Who got the votes? An elections round-up 🗳️ (#25)
From New Jersey's close-call governor's race to candidates of color becoming mayors, here are some highlights from last week's elections.
There is a common belief that national politics in the U.S. are much easier to follow than local politics because of the sweeping effects that changes in government on a national scale have on the public. To some extent, yes, that is true but mostly, I believe that local politics have waaay more impact on our personal lives.
Like, sure, whoever’s the president could have an impact on your life in some way. But it won’t have as immediate of an effect on your day-to-day compared to, say, the new law about garbage pick-up in your neighborhood put out by your local council. This is why I’ve compiled a round-up of highlights from the general elections happening locally around the country last week.
On Nov. 2, elections were held in multiple cities and states, ushering in a new era of government for many. There were a lot of interesting races that took place with some surprising results which I’ve compiled here to get yourself caught up. You’re welcome:
⚡ VIRGINIA
George Washington’s home state got a new governor: Glenn Youngkin, the Republican nominee who beat out Democrat Terry McAuliffe. Youngkin’s lieutenant governor, Winsome Sears, will be the first Black woman to hold the state’s second-in-command spot. The upset by Youngkin, a rich financier and virtual newbie to politics, against McAuliffe has been a Big Deal, especially since Democrats were confident that McAuliffe—a seasoned politician who had been governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018—would easily secure another term. Well, that didn’t happen, and it kind of left everyone shook.
Before Election Day, a lot of headlines about the Virginia race were basically like, who TF is Glenn Youngkin? Not much seems to be known about him, other than the fact that he’s a millionaire who decided to run for governor—because that’s a thing you can decide on a whim when you have a lot of money—and won. Much has been made about Youngkin’s victory, with political pundits viewing the race as some sort of diagnosis of how both the Democratic and Republican parties are doing, nationally.
Some say Democrats’ loss of Virginia was due to school-related matters, what with the fake outrage generated by right-wing politicians over so-called “critical race theory” in schools and the pandemic’s effect on school reopenings in Democratic-controlled states versus Republican-controlled states. Others think it’s part of the expected backlash that typically occurs against the party in power.
Despite Youngkin’s Soccer Dad appearance—the New York Times called him a “Trumpian wolf in suburban-dad fleece” which I thought was pretty funny—some also attribute Youngkin’s win to his ability to appeal to a variety of Republican voters on the conservative spectrum. He courted extreme MAGA-ers, handily embracing their backing while keeping them at arm’s length, and more moderate Republicans alike. Whatever the reason for his win, I’m sure it couldn’t hurt that he was able to drop $20 million out of his own pocket for his campaign. Who else does that?
⚡ NEW JERSEY
New Jersey also had an election to choose its new executive official—but a week since election night, Jersey’s new governor has still not been determined. Well, actually, the election has been called and the new governor has been determined. It’s just that NJ Senator Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican candidate in the race, has still not conceded to his opponent and election winner, Democratic incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy.
Ciattarelli’s blatant disregard for democracy aside, as a whole New Jersey is an interesting case because it’s considered a blue state, yet its governorship has gone back-and-forth between parties over the last decade. Before Democratic incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy took office in 2018, the state was run by ex-Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican oaf who liked embarrassing himself to get in Trump’s good graces.
It’s unclear what’s going to happen in New Jersey if Ciattarelli keeps up his sore-loser act for much longer, especially if he has no good reason to challenge Murphy for a recount. Even if Ciattarelli hasn’t gone as far as alleging election fraud or pretending he actually won, some are reasonably worried that Ciattarelli’s unacceptance of the election results could plant more conspiracy theories among extremists on the right that the election was rigged—all because a Democrat won in a close race.
Technically, there’s no legal requirement that the opposing candidate must admit defeat for everyone to just move on, but it does stoke scary thoughts of another Big Lie and the possible accompanying violence.
⚡ SOME BIG AZZ YIKES
I regret to inform you that at least 10 Republican candidates known to have participated in the January 6 insurrection were elected to public office last week. That’s right—a bunch of hooligans who don’t believe Biden was elected in a fair election and who went on to join an armed and violent protest at the Capitol will now have the power to shape government policy in some places across the country. Three of these Big Lie supporters were elected to state legislatures. Huffpost has the full report here.
Did you know that one of the Capitol rioters pretended to go abroad on a business trip but actually left the country to seek asylum in Belarus to avoid getting prosecuted for joining the January 6 insurrection? Anyway, what a time we live in.
⚡ NEW YORK CITY
Although New York state didn’t get to elect a new governor—that’s NEXT year—it was a big election for New York City. If you’ve been following this newsletter since before June, you’ll know that I’ve mentioned NYC’s elections a million times. Well, last week, the final results were FINALLY determined. In the city’s biggest government turnover in a decade, New Yorkers voted to elect a bunch of positions, including its new mayor, its new comptroller, and two-thirds of the City Council. So, yeah, last week’s election was a Big Deal! I wrote about the city’s get-out-the-vote campaign ahead of the primaries in June here.
Plenty of history was made this year. Beyond electing Eric Adams as only the second Black mayor in the city’s entire history (can you believe that?) New Yorkers also voted in a new class for the City Council, featuring a much more diverse—and progressive—group of elected officials than before.
Not only will women outnumber men on the council for the first time ever, the incoming class includes more women of color, particularly Latinas and Asian women—did you know the city has only had three (THREE!) Asian council members ever?—and more openly-queer women than before. I have a new story coming out about this historic class in NYC’s City Council soon, which I’m excited about, so that’ll hopefully be in the next newsletter (or you can follow my Twitter in case I post about it earlier!)
⚡ OTHER NOTABLE ELECTIONS
Similar to the results in New York City’s elections, there were plenty of incredible firsts made in other races across the country. A few notable ones:
Asian Americans will become new mayors in three cities: Michelle Wu in Boston, MA (which I wrote about in this past newsletter), Aftab Pureval in Cincinnati, OH, and Bruce Harrell in Seattle, WA. (Harrell, who is biracial, will also become Seattle’s second Black mayor.)
Both Kansas City, KS, and Pittsburgh, PA, will be getting Black mayors for the first time (!!) with the elections of Tyrone Garner and Ed Gainey, respectively.
Dearborn, a city with a heavy Arab and Muslim population in Michigan, will finally have its first Arab American mayor, Abdullah Hammoud.
Have thoughts about the results of last week’s elections? Which ones surprised you the most? I’d love to know because I’m nosy like that! Reply to the email or comment below on the post to make yourself heard.
TWEET OF THE WEEK: ON OUR DROWNING PLANET 🌏
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
🔥 Were you too busy to catch up on the major infrastructure bill that Congress passed last week? Don’t fret, my friends, I found a great explainer for you here, including the chaotic process behind its passing. | Huffpost
🔥 Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is—unsurprisingly!—at it again. This time, media reports suggest she’s been taking $$ from shady multilevel marketing companies lobbying to kill the PRO ACT labor bill in Congress. | Politico
🔥 New York has had laws against unrestricted gun permits for 100 years but that could change after the Supreme Court’s recent hearing on New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. (NYSRPA) v. Bruen, considered one of the most major Second Amendment cases in U.S. history. | Reuters
🔥 Indigenous youth activists, who raised their own funds to attend COP 26, talk about the climate issues facing their native communities at the United Nations’s international summit on climate change. They’ve experienced climate-related calamities like uncontrollable wildfires and dying fish populations. | NPR
🔥 In Taiwan, advocates are trying to revive the Taiwanese language after decades of colonial rule made the local language nearly obsolete. | Hong Kong Free Press
🔥 SEE: surreal photos from Spain’s La Palma in the Canary Islands where the land has been buried in layers of ash after the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano weeks ago. The hills of volcanic ash are so undisturbed they actually look photoshopped (they’re not). | VICE
🔥 A peek at the future of Rappler, the independent news outlet led by Maria Ressa, the journalist who won a Nobel Peace Prize for her work covering the Philippines’ authoritarian President Rodrigo Duterte, despite government threats. | Rest of World
🖊️ A new program by the U.S. government allows groups of private citizens to sponsor Afghan refugee families together. I spoke with a few former Afghan refugees and advocates who say the U.S.’s overwhelmed refugee resettlement network could use the extra support. | Prism
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Toodles to ya,
Natasha