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Why the Georgia runoff election is still really important to Democrats

1 min ago

Election deniers lost secretary of state races in these key battleground states

From CNN’s Fredreka Schouten

The latest midterm results show that voters in crucial battleground states rejected secretary of state candidates who have denied the 2020 election results and had pledged to overhaul voting procedures in their states ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Here are the results from several of those races:

  • In Nevada, Las Vegas Democratic attorney Cisco Aguilar defeated former state lawmaker Jim Marchant to become the first Latino election chief in the Silver State, according to CNN’s projection Saturday night. Marchant, the Republican nominee, had called for doing away with vote-tallying machines and organized a coalition of like-minded “America First” candidates. Their goals included ending most mail-in voting, expanding voter identification laws and promoting the “aggressive” cleanup of voter rolls.
  • In Arizona, CNN projected that Democrat Adrian Fontes, the former top election official in Maricopa County, defeated the Republican nominee, state Rep. Mark Finchem, who lobbied to toss out the results of the 2020 election in some of state’s largest counties and co-sponsored legislation that would have allowed lawmakers to set aside election outcomes.
  • In Michigan, the Democratic incumbent Jocelyn Benson — a leading national voice defending the legitimacy of the 2020 election — defeated Kristina Karamo, CNN projected. Karamo, a member of Marchant’s “America First” slate of candidates, has falsely claimed that former President Donald Trump won two years ago and signed on to an unsuccessful Supreme Court lawsuit that challenged President Joe Biden’s victory.
  • In Minnesota, Democratic Secretary of State Steve Simon won a third term, CNN projected — defeating Republican lawyer Kim Crockett. Crockett has cast the 2020 election as “illegitimate” because of pandemic-related changes to voting procedures that year.

One secretary of state candidate in the America First coalition did succeed. CNN projected that Republican Diego Morales won the race for secretary of state in Indiana. During the GOP primary, he disputed the legitimacy of the 2020 election.

The full breakdown from CNN’s Daniel Dale on how election deniers fared can be found here.

31 min ago

Pelosi on future in House leadership: “People are campaigning and that’s a beautiful thing”

From CNN’s Daniella Diaz

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holds a weekly news conference in Washington, DC, on September 30.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holds a weekly news conference in Washington, DC, on September 30. (Sarah Silbiger/The Washington Post/Getty Images)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday she is waiting to decide about her next steps in the new Congress, adding that while she’s not “asking anybody — people are campaigning” for her.

“What we want to do is go forward in a very unified way, as we go forward to prepare for the Congress at hand,” the California Democrat told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”

“Nonetheless, a great deal is at stake because we’ll be in a presidential election… But none of it will be very much considered until we see what the outcome of all of this is. And there are all kinds of ways to exert influence,” she said.

Asked if she’ll make a decision before Democrat leadership elections on Nov. 30, Pelosi said, “Of course. Well, you know that I’m not asking anybody — People are campaigning, and that’s a beautiful thing. And I’m not asking anyone for anything.”

When asked if she believes House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy has what it takes to be House speaker if Republicans win the chamber, Pelosi said she wants to see the results of the election first.

“Let’s just get through the election, OK? They haven’t won yet. They’ve been measuring the draperies, they’ve been putting forth an agenda. They haven’t won it yet. After the election is concluded, depending on who was in the majority, there’ll be judgments made within their own party, in our own parties, as to how we go forward,” Pelosi said. 

Pressed again on whether McCarthy “has it,” Pelosi said no.

“Why would I make a judgment about something that may or may not ever happen? No, I don’t think he has it,” she said. “But that’s up to his own people to make a decision as to how they want to be led or otherwise.”

Where the election stands: The battle for control of the House is now the biggest unanswered question of this year’s midterm elections after Democrats kept their narrow Senate majority. Republicans have won 211 of the 218 seats they’d need to take the majority, according to CNN projections, while Democrats have won 204, with 20 undecided as of Sunday morning. 

1 hr 14 min ago

Sen. Warren warns of debt ceiling fight in a potentially split Congress

From CNN’s Aileen Graef

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren raised warnings about the looming debt ceiling with a potentially split Congress in an interview Sunday with NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“If the Democrats take the House, there’s no urgency around this, but no matter what, the United States of America has to honor its outstanding obligations,” Warren says. “Me, I’d get rid of the debt ceiling altogether. It serves no function except create leverage for people who are willing to blow up the economy.”

“Many new Republicans coming in are coming in with exactly one goal — get Donald Trump elected in 2024,” Warren continued. “They see if they can create chaos in the economy, then they think that may move Donald Trump one more inch toward election. So we’ve got to take that away from them, take care during the lame duck, take care of raising the debt limit or getting rid of it altogether.”

Warren previously addressed this issue in a Saturday op-ed with the New York Times, writing that “Democrats should fight back by making this lame-duck session of Congress the most productive in decades. We can start by lifting the debt ceiling now to block Republicans from taking our economy hostage next year.”

President Joe Biden said earlier this month that he does not support efforts to abolish the limit.

Remember: The debt ceiling is exactly what it sounds like — the maximum that the federal government is allowed to borrow.

Congress set one more than a century ago to curtail government borrowing. But instead of sticking to it, Congress has raised the limit every time it’s been hit, leading to sometimes-tense negotiations that can threaten the US economy.

Where things stand: CNN projects Democrats will hold on to a slim majority in the Senate, while Republicans appear to be inching toward a majority in the House.

Too many races remain outstanding to say for certain which party will control the lower chamber. Read more here.

2 hr 7 min ago

GOP Rep. Banks says he supports Kevin McCarthy for House speaker: “His experience is what we need right now”

From CNN’s Sarah Fortinsky

Indiana Rep. Jim Banks, a Trump ally running for the position of House GOP whip should Republicans take control of the chamber, said Sunday that he supports Kevin McCarthy to be speaker of the House.

Banks also doubled down on Republicans’ commitment to conduct investigations into the Biden administration, despite what he called “a very disappointing outcome on election night.”

“I support Kevin McCarthy, and his experience is what we need right now. Remember, he’s been the whip, he’s been the majority leader, he’s been the minority leader, now he’s going to be the speaker. And we need someone like him who can pull the conference together,” Banks said on Fox News Sunday, adding that McCarthy raised a record amount of money and “did his part” to set the GOP up to take the majority.

“That being said,” he added, “rank-and-file members want to be heard, and Leader McCarthy is working through that process with the rules changes. We’ll have our rules conference meeting where we vote on the rules in the middle of this upcoming week and that’ll be an opportunity to make some of those changes.”

The battle for control of the House is now the biggest unanswered question of this year’s midterm elections after Democrats kept their narrow Senate majority. Republicans have won 211 of the 218 seats they’d need to take the majority, according to CNN projections, while Democrats have won 204, with 20 undecided as of Sunday morning.

Asked about an op-ed from Sen. Mitt Romney that encouraged Republicans to focus on passing legislation that would help the American people, rather than conduct investigations, Banks said, “I disagree strongly with Senator Romney. This will be a major priority of the House and it’s what the American people expect.”

“Oversight is a primary function of the Congress, and for the last two years there has been no oversight of the Biden agenda and Biden administration, so that has to be a focal point of every single committee in the Congress, especially the House under Republican control with Republican chairmen and chairwomen,” he said.

Banks defended Trump when asked about his influence in the party, but he declined to say whether he would endorse Trump for president.

“I believe that Donald Trump was a very effective president for our country. I believe he could be a very effective president for our country again,” he said. “I’ll save my endorsement for another place and time for the 2024 race. I’m focused wholly on what happened on Tuesday and how our party moves forward on Capitol Hill.”

2 hr 18 min ago

Analysis: How Joe Biden and the Democratic Party defied midterm history

Analysis by Harry Enten

Gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro, former President Barack Obama, President Joe Biden and Senate candidate John Fetterman attend a rally on November 5, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro, former President Barack Obama, President Joe Biden and Senate candidate John Fetterman attend a rally on November 5, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Patrick Semansky/AP)

Midterms are supposed to be the time for the opposition party to shine.

That should especially be the case when there is once-in-a-generation inflation and when the vast majority of Americans think the country is on the wrong track.

Instead, President Joe Biden and the Democrats are in position to have one of the four best midterms for the party controlling the White House in the last century.

So what just happened?

The GOP’s “candidate problem”

Analysts, myself included, noted that Republicans seemed to have a candidate likability problem. Pre-election polling showed Republicans in all the key races had negative net favorability ratings. Democrats were broadly better liked than their opponents.

Many of those Republicans were endorsed by former President Donald Trump and had falsely claimed — at least at one point — that they believed he won the 2020 election.

The exit polls bear out Republicans’ “candidate problem.” In every Senate race (save Georgia) that Inside Elections rated as a toss-up or only tilting toward a party before the election, more voters said the Republican candidate’s views were too extreme than said the same for the Democrat.

We see this in gubernatorial elections, as well. Republicans nominated 2020 election deniers for governor in a number of blue or swing states. None of them has been projected a winner, and only Republican Kari Lake of Arizona has any chance of winning.

Two presidents on the trail

On the national level, there are two presidents in the spotlight: the current one (Biden) and the former (Trump). Both men sported negative net favorable ratings, per the exit polls.

The fact that you have a current president and a former president who are both unpopular isn’t unusual.

What is unusual is that of the 18% who viewed neither Biden nor Trump favorably in the exit polls, 40% of them voted for Democrats. The backlash against one president this year may have been canceled out by the backlash against the other.

“Abortion first” voters

Arguably, what truly made this midterm unique was abortion. Despite high inflation, only 31% of voters in the exit poll said it was the most important issue to their vote. A nearly identical percentage (27%) said abortion, and these voters overwhelmingly chose Democratic candidates for Congress.

This matches the dynamic we saw in the special House elections following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June. Democrats started doing considerably better than before the Supreme Court ruling.

Read more here.

2 hr 43 min ago

Outgoing GOP Gov. Larry Hogan says Trump has cost the Republican party the last three elections

From CNN’s Michelle Watson

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan speaks during a press conference on November 10, in Annapolis, Maryland.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan speaks during a press conference on November 10, in Annapolis, Maryland. (Graeme Sloan/The Washington Post/Getty Images)

“Three strikes, you’re out,” said the outgoing Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan Sunday morning, laying the blame on former president Donald Trump for the party’s lackluster showing in the 2022 midterms and the previous two major elections.

Hogan said it’s time to reassess what’s important to his party.

“It’s basically the third election in a row that Donald Trump has cost us the race,” Hogan said during an appearance on “State of the Union” with CNN’s Dana Bash.

“This should have been a huge red wave. It should have been one of the biggest red waves we’ve ever had,” Hogan continued.

But despite President Joe Biden’s low approval ratings, Hogan said his party, “still didn’t perform.”  

“I think common sense conservatives that focused on talking about issues people cared about like the economy, and crime and education – they did win,” Hogan said. “But people who tried to relitigate the 2020 election and focused on conspiracy theories … they were all almost universally rejected.”  

Hogan stressed the importance of Republicans going back to the drawing board to figure out how to capture more voters and “have a more hopeful, positive vision.” The governor said many midterm elections were lost due to independents and swing voters being turned off by republican messaging.  

Hogan said there’s no doubt that Trump’s looming “special announcement” this week — speculated as a potential launch for a 2024 presidential bid — could impact the Senate runoff race in Georgia.

But he added that he is still hopeful about the future of the Republican party, when discussing Gov. Ron DeSantis’ big win in Florida.

“We certainly had a great night the other night in Florida, it was a big win for Ron DeSantis,” Hogan said. “He is certainly one of the important voices for the party.”

Hogan dodged a question about running for president in 2024, saying, “I still have to do my day job until Jan. 18.”

Then the first Black governor-elect of Maryland, Democrat Wes Moore, takes over. 

2 hr 32 min ago

Michigan Gov. Whitmer on her reelection: Abortion was a factor among women voters

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks to supporters on November 9, in Detroit, Michigan.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks to supporters on November 9, in Detroit, Michigan. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer defeated her Republican challenger Tudor Dixon by more than 10 percentage points and by at least 26 points among women voters, a feat she says is partially due to her commitment to fighting for abortion rights.

“I think it was a factor,” Whitmer told CNN’s Dana Bash Sunday, when asked how large of a role the issue of abortion played.

“This was a massive turn of events,” she continued. “And I think part of it was, Democrats were fighting to solve problems, make people’s lives better, but also protect our ability to make our own decisions about our bodies.”

“These are fundamental, core issues, if we’re going to design our lives and make our decisions around our families. That is, you know, without question, an economic decision as well,” Whitmer told Bash. “I know a lot of folks kind of wanted to say, ‘Should we talk about the economy or abortion?’

But the fact of the matter is, the ability to decide when and whether to have a child is the biggest economic decision a woman will make over the course of her lifetime. And that’s why we kept that front and center too.”

Whitmer had staked her reelection campaign on her successful efforts to block the enforcement of the state’s 1931 law banning abortion in almost all instances. Dixon had waged a campaign focused on cultural battles.

Michigan voters this week also approved a Whitmer-backed amendment to the state’s constitution that will scrap that 1931 law and guarantee abortion rights.

CNN’s Samantha Beech and Zenebou Sylla contributed to this report.

2 hr 32 min ago

“Who cares?”: Pennsylvania governor-elect Josh Shapiro says on Mastriano not calling to concede

From CNN’s Hannah Sarisohn 

Josh Shapiro gives a victory speech on November 8, in Oaks, Pennsylvania.
Josh Shapiro gives a victory speech on November 8, in Oaks, Pennsylvania. (Mark Makela/Getty Images)

Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor-elect Josh Shapiro does not care if his Republican challenger, Doug Mastriano, ever calls him to concede the race, he told CNN Sunday.

“Who cares if he calls, right?” Shapiro said on “State of the Union,” days after his win in the Keystone state’s gubernatorial race. The Democrat earned 56.2% of the vote, as CNN reported.  

“He doesn’t get to pick the winner, the people pick the winner, and in a resounding way they made clear that they wanted me to lead this commonwealth forward,” Shapiro told CNN’s Dana Bash. “I could care less if the guy calls me.” 

Shapiro said his campaign’s success came from connecting with voters in often forgotten areas across rural, suburban and urban parts of the commonwealth. 

“We showed up and treated people with respect,” Shapiro said. “We showed them how we’re going to make their lives better.” 

Shapiro thanked President Joe Biden for encouraging Pennsylvanians to get out to the polls. 

Shapiro also dodged questioning from Bash about throwing his hat in the ring as a future presidential contender. 

“Dana,” Shapiro said. “I have an ambition to get a little bit of sleep.”  

4 hr 26 min ago

What to know about control of Congress and outstanding votes in other races

From CNN’s Eric Bradner and Maeve Reston

The battle for control of the House is now the biggest unanswered question of this year’s midterm elections after Democrats kept their narrow Senate majority.

Which party reaches the 218 seats necessary for a House majority will hinge on races in states with a large share of mail-in ballots — including California, where identifying winners in some races could take weeks, Oregon and Arizona.

Another high-profile contest remains too close to call: The Arizona governor’s race — where Republican Kari Lake, the Donald Trump-supported election denier, is facing Democratic secretary of state Katie Hobbs, a defender of the state’s election process.

Democratic upset keeps narrow House majority hopes alive

Republicans appear to be slowly inching toward a slim majority, but Democrats’ hopes have not yet fully faded.

Republicans have won 211 of the 218 seats they’d need to take the majority, according to CNN projections, while Democrats have won 204, with 20 undecided as of Saturday evening.

Democrats scored a major victory in Washington’s Republican-leaning 3rd District, where on Saturday CNN projected that Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez would defeat Republican Joe Kent, who had aligned himself closely with former President Donald Trump.

Many of the other undecided races are in California, where counting mail-in ballots can take weeks and significant shifts can occur late in that process. Other states with large quantities of mail-in ballots, including Arizona and Oregon, also have undecided races.

Arizona governor’s race still undecided

The Arizona governor’s race between Lake, one of the most prominent election deniers on the ballot this year, and Hobbs, remains tight, with Hobbs clinging to a 34,000 vote lead as of late Saturday with an estimated 290,000 votes to be counted.

If she wins, Lake would be a rare Trump-supported election denier to win a competitive statewide race this year.

In an interview with CNN Saturday afternoon, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates said that about 190,000 votes remain to be counted in Maricopa County.

He said he was confident that about 95% to 99% of those votes will be recorded by Tuesday. He said the county will continue to report about 85,000 votes per night until they are done.

Other races to keep an eye on:

In Alaska, the state’s at-large House seat and one of its Senate seats will hinge on ranked-choice results.

Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, who won a special election this summer, is in a strong position to eclipse the 50% mark. But Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski faces a stiffer challenge from Republican Kelly Tshibaka, who is backed by Trump as part of his bid for retribution against Murkowski and others who for his impeachment after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

And in Los Angeles, Rep. Karen Bass on Saturday widened her lead over developer Rick Caruso in the mayoral race.

If elected, Bass would become the first woman and the first Black woman to lead America’s second-largest city.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/election-results-congress-senate-house-11-13-2022/index.html