FL: GOP rides Latino support in Florida as Miami-Dade turns red
Miami-Dade County, Florida’s largest county in population and a Democratic stronghold, home to 1.5 million Latinos of voting age, has been a staging ground for virtually every successful statewide Democratic campaign for the past two decades. But in this week’s elections, the GOP shattered the Democrats’ firewall in Miami-Dade, raising questions about their ability to compete in future statewide elections.
TN: Tennessee’s GOP leadership proposes ban on gender-affirming care as first bill for 2023
Tennessee Republican lawmakers proposed a ban on gender-affirming care in the form of a bill that would allow children to later sue their parents for providing them such treatment and subject doctors to punishment up to a generation after knowingly violating the law. If approved, it would be among the nation’s strictest bans.
MA: Massachusetts voters approve ‘millionaires tax’
Massachusetts voters approved Question 1, also known as the “millionaires tax,” by a slim margin, instituting an income tax surcharge that will hit the state’s wealthiest residents, to help pay for education and transportation. Question 1 will amend the state’s constitution to add 4 percentage points to the state’s 5% income tax, for annual earnings over $1 million.
CA: In red parts of California, election deniers promise they won’t go away
In the mostly rural Northern California county of Shasta — where former President Donald Trump beat President Joe Biden by 33 percentage points — local election officials and poll workers have felt threatened and under siege. The split is not so much red versus blue, but traditional conservative versus far-right.
UT: Utah county’s elections will be run by a clerk who questions the 2020 election
The Republican nominee in Utah County — a candidate who questioned the results of President Joe Biden’s 2022 victory — will lead future elections in Utah’s second most populous county.
NE: Two legislature races could determine abortion access in Nebraska
The outcome of two legislative races that could determine the future of abortion access and other hot-button issues in Nebraska may not be known for at least two weeks.
SC: Final statehouse push to ban nearly all abortions in South Carolina officially over for the year
Legislation that would outlaw near all abortions in South Carolina is officially kaput after a stalemate between House and Senate lawmakers ended with Republican leaders in both chambers blaming each other.
DE: Women win all Delaware statewide races
Two Democratic incumbents, Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings and State Treasurer Colleen Davis, as well as new Democratic candidate Lydia York for state auditor, won their races. The results mean that every statewide race was won by a female Democrat, including U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester.
OR: Republicans yank Oregon Democrats’ Senate supermajority
Republicans eliminated Democrats’ three-fifths supermajority in the Oregon Senate by flipping at least one net seat the midterm election, meaning Democrats will no longer be able to strong-arm votes on new taxes through on straight party-line votes. Republicans, who now hold 11 seats in the chamber, will up their numbers to as least 12 come January.
MI: Michigan Democrats take control of state House, Senate in historic power shift
Democrats powered their way to control of the Michigan House and Senate, marking the first time the party secured a majority of seats in both legislative chambers in nearly 40 years. That paves the way to any number of policies that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and fellow Democrats failed to make headway on during the governor’s first term. Democrats also won a 7-6 majority of the state’s congressional delegation, and the state also passed three ballot initiatives on term limits, voting rights and abortion rights.
OH: Anti-culture war candidates win three seats on Ohio State Board of Education
Voters elected three candidates to the Ohio State Board of Education who oppose fights over LGBTQ students in bathrooms and attempts to control how American racism is discussed in social studies classes.
PA: Pennsylvania Democrats believe they have taken the state House; no independent confirmation
Pennsylvania Democrats believe they have taken control of the state House for the first time in more than a decade, an outcome that was considered a long shot by even the most optimistic Democrats but that has not yet been confirmed by independent analysts. Republicans said Wednesday the declaration of victory was premature.
NY: New York voters approve .5B in water infrastructure bonds
New York State’s $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Energy, Green Jobs Environmental Bond referendum was overwhelmingly passed by voters — and lawmakers said it will not result in a tax increase. The act will devote millions of dollars for water infrastructure improvements across the state, including wastewater, stormwater and replacing lead pipes.
CT: Connecticut Democrats’ fiscal stability message paid off in legislative races
Democrats in Connecticut rode a cohesive message of fiscal responsibility to not only keep their large majority in the state House but also marginally expand their already sizable lead in the Senate.
MO: Missouri voters force Kansas City to raise police spending
Missouri voters have passed a constitutional amendment that will require Kansas City to spend a larger percentage of its general revenue on the police department. Kansas City is the only city in Missouri — and one of the largest cities in the U.S. —that does not have local control of its police department.
WI: Wisconsin Republicans fail to achieve veto-proof majority
Wisconsin Republicans would have needed to win two-thirds majorities in each chamber in order to gain the power to override the governor’s vetoes. While they did flip one Senate seat, getting the 22 seats necessary in that chamber, they fell short in the Assembly.
OK: After reelection win, Oklahoma governor targets schools and ‘more options’ for parents
A day after his commanding reelection victory, Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt said his focus was on increasing efforts to improve Oklahoma’s schools. He plans to push the use of vouchers that allow students to access tax dollars to pay for private school tuition.
ID: Voters approve amendment allowing Idaho legislators to call themselves into special session
The amendment gives the Idaho legislature the power to call itself back into session with 15 days’ notice and the approval of 60% of each chamber’s members. Until now, the Idaho Constitution only allowed the governor to call the legislature back into session for a specific purpose. Since 2000, Idaho governors have only convened five special sessions.
AK: Outcomes in Alaska US Senate and House races will take 2 weeks to be determined
Anyone wanting to know the outcome of the U.S. Senate and House races in Alaska will have to be patient. As is common in the state’s elections, results from rural Alaska regions will be slow to arrive. And under the state’s new ranked-choice voting system, full results will not be tabulated by the Alaska Division of Elections until Nov. 23.
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