The returns are coming in from Kentucky and it was a big night for the Democrats. Governor Steve Beshear was easily reelected. Democrats also won the races for Attorney General, Secretary of State, and Auditor. The only thing they lost was the race for Agriculture Commissioner, apparently because we had a terrible candidate who admitted he knew nothing about agriculture and decided to insult the people of eastern Kentucky. It’s good to know that the Democratic Party isn’t dead in the Bluegrass State. When Rand Paul actually got elected to a six-year term in the Senate, I began to have my doubts.
I’ll update this thread as more news pours in.
Update [2011-11-8 20:45:23 by BooMan]: It’s early, but it looks like Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) is getting his ass kicked.
Update [2011-11-8 21:16:17 by BooMan]: Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter cruising to reelection with 73% of the vote.
Update [2011-11-8 21:26:23 by BooMan]: This is what happens when a Tea Bagging congressman tries to dupe a smart progressive woman.
Comedy gold.
Update [2011-11-8 21:58:54 by BooMan]: Maine slaps down their governor and reinstates election-day voter registration.
Update [2011-11-8 22:19:6 by BooMan]: Virginia elects first openly gay state senator.
Update [2011-11-8 22:36:42 by BooMan]: The AP says that the anti-choice nutters in Mississippi have lost, big time!!
Update [2011-11-8 22:51:36 by BooMan]: Democrats wipe the floor with Republicans in Connecticut. I feel sad for Joe Lieberman, who can’t enjoy the moment.
Sitting here watching the returns from Kentucky, it is kind of staggering some of the margins of victory. And looking at a lot of the local races across the river in Indiana, it seems that Democrats are faring just as well over there.
Really? In Indiana? What are you seeing there?
Things are off to a rough start in Virginia.
But what are the candidates like? And one AG was the guy who last to Rand Paul last year.
Conway is a good guy. You shouldn’t complain that he won.
I am not complaining, just making the point in that another low turn out election that they still seem to like Conway as AG, even if they chose a freakin’ moron as Senator over him.
Kentucky is weird like that – they (I still claim Michigan as home) keep Democrats in the governor’s mansion and Republicans in the US Senate. Then too, this is the state that couldn’t make up its mind about the Civil War until Confederate troops invaded…
Yeah, I like Conway. I sent him a little money.
Yeah, me too. He’s holding the line with Schneiderman on the foreclosure fraud case.
http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/09/22/kentucky-ag-conway-joins-growing-coalition-backing-schneiderm
an-on-foreclosure-fraud/
In any other year, Conway would have destroyed Rand Paul. He’s the perfect type of Dem for that state, and he’s fairly liberal. Certainly better than any Dems from Indiana…so it’s not like he’s an Evan Bayh type.
So Conway’s re-election provides more than just local benefits. It keeps him alive, electorally speaking, to take another run at Paul in 2016 when turnout is sure to be high. The task ought to be even easier then after Paul has had 6 full years to embarrass himself and his state.
Yes, and also the other Democrats elected state-wide tonight.
Definitely. I want him recruited again for 2016. He’d be our best bet.
And Issue 2 in Ohio is being soundly defeated. This was Kasich’s “kill the unions” bill. Good sign for 2012.
Yes!
So relieved that this law was struck down. This is the most important result of the night.
Ugh, comon, Edd Houck. Neck and neck to an abortion extremist Bryce Reeves.
If I’m reading this right (and I hope I am) the anti-abortion nutters are losing in Mississippi.
Wow! Too crazy for even Mississippi!
Wow. I’m watching Maddow right now and she described the Mississippi amendment. I didn’t know the details before. It’s completely insane. I was confused by how any anti-abortion initiative could lose in MS. But I guess even this is too out of control for them, given how the returns are going.
Man, if personhood cannot win in MS, personhood cannot win anywhere. And it has lost now for maybe the 5th time in different states. That means that it is getting less and less likely to come up again. If you try and try and try, eventually, even the Repukeliscum will stop trying.
Personhood is a truly disgusting law. If you had a glass of wine while pregnant and unaware of that fact, you could be prosecuted for child abuse.
I think it was a tactical error. If they had put it up for referendum that every fertilized ovum will automatically receive a corporate charter, then …. (are you following me here?)
You wouldn’t believe how many tea party postal workers worship this complete (insert worst insult you know here).
I still can’t believe your co-workers are Tea Partiers. How can you be a Tea Partier and work for the Postal Service? Is it a “work inside to destroy it from within” type of deal? The Postal Service of America is akin to Britain’s NHS in terms of national pride. Hell, people all over the world marvel at how well it’s run.
Fox News has fried their brains. They believe it is fair and balanced and all the other stations are Liberal propaganda outlets.
The most senior guy has been saved from firing three times to my knowledge, some people say four or five times. Yet, he hates the concept of unions and says they unduly restrict business. Talk about cognitive dissonance. I try to reason with the merely uninformed but otherwise intelligent. I enjoy sparring with an older guy (Yes, there actually are men older than I) who is very conservative but very intelligent. He is rational, but starts from different premises than I. We are actually friends, but I did enjoy it immensely when another co-worker got exasperated and told him, “Maybe if you had ever voted Democratic, you wouldn’t have to be working at the post office when you’re 70 years old!” His parents were store owners and blamed Roosevelt’s price fixing laws for their bankruptcy instead of the preceding recklessness of the banksters. He himself was too young to actually remember the Depression ( six years old at Pearl Harbor) but I’m sure his parents gave him an earfull.
Heh, in college during US Gov and Politics, my prof had the same story about his parents, only opposite. They were die-hard Republicans, and then when Franklin Roosevelt was president, he said his father went on tirades about he’d never vote for a “god damned Republican” ever again.
Maine restored same day voter registration!!! Ayuh we did!
Congrats. That’s huge!
Thank you!! Every time these Republicans try and take away our rights–we have to fight back!
Excellent!
I can confidently predict that control of the Virginia Senate will be decided after a recount.
I have a feeling it’s going to come down to my state Senator, Edd Houck, as to who controls it. Right now I think he’ll win — only 1 in Spotsylvania, Fredericksburg and Abermarle left, and he’s leading well in two of the three. Recount will be a nail biter.
Ohio did the right thing!
Take that, Gov. Kasich!
Walker, you’re next.
Looks like the same percentage voted for issues 1 and 3, which Democrats opposed. The message I take is that Ohioans don’t like the government ordering things. i.e. they don’t want the government telling them who to vote for (issue 1), or whether they can join a union (issue 2), or that they have to buy private health insurance (issue 3).
I’ve got to admit that I would have voted with the majority on all three issues, although issue 3 was pretty vague and could be used as an argument against insurance regulation.
Issue 3 was so vague and could be interpreted in such a multitude of ways that it became mostly an emotional vent for the anti-Obama people. It seemed to be perceived as a way to put a “thumb in the eye” of the President. In reality, I don’t think it will mean a damn thing, regardless of the overwhelming vote in favor.
Author of Arizona immigration law Russell Pearce looks vulnerable to recall.
Wow! What a night!
As Markos said, R on R violence, but I’ll take it!!
Locally, it looks like the Republicans ran roughshod over the Dems in Chester County, Pennsylvania, but our school board candidate seems to have bucked the trend and the robocalls.
When hasn’t the GOP run runshod over the Dems here, Boo? The county party is weak and ineffective.
Agreed, although the effort to defeat our school board loser was the strongest effort I’ve sen yet on the local side.
In Wake County, the incumbent Democrat was re-elected. The total number of votes needed to elect him was 10,672. That was considered high-turnout for this type of election.
What it takes to become Mayor of Durham is 11,000 votes; the incumbent was re-elected with 18,000. For Fayetteville, that number was 9,000 or so.
Anthony Foxx (D) was re-elected mayor of Charlotte with 55,410 votes.
I really prefer a night like tonight to the time 1 year ago.
Yeah, this is turning out to be the best election night since Nov. 2008.
He-he-he. Tooo True. Fuck you, Karl Rove and Koch sucking Tea turds everywhere.
Time to turn on my gloat light.
I was always more of a Gilmour fan myself, but that is f*cking awesome!
I love Gilmour but Waters is the soul of Pink Floyd, and the genius.
Waters was the songwriting genius, Gilmour the musical one. Their best stuff came during the power struggle between them while they were both still in Pink Floyd. But after they split, I always liked Gilmour’s solo stuff better than Waters’, though neither was nearly as good as what they made together.
The situation in Virginia is precarious, but other than that, our victory is almost complete.
The Corner seems reduced to stunned silence.
[Crying] Jerry Lewis claims victory over Russell Pearce in recall This was the equivalent of what happened to Tom Daschle. In Arizona
Congratulations ManEe. What great news!
Way to go Arizona! Dare I hope for poor Indiana if Arizona can do it? 😉
Really interesting is that Democrats got the near sweep in KY even though there was an anti-HCR/mandate prop on the ballot which is passing by a 2/3 majority. Looks like HCR may not be this election’s gay marriage as the GOP hopes: Yes, an anti-HCR prop may draw people to the polls, but it doesn’t seem to dictate other votes in KY. Go Wildcats!
Joe Walsh video definitely comedy gold. What is it with these angry white men?
He didn’t try to dupe her at all. He just took his beliefs – which happen to have no basis in reality – and repeatedly shouted them over her. And he was completely oblivious to the fact that his bullying act not only wasn’t working – you go, girl! – but wasn’t winning him any admirers, either. At all.
I love how he tells the older guy “I may have to ask you to leave” ????? aren’t they in a bar? does he own the bar?
An overlooked result – a teashit anti-teacher union hating state rep in MI was recalled.
BooMan,
the Walsh video, when I click on it, says ‘it’s private’.
wow!!! it does say that now
sorry, they must have changed its status.
Doesn’t matter. Walsh is toast.
Dataguy, I don’t know where you vote, but the new district map has him outside of his district which now has more heavily Democratic areas like the city of Elgin (and me!) in it.
He has to slug it out next March in a primary with fellow wingnut Randy Hultgren. Whichever bozo is the craziest (it’s a tossup) will probably be elected because that district (IL-14) basically has the most right wing areas of the old 8th grafted onto an existing right wing stronghold. I read over at Five Thirty Eight that the essence of gerrymandering was to draw your own districts with a narrow but comfortable margin while giving your opposing party a few districts with overwhelmingly large majorities. This explains why Republicans decry maps that breakup “safe” 90% AA districts. That way they can make those votes only count 50%, while crying crocodile tears to the federal courts that Democrats are trying to keep blacks out of office.
I’ll bet whoever posted it thought it showed Joe shutting up the “pointy-headed Librul”. Then found out that Democrats were watching and laughing at Joe.
Although I didn’t laugh. I thought he was a disgusting idiotic bully.
It still looks like you can see it here at Think Progress.
And it looks like the Walsh video is still here, too.
What does an “Agricultural Commissioner” do?
Is he the one who leads the ceremonies asking the gods for a good harvest? Those of us in Massachusetts are fascinated by the unique traditions of the simpler peoples in other parts of the country. You’re so much closer to the earth!
😉
i can see why joe’s ex got tired of him.
Meowww!!! ROarrr!!! Meaowwwww!!!!
I once saw Joan Rivers on Johnny Carson talking about Pat Nixon’s drinking problem. “You’d get drunk too if you knew you had to go to bed with Nixon every night.”