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 All politics is local, the saying goes, which probably means that all politics is intensely petty, racist, and fueled by weird grudges about people letting leaves pile up on their lawns. The midterms are over, the dust settling. At the federal level, the Democratic Party will now control the House of Representatives, while the Republicans have widened their majority in the Senate. Washington settles in for two years of gridlock punctuated by angry tweeting matches and gleeful vollies of subpoenas. The Lich Queen Pelosi, on her throne of shadows, extends a hand to claim the gavel once more and bring about a thousand years of Dems Bad chat. On the state level, meanwhile, a lot has changed. Several states have now gained unified Democratic control of government, while others were previously controlled by Republicans but are now split. The stage is being set for important local fights about Medicaid expansion, the protection of LGBT citizens, women, and people of color, and looming in 2021 the census-year redistricting that will shape the battlefield for the next decade. It can be easy to become numb to politics, especially when victories feel so hollow and defeats sting so badly, and that's why we have local politics. That's right, local politics, the only place where you can spend an entire committee meeting arguing about lawn height restrictions. It's nitty-gritty, frustrating, and surprisingly important for making a positive impact in the lives of your friends and family. This thread is dedicated to US politics below the federal level. With no major federal races for another two years, try to leave discussion of those clowns in Congress, what a bunch of clowns, to other threads; sometimes it's important to be able to tune out a little and talk about what your board of zoning appeals, governor who  A few gentle requests for the thread:1.  Your local controversies and state-level challenges are interesting, and sometimes talking about them is exactly what we need. Feel free to cross-post from the regional politics threads, too, since a lot of them are slower moving and contain a lot of really interesting content.2. This applies everywhere in D&D, but still, please don't threaten violence upon anyone; Lowtax can't afford a brand new robospine and also pay for legal fees. 3. Consider taking your very interesting discussions about how Bad, in fact, the Dems may be to USPOL, or elsewhere. It's tempting to get into it with those people, you know the ones, and any discussion of political operations across fifty mostly poo poo states will inevitably bring up questions of strategy. If it gets out of hand it can take up all the air in a thread for ages, though. 4. Post maps and graphs, lots of maps and graphs. The statistics nerds demand a sacrifice. 5. While there is no dog tax as such, we all like adorable animals and welcome them with open arms. 6. Be excellent to each other, and especially be excellent to anyone actually getting off their fat goony rear end and into the trenches. 
Quorum fucked around with this message at 17:22 on Nov 7, 2018 |
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Nov 7, 2018 15:57
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This post is reserved for maps, graphs, resources, and fun facts! Fun fact: a sharp stick is called a "pale," that's why when you stab someone you're impaling them, and when you build a fence out of them it's called a palisade. 
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Nov 7, 2018 15:58
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Aight goons! Who is ready to get into the loving trenches with me and continue the fight? Just a reminder that school board and city council elections are just as important as congressional! This election I made the mistake of not researching as much as I could about Alexandria City Council. That will not happen again. I was super pissed at myself going out of the voting booth this year...
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Nov 7, 2018 16:34
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Although not a complete victory for the forces of less-bad last night (people bought the oil industry's spin about how requiring fracking to be no closer than half a mile from occupied buildings was going to cost us jobs, also my stupid city did not turn out well enough to counteract the entire western half of the state for control of our Congressional district), CO did manage to pass its pair of redistricting amendments. Ultimately I think this will be game-changing here because the new districts, both at the state legislature level and the federal level, will now be required to be competitive, here defined as "has a realistic chance to change hands every ten years" so every election here, going forward, should be decided solely by turnout, which is, I don't know, probably how it should be. e: also I'm pretty sure we elected a mayor for the first time in fifty years or so, but there were 16 people running for the office so that's going to a runoff in January. I just don't want the hopefully ironically-named Winner to take the office, she is pond scum. GHOST_BUTT fucked around with this message at 16:41 on Nov 7, 2018 |
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Nov 7, 2018 16:37
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gently caress yeah Kansas!!! Sure we have a Republican legislature still but man we can get some of the lovely Brownback era polices removed!
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Nov 7, 2018 16:38
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friendbot2000 posted:Aight goons! Who is ready to get into the loving trenches with me and continue the fight? IN-2 reporting. After Hall and Donnelly got a trouncing on their bland messages we definitely need a new voice in our state. Still wanting to talk with anyone in Michigan that is involved with their progressive Caucus as well because our party needs a unified voice for a progressive causes. It’s long overdue I also plan on rerunning for offices that are available to me. Just have to see what is coming up. I know how to run now and what is required so that’s half the battle and I got some decent field work in as a canvasser so that helped as well. Let’s see where things go. Local elections are this year and we are looking to see what Mayor Pete does. He dipped his toe into the national scene when he ran for DNC head and if he chooses not to run for office in South Bend, that’s a sign he’s looking to national or higher state aspirations.
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Nov 7, 2018 16:41
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I hope the dog is actually mayor
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Nov 7, 2018 16:45
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GHOST_BUTT posted:Although not a complete victory for the forces of less-bad last night (people bought the oil industry's spin about how requiring fracking to be no closer than half a mile from occupied buildings was going to cost us jobs, also my stupid city did not turn out well enough to counteract the entire western half of the state for control of our Congressional district), CO did manage to pass its pair of redistricting amendments. I'm not entirely sure how competitiveness compares with other optimization criteria for nonpartisan redistricting (like compactness and communities of interest), but I'm glad we're getting to see in real life, and whether it's better or worse than some of the other solutions, it'll be an improvement on the status quo. Here in Virginia, we're already gearing up for THE 2019 ELECTIONS because we're all loving insane. Up for election next november are the entire House of Delegates (again, time to see how the new Dems from 2017 fare, and if we can take the chamber entirely this time) and, this time around, the entire Senate. If we can take both chambers we can move the needle on a lot of really good policy, including hopefully banning the gerrymandering that ensured we spent most of the 2010s sending 4D-7R delegations to the House despite being a bluish state. Happily, last night was a big enough night in Virginia to flip that around, and come January we'll be sending 7 Democrats and 4 Republicans. Even better, one of the Republicans without a job will be Dave Brat, local disgrace and huge loving rear end in a top hat, and what a satisfying call that was. I'd already left the Spanberger watch party because I was exhausted and my boyfriend was worse, but we got to see it sitting on our friend's couch which was almost as good.mandatory lesbian posted:I hope the dog is actually mayor Yes! Mayor Max is in fact the mayor of the tiny town of Idyllwild. Constitutionally, humans aren't allowed to run for mayor in Idyllwild, they're only allowed to run their pets. It's mostly a ceremonial role, though, and not surprisingly most of the actual work is done by the human chief of staff, but still. Quorum fucked around with this message at 16:48 on Nov 7, 2018 |
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Nov 7, 2018 16:45
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Missouri was dominated by red candidates and progressive ballot initiative wins like minimum wage. It's got me wondering how far we can push it. Like, what if we push a ballot proposition to A) levy a marginal income tax and B) fund a minimum income with the proceeds? Would rural voters go for it?
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Nov 7, 2018 16:51
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Quorum posted:I'm not entirely sure how competitiveness compares with other optimization criteria for nonpartisan redistricting (like compactness and communities of interest), but I'm glad we're getting to see in real life, and whether it's better or worse than some of the other solutions, it'll be an improvement on the status quo. Unfortunately we won't really know until after the 2020 census, as we aren't going to seat the new (and improved?) redistricting panel until then. Stay tuned in two years for more weird mountain people politics. Quorum posted:Yes! Mayor Max is in fact the mayor of the tiny town of Idyllwild. Constitutionally, humans aren't allowed to run for mayor in Idyllwild, they're only allowed to run their pets. It's mostly a ceremonial role, though, and not surprisingly most of the actual work is done by the human chief of staff, but still. Look, he looks like a Very Good Boy and everything, but I'm seeing here that his deputy mayors are directly related to h and I don't know if I can support that kind of nepotism.
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Nov 7, 2018 16:55
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E quote isn't edit
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Nov 7, 2018 16:56
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PerniciousKnid posted:Missouri was dominated by red candidates and progressive ballot initiative wins like minimum wage. It's got me wondering how far we can push it. Like, what if we push a ballot proposition to A) levy a marginal income tax and B) fund a minimum income with the proceeds? Would rural voters go for it? Honestly, that's one message from last night. It's harder for the right wing media to torpedo initiatives than candidates, though of course not impossible, so where policy reforms via ballot initiative are possible, they should be pursued with vigor. Sadly, I live in a state too old to feature innovations like voter-initiated measures, here the only thing we've got are constitutional amendments, and they have to come from the legislature and be passed in two consecutive sessions before we even vote on them.
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Nov 7, 2018 16:58
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Dems should be pushing for non-partisan redistricting to be on the ballot in as many states as possible in 2020
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Nov 7, 2018 17:04
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I'm actually not quite sure what Oregon is going to be doing in local elections for the next while, because things shook out pretty well this time. Brown won against a "moderate" Republican who was all for making the State ritually murder people again, most of our House delegation went blue, the Less Bad Party controls both state gov houses (and the state senate's a supermajority) and a bunch of awful state ordinance votes got shot down. About the only worrying bit was eight counties voting in a truly insane bit of law that is certain to make for the kind of constitutional kerfuffle that the radical right terrorists who supported it just love to see.
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Nov 7, 2018 17:16
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The Glumslinger posted:Dems should be pushing for non-partisan redistricting to be on the ballot in as many states as possible in 2020 Also early voting, voting for felons, location and capacity rules for voting precincts, etc.
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Nov 7, 2018 17:17
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PerniciousKnid posted:Also early voting, voting for felons, location and capacity rules for voting precincts, etc. My hope after this election is that Dems nationally make voting rights a core plank in their platform and that state party candidates jump on it because it's got broad appeal and it's difficult to counter without revealing yourself to be a big ole racist (nb depending on the state this may be a benefit for you)
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Nov 7, 2018 17:21
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friendbot2000 posted:Aight goons! Who is ready to get into the loving trenches with me and continue the fight? Same but in Maryland - didn't do my due process on the school boards, but luckily we're generally a progressive county/state. Speaking of MD, Hogan won (by a large margin) but that wasn't a surprise. He's avoided being seen as close to Trump and has promised to continue working with a legislator, which tbf he doesn't have a choice as the Dems have a lock on the state house. More locally, Marc Elrich won county executive in Moco which is good! He has some...backwards ideas regarding development and is seen as a bit too friendly to NIMBYs but overall he was a better candidate than Floreen or (lol) Ficker. All in all it wasn't the night that we hoped for, but Dems still took the house and just as importantly, we took some state legislators and governors mansions back. My suggestion to everyone? Take a break for the holidays, see family, friends, do hobbies. RELAX. Do anything BUT worry about politics. We've earned it, and your health/sanity need the break. However come January when the new congress gets sworn in, it will be time for all of us get back in the trenches and focus on 2020!
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Nov 7, 2018 17:30
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Solaris 2.0 posted:Same but in Maryland - didn't do my due process on the school boards, but luckily we're generally a progressive county/state. 'Sup, neighbor. In my bit of PG county we replaced our school board rep with an actual teacher.
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Nov 7, 2018 17:35
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Solaris 2.0 posted:Same but in Maryland - didn't do my due process on the school boards, but luckily we're generally a progressive county/state. This is a good take, and as someone who used to live in MoCo (and likely will in the next few years), I'm glad it went in that direction. The Dems also flipped an Arlington County board seat against an "independent" (he was basically republican lite), and a women who was running as "keeping the name of Washington-Lee High School" as her main campaign promise was crushed as well. We did good last night. It wasn't the best case outcome we all wanted, but some solid loving gains were made. 
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Nov 7, 2018 17:42
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Handsome Ralph posted:This is a good take, and as someone who used to live in MoCo (and likely will in the next few years), I'm glad it went in that direction. Yeah, I'm fairly nervous for the country in the short to medium term, but Virginia and its urban and suburban centers have been doing good things in the last few years. Maybe once the United States dissolves into a loose confederation of regional blocs we can join with the other Mid-Atlantic states to form a new nation: the Republic of Old Bay.
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Nov 7, 2018 17:45
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I woke up and my Oklahoma district is still blue, and we passed medical marijuana this year. Maybe OK City is very slightly better than I thought by a little. Too bad about the whole electing the state's least favorite governor every but with a different name and all the damage that will continue to do to our poo poo education.
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Nov 7, 2018 17:52
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Who's ready to flip the VA legislature into a Dem majority and give us another trifecta? We need 2 pickups in the House of Delegates and 1 in the Senate for a majority. I think we can do it next year 
axeil fucked around with this message at 18:11 on Nov 7, 2018 |
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Nov 7, 2018 18:02
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axeil posted:Who's ready to flip the VA legislature into a Dem majority and give us another trifecta? I think we can too, and that would let us pass lots of good policy and even start the two-sessions-and-a-general-election clock on some good constitutional amendments, maybe.
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Nov 7, 2018 18:03
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axeil posted:Who's ready to flip the VA legislature into a Dem majority and give us another trifecta? I forgot VA and their damned off-year elections! Oh well, better to hit the ground running!
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Nov 7, 2018 18:03
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over here in california it looks like we expanded a bit on the state assembly supermajority and picked up 2 in the state senate to reclaim a supermajority there after republican recall fuckery ( josh newman)
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Nov 7, 2018 18:07
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Handsome Ralph posted:
I met Matt de Fernatti at the Starbucks on Monday morning when it was pouring out. He was going out canvassing for his seat and picking up some coffee before he started knocking on doors. I told him I voted for him in the primary and although I moved out of the county I was really pulling for him to win. We talked for a bit about where I work, how long I lived in the county, our chances in the House, etc. Maybe now Arlington will finally get the Georgetown-Rosslyn gondola! 
axeil fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Nov 7, 2018 |
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Nov 7, 2018 18:11
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New York State is going to go crazy with the progressive legislation over the next two years, I can feel it  Dems control the state house and Senate, progressive candidates won huge and kicked Blue Dogs out, local left activists are super fired up, governor Cuomo is pivoting hard to the left to boost his national profile. I'm expecting at the very least: + The best health care system in the nation. Not quite single payer, but very close + legal weed + abortion protections forever + LGBTQ protections forever + voting rights protections forever + a host of good environmental stuff And I'm going to spend the next two years working locally to make sure it happens.
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Nov 7, 2018 18:16
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i hope you all make cuomo so angry he strokes out
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Nov 7, 2018 18:17
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axeil posted:I met Matt de Fernatti at the Starbucks on Monday morning when it was pouring out. I told him I voted for him in the primary and although I moved out of the county I was really pulling for him to win. We talked for a bit about where I work, how long I lived in the county, our chances in the House, etc. Yeah I voted for Choun in the primary, but I wasn't torn up that de Fernatti won as he was a solid candidate to begin with. What irked me about Vihstadt the most is that by reading his campaign plank, he was clearly a Republican lite candidate that went with the independent label so he could avoid having that millstone on his neck. Then you have the "million dollar bus stop!" bullshit which was a bit disingenuous. I mean, I'm all for oversight and not wasting taxpayer money, but the guy acting like he was the only one who could prevent that from happening was incredibly 
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Nov 7, 2018 18:18
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in local georgia election news, dozens of jurisdictions had a sunday brunch bill permitting alcoholic sales by the glass before the traditional sunday morning alcohol sales time, which is noon it passed crushingly in every jurisdiction
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Nov 7, 2018 18:24
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I was pretty happy with the results from Connecticut. The only votes I truly felt good about were for Murphy for Senator and Tong for AG. I pretty much voted straight Dem with an exception to the Green party for Secretary of State if I'm not mistaken, but aside from the former two none of the candidates resonated with me. I'll admit I only spent a good three hours researching the candidates before mailing in my ballot, and to be honest I know a lot that's going to happen isn't really going to impact me as an 8+ year ex-pat (and going strong...) but I do care about Connecticut and wanted the best for those that've stayed there. Turns out that was the case this morning when I checked the results, but the final count seems to have ended up with Ned Lamont coming out on top (I re-checked because I had forgotten their names). So I'm pretty relieved about that because that Stefanowski fellow seemed like bad news. I think that leaves Connecticut with the Democrats still in control of everything, and here's hoping that they can improve on things because from what little I know Malloy did not finish up beloved in any way.
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Nov 7, 2018 18:34
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This was one of the best threads of the past couple years and I'm thrilled it's back!
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Nov 7, 2018 18:34
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Well, the CT governor race was a lot closer than expected, but Ned LaMont won in the end. Just as importantly, the Democrats took back control of the State Senate(it had been in an 18-18 tie) and expanded their majority in the State House. https://www.courant.com/politics/elections/hc-election-connecticut-general-assembly-20181101-story.html I won't quote the article here, because it's local CT news and most people won't care about the details(I hardly care, except for the fact that I'm *still* represented by a Republican in the State House  )In any case, the State Democratic Party has the power to do whatever it wants to. Hopefully that will mean good things.
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Nov 7, 2018 18:38
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Lance of Llanwyln posted:Well, the CT governor race was a lot closer than expected, but Ned LaMont won in the end. Just as importantly, the Democrats took back control of the State Senate(it had been in an 18-18 tie) and expanded their majority in the State House. Link doesn't work in Europe. Which is kind of weird for the Courant? My local local paper has that problem but I thought the Hartford Courant was a solid legacy paper or something. Also didn't the Dems have the Congress and Governorship during Malloy? Things weren't bad then to be fair, but the economy sure wasn't doing anyone favors. Anyway sorry about your state representative. Mine's also Republican though at least our senator is Dem. The state senator choice was tough for me because the Democrat candidate was an absolute unknown and the Republican was solid on Woman's Rights, but bad on gun control (as is my State Representative...) so I figured the other guy couldn't be worse on Woman's Rights. Right?
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Nov 7, 2018 18:54
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Man, gently caress you Ohio. Who are the 200,000 idiots who voted for Brown and Dewine? Doesn't look like anything even changed at the top level. Hopefully the redistricting in 2020 will help with that a bit. Not sure whats going on at the lower levels, though. Looks like Cuyahoga did pretty well, but its Cuyahoga, so of course it did. There anywhere I can see a nice overview of how the rest of Ohio's counties fared? I want to see if the wave did anything here. There's this https://www.news5cleveland.com/election-results, but I'm not seeing an easy way to check for flips.
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Nov 7, 2018 19:08
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There were a lot of people in WI that voted for Baldwin and Walker. I don't get it. But at least Baldwin and Evers both won. Sorry Ohio 
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Nov 7, 2018 19:20
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sheri posted:There were a lot of people in WI that voted for Baldwin and Walker. https://twitter.com/AFLCIO/status/1060074414300192768
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Nov 7, 2018 19:24
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friendly 2 da void posted:New York State is going to go crazy with the progressive legislation over the next two years, I can feel it Hell yes, let's go NY Health Act
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Nov 7, 2018 19:34
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Nov 7, 2018 19:37
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Assuming every race goes how the currently counted votes fall (and a few of them are too close for this to be guaranteed), the WA state legislature will be 57D 41R in the house, and 27D 22R in the senate (though one of those democrats caucuses with republicans making it more 26/23). A solid set of gains.
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Nov 7, 2018 19:44
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