Big time. Not only was the messaging terrible, but they completely failed to coordinate with local parties.
It would only work in a vanishingly small minority of swing districts. Bacon got elected because he ran as a moderate while the NE Dems allowed a pro-Sanders progressive to squeak out a primary win vs a much more electable moderate of their own. Now that Bacon's an incumbent, he'll be real hard to get rid of.
Kara Eastman squeaked out a primary win with 51.64% in 2018, and any Democrat who lost in 2018 didn't have much chance in 2020. In 2020, the primary candidates got 62.1%, 31.2%, and 6.7%. Eastman isn't running again. Now that I live in the district, I hope Bacon doesn't get challenged by a farther right Republican because I think the Republican would win the general. Before redistricting, FiveThirtyEight called it the most even district in the country. Democrats wanted to undo the gerrymandering from ten years ago, Republicans wanted to divide Omaha to make all three districts safe R, and neither happened. I think Bacon is more likely to win by over 5% than to lose, and I wouldn't be shocked if he wins by double-digits. Bacon made an event to justify voting for infrastucture. I wanted him to run for governor because I have no hope that a Democrat can win that. Going back to the topic title, California Republican Devin Nunes will resign from the House to lead an organization Trump made. After a Democrat wins a safe special election in Florida on January 11 and is seated, there will be more vacancies that elected Republicans than that elected Democrats for the first time in this Congress. That assumes no other Democrat leaves soon.
Fair enough; I do think if Ashford had gotten the nomination in 2018 he would've won and probably been able to hold the seat in 2020. But I don't disagree with your assertion that Bacon has made the seat safer for the state GOP. (For the record, I don't dislike Eastman--I have friends who worked on her campaign--I just think she was the wrong candidate for the district. And I am far from sold on Jane Kleeb's leadership). The Governor's race (which, as you rightly note, will almost certainly be decided in the GOP primary) is shaping up to be interesting. I moved away over 21 years ago, given that my parents and many friends still live in Nebraska, it still matters to me. But man, the politics in the state have changed in the two-plus decades I've been gone.
Can't find a thread on foreign elections here, in any case that is some big news from Chile. The candidate of the Left won decisively yesterday against the far right / pro Pinochet candidate. The Chilean people really showed a great level of maturity yesterday. Huge result in Chile: the socialist Boric has beaten the far right in today’s presidential electionhttps://t.co/3fMkck2rwI— Nando (@nandorvila) December 19, 2021 How did @gabrielboric reverse a first round loss to be elected Chile's next president?Voter turnoutAn additional 1.2 million Chileans voted Sunday versus a month ago, boosting turnout to 55%, the highest since voting stopped being mandatory in 2012.https://t.co/FEM09zhHAE— Joshua Goodman (@APjoshgoodman) December 19, 2021
Pittsburgh primary is getting interesting. 36% of the vote in and O’Connor’s lead has shrunk a bit. https://t.co/UIkZwyJKVs pic.twitter.com/9Vsy5JlPzv— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) May 21, 2025
Incumbent goes down. Decision Desk HQ projects Corey O'Connor wins the Democratic Primary in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania mayoral race.#DecisionMade: 9:47 pm ETFollow live results here: https://t.co/juuvKvhDNY pic.twitter.com/LEBlpZ4eYM— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) May 21, 2025
NY assembly, a Democrat held seat that Trump did very well on. For some comments a heavily Jewish area. NEW: With nearly all precincts reported, it's looking like Sam Sutton will be headed to Albany to fill the vacancy left by Simcha Felder's election to NYC Council:🔵 Sam Sutton - 8234 (66.41%)✅🔴Nachman Caller - 4033 (32.53%) pic.twitter.com/GIygpk9SJD— VoteHub (@VoteHubUS) May 21, 2025
I guess he ran as a bit of a YIMBY, hopefully he can deliver on that. THE YIMBY WINS IN PITTSBURGHTake note Dems. This is what a pro-abundance housing policy that wins elections looks like. https://t.co/n9QlOQBUQQ pic.twitter.com/r4FRZhWX2O— YIMBYLAND (@YIMBYLAND) May 21, 2025
Good. My wife and I are considering retiring in Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, our local "outsider" mayor (i.e. not born here) withstood a primary challenge from the old Machine (which has been repeatedly defeated since its last mayor got handcuffed and marched out of the courthouse by the feds in 2019) by about 80% to 20%. The losing Democrat got 150 fewer votes than the GOP candidates combined. Hopefully, the machine clowns won't run three independents in the fall... which isn't out of the realm of possibility.
Cummo vs Adams is looking very likely. 🔵 New - mayor primary poll - NYC 🔵 Cuomo 43%🔵 Mamdani 11%🔵 Stringer 9%🔵 Lander 8%🔵 A. Adams 6%Survey USA #B - LV - 5/17— Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) May 20, 2025
Great. Pittsburgh was on my wife's and my short list of retirement options as well. My wife and I met in DC as streetside missionaries and we've wanted to leave this rural nothingness and return back to the big city. Can't afford DC or Philly or New York, so we looked at secondary cities, and we really loved Pittsburgh. I am a Pirates fan, the city is gorgeous, the Carnegie Museum has both the specimen diplodicus and T-Rex and the Cathedral of Learning is as cool a university space as there is. Well, this side of the Lawn, that is. I am so enamored with the city that I am going to use it as the leitmotif for the US history I plan to write. (I'm reading The White City and the Steel City at present.) But... Pittsburgh is also home to Steeler's fans (heaven help you if they start winning again,) it's a little more remote given that most of my family/friends are closer to the Atlantic, and I kind of like mid-Atlantic weather, so I'm not sure I want that much snow. So we decided on Richmond. I cashed out after Liberation Day and we just bought our retirement house last week since Richmond is gentrifying so quickly. And as an added bonus, our bonus daughter will be our tenant for at least three or four years. (Unlike my real daughter, she's an immaculate housekeeper.)
I’ve heard great things about Richmond. We almost wound up working 50 miles away in Farmville, VA.. we haven’t ruled out Illinois, where I have family (and we can afford) or Ithaca, NY.
Congrats @Val1, although you are betraying Maryland and moving to Va! Richmond is a decent place to be and it is much bluer than the eastern Shore!
San Antonio TX mayoral election on Saturday. R’s think they have a chance but I’ll believe it when I see it.
The best chance for Republicans in 25 years according to decision desk On Saturday, Texas will hold runoff elections across the state, and in Bexar County, the city of San Antonio will be voting to decide its next mayor. While the race is technically nonpartisan, voters are well aware they have a choice between former congressional candidate… pic.twitter.com/x9Xm95saB6— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) June 5, 2025
I’m happy for you but also a bit wistful—my wife and I used to talk about retiring in Richmond but it’s getting less affordable all the time. You’ll enjoy it—it’s a great little city.
San Antonio was not meant to be for Republicans. Decision Desk HQ projects Gina Ortiz Jones to win the mayoral race in San Antonio, Texas.#DecisionMade: 9:53 pm ETFollow live results here: https://t.co/LMUb9GfUzW pic.twitter.com/ghjaIu7v02— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) June 8, 2025
But the race was close. San Antonio is probably the most Latino large city in Texas. Results like this are bad news for Democrats. Democrat-aligned candidate Gina Ortiz Jones has been elected mayor of San Antonio.With 100% reporting:🔵 Gina Jones - 54.3% (77,484) ✅🔴 Rolando Pablos - 45.7% (65,202)— VoteHub (@VoteHubUS) June 8, 2025
Yikes. 17% turn out? How many are just tuning out as opposed to turning out for GOP? edit: looks like San Antonio only gets 9-17% to turnout, and this was pretty high. Yikes!
My buddy is from Pitt. One of ny fav cousins lives there now. Its about 3 hours from me. It is on my places to.visit. Ithaca? Howdy Neighbor. That is just north of the pop-soda border.
Definitely symptomatic of a broader regional shift. Republicans are certainly still targeting the last couple Latino majority South Texas districts that are still in D hands. Well funded Mayra Flores (R) will be running against the incumbent Henry Cuellar (D) in TX-28.
Big swing towards R's. Like a f*cking massive one. 🚨 NEW: San Antonio, Texas mayor's race swings R+31 points to the right.2023: D+39June 7, 2025: D+8 pic.twitter.com/1nGgJAS41i— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 8, 2025
Mamdani wants to raise taxes on low income New Yorkers in order to maintain its sanctuary city status and subsidize MTA fare evaders. Mamdani says his tax increases would raise $10 billion and “Trump-proof” NYC, allowing it to remain a sanctuary city. pic.twitter.com/G5pRnFQSr5— David Weigel (@daveweigel) June 10, 2025