2023 Elections

[Vrede too]

Two Starkly Different Judges Advance in Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

The general election for the swing seat on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, a momentous contest that will determine whether Republicans maintain or lose their iron grip on the state’s politics, will feature a liberal Milwaukee County judge against a conservative former justice of the state’s high court.

Janet Protasiewicz, a liberal from the Milwaukee suburbs, and Daniel Kelly, a former Supreme Court justice who lost his seat in a 2020 election, advanced in a Tuesday primary to the April 4 general election, according to The Associated Press. The winner of the race, the most consequential American election on the 2023 calendar, will serve a 10-year term.

While Judge Protasiewicz (pronounced pro-tuh-SAY-witz) sailed to a first-place finish in the officially nonpartisan primary, Justice Kelly placed second, ahead of Jennifer Dorow, a Waukesha County judge known for presiding over the trial last fall of a man who killed six people by driving through a 2021 Christmas parade. Late Tuesday, Judge Protasiewicz had about 46 percent of the vote, Justice Kelly had 24 percent and Judge Dorow had 22 percent.

If Judge Protasiewicz prevails in six weeks, it would tip the balance of the state’s seven-member Supreme Court, which has been controlled by conservatives since 2008.

The court would have a four-member liberal majority that would be likely to overturn the state’s 1849 law forbidding abortion in nearly all cases, redraw Wisconsin’s heavily gerrymandered legislative and congressional maps, and influence how the state’s 10 electoral votes are awarded after the 2024 presidential election....

Justice Kelly, whose campaign did not spend any money on television advertising during the primary campaign, has used his deep-pocketed supporters as a reason to vote for him. He told conservatives gathered at a Republican Party dinner this month in Sawyer County that they should back him because he had the support of the billionaire Uihlein family, whose super PAC has spent $2.8 million to back him so far and pledged to spend millions more on his behalf....

46 percent is an excellent starting point, but nothing is certain. Fingers crossed, this is HUGE.

[O Really]

From the standpoint of the great unwashed, will they just think of the race as between the Polack woman and the Irishman? And who would they pick?

[Vrede too]

From the standpoint of the great unwashed, will they just think of the race as between the Polack woman and the Irishman? And who would they pick?

Hopeful sign:

... Republicans split between Justice Kelly, who lost a 2020 election for a full term after being appointed in 2016 by Gov. Scott Walker, and Judge Dorow, whom Mr. Walker appointed to the Waukesha court.

The fight for conservative votes grew increasingly bitter in the closing days before Tuesday’s primary election. Justice Kelly said in interviews on conservative talk radio and at campaign stops that he would not commit to endorsing Judge Dorow if she advanced to the general election, while Judge Dorow’s supporters argued that Justice Kelly was unelectable based on his performance in 2020, when he lost by 10 percentage points.

Will this be the start to the end of the Walker legacy travesty?

... The state’s Democrats and Judge Protasiewicz’s campaign believed Judge Dorow would be a stronger opponent in the general election. A Better Wisconsin Together, a Democratic super PAC, spent more than $2 million on television ads before the primary attacking Judge Dorow....

That worked well. Kelly got 24%, Dorow got 22%.

[Vrede too]

Two Starkly Different Judges Advance in Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

The general election for the swing seat on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, a momentous contest that will determine whether Republicans maintain or lose their iron grip on the state’s politics, will feature a liberal Milwaukee County judge against a conservative former justice of the state’s high court.

Janet Protasiewicz, a liberal from the Milwaukee suburbs, and Daniel Kelly, a former Supreme Court justice who lost his seat in a 2020 election, advanced in a Tuesday primary to the April 4 general election, according to The Associated Press. The winner of the race, the most consequential American election on the 2023 calendar, will serve a 10-year term....

46 percent is an excellent starting point, but nothing is certain. Fingers crossed, this is HUGE.

From the standpoint of the great unwashed, will they just think of the race as between the Polack woman and the Irishman? And who would they pick?

Poland takes the gold medal!

For the first time in 15 years, liberals win control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court

... The win by Protasiewicz comes at a pivotal time for the court, and for the Democratic voters who carried her to office. Justices are all but certain to hear a challenge to Wisconsin's pre-Civil War abortion ban, and with a liberal majority, they're likely to consider a lawsuit that could overturn Wisconsin's Republican-drawn legislative maps....

Should the court redraw the maps and give Democrats a better chance of winning races for the legislature, they hope they could finally push the state's political trajectory to the left. The court could also potentially redraw Wisconsin's congressional map, where Republicans currently hold six out of eight U.S House seats in an otherwise 50-50 state....

While she never promised to rule one way or another on cases that come before the Supreme Court, Protasiewicz was especially open about her politics during the campaign. On the issue of abortion, she said she believed women have a right to choose. When it came to redistricting, she called the state's Republican-drawn legislative maps "rigged." ...

Maybe not a "50-50 state" any longer thanks to GQP excesses. WI is said to be the most gerrymandered state. This win both predicts the 2024 result and will affect it.

[neoplacebo]

The wingbuts are already whining about it.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polmtics ... r-AA19wlne

[Vrede too]

The wingbuts are already whining about it.

https://www.alternet.org/wisconsin-gop- ... emocratic/

How's that impeachment thing going, RepuQs?

Wisconsin's high court, which almost overturned Biden's win in the state, flips to liberal control


Janet Protasiewicz, left, is sworn as a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice by Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Madison, Wis. At center is Protasiewicz' husband Greg Sell.

[Vrede too]

The libs have had 15 years to develop a plan, and they are implementing it rapidly. Good.

New liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court majority moves to weaken conservative chief justice

Liberals who gained majority control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court this week voted Friday to reduce powers of the conservative chief justice and make a series of other changes to how the court operates, moves that the chief justice derided as an overreach by “rogue justices.”

Payback is a bitch.

... Liberal Justice Rebecca Dallet said their moves were designed to make the court "more accessible and more accountable to the people of Wisconsin.” ...

How horrible!

[Vrede too]

The wingbuts are already whining about it.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... r-AA1fj5IX

Whining from the very top:

Wisconsin Supreme Court chief justice accuses liberal majority of staging a 'coup'

Elections have consequences, deal with it.

[neoplacebo]

The wingbuts are already whining about it.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... r-AA1fj5IX

Whining from the very top:

Wisconsin Supreme Court chief justice accuses liberal majority of staging a 'coup'

Elections have consequences, deal with it.

Opps! Looks like I've invented another new word......"wingbuts" was intended to be "wingnuts." It reminds me of how a few years ago I wrote "dubmass" when I was going for "dumbass." I wonder what my next one will be?

Anyway, I noticed and read that story above just before coming on here this morning. It's a whine universe with these people.

[Vrede too]

The wingbuts are already whining about it.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... r-AA1fj5IX

Opps! Looks like I've invented another new word......"wingbuts" was intended to be "wingnuts." It reminds me of how a few years ago I wrote "dubmass" when I was going for "dumbass." I wonder what my next one will be?

Anyway, I noticed and read that story above just before coming on here this morning. It's a whine universe with these people.

Dubmass wingbuts are the absolute worst.

2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election

... Incumbent Democratic Governor Andy Beshear is running for re-election to a second term....



The Republican nominee is Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron.



This race is one of two Democratic-held governorships up for election in 2023 in a state Donald Trump won in 2020, the other being in Louisiana....

The polls that fivethirtyeight relies on all show Beshear leading.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/po ... /kentucky/



for the tragedy.
for her heroism.

Go Hadley & Andy Go!!

[neoplacebo]

I suppose it all comes down to Louisville and Lexington and some other cities.....there's a lot of dubmass in KY. Wingbuts, too.

[billy.pilgrim]

She should have said "rapist" at the 18 second mark rather than "stepfather".
Words dems, words are important.

[Vrede too]

I suppose it all comes down to Louisville and Lexington and some other cities.....there's a lot of dubmass in KY. Wingbuts, too.

Also,

Abortion Is on the Ballot This November in Virginia | Opinion

... In fact, anti-abortion extremists and their allies are pouring millions of dollars into the state to try to flip the Senate. And if these extremists win, the top of their agenda will be restricting abortion rights. If Republicans get a trifecta, we will see in Virginia the same kind of bans that have been enacted across the country....

Women's liberty may be the most important issue decided in less than a month, but the election will matter for many things we care about.

[GoCubsGo]

Small victory.

Not gonna go as far as saying there's hope for Tennishoe....

[Vrede too]

Small victory.

Not gonna go as far as saying there's hope for Tennishoe....

https://twitter.com/NC5PhilWilliams/sta ... 3620942995

viewtopic.php?p=191059#p191059

... Clearly, these rules don't apply when you have RW xtian leadership. They get a free pass from god, they always do.

'Appalled!' Women say #MAGA mayoral candidate ripped off their images to claim them as supporters

"Appalled! Absolutely appalled!"

That's what a group of women from across the country are saying about how a candidate for Franklin mayor appears to have lifted their social media posts to falsely claim them as her supporters.

Franklin alderman Gabrielle Hanson, a controversial candidate who appears to relish her MAGA Republican ties, may not have thought that anyone would track down the women whose photos she posted last month on her campaign's social media accounts.

But that's exactly what NewsChannel 5 Investigates did over the weekend, and those women were outraged about how their images were used....

In a bizarre and rambling conversation, Hanson and campaign aide Erin Mazzoni refused to answer any questions about the post, saying a federal court had upheld the rights of candidates to post whatever they want.

No accountability, typical MAGAt.

Hanson and Mazzoni suggested NewsChannel 5's questions amounted to "stalking."

Victim, typical MAGAt. Never mind that she victimized innocents.

"This is not appropriate towards a woman, Phil," Mazzoni said.

Gender card Never mind that it is women that she ripped off.

"We are doing this in the light, and we are doing this with God on our side."

Claiming god, the universal excuse.

... The photo, it turns out, was taken in 2016 in Chicago.

"I am right in the front with the little top-knot bun and a little American flag sweater," April said.

NewsChannel 5 Investigates followed up, "Do you support Gabrielle Hanson?"

"I do not," April said.

"I actually do not know who that is."

... Instead of being an “Executive Women’s Club” as Gabrielle Hanson claimed, the women had all been selected for an ad campaign for the women’s clothing brand The Limited.

"That was a sort of brunch that came together just to celebrate each other and to celebrate the campaign," April remembered....

After some on social media noticed the pic seemed to have been taken at a restaurant in Chicago, Hanson posted an update on Facebook and doubled-down on her claims.

“These are all my friends that have relocated to Nashville, Brentwood and Franklin, and they all support me.”

Again, the women say that’s a lie.

"I know some of those women are not located in the places that she named," April said. "Some of those women are still in Chicago and other parts of the country, but not Tennessee."

... "Such blatant falsehoods being published exemplify the character of a candidate. As I've learned more about Gabrielle Hanson and her views, such an egregious attempt to show diverse female support is disgusting.

... In addition, it turns out that the image from the so-called “meet and greet” also appears to have been lifted from the web.

Instead of being taken in Franklin, it was also from Chicago....

Alright, GoCubsGo, I'm getting tired of this Chicago support for Gabrielle Hanson.

EXCLUSIVE: Gabrielle Hanson fought Franklin Pride, but celebrated her scantily clad husband at Chicago Pride

It's an image that goes against everything that Franklin alderman and mayoral candidate Gabrielle Hanson has claimed she believes — an image of her own husband wearing nothing but an American flag Speedo at a Pride event.

And if her husband, Tom Hanson, can be believed, Gabrielle Hanson not only supported the decision, but pushed him to go through with it.

Hanson, a first-term alderman, bolstered her MAGA credentials earlier this year and launched a campaign for Franklin mayor after leading a bitter, but unsuccessful battle to block a Pride festival from being held at a city park.

She claimed it was necessary to protect innocent children.

Yet, NewsChannel 5 Investigates obtained a 2008 photo of Tom Hanson, wearing only the tiny red, white, and blue swimsuit in the middle of a downtown Chicago street during the city's annual Pride Parade. Other images depict scenes that Gabrielle Hanson has insisted should not be occurring in public, including flamboyantly attired drag queens.



... Hanson is trying to unseat incumbent Mayor Ken Moore, lambasting her fellow Republican for casting the tie-breaking vote to allow the Franklin Pride event.

She has been endorsed by a far-right political action committee that calls itself Williamson Families and cites her opposition to the LGBTQ+ event as one of the reasons for its support....

Williamson Families, if it's not also a hoax, and its donors should be doxxed and publicly reminded of their hateful gullibility at every opportunity. Ftr, I checked on Open Secrets and they don't have any listing for "Williamson Families". Seems we have another George Santos here.

Anyhow, it's a sad day when we are celebrating the humiliation and defeat of a lying MAGAt White supremacist. It should be assumed and unremarkable in decent America, even in Tennessee.

[neoplacebo]

Having been back in TN since early 2015, I urge all to not assume the state is normal. It's a hotbed of evangelical bullshit and magat nonsense. Hell, every time I buy beer I have to show id. And I'm well over three times old enough to buy alcohol. For the past year or so, I've been driving the extra half mile to VA to buy beer. VA is also magat infested, especially the southwest portion of it.

[GoCubsGo]

Holy shit.

[GoCubsGo]

Not a bad night so far, gives one a teeny bit of hope.

[Vrede too]

Not a bad night so far, gives one a teeny bit of hope.

https://twitter.com/Victorshi2020/statu ... 8181055502

https://twitter.com/elizaorlins/status/ ... 6039802888

https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/1 ... 6877916669

Hugo Chavez stole the elections, again.

Election Day 2023

Rhode Island: Still D
Philadelphia: Still D

CNN has not called the VA leg yet, though Ds are approaching Sen and House majorities. Take that, Youngkin!

Cloud for the silver lining:

Kentucky Secretary of State and Attorney General: both R
44% of Ohio detests freedom
Mississippi: Still R

[GoCubsGo]

CNN has not called the VA leg yet, though Ds are approaching Sen and House majorities. Take that, Youngkin!

NYT has called Virginia Senate for Dems with two still in play, looking real good for the House. 48 to Dems, 41 to Republicans with six more leaning Democratic (52 needed).

FU Youngkin.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/202 ... ature.html