WV Gov Jim Justcice flipped it red from the retiring Joe Manchin

By Cassandra MacDonald | Nov. 5, 2024 7:10 pm

Justice, 73, easily defeated his Democratic challenger, Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott.

The flip was no real surprise, as Justice was the clear favorite to win throughout the election season.

The Hill reports:

Justice, 73, who is wrapping up his second term as governor, was a highly prized recruit of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), who made personal overtures to Justice to persuade him to jump into the race.

McConnell flew out to West Virginia to convince Justice to challenge Manchin, who managed to win reelection in 2018 despite former President Trump carrying his state with 68 percent of the vote in the 2016 presidential election.

Justice had a 51 percent approval rating as governor.

The governor’s dog, Babydog, has become an unofficial state mascot during his time in office. He is heavily featured in many of Justice’s addresses.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 12131,

Great!

Other races to look at- Casey vs. McCormick in PA and Lake vs. Gallego in AZ

Tester is toast as well, unless they pull some late night shenanigans like they did last time.

I think we'll get the Senate. I'm guessing 53.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
Tester is toast as well, unless they pull some late night shenanigans like they did last time.

I think we'll get the Senate. I'm guessing 53.

Lord I hope you're right.

looks like in VA,, Kaine has it by 1%,,

hoping Cao can pull that out

Another flip, making it two.

Bernie Moreno flipped OH red by ousting Sherrod Brown

BY ALEXANDER BOLTON - 11/05/24 10:51 PM ET

Republican businessman Bernie Moreno has defeated incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, boosting Republican chances of taking back control of the Senate.

Moreno, 57, who built up a successful network of car dealerships in Ohio, had trailed Brown, who is completing his third Senate term, in the polls for much of the race.

He was propelled to victory in part because of former President Trump’s strong performance at the top of the ticket. Trump is projected to easily defeat Vice President Harris in Ohio.

Moreno cruised to an easy victory in the Republican primary, buoyed by Trump’s endorsement in December.

He ran for the Senate in 2022 but dropped out at Trump’s urging. JD Vance wound up winning the nomination that year, going on to be elected to the Senate and later serving as Trump’s running mate.

An Emerson College Polling survey of 900 likely voters conducted from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2 showed Moreno leading Brown 48 percent to 45 percent.

But other polls showed him trailing for much of the race. The poll-tracking website FiveThirtyEight showed Brown with a steady 2.5- to 3-point lead until mid-October, when the race started to tighten.

Democrats repeatedly hit Moreno on abortion rights, highlighting his comments in 2022 describing himself as “absolutely pro-life, no exceptions.”

He later softened his position by saying he supported “commonsense restrictions” on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, arguing the issue should be “mostly” left to the states.

Moreno also came under intense fire after being captured on video saying that abortion rights shouldn’t be an issue for women older than 50.

“Sadly, by the way, there’s a lot of suburban women, a lot of suburban women that are like, ‘Listen, abortion is it. If I can’t have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else.’ OK. It’s a little crazy, by the way, but — especially for women that are like past 50, I’m thinking to myself, ‘I don’t think that’s an issue for you,'” Moreno said in the clip, which quickly became national news.

Former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley criticized Moreno, calling his remarks “tone deaf” and asking, “Are you trying to lose the race?”

Moreno later defended himself at a debate with Brown, insisting that he was only joking.

Brown sought to draw a clear contrast by highlighting his support for a state constitutional amendment in 2023 that ensured access to abortion and other reproductive health care. It passed with 57 percent support.

Moreno tried to regain momentum by hammering Brown on inflation, crime and migration across the U.S.-Mexico border during President Biden’s presidency.

The race was the most expensive Senate contest in the country, with both parties spending more than $500 million, according to the tracking firm AdImpact.

Brown was a top target of the cryptocurrency industry, which poured tens of millions of dollars into the race to defeat him.

One crypto-affiliated super PAC, Defend American Jobs, spent more than $40 million against Brown.

Crypto advocates faulted the Banking panel chair for opposing a bill backed by House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) to clarify how federal agencies would regulate cryptocurrencies.

Brown, 71, managed to outrun the top of the ticket by distancing himself from Biden-Harris administration and focusing on his own strong brand.

He criticized Biden for not doing enough to protect American workers from cheap Chinese imports and announced last year he would co-sponsor legislation to extend the emergency COVID-19 health policy known as Title 42, which Trump had used to keep migrants out of the country.

And he skipped the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, along with other vulnerable Democratic incumbents.

Over his 32-year career in the Senate and House, Brown has been a vocal and reliable supporter of the labor movement and often spoke about the “dignity” of work and took shots at corporate “greed” on the Senate floor.

In recent years, he became an outspoken advocate for expanding affordable housing and addressing the spread of fentanyl addiction that ravages parts of his home state.

He scored a big win in April when the Senate passed the FEND OFF Fentanyl Act, which was sponsored by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), as part of a $95 billion foreign military aid package.

National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Steve Daines (Mont.) predicted months ago that Moreno would surpass Brown as he gained name recognition from campaign appearances and a flood of political ads.

Polling presented to Republican senators at the NRSC headquarters in September showed Brown with a 2-point lead over Moreno. But Daines argued that Trump would propel him to victory.

“We’re seeing Ohio is less prone to ticket-splitting and will be probably more of a red jersey, blue jersey outcome in November. And that bodes well for Bernie Moreno,” he told reporters.

Daines congratulated Moreno on his victory shortly after 11 pm ET.

“Congratulations to Bernie Moreno on his hard-fought victory. Bernie is a true patriot and the living embodiment of the American Dream. As Ohio’s next senator, Bernie will put Ohio first every day and fight to secure our borders, cut taxes, and restore American strength abroad,” he said in a statement.

Updated at 11:29 p.m.

Senate by kpkina, on Flickr

Fox just called Republicans have the 51 seat Senate Majority

In Texas news, Ted Cruz has beaten the brain damaged former NFL player by over 1 million votes

YUP! Sherod Brown (D) from Ohio is now gone after 30 years in office! He was literally in office from the time I began voting!

Just keep in mind that there were always like 4-5 traitorous Rhinos that went along with Democrats. If they have not already, they need to GO!!!

Piling it on, Tim Sheehy flipped MT red by showing John Tester the door. We're at 52.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/06...na-senate/index.html

By Eric Bradner, CNN
Updated 6:46 AM EST, Wed November 6, 2024

Republican Tim Sheehy will defeat three-term Montana Sen. Jon Tester, CNN projects, adding to Republicans’ newly won Senate majority.

Montana has long been a deep-red state in presidential elections — and every other statewide office is currently held by a Republican. But Tester, a seven-fingered dirt farmer who had cut a moderate profile on Capitol Hill, previously had defied political gravity with his wins in 2006, 2012 and 2018.

Still, his seat – alongside Democratic-held seats in two other red states, Ohio and West Virginia – was a prime Republican target this year. Republicans Bernie Moreno and Jim Justice won those races, respectively.

This year marked the first time Tester had to share the ballot with Trump, who won the state by 16 percentage points in 2020 and nearly 20 points in 2016 — a reality that meant the Democratic incumbent needed to out-run the top of his party’s ticket by double digits to be competitive.

Democrats cast Sheehy, a retired Navy SEAL, as an out-of-state millionaire with questionable ranching credentials and commitment to public land – the same playbook used against Republican Matt Rosendale in 2018.

Sheehy moved to Montana in 2014 after leaving the military, but Republicans believed carpetbagging attacks would have limited appeal in a state that is home to more transplants after the coronavirus pandemic.

In the closing weeks of the race, Democrats stepped up their attacks over Sheehy’s conflicting story from nearly a decade ago over how a bullet became lodged in his arm. Outside groups ran ads featuring the park ranger whom Sheehy told that his gun had accidentally discharged in Glacier National Park and another spot featuring a retired Navy SEAL who served with Sheehy and insisted the candidate didn’t receive the bullet wound in Afghanistan, saying, “There’s no honor in lying about your service.”

Republicans, for their part, attempted to tie Tester — who did not attend the Democratic National Convention or endorse in the presidential race — to President Joe Biden’s administration and Democratic congressional leadership.

One big question mark hovering over the race was a ballot measure that would enshrine the right to an abortion in Montana’s constitution. Such ballot measures have prevailed even in deep-red states since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and become a political boon for Democrats.

Montana Republicans have pushed and enacted a series of abortion restrictions in recent years but have seen those largely struck down as unconstitutional by state courts.

Foxnews.com: Nathan Hochman ousts embattled liberal prosecutor George Gascón as LA County DA amid crime concerns

A leftist city (Lost Angeles) appears to have had ENOUGH of Gascon's bullshit!

Some close ones still counting:

Arizona- 66% reporting:
(D) Gallego 1,116,356 50.4%
(R) Lake 1,055,083 47.6%

Michigan- 95% reporting:
(D) Slotkin 2,676,034 48.6%
(R) Rogers 2,656,581 48.3%

Nevada- 91% reporting:
(D) Rosen 599,013 47.1%
(R) Brown 604,576 47.6%

Pennsylvania- 92% reporting:
(D) Casey 3,280,219 49.7%
(R) McCormick 3,318,449 50.3%

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
One big question mark hovering over the race was a ballot measure that would enshrine the right to an abortion in Montana’s constitution.

And sadly, it passed. It seems that people couldn't give two shits about murdering defenseless babies, but kill a fucking squirrel and watch the fuck out...we're coming after you!

My only consolation is that when their time comes, they will find out how wrong they were.

It looks as though Lake will lose, and that's too bad IMO. I like her. She's a pistol. Hopefully Trump can find a job for her.

I think we get 2 of those and Vance’s seat will be replaced by the Ohio Republican governor. 53-54 would be great 55 would be amazing.

quote:

It looks as though Lake will lose, and that's too bad IMO. I like her. She's a pistol. Hopefully Trump can find a job for her.

I was sad to see her behind in this race, but I think you're right, Gus; I believe Trump will find a job for her.

The big thing with Kari Lake is that Mitch McConnell gave her zero money for her campaign. None. She had to raise it all on her own against a Democrat machine that gave Gallego millions.

Quite a few folks think Tucker Carlson should be DJT's press secretary; but I'd like to nominate Kari Lake if it doesn't turn around for her.

I too was sadly disappointed in the people of AZ for not embracing Kari Lake. I echo others thoughts that she would be a nice sharp addition to Trump's machine.

We're leading in PA and NV. They are both pretty close. Fingers crossed for piling on twice more.

quote:

Originally posted by rat2306:
Quite a few folks think Tucker Carlson should be DJT's press secretary; but I'd like to nominate Kari Lake if it doesn't turn around for her.

I’d rather see her as DHS or Sec State.