Why the Georgia runoff election is still really important to Democrats
Outgoing GOP Gov. Larry Hogan says Trump has cost the Republican party the last three elections
From CNN’s Michelle Watson
“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.
Michigan Gov. Whitmer on her reelection: Abortion was a factor among women voters
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.
“Who cares?”: Pennsylvania governor-elect Josh Shapiro says on Mastriano not calling to concede
From CNN’s Hannah Sarisohn
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.”
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.
Why the Georgia runoff election is still really important to Democrats
Although Democrats are already projected to win control of the Senate, CNN chief political Gloria Borger said the upcoming Dec. 6 Georgia runoff is still really important to the party.
“They want to have a clear majority,” Borger said on CNN Saturday. “But, I think that one vote actually does matter in so many ways because it doesn’t give anybody the kind of leverage that say a Joe Manchin had.”
“And no Democrat will tell you that they are going to fight any less hard for that seat,” she said.
In remarks to reporters Saturday night, President Biden celebrated Democrats’ win in the Senate and said the party is now focusing on the Georgia runoff. He noted that the future of his agenda is “always better” with 51 Democratic senators.
“Because we are in a situation where you don’t have to have an even makeup of the committees — so that’s why it is important, mostly,” Biden said. “But, it’s simply better, the bigger the number the better.”
More on the runoff: Neither Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock nor Republican challenger Herschel Walker surpassed the 50% threshold needed to win the race outright Tuesday evening, CNN projected, forcing a runoff election.
With Democrats’ projected win in the Nevada Senate race, they now have 50 Senate seats to Republicans’ 49 seats.
Even if Republicans win the Georgia runoff, though, Vice President Kamala Harris would continue to cast the tie-breaking vote in an evenly divided Senate to guarantee the Democratic majority.
CNN’s Eric Bradner contributed reporting to this post.
Democrats will keep control of the Senate. Here’s what we know.
From CNN’s Eric Bradner
Democrats will keep their narrow Senate majority for the next two years, CNN projects, after victories in close contests in Nevada and Arizona. Democrats now have 50 Senate seats to Republicans’ 49 seats.
In Nevada, CNN projects that Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a former prosecutor and state attorney general, will defeat Republican Adam Laxalt, her successor in the attorney general’s office and the son and grandson of former senators.
In Arizona, CNN projects that Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and the husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, will defeat Republican Blake Masters, a venture capitalist who was endorsed by Trump and supported by tech mogul and emerging GOP megadonor Peter Thiel.
Georgia’s race between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker is headed to a December runoff after neither candidate cleared the 50% threshold on Tuesday.
Even if Republicans win the Georgia runoff, though, Vice President Kamala Harris would continue to cast the tie-breaking vote in an evenly divided Senate to guarantee the Democratic majority.
Only one Senate seat has changed hands so far in the 2022 midterm elections: Pennsylvania, where Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who campaigned as he recovered from a May stroke, defeated Republican Mehmet Oz, the celebrity doctor who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
Republicans successfully defended seats in hard-fought races in Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin, while Democrats retained their seats in competitive contests in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and New Hampshire.
More on the Democrats’ Senate win: Retaining Senate control is a huge boost to President Biden over the remaining two years of his first term in the White House.
It means Democrats will have the ability to confirm Biden’s judicial nominees — avoiding scenarios such as the one former President Barack Obama faced in 2016, when then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to hold a vote on his Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland. It also means that Senate Democrats can reject bills passed by the House and can set their own agenda.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/election-results-congress-senate-house-11-13-2022/index.html
