Democrats have held most of the major state offices for decades, but the party has been slowly losing its foothold among rural white Democratic voters.
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But the blowback didn’t stop there.
Virginia: Democrats in the Commonwealth needed a net gain of only one state Senate seat to flip control of the chamber, but they came up short and the state Senate’s makeup will remain unchanged.
Well, results from elections across the country are streaming in this morning. It was one of the most-watched governor races in America.
With two of the four other statewide races going Republican, Bevin told supporters gathered Tuesday night at the Galt House in Louisville that the election was going “to change the tenor of the state”. Indeed, it is likely that many low-income Kentucky residents will literally die because so few people cast a ballot in the state’s gubernatorial race.
The Democratic election night party was quieter than supporters had hoped for.
Opening the Senate session on Wednesday, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell congratulated Kentucky Gov.-elect Matt Bevin. Polls showed the Democratic candidate for governor, Attorney General Jack Conway, with a slight edge throughout the entire campaign.
But the anti-Obama tide proved to be too much. The candidate got last-minute help from the Republican Governors Association, which poured .5 million in spending on ads that tied Conway to Obama-though not to Obamacare explicitly-in the final days of the race.
Republicans have dominated federal elections in Kentucky, but moderate Democrats have maintained control of state government.
He has called for an austere budget to pay down Kentucky’s state worker pension program’s unfunded liability and he has promised to move new teachers over to a 401(k) type program rather than a traditional pension. The Courier-Journal reported that “Bevin led Conway with 53 percent of the vote compared to the Democrat’s 44 percent” with 100% of the votes in. Conway was the 2010 Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate but lost to Rand Paul.
But Stumbo’s harangue is noteworthy, if for no other reason than if you’re going to fail, fail big. The impact on health care in the Bluegrass State would be significant if both programs are reversed.
In Houston, the so-called “bathroom bill” was voted down after it largely turned into a debate about whether the law would allow men to use women’s restrooms. “No one should have to live with the specter of discrimination hanging over them”.
In Salt Lake City, two-term incumbent Mayor Ralph Becker faced a challenge from former state lawmaker Jackie Biskupski, who would become the city’s first openly gay mayor if elected. Parker rallied celebrities and corporations to her side, like Apple and actress Sally Field.
For all the talk about the GOP in “turmoil” and suffering from “dysfunction”, one would never know that it is the Democrats who have the nationwide, systemic problem. “It really isn’t. The point of it is to provide for those who truly have need”.
A statewide referendum to legalize recreational and medical marijuana overwhelmingly failed in Ohio. Advocates had launched a $20 million campaign in favor of its passage, including the creation of “Buddie” the marijuana mascot.
Opponents, however, successfully framed it as a danger to families and children.
Republicans also were successful in securing a second term for Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, who easily defeated a little-known opponent in the conservative Southern state.
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With victories in Virginia, New York, Maine, Mississippi and more Republicans had plenty to celebrate.
