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Election Results HQ: The Check Engine Light Is Flashing for ‘Bidenomics’ UPDATE: Dem Reelected Ky. Governor UPDATE: Dems Hold Virginia Senate

Posted on | November 7, 2023 | Comments Off on Election Results HQ: The Check Engine Light Is Flashing for ‘Bidenomics’ UPDATE: Dem Reelected Ky. Governor UPDATE: Dems Hold Virginia Senate

UPDATE 8:50 p.m. ET: The networks just called the Kentucky election. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear holds off GOP challenger Daniel Cameron.

UPDATE 9:15 p.m. ET: The networks have also called Ohio’s abortion rights referendum, which appears set to pass with about 57%. By the way, I’m watching election coverage on CNN (so you don’t have to) and, oh, they’re just so happy happy happy tonight.

UPDATE 10:05 p.m. ET: It appears Democrats will maintain control of the state Senate and, in fact, Republicans may lose control of the House of Delegates. In Mississippi, GOP Gov. Tate Reeves looks like he’ll defeat Democratic challenger Brandon Presley, second cousin of Elvis.

*** PREVIOUSLY (5:15 p.m. ET) ***

Tonight there will be election results in Kentucky, Virginia, New Jersey, Mississippi, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The most closely watched contest will be the governor’s race in Kentucky, where the Trump-backed Republican challenger, Attorney General Daniel Cameron, had a late poll surge and is now tied with Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. What could explain this huge change — Cameron has gained 15 points in a matter of weeks, according to the Emerson College poll — in a race that Beshear had been leading by double digits? My first guess would be the Gaza war, which probably doesn’t make a lot of real-world difference to Kentucky voters, but has sowed discord in Democratic Party ranks.

On the other hand, based on past experience, when you see a massive swing in the polls in such a race, the explanation is usually that the surging candidate got a huge boost from a TV ad blitz. A really effective attack ad, run in saturation, can destroy a vulnerable candidate, and my guess is that the GOP waited until October to unleash it’s hardest-hitting attack on Beshear, pouring in a few million dollars worth of ads that have tied the incumbent Democrat to Joe Biden’s disastrous policies.

Democrats have spent the past three days wringing their hands in anguish over the New York Times/Sienna College poll:

“I am concerned,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said in an interview. “I was concerned before these numbers. I am concerned by the inexplicable credibility that Donald Trump seems to have despite all of the indictments, the lies, the incredible wrongdoing.”
New York Times-Siena College polls found Biden trailing Trump in five of the six most competitive battleground states: Trump led Biden by 10 percentage points in Nevada, six in Georgia, five in Arizona and Michigan and four in Pennsylvania. Biden led Trump by two in Wisconsin. In 2020, Biden defeated Trump in all six of those states, though generally by very narrow margins.
Of particular concern to Biden allies are indications that his support among Black voters, who were critical to his victory in 2020, may be softening. . . .

(Hat-tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.) If black voters expected anything good from Joe Biden, they have been as disappointed as anyone else foolish enough to think “Bidenomics” would work. The basic truth is, good policy is good politics, and however much anyone may have hated Donald Trump personally, his economic policies were far better than Biden’s. So now the check engine light is flashing for Democrats, and they may be planning to rerun the “Torricelli Gambit” for 2024, but in the meantime, there will be election results tonight.

UPDATE 6:30 p.m. ET: Early results from Kentucky:

Daniel Cameron (R) ….. 5,415 (54.6%)
Andy Beshear (D) …….. 4,496 (45.4%)

Polls are still open in Western Kentucky (in the Central time zone) and these numbers represent just 1% of the expected total.

UPDATE 7:25 p.m. ET: Now 27% reporting from Kentucky:

Daniel Cameron (R) ….. 174,054 (43.4%)
Andy Beshear (D) …….. 227,201 (56.6%)

Doesn’t look good right now for Cameron.

UPDATE 7:45 p.m. ET: A ballot measure in Ohio would amend the state constitution to guarantee the legality of abortion:

YES ………. 125,686 (70.6%)
NO ……….. 52,409 (29.4%)

That’s with just 5% of the vote counted.

UPDATE 8 p.m. ET: The situation in Virginia is this: Republicans came into today’s election holding the House of Delegates with a four-seat margin, 52-48, while Democrats held the state Senate by a four-seat margin, 22-18. With Gov. Glenn Youngkin, GOP could consolidate their control by flipping the Senate and holding the House. So far, everything is still too close to call. Now 55% reporting from Kentucky:

Daniel Cameron (R) ….. 375,589 (46.9%)
Andy Beshear (D) …….. 424,213 (53.0%)

The Democrat incumbent maintains a 50,000-vote lead.

UPDATE 8:30 p.m. ET: Now 65% reporting from Kentucky:

Daniel Cameron (R) ….. 457,011 (48.0%)
Andy Beshear (D) …….. 495,398 (52.0%)

Beshear’s lead is now less than 40,000 votes.

With 22% of the vote on the Ohio abortion-rights referendum:

YES ………. 551,815 (63.4%)
NO ……….. 320,788 (36.6%)

UPDATE 8:40 p.m. ET: Remember Susanna “HotWifeExperience” Gibson, the Democratic candidate who got caught selling sexy videos on the Internet? Well, she’s currently leading her Republican opponent by about 150 votes with 66% of the vote counted in House District 57.



 

Category: Economics, Election, Joe Biden, Kentucky

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