November is election month. Avoiding elections counts. The 20th Republican retirement from Congress was announced.
Actual elections count. Virginia elected a Democratic House of Delegates and Senate, supplementing its Democratic Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, and two US Senators. Virginia is blue if we can keep it that way. Kentucky and Louisiana are not. Both states elected Democratic Governors. Sadly, Mississippi did not. No matter how left the west coast may seem, referenda can still have troubling results. In the state of Washington, affirmative action was defeated 50.4 to 49.6 and vehicle registration fees were capped 53-47.
Alabama is not turning blue any time soon. Republicans have a 67-28 supermajority in the House, preserved by a special election victory in AL HD 74 in Montgomery by a typical 69-31 margin. Louisiana Democrats avoided a supermajority in its House as Mack Cormier flipped HD 105 and Independent Roy Adams was reelected. South Jersey stayed Democratic and the New Jersey Assembly retained its 52-28 Democratic majority. It was close, though. Democrats Vince Mazzeo and John Armato gained their wins only when absentee ballots were counted.
San Francisco was a little more progressive than usual, electing Chesa Boudin as DA. He is the son of jailed members of the Weather Underground and was raised by former members of Weather Underground Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers who Barack Obama was accused of knowing. Boudin is the latest of a group of DA reformers headed by Larry Krasner in Philadelphia and almost achieved in Queens, NY. On the other hand in New York, the Town of Hempstead (population 770,000 – seven times larger than South Bend Indiana) flipped several Democratic positions, electing Republicans including Donald Clavin as Town Supervisor by less than 1,500 votes. In an even closer election, Democrat Omar Montgomery lost by 215 to ousted Congressman Mike Coffman for Mayor of Aurora while Democrats gained control of the City Council.
Democrats edged Republicans this November. It was certainly not a tsunami. Not a blue wave either. Maybe a Democratic tide. If we do as well a year from November, we will have elected a Democratic President and sustained control of the House. We might have won the Senate. We will have elected a few more governors and made gains in state legislatures.
Every vote counts. Donate to the Democrats you like. At every level. Volunteer to help them. Write postcards for Tony the Democrat. Invest in an America that reflects your values.