Gov. Ron DeSantis cruises to re-election, solidifying GOP hold on Florida politics

Source: NBC News

MIAMI — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis notched a quick election night win, NBC News projected Tuesday, a victory that could become a springboard for a future White House run and put him on a collision course with former President Donald Trump.

DeSantis’ victory over former Rep. Charlie Crist — fueled by a massive cash advantage, political headwinds against Democrats like Crist and changing demographics in a reddening state — contrasted sharply with the governor’s election four years ago when he won by less than half a percentage point.

Sen. Marco Rubio also cruised to victory Tuesday night, NBC News projected, securing his third term amid a statewide Democratic collapse. He defeated Democratic Rep. Val Demings.

Now, as ballots continue to be tallied, DeSantis supporters and campaign insiders hope he wins bragging rights by exceeding Jeb Bush’s historic 2002 margin when he secured re-election as governor by 12.8 percentage points. DeSantis also might become the first Republican gubernatorial candidate since Bush to win Miami-Dade, the state’s largest county, which also has its largest Hispanic population and was once considered a Democratic bastion.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/gov-ron-desantis-cruises-re-election-solidifying-gop-hold-florida-poli-rcna56196

Just got back from voting

My district is NY-11. Nicole Malliotakis is the Congresswoman. It is a Red district, and the place where I vote is Bright, Bright Red, perhaps the Reddest in Staten Island.

Only once have I ever really had to wait more than a 10 minutes, and that was 2012. In midterm elections, there's never a wait of more than a couple of minutes.

Well, the lines were absolutely massive. I waited for nearly an hour. First, I blamed myself, getting there at 6:00. So I asked the poll worker how it's been all day. She said non-stop since the polls opened. She was in her 60's, and said that she has never seen anything like this for a midterm.

Hard to tell, but it seemed that there was a decent amount of younger voters.

Final 538 House and Senate predictions

59% chance Republicans take the Senate (most since June 14th). 84% chance Republicans take the House. Egads.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2022-election-forecast/senate/

Today is the election! What do you think will happen?

I asked the same question 25 days ago and one week ago. So, in your opinion, what is the most likely scenario after the election is over?

My final Senate picks for tomorrow

Well, here they are, what I think the Senate results will look like. I won't list the obvious races where there will be a clear winner (CA, AL, etc.), just the heated ones. While you may not agree with all of them, don't hate. Just prove me wrong by letting me know tomorrow. Well, here they are. Let me know yours, and if I forgot any big ones.

Arizona: Possible candidate for closest election if the night. I think Masters beats Kelley by about a point. Maybe less.

Colorado: Closer than expected, but Bennet wins by 5.

Florida: This was never really doable. Rubio wins by 9.

Georgia: It won't matter who gets more votes tomorrow because it will go to a runoff. No one gets 50%, bank on it.

Iowa: This was never really as close as it was originally thought. Grassley wins by 10.

New Hampshire: Possible upset, but probably not. I think Hassan wins, but by only 2.

Nevada: Another very close election. Lexalt wins by 1.5.

North Carolina: Budd wins by 4.

Ohio: I really can't stand JD Vance. It's a damn shame that he wins by 5.

Pennsylvania: I was back and forth on this one for a while. No more. Fetterman defeats Oz by 4.

Wisconsin: Johnson wins by 2.

Washington: Not close, Murray wins easily by 9.

Utah: Lee wins easily, by 12.

Twitter Suspends Kathy Griffin After She Changed Her Handle to 'Elon Musk'

Source: Yahoo! Entertainment

Twitter suspended Kathy Griffin Sunday after she changed her handle to “Elon Musk” alongside a slew of celebrities who edited their display names in protest of the new Twitter boss.

The comedian’s account was suspended after she changed her display name and photo to mimic the Twitter owner, after which she flaunted her account’s new look by urging users to #VoteBlue and check out Twitter competitor, Mastodon.

“After much spirited discussion with the females in my life, I’ve decided that voting blue for their choice is only right. (They’re also sexy females, btw.) #VoteBlueToProtectWomen,” Griffin tweeted.

Musk must have gotten wind of the online protest and put a new Twitter policy in place, which put Griffin smack in the middle of the drama. “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended,” he announced.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/twitter-suspends-kathy-griffin-she-005014345.html

Italy Stranding Migrants at Sea Likely to Agitate EU Allies

Source: Bloomberg News

Ships carrying hundreds of migrants rescued at sea were ordered by Italy’s far-right government not to release all passengers upon arrival, reviving a policy sure to roil Germany and other European Union governments.

Interior minister Matteo Piantedosi said nongovernmental organization vessels carrying migrants must stay away from Italian ports and return to international waters once minors and vulnerable passengers disembarked.

Authorities allowed the German humanitarian ship Humanity 1, with 179 migrants, to enter the port of Catania in Sicily and disembark 144 of them early Sunday, according to Ansa newswire.

The ship, run by the SOS Humanity charity, is challenging the government’s decision to distinguish “vulnerable” people, saying all the migrants on board were rescued at sea and, therefore, were entitled to safe harbor under international law. The ship’s crew refuses to leave the port until all passengers can go ashore.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-06/meloni-s-hard-line-on-migrant-ships-likely-to-agitate-eu-allies

Joe Manchin says Biden's remarks are "outrageous and divorced from reality"

Why has JD Vance's lead been growing the past two weeks?

Tim Ryan has been outstanding as a candidate. Is it because Mike DeWine is so far ahead, and pulling a MAGA like Vance up with him?

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/senate/oh/ohio_senate_vance_vs_ryan-7624.html

So, what are your plans for Election Day?

I took off work (and also the following morning), like I do every even-year election. I plan on getting up late (around noon), because I know I will be up all night watching the news and results.

So after getting up and maybe making some coffee, I'll probably spend a couple of hours here on DU on my main desktop PC, while opening up multiple tabs in Chrome to read about election news from various news sources. After I do that, I will jump in the shower, and then drive 5 minutes to vote. There usually isn't a long line where I vote (last time there was it was 2012). I'll come back home make sure my MacBook is well charged.

Then I'll watch some TV in the living room, switching channels between CNN and MSNBC. A small amount of Fox too, to see what they are spewing.

Right before 7:00, the charged MacBook comes in the living room and I start going back and forth between TV and DU. This is when some polls start closing here on the East Coast. Around 7:30 I order food. If I'm lucky, it comes by 8:15. I shut the MacBook and watch TV while I eat.

Around 9 or 10 I make myself a mixed drink of Red Bull and vodka. I never drink Red Bulls except when I have to stay up, which is pretty much only Election Day.

And the rest of the night will be more of the same, switching channels, DU, and maybe even a YouTube live stream. How many drinks will I have? Well, that depends on the results.

So, what are your plans this Tuesday?