Kentucky voters reject anti-abortion ballot measure
The AP is calling a ballot measure in Kentucky that would have denied constitutional protections for abortion in the state. About 53% of voters rejected the measure, which would have changed the state constitution to say it does not protect the right to abortion or funding for abortion care.
Kentucky, which has a Republican-controlled general assembly, has a near-total ban on abortion in effect. The ban will still be in effect even with the rejection of the ballot measure, but its failure to change the state constitution means the state’s supreme court can decide whether the state’s constitution includes a right to abortion. The court is expected to hear arguments for a lawsuit against the state’s abortion ban later this month.
Key events
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Sean Patrick Maloney confirms he has conceded his race for another term in Congress.
He nonetheless predicted better-than-expected performance for House Democrats, while acknowledging they may still lose control of the chamber, Punchbowl News reports:
DCCC Chair Sean Patrick Maloney confirms he’s conceded to Mike Lawler.
SPM says he also just spoke with Biden.
“Last night, House Democrats stood our ground.” pic.twitter.com/B6qpqdovSq
— Max Cohen (@maxpcohen) November 9, 2022
“We don’t know yet what the outcome will be yet in a couple dozen races,” Maloney says.
Says he can’t “with 100 pct certainty” say who will hold the House majority.
Says if Dems fall short, they will still “beat the spread”
— Max Cohen (@maxpcohen) November 9, 2022
Democratic House representative Elissa Slotkin hoped voters’ desire to protect abortion access would help her as she faced a tough reelection contest in Michigan, and the strategy has paid off.
Slotkin won in her swing district, with her Republican opponent conceding earlier this morning:
I just received a call from Tom Barrett conceding the election. I’m so grateful to the people of mid-Michigan for their support. Tonight, voters here made clear that the politics of division are not what they want for our families or our state. 1/
— Elissa Slotkin (@ElissaSlotkin) November 9, 2022
Abortion was literally on the ballot in Michigan, where voters last night approved a measure to scrap a ban on the procedure. On the campaign trail, Slotkin counted on those same voters giving her their support for another term in Congress.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Republican senator Ron Johnson has declared victory in his races against Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes.
Here’s the statement released by the conservative lawmaker:
New: Ron Johnson (R) declares race is over against Mandela Barnes (D) in Wisconsin Senate race.
Race has yet to be called by major outlets. Johnson has 27,374 vote lead. pic.twitter.com/LdBJtmy3Yb
— Lawrence Andrea (@lawrencegandrea) November 9, 2022
Johnson was considered the most vulnerable GOP senator up for reelection this year, and Democrats hoped Barnes would claim his seat. The Associated Press has not yet called the race.
Rightwing firebrand Lauren Boebert may have lost re-election in her western Colorado House district.
Decision Desk HQ reports that the Republican is trailing her Democratic challenger Adam Frisch:
DDHQ Race Update (est. 89% in): CO-03
Adam Frisch (D): 144,127
(50.88%)
Lauren Boebert (R-i): 139,136
(49.12%)Follow more results here: https://t.co/7FuTRLlSo0
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) November 9, 2022
The Associated Press has not called the race yet. Boebert has promoted false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, as well as supported the QAnon conspiracy theory.
The man charged with winning Democrats a majority in the House of Representatives may have lost his own re-election.
CBS News reports that congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has conceded to his Republican opponent Mike Lawler:
NEW in #NY17: Mike Lawler’s campaign says DCCC Chair Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney has conceded to him in a call.
— aaron navarro (@aaronlarnavarro) November 9, 2022
The Associated Press has not called the race yet. Polls in the run-up to election day showed Maloney trailing Lawler in the district representing New York City’s northern exurbs.
A note about Nevada, where Democratic senator Catherine Cortez Masto is fighting to keep her seat against Republican Adam Laxalt:
The state mostly votes by mail, and here’s where the balance of outstanding ballots stands as of early this morning, per The Nevada Independent:
Here’s the math, folks:
If there are 100K mail ballots left in Clark, which would make sense based on turnout there, and the Dems win by the 2-to-1 margin they have so far, CCM could come back to win. More uphill for Sisolak but he’s not quite dead yet.Also: 16K mail in Washoe. https://t.co/63Vrkzf0K7
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) November 9, 2022
Which way the uncounted ballots break will be crucial for determining whether Cortez Masto wins another term, or is ousted by Laxalt.
Here’s a rundown of where the outstanding Senate battlegrounds stand, courtesy of CNN:
Senate latest via @CNN:
?AZ: Kelly +5 w/ 69% in
?GA: Warnock +1 w/ 96% in
?NV: Laxalt +3 w/ 80% in
?WI: Johnson +1 w/ 94% in
?CO: Bennet +12
?FL: Rubio +17
?NC: Budd +4
?NH: Hassan +10
?OH: Vance +6
?PA: Fetterman +3— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) November 9, 2022
Let’s game it out for a second: if all these races break in the direction they’re currently trending, Democrats will have lost a Senate seat in Nevada, but are able to offset it with their win in Pennsylvania, where John Fetterman will replace an outgoing Republican.
The big outstanding state will be Georgia. While Democrat Raphael Warnock is currently leading there, the state will hold a run-off election if neither he nor Republican Herschel Walker clear the 50% margin of support.
If this all sounds familiar, it should: Georgia was the state where surprise victories in Senate races gave Democrats control of the chamber after a runoff election on January 5, 2021 – one day before Donald Trump’s supporters staged an insurrection at the US Capitol.
John Fetterman’s communications director announced that Mehmet Oz, his Republican opponent in the Pennsylvania Senate race, conceded in a phone call this morning:
This morning at 9:30 Dr. Oz called John Fetterman to concede.
— Joe Calvello (@the_vello) November 9, 2022
Fox News has more details about how Donald Trump reacted to the GOP’s poorer-than-expected-performance last night:
Source close to Trump tells @markpmeredith
-talk that last night’s Republican performance was all tied to Trump “is cheap”
-The results do NOT change plans for an announcement on Tuesday (11/15) at Mar-A-Lago
-the media is trying to raise DeSantis profile build up 2024 drama— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) November 9, 2022
The former president played a major role in influencing the Republican nominees in races this year, and hoped that a big win in the midterms would set the stage for the announcement of his next presidential campaign. Count him among the Republicans for whom things did not go as planned last night.
Today is turning out to be a bit of a sobering day for Republicans. CNN’s Jim Acosta is reporting insight from Donald Trump’s team that the former president is “livid” and “screaming at everyone” after the election results last night, according to an anonymous adviser. The adviser said that Trump will likely still make his likely presidential announcement next week as “it’s too humiliating to delay”.
“Trump is livid” and “screaming at everyone,” after last night’s disappointing midterm results for GOP, according to a Trump adviser. The adviser went on to slam the former president’s handpicked contenders: “they were all bad candidates.” “Candidates matter,” the adviser said.
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) November 9, 2022
Meanwhile, House Republicans, who still have a chance of getting the majority, are reeling from the election results. Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman said that several House Republicans who were prepped to send out emails today asking for leadership position votes have held off.
A sign of the flux in House GOP: several candidates for leadership were planning to send out their letters asking for votes today. Everyone I’ve spoken to is holding off.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 9, 2022
