Midterm Election Highlights

Neither Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock nor knucklehead Herschel Walker got 50% of the vote, so they are facing off again on Dec. 6. 

Arizona's Democratic Senator Mark Kelly defeated Republican Blake Masters.  Kelly was elected just two years ago in a special election following the 2018 death of John McCain. Now he will have a full six-year term.  Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs is still clinging to a narrow lead over right-wing extremist and election-denier Kari Lake.

Pennsylvania lieutenant governor John Fetterman fought his way back from a stroke, doing interviews with the help of closed captioning device to help him adapt to a temporary auditory processing disorder.  The media worked overtime on painting him as unqualified while giving his opponent Dr. Oz a pass on things like having hundreds of dogs killed for medical research and promoting quack medicines.  Yet Fetterman defeated Oz in the race for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican Pat Toomey.

Incumbent Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, has won reelection, defeating Republican nominee and prolific conspiracy theorist Tudor Dixon.  Dixon was one of the Republican Party's most, uh, colorful nominees this cycle, known for her rambling theories connecting COVID-19 to the Black Lives Matter movement, claiming Democrats were looking to topple the government as revenge for losing the Civil War, and blaming a Michigan school shooting on "critical race theory." 

Incumbent Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has fended off a challenge from Republican nominee Scott Jensen, winning reelection.  Jensen was banned from TikTok last year for spreading hoaxes about the COVID-19 pandemic. During the campaign, he pandered to Republican election conspiracies with claims that dead people voted, calling for the imprisonment of Democratic state Secretary of State Steve Simon.

Incumbent Maine Gov. Janet Mills has fended off a challenge by former Republican governor Paul LePage, keeping the governorship in Democratic hands and denying the scenery-chewing LePage his attempted comeback.  LePage's stint as governor was contentious and erratic—but he attempted to rewrite that recent history during a campaign that saw him brazenly lie about his own past public statements. Maine voters didn't buy it.

Democratic New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan defeated Republican Don Bolduc.  Bolduc is a retired brigadier general in the Army who embraced Donald Trump's Big Lie before wavering once in the general election; said decisions about abortion belong “to these gentlemen right here, who are state legislators representing you”; said that privatizing Medicare is “hugely important”; and spread the conspiracy theory that students are using litter boxes in schools.

Josh Shapiro won the governorship of Pennsylvania, defeating extremist whack-job Doug Mastriano, who was arguably the most extreme of the election deniers on the 2022 ballot. Mastriano, a Christian nationalist, prayed for Congress to “rise up” on Jan. 6 and overturn the election, chartered buses to attend the insurrection, vowed to ban abortions in all cases, and campaigned at QAnon events. 

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers defeated Republican Tim Michels in Wisconsin’s governor’s race, earning a second term of competent, progressive leadership. Evers’ tenure has mostly consisted of using his veto pen to hold off an extremist right-wing and corporate takeover of the state, including ensuring free and fair elections for the future.  Michels is another one of the GOP multimillionaires who self-funded his way through a crowded primary and earned the endorsement of Trump through his election denial. Michels promised that “Republicans will never lose another election in Wisconsin after [he’s] elected governor.”  He  also endorsed a total ban on abortions (even in the case of rape and incest) and promised an end to marriage equality. He endorsed defunding public education, and is opposed to even the most modest gun safety proposals.  Michels also lives in Connecticut a good part of the year.

Noted white supremacist Stephen Miller was always a loser-- after his barrage of despicable, racist political ads proved to be a $40 million flop.  Miller had been assuring his racist base that a “red wave” was in store for Republicans, doing his part by launching massively offensive ads in more than a dozen states that sobbed about supposed “anti-white bigotry” and pushed violent anti-immigrant imagery. He funded these ad though his America Legal First organization, while others were pushed by his associates. He tried to make anti-immigrant hate and anti-trans hostility, the biggest issues.  But voters largely rejected Miller's bigoted agenda. While certainly some GOP candidates emerged victorious, there was no red wave.  Pro-immigrant measures all across the country won. Democratic candidates who leaned into immigration, like John Fetterman, will be in office next year.

Voters in Vermont, Michigan, and California put abortion rights in their state constitutions. Kentucky voters rejected an effort by Republicans to pass an amendment saying there was no right to abortion, following in the footsteps of Kansas voters over the summer. Montana voters also rejected an anti-abortion measure.

Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson won reelection to his seat six years after promising the state that he would term-limit himself and not run again.  After months of trying to follow his constantly evolving story about his involvement in Donald Trump’s coup attempt, one has to wonder what won't this man lie about?

Back in Nevada, Senator Cortez Masto was trailing trailing her Republican challenger Adam Laxalt by about 9,000 votes on Friday morning.  But Friday evening a new batch of mail ballots from Clark County (Las Vegas-area) and Washoe County (Reno-area) cut Laxalt’s lead to 821 votes.  With thousands of votes still outstanding in Clark and Washoe counties, Cortez Masto is positioned to overtake Laxalt and take the lead when more vote tallies are released.

Tennessee, Vermont and Oregon voted to ban slavery as a form of punishment-- Louisiana decided it was A-OK.  Missouri and Maryland legalized the use of marijuana; Similar measures failed in Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota.  Colorado voters authorized the medical use of hallucinogenic mushrooms.

While we're in Colorado, dingbat Lauren Boebert  is neck-and-neck with her Democratic opponent, Adam Frisch for the state's House seat in the conservative third district.  Leading up to election day, even the Denver Post begged its readers not to vote for the Q-anon queen.

Democrat Tina Kotek,defeated two white-supremacist- and QANON-friendly opponents to keep the Oregon governor’s seat in Democratic hands.  Republican Christine Drazan was the leader of multiple walk-outs of Republican legislators, shutting down the House by denying a quorum, and who routinely forced delays of legislative business with tactics like forcing bills to be read out loud.  Republican Betsy Johnson was an NRA-endorsed crank whose campaign was financed in large part by fellow crank Phil Knight, founder of Nike. Both Drazan and Johnson are cozy with Timber Unity, a group with extensive and well-documented ties to white nationalist and other extremist groups like the Proud Boys, QAnon, and the Three Percenter movement.