Democrats

The Senate voted to move forward with the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right of same sex couples to marry. Twelve Republicans voted with Democrats to move the bill forward, and a final vote could come this week. The bill, which already passed the Democratic-controlled house with the votes of 47 Republicans, gained momentum after Justice Clarence Thomas suggested, after the overturning of Roe v Wade, that the right to same sex marriage could come under threat. The Respect for Marriage Act will “make our country a better, fairer place to live,” said Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, who also mentioned that his daughter and her wife are expecting a baby next year.Yesterday, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has voiced support for a Senate bill which would protect same-sex marriage, saying LGBTQ+ individuals are entitled to rights even while affirming its belief that same-sex relationships are a sin.“The doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints related between a man and a woman is well-known and will remain unchanged.” the church said in a statement on Tuesday.“We are grateful for the continuing efforts of those who work to ensure the Respect for Marriage Act includes appropriate religious freedom protections while respecting the law and preserving the rights of our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters.”The Senate is set to vote on Wednesday on the Respect for Marriage Act, which will repeal a Clinton-era law that defines marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman. The bill also prohibits states from denying out-of-state marriage licenses and benefits on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity or national origin.While the church has a long history of opposing same-sex relationships – it spent $20m trying to pass proposition 8 in California, a 2008 measure which banned same-sex marriage in the state – it has taken a more relaxed view of same-sex marriage in recent years.In 2016, the church said that it welcomed members who identified as LGBTQ+, though it reiterated its stance that marriage is between a man and a woman.In 2019, the church repealed a 2015 rule that banned baptisms for children of gay parents and said gay marriage is a sin worth expulsion from the church. At the time, the church said same-sex relationships were still a “serious transgression”.“As we work together to preserve the principles and practices of religious freedom together with the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals, much can be accomplished to heal relationships and foster greater understanding,” the church said on Tuesday.In a statement, Troy Williams, executive director of Equality Utah, said: “We are heartened to see the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints support the bipartisan Respect for Marriage Act. Despite differences we may have, we can always discover common ground on laws that support the strengthening of all families.”Read more: Mormon church voices support for Senate bill to protect gay marriageRead moreThe Senate voted to move forward with the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right of same sex couples to marry. Twelve Republicans voted with Democrats to move the bill forward, and a final vote could come this week. The bill, which already passed the Democratic-controlled house with the votes of 47 Republicans, gained momentum after Justice Clarence Thomas suggested, after the overturning of Roe v Wade, that the right to same sex marriage could come under threat. The Respect for Marriage Act will “make our country a better, fairer place to live,” said Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, who also mentioned that his daughter and her wife are expecting a baby next year.With Republicans poised to gain control of the House, speculation is swirling that the current Democratic speaker Nancy Pelosi will use the opportunity to leave her leadership position in the party.She had previously said she would step down as party leader at the end of this year, although lately hasn’t said whether she will stick to that commitment. Punchbowl News now reports that Pelosi has told California’s congressional delegation she will soon make a decision about her future in the party. Besides political considerations, Pelosi is also dealing with the aftermath of the attack on her husband Paul Pelosi, and said that will factor in her calculations.Besides staying in her leadership post – albeit with the Democrats likely in the minority – The New York Times reported yesterday 82-year-old Pelosi could also choose to leave leadership and play something of an informal advisory role to House Democrats.Mike Pence has continued his campaign of mild-mannered condemnation of Donald Trump, this time in an interview with the Associated Press.Close readers of this blog will note that Pence was on Fox News this morning, where he signaled little enthusiasm for Trump’s return to the campaign trail. If you’re wondering why the former vice-president is doing so many interviews, it’s because he just released a book about his time serving as Trump’s deputy, and also is thought to be considering his own presidential run.Anyway, back to the interview with the AP. In it, Pence reiterates his feeling that the Republicans can find a better nominee than Trump:Former Vice President Mike Pence, in an @AP interview, shared his reaction to Donald Trump’s 2024 reelection bid.”I have a genuine sense that the American people are looking for new leadership,” he said. pic.twitter.com/c9Yqy8f8dr— The Associated Press (@AP) November 16, 2022
He also reflects on his experience during the January 6 attack, when Trump’s supporters attacked the Capitol while Pence was inside:Former Vice President Mike Pence criticized President Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.”The president’s words were reckless, and they endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol building,” he said. #TheAPInterview pic.twitter.com/kAGQiit0Fm— The Associated Press (@AP) November 16, 2022
An Illinois man who pled guilty to assaulting a police officer and a journalist during the January 6 insurrection is now facing felony murder charges after allegedly killing a woman in a wrong-way crash, the Associated Press reports.Shane Jason Woods was to be sentenced on 13 January of next year after pleading guilty to ramming a Capitol police officer into a bicycle barricade and tackling a reporter during the assault by Donald Trump’s supporters nearly two years ago.On 8 November, prosecutors allege Woods drove his pickup truck onto the wrong lane of an Illinois interstate and crashed into oncoming traffic, killing a 35-year-old woman from North Carolina. Here’s more from the AP:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Woods has been indicted on felony counts of first-degree murder, aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol and aggravated fleeing and eluding a peace officer and is being held in Sangamon County Jail, according to a press release from the county’s state’s attorney’s office. Woods’ bond is set at $2 million, but the county filed a petition to deny bail.
“The evidence will show the Defendant made numerous statements before and after the fatal collision on Interstate 55 which establish his intent to enter upon the highway for the purpose of striking another vehicle,” the petition said.
The sentence for first-degree murder in Illinois is 20 years to life in state prison.
It was not immediately clear who is representing Woods in the case. Dwight Crawley, Woods’ defense attorney for the U.S. Capitol riot case, did not immediately return a call requesting comment.Kevin McCarthy granted Donald Trump a boon in the weeks after the January 6 insurrection, standing beside him at his Mar-a-Lago club in a visit that made clear Trump still had the support of Republicans in Congress.One might think McCarthy would be quick to endorse him, now that Trump is running for the White House again. NBC News reports that is apparently not the case:House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy did not respond when asked by @scottwongDC if he was prepared to endorse former President Trump. Listen: pic.twitter.com/NtI6byNUKz— Kyle Stewart (@KyleAlexStewart) November 16, 2022
Another former Donald Trump official has made his displeasure with the ex-president’s run for office known.While he doesn’t mention him by name, Mike Pompeo, who served as secretary of state from 2018 until the end of Trump’s term and is thought to be considering his own campaign for the White House, tweeted this out today:We need more seriousness, less noise, and leaders who are looking forward, not staring in the rearview mirror claiming victimhood.— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) November 16, 2022
Pompeo’s use of the word “victimhood” is telling. In his announcement speech last night, Trump at one point said, “I’m a victim”:”I’m a victim. I will tell you. I’m a victim” — Trump pic.twitter.com/ietvHhTG2c— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 16, 2022
Rick Scott has reacted to his loss after failing to unseat Mitch McConnell as the Republican leader in the Senate.“Today marks the beginning of a new era in the Senate Republican Conference,” the Florida lawmakers says in a statement that mostly sticks to boilerplate rhetoric common the GOP. “Although the results of today’s elections weren’t what we hoped for, this is far from the end of our fight to Make Washington Work,” he said, before turning his attention to Joe Biden and his “reckless government spending and the devastating inflation Democrats have caused.”“I could not be more grateful for the support I’ve received from many of my colleagues and from Americans across our great country. I never thought for a moment that this fight would be easy, but I’m optimistic that, together, Republicans can rescue America with the principles that unite us against the dangerous path Democrats have set it on,” Scott concludes.Could Donald Trump actually win the Republican nomination in 2024? The prevailing wisdom, today at least, is probably not. Our columnist Lloyd Green, however, warns anyone reveling in Trump’s difficulties not to be so sure…“For the moment, Ron DeSantis has the wind at his back. He is a sitting governor who won re-election by nearly 20 points. Along the way, he absorbed Trump’s message and adopted parts of his mien – without being labeled unhinged.“Yet even if DeSantis emerges as the nominee, victory could be pyrrhic. If past is prelude, Trump could label his own defeat the product of a rigged system and invite his loyalists to sit out the general election. After he lost the Iowa caucus in 2016, he did just that. He blamed his second-place finish there on what he called cheating by Ted Cruz.“‘You know, at the end of the day I would just tell people to go check out the scoreboard from last Tuesday night,’ DeSantis insisted as the clock ticked down to Trump’s announcement. The governor is expected to announce his candidacy early next year. Others may well join the fray.“Whether the Department of Justice indicts Trump is the great unanswered question. Hours before the announcement, Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer, took the witness stand in the criminal case against the company.“The game is on.”Trump is back but his chances look bleak – at least for now | Lloyd GreenRead moreThe House rules committee heard testimony today about the prospect of sitting a delegate from the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma – a US government promise unfulfilled for nearly 200 years.The principle chief of the 440,000-member Cherokee Nation, Chuck Hoskin, was among those to testify. He is behind the attempt to seat Kimberly Teehee, a former adviser to Barack Obama.As described by the Associated Press, “the tribe’s right to a delegate is detailed in the Treaty of New Echota, signed in 1835, which provided the legal basis for the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation from its ancestral homelands east of the Mississippi river and led to the Trail of Tears, but it has never been exercised. A separate treaty in 1866 affirmed this right.”As described by the National Parks Service, the Trail of Tears involved “the forced westward migration of American Indian tribes from the south and south-east”, resulting in “4,000 Cherokee deaths on the way to present-day Oklahoma”.In Congress today, Hoskin said: “The Cherokee Nation has in fact adhered to our obligations under these treaties. I’m here to ask the United States to do the same.”The AP continues: “Hoskin also suggested Teehee could be seated this year by way of either a resolution or change in statute. The committee chairman, the Massachusetts Democrat James McGovern, and other members supported the idea. McGovern said:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}This can and should be done as quickly as possible. The history of this country is a history of broken promise after broken promise to Native American communities. This cannot be another broken promise.“McGovern said he has been contacted by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Delaware Nation, both of which have treaties with the US government that call for representation in Congress. McGovern also noted there are two other federally recognized bands of Cherokee Indians that argue they should be considered successors to the 1835 treaty: the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians based in North Carolina.“Members of the committee seemed to be in agreement that any delegate from the Cherokee Nation would be similar to delegates from the District of Columbia, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa and the Virgin Islands. These delegates are assigned to committees and can submit amendments to bills, but cannot vote for final passage of bills. Puerto Rico is represented by a non-voting resident commissioner who is elected every four years.”Mitch McConnell has as expected beaten a challenge for the leadership of the Republican party in the Senate, the Washington Post reports.As the Post puts it, the Kentucky senator “turned back a challenge from Senator Rick Scott of Florida, after the party failed to pick up seats in the chamber in the midterm elections [last week].“Some senators sought unsuccessfully to delay the vote to give them more time to assess the GOP’s dismal performance. McConnell has led Senate Republicans since 2007. Scott helmed the campaign committee tasked with electing more Republicans.”What the Post pleasingly calls “machinations” among Senate Republicans echo those in the House, where yesterday Kevin McCarthy survived a challenge to be the Republican nominee for speaker, should as is overwhelmingly likely the GOP take control of that chamber.McCarthy will have a lot more to do in that instance, needing 218 votes but facing a restive far-right wing of an increasingly far-right party, some of whom, such as Matt Gaetz of Florida, have said they won’t support him whatever concessions he offers.Of course, this is politics so that could change in a moment. One thing not changing for the moment is McConnell’s grip on Senate Republicans. He won Wednesday’s vote 37-10.As Punchbowl News put it this morning, before the Scott vote, “the 80-year-old McConnell is on the verge of breaking the late Democratic Montana senator Mike Mansfield’s record for the longest-serving party leader in Senate history..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}McConnell will reach that milestone in January. McConnell is acutely aware of this record – and his place in Senate history. Yet McConnell and his allies hoped he would be doing it as majority leader, especially with a very favorable Senate map heading into this cycle.”By January McConnell and the rest of us will know if he will operate for the next two years in a 50-50 Senate, controlled by Kamala Harris as vice-president, or a 51-49 Senate in Democrats’ favour. The Georgia runoff between the Trump-backed Republican Herschel Walker and the Democratic incumbent, Raphael Warnock, will take place on 6 December.Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail, although it is most certainly not 2015. The former president’s announcement last night is being greeted with skepticism by several Republicans, some of whom worked with him, while his daughter Ivanka Trump has opted to stay out of politics this time around. In Washington, Republicans are waiting to learn if they won control of the House, while the Senate is teeing up a vote on a bill to ensure same-sex marriages continue.Here’s what else is happening today:
Georgia’s Senate race is a “toss-up,” the University of Virginia’s Larry Sabato says. The contest between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker goes to voters on 6 December.
The 14th amendment bars Trump from holding office again because of his actions on January 6, a Democratic congressman argues.
The New York Post roasted Trump’s campaign announcement, in another sign the Murdochs may be abandoning the ex-president.
How exactly would the Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA) work? Slate has the answers in this illuminating piece.The bill is a two-pronged attempt to preserve existing same-sex marriages and allow new couples of the same gender to continue to marry, even if the supreme court overturns Obergefell v Hodges. The proposal first does that by getting rid of a federal law targeting same-sex couples, according to Slate:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}What the RFMA does not do is “codify” Obergefell, as many media outlets have inaccurately reported. So it’s worth delving into the details to understand precisely how this landmark legislation operates. Keep in mind that its central provisions will only become relevant if the Supreme Court overturns its marriage equality decisions. The RFMA will benefit same-sex couples if, and only if, SCOTUS overrules the right to equal marriage.
Start with the easy part: The RFMA repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a 1996 law that bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. It replaces DOMA with a requirement that the federal government recognize any marriage that was “valid in the place where entered into.” So if a same-sex couple obtains a valid marriage license from any state, the federal government must recognize their union.The second part of the bill requires states to recognize same-sex marriage licenses even if they – in a post-Obergefell world – decide not to issue them:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Turn now to the second prong of the bill: Its requirement that every state recognize a valid same-sex marriage. It’s this provision that has upset some progressives, because it does not go as far as Obergefell. In that decision, the Supreme Court directed every state to license same-sex marriages—that is, to issue a marriage certificate to same-sex couples. The RFMA does not codify this component of Obergefell. Instead, it directs every state to recognize every same-sex marriage that “is valid in the State where the marriage was entered into.”
So the RFMA does not force Texas to issue a marriage certificate to a same-sex couple. But it does force Texas to recognize a marriage certificate issued to a same-sex couple by New Mexico. In a post-Obergefell world, a same-sex couple in Texas could drive to New Mexico, obtain a certificate, and force Texas to respect their marriage like any other.This legislation doesn’t just address same-sex couples, but also interracial marriages, which were prohibited in parts of the United States before a 1967 supreme court decision. The RFMA would ensure those continue to be allowed as well:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Finally, the bill applies equally to same-sex marriages and interracial marriages. Since no states have expressed interest in reviving anti-miscegenation laws, this component is also largely symbolic. But it does protect interracial couples if the Supreme Court were to overturn Loving v. Virginia, which was rooted in the same constitutional principles as Obergefell.The Senate is expected to vote today on the Respect for Marriage Act codifying the right of same-sex couples to marry, after the legislation appeared to receive enough Republican support to overcome a filibuster.The bill already passed the Democratic-controlled house with the votes of 47 Republicans, but it’s been an open question whether enough GOP lawmakers would vote for the measure in the Senate. Axios reports that North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis is optimistic about its passage:GOP Sen. Thom Tillis on Respect for Marriage Act cloture vote this afternoon: “I feel that we have the votes to pass.” https://t.co/2jLgoM2nnq— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) November 16, 2022
The ability for same-sex couples to marry was created by the 2015 supreme court case Obergefell v Hodges. In June, rightwing justice Clarence Thomas suggested that precedent could be revisited by the court, which is now firmly in the grips of conservative justices. That lead to the push to enact a law that would ensure people of the same gender are allowed to marry, even if Obergefell is overturned.Donald Trump’s presidential announcement may have fueled talk of 2024, but keep in mind that the 2022 election season isn’t over yet.Ballots are still being counted in House races, while Georgia still needs to vote in the runoff for its Senate seat. The election won’t decide the control of the chamber – that’s already guaranteed to Democrats – but the 6 December polls will give Joe Biden’s allies an opportunity to boost their margins in the Senate, should Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock win another term. If he’s ousted by Republican challenger Herschel Walker, the GOP will have an even better shot at taking back control in 2024, when several Democratic senators considered vulnerable are up for reelection.University of Virginia polling guru Larry Sabato has released a new analysis of the race, moving it into the “toss-up” column from its previous “leans Republican” rating given before last week’s elections. Beyond just helping Democrats with their task of keeping the chamber in 2024, Sabato notes that having an extra seat will allow them to run the Senate more smoothly, since they’ll have an outright majority, rather than a 50-50 split with Vice-President Kamala Harris breaking ties. That has implications for committee business, as well as approving judges and other executive nominees – which will likely become even more of a priority for the Senate’s Democratic leadership if the GOP takes the House.If you want to read more of Sabato’s thoughts, the link is here. More

Control of the House is potentially just one race call away from being decided – assuming the winner is a Republican.The GOP has won 217 of the 218 seats needed to create a majority in Congress’ lower chamber, while Democrats have 205 seats. All it will take is one more victory for Republicans to retake the chamber for the first time since 2019. The question is: where?An obvious choice would be Colorado’s third district, where Lauren Boebert, one of the chamber’s most controversial lawmakers, is in an unexpectedly stiff battle for re-election against Democrat Adam Frisch. There are only a few ballots left to count in this race, but according to Colorado Public Radio, don’t expect the outcome to be decided today: the next results won’t be published until Wednesday.Based on this chart from the New York Times, that makes several uncalled races in California the best possibilities for learning today which party controls the House.Joe Biden has been briefed on the situation in Poland, the White House has said, and will speak with Polish president Andrzej Duda soon, Reuters reports.The US president, who is in Bali, Indonesia, for the G20 talks, is being kept up to speed on the latest alarming developments in Russia’s war on Ukraine since, earlier today, Poland raised its military readiness after two died in a blast within its borders following Russian strikes across Ukraine.Biden is apparently talking with the head of Poland’s national security bureau, Jacek Siewiera, right now.The Guardian is blogging developments in the war, live, and you can find all that coverage here.Senate Republicans are holding their leadership vote tomorrow, following House Republicans’ vote today that kept Kevin McCarthy on top.Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, whose prospect of becoming majority leader next year were dashed by Democrats’ retaining control of the upper chamber in the midterm elections, is projecting confidence.This despite an apparent challenge coming from Florida senator Rick Scott.“I want to repeat again, I have the votes, I will be elected.”McConnell says issue is whether they hold elections tomorrow or not. Says they have another discussion about that pic.twitter.com/loTCjy65MJ— Heather Caygle (@heatherscope) November 15, 2022
A judge overturned Georgia’s ban on abortion starting around six weeks into a pregnancy, ruling today that it violated the US constitution and US supreme court precedent when it was enacted and was therefore void.Fulton county superior court judge Robert McBurney’s ruling took effect immediately statewide, though the state attorney general’s office said it appealed it. The ban had been in effect since July, the Associated Press reports.It prohibited most abortions once a “detectable human heartbeat” was present (even though that is a misnomer).Cardiac activity can be detected by ultrasound in cells within an embryo that will eventually become the heart as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. That means most abortions in Georgia were effectively banned at a point before many people even knew they were pregnant.McBurney’s ruling came in a lawsuit filed in July by doctors and advocacy groups that sought to strike down the ban on multiple grounds, including that it violates the Georgia constitution’s right to privacy and liberty by forcing pregnancy and childbirth on women in the state. McBurney did not rule on that claim.Instead, his decision agreed with a different argument made in the lawsuit that the ban was invalid because when it was signed into law in 2019, US supreme court precedent allowed abortion well past six weeks.Georgia’s law was passed by state lawmakers and signed by Governor Brian Kemp in 2019 but had been blocked from taking effect until the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, which had protected the right to an abortion in the US for nearly 50 years.The 11th US circuit court of appeals allowed Georgia to begin enforcing its abortion law just over three weeks after the high court’s decision in June.Abortion clinics remained open, but providers said they were turning many people away because cardiac activity had been detected. They could then either travel to another state for an abortion or continue with their pregnancies.Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, is exulting in the fact that Democrats have kept control of the Senate, and said Donald Trump’s Maga ideology is to blame for the GOP’s struggles in last week’s election:Sen. Schumer: “I have a plea for the Republicans and advice: If you embrace MAGA, you’re going to keep losing. You’re going to lose more.” pic.twitter.com/IcDLt5a0XI— CSPAN (@cspan) November 15, 2022
The Guardian’s US politics blog is now being handed over Joanna Walters, who will keep you abreast of the rest of today’s news.CNN has obtained a letter from Rick Scott to other Senate Republicans, in which he makes his pitch to be their leader in the chamber:Here’s the letter Rick Scott sent to his colleagues saying he would challenge Mitch McConnell for GOP leader pic.twitter.com/BP3rk4UtXz— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 15, 2022
While he doesn’t attack Mitch McConnell by name, it’s clear Scott has issues with how the Kentucky senator has led the party. For instance, Scott says that “some believe we should not make deals with Chuck Schumer”, in reference to McConnell’s occasion bipartisan agreements with the top Senate Democrat. He also notes that “some say we should work to united Republicans and not Democrats”, another indication that Scott could perhaps take a more hardline approach in negotiating with Joe Biden’s party, should he win the leadership post.There’s rancor among Senate Republicans after they failed to win a majority in last week’s midterm elections, with Florida senator Rick Scott announcing a challenge to Mitch McConnell to lead the party in Congress’s upper chamber, Politico reports.McConnell is the Senate’s current minority leader and Scott is chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is in charge of election efforts. The two men have been at odds over the GOP’s poor results in last Tuesday’s election, and Politico reports Scott was encouraged to challenge McConnell by Donald Trump.The challenge is the first McConnell has faced in his 15 years leading Senate Republicans, but the Kentucky lawmaker believes he has enough votes to beat Scott, Politico says. McConnell and Trump have a bad relationship, even though the senator has overseen some of the party’s biggest victories in the Senate, including installing the three conservative supreme court justices appointed by the former president who were pivotal in overturning Roe v Wade.The Biden administration is requesting another big infusion of aid from Congress to help Ukraine weather the Russian invasion, and also to fight Covid-19, NBC News reports:JUST IN: White House seeking $37.7 billion in supplemental aid for Ukraine, for continued military, intelligence support. Also seeks another $10 billion to fund ongoing fight against COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.— Ed O’Keefe (@edokeefe) November 15, 2022
Lawmakers have reconvened this week for the first time since the midterm elections, which appear to have delivered control of the House to Republicans. They’re expected to tackle a number of Democatic priorities before Congress’s mandates expires at the end of the year.House Republicans have named Kevin McCarthy their candidate for speaker, should they win a majority in the chamber, Punchbowl News reports:🚨 MCCARTHY WINSKevin McCarthy of California beat Andy Biggs to become the GOP nominee for speaker of the House.He now has to spend the next seven weeks working to get 218 supporters to win the floor vote. That will be Jan. 3.— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 15, 2022
McCarthy won 188-31 https://t.co/XQ2MrPAQHc— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 15, 2022
The Californian would take over from Democrat Nancy Pelosi if the GOP gains enough seats to win a majority. While all the ballots from last Tuesday’s midterm election have not been counted, the Republicans appear to be on course to do that.McCarthy won despite a challenge from Andy Biggs, an Arizona lawmaker running to his right. Arizona’s Democratic senator Mark Kelly says his Republican opponent Blake Masters conceded in a phone call, Politico reports:Sen. Mark Kelly says he talked to Blake Masters today and Masters conceded the Arizona Senate race. Kelly says it was a “good conversation” and Masters told him “congratulations”— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) November 15, 2022
The Associated Press called the race for Kelly last week. The seat was considered crucial to Democrats’ goal of keeping control of Congress’s upper chamber for another two years.If Democrats lose the majority in the House, Nancy Pelosi will have to make a decision.Pelosi has been a fixture in American politics for nearly two decades, becoming the first woman to lead either chamber of Congress and to serve as speaker of the house. But she’s 82, and unless something big happens, the GOP appears to be course to take control of the House once all the ballots from last week’s election are counted.Representing deep-blue San Francisco, it’s unlikely Pelosi will ever lose re-election, but her days controling the chamber appear to be numbered. That leaves her with a number of options. She could stay in the game as House minority leader, a position she previously held from 2011 to 2019, when Democrats were in the minority. She could begin laying the groundwork for her successor, perhaps by announcing her intention to retire.Then there’s a third option, which the New York Times reports in a piece examining the issue Pelosi may be leaning towards:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Now the question of will she stay or will she go has given way to a potential third option that some people close to Ms. Pelosi, 82, argue is a serious possibility for her: stepping down from leadership but remaining in Congress in a sort of emeritus role that would allow her to offer counsel to her colleagues and support the agenda of President Biden, 79, whom she has urged to run for re-election in 2024.
Such an arrangement would allow Ms. Pelosi to manage her own exit from the political scene while passing the torch to a new generation of leaders that many Democrats have argued for years was long overdue to take over from the three octogenarians currently running the House. She has hinted at just such a possibility.David DePape, who is accused of attacking Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, last month, pleaded not guilty to federal charges today, KRON reports.He faces a charge of “assault on an immediate family member of a United States official with intent to retaliate against the official on account of their performance of official duties”, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.DePape is also charged with “one count of attempted kidnapping of a US official”, for which he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.DePape previously pleaded not guilty to state charges over the attack in the Pelosis’ San Francisco residence.In a move that won’t surprise those who never believed her to be a true Democrat anyway, the former congresswoman and 2020 presidential hopeful Tusli Gabbard has signed up to work as a paid contributor for the Republican-friendly Fox News network, just weeks after announcing her departure from the Democratic party.Fox on Tuesday confirmed Gabbard’s hiring for multiple media outlets after it was first reported on by the Los Angeles Times. Gabbard, a vocal critic of numerous progressive causes despite her prior political alignment, is scheduled to begin appearing on the network’s programs next week, the reports about her hiring at Fox added.After winning her US House of Representatives seat in 2012, Gabbard became the first Samoan-American voting member and Hindu elected to Congress. But her views often clashed with the Democratic party’s. And in 2016, she announced she was leaving the party’s national committee to endorse Bernie Sanders for president instead of Hillary Clinton, who of course won the nomination at stake before losing to Donald Trump and the Republican forces backing him. Meanwhile, Gabbard’s attitudes on foreign policy have often favored authoritarian figures disavowed by the Democrats.On 11 October, she formally resigned from the party and called Democrats an “elitist cabal of warmongers”. She later appeared at a campaign rally supporting Republican congressman Lee Zeldin’s unsuccessful run to unseat New York’s Democratic gubernatorial incumbent Kathy Hochul during the 8 November midterms.The Republican party of Harris county, Texas, which includes the city of Houston, has reportedly filed a lawsuit against local elections administrators over alleged voting issues that occurred on polling day for the 8 November congressional midterms.County Democratic party chairperson Odus Evbagharu has issued a statement dismissing the suit as “political theater,” the Houston Chronicle reported Tuesday.According to the Chronicle, the Harris county Republican party’s attorney, Andy Taylor, alleged that double voting may have occurred and provisional ballots weren’t properly segregated when cast after 7pm in accordance with a court order that extended voting hours until 8pm. The Republicans’ gubernatorial incumbent candidate, Greg Abbott, won re-election during the midterms. But ballots cast in Harris county favored Abbott’s Democratic challenger, Beto O’Rourke, by a margin of about 104,000, before the latest Republican attempt to cast doubt about the integrity of voting in a jurisdiction that did not support their candidate.The Harris county government’s judge – or top executive – Lena Hidalgo is a Democrat.Donald Trump may announce another presidential run tonight, but not everybody is happy about it. The former president’s brand appears to have suffered after his handpicked candidates performed poorly in last week’s midterm elections, though a poll indicates he still remains the most popular person in the Republican party.Here’s what else has happened today:
Liz Cheney had the last word in a spat with Arizona’s defeated GOP governor candidate Kari Lake, but warned of the continued threat to democracy posed by many Republicans in Congress.
Rupert Murdoch is reportedly sick of Trump and may switch his allegiance to Florida governor Ron DeSantis, a development that could have big implications for the ex-president’s new White House campaign.
Only a handful of House races remain uncalled, and the GOP is one seat away from winning control of the chamber. It’s possible one of several races in California could deliver Republicans a majority today, while more results are expected in a crucial Colorado race tomorrow.
Back to Lauren Boebert’s race for a moment. While the firebrand conservative Republican appears on track to win another term in the House, it’s going to be a narrow one, and few saw that coming.Her western Colorado district has tended to vote Republican, and analysts viewed a victory by Democrat Adam Frisch as unlikely. The Wall Street Journal went to her district to figure out what was behind his unexpectedly stiff challenge. Here’s what they found:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Several supporters of Mr. Frisch, including voters registered unaffiliated and Republican, said that Mr. Frisch had won them over with his measured message, and that he has been more present than Ms. Boebert within the district. Some said they were deeply affected by the Jan. 6 attack, in which a mob of Trump supporters disrupted the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential-election victory.
Mr. Frisch said he was fed up with extremism in politics when he began considering a run against Ms. Boebert last fall.
The former Aspen city councilman and onetime financial trader sat down and began to crunch numbers on the farthest right and farthest left politicians in the country. He discovered that Ms. Boebert, who won her 2020 race by six points, was the most vulnerable, with—as a point of comparison—a far narrower margin of victory than Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.) or Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.).
Mr. Frisch, 55, became convinced that it was possible for someone to build a coalition to beat Ms. Boebert, and his family urged him to get in the race.
Political analysts attributed Mr. Frisch’s surprise momentum to Ms. Boebert’s close alignment with Mr. Trump, her reputation for attention-getting statements and a general fatigue within her district of headlines about her. That left an opening for Mr. Frisch and grass-roots groups to cobble together an alliance of Democrats, independents and disaffected Republicans to compete.
“If Lauren Boebert had been an ordinary Republican, this race would not be competitive,” said Laura Chapin, a Democratic political consultant in Denver.
Benjamin Stout, a spokesman for Ms. Boebert, said she outperformed other statewide Republicans within the district and said the majority of Republicans have stuck with her. He pointed to Mr. Frisch’s campaign as a conservative, emphasizing support for business and energy, as proof of support for Republican principles.
“He just copped her policies and ran on them,” Mr. Stout said.Control of the House is potentially just one race call away from being decided – assuming the winner is a Republican.The GOP has won 217 of the 218 seats needed to create a majority in Congress’ lower chamber, while Democrats have 205 seats. All it will take is one more victory for Republicans to retake the chamber for the first time since 2019. The question is: where?An obvious choice would be Colorado’s third district, where Lauren Boebert, one of the chamber’s most controversial lawmakers, is in an unexpectedly stiff battle for re-election against Democrat Adam Frisch. There are only a few ballots left to count in this race, but according to Colorado Public Radio, don’t expect the outcome to be decided today: the next results won’t be published until Wednesday.Based on this chart from the New York Times, that makes several uncalled races in California the best possibilities for learning today which party controls the House.Republican Adam Laxalt has conceded Nevada’s Senate race and acknowledged his loss to Democratic incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto:I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2 Tim 4:7) pic.twitter.com/5lUGKKTcRK— Adam Paul Laxalt (@AdamLaxalt) November 15, 2022
Cortez Masto’s victory in the race guarantees Joe Biden’s allies control of the Senate for another two years. However, election season isn’t quite over. On 6 December, voters in Georgia will cast ballots in a run-off election to determine whether Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock will return to the Senate, or be replaced by Republican Herschel Walker. More