Kavanaugh: Now & The Aftermath

[brucejoel99]

DEMOCRATS SETTLE INTO PRE-MIDTERM POWER IN THE SENATE

WASHINGTON (October 10, 2018) -- Senate Democrats stepped into their new role as the chamber's majority party with ease late on Wednesday morning, following a brief series of introductions, a swearing-in ceremony for the new Senate president pro tempore, and a few minutes of congratulatory speeches.

The new-look U.S. Senate was gaveled to order at 11 a.m. The Democrats, who hold a fragile two-seat majority, are in control for the first time since January 2015 when the GOP took over both houses of Congress following the 2014 midterm elections.

Sens. Chuck Schumer and Patrick Leahy of Vermont were recognized as the new Democratic leaders, completing the power switch initiated when Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska announced two weeks ago that they would leave the Republican Party to become independents.

The day began with new Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois taking the chair following a brief invocation to recognize Schumer as the Senate's new majority leader.

Schumer, in turn, moved to appoint Leahy the new Senate president pro tempore, replacing Orrin Hatch of Utah, who is retiring with the midterm election next month.

Once Leahy received the oath of office from Durbin, he assumed the president's chair and gave the floor to Schumer who gave his first speech as majority leader.

Schumer replaces longtime Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, who now becomes Senate minority leader once again.

The New York Democrat said he was humbled by his new position, and mindful that his duty was maintain an air of productivity and civility in the closely divided chamber.

"Polarizing positions are an indulgence," he said, "an indulgence we cannot afford."

"The noise you sometimes hear [here] is the noise of democracy," he said. "It is a beautiful sound, though it may not always be the sound you want to hear."

McConnell, following Schumer on the floor, pledged his aide when appropriate.

"I know, Sen. Schumer, that the weight of this job will be as heavy as the weight on Atlas when he carried the world on his shoulders," McConnell said. "I hope I can help sometimes to make that burden a little lighter."

Schumer, surveying the new landscape before him earlier in the day, admitted there are still fundamental disagreements between Democrats and Republicans. But, he said, the two parties must work out their differences if and when possible.

"My message will be, let's find a way to work together, to find middle ground on the array of issues we all care about -- whether it's taxes, healthcare, immigration, climate change, education, the judiciary," he said.

"There are a lot of things that we can do together, and I'm hopeful that we can find a way and that we can demonstrate that this is a new day," Schumer said.

The shift in power officially took place at the end of business Tuesday, following Sens. Collins and Murkowski's formal exits from the Republican Party conference.

Democrats now have a 51-49 edge.

As a show of good faith to his Republican colleagues, Schumer motioned to name Hatch the Senate "president pro tempore emeritus."

Durbin replaces Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, as majority whip, the No. 2 man in the Senate.

With 30 minutes of ceremony and pleasantries behind them, Senate lawmakers moved on to their ongoing debate over the wait for President Trump to name his second nominee to fill the vacancy of now-retired Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court in the wake of the rejection of Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination two weeks ago due to a credible sexual assault allegation.

Also settled today was an organizing resolution, passed to set membership ratios for each of the Senate's committees. With the Democrats' ascension to power, they will now enjoy the chairmanships of and one-seat majorities on all of the Senate's committee panels.

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

I'm doubtful that Collins is the type to abandon the GOP, but it is more plausible that Murkowski could go independent since she ran as an independent before after losing her R primary. Anyway, this is well done, interesting, and a good read!

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

I think Dems will have a bigger edge and have a 54-46 majority😁

[OBD]

I think Dems will have a bigger edge and have a 54-46 majority😁

Nevada and Arizona would be sure-fire Dem, Texas, North Dakota, and Tennessee would be close.

[brucejoel99]

TRUMP NOMINATES AMY CONEY BARRETT TO SUPREME COURT

WASHINGTON (October 17, 2018) -- President Trump, stung by the failure of his first nomination to the Supreme Court three weeks ago, today nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett and expressed the hope that she could be confirmed quickly in a spirit of fairness.

President Trump emphasized that Judge Barrett "seems to be popular with many senators."

"Maybe the experience of the last month or so has made us all a bit wiser," he said. President Trump's tone today was in marked contrast to the sharply partisan terms he presented in regards to his previous nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, two weeks ago. Then, the President called the Senate's rejection of Judge Kavanaugh a "disservice to the Court and to the nation" and said that "the American people will know what's up" if the Senate did not act quickly.

But beneath the cautious optimism was a general expectation that Judge Barrett faces quite the uphill battle in the Senate, with a bruising battle expected at the very least due to the unexpectedly newfound Democratic Senate majority, as well as a collective belief that President Trump nominated Judge Barrett first and foremost in the hopes of mobilizing his base of Republican voters in the run-up to the midterm elections in three weeks' time.

Judge Barrett, in her brief appearance at the announcement in the East Room of the White House today, said with a slight smile, "I'm delighted with this nomination."

Democrats quickly rejected President Trump's challenge to accept the nomination. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, appeared on the Senate floor shortly after the President's remarks to declare an end to Judge Barrett's nomination, no matter her qualifications. In case there was any doubt, Schumer later called Judge Barrett personally to say that he would not be receiving her in his Capitol office, nor taking any action on her nomination.

"The President must understand that by picking somebody so blatantly hostile to Roe v. Wade, so blatantly hostile to the ACA, that he is helping to potentially cataclysmically tear the country apart in a way it hasn't been for some time, and that is bad for his legacy," Schumer said on the Senate floor. "The President should also understand that our view is this: if he truly wanted to unify the country, then he should have nominated Judge Merrick Garland to fill this vacancy. Because, at a time when our politics are so polarized, at a time when norms and customs of political rhetoric and courtesy and comity are so often treated like they're disposable, this is precisely the time when we should strive for unity and play it straight."

In choosing Judge Barrett, a Notre Dame law professor and former clerk for the late Justice Antonin Scalia who was only confirmed to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in late 2017, President Trump opted to select a jurist perhaps better known for her ideological bent and the role of her Catholic faith in judging than for longstanding judicial qualifications or her meticulous work ethic and adherence to legal principles.

White House officials considered, and rejected, advice from supporters who urged President Trump to pressure Democrats by nominating a more moderate judicial selection, choosing instead to zero in on a conservative champion who might excite the core Republican supporters that they need energized for next month's midterm elections.

Many conservatives expressed pleasure with that decision. Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director of the Judicial Crisis Network, said it was "profoundly pleasing that President Trump has used this opportunity to add the voice of another judicial constitutionalist to the Supreme Court rather than instead put forward a nominee who'd be seemingly designed to appease intransigent Democrats."

White House officials also said that President Trump and his aides, led by outgoing White House Counsel Don McGahn, made the calculation that selecting a nominee previously confirmed on the basis of their legal credentials would expose the Democratic opposition as based solely on politics. The President passed over two other federal appellate judges on his short list who might have achieved those goals: Thomas Hardiman, 53, for whom it was now the third time in less than two years that Hardiman was Trump's runner-up for a Supreme Court nomination, and Raymond Kethledge, 51, a federal judge with a loyally conservative record and, as a Michigan outdoorsman, a Washington outsider image that could help him.

"To suggest that someone as qualified and respected as Amy Coney Barrett doesn't even deserve a hearing, let alone an up-or-down vote, to join an institution as important as our Supreme Court, when a lot of Americans believe otherwise -- that would be unacceptable," President Trump said.

President Trump had previously considered Judge Barrett for the same Supreme Court vacancy earlier this year before choosing to instead nominate Judge Kavanaugh, and after his nomination failed, some aides viewed her as an "in-case-of-emergency-break-glass" candidate whom, as a woman, they could nominate under the precipice that they needed a nominee who was a stark contrast to the previous nominee's credible allegation of sexual assault.

Yet Senate Democrats went so far as to suggest today that if they, as expected, retain their recently-gained Senate majority in three weeks' time, they will only be open to considering Judge Garland as an alternative to a conservative nominee such as Judge Barrett, especially after her nomination automatically expires upon the expiration of the 115th Congress on Jan. 3, though President Trump would be expected to automatically re-nominate her and proceed with her nomination unimpeded. And even as Judge Barrett prepared to begin meeting with senators on Thursday, there was no evidence that any Democratic senators would be softening their stances anytime soon.

A statement from Senate Democrats said that no Democratic Senators would be agreeing to meet with Judge Barrett, especially prior to the midterm elections and during the sequential lame-duck session. And only three Senate Democrats, Senators Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, all facing difficult re-election challenges in Republican-leaning states, said they would be open to considering the nomination of Judge Barrett during the 116th Congress if Senate Democrats were to retain their majority with the upcoming election and President Trump were to re-nominate Judge Barrett upon the 115th Congress' expiration on Jan. 3.

The White House reached out to Judge Barrett, along with a number of other potential nominees, days after the rejection of Judge Kavanaugh's nomination on Sep. 28. President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Mr. McGahn jointly interviewed her last Thursday even as the President's short list, which included her name and those of Judges Hardiman and Kethledge, leaked in the news media, alarming the West Wing officials who were trying to keep the process out of the spotlight and, as always, trying to keep a lid on internal leaks.

President Trump spent Friday and Saturday in Texas and Tennessee, attending Republican fund-raisers and rallies for incumbent Senator Ted Cruz's re-election campaign and Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn's campaign, respectively, before spending spending Saturday night and Sunday at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey, playing a round of golf on Sunday before returning to Washington late Sunday night and informing his top aides soon afterward that Judge Barrett would be his pick.

McGahn was one of only about a half-dozen top aides who knew the choice as planning for the public rollout of the nominee kicked into gear. Much of the work could be prepared without knowing the specific nominee, but on Wednesday, White House videographers recorded Judge Barrett for the gauzy biographical video that they released Wednesday night.

It came out just after President Trump appeared in the East Room to introduce Judge Barrett and challenge Democrats to give her a fair shot.

"So I am asking the Democrats in the Senate to give her a fair hearing, and a vote," President Trump said. "If you don’t, then it will not only be an unacceptable avoiding of your duty, it will show the nation that our sacred process for nominating and confirming judges is beyond repair."

[brucejoel99]

DEMOCRATS WIN CONTROL OF CONGRESS, CAPTURING HOUSE, 273-162, AND EXPAND NEW SENATE MAJORITY, 55-45

WASHINGTON (November 7, 2018) -- In a rout once considered almost inconceivable, and in perhaps the most inconceivable way that could have been considered, Democrats captured control of the House of Representatives on Tuesday and expanded their recently-gained majority in the Senate, riding a wave of voter discontent to regain total control of Congress after 8 years of near-domination by the Republican Party and deal a setback to President Trump just two years after his upset victory.

A Democratic resurgence, propelled by a deeply controversial President and a forceful opposition to the Trump-Republican agenda, delivered defeats to House Republicans from the Northeast to the South and across the Midwest. The tide swept aside dozens of lawmakers, regardless of their seniority or their voting records, upending the balance of power for the second half of President Trump's term.

The shift dramatically alters the government's balance of power, leaving President Trump with zero GOP congressional control to drive any of his legislative agenda. Democrats hailed the results of a midterm election marked by deep dissatisfaction with the president, and vowed to investigate administration policies and decisions.

In the House, Democrats had won or were leading in 273 seats, while Republicans had won or were leading in 162 seats. With a 273-162 majority, Democrats would have 55 more seats than the number necessary to hold the barest of majorities in the 435-member chamber. Without losing any seats of their own, Democrats captured 78 GOP-held seats, far surpassing the 31 seats the party won in their last so-called "Blue Wave," the sweep of 2006.

"The American people's voice was heard at the ballot box," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, who is positioned to once again become the Speaker of the House. "We have real work to do, and this is not the time for celebration."

As watershed elections go, this one rivaled the Democrats' takeover in 2006, which made Pelosi the Speaker of the House the first time around, and the first Democrat to run the House since the Newt Gingrich-fueled Republican Revolution of 1994. This time, the shift comes in the midst of a deeply unpopular presidency, a Republican Party scarred by controversy and just two years from a highly-anticipated presidential contest.

President Trump watched the election returns with his family at the White House and, in a surprisingly affable tweet shortly after midnight, offered his congratulations to Speaker-elect Pelosi and said he hoped they could work together on the way forward as Washington prepares for divided government.

The Democrats, in a continuation of their good fortunes in regards to the Senate that began with the late-September party switches of Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, will also have four new senators on their side of the aisle as a result of Tuesday's balloting. Two of them, Senators-elect Jacky Rosen and Beto O'Rourke defeated sitting Republican senators from Nevada and Texas, respectively. The other two, Senators-elect Kyrsten Sinema and Phil Bredesen, replaced retiring senators from Arizona and Tennessee, respectively. Thus, the Democrats will now hold a 55-45 majority in the Senate.

"Tonight, the American people have made clear they are tired of the embarrassments that have made up the last two years," said Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, now secure in his place to remain Senate Majority Leader when Congress reconvenes in January.

The most expensive midterm election campaign in the nation's history, fueled by a raft of both contributions from outside interest groups and small individual contributors alike, and millions in donations to candidates in both parties, played out across a wide battleground that stretched from Alaska to Maine. The Democratic tide swept into statehouse races, too, with Republicans poised to lose the majority of governorships, particularly those in key presidential swing states, like Florida and Ohio, where term-limited Governors Rick Scott (who suffered his own personal defeat last night as well in Florida's Senate race at the hands of the re-elected Democratic incumbent, Bill Nelson) and John Kasich, respectively, will be replaced by Governors-elect Andrew Gillum, the Bernie Sanders-endorsed progressive-style candidate and outgoing Mayor of Tallahassee, and Richard Cordray, the former state Attorney General and Obama-era Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (also known as the brainchild agency of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who was easily re-elected in her own right last night as well).

One after another, once-unassailable Republicans like Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Representatives Steve Chabot of Ohio, Dana Rohrabacher of California, Leonard Lance of New Jersey and John Culberson of Texas fell to little-known Democratic challengers.

"Voters sent a message that making America great again has not happened fast enough," said Ronna Romney McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee and niece of 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who was successful in his quest last night to become the next Senator from Utah.

Democrats did not achieve the most perfect of victories, however, with a big surprise of the night coming out of New Jersey. Senator Bob Menendez was thought to be one of the safest incumbents in his party despite having gone through an embarrassing and politically damaging corruption trial one year ago, but instead found himself only narrowly prevailing against his wealthy Republican challenger, former pharmaceutical executive Bob Hugin. Their race was marked by Hugin's relentless negative ad campaign and deep pockets, combined with Menendez's deep unpopularity among New Jersey voters, and its tight result is surprising for a state that the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, carried by 14 points over then-candidate Trump two years ago.

Elsewhere across the country, in the previously-thought-to-be-reliably-red state of Texas, Sen. Cruz, a former presidential primary candidate against then-candidate Trump in 2016 and the most surprising of the two GOP incumbents to lose re-election bids, lost to his Democratic opponent, Congressman O'Rourke, with the final count by The Associated Press showing O'Rourke with 2,428,075 votes and Cruz with 2,408,979, a difference of only 19,096. Cruz, however, is currently awaiting the results of a statewide post-election canvass of votes and has not yet conceded the race. Beside the O'Rourke-Cruz race, the Nevada Senate contest also resulted in the Democratic candidate, Congresswoman Rosen, beating incumbent Senator Dean Heller.

The outcome on Tuesday was nothing short of a remarkable comeback for Democrats two years after they suffered a crushing upset defeat in the White House, four years after Republicans swept control of the Senate, and eight years after they had done the same with the House. It places the party back in the driver's seat in terms of policy, posing new challenges to President Trump as he faces a tough two years in his term, but also for Democrats -- led by Speaker-elect Pelosi -- as she suddenly finds herself once again in a position of responsibility, rather than being simply the outsider.

In the House, Democrats found victories in most corners of the country, including seven seats in Pennsylvania, seven in Ohio, four in Florida, Illinois and Virginia and three in Georgia. Republicans braced for the prospect of historic defeats, far more than the 23 seats the Democrats needed to win control. Democrats reached their majority by taking seats east of the Mississippi even before late results flowed in from farther West.

Throughout the evening, in race after race, Democratic challengers defeated favored Republican opponents, including incumbents, despite being at significant fund-raising disadvantages. Left-leaning groups invariably came to the rescue as well, helping level the playing field, including in Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District, the seat of retiring House Speaker Paul Ryan, in which ironworker Randy Bryce defeated Bryan Steil, a lawyer and former staffer for Ryan; Ohio's 1st Congressional District, where Chabot, an 11-term incumbent, lost to Aftab Pureval, a local clerk of courts; New Jersey's 7th Congressional District, in which Lance, who was seeking his 6th term, succumbed to Tom Malinowski, an Obama-era Asst. Secretary of State; and Texas' 7th Congressional District, where Culberson, a 9-term incumbent, lost to his Democratic challenger, Houston attorney Lizzie Fletcher.

Republicans argued that the Democratic triumph was far from complete, particularly in the Senate, pointing to the safe-election of Romney over his once-favored Democratic opponent, Jenny Wilson, a member of the Salt Lake County Council, and other races. In Wyoming, incumbent Sen. John Barrasso defeated Gary Trauner, a Jackson Hole businessman and former U.S. House candidate. In Nebraska, incumbent Sen. Deb Fischer triumphed over Jane Raybould, a Councilwoman from Lincoln. And in Mississippi's two Senate elections, Republican incumbent Sen. Roger Wicker beat back a Democratic challenge from state Rep. David Baria in Mississippi's regularly scheduled Senate race, while in the special election for the state's other Senate seat to fill the vacancy caused by Thad Cochran's resignation earlier this year on account of poor health, Cindy Hyde-Smith, the Republican appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant to fill the vacant seat in the interim, and Mike Espy, the former Clinton-era Secretary of Agriculture, are advancing to a Nov. 27 runoff.

But Republicans conceded that their plans for a Red Wave did not meet expectations, party strategists said, and extraordinary efforts that President Trump made during the campaign appeared to have borne little fruit.

The President casted himself as the star of the midterm elections, eagerly inserting himself into hotly contested races, headlining big rallies in pivotal districts and states, and maximizing his fundraising efforts for Republican candidates, spending 40 days on the campaign trail between Aug. 1 and Election Day, seemingly all to no avail despite the President's appeals to Republicans in many states that he carried two years ago.

In governors' races, Democrats won several contests in the nation. They held onto governorships in Hawaii, New York and California (with Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom set to replace long-time popular term-limited incumbent Governor Jerry Brown), and had seized seats now occupied by Republicans in Maine, New Mexico and Illinois (where Democrat J. B. Pritzker, wealthy venture capitalist and brother of Obama-era Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, defeated the unpopular incumbent Republican, Gov. Bruce Rauner). In Nevada, Steve Sisolak, a Democrat and Clark County Commissioner, easily took the post that Brian Sandoval, a popular moderate Republican, is leaving behind.

Though Republicans, who before the election held 33 governors’ seats compared to 16 for the Republicans (plus a lone independent, Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, who was defeated in his reelection bid by Republican State Senator Mike Dunleavy, who won with a plurality of the vote due to the contest being a three-way race thanks to the presence of former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich as the Democratic nominee), were expected to face such losses, there were also bright spots. In Maryland, moderate incumbent Gov. Larry Hogan easily defeated the Democrat, Ben Jealous, even as Democrats were expected to pick up seats in the state legislature and the congressional delegation. In Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker won a second term.

As the election results rolled in, with Democrats picking up victories shortly after polls closed in states across the South, East and the Midwest, FOX News personalities Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity (as well as major Republican Party leaders such as House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise) made urgent appeals during their network's broadcast that there was still time for voters in other states to cast their ballots.

But the mood in Republican quarters was glum, with few early signs of optimism in House or Senate races that were called early in the evening. Exit polls that were conducted with voters across the country also provided little sense of hope for Republicans, with Democrats gaining a majority of independents, college-educated people and suburbanites -- all groups whose support Republicans needed to secure to hope for victory.

"We've come to take our government back," Senator-elect O'Rourke told cheering supporters who gathered in El Paso, TX. "They say that the U.S. Senate is the world's most deliberative body. I'm going to ask them to deliberate on this: The American people are unhappy with what's going on in Washington."

The election was very much a referendum on President Trump and the Republican agenda, according to interviews with voters that were conducted for the National Election Pool, a consortium of television networks and The Associated Press, with a wide majority of the electorate saying that the country was seriously off track. Nearly nine in 10 voters said they were worried how the GOP agenda's major focal points of health care and tax reform would impact them, and about 4 in 10 said the President's deeply controversial actions in office were worrying.

The surveys found that voters were even more dissatisfied with Congress now than they were in 2010, when Republicans reclaimed control from the Democrats. Preliminary results also indicated an electorate far more liberal than the midterm electorate four years ago in 2014, a sign of much stronger turnout by people leaning toward Democrats.

Most voters said they believed President Trump's policies would hurt the country in the long run, rather than help it, and a large share of voters all across the country said they'd be intending to support any Democratic candidate rather than President Trump's reelection bid in two years.

The Democratic winds began blowing back in December 2017 when Republicans lost the seat long held by former Senator and current Attorney General Jeff Sessions of Alabama, with the major upset victory of Doug Jones serving as a motivating force for the budding Blue Wave and a burst of inspiration for Democratic candidates across the country to step forward and challenge Democrats everywhere.

On Tuesday, the President did not leave the grounds of the White House, taking a respite from months of campaigning across the country, so he could meet with his inner-circle of top advisers to plot a way forward for his administration and his own looming re-election campaign. The White House said President Trump would address the governing challenges that await him with the new Congress during a previously scheduled joint-foreign leader press conference on Wednesday.

"My hope is that Democrats can work with me. Obviously, I know I could work with them as long as they're reasonable," President Trump said in a radio interview on Hannity's radio program earlier on Tuesday as he spent the final hours of the midterm campaign trying to persuade Republicans in key states to take time to vote. Later, President Trump shot out one tweet after another, urging his voter base to help preserve the Republican majority and his agenda in particular.

"Whether I'm gonna able to make America great again over the next couple of years depends on the Democrats not obstructing, obstructing, obstructing," President Trump said in his interview with Hannity.

There was little Republican terrain across the country that seemed immune to Democratic encroachment, with many of the most competitive races being waged in states that President Trump carried strongly only two years ago. From Pennsylvania to Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Florida and Ohio -- all places that were kind to the Republican ticket in 2016 -- Democrats worked aggressively to find new opportunities.

For all the drama surrounding the final day of the midterm campaign, more than 24 million Americans had voted before Tuesday, a trend that has grown with each election cycle over the last two decades, as 37 states now offer ways for voters to practice democracy in far more convenient ways than simply waiting in line on Election Day.

[Cold War Liberal]

Did Abrams, Gillum, and/or Cordray win???

[brucejoel99]

Did Abrams, Gillum, and/or Cordray win???

Gillum & Cordray did win as mentioned in the post, just realized I forgot about Abrams but yeah she did lol

[libertpaulian]

Did James Smith win in SC?

[brucejoel99]

Did James Smith win in SC?

Yeah, but it was really close: 50.4 to 49.6

[libertpaulian]

Did James Smith win in SC?

Yeah, but it was really close: 50.4 to 49.6

Hell yeah! 

When you have time, could you post the maps, please?  Senate and Governors, obviously, since the House would be a headache to work with.

[TarHeelDem]

Loving this Freedom Timeline. Can we get the Hyde-Smith/Espy run-off results, please? And impeach Kavanaugh from the Court of Appeals?

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

Can you please alter the arc of history to make this timeline occur in the real world?

[KaiserDave]

Well now the premise of this TL may come true...

[JoeyOCanada]

Is this mans predicting the future?

[Sir Mohamed]

I'm skeptical Collins and Murkowski would ever defect from the GOP. Also don't see Dems making such huge gains in the midterms.

But a great, well written TL!

[brucejoel99]

Did James Smith win in SC?

Yeah, but it was really close: 50.4 to 49.6

Hell yeah! 

When you have time, could you post the maps, please?  Senate and Governors, obviously, since the House would be a headache to work with.

2018 MIDTERM ELECTIONS: NOVEMBER 6, 2018


SENATE ELECTIONS

Arizona: Kyrsten Sinema (D), succeeds Jeff Flake (R)
California: Dianne Feinstein (D), re-elected
Connecticut: Chris Murphy (D), re-elected
Delaware: Tom Carper (D), re-elected
Florida: Bill Nelson (D) re-elected
Hawaii: Mazie Hirono (D), re-elected
Indiana: Joe Donnelly (D) re-elected
Maine: Angus King (D) re-elected
Maryland: Ben Cardin (D), re-elected
Massachusetts: Elizabeth Warren (D), re-elected
Michigan: Debbie Stabenow (D), re-elected
Minnesota: Amy Klobuchar (D), re-elected
Minnesota-Special: Tina Smith (D), re-elected
Mississippi: Roger Wicker (R), re-elected
Mississippi-Special: Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) and Mike Espy (D), advancing to runoff
Missouri: Claire McCaskill (D), re-elected
Montana: Jon Tester (D), re-elected
Nebraska: Deb Fischer (R), re-elected
Nevada: Jacky Rosen (D), succeeds Dean Heller (R)
New Jersey: Bob Menendez (D), re-elected
New Mexico: Martin Heinrich (D), re-elected
New York: Kirsten Gillibrand (D), re-elected
North Dakota: Heidi Heitkamp (D) re-elected
Ohio: Sherrod Brown (D), re-elected
Pennsylvania: Bob Casey (D), re-elected
Rhode Island: Sheldon Whitehouse (D), re-elected
Tennessee: Phil Bredesen (D), succeeds Bob Corker (R)
Texas: Beto O'Rourke (D), succeeds Ted Cruz (R)
Utah: Mitt Romney (R), succeeds Orrin Hatch (R)
Vermont: Bernie Sanders (D), re-elected
Virginia: Tim Kaine (D), re-elected
Washington: Maria Cantwell (D), re-elected
West Virginia: Joe Manchin (D), re-elected
Wisconsin: Tammy Baldwin (D), re-elected
Wyoming: John Barrasso (R), re-elected

GUBERNATORIAL ELECTIONS

Alabama: Kay Ivey (R) re-elected
Alaska: Mike Dunleavy (R), succeeds Bill Walker (I)
Arizona: David Garcia (D), succeeds Doug Duecy (R)
Arkansas: Asa Hutchinson (R) re-elected
California: Gavin Newsom (D), succeeds Jerry Brown (D)
Colorado: Jared Polis (D), succeeds John Hickenlooper (D)
Connecticut: Ned Lamont (D), succeeds Dan Malloy (D)
Florida: Andrew Gillum (D), succeeds Rick Scott (R)
Georgia: Stacey Abrams (D), succeeds Nathan Deal (R)
Hawaii: David Ige (D) re-elected
Idaho: Brad Little (R), succeeds Butch Otter (R)
Illinois: J.B. Pritzker (D), succeeds Bruce Rauner (R)
Iowa: Fred Hubbell (D), succeeds Kim Reynolds (R)
Kansas: Laura Kelly (D), succeeds Jeff Colyer (R)
Maine: Janet Mills (D), succeeds Paul LePage (R)
Maryland: Larry Hogan (R) re-elected
Massachusetts: Charlie Baker (R) re-elected
Michigan: Gretchen Whitmer (D), succeeds Rick Snyder (R)
Minnesota: Tim Walz (D), succeeds Mark Dayton (D)
Nebraska: Pete Ricketts (R) re-elected
Nevada: Steve Sisolak (D), succeeds Brian Sandoval (R)
New Hampshire: Chris Sununu (R) re-elected
New Mexico: Michelle Lujan Grisham (D), succeeds Susana Martinez (R)
New York: Andrew Cuomo (D) re-elected
Ohio: Richard Cordray (D), succeeds John Kasich (R)
Oklahoma: Kevin Stitt (R), succeeds Mary Fallin (R)
Oregon: Kate Brown (D) re-elected
Pennsylvania: Tom Wolf (D) re-elected
Rhode Island: Gina Raimondo (D) re-elected
South Carolina: James Smith (D), succeeds Henry McMaster (R)
South Dakota: Kristi Noem (R), succeeds Dennis Daugaard (R)
Tennessee: Bill Lee (R), succeeds Bill Haslam (R)
Texas: Greg Abbott (R) re-elected
Vermont: Christine Hallquist (D), succeeds Phil Scott (R)
Wisconsin: Tony Evers (D), succeeds Scott Walker (R)
Washington, D.C.: Muriel Bowser (D) re-elected
Wyoming: Mark Gordon (R), succeeds Matt Mead (R)

[brucejoel99]

Loving this Freedom Timeline. Can we get the Hyde-Smith/Espy run-off results, please? And impeach Kavanaugh from the Court of Appeals?

Thanks! And I wasn't gonna make an article out of it but Cindy wins: Hyde-Smith 51.1 - Espy 48.9

Oh, & let's just say we haven't seen the last of Brett Kavanaugh...

[brucejoel99]

Can you please alter the arc of history to make this timeline occur in the real world?

Well now the premise of this TL may come true...

Is this mans predicting the future?

I sure wish & hope so lmao

[brucejoel99]

I'm skeptical Collins and Murkowski would ever defect from the GOP. Also don't see Dems making such huge gains in the midterms.

But a great, well written TL!

Well the theme I was trying to hit home is that it wasn't just Kavanaugh that caused them to switch, it was all the s**t they've suffered under Mitch that causes it; Kavanaugh & Mitch threatening them over it is the so-called straw that breaks the camel's back, if you will.

Thank you nonetheless for the compliment, though!

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

It doesn't matter, Murkowski, is assured to affirm Kavanaugh anyways, Collins and Ernst and Gardner are gone in 2020 anyways.

[brucejoel99]

It doesn't matter, Murkowski, is assured to affirm Kavanaugh anyways, Collins and Ernst and Gardner are gone in 2020 anyways.

In response to the above:

Bruh, it's just a TL, calm the f**k down

[brucejoel99]

It doesn't matter, Murkowski, is assured to affirm Kavanaugh anyways, Collins and Ernst and Gardner are gone in 2020 anyways.

Also, I never even brought 2020 up so Idk why you did but, regardless, none of that is certain & Murkowski is nowhere near "assured to affirm Kavanaugh anyways," so stop talking out of your ass

[Sir Mohamed]

Love these results. Trump got trumped.

[OBD]

is this the future