RandySF
RandySF's JournalDoug Weiss (D) wins runoff election to become Pflugerville mayor
Doug Weiss won the Pflugerville mayoral runoff election, receiving 56% of the vote after all vote centers reported, according to unofficial election results.
Weiss received 3,293 votes, defeating Pat McCord, who received 2,587, out of 5,880 ballots cast.
After the results, Weiss said he felt relieved and grateful to voters.
“I’m feeling relieved,” Weiss said. “I feel like the city of Pflugerville showed up, and we will continue to be in good hands.”
https://communityimpact.com/austin/pflugerville-hutto/government/2025/12/13/doug-weiss-wins-runoff-election-to-become-pflugerville-mayor/
LA Mayor Karen Bass launches re-election campaign with DTLA rally
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass formally began her campaign for re-election Saturday with a rally in downtown Los Angeles, promising to make the city safer and more affordable while positioning herself as a candidate who will take on the Trump administration.
Two days after the third anniversary of her swearing in, Bass launched her campaign surrounded by family, friends and allies at the Los Angeles Trade-Technical College Culinary Arts event space.
“This is just overwhelming. I have to tell you my heart is so full,” she said. “This is so powerful and means so much to me because this has been a hell of a year.
“They say we can’t come together. Labor can’t come together with business, and business can’t come together with community, and the faith community can’t come together. But we all come together always,” Bass added. “And I’m proud to say that the relationships in this room aren’t relationships because of the campaign … They are relationships because we all believe in justice.”
https://www.dailynews.com/2025/12/13/la-mayor-karen-bass-launches-re-election-campaign-with-dtla-rally/
Alejandra Salinas (D) declares victory in race for Houston City Council's open at-large seat
Houston lawyer Alejandra Salinas (D) won the runoff election Saturday for the at-large seat on City Council by clinching more than 59% of the vote, according to unofficial results.
Dwight Boykins (D), a lobbyist and former City Council member, trailed with nearly 41%. Salinas and Boykins were the two top vote-getters, with 21.9% and 21% of the vote, respectively, in a crowded Nov. 4 general election for the seat that opened when Council Member Letitia Plummer resigned to run for Harris County judge.
Salinas' wife, Elizabeth, stood beside her as she told a crowd at her watch party the reason she decided to run: Their fear of what they were seeing across the county, and how they wanted to do more.
"We wanted to create a campaign of hope and joy and inclusivity, and send a message that right here in Houston, we're going to stand up to the hatred, we're going to stand up to the fear and show them that with love and inclusivity and hope and whole lot of hard work, we can make the city better for everyone," Salinas said as the crowd cheered.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/boykins-salinas-runoff-results-21230219.php
Brockton Election Recount Completed
The recount of the Brockton November fourth election has been completed, and the results will not change any of the races.
The results were released Wednesday at city hall.
It took three days to complete the recount.
Mayoral candidate Jean Bradley Derenoncourt, who lost the race to Moises Rodrigues by 260 votes, called for the recount after challenging the results.
https://959watd.com/blog/2025/12/brockton-election-recount-completed/
NY-10: Brad Lander launches Congressional bid with a hacked X account
Brad Lander’s congressional campaign launch hit an unexpected speed bump Wednesday when his X, formerly Twitter, account was briefly hijacked by hackers posting about crypto windfalls and a powder-blue Cadillac.
The outgoing city comptroller quickly turned the episode into a joke and a fundraising pitch as he kicked off his primary challenge to Rep. Dan Goldman in Brooklyn on Dec. 10.
Before arriving at Park Slope’s Nitehawk Cinema for his official launch event, Lander resurfaced online with a quip: “Logging back on from my new Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing after a busy launch day. Did I miss anything?”
Lander, 56, said he did not know “why or by whom” his account was breached, but stated that his team worked with the platform to restore access.
https://www.amny.com/politics/brad-lander-congressional-bid-hacked-account/
Scrutiny grows over alleged political scheme in Huntington Town Supervisor race; questions surround Working Families Par
The Suffolk County Board of Elections certified the Huntington Town Supervisor election results Nov. 21 amid an ongoing furor surrounding Working Families Party candidate Maria Delgado, who told Newsday days after the election that she had “no idea” she was on the ballot. The New York State Attorney General’s office confirmed it is looking into complaints received.
Delgado amassed 1,219 votes for the minor party, politically left of the Democrats, far surpassing the 418-vote difference between Democrat Cooper Macco and the victorious incumbent Republican Ed Smyth.
The close race and unusual ballot prompted greater scrutiny by local and national media, surfacing accusations — and denials — of ballot raiding, whereby operatives working in favor of a mainstream candidate flood the voter pool in a minor party’s primary election to deliberately create a spoiler candidate in a general election.
“A lot of people are frustrated with the outcome of the election as a result of what would seem to be, sort of, manipulation by someone or some group of people in order to steal the Working Family Party line,” said Macco.
https://www.longislandpress.com/2025/12/11/huntington-town-supervisor-race/
NY-15: South Bronx Assembly Member Amanda Septimo (D) joins race challenging Ritchie Torres
Assembly Member Amanda Septimo, who represents the South Bronx’s 84th District, announced she is joining the pool of candidates challenging Rep. Ritchie Torres in the Congressional District 15 primary.
Septimo is in her fifth year in the assembly and will run for NY-15 as a Democrat, joining other announced candidates Michael Blake, Dalourny Nemorin and Jon LaTona. Andre Easton and José Vega are also running again Torres as independents.
In an interview with the Bronx Times, Septimo said her political career represents “a very Bronx story.”
As a teenager, she joined a community activism program with The Point CDC, where she began seeing “through an equity lens” that shaped her political understanding. “Once you put it on, you can’t take it off,” she said.
https://www.bxtimes.com/amanda-septimo-congressional-district-15/
Democrats gather in California feeling sunny once again
As Democratic Party leaders gathered in Los Angeles for their annual winter meetings this week, for the first time in a long time the mood was warm.
Optimism coursed through the hotel ballrooms, following a string of double-digit wins in off-year elections last month. Democratic National Committee members flocked to California Gov. Gavin Newsom — a likely presidential contender — for selfies and major donors are resurfacing after a period of hibernation. Conan O’Brien, Jane Fonda and Shonda Rhimes joined Illinois Governor JB Pritzker for a major donor gathering, according to an invitation obtained by POLITICO. And Nebraska and Utah officials are among those expressing interest in hosting the party’s novel midterm mini-convention next year, according to three people briefed on the conversations.
The party, broadly, is just feeling like they got their sea legs back,” Newsom told reporters in Los Angeles. “And they’re winning and winning solves a lot of problems.”
DNC Chair Ken Martin nodded to the vibe shift in his own remarks Friday: “I can tell you, it’s a much different feel in this room than a few months ago,” he said.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/13/dnc-democratic-national-committee-hope-00689938
The anti-machine movement is having a moment in New Jersey
More than a year after Andy Kim became New Jersey’s junior senator by running an insurgent campaign against Democratic power brokers, the anti-machine movement is notching even more wins in the Garden State.
In the state’s second-largest city, candidates who railed against the political establishment and corporate interests won runoff elections that included the defeat of a former governor trying to make a comeback. A Statehouse hearing that put on display tensions between state leaders and reformist Democrats led to intense backlash that helped kill a controversial bill to defang a watchdog agency. And Democrats in congressional races are feeling emboldened that a campaign message pushing back against the establishment can propel them to victories in competitive races.
Even beyond New Jersey, longstanding political machines have faltered as insurgents seek to shift who has the power. New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani harnessed the momentum behind the anti-establishment movement earlier this year to resoundingly defeat former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. And in Illinois — another state known for its political boss culture — there have been pushes to restructure power in the state.
Kim’s Senate victory in 2024 came thanks in large part to his crusade against the so-called county line, which empowered party bosses by giving establishment-backed candidates a better spot on the ballot. Ever since New Jersey’s ballot layout changed, primaries have become more crowded and turnout has increased — a significant change in a state where politics have long been shaped by powerful county chairs.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/13/the-anti-machine-movement-is-having-a-moment-in-new-jersey-00689145
Nebraska lawmakers recommend Sen. Dan McKeon (R) be expelled after groping allegations
LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers are recommending State Sen. Dan McKeon of Amherst be expelled from the Legislature following allegations that he groped a staffer after a sine die party earlier this year.
The Nebraska Legislature’s Executive Board, its group of 10 senators in charge of handling disciplinary procedures within the Legislature, voted unanimously Saturday to recommend McKeon’s expulsion, save for State Sen. Teresa Ibach of Sumner, who was unable to attend due to the winter weather. She confirmed to the Examiner that she also would have voted yes on the motion based on the Legislature’s existing policy.
Expulsion is the strongest disciplinary measure the board can recommend, but it requires a full vote of the Legislature to pass. This means the matter will come before lawmakers during the 60-day legislative session that begins in January. Expelling him would require the votes of 33 senators.
The recommendation stems from allegations by a legislative staffer attending an end-of-session party earlier this year. The Nebraska State Patrol received a report in September that McKeon had allegedly “made inappropriate contact with her buttocks with his hand, over the top of her clothing,” according to Patrol spokesman Cody Thomas.
https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/12/13/nebraska-lawmakers-recommend-sen-dan-mckeon-be-expelled-after-groping-allegations/
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit Area, MI
Home country: USA
Current location: San Francisco, CA
Member since: Wed Oct 29, 2008, 01:53 PM
Number of posts: 80,609