A Shellacking?

As of 1:00AM

I will be updating this as results come in.

In governors races...

Democrats flipped at least 3 Republican-held governor seats:

• Georgia: Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated Republican Rick Jackson, flipping the governorship after more than two decades of Republican control. She will succeed term-limited Republican Governor Brian Kemp.   
• Iowa: Democrat Rob Sand won the Iowa governor's race, defeating Republican Zach Lahn. He succeeds Republican Governor Kim Reynolds, who chose not to seek re-election.   
• Ohio: Democrat Amy Acton defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, shifting the seat from Republican to Democratic control. She will succeed term-limited Republican Governor Mike DeWine.  

In the House...

According to projection reports from news outlets:   

• Colorado's 8th District: Democrat Manny Rutinel defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Gabe Evans.
• Iowa's 2nd District: Democrat Lindsay James defeated Republican Joe Mitchell to take the seat previously held by GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson.
• Kentucky's 6th District: Democrat Zach Dembo won the open seat previously held by Republican Rep. Andy Barr.
• Missouri's 2nd District: Democrat Fred Wellman defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Ann Wagner.
• North Carolina's 11th District: Democrat Jamie Ager flipped the seat, marking the first Democratic victory in the district since 2010.   
• Ohio's 15th District: Democrat Don Leonard defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Carey.
• Pennsylvania's 8th District: Democrat Paige Cognetti defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan Jr.
• Pennsylvania's 10th District: Democrat Janelle Stelson defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Scott Perry.

In the Senate...

Flipped Senate Seats

• Maine: Democrat Troy Jackson defeated five-term Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, ending her 30-year tenure in the Senate.   
• North Carolina: Democratic former Governor Roy Cooper won the open Senate seat left by retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, defeating Republican nominee Michael Whatley.   
• Ohio (Special Election): Democrat Sherrod Brown reclaimed his U.S. Senate seat by defeating Republican incumbent Sen. Jon Husted.   
• Texas: Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for the open seat previously held by Sen. John Cornyn, becoming the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in Texas in decades.

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So far in Alaska (The results are not official yet)...

Major Contests Overview

• U.S. Senate: The race features Democratic candidate Mary Peltola and Republican incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan. Early reported figures show preliminary leads as votes continue to be tallied.   
• Gubernatorial Race: The four-way general election includes Democrat Jonathan S. Kreiss-Tomkins alongside Republican candidates Dave Bronson, Treg Taylor, and Bernadette M. Wilson.   
• U.S. House (At-Large Seat): Alaska's single U.S. House seat remains uncalled while preliminary totals are processed state-wide.

Update @ 7AM

Preliminary returns from Alaska show tight contests in key statewide races:

• U.S. Senate: Incumbent Republican Dan S. Sullivan holds a narrow lead over Democrat Mary Peltola. Neither candidate has reached an outright majority, and no race call has been made while initial precincts continue reporting.   
• Governor: Democrat Jonathan S. Kreiss-Tomkins is currently leading the broad multi-candidate field, followed by Republican Bernadette M. Wilson and other primary contenders.   
• U.S. House (At-Large): Ballot counting is ongoing for Alaska's single U.S. House seat, with initial tallies remaining too early to call.

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Does it meet the defining of a Shellacking? Believe it or not... it doesn't. The election fits the pattern of a normal mid-term election,

Early Voting & Total Ballots:

Record Early Voting Volume: Approximately 54 million Americans cast ballots during the pre-Election Day early voting period, exceeding early voting totals from the 2022 midterm elections by nearly 9 million.   

State Highs: In Texas, over 7.7 million voters cast ballots during the early voting window—a 40.5% turnout of registered voters before Election Day.

Break down by age groups:

Demographic Group	Electorate Share	Key Voting Pattern & Alignment
Young Voters (Ages 18–29)	~10% of total voters	Supported Democratic U.S. House candidates by a +47 margin (71% Democrat vs. 25% Republican).
Middle-Aged Voters (Ages 30–44)	Moderate share	Favored Democratic House candidates over Republicans (59% to 36%).
Older Adults (Ages 65+)	High proportion of voters	Slightly preferred Republican candidates (51% Republican vs. 47% Democrat).
Hispanic Voters	~16% of eligible voters	Backed Democratic U.S. House candidates over Republicans by roughly 60% to 33%.

It is us old fogies that "stood by our man" everyone else saw the light!

Neither major statewide race in Michigan has been officially called yet, as vote counting remains active across the state:

• Gubernatorial Race: Democrat Jocelyn Benson leads Republican John James as ballots continue to be processed.
• U.S. Senate Race: Democrat Abdul El-Sayed leads Republican Mike Rogers as precincts report preliminary totals.
• U.S. House Delegations: In Michigan's congressional districts, 9 of the 13 U.S. House seats have been called so far.

It looks like the Democrats picked up House seats in Michigan.

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Historic LGBTQ+ Federal Milestones

• First Openly Gay Man Elected to the U.S. Senate: Democratic Representative Chris Pappas won the U.S. Senate election in New Hampshire, defeating Republican nominee John Sununu. Pappas becomes the first openly gay man elected to serve in the upper chamber of Congress.   

House Re-Elections & New Entrants:

• Sarah McBride (D-DE): The nation's first openly transgender member of Congress won re-election to represent Delaware's at-large district.   
• Sharice Davids (D-KS): Secured a fifth term representing Kansas's 3rd Congressional District.
• Ritchie Torres (D-NY): Won a fourth term representing New York's 15th Congressional District in the Bronx.  
• Mark Pocan (D-WI): Won re-election to extend his tenure as one of the longest-serving LGBTQ+ members of the U.S. House.   
• Jeremy Moss (D-MI): Won Michigan's 11th Congressional District, becoming the state's first openly LGBTQ+ member elected to the U.S. House.   
• JD Ford (D-IN): Won election to the U.S. House, unseating an incumbent to become the first openly gay member of Congress from Indiana.   

Key State Legislative Wins:

Bentley Hudgins (D-GA): Won a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives (District 90), making history as the state's first openly transgender and nonbinary state lawmaker.  

Voting Pattern & Demographic Alignment

According to nationwide voter surveys, LGBTQ+ voters turned out heavily for Democratic candidates down the ballot, supporting Democratic House candidates by wide margins as part of the broader surge in young and suburban voting blocs.

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Trans Referendums:

In the 2026 U.S. midterm elections, a small number of statewide ballot measures concerning transgender issues were put directly to voters.

Passed Referendums

Nebraska — Initiative Measure 442 (Sex Requirement for School & College Sports): Passed. This initiative constitutionally restricts participation in female athletic teams at public schools and postsecondary institutions strictly to individuals categorized by biological sex at birth.

Defeated Referendums

Missouri — Amendment 3 (Gender Transition Procedures for Minors & Abortion Ban): Rejected. Voters defeated this constitutional amendment, which sought to ban minors from receiving gender transition procedures, cross-sex hormones, or puberty blockers, alongside other provisions.

Still being counted, Colorado (Proposition 134 & Proposition 135), Arizona (Proposition 318), and Washington (Initiative 638)

Several openly transgender women won their races in the 2026 U.S. midterm elections across federal and state levels:

Federal Elections:

• Sarah McBride (Delaware — U.S. House of Representatives): Democrat Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender person elected to the U.S. Congress, won reelection to represent Delaware's at-large congressional district.   

State Legislative Elections:

• Leigh Finke (Minnesota — State House): Representative Leigh Finke, Minnesota’s first openly transgender state legislator, won reelection to her seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives.  

State & Local Races: 

• Other historic state legislative victories include Bentley Hudgins in Georgia (winning a seat in the Georgia Assembly as a transgender nonbinary lawmaker). In Alabama Democrat Allison Montgomery won the election for Alabama House District 25. She defeated Republican incumbent Phillip Rigsby in the Huntsville-area district, making her the first openly transgender person elected to the Alabama State Legislature.

We run... we win!

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Trump's reaction (The blame game is in full stream):

• Blaming Candidate Quality: Trump distanced himself from the defeats by claiming he had no personal responsibility. On Truth Social, he posted: "I wasn't on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!" He stated that voters simply didn't like some of the Republican candidates, adding that certain candidates had alienated his MAGA base by fighting him in the past.
• Targeting Specific Republicans: Trump specifically criticized defeated Texas Governor Greg Abbott, calling him a "RINO" (Republican in Name Only). However, he expressed no regrets about endorsing other losing high-profile candidates like Ken Paxton in Texas or Darline Graham in South Carolina.
• Praising Democrats: In a shift from his usual rhetoric, Trump congratulated the Democrats, stating that they "did a good job" and "fought hard".
• Veto Warnings & Bipartisanship: While Trump noted he is prepared to work with the new Democratic majority, he also warned that he holds total veto power and will reject any "insane" legislation they send to his desk.
• The Impact of the Iran War: Trump acknowledged that his decision to go to war with Iran impacted the midterms due to rising gas prices, though he maintained it was a "very wise decision" that he would make again.

(I used ChatGPT AI to organize and tabulate the results and the HTML table)

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My analysis:

The Democrats do not have enough votes to overturn a veto... so it is going to be a cantankerous two years. The big question is has any of the Republicans developed backbones? So for the next two years with a divided Congress without a veto-proof majority guarantees a combative, high-friction. environment.

In Maine: it looks like Sen. Collins backed Trump one too many times in critical votes.

Some voters complained about Trump not being on the ballot. Irish Business Times reported...

A confused voter demanding to know why Donald Trump's name was missing from his ballot has sparked a political talking point, after a video shared on X appeared to show a man complaining that he could not find the US president among the candidates.

According to the footage as described, someone explains that Trump is not running in the midterm election. The exchange serves as a reminder of a basic fact about American politics, even as Trump himself urges voters to treat the November contest as a referendum on his presidency.

Well if it was... Trump lost!

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To do list:

• I think that the Democrats need to balance the budget with a "Cut the deficit tax" on those making more than a million dollars a year!
• Investigate fraud & corruption.
• Impeach cabinet members who put Trump before the Constitution (i.e. DOJ and the Department of Defense)
• Investigate DOGE

WTF!

You all know what that stands for... so what earned that...

RI Hospital sends more than 112,000 pages of youth gender-affirming care records to Texas judge

by: Jusolyn Flower

WPRI Ch12

Posted: Oct 29, 2026

Rhode Island Hospital relinquished thousands of pages of medical records related to youth gender dysphoria treatment to a federal judge in Texas over the last five months, newly filed court documents show.

According to an Oct. 19 status report, R.I. Hospital has submitted a total of 112,647 pages of records to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas through 12 “in camera” productions conducted every two weeks since May. The most recent production was Oct. 16.

“In camera” is a Latin term that translates to “in chambers,” meaning the judge must review the records without any members of the press or public present. It is usually invoked to protect the subjects’ privacy.

WTF does Texas need medical records from Rhode Island for perfectly legal procedures? Here in Connecticut that would be a violation of Connecticut law!

Shortly afterward, the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island and attorneys with the Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island filed an emergency motion on behalf of the state’s Office of the Child Advocate to quash the DOJ’s order. They described it as an “unprecedented intrusion” into patient privacy and accused the Trump administration of using it as part of a “coordinated campaign” to deny the existence of gender identity, strip rights from transgender people and eliminate access to gender dysphoria care.

This is nothing more than a fishing expedition!

The Rhode Island judge used the law and quashed the subpoena but... in another federal they didn't so now...

Although McElroy quashed the subpoena, O’Connor found her ruling only blocked the DOJ itself from obtaining the records. He said it did not prevent the Texas court from holding the records under seal and left the enforcement order requiring compliance in place.

Duh! WTF!

Now, two conflicting rulings involving the same administrative subpoena are being reviewed in separate federal court systems: The Fifth Circuit is reviewing the Texas order requiring enforcement, while the First Circuit is reviewing the Rhode Island order that quashed the subpoena.

Tuesday you can vote. You can vote to bring this tyranny to an end!

Law & Order!

When Congress has no backbone, it is like a lawless Western town where corruption runs rampant and the sheriff looks the other way.

Trump Skirts Court Commands as Distrust Between Branches Spirals

Repeated compliance disputes and personal attacks on judges are straining relations between the executive branch and the judiciary.

New York Times

By Charlie Savage

Nov. 2, 2026

Since President Trump returned to office nearly two years ago, courts have frequently ordered his administration to pause or halt aggressive actions after they drew legal challenges. But again and again, his executive branch has skirted judicial constraints through delayed, contested or incomplete compliance, all while Mr. Trump has attacked judges appointed by presidents of both parties.

An examination of confrontations across the country shows a widening breakdown in trust between the executive branch and the federal judiciary. Judges increasingly greet Justice Department representations with skepticism. Administration officials, meanwhile, have treated courts with disdain — accusing judges of bias and seeking their removal. In an extraordinary step, the administration recently filed a misconduct complaint against nearly every active district judge in Minnesota.

The result has been a poisoning of the relations between the branches to such a degree that it is now straining the judiciary’s ability to serve as a check on executive power, as Mr. Trump approaches the second half of his term.

Judges throw out a case, the DOJ brings it back with a slight twist, or they lie to the judges like in the golf course case. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes has ordered an investigation if DOJ lied to him!

CBS News reported that,

Reyes has sparred with the government since it cut down hundreds of trees earlier this month with little notice to the court or plaintiffs. In a hearing two weeks ago, after more than 430 trees were felled, the judge told lawyers for the government that they had "lost credibility," and she was "furious" and "thoroughly unamused."

[...]

She said she only intervened "because the Government did what it assured all it would not do," by chopping down hundreds of trees on the golf course.

Reyes found that the D.C. Preservation League is likely to succeed in showing the Trump administration's plans for the golf course violate the legal requirement for an environmental review.

The judge said she was appointing a special master to investigate whether the court had been intentionally misled or whether the government had acted in bad faith regarding the renovation timeline and the sudden removal of the trees.

The New York Times article went on to say,

Others have been more complex and less clear-cut. Judges and the administration have fought over interpretations of specific judicial commands and failures by officials to live up to assurances they made to courts without explicit written orders. Sometimes, the executive branch has gotten around the courts by coming up with a new legal rationale for a policy that a judge said was not authorized by the authority officials initially cited.

Just like Trump did contractors he shorted on his hotel constructions!

USA TODAY exclusive: Hundreds allege Donald Trump doesn’t pay his bills

Donald Trump casts himself as a protector of workers and jobs, but a USA TODAY NETWORK investigation found hundreds of people – carpenters, dishwashers, painters, even his own lawyers – who say he didn’t pay them for their work.

Steve Reilly

USA TODAY

June 9, 2016

During the Atlantic City casino boom in the 1980s, Philadelphia cabinet-builder Edward Friel Jr. landed a $400,000 contract to build the bases for slot machines, registration desks, bars and other cabinets at Harrah's at Trump Plaza.

The family cabinetry business, founded in the 1940s by Edward’s father, finished its work in 1984 and submitted its final bill to the general contractor for the Trump Organization, the resort’s builder.

Edward’s son, Paul, who was the firm’s accountant, still remembers the amount of that bill more than 30 years later: $83,600. The reason: the money never came. “That began the demise of the Edward J. Friel Company… which has been around since my grandfather,” he said.

Donald Trump often portrays himself as a savior of the working class who will "protect your job." But a USA TODAY NETWORK analysis found he has been involved in more than 3,500 lawsuits over the past three decades — and a large number of those involve ordinary Americans, like the Friels, who say Trump or his companies have refused to pay them.

Just as Trump did with contractors who say he shortchanged them on his hotel construction projects!

The Times in the article also said:

In some cases, skeptical judges have dismissed high-profile indictments and quashed investigative subpoenas, including at times finding that the Justice Department had improper motivations. And judges have increasingly been concluding that the department has been misrepresenting facts in civil litigation hearings and filings.

There is a common thread running through all of this: Trump has a long history of using his power and resources to bully his way through disputes, whether dealing with contractors or business associates. Now, he is using the institutions of government to bully those he considers his enemies.

How Trump Is Using the Justice Department to Target His Enemies

The New York Times
By Alan Feuer and Lily Boyce

Oct. 17, 2025

From the moment Donald J. Trump began his campaign to return to the White House, he has expressed a clear desire to seek vengeance against his perceived enemies. In the last few weeks, the pressure campaign has intensified with two of his foes — James Comey and Letitia James — now indicted.

Back in power, Mr. Trump has weaponized the Justice Department to his own ends, critics say, in a more direct manner than any president since the Nixon era. The department, now led by Mr. Trump’s former personal lawyers, has fired dozens of career prosecutors, many of whom had worked on cases involving Mr. Trump. And the president and his allies have targeted or pushed out several U.S. attorneys as he seeks quick movement on cases involving a number of his political adversaries.

Why is he able to get away with it is because the Republicans are afraid of him... but as he loses his luster some of them are getting backbone and we shall if those who bowed down to him get re-elected. And those that just squeaked by will see that the emperor has no clothes.

The Pot Trade!

New York and all of New England—except for the “Live Free or Die” state—sell pot! Talk about ironic.

If you drive by a pot store in Massachusetts near the northern border, you see a parking lot filled with New Hampshire cars. If you live near the Connecticut/Massachusetts border, you see the exact same thing with Connecticut cars packing the Massachusetts lots. Why? Because when Connecticut was looking at the $$$ in tax revenue to milk the potheads, and the Republicans pushed through an amendment capping the potency of the pot.

Capitalism at its best... let your wallet do your voting. Massachusetts has reasonable laws, so their border stores stay packed.

New Hampshire wants to allow pot, but they have a problem unique to their state. First of all, pot isn't legal there yet; you can still get fined for possession. (Meanwhile, in some Republican states, you can actually get jail time for possession!)

But let me digress a little. New Hampshire operates state liquor stores, no private stores allowed. When my brother lived in Maine, he used to stop at the state liquor stores right on I-95. Yep, the state has massive liquor stores built right onto the interstate highway! It’s easy off, easy back on, and let me tell you, sometimes you can’t even find a parking space during the holidays.

So the real problem is: does the state want to go into the business of selling pot? One major issue is that the feds might take a dim view of a state government directly selling marijuana. And since pot sales still have to be done in cash... well, it gets complicated.

Most importantly, New Hampshire doesn’t want to jeopardize its lucrative booze business. The state makes roughly $120 million to $144 million in pure, net profit that goes straight back into the government's wallet every single year—and not from the taxpayers' pockets!

They simply don't want to upset their cash cow.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave when we try to make a buck!

Tammany Ring

[Editorial]

Did you ever hear of it?

It was a major corruption ring in New York City back in the 1890s. The "Tammany Ring" was the inner circle of corrupt political bosses and leaders who ran Tammany Hall, the headquarters of a private political organization. Then in the 1920s, we had the "Teapot Dome" scandal, where public officials bypassed normal channels to hand out lucrative federal assets to private corporate friends behind closed doors.

Hey, wait a minute… we’re not talking about Trump, are we? We’re talking about something that happened a century ago... right?

We’re not talking about the Reflecting Pool fiasco, where the job was rushed through a no-bid process... correct? Teapot Dome was in the 1920s.

And we’re not talking about the "Bleeding Statues" you know, the gold-plated statues on the bridge over the Potomac?

What? You haven’t heard of the "Bleeding Statues"? Well, you know how Trump rushed a $5 million no-bid federal project to regild the "Arts of War" and "Arts of Peace" bronze horse statues near the Lincoln Memorial? Turns out you can’t do that in a week or two. It’s a multi-year project requiring proper curing of the materials used. As a result, the protective layers are bleeding down onto the stone pedestals. Now, where have we heard that before? Oh! I know... the Reflecting Pool!

Meanwhile, the "Arc de Trump" is also a no-bid contract!

And Trump’s pièce de résistance, the White House Ballroom, is yet another no-bid contract! The icing on that cake is that no one can find any building inspection records... you know, for plumbing, electrical, or structural safety. If any of the work was substandard or if corners were cut, we’ll never know!

Now, questions are being raised over Trump’s War. Before the invasion of Iran, financial watchdogs and federal authorities uncovered multi-billion-dollar spikes and suspiciously timed oil market bets made just minutes or days before major conflict announcements.

The "Tammany Ring" and the "Teapot Dome" scandal used to be the benchmarks for American corruption... but Trump has set a whole new gold standard.

[/Editorial]

The Flyover!

Do you remember the flyover by Air Force 1 of the White House on Halloween?

Trump billed it as a special treat for the trick-or-treaters on Halloween. Well people noticed that there were an awful lot of camera crews recording it!

This is from the White House photo...

A photo op... that cost us taxpayers hundred of thousand of dollars, as one commenter wrote, it cost more than most people make in a year.

You want to make a bet that you see this photo creeping up in ads for Trump

The Quite Before The Storm

It is the day before the elections. It is the quiet before the storm. Everyone is poised to see what Trump will do next. Here in Connecticut, early voting is closed today.

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Trump is trying to get his grubby little hands on the elections. So far, the courts have slapped his hands away.

The latest development came just yesterday, when Republicans once again got their hands slapped in Alaska. The brouhaha centers on candidates running for Congress with duplicate or nearly identical names—specifically, Daniel J. Sullivan.

So far, the courts have heard, and will hear, two state-court proceedings, one federal district-court proceeding, and a federal appeal. In the proceedings so far, the courts have ruled against the Republicans. And the odds are that they will lose their appeal as well. There was nothing illegal about Daniel J. Sullivan's candidacy!

But there's another name on the ballot that you don't hear much about. He's also running for office, but against a Democrat. Perhaps that's why Republicans have been so quiet about him.

His name is Eric Hafner. He's sitting in a federal prison in New York, has never set foot in Alaska, and is running for Congress as a Democrat.

So I have three questions about the coverage of the Alaska brouhaha:

Political incentives: Which party benefits from highlighting each controversy?

Media incentives: Which story generates more national attention, conflict, and audience interest?

Editorial consistency: Why wasn't the Hafner precedent made a central part of the national reporting on Sullivan?

The third question is the biggie! It points out the hypocrisy of the Republicans and the news media.