US Midterms 2016 – Random Thoughts From Tonight

I didn’t live blog tonight but roughly, here’s how my night went…

I’ve been waiting two years for this night – yay!

I realise I can’t read 10 open tabs in my browser simultaneously – boo!

One of the first polls to close, Kentucky District 6 is really tight – if the Dem wins, that portends a Blue Wave – yay!

Oh-oh, Florida races (Senate *and* Governor) aren’t going as well as projected – boo!

Beto is keeping pace with, and even showing Texas in blue at times as he pulls ahead of Ted Cruz – YAY!

Georgia Governor race isn’t going well for Democrats – boo!

Some Russian dude got arrested today overseas for being involved with a suspicious real estate transaction at a Trump property – yay!

KY-6 goes to Republicans in a squeaker – boo!

Kansas elects a Democratic governor – yay!

Andrew Gillum loses Florida governorship after polls showed him up by ~7 points – boo!

Democrats flip House seats in various red states including Texas and Oklahoma – yay!

Trump appears to have given solid bumps to candidates in most areas where he campaigned – boo!  [Edit: Also WRONG!]

The Democrats elect a lot of firsts – the first gay governor in Colorado, the youngest woman to ever sit in Congress, the first Muslim women to sit in Congress, the first First Nations women to sit in Congress (one of whom also happens to be a lesbian) – yay!

Beto ultimately loses to Ted Cruz even though it’s extremely close – boo!

Not a yuuuge surprise but Bernie Sanders wins handily – yay!

The loss of the Democratic senator in North Dakota clinches the Senate for the Republicans – boo!

Michigan legalized marijuana – yay!

North Dakota didn’t legalize marijuana – boo!

Democrat Jon Tester is leading in Montana (though it’s early as I write this) – yay!

Republicans win or look like they’ll win some of the largest governorships up for grabs including perennial battleground states, Florida and Ohio – boo!

As projected, the Democrats retake the House by picking up (at least) 24 seats which restores at least some balance to the US political system and gives Democrats power in various committees as well as subpoena power – yay!

As projected, the Republicans retain the Senate and even pick up a couple seats (as of this writing) which gives them some power, especially to seat Supreme Court Justices if there are further vacancies in the next two years – boo!

Even with the not-as-good-as-hoped results in many cases, it appears that overall, left-wing/liberal/young/minority voters were energized and hopefully that momentum will continue leading into 2020 but also in terms of local/state-level engagement as well – YAY!

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