Ok, I never did get back to finishing those Senate race profiles, but I do want to point out one race real quick which isn't even a close one but probably flew under most people's radar:
Utah.
Incumbent Senator Orrin Hatch (R) -- first elected before the vast majority of you were born -- is finally, mercifully, retiring.
Utah being what it is (i.e. a giant Mormon magic underwear colony with a handful of non-believers that live in Salt Lake City), it's pretty much a given that the next Senator will be whoever won the Republican primary. And just who
did win that primary, you ask?
I'M A WINNER AFTER ALL, MA!
Yep, Mitt Romney. Now, this could actually be a minor win for Democrats in that Romney has been absolutely no fan of Trump and could conceivably cross party lines to oppose some of Trump's worst excesses.
Then again, it's Mitt Romney. Just dangle some money in front of him, and he'll vote however the fuck you want him to vote.
Now, there are entirely too many House races to discuss in any level of detail, not to mention at least half to two-thirds of them are utterly meaningless because they were over as soon as the primaries were. In my own district, the incumbent Democrat, David Price, typically wins by 30 points or more (and in some cases, 50 points) and this election is unlikely to be different, because the Republicans ran a schlub against him and provided little to no funding. Plus, the district is pretty heavily gerrymandered (seventh-worst in the nation, according to WaPo!).
That there are 60+ competitive House races this year is a pretty big surprise. I'll cover a few of the more interesting ones very briefly:
IA-04: Incumbent Steve King (R) has held sway over this chunk of NW Iowa for eight terms. He's been a racist jackass pretty much that whole time, but unlike some other equally racist jackass colleagues of his (Peter King in NY comes to mind), King's particular brand of racism has come under scrutiny lately because it's not just casual jokes in poor taste or comments about "you people", it's pretty much some straight-up white nationalism and sympathy for white nationalists. He's retweeted Nazi sympathizers on two separate occasions, supported a neo-Nazi candidate in Toronto, and met with the far-right Freedom Party in Austria. That's come back to put him on the defensive in the last few weeks, and his poll numbers have suffered, turning this from a safe seat to a "lean". Given that the district went for Trump by 27 points in 2016, King is unlikely to get ousted, but the fact that the race is down inside MoE in recent polls is staggering. If he actually loses, consider it a huge win for civil society and a sign of a genuine blue wave.
KS-03: This tiny, urban district is basically Kansas City and some suburbs, where four-term incumbent Kevin Yoder (R) is trailing Sharice Davids (D). Davids is something of a diversity bonanza: a lesbian Native American attorney and former MMA fighter. Yoder hasn't done anything in particular to screw up, but he's a typical Midwestern Republican -- pro-life, pro-gun, anti-LGBTQ, anti-Obamacare, etc. Which makes him a poor fit for an increasingly urban, young, liberal electorate in Kansas City. If the polls hold up and Davids is elected, she would be the first Native American woman elected to Congress (and/or may likely share that honor with NM-1's Deb Haaland, a Pueblo) and only the second openly lesbian member of Congress, after Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin.
MI-13: This one isn't even a race, as Democrat Rashida Tlaib is running unopposed (though theoretically a massive write-in campaign could challenge her), but the district -- which includes portions of Detroit and surrounding suburbs -- went for Clinton by 32 points two years ago, so it's highly unlikely. Tlaib, the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, would be the first Muslim woman in Congress (again, possibly sharing that honor with Somali-American Ilhan Omar from Minnesota's 5th district -- the same district that elected Keith Ellison, the first Muslim member of Congress, in 2007).
TX-23: This large district covers about 2/3 of Texas's Mexican border, and is 68% Hispanic. Which makes it a little weird that their incumbent is a black guy named Will Hurd (R). To be fair, Hurd has not been a typical Republican, opposing a lot of Trump's immigration and border policies. But while Hurd has won two terms in the district, it's always been by razor-thin margins. Even a modest surge in Democratic voters could put his opponent Gina Ortiz Jones in office. Personally, I hope that if Hurd loses, he goes on to run for other offices in Texas -- he seems like the kind of Republican that's needed to fix the party.
NY-14: This will likely be the victory lap for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who shocked the Democratic establishment by winning the primary as an unabashed Democratic Socialist, and put the fear of God, socialism, and young brown women into conservatives everywhere back in the spring.
NY-27: Incumbent Chris Collins suspended his campaign in August after being arrested by the FBI and indicted on insider trading charges. However, he did so too late to get his name off the ballot and allow the GOP to run another candidate, and then changed gears in September and said he was innocent and staying on the ballot. The sad part? It's still considered a "lean Republican" district, leading to the possibility of a special election if/when Collins goes to trial and is found guilty.
CA-50: In the same vein of "Who Wants To Elect A Criminal?", indicted Congressman Duncan Hunter, charged with gross misuse of campaign and taxpayer dollars by him and his wife, is still running for re-election and still favored to win, because Orange County Republicans are the most Republic-y Republicans to ever Republic a Republic.
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Topic: AmeriPol thread (Read 4226497 times)