary City measure in Tucson failed by a huge margin. Part of this isn’t necessarily a rejection of the idea, but the fact that the state would take away a huge amount of state shared money from Tucson had this become the law. The GOP is still in charge of the trifecta at the state level and they’ve done everything they can to pass pre-emption laws to keep the cities from passing progressive legislation.
Also, Regina Romero won the mayoral race, so we’ll have a Latino woman in the seat, which is definitely a first. The two open city council seats also stayed blue.
posted by azpenguin at 8:48 PM on November 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
Also, Regina Romero won the mayoral race, so we’ll have a Latino woman in the seat, which is definitely a first. The two open city council seats also stayed blue.
posted by azpenguin at 8:48 PM on November 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
Polls are closed in Washington but ballots won't be fully counted tonight (or tomorrow). In the early counts, Amazon-backed candidates are leading in some of the Seattle City Council races, while their labor-backed opponents are ahead in others. Statewide, Referendum 88 to reinstate affirmative action is trailing but it's very close.
posted by mbrubeck at 8:52 PM on November 5, 2019
posted by mbrubeck at 8:52 PM on November 5, 2019
I lost my bid for city council to a Republican incumbent running for her fourth term, 42 percent to 57 percent. In the past four elections, there had been only one contested race for this seat. We don't know if a Dem has ever even run for this seat.
posted by NotLost at 10:41 PM on November 5, 2019 [82 favorites]
posted by NotLost at 10:41 PM on November 5, 2019 [82 favorites]
Democrats in VA flipped 6 six seats in the House and 2 in the Senate. (Earlier, I said we'd picked up 11 seats in the House. This turned out to be wrong. I wanted to correct that.)
posted by nangar at 4:19 AM on November 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by nangar at 4:19 AM on November 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
Thanks for running, NotLost!
posted by box at 4:39 AM on November 6, 2019 [21 favorites]
posted by box at 4:39 AM on November 6, 2019 [21 favorites]
“ Joe Biden’s hometown of Scranton is now represented by a leftist independent whose slogan was “Paige Against the Machine”
posted by The Whelk at 4:39 AM on November 6, 2019 [34 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 4:39 AM on November 6, 2019 [34 favorites]
The blue wave crashes down on Pennsylvania again, as voters from Philly to Delaware County turn left
posted by octothorpe at 4:43 AM on November 6, 2019 [18 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 4:43 AM on November 6, 2019 [18 favorites]
This schadenfreude pie is delicious.
I concur.
posted by schadenfrau at 6:10 AM on November 6, 2019 [14 favorites]
I concur.
posted by schadenfrau at 6:10 AM on November 6, 2019 [14 favorites]
Voters in Virginia's 10th Senate district, which includes parts of south Richmond and neighboring suburbs, elected the first Muslim-American woman, Ghazala Hashmi, to the State Senate. This is one of the two State Senate seats Democrats flipped yesterday to give us a majority in the upper house. Her acceptance speech is pretty moving and worth listening to.
posted by nangar at 6:14 AM on November 6, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by nangar at 6:14 AM on November 6, 2019 [9 favorites]
Also my friend in podcasting Bill won his city council seat in MA
posted by The Whelk at 6:50 AM on November 6, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 6:50 AM on November 6, 2019 [8 favorites]
Meanwhile, in Boston's City Council race, the top 4 finishers for councilor-at-large get seats. Progressive firebrand (and first-gen immigrant and woman of color) Julia Meija currently holds the slimmest margin of victory I've ever personally witnessed over the 5th-place finisher: 42,464 to 42,454. 10 votes, a .04% margin. At 7:00 PM last night, I strong-armed my wife into bundling up the kids and walking the 4 blocks to the polling station in the pissing rain with me to vote for Julia Meija, over her protestations that I should go alone because it couldn't possibly matter.
posted by Mayor West at 7:24 AM on November 6, 2019 [35 favorites]
posted by Mayor West at 7:24 AM on November 6, 2019 [35 favorites]
This schadenfreude pie is delicious.
Meanwhile, the sour grapes, not so much:
Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale says the president "just about dragged Gov. Matt Bevin across the finish line, helping him run stronger than expected in what turned into a very close race at the end."
posted by zabuni at 7:33 AM on November 6, 2019
Meanwhile, the sour grapes, not so much:
Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale says the president "just about dragged Gov. Matt Bevin across the finish line, helping him run stronger than expected in what turned into a very close race at the end."
posted by zabuni at 7:33 AM on November 6, 2019
Also, can I just say that the troll game of the KY Libertarian Party is on point?
posted by NoxAeternum at 7:33 AM on November 6, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by NoxAeternum at 7:33 AM on November 6, 2019 [11 favorites]
Parscale is spinning harder than an unbalanced Maytag.
posted by NoxAeternum at 7:34 AM on November 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by NoxAeternum at 7:34 AM on November 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
In our four-way mayor race mentioned previously, the nominated Dem beat the incumbent Dem by 95 votes and only beat the Republican by 154 votes. Combined the three Dem candidates had 2,739 votes to the Republican's 1002 votes, so yes here is a case where ranked choice voting would have made me a lot less nervous these past few weeks. In city council races Dems beat out Republicans and in some cases also less progressive Dem candidates so it was good results all around!
posted by mikepop at 7:35 AM on November 6, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by mikepop at 7:35 AM on November 6, 2019 [7 favorites]
The thing about Bevin is that he is the most detested Kentucky politician in my lifetime.
I said it in 2017 after Moore lost, I said it in 2018 after Kobach lost, and I'll say it again: we can't write off Democratic wins over epically terrible GOP candidates as one-off incidents without predictive value, because the GOP is consistently running epically terrible candidates now, and some of them are going to be bad enough to overwhelm red-state party loyalty. Is McConnell that level of toxic now? Probably not. But don't write it off. There's going to be somebody in 2020 that takes what should be a sure thing for the Republicans down in flames.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:44 AM on November 6, 2019 [23 favorites]
I said it in 2017 after Moore lost, I said it in 2018 after Kobach lost, and I'll say it again: we can't write off Democratic wins over epically terrible GOP candidates as one-off incidents without predictive value, because the GOP is consistently running epically terrible candidates now, and some of them are going to be bad enough to overwhelm red-state party loyalty. Is McConnell that level of toxic now? Probably not. But don't write it off. There's going to be somebody in 2020 that takes what should be a sure thing for the Republicans down in flames.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:44 AM on November 6, 2019 [23 favorites]
Virginia Democrats’ Victory Proves That Gerrymandering Matters (Mark Joseph Stern, Slate)
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:50 AM on November 6, 2019 [13 favorites]
When they aren’t held back by racist redistricting tactics, Democrats can actually win. […]Said gerrymanders were setup after the Republicans swept into office in 2009, just in time for redistricting based on the 2010 census.
In 2017, Democrats were severely disadvantaged by a Republican-drawn racial gerrymander that trapped a huge number of black voters in a handful of noncompetitive districts for nearly a decade. By 2019, that gerrymander was dead, killed off by the courts. And its demise has allowed Virginia Democrats to translate their votes into fair representation in the General Assembly, gaining full control of the state government for the first time since 1994.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:50 AM on November 6, 2019 [13 favorites]
I'm really glad to hear VA went blue. I used to live in Arlington and I was a little worried because I got a series of 3 or 4 texts from various people asking me to vote, which makes sense, but none of the texts were addressed to me using my actual name or anything I'd be likely to enter as a fake name in a form somewhere, which is a little weird. Happy to see it is just a glitch rather than a hint at some pervasive flaw.
posted by feloniousmonk at 9:01 AM on November 6, 2019
posted by feloniousmonk at 9:01 AM on November 6, 2019
lazaruslong: "oh but i also voted for 2 ppl from the Working Families Party because they texted me a lot and their website / issues looks dope af"
One of the Working Families Party candidates secured a seat on the Philadelphia City Council.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:16 AM on November 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
One of the Working Families Party candidates secured a seat on the Philadelphia City Council.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:16 AM on November 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
ZeusHumms: "Virginia Democrats’ Victory Proves That Gerrymandering Matters (Mark Joseph Stern, Slate)"
The House gerrymandering case probably resulted in a couple of seat pickup for Dems. They likely would have squeaked it out, regardless. And the Senate was not involved.
This is not to say that gerrymandering is not important, or that the case didn't help. But it wasn't a necessary factor.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:21 AM on November 6, 2019 [6 favorites]
The House gerrymandering case probably resulted in a couple of seat pickup for Dems. They likely would have squeaked it out, regardless. And the Senate was not involved.
This is not to say that gerrymandering is not important, or that the case didn't help. But it wasn't a necessary factor.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:21 AM on November 6, 2019 [6 favorites]
I said it in 2017 after Moore lost, I said it in 2018 after Kobach lost, and I'll say it again: we can't write off Democratic wins over epically terrible GOP candidates as one-off incidents without predictive value, because the GOP is consistently running epically terrible candidates now, and some of them are going to be bad enough to overwhelm red-state party loyalty.
I was worried about the PA senate and governor's races last year but the GOP put up such horrible candidates that Casey and Wolf both won easily.
I mean we can't count on that for every election but they do have a pretty good record of putting up the worst possible candidates.
posted by octothorpe at 9:26 AM on November 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
I was worried about the PA senate and governor's races last year but the GOP put up such horrible candidates that Casey and Wolf both won easily.
I mean we can't count on that for every election but they do have a pretty good record of putting up the worst possible candidates.
posted by octothorpe at 9:26 AM on November 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
Kentucky will be interesting* to watch, going forward. While the Governor might be a Democrat, the new Attorney General is now Daniel Cameron, the first Republican AG in over 70 years.
While Cameron is the first African American to be elected to the position, he was also Mitch McConnell's legal counsel. Make of that what you will. Time will tell where his loyalties lie, I suppose. My kneejerk reaction is that a Republican AG is in a ripe position to monkeywrench/hamstring/stall the Democratic Governor's time in office. "Looking into electoral irregularities" or whatnot.
*- "interesting" as in: "possible train wreck."
posted by Thorzdad at 9:36 AM on November 6, 2019
While Cameron is the first African American to be elected to the position, he was also Mitch McConnell's legal counsel. Make of that what you will. Time will tell where his loyalties lie, I suppose. My kneejerk reaction is that a Republican AG is in a ripe position to monkeywrench/hamstring/stall the Democratic Governor's time in office. "Looking into electoral irregularities" or whatnot.
*- "interesting" as in: "possible train wreck."
posted by Thorzdad at 9:36 AM on November 6, 2019
Also the state legislature is hinting that they're going to try to help bevin steal the election from beshear, so.. also not good.
If that doesn't work, they can just do what they did to Tony Evers who won in Wisconsin or Roy Cooper who won in North Carolina -- just strip away all executive powers from the Democratic governor through the Republican legislature.
There's more than one way to undo an election.
posted by JackFlash at 9:58 AM on November 6, 2019
If that doesn't work, they can just do what they did to Tony Evers who won in Wisconsin or Roy Cooper who won in North Carolina -- just strip away all executive powers from the Democratic governor through the Republican legislature.
There's more than one way to undo an election.
posted by JackFlash at 9:58 AM on November 6, 2019
The Cyclist Who Gave Trump the Finger Lost Her Job Because of It. So She Ran for Office—and Won. (Elliot Hannon, Slate)
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:05 AM on November 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:05 AM on November 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
New resident to Virginia in the deep dark red southwestern section of the state (Smith Mountain Lake) where there is a super amazing active group of Democrats (I canvassed and person-ed the polls), and a first time Virginia voter. Our area remained committed to trumpism but I am so proud of my new state!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by bluesky43 at 10:08 AM on November 6, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by bluesky43 at 10:08 AM on November 6, 2019 [15 favorites]
The Right to Vote Won Big on Tuesday (Ari Berman, Mother Jones)
Democrat Andy Beshear, who was elected governor of Kentucky, pledged during the campaign to issue an executive order restoring voting rights to 140,000 people convicted of nonviolent felonies in the state. Kentucky is one of only three states where people with past felony convictions cannot vote unless the governor restores their rights. As a result, 300,000 Kentucky residents—nine percent of the electorate—have been disenfranchised, including more than one in four African-Americans, the highest black felon disenfranchisement rate in the country. Beshear’s executive order could affect Mitch McConnell’s reelection bid in 2020 if newly enfranchised voters, who are disproportionately black and expected to skew Democratic, oppose the Senate majority leader. […]posted by ZeusHumms at 10:09 AM on November 6, 2019 [17 favorites]
lazaruslong: "oh but i also voted for 2 ppl from the Working Families Party because they texted me a lot and their website / issues looks dope af"
posted by lazaruslong at 11:05 AM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
One of the Working Families Party candidates secured a seat on the Philadelphia City Council.oh sweet! yeah the ppl canvassing for the WFP were on top of their game. they told me that the 5 democratic seats were a lock, but there are 2 reserved for minority party that has always gone to republicans and they were going for those 2 seats. Fine with me, as the WFP platform looks very liberal while centering economic issues and POC. So I guess one of the republicans still gets one of those seats or something, but hey I'll take it.
posted by lazaruslong at 11:05 AM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
"Beshear’s Win in Kentucky Was an Anomaly": I love when actual New York Times is indistinguishable from the New York Times Pitchbot.
No matter what happens, it's bad news for Democrats.
posted by octothorpe at 12:05 PM on November 6, 2019 [10 favorites]
No matter what happens, it's bad news for Democrats.
posted by octothorpe at 12:05 PM on November 6, 2019 [10 favorites]
Some collateral effects of the Virginia wave that may not be widely known. A ratification of the ERA by Virginia won't bring it into law (complications in the article) but will bring new life to that fight.
Virginia’s election results are a big deal for the Equal Rights Amendment
It took 40 years for a 36th state — Nevada — to ratify the ERA in 2017, and then Illinois became the 37th state in 2018.
That brings the country within one state of meeting the bar. And Democrats in Virginia, who took control of both state’s legislative bodies on Tuesday, have said they plan to ratify the ERA, which would make Virginia the 38th and final state. “One thing we are going to need to do right away is pass the Equal Rights Amendment in Virginia,” state Senate Democratic leader Dick Saslaw told supporters on Tuesday, according to CNN. “It’s high time we include the women of this country in the Constitution of the United States.”
posted by bluesky43 at 12:21 PM on November 6, 2019 [26 favorites]
Virginia’s election results are a big deal for the Equal Rights Amendment
It took 40 years for a 36th state — Nevada — to ratify the ERA in 2017, and then Illinois became the 37th state in 2018.
That brings the country within one state of meeting the bar. And Democrats in Virginia, who took control of both state’s legislative bodies on Tuesday, have said they plan to ratify the ERA, which would make Virginia the 38th and final state. “One thing we are going to need to do right away is pass the Equal Rights Amendment in Virginia,” state Senate Democratic leader Dick Saslaw told supporters on Tuesday, according to CNN. “It’s high time we include the women of this country in the Constitution of the United States.”
posted by bluesky43 at 12:21 PM on November 6, 2019 [26 favorites]
Bevin, in true Repugnican style, is saying there were "multiple reports of voting irregularities."
posted by mareli at 12:28 PM on November 6, 2019
posted by mareli at 12:28 PM on November 6, 2019
You may be interested in reading this lovely article about Somali-born Safiya Khalid, elected yesterday to the city council in Lewiston, Maine, despite some horrific online harassment. Lewiston was founded by Franco-American immigrants and was a mill town (and Paul LePage's home town). Somali refugees started arriving in Maine in the late 1990s, and currently make up around 15% of the city's population. In May, Lewiston's mayor resigned, after his mistress shared their texts, including many racists and sexist comments.
posted by anastasiav at 12:37 PM on November 6, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by anastasiav at 12:37 PM on November 6, 2019 [7 favorites]
"Beshear’s Win in Kentucky Was an Anomaly": I love when actual New York Times is indistinguishable from the New York Times Pitchbot.
I don't know, are they wrong on the substance? Pretty much the universal opinion I've seen is that Bevin was such a huge asshole that even conservatives (who voted for republicans in most other statewide offices) hated his guts. This may bode ill for Mitch McConnell and god I hope it does, but it doesn't really say much either way on the potential for a blue wave nationwide.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 12:59 PM on November 6, 2019
I don't know, are they wrong on the substance? Pretty much the universal opinion I've seen is that Bevin was such a huge asshole that even conservatives (who voted for republicans in most other statewide offices) hated his guts. This may bode ill for Mitch McConnell and god I hope it does, but it doesn't really say much either way on the potential for a blue wave nationwide.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 12:59 PM on November 6, 2019
it doesn't really say much either way on the potential for a blue wave nationwide.
Nor did Doug Jones' election, because Roy Moore was such a singularly bad candidate. Nor did Virginia being within a single vote of the Democrats taking the state House in 2017, because they didn't end up winning. Nor did nor did nor did...
When someone's first reaction to something good happening is to stand up and say, "Yeah, but...", then they might be a brave truth-teller. When it happens every time, then you have to start wondering whether they're actively invested in the side of bad.
posted by Etrigan at 1:06 PM on November 6, 2019 [17 favorites]
Nor did Doug Jones' election, because Roy Moore was such a singularly bad candidate. Nor did Virginia being within a single vote of the Democrats taking the state House in 2017, because they didn't end up winning. Nor did nor did nor did...
When someone's first reaction to something good happening is to stand up and say, "Yeah, but...", then they might be a brave truth-teller. When it happens every time, then you have to start wondering whether they're actively invested in the side of bad.
posted by Etrigan at 1:06 PM on November 6, 2019 [17 favorites]
GOP Official Already Floating Delegitimizing Beshear’s Win In Kentucky (Kate Riga, TPM)
His Republican lackeys lost no time in scrambling to find a way around the unwelcome reality of Beshear’s win. State Senate Majority Leader Robert Stivers (R) floated [just hours after the election results were tallied] the option of a contest proceeding, or formally contesting the results of the election.posted by ZeusHumms at 2:01 PM on November 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) explained the “antiquated” procedure, found in the state’s constitution, to TPM.
“It hasn’t been used in a governor or lieutenant governor’s race in over 100 years,” she said. “What happens is an 11-member board comprised of members of the Senate and House are able to make an inquiry based on a specific statement made by a candidate pointing out errors in the election. In terms of what they could ultimately do, they could issue a new election.”
Yeah, Bevin underperformed Trump by 30-odd points. Other Republicans did just fine.
If they *all* did poorly, then it could be a trend (more like Kansas, where Dems not only won the governorship, they've at least been making some gains in the legislature). But that's not what happened.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:07 PM on November 6, 2019 [7 favorites]
If they *all* did poorly, then it could be a trend (more like Kansas, where Dems not only won the governorship, they've at least been making some gains in the legislature). But that's not what happened.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:07 PM on November 6, 2019 [7 favorites]
I guess that I think that this kind of complete anomaly is more likely to happen in the kind of situation that presages a blue wave than in a normal election season. Because yeah, everyone hates Bevin and Roy Moore is a sexual predatory, but they probably would have won anyway if the Democrats hadn't been able to turn out their voters and maybe pick up some suburban swing voters.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:08 PM on November 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:08 PM on November 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
So I guess what I'm saying is that I don't think we're going to flip Idaho, but I'm feeling a little bit more upbeat about our chances of beating Joni Ernst.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:11 PM on November 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:11 PM on November 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
Bevin isn't really an anomaly as his kind keep on popping up in the GOP. He's not the standard, but he's common enough. To unseat someone in Kentucky, you need an unpopular GOP candidate and receptive Democratic environment. The environment alone wouldn't have been enough to unseat him, but it is a necessary component. If I was the GOP, I'd sound the alarm as there's a lot of Bevins—in fact, Mitch McConnell might be one.
To use an analogy, as sea levels rise, the lowest houses get soaked first. Even if it's only a minority of houses that are in danger, you can't dismiss it with "Those are anomalies."
posted by Lord Chancellor at 2:16 PM on November 6, 2019 [22 favorites]
To use an analogy, as sea levels rise, the lowest houses get soaked first. Even if it's only a minority of houses that are in danger, you can't dismiss it with "Those are anomalies."
posted by Lord Chancellor at 2:16 PM on November 6, 2019 [22 favorites]
Also, the fact that a complete asshole incapable of hiding it while in office (Bevin), a known child molester (Moore) and a proud incompetent (Kobach) all won major GOP nominations is itself a trend. They keep putting forward a selection of unextinguishable dumpster fires, and Democrats are capitalizing. That's not a wave, but it is producing consistent, reproducible gains.
On preview, what Lord Chancellor said.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:19 PM on November 6, 2019 [10 favorites]
On preview, what Lord Chancellor said.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:19 PM on November 6, 2019 [10 favorites]
I mean, I'm happy it happened! And I think Dems are in a fairly good position for next year. I just think it's easy for us to project our own opinion on voters who are very different from us. DeSantis just squeaked in as Florida governor, and his approval rating is sky high, despite being a piece of shit.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:41 PM on November 6, 2019
posted by Chrysostom at 2:41 PM on November 6, 2019
I lost my bid for city council to a Republican incumbent running for her fourth term, 42 percent to 57 percent. In the past four elections, there had been only one contested race for this seat. We don't know if a Dem has ever even run for this seat.
It is pretty fucking brave to run against an entrenched incumbent for a seat that doesn't even see opponents, and you did extremely well given those circumstances. Thank you for running, and I hope you run for an office again!
posted by Anonymous at 2:56 PM on November 6, 2019
It is pretty fucking brave to run against an entrenched incumbent for a seat that doesn't even see opponents, and you did extremely well given those circumstances. Thank you for running, and I hope you run for an office again!
posted by Anonymous at 2:56 PM on November 6, 2019
Also my friend in podcasting Bill won his city council seat in MA
Last name?
posted by peacheater at 3:41 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
Last name?
posted by peacheater at 3:41 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
Last name?
I, too, wondered if it might be Bill White.
posted by davros42 at 4:53 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
I, too, wondered if it might be Bill White.
posted by davros42 at 4:53 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
Bill For Ward 5
Most recently for Syndicalism In The USA
posted by The Whelk at 5:13 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
Most recently for Syndicalism In The USA
posted by The Whelk at 5:13 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
@JeffL: Apparently McConnell's camp agrees with you. They've filed an FEC complaint that has forced Jones off his popular radio show until further notice.
posted by HillbillyInBC at 6:53 PM on November 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by HillbillyInBC at 6:53 PM on November 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'm afraid the post-election fight over the governorship in KY is a harbinger of the post-election fight for the presidency in 2020. Recounts, calls of "voting irregularities", voter fraud, and a stolen election. It will be called a coup and a call will go out for "patriots to defend their constitution". Trump will not relinquish power peacefully.
posted by Manic Pixie Hollow at 12:49 PM on November 7, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Manic Pixie Hollow at 12:49 PM on November 7, 2019 [2 favorites]
In "tiny results that affect me," the community college where I work got a bond referendum passed, after it failed by a handful of votes last year. The library will be renovated! The dorms will become ADA-compliant!
posted by Jeanne at 1:03 PM on November 7, 2019 [37 favorites]
posted by Jeanne at 1:03 PM on November 7, 2019 [37 favorites]
As more WA ballots are counted, the lead has changed in one of the Seattle City Council races (Lewis overtook Pugel in District 7), and narrowed in another (Sawant now trails Orion by only 739 votes in District 3).
In the six City Council races where Amazon-funded candidates were challenging labor-backed candidates, it looks like Amazon's candidates will probably win only one or two, depending on the final tallies. (This is not counting District 5, where the winning candidate Debora Juarez was backed by both Amazon and progressive/labor groups.)
Statewide, Referendum 88 to allow affirmative action is still narrowly trailing.
The worst news is that Initiative 976, to limit car registration fees to $30 and repeal transit taxes, is still winning by a large margin. This would eliminate $4 billion in funding for road and bridge maintenance, buses, light rail, ferries, Amtrak, and other transportation needs. Similar initiatives were overturned by the courts in past decades, and King County has already announced a lawsuit against this one, which I hope will succeed. Even in that best case scenario, it'll play havoc with local budgets and transit agencies around the state in the coming months.
posted by mbrubeck at 8:47 AM on November 8, 2019 [3 favorites]
In the six City Council races where Amazon-funded candidates were challenging labor-backed candidates, it looks like Amazon's candidates will probably win only one or two, depending on the final tallies. (This is not counting District 5, where the winning candidate Debora Juarez was backed by both Amazon and progressive/labor groups.)
Statewide, Referendum 88 to allow affirmative action is still narrowly trailing.
The worst news is that Initiative 976, to limit car registration fees to $30 and repeal transit taxes, is still winning by a large margin. This would eliminate $4 billion in funding for road and bridge maintenance, buses, light rail, ferries, Amtrak, and other transportation needs. Similar initiatives were overturned by the courts in past decades, and King County has already announced a lawsuit against this one, which I hope will succeed. Even in that best case scenario, it'll play havoc with local budgets and transit agencies around the state in the coming months.
posted by mbrubeck at 8:47 AM on November 8, 2019 [3 favorites]
Of course it will, because it's a horse's ass special from that special horse's ass (and shoplifter) Tim Eyman. That said, hopefully the recent ruling against him will curtail his assery.
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:54 AM on November 8, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:54 AM on November 8, 2019 [1 favorite]
In recent news, Seattle's Kshama Sawant (leftist city councilor running for a third term, mentioned several times in this thread) Narrows Gap to 739 Votes and Appears Headed to Victory.
posted by splitpeasoup at 9:49 AM on November 8, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by splitpeasoup at 9:49 AM on November 8, 2019 [1 favorite]
Is Mitch McConnell afraid this Kentucky sports radio host will run against him?
#FreeMattJones
posted by HillbillyInBC at 12:32 PM on November 8, 2019 [3 favorites]
#FreeMattJones
posted by HillbillyInBC at 12:32 PM on November 8, 2019 [3 favorites]
In the latest count, Socialist candidate Kshama Sawant leads by about 500 votes in the Seattle City Council D3 race.
posted by mbrubeck at 3:37 PM on November 8, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by mbrubeck at 3:37 PM on November 8, 2019 [9 favorites]
The fact that Amazon was able to put $1.5 million in a local city election is terrifying. My wife was a volunteer for a Pittsburgh city council race this year and he had a campaign budget of something like $15,000. Seattle is 2.5x the size of Pittsburgh but that's still a bizarre amount of cash to throw at a local election.
posted by octothorpe at 6:24 AM on November 9, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 6:24 AM on November 9, 2019 [7 favorites]
“ Remarkable few days for democratic socialism:
-Seattle’s @cmkshama reelected
-Virginia’s @carterforva reelected
-Cambridge elected @VoteJivan
-Philly elected @kendraforphilly
-Charlottesville elected @MPayneCville
-@BernieSanders and @AOC host huge Iowa rallies
And now, this: Chesa Boudin grew up with both his parents incarcerated. He's going to be San Francisco's next district attorney.“
posted by The Whelk at 6:33 PM on November 9, 2019 [14 favorites]
-Seattle’s @cmkshama reelected
-Virginia’s @carterforva reelected
-Cambridge elected @VoteJivan
-Philly elected @kendraforphilly
-Charlottesville elected @MPayneCville
-@BernieSanders and @AOC host huge Iowa rallies
And now, this: Chesa Boudin grew up with both his parents incarcerated. He's going to be San Francisco's next district attorney.“
posted by The Whelk at 6:33 PM on November 9, 2019 [14 favorites]
Maybe now Virginia could reintroduce HB 2422 and join other states in the National Popular Vote Compact.
posted by Monochrome at 4:27 PM on November 10, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by Monochrome at 4:27 PM on November 10, 2019 [11 favorites]
Revoking right-to-work would be my first step.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:27 PM on November 10, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 6:27 PM on November 10, 2019 [6 favorites]
Thank god that Sawant won. I'm not always a fan of every little thing that Socialist Alternative and Sawant does, but they are light-years better than any sort of corporate-endorsed alternative. Amazon gambled big, and they lost. We should rejoice at that.
I'm just sad my fellow DSA-er Shaun Scott did not win in District 4. Hopefully he'll run again and cinch it. We need a socialist revolution in every city council in this country.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 5:20 AM on November 12, 2019 [3 favorites]
I'm just sad my fellow DSA-er Shaun Scott did not win in District 4. Hopefully he'll run again and cinch it. We need a socialist revolution in every city council in this country.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 5:20 AM on November 12, 2019 [3 favorites]
I look forward to 2020, and the Republicans riding their support of Trump swirling down the electoral commode.
posted by JHarris at 11:07 AM on November 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 11:07 AM on November 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
McConnell Predicts That There Will Be New Kentucky Governor After Recanvass (Kate Riga, TPM)
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) predicted Monday that his home state would have a new governor after the recanvass starting this week, signaling to other Republicans to back off the extreme measures being considered to flip the unwelcome election result.posted by ZeusHumms at 8:08 AM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, McConnell cited his own experience with the recanvass when he first ran for Senate and won by a slim margin. The recanvass did not change the result.
“I’m sorry Matt came up short, but he had a good four years and all indications are, barring some dramatic reversal on the recanvass, we’ll have a different governor in three weeks,” he said of Gov. Matt Bevin (R).
My guess is that McConnell doesn't want the voters shaken awake like they would be if the GOP stole the governor's office. If they piss off that many voters then even The Turtle would be at risk.
posted by azpenguin at 12:13 PM on November 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by azpenguin at 12:13 PM on November 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
Honestly given how things have been going it’s just as likely that Kentucky just doesn’t have a governor for a few years.
posted by The Whelk at 3:21 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 3:21 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
Call me pessimistic, but I feel like the only reason they're not trying to steal this is because they know Kentucky's unusually low veto override thresholds will make Beshear virtually powerless. Is there anything he can do unilaterally that can't be blocked by the state legislature?
posted by Rhaomi at 10:35 PM on November 13, 2019
posted by Rhaomi at 10:35 PM on November 13, 2019
Bevin just conceded.
You're probably right that that was a factor - others, I'd say, were the media's failing to fall for it, and Bevin's having spent four years pissing potential allies off. I know he can restore voting rights unilaterally, which is a big deal, given Kentucky's sky-high disenfranchisement.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:40 AM on November 14, 2019 [5 favorites]
You're probably right that that was a factor - others, I'd say, were the media's failing to fall for it, and Bevin's having spent four years pissing potential allies off. I know he can restore voting rights unilaterally, which is a big deal, given Kentucky's sky-high disenfranchisement.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:40 AM on November 14, 2019 [5 favorites]
Edwards [D] has won re-election as governor of Louisiana. Dems also managed to keep the GOP from a supermajority in the LA House, so they will be able to block any gerrymandering when redistricting comes.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:00 PM on November 16, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 8:00 PM on November 16, 2019 [9 favorites]
The message for Republicans really seems to be that turning on Trump will probably hurt you, but embracing Trump won’t necessarily help you. Not sure what they’re going to do with that.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:13 PM on November 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:13 PM on November 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
Trump has successfully converted a big chunk of the GOP base to be his base, but it seems pretty clear by this point that the other voters he got in 2016, the Obama->Trump and nonvoter->Trump groups, are at best (for Republicans) specifically presidential-year voters. At worst, that was a trick that only works once, and they won't even be back in 2020. We won't know which for....about 11 and a half months.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:49 PM on November 16, 2019
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:49 PM on November 16, 2019
I mean he basically ran on Peronism But Dumb and then dropped it and is just a demented old man wandering around so
posted by The Whelk at 9:04 PM on November 16, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 9:04 PM on November 16, 2019 [2 favorites]
Yeah, "low turnout white no college voters" is the group to be very worried about.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:46 AM on November 17, 2019
posted by Chrysostom at 7:46 AM on November 17, 2019
Democrats are dominating state-level races -- The party has gained nine ‘trifectas’ since 2016 (Kate Rabinowitz and Ashlyn for Washington Post, last updated on Nov. 17, 2019)
posted by filthy light thief at 9:26 AM on November 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
Democrats flipped Virginia’s House and Senate on Nov. 5, giving the party a trifecta — control of both state legislative chambers and the governorship — for the first time since 1993.Back-to-back losses in key governors’ races send additional warning to Trump and GOP ahead of 2020 (David Nakamura for Washington Post, November 18, 2019)
Farther west, Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear’s win over incumbent Republican Gov. Matt Bevin meant Republicans will lose their trifecta in the state. The following week, Gov. John Bel Edwards was reelected in Louisiana, stopping Republicans from gaining a new trifecta there.
These results add to a string of Democratic state-level victories since 2016.
When Kentucky’s Republican governor lost his bid for reelection two weeks ago despite President Trump’s active endorsement, the president and his allies brushed it off by declaring that Trump had nearly dragged an unpopular incumbent across the finish line.It's as if being fueled by hatred and fear alone are not enough to (keep) winning.
On Sunday, a day after another Trump-backed GOP gubernatorial candidate fell in Louisiana, the president and his surrogates barely mounted a defense.
In a barrage of 40 tweets and retweets by Sunday evening, Trump didn’t mention Eddie Rispone’s loss to Gov. John Bel Edwards (D), even though the president had held two campaign rallies in the state in the 10 days before the election aimed at boosting his chances.
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel — who had publicly praised Trump after the Kentucky elections in which the GOP won five other statewide races — also was mum on Louisiana.
...
“What Trump did in Louisiana was increase voter participation. While he increased the pro-Trump turnout, he also increased the anti-Trump turnout. That’s kind of the lesson here,” said Ron Faucheux, a nonpartisan political polling analyst based in New Orleans.
Faucheux acknowledged that Trump helped Rispone in the primary, but he emphasized that the candidate who had tightly embraced the president ultimately had little else to sell to voters than that relationship — a similar dynamic faced by Bevin.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:26 AM on November 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
The lesson from Louisiana is clear: Dem victories are NOT mostly about flipping Trump folks like Mabel down at the diner or whatever...they are about driving base turnout in blue cities w/in red states. Black turnout was up 15-30 percent in Caddo, E Baton Rouge and NOLA:
If Dems focus on turnout in Detroit, Flint, Lansing, E Lansing, Philly, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Madison, etc., MI, PA and WI are entirely out of reach for the GOP. There are not enough of these small town Mayberry white folks to overcome mass turnout in cities, college towns
posted by growabrain at 12:00 PM on November 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
If Dems focus on turnout in Detroit, Flint, Lansing, E Lansing, Philly, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Madison, etc., MI, PA and WI are entirely out of reach for the GOP. There are not enough of these small town Mayberry white folks to overcome mass turnout in cities, college towns
posted by growabrain at 12:00 PM on November 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
It's massive turnout and flipping the suburbs. Not rural diners, no, but the alienation of middle-class, largely white enclaves has been key to the Dems' string of election victories starting in 2017. Even in Louisiana, Bel Edwards was riding not just the landslide result in Orleans Parish but also numbers like 57% of the vote in the New Orleans suburb of Jefferson. By contrast, Jefferson split 50-50 when he beat Vitter with a bigger statewide margin than the 2019 result. The realignment is real.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:34 PM on November 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:34 PM on November 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
The lesson from Louisiana is clear: Dem victories are NOT mostly about flipping Trump folks like Mabel down at the diner or whatever...they are about driving base turnout in blue cities w/in red states.
I really don't see how this is your takeaway from KY/LA. Both states went very strongly for Trump, well into the double digits; both had the Dems win in close races (couple of points for Edwards, a real squeaker for Beshear). This necessarily means that people who voted Trump voted for the Democrat.
Yes, the increased turnout and increased blue tilt of the major metros was absolutely a necessary component. But it was also necessary to cut Dem losses in the rural areas. Those areas ticked up in turnout, too, if not as much, but they were also rather less red then they were in 2016. If those areas had voted as they had in the presidential, the Dems would have lost.
LA is particularly clear about this - you can dismiss KY as being a function of Bevin being a shitheel, if you like. Edwards way overperformed in the Congressional district of Abraham, the other first round GOP candidate. Meaning there were a substantial number of Abraham to Edwards voters, they just didn't like Rispone.
There are not enough of these small town Mayberry white folks to overcome mass turnout in cities, college towns
The other problem with this theory is that big blue turnout lost every single other statewide race in KY/LA other than governor. Most of them weren't even close. The small town Mayberry white folks were, in fact, enough to overcome the mass turnout in cities for everything but governor. Now, maybe people will split ticket for president, it's certainly possible. But hope is not a plan.
My point is *not* that we should cater to the voters of Elk County, PA by moving right (RIP, median voter theory). But as long as we're not purely national popular vote, we have to try and walk and chew gum in these purple states. We need to try and fire up the blue metros, but we need to at least make the rurals less bright red. No, we'll never get the hardcore MAGAheads, but if we can come up with good positions that sway a few points of the GOP voters, that's enough.
It's notable that surveys show interest in voting in 2020 is very high in members of both parties. We won't be able to rely on rural folks staying home.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:46 AM on November 20, 2019 [8 favorites]
I really don't see how this is your takeaway from KY/LA. Both states went very strongly for Trump, well into the double digits; both had the Dems win in close races (couple of points for Edwards, a real squeaker for Beshear). This necessarily means that people who voted Trump voted for the Democrat.
Yes, the increased turnout and increased blue tilt of the major metros was absolutely a necessary component. But it was also necessary to cut Dem losses in the rural areas. Those areas ticked up in turnout, too, if not as much, but they were also rather less red then they were in 2016. If those areas had voted as they had in the presidential, the Dems would have lost.
LA is particularly clear about this - you can dismiss KY as being a function of Bevin being a shitheel, if you like. Edwards way overperformed in the Congressional district of Abraham, the other first round GOP candidate. Meaning there were a substantial number of Abraham to Edwards voters, they just didn't like Rispone.
There are not enough of these small town Mayberry white folks to overcome mass turnout in cities, college towns
The other problem with this theory is that big blue turnout lost every single other statewide race in KY/LA other than governor. Most of them weren't even close. The small town Mayberry white folks were, in fact, enough to overcome the mass turnout in cities for everything but governor. Now, maybe people will split ticket for president, it's certainly possible. But hope is not a plan.
My point is *not* that we should cater to the voters of Elk County, PA by moving right (RIP, median voter theory). But as long as we're not purely national popular vote, we have to try and walk and chew gum in these purple states. We need to try and fire up the blue metros, but we need to at least make the rurals less bright red. No, we'll never get the hardcore MAGAheads, but if we can come up with good positions that sway a few points of the GOP voters, that's enough.
It's notable that surveys show interest in voting in 2020 is very high in members of both parties. We won't be able to rely on rural folks staying home.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:46 AM on November 20, 2019 [8 favorites]
Yes, the increased turnout and increased blue tilt of the major metros was absolutely a necessary component. But it was also necessary to cut Dem losses in the rural areas. Those areas ticked up in turnout, too, if not as much, but they were also rather less red then they were in 2016. If those areas had voted as they had in the presidential, the Dems would have lost.
How much effort did the Dems devote to each of those areas, is my question. When people say "The key is turnout!", they're talking about where the emphasis needs to be in placing and using the limited resources of a campaign. Did the rural Trump voters switch to Edwards because of the Edwards campaign's messaging, or because they were voting against Rispone or Trump?
posted by Etrigan at 8:02 AM on November 20, 2019
How much effort did the Dems devote to each of those areas, is my question. When people say "The key is turnout!", they're talking about where the emphasis needs to be in placing and using the limited resources of a campaign. Did the rural Trump voters switch to Edwards because of the Edwards campaign's messaging, or because they were voting against Rispone or Trump?
posted by Etrigan at 8:02 AM on November 20, 2019
(disclaimer that I do not live in Louisiana) My understanding is that Edwards stayed away from any kind of fighting with Trump and focused on his getting the budget back in order, helping teachers, response to natural disasters, etc. Basically he sold himself as the guy who has a track record of Fixing Broken Shit.
To me, that's basically a non-partisan pitch, which is key to appeal to Trump voters. Clinton voters already were primed to vote against Trump by proxy.
(Edwards' and Rispone's campaign managers are doing a post-election debrief today, I'll see if anything interesting comes out of it)
posted by Chrysostom at 10:37 AM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
To me, that's basically a non-partisan pitch, which is key to appeal to Trump voters. Clinton voters already were primed to vote against Trump by proxy.
(Edwards' and Rispone's campaign managers are doing a post-election debrief today, I'll see if anything interesting comes out of it)
posted by Chrysostom at 10:37 AM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
Also, to belabor this further, look at Arizona's 2018 statewide elections:
* Dems won Senate, SOS, and superintendent of public instruction, and one seat on the Corporation Commission.
* GOP won governor, AG, treasurer, mine inspector, and the other seat on the Corporation Commission.
Arizona is clearly moving blue (they'd never have won a statewide 10 years ago). But people are also clearly still ticket-splitting!
posted by Chrysostom at 3:39 PM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
* Dems won Senate, SOS, and superintendent of public instruction, and one seat on the Corporation Commission.
* GOP won governor, AG, treasurer, mine inspector, and the other seat on the Corporation Commission.
Arizona is clearly moving blue (they'd never have won a statewide 10 years ago). But people are also clearly still ticket-splitting!
posted by Chrysostom at 3:39 PM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
Both states went very strongly for Trump, well into the double digits; both had the Dems win in close races (couple of points for Edwards, a real squeaker for Beshear). This necessarily means that people who voted Trump voted for the Democrat.
Not necessarily.
2016 Kentucky: 1,202,971 Trump; 628,854 Clinton; 59% turnout
2019 Kentucky: 709,846 Beshear; 704,760 Bevin; 42% turnout
More people showed up for Beshear than voted for Clinton, but that doesn't mean any of those voters were originally for Trump.
2016 Louisiana: 1,178,638 Trump; 780,154 Clinton; 68% turnout
2019 Louisiana: 774,469 Edwards; 734,128 Rispone; ~51% turnout.
Fewer voted for Edwards than for Clinton. Again, no Trump voters may have switched; these are wins from getting Democrats to the polls, and Republicans deciding to stay home.
We don't need to persuade any of the bigots to switch; we just need to fight against apathy and suppression tactics.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 5:09 PM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
Not necessarily.
2016 Kentucky: 1,202,971 Trump; 628,854 Clinton; 59% turnout
2019 Kentucky: 709,846 Beshear; 704,760 Bevin; 42% turnout
More people showed up for Beshear than voted for Clinton, but that doesn't mean any of those voters were originally for Trump.
2016 Louisiana: 1,178,638 Trump; 780,154 Clinton; 68% turnout
2019 Louisiana: 774,469 Edwards; 734,128 Rispone; ~51% turnout.
Fewer voted for Edwards than for Clinton. Again, no Trump voters may have switched; these are wins from getting Democrats to the polls, and Republicans deciding to stay home.
We don't need to persuade any of the bigots to switch; we just need to fight against apathy and suppression tactics.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 5:09 PM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
How do you reconcile "these are wins from getting Democrats to the polls, and Republicans deciding to stay home" with "Republicans won every single statewide race other than governor"?
posted by Chrysostom at 6:34 PM on November 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 6:34 PM on November 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
Democrats' legislative majority in Virginia just grew. State senator Amanda Chase will no longer caucus with the Republicans, because their leadership refuses to be "inclusive."
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:24 PM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:24 PM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
I wonder what that means in terms of her votes.
posted by Chrysostom at 5:24 PM on November 22, 2019
posted by Chrysostom at 5:24 PM on November 22, 2019
“ Following a recount, Hester Jackson-McCray officially flipped Mississippi’s HD-40, defeating the Republican incumbent by just 14 votes! Hester is a former nurse who will fight for greater funding for teachers and public schools!”
posted by The Whelk at 7:55 AM on November 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 7:55 AM on November 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
Chase says she'll still vote as a Republican, and I don't guess that someone who posted a Facebook ad about how she's willing to 'shoot down' gun safety groups, open-carried a .38 into the Senate building, and said 'It's those who are naive and unprepared that end up raped' is going to suddenly turn into a moderate.
posted by box at 8:19 AM on November 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by box at 8:19 AM on November 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
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posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 11:27 AM on November 2, 2019 [48 favorites]