wave blues // Scott Johnson
For Democratic incumbents Mark Kelly (Arizona) and Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada), the Arizona and Nevada Senate races were called. Only the Georgia Senate runoff election is left, and the Democrats appear to have retained their 50-seat majority in Senate (with Vice President Harris breaking off ties). With a win in the Georgia runoff, Democrats can increase their majority to 51-49 or keep the status quo with loss. The AP’s latest story is “Democrats maintain Senate majority while GOP push falters Nevada.”
It seems to be typical of a wave election for a prevailing party win these close races. This is the situation at the Senate level, with the notable exception of Ron Johnson in Wisconsin. All hail Senator Johnson. Let’s hear from him about how he did it, and what he plans to do next. Jon Justice, our friend, will surely bring it up with “our adopted senator from Wisconsin” during one of his regular appearances at Jon’s KTLK morning program.
The outcome in the House is still not known. To get an idea of the state of play, Steven Shepard’s Politico article “The path towards 218: Why Democrats aren’t out of the race to the House yet” can be helpful.
At the moment, Republicans have 211 seats (+7) while Democrats have 204 (-7) with 218 required for a majority. The Democrats are not out yet. California is home to many races with yet to be determined outcomes. Republicans should be preparing for the worst. RCP has House races here. The screenshot below — grey representing undecided — was taken from the RealClearPolitics homepage as of Sunday morning.
RCP’s summary of the national House vote has Democrats at 47.290,997 (6.7%) and Republicans at 52.084,763 (51.4%), again as of Sunday morning. My tentative comment about a blue tide in the Senate races doesn’t apply to the House. I think this prediction/projection is worth a look.
This is @Nate_Cohn. If the House continues its current trend, we could see a 219-216 R majority. https://t.co/NYXpCtErZk pic.twitter.com/YyzOXrjmNR
Nathaniel Rakich (@baseballot November 12, 2022
Kevin Roberts, Heritage Foundation, has more.
This failure must lead to serious changes in Republican leadership and their DC-centric, consultant driven non-strategy. After spending the last few days with everyday conservatives at @Heritage‘s annual meeting, the base is now on the verge of walking away forever. https://t.co/dVnupNuyZh
— Kevin Roberts (@KevinRobertsTX November 12, 2022
This is all I want to add. Our electoral system has become a joke and a disgrace. There is something that needs to be done. However, Democrats will only accept it if it suits their interests. Republicans must learn how to play the game.
