Free Republic

Outgoing Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) says the midterm elections results indicate voters in swing states “aren’t interested in extremism.” “I think the biggest issue that played out in the midterms … is voters, generally speaking, especially in battleground states, aren’t interested in extremism. They just aren’t,” Baker, who did not seek reelection this year, told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “The Lead.”

Former New York Gov. George Pataki (R) on Sunday said former President Trump is “tearing apart the Republican party” after the GOP failed to win control of the Senate and underperformed in races across the country. “The problem is Donald Trump. The sooner he goes away, the quicker we will have the new Republican Party,” Pataki told Eric Shawn on Fox News. “He’s had his time and now he is tearing apart the Republican Party since the election.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a close ally of former President Trump, says Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) should stay on as governor amid rumors that he could challenge Trump for the GOP nomination in 2024. Greene did not directly mention DeSantis’s potential interest in a 2024 run in a Twitter thread on Friday but said that losing a “strong Republican governor” early because political consultants are urging them to run for president hurts the country because it leaves their states weak and vulnerable to poor leadership or Democratic control.

Pro-life Republican leader Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be the first female governor of Arkansas in 2023. On Tuesday, voters overwhelmingly approved the former White House Press Secretary to be their governor, defeating Democrat candidate Chris Jones by nearly 30 percent, NPR reports. Sanders is one of three pro-life Republican women who won major races in Arkansas and Alabama on Tuesday. Katie Britt, the newly elected U.S. Senator of Alabama, and Arkansas Lt. Governor-elect Leslie Rutledge also are the first women to hold the offices. In a statement after her victory, Sanders promised to work for Arkansas families. “I want to...

o hear it from political pundits, abortion hurt Republicans in the midterm elections and the GOP should consider downplaying the pro-life message. But nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is that pro-life candidates in states across the country fared well. And when it comes to Republican governors who signed abortion bans, every single one won their re-election. “GOP pro-life candidates win in competitive races if they define their opponents as abortion extremists who support abortion on demand with no limits, and contrast that with a clearly defined pro-life position centered around consensus such as pain-capable or heartbeat...

Incumbent Kansas Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly has secured a second term in an extremely close election against Republican challenger state Attorney General Derek Schmidt, NBC News projects. Both NBC News and CNN called the race on Wednesday morning after waiting for remaining vote counts to trickle in. By 10:30 a.m. ET, Kelly was ahead of Schmidt by roughly 15,000 votes, 49.2 percent to 47.6 percent. Independent candidate Dennis Pyle syphoned off 2 percent of the votes.

The results are in for the Illinois Governor’s race and DDHQ has called it for Democrat J.B. Pritzker over Republican challenger Darren Bailey.It was always going to be an uphill battle for Bailey, given Pritzker’s incumbency and huge financial advantage, plus the political realities of Illinois (read: Chicago). Still, in the closing days of the race, internal polling showed Bailey closing the gap to two points — within the four-point margin of error.And it’s not unheard of for Illinois to elect a Republican Governor — Pritzker’s immediate predecessor was Republican Bruce Rauner. Of course, in 2018, Pritzker trounced Rauner by...

Democrat Stacey Abrams has called Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to concede, according to the Atlanta Courier Journal, signaling the end of their rematch of 2018's close race. Abrams had run a close race but never quite managed to surpass Kemp in pre-Election Day polls.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is projected to defeat Republican nominee Lee Zeldin and win her first full term in the governor’s mansion. NBC News and ABC News called the race for Hochul shortly after 11 p.m. E.T. Headed into Election Day, Hochul was leading Zeldin, a Trump-endorsed congressional lawmaker, by just a few points. The race was largely seen as a toss-up in the final stretch. Hochul was the lieutenant governor under former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who stepped down last fall amid allegations of sexual harassment and accusations he covered up nursing home deaths during...

A top Democrat in Georgia has chosen to shun his party's gubernatorial nominee, Stacey Abrams, and instead throw his support behind incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, Burt Jones. Kwanza Hall, the former Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor who lost in a runoff to the current Democratic lieutenant governor nominee, Charlie Bailey, made his announcement Friday, citing Kemp's ability to make "tough decisions" in "unprecedented circumstances," and Jones' plans to reduce crime and improve the state's education system. "While we don’t agree on every issue, it’s abundantly clear that Brian Kemp is a man...

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) is leading Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams by 7 points in the state’s gubernatorial race, according to a new poll by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and UGA. The poll, published on Monday, found Kemp ahead with 51 percent of likely Georgia voters saying they’d vote for the Republican if the race were held today — while 44 percent said they’d cast their ballot for Abrams. The Journal-Constitution report notes that Kemp’s 7-point lead is narrower than the 10-point lead he enjoyed in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Georgia News Collaborative poll released earlier this month. Another 2 percent...

A decent man or a bully? Our pick for governor.The governor should represent all Floridians, including those who disagree with him or didn’t vote for him. Charlie Crist would do that. Gov. Ron DeSantis does not — and would not. In 2018, DeSantis got 49.6% of the vote. In other words, more people voted for someone else. and a bully. Do you want the state governed by a decent man or a bully? The Tampa Bay Times recommends voting for Charlie Crist, a man of decency, for governor.A decent man or a bully? Our pick for governor.The governor should represent...

Lee Zeldin is not the only Republican giving Democrats agita in governor’s races this election season. The Long Island congressman — who has narrowed what was once a 20-point gap with Democratic Gov. Hochul to a virtual tie in polls — is one of many GOP gubernatorial candidates across the country surging in the polls ahead of Nov. 8. “When the not-super-engaged voters start to pay attention, that’s usually when you see things break,” said Sean Noble, a GOP consultant based in Arizona. “Unfortunately for Democrats, this year things are breaking for the Republicans.” Twelve of this year’s 33 governor’s...

President Biden will visit New Mexico next week for events with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D), marking the second time a White House official has traveled to the state ahead of November’s midterm elections. Biden will head to New Mexico on Nov. 3, the White House said, for events with the governor and other state and local officials. Further details were not immediately available. The president’s visit will come roughly one week after Vice President Harris traveled to New Mexico for a fundraiser with Lujan Grisham and an event focused on protecting abortion access. The trip to a state Biden...

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WATE) - An independent Tennessee governor candidate was arrested at a Hamilton County voting site Monday, according to the Chattanooga Police Department. Charles Van Morgan, of Knoxville, was charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and intimidation of voters. Police said they responded to a call from the Hamilton County Election Commission stating that someone was causing a disturbance on the 700 block of River Terminal Road. The report stated, “A man was screaming about politics, cursing, getting into people’s faces and harassing the voters.” After speaking with witnesses at the voting site, police were able to identify Van...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has endorsed and stumped for Republicans in many critical House, Senate, and governor races. DeSantis stumped with Turning Point Action in August and September to boost turnout for the governor and Senate Republican candidates in key battleground states. This includes Senate Republicans such as J.D. Vance in Ohio, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Blake Masters in Wisconsin, Adam Laxalt in Nevada, and Joe O’Dea in Colorado.

Based on recent polling, RealClearPolitics projects Republicans will win the hotly contested gubernatorial races in four states that were once seen as Democrat strongholds: Wisconsin, Oregon, Nevada, and, yes, Michigan. One wonders how the latest polling out of Minnesota — polling that shows Republican Dr. Scott Jensen leading his Democrat opponent Tim Walz, 46.3 to 45.8 percent — will affect that RealClear projection.

Here are is all the information you need to quickly look up the current “Toss Up” races, to get involved or to donate, to help push each over the edge. State: Incumbent Candidate - Rep. Website AZ: Open (R) Kari Lake https://www.karilake.com/ KS: Kelly (D) Derek Schmidt https://schmidtforkansas.com/ ME: Mills (D) Paul LePage https://govlepage.com/ MI: Whitmer (D) Tudor Dixon https://www.tudordixon.com/ MN: Walz (D) Dr. Scott Jensen https://drscottjensen.com/ NM: Lujan Grisham (D) Mark Ronchetti https://markronchetti.com/ NV: Sisolak (D) Joe Lombardo https://www.joelombardofornv.com NY: Hochul (D) Lee Zeldin https://zeldinfornewyork.com/ OR: Open (D) Christine Drazan https://www.christinefororegon.com/about/ PA: Open (D) Doug Mastriano https://senatormastriano.com/ WI: Evers...

Here are is all the information you need to quickly look up the current “Toss Up” races, to get involved or to donate, to help push each over the edge. State: Incumbent Candidate - Rep. Website AZ: Open (R) Kari Lake https://www.karilake.com/ KS: Kelly (D) Derek Schmidt https://schmidtforkansas.com/ ME: Mills (D) Paul LePage https://govlepage.com/ MI: Whitmer (D) Tudor Dixon https://www.tudordixon.com/ MN: Walz (D) Dr. Scott Jensen https://drscottjensen.com/ NM: Lujan Grisham (D) Mark Ronchetti https://markronchetti.com/ NV: Sisolak (D) Joe Lombardo https://www.joelombardofornv.com NY: Hochul (D) Lee Zeldin https://zeldinfornewyork.com/ OR: Open (D) Christine Drazan https://www.christinefororegon.com/about/ PA: Open (D) Doug Mastriano https://doug4gov.com/ WI: Evers...

New York Governor Kathy Hochul leads Republican challenger Lee Zeldin by 10 percentage points according to a new Marist College poll. Hochul, a Democrat, is seeking a full four-year term after taking over when Andrew Cuomo resigned in August 2021. She has held the edge in polling and fundraising against Long Island Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin throughout the race, and with Election Day less than a month away, the Marist poll shows that dynamic hasn’t changed. The poll finds 51 percent of registered voters backing Hochul, with Zeldin at 41 percent. Among voters who say they will definitely vote, Hochul...