Tuesday brought a bunch of sweet wins for Democrats, from the high-profile cases like Virginia and Kentucky to some lower-profile but still delicious wins scattered around the country. Democrats won control of both houses of the Virginia legislature for the first time in more than 20 years. This gives Democrats full control of the state’s government, which, as David Nir wrote Tuesday night, means they’ll “finally have the chance to enact progressive priorities that the GOP has stymied for years, including expanding voting rights, enacting common-sense gun safety reforms, raising the minimum wage, passing protections for LGBTQ people, ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment, and much, much more.”
Democrat Andy Beshear declared victory in the Kentucky governor's race, though Republican Gov. Matt Bevin is predictably refusing to concede. Beshear is pledging to rescind Bevin's Medicaid work requirements.
Kentucky and Virginia were the big headline wins of the night—and there were some losses, like in Mississippi and in most other Kentucky races—but there were also some other wins worth talking about.
In Loudoun County, Virginia, Juli Briskman was elected to the Board of Supervisors. She’s the woman who was fired in 2017 for flipping off Donald Trump’s motorcade, and she defeated a Republican incumbent to represent the county where Trump’s Virginia golf club is located.
Pennsylvania offered some very promising results, with Democrats taking all five seats on the council in the traditional Republican stronghold of Delaware County. Democrats also took a lead in Chester County, and in Philadelphia, Working Families Party candidate Kendra Brooks won an at-large city council seat. That at-large seat has effectively been reserved for Republicans due to a law preventing one party from holding all of the at-large seats on the council.
In Missouri, Democrat Trish Gunby won a special election for state House, flipping a seat left open by its Republican occupant leaving to head the state Republican Party. Another notable win in Missouri didn’t flip a seat—in fact, it wasn’t even contested. But it’s notable when the first Fight for $15 striker in St. Louis wins a state House seat, and that’s the case with Rasheen Aldridge’s election.
Time to throw Republicans a series of anvils. Can you help expand our House majority and take back the Senate by giving $1 to the nominee funds in these Daily Kos-targeted races?
In Columbus, Indiana, Democrats took control of the city council. Why is control of Columbus, Indiana, more interesting than the politics of any other city of 44,000? Because it’s the hometown of Donald Trump’s top suck-up, Mike Pence, and it’s been controlled by Republicans for nearly four decades.
In Lewiston, Maine, Somali refugee Safiya Khalid faced vicious anti-Muslim attacks, but she became perhaps the youngest person ever to win a seat on the city council.
A Democrat won the mayoral race in Wichita, Kansas, and Democrats maintained control in mayoral races in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Manchester, New Hampshire.
New York City adopted ranked-choice voting.
Not too bad for an off year. Not bad at all. But now we’re officially in the 2020 election, and that means we have to keep pressing for the big ones.
