Posted on 11/09/2019 5:49:14 AM PST by Kaslin
No doubt it wasn’t the best of nights for the Republican Party at the state level. In Virginia, the Democrats retook everything. For the first time in two decades, the Democratic Party will control all of Richmond—and a parade of horribles is tow follow. The trash politics of deep blue Maryland have spilled over. It’s the Battle Antietam, but in reverse and with a clear and decisive winner: the anti-American Left. If I could, I would flee to West Virginia or South Carolina. Right now, Virginia Republicans have to tolerate the deluge of hyper-left-wing trash is about to emanate from Richmond whose sole purpose is to keep the liberal voters of Northern Virginia—and only Northern Virginia—happy at the expense of the rest of us.
In Kentucky, Republican Gov. Matt Bevin appears to have lost his re-election bid. He lost by a razor-thin margin, enough for him to hold off conceding until the ballots are recanvassed (via CNBC):
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin submitted a request for a recanvass Wednesday after narrowly losing to Democrat Andy Beshear in a tight gubernatorial race.
The request comes after Bevin refused to concede Tuesday night, following his apparent loss by less than 6,000 votes, according to NBC. Bevin alluded to “a few irregularities” in a speech to supporters but did not provide any further specifics.
Bevin’s request was submitted to Kentucky Secretary of State Alison L. Grimes, who is in charge of running the election.
Mitch McConnell is in deep trouble in 2020 in Kentucky.— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) November 6, 2019
Hahahaha— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) November 6, 2019
Reality check: a <1% Dem win against an unpopular GOP governor is *not* a sign KY is competitive at the federal level in 2020.— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) November 6, 2019
Still, there are some who think because Bevin “lost,” Mitch McConnell might be vulnerable in 2020. No. The Cook Political Report’s David Wasserman poured cold water over that hot take. Folks, even in friendly GOP territory, if you treat your constituents like trash, which I’ve seen been floated by those who aren’t shocked by Bevin’s results, or have a shoddy campaign operation, you’re not going to win (via Axios):
Senior officials at the White House and Republican Governors Association thought Bevin would win, but nobody who was studying the race closely felt overly confident about that outcome.
Bevin was telling people he would win — but throughout the campaign, sources in the Trump political orbit expressed concerns about the poor quality of Bevin’s operation and about his weaknesses in public opinion.
[…]
Indeed, polling shows Bevin is the most unpopular governor in America, and other Kentucky results were solid for Republicans.
As U.Va.'s Larry Sabato told Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC: "When you're a Republican running statewide in Kentucky, you have to try to lose. And Bevin tried for four years, and he succeeded."
Oh, and just so we’re clear, Republicans won the rest of the statewide office. The offices of the attorney general, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer, ad agricultural commissioner will continue to be occupied by Republicans.
I've urged him repeatedly to leave Charlie Cook behind in his dust...this guy would be a great fit as FoxNews's institutional poller.
Vespa writes a lot.
Wife and I discussed VA’s election debacle and have decided we’re pulling up stakes in 2021 when she retires. We’ll be moving across the border to NC. Of course, NC has its own problems, but it’s not (yet) a one-party tyranny like Virginia will be once the dems take full control in January.
Wishing you all the best with your move. Hopefully high taxes won’t force the rest to follow you out.
Yes he does
I am originally from KY.
The state is not in play, and McConnell is not in trouble. There have been 2 R governors of the state since 1971.
Bevin picked a fight with the KEA (teachers union) which was worth doing. KEA is a powerful political force in the state. Though apparently not as powerful as thought. 10 years ago the kind of opposition the KEA put up should’ve generated a 10 to 20 point loss. Today, it was all they could do to just barely push a guy out they were mortal enemies with.
Their strength has waned, and this is a good thing. Bad that Bevin lost but he exposed their weakness. The R state legislature and AG have made the new D governor a lame duck on day one.
no big deal really
Andrew Graham Beshear (born November 29, 1977) is an American attorney and politician who is the attorney general of Kentucky and governor-elect of the state. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the son of Steve Beshear, the 61st Governor of Kentucky, who served from 2007 to 2015.
Between 1895 and 1931, five Republicans and six Democrats held the office of governor. Since 1931, however, the Republicans have been unable to preserve this level of parity, and in that period only four of the twenty elected governors have been from the Republican party, including incumbent Matt Bevin.
Kentucky likes it’s dem govenors even though it’s a red state
The 2016 election victories allowed Bevin to pursue his conservative agenda in the ensuing session, as the House Democrats had blocked conservative legislation prior to this.[219]
In an unusual Saturday session in January 2017, the Kentucky General Assembly passed seven fast-tracked bills on key Republican legislative priorities.[220][221][222] These bills included two that restricted abortion[221] (one of which was a 20-week abortion ban),[223] and three that reduced the power of labor unions,[221] including a bill making Kentucky the 27th right-to-work state.[224] Bevin signed all seven bills into law on January 9.[225][226] On January 9, 2017, Bevin signed the two abortion bills.[223][227]
On March 16, 2017, Bevin signed SB 17 into law, intended to “protect religious expression in public schools” by barring school districts from regulating student organizations in ways such as requiring them to accept LGBT people as members.[228][229] Other bills Bevin signed into law included a “Blue Lives Matter” bill making it a hate crime to attack a police officer,[230][231] placing Planned Parenthood at the least priority for funding,[231] and removing restrictions on local governments authorizing charter schools.[232][233] On March 27, 2017, Bevin vetoed a bill that would have allowed a judge to order mentally disabled people to undergo outpatient treatment if they could not recognize their condition and if they had a history of hospitalization, due to his concerns over its effects of individual liberty.[234] The Kentucky legislature overrode his veto on the bill and three others.[235][236]
In April 2017, Bevin signed HB 128 into law, which ordered the Kentucky Board of Education to develop rules for Bible literacy classes.[237][238] Bevin signed another bill authorizing Bible classes in June 2017.[239]
In July 2017, Bevin had the Kentucky Capitol building cleaned, choosing to use private funds as payment.[240] During his 2018 Kentucky State of the Commonwealth Address, Bevin said it was the first time the building had been cleaned,[241] echoing a belief expressed in July by an administration cabinet spokesperson.[240]
2019 legislative session
On March 11, 2019, Bevin signed a bill into law removing the permit requirement to carry a concealed firearm in the state, becoming the 16th state to enact such legislation after South Dakota and Oklahoma had done it earlier in the year.[251][252][253] On March 16, 2019, Bevin signed into law a bill banning abortions after the heartbeat is detected, though a federal judge blocked the bill a few hours later.[254] On March 26, 2019, Bevin signed a bill that required public universities to protect free speech rights by banning them from disinviting speakers.[255][256]
On July 12, 2019, Bevin announced his support for a proposed bill to ban sanctuary cities in Kentucky.[260][261]
Worked himself right out of a job.
Since 2003, Republicans and Democrats have alternated in office. Before that the Democrats may have been better organized.
In presidential elections, Kentucky usually goes with the winner. My impression is that they didn't didn't become reliably Republican until this century.
Instead he was telling casino goers (I don't like them, but whatever, some do) that they were suicides-in-waiting. Not 'hey I don't like casinos because they are a hidden tax' but 'hey drop dead'.
He was the other end of the Nanny State -- the Daddy State.
Voters - even GOP voters - said F that.
Good idea to move but why don’t you think about moving a bit further to SC. World of difference vs NC. We live just 25 miles south of Charlotte NC and enjoy unbelievably low RE taxes vs NJ or MA, two States we have lived in previously.
In addition the infrastructure is almost entirely new and there is abundant shopping nearby (we live in Indian Land, just a few miles over the NC border.)
The State is deep, deep red,another plus.
Except NC would benefit from few more conservative voters
It’s a real testament to the statewide rightward drift of KY that Beshear only won by a fraction of a point. He would have easily won by double digits in times past. It was just a few years ago that the GOP captured the state House for the first time since Reconstruction. Then on Tuesday night, the GOP won the AG office for the first time in 70 years.
The rats in KY had best enjoy Beshear’s win, because the way things are going it may be their last for a long long time.
Paradoxically, Jefferson County has never been more blue than it is now. This is a testament to the urban-rural divide that has gripped all of America.
I’d prefer to be in SC, but in the shorter term, it’ll need to be NC, as we want to remain close to the granddaughters, who live in Virginia Beach.
I used to live in Virginia in the 70s. It was very liberal with many transplants from the NE and CA. Very high taxes and too many libs.
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