OSSOFF

[Progressive]

NOTE: My family and I are Jewish and use the word "mensch." So no one be offended.

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

I didn't know I wanted this so badly until I saw it on my screen.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

NOTE: My family and I are Jewish and use the word "mensch." So no one be offended.

. . .       is this really necessary?

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

NOTE: My family and I are Jewish and use the word "mensch." So no one be offended.

. . .       is this really necessary?

Let's see where it goes first

[Progressive]

NOTE: My family and I are Jewish and use the word "mensch." So no one be offended.

. . .       is this really necessary?

Someone messaged me and said "mensch. You had to go there? So I figured I'd put a bit of a notice that it's not supposed to be anything offensive. Anyway!

First real post tonight.

[kyc0705]

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

[Progressive]

The Moment that Made Ossoff President

Historians will erroneously mark that Nov. 5, 2024 is the year that made Jon Ossoff president of the United States. And that is technically true. But the real moment that defined the political course of this future president was actually spawned by the man who would grow to be an ideological and archetypical arch-enemy of Ossoff: Donald J. Trump.

On June 13, 2017, at The Westin Atlanta Permitter North Hotel, Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff faced off at a debate that was televised to a national audience on CNN. The moderator asked Ms. Handel a question. "Do you support Donald Trump." Her response, clearly tailored to appease the moderate/liberal leaning Sandy Springs audience, would be the moment that made her opponent president.

"I respect the office of the president. This president, Mr. Trump, he has some work to do I think with respect to supporters and to those who want to be supporters so my answer is that when I get elected and I believe it will be a 'when,' I would like to be able to work with the President."

Ossoff's reply was, "no!"

That night, President Trump tweeted, "Careful @karenhandel. Opposing me means opposing your own district. Careful."

Supporters of President Trump began to protest Handel, who eventually filmed a TV ad claiming that she would "Make Georgia Peachy Again."

Ossoff's campaign created an ad featuring a woman struggling to walk in flip flops, juxtaposing both responses about Trump.

On June 20, 2017 Jon Ossoff won the Georgia's 6th Congressional District Special Election with 53.2% to Karen Handel's 46.8%. This margin was substantially larger than most observers imagined it could be. The expectation was that Handel's best case scenario was a 55-45 win, and that Ossoff's best cast scenario would be a 51% to 49% squeaker win.

NEXT UP: Ossoff goes to Washington.

[Progressive]

And He's Off: Becoming Congressman Ossoff

The media just couldn't quit the newly minted Congressman from Georgia's 6th District. Ossoff's swearing in was a highly watched affair. CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and various Atlanta-based news outlets covered the swearing in live.

Ossoff's committee assignments were as follows:

(1) Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats

(2) Transportation and Infrastructure
Subcommittee on Highways and Transit

Both committees (and subcommittees) were thought to uniquely fit Ossoff's policy interests and district needs, especially given the way that his district relies heavily on Metropolitan Atlanta's highway infrastructure.

Ossoff also joined a number of caucuses:

(1) Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus
(2) Problem Solvers Caucus
(3) Bipartisan Working Group
(4) Israel Allies Caucus
(5) Congressional Progressive Caucus

On the night of his swearing in early July 2017, President Donald J. Trump tweeted at the brand new Congressman.

@realDonaldTrump  18m

OSSOFF joined House Progressive Caucus. Translation = more crime, more taxes, less security. Sad!

@Ossoff    5m

@realDonaldTrump Mr President, calm down. My constituents spoke freely and clearly. Don't wet your pants.

This tweet storm made the news for the next several days, and President Trump was reportedly embarrassed. Soon enough, Rep. Ossoff and his campaign staff were fielding requests to go to Virginia and New Jersey to campaign for Democrats up for election in 2017. The DCCC urged Ossoff to attend DC-based fundraisers for potential Democrats. Ossoff, aware of his newfound political stardom, created a group of his own, called Ignite Change, a group designed to energize millennials and political neophytes into running for office or organizing campaigns of their own. Ossoff told the DCCC that he would be willing to raise money and campaign for candidates so long as they were not "stale, milquetoast, good on paper, bad on TV." The DCCC obliged, and let Ossoff's campaign crew vet potential candidates for a slew of Congressional districts.

NEXT UP: Ossoff's first bill drafted in Congress has President Trump piping mad!

[The Arizonan]

NOTE: My family and I are Jewish and use the word "mensch." So no one be offended.

. . .       is this really necessary?

What's wrong with the word "mensch"?

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

NOTE: My family and I are Jewish and use the word "mensch." So no one be offended.

. . .       is this really necessary?

What's wrong with the word "mensch"?

Nothing. Some people are just being snowflakes.

[Unapologetic Chinaperson]

Awesome!

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Awesome!

[America Needs R'hllor]

Ossoff also joined a number of caucuses:

(1) Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus
(2) Problem Solvers Caucus
(3) Bipartisan Working Group
(4) Israel Allies Caucus
(5) Congressional Progressive Caucus

Extremely FF caucuses!

[Progressive]

The TRUMP Act: Ossoff Gets the Best of POTUS

Summer and Fall 2017

Much of Rep. Ossoff's summer and fall were spent touting the 'TRUMP' Act: Taxation and Revenue Uniform [disclosure to reform] Money in Politics. A poll of GA-06 voters showed that 64% believed that believed Pres. Trump should release his taxes and 56% of GA-06 voters support this particular bill. Very similar numbers were found across the country as a nation and in individual districts, even those with a strong GOP lean.

The bill would essentially require all candidates running for the presidency to disclose their tax returns to an Inspector General in the Federal Election Commission for a safe, public online view of the documents, in order to be eligible to receive an electoral vote. Rep. Ossoff spent time on the media and social media circuit explaining that this bill is a no-brainer. In the interest of proving such, he disclosed his tax returns, his fiancee's tax returns, and any assets owned by Ossoff, much of which was just savings, some stocks, and a small trust fund to assist him and his fiancee in paying off student debt.

Meanwhile, President Trump spent much of September 2017 tweeting at Ossoff.

@realDonaldTrump  1m

Weasel Ossoff wasting time with bill so he can make a name for himself. Foolish to have elected him!

@Ossoff    5m

@realDonaldTrump: your material, like your presidency, has gone stale.

In addition to the TRUMP Act, Ossoff openly and publicly supported a Democratic bill that failed in the House (but had some Republican support) to require the EPA to issue a quarterly report on climate change. Ossoff supported two Republican-drafted measures: one, a bill that would inject $93 billion into repairing large metropolitan highways, and the other, authorizing the President to take action in Syria (something he had already been doing), but added an amendment to the bill (that was rejected) that was pair action in Syria with receiving refugees.

NEXT UP: Winter 2017 and gearing up for 2018

[MAINEiac4434]

Please be the story of the future

[Progressive]

Not Backing Down: Ossoff Calls out Trumpian Voter Laws

Winter 2017/Early 2018

In November 2017, Tom Perriello (D) routed Ed Gillespie (R) for Virginia governor, 53% to 45%. In New Jersey, Phil Murphy (D) defeated Kim Guadagno (R) 65% to 33%. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) defeated businessman Paul Massey (R) 72% to 22%. [NOTE: I will post other 2017 elections if wanted].

Concerned that Democrats enjoyed outsized wins in the 2017 elections, The Department of Justice, under Attorney General Sessions, announced that the DOJ will summarily "spot-check" voter registration to ensure "integrity and fairness" in the polls. President Trump backed this plan and pledged $104 million to this effort. Massive rallies across the country broke out protesting this wasteful and racist policy. Even Republican senators, including John McCain, called out this action as unnecessary and redundant. Rep. Ossoff joined activists and heroic Rep. John Lewis in a march to the Cobb County Board of Elections in Marietta, Georgia. Ossoff blocked the entrance of the building with fellow activists until the Cobb County Board of Elections agreed not to participate in this federal program.

NEXT: 2018 Midterm Elections
QUESTION: I am looking to do the 2018 election in one of three ways:

(1) General overview of the elections including the balance of Congress [shorter]
(2) General overview with balance of Congress + key race results [longer]
(3) Total results including most Senate races, some key House races, and key gubernatorial races [long, detailed post probably in multiple posts]

WHICH DO YOU PREFER?

[wjx987]

I'd prefer Option 3.

[CapoteMonster]

3

[Kingpoleon]

3, but I would prefer interesting yet long paragraphs, if short updates overall, than boring or short paragraphs.

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

3, 2, and 1 in that order.

[BuckeyeNut]

2, but happy with 3.

[Progressive]

2018 Midterm Elections

Gubernatorial Results

In a mad dash to elect Democrats in 2018, Rep. John Ossoff (D-GA) sunk his national political network, Ignite Change, into gubernatorial races, though substantially less so than Congressional races. Still, Ossoff's heavy involvement in the Georgia gubernatorial race set himself up for a possible future statewide bid on Georgia. But, in the Democratic wave that took over in 2018, Ossoff would have to make room for newfound successes. Here are the gubernatorial results for the 2018 Midterm Elections. These are general elections and will only feature the main candidates (usually GOP and Democrat). I'm happy to post individual primary results should they be requested.

Alabama
Kay Ivey* (R)            58%
Sue Bell Cobb (D)      39%

Alaska
Mark Begich (D)         44% +1 D
Bill Walker* (I)          32%
Joe Miller (R)             24%

Arizona
Doug Ducey* (R)         52%
Richard Carmona (D)   46%

Arkansas
Asa Hutchinson* (R)     60%
Connor Eldridge (D)      36%

California
Gavin Newsom (D)          58%
Antonio Villaraigosa (D)   42%

Colorado
Jared Polis (D)            52%
Cynthia Coffman (R)   46%

Connecticut
Kevin Lembo (D)          66%
Prasad Srinivasan (R)    32%

Florida
Gwen Graham (D)       53%  +1 D
Mike Huckabee (R)      44%

Georgia
Stacey Abrams (D)     50.4%  +1 D
Brian Kemp (R)          49.6%

Hawaii
David Ige* (D)           69%
Duke Aiona (R)            25%

Idaho
Brad Little (R)            61%
A.J. Balukoff (D)        33%

Illinois
J.B. Pritzker (D)         54%  +1 D
Bruce Rauner* (R)      43%

Iowa
Kim Reynolds (R)      53%
Andy McGuire (D)     45%

Kansas
Josh Svaty (D)         45%   +1 D
Kris Kobach (R)        44%
Ed O'Malley (I)         11%

Maine
Susan Collins (R)      42%
Terry Hayes (I)         27%
Mark Eves (D)          26%
Shawn Moody (I)       5%

Maryland
Heather Mizeur (D)    51%   +1 D
Larry Hogan* (R)       46%

Massachusetts
Charlie Baker* (R)      52%
Setti Warren (D)         43%

Michigan
Gretchen Whitmer (D)  53% +1 D
Bill Schuette (R)          42%

Minnesota
Chris Coleman (D)        49%
Jesse Ventura (I)          31%
Michele Bachmann (R)  20%      

Nebraska
Peter Ricketts (R)         63%
Chuck Hassebrook (D)  36%

Nevada
Aaron Ford (D)     50% +1 D
Robert List (R)     42%

New Hampshire
Steve Marchand (D)  49% +1 D
Chris Sununu (R)      45%

New Mexico
Michelle Lujan Grisham (D)  56% +1 D
John Sanchez (R)                42%

New York
Andrew Cuomo* (D)    66%
Marc Molinaro (R)        31%

Ohio
Betty Sutton (D)   49.0% +1 D
Jon Husted (R)     48.4%

Oklahoma
Todd Lamb (R)      62%
Scott Inman (D)   37%

Oregon
Kate Brown* (D)     59%
Bud Pierce (R)      39%

Pennsylvania
Tom Wolf* (D)       53%
Scott Wagner (R)   46%

Rhode Island
Lincoln Chafee  (I)   49% [ran with support of Bernie Sanders] +1 I
Gina Raimondo* (D)  44%

South Carolina
Henry McMaster* (R)  55%
Bakari Sellers (D)      43%

South Dakota
Kristi Noem (R)           58%
Brendan Johnson (D)   37%

Tennessee
Mark Green (R)   51%
Karl Dean (D)     47%

Texas
Greg Abbott* (R)  54%
Annise Parker (D) 45%

Vermont
Phil Scott* (R)  50%
Sue Minter (D)  44%

Wisconsin
Gordon Hintz (D)  49% +1 D
Scott Walker* (R) 48%

Wyoming
Cynthia Lummis (R)  65%
Milward Simpson (D) 32%

2018 proved that the American electorate was apprehensive about Republican governance in the age of Trump. Republicans experienced devastating losses in numerous state legislatures as well. Democrats claimed stunning victories in states across the country: from Georgia to Kansas, Maryland to Nevada, Democratic candidates for governor trounced Republicans. In fact, Republicans closely associated with Trump such as Michele Bachmann in Minnesota and Kris Kobach in Kansas, fell largely due to independent candidates who soaked up anti-Democratic establishment or moderate conservative vote.

NOTE: I am happy to do a more in-depth profile about any of the above races, if one of them tickles your fancy.

NEXT: The House

[Kamala]

How does Maine's IRV come into play?

[Progressive]

How does Maine's IRV come into play?

Maine
Susan Collins (R)      42%
Terry Hayes (I)         27%
Mark Eves (D)          26%
Shawn Moody (I)       5%

Susan Collins was the second choice of most Eves and Moody supporters.

Maine Instant Runoff
Susan Collins (R)      59%
Terry Hayes (I)         41%