12/6/2022
Voters of Georgia re-elected Senator Warnock for a full 6-year term
Hallelujah!
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Democrats held the Senate with 50 but we want 51...December 6th Runoff in Georgia will put more GOOD NEWS on this list
Democrats flipped the Michigan state legislature AND the Minnesota state legislature
We likely flipped the PA House
We held off a GOP supermajority in the NC statehouse
We held the Maine Dem majority
Statehouses had an AMAZING election
Tennessee voters on Tuesday approved a ballot measure that removes language allowing slavery and involuntary servitude as forms of punishment for those convicted of crimes
A Kentucky judge who signed off on the police raid that resulted in the death of Breonna Taylor lost her reelection bid on Tuesday
Voters in a record five states—California, Michigan, Vermont, Kentucky and Montana—decided on abortion-related ballot measures and came down decisivel in favor of abortion rights and access
Massachusetts voters elected Maura Healey, their first woman, as Governor; she—-along with Oregon’s Tina Kotek— will also be one of the first openly LGBTQIA+ women to be elected as Governor in the US
Maxwell Frost just made history as the first member of Gen Z in Congress. Frost made gun violence a central point of his campaign and secured representation for the growing generation of new voters
Not a single election denying Secretary of State candidate won their race in a battleground state!
Ultra-conservative Nebraska passed a $15 minimum wage
Voters in New York state have approved a sweeping ballot measure to mitigate climate change and protect the state’s natural resources
Attorney General Josh Kaul (D-WI) has eked out re-election against his Republican challenger, as did Governor Tony Evers! These are crucial holds for Dems in the battleground state.
Nevada decisively passed a ballot initiative adding an Equal Rights Amendment to their state constitution, and it will be the most comprehensive and inclusive ERA in the country
In Missouri, voters passed Amendment 3 legalizing recreational marijuana and expunging the records of those who were previously charged with nonviolent marijuana offenses
Democrats won at practically every level in Michigan, one of the country’s most important swing states. Despite fierce challenges from Republicans, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) and Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) won their reelection bids, and ballot proposals enshrining voting and abortion rights passed
Becca Balint, 54, an openly gay liberal Democrat, won her race to become Vermont’s lone member of the House of Representatives, the first time the state has elected a woman to Congress. Vermont is the last state to send a woman to Washington
Wes Moore, 44, a Democrat and a political newcomer, will become the first Black governor in Maryland’s history. Moore will be the only Black governor in the country and the third elected since Reconstruction
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1. Thankfully Paul Pelosi is expected to make a full recovery.
2. Brazil Elects Lula, a Leftist Former Leader, in a Rebuke of Bolsonaro.
3. A DC judge gave a 7.5-year sentence to the U.S. Capitol rioter who delivered Officer Michael Fanone by his neck to a violent mob.
4. Court decisions ensured that counties in Pennsylvania may continue to provide both drop boxes and an opportunity for voters to correct minor errors on their mail ballot envelopes.
5. New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a new law protecting the confidentiality of voters who are survivors of sexual abuse.
6. Student protesters flooded the field during the University of Pennsylvania’s homecoming football game this week to demand change. They want the university to “be a good neighbor” and save a low-income housing complex, pay its fair share in property taxes, and end fossil fuel investments.
7. The U.S. economy grew 2.6% in the third quarter, reversing a six-month slump.
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States across the country have seen a surge of early voting
In Georgia alone, in-person turnout is up 70%
In North Carolina, requests for absentee ballots are up 114%
These numbers are in comparison to the 2018 midterm elections
In a New York Times/Sienna College poll published last week, the age group most likely to vote for the Democratic candidate was 18 –29
65+ came in second
A Texas sheriff has certified that the nearly 50 migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were victims of a crime
That certification is a key step in qualifying them for a special visa they would not have otherwise been eligible for
Fourteen members of Nevada U.S. Senate candidate Adam Laxalt’s (R) family announced that they would collectively endorse his opponent, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D)
Steve Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison for contempt of Congress
He remains free pending an appeal
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The most recent Cook Report moved 7 out of 10 House races in Democrats favor
Arizona appeals court reinstates an injunction blocking pre-statehood total abortion ban, allowing abortions to restart
Ohio judge has granted a request for a preliminary injunction, which will keep the 6-week abortion ban blocked indefinitely
Planned Parenthood is launching its first mobile abortion clinic. It will operate in Illinois, where abortion is legal, but could travel to borders of states where it's not (for example: Missouri). If it is successful Planned Parenthood could launch more mobile clinics
A Canadian couple wanted to help Ukrainian refugees make it to safety. They asked airline employees if they had buddy passes they could share to bring refugees to Canada. To date, they've brought nearly 200 Ukrainian refugees to Canada
The GOP pulled all their funding from the Ohio 9th district race (which is a Toss-Up) after it was learned that the GOP candidate lied about his military service
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- A federal court blocked key sections of Arizona’s new voter suppression law
- Democrat Mary Peltola has the lead over Sarah Palin in the midterms rematch
- Applications for US unemployment insurance dropped unexpectedly to a five-month low, led by a sizable decline in Michigan, suggesting robust demand for workers
- Cuba has overwhelmingly approved a sweeping “family law” that allows
same-sex couples to marry and adopt
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- The White House helped railway companies and its unions to reach a tentative agreement to avoid a potential strike that threatened to shut down a crucial vein of the U.S. economy.
- Gov. Gavin Newsom rented billboards in 6 red states with abortion bans to direct women to a California state website that tells users how and where to get an abortion in the state.
- The data is clear: Since the Dobbs decision Democrats over-performed in every special election since then.
- Yvon Chouinard, who founded the outdoor apparel maker Patagonia and became a reluctant billionaire with his unconventional spin on capitalism, has given away the company. All Patagonia’s profits will now be used to fight climate change.
- Roger Federer has spent $13.5M over the last ten years to build 80+ preschools in Malawi, along with his partners. This funding has helped over 150,000 children learn to read.
- The ballet superstar Misty Copeland announced that she was starting a free, 12-week program in New York City that she hopes will bring in a new generation of dancers, especially Black and Latino children, who are underrepresented in ballet.
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- On the Covid Front: “We are moving to a point where a single
annual COVID shot should provide a high degree of protection
against serious illness all year,” Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House
pandemic response team coordinator, announced. Jha called the new
vaccines a “major milestone,” even as he cautioned that “variant
curveballs” could scuttle hopes for bolstered immunity.
- “For the first time since December of 2020, these vaccines have
caught up with the virus,” Jha said . He added that the Biden
administration is coordinating with states and municipalities to
distribute the vaccine at “tens of thousands” of locations in the
coming days. As was the case with earlier COVID-19 vaccination
efforts, inoculations will be free. All people age 12 and older are
eligible.
- On the Midterms Front: According to Congresswoman Katie
Porter, “Democrats are picking up steam in polls across the country,
and election forecasters are more optimistic than ever about our shot
at holding the House.”
- More on the Midterms Front: According to a Yahoo News/YouGov
poll conducted from Sept. 2 – Sept. 6,, Democrats are heading into
the homestretch of the 2022 midterm campaign with a lead over
Republicans among registered voters — including those who say
they “definitely will vote” this year.
- Good News in Michigan: The Michigan Supreme Court ruled that
a proposed state constitutional amendment that would protect
abortion rights should be placed on November’s ballot.
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- Biden's student loan forgiveness program relieves 43 million borrowers to some extent, and will completely erase the student debt of about 20 million people.
- The Brooklyn Public Library is offering electronic editions of banned books freely to any American teenager with the library's QR code.
- Mitch McConnell's PAC is canceling $8 million in ads for Mark Kelly's opponent. The GOP knows Arizona will re-elect Mark Kelly.
- A proposal to enshrine abortion rights in the Michigan Constitution gathered enough valid signatures to make the November ballot.
- Democratic voters in Florida's 10th District (which is very blue) picked Maxwell Frost as their candidate -- he is on the road to becoming the first Gen Z candidate to join Congress.
- American companies are on pace to re-shore, or return to the U.S., nearly 350,000 jobs this year. That would be the highest number on record since the group began tracking the data in 2010.
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- A federal judge in Florida ruled that a law pushed by Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis restricting conversations around race in schools and the workplace is unconstitutional.
- Speaking of favorability, the overall narrative about Joe Biden continues to improve. We got more stories like The same Joe Biden suddenly looks different and Breathing Room For Biden: Big Summer Wins Ease 2024 Doubts, plus wait until you see how some of the editorial cartoonists are covering his rising approval!
- A federal judge in Georgia denied Sen. Lindsey Graham’s attempt to avoid testifying before a grand jury in Georgia investigating interference in the 2020 election.
- Gas prices continued to fall.
- The National Republican Senatorial Committee pulled $10M worth of ads this fall for Senate races in Wisconsin, Arizona, and Pennsylvania.
- The Biden administration created a plan to bring 7.5 million Americans in default on their federal student loans back into good standing, restoring their eligibility for financial aid and removing the incident from their credit history.
- The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced they wouldn't play any games on Election Day and instead would encourage their fans to vote.
- There has been a huge surge in women registering to vote since the 6/24 Dobbs decision. Starting in PA, where women have accounted for >56% of new registrants in that time period. Those women new registrants are 62%D to 15% R and 54% are under the age of 25. Compare that to men new registrants at 41% <25 and 43% D, 28% R.
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- The Inflation Reduction Act passed the House and Senate and Joe Biden will sign in to law this week.
- There was no inflation in the month of July.
- The national average price of gas fell back under the $4 mark per gallon for the first time since early March.
- Two years of right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ text messages have been turned over to the January 6th Committee.
A new Fox News poll has the generic ballot tied with Democrats and Republicans each getting 41%. The GOP had a 3-point edge in June, and a 7-point advantage in May.
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- AG Merrick Garland announced that the DOJ has charged four current and former Louisville Metro Police Department officers with federal crimes related to death of Breonna Taylor.
- The U.S. killed al-Queda's leader (and co-architect of 9/11) Ayman
al-Zawahiri in a drone strike in Kabul.
- The Biden administration has reunited another 400 migrant children with their families.
- The DOJ sued Idaho over its state abortion restrictions.
- Parts of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia recorded the highest amount of coral cover in nearly 40 years.
- The Senate confirmed Michael Langley to be a 4-star general in the US Marine Corps. He's been a Marine for 35 years and is now the first Black 4-star general in the Marines' history.
- Both the House and the Senate approved NATO expansion to include Sweden and Finland.
- President Biden signed an executive order protecting a woman's right to travel for an abortion.
- A judge ordered Texas to release data on its voter purge program aimed at immigrants.
- Pennsylvania's mail-in voting law was upheld by the state's Supreme Court.
- After the passage of Indiana’s total abortion ban, Eli Lilly, one of the state’s biggest employers, says they’ll be planning their growth outside the state.
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- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin
announced a deal on an energy and health care bill, representing a
breakthrough after more than a year of negotiations that repeatedly
collapsed.
- The House and Senate passed the CHIPS Act, which helps U.S.
companies compete with China by funding domestic semiconductor
manufacturing and science research.
- One America News (OAN), a far-right media organization, is being
dropped by Verizon.
- They have now lost their presence in over 20
million homes this year
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- Gas prices have come down every day for 5 weeks now
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- Our "good news" space this week is dedicated to one remarkable woman. She goes by many names, today we'll call her Stephanie. She is a 60+year old white woman who lives in a southern red state and she smuggles abortion pills to women that have no other means of getting an abortion. She gets the pills from Mexico and India and then she mails them to the women. No prescription is involved, no doctors or nurses are involved. She runs this underground operation out of her bedroom divvying up the pills she's ordered while watching MSNBC, Rachel Maddow is her favorite. Each package she mails has a random return address that she gets from houses that are for sale on Zillow. She has already sent pills to hundreds of people. There are many Stephanies out there, we just don't know them.
- “Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.” ~ Margaret Mead
- If you'd like to listen to the whole story about Stephanie you can find it on This American Life Episode 774: The Pink House at the Center of the World, Act 5: The Pill Smuggler (43:35)
- Chris Murphy (D-CT) tweeted yesterday afternoon, "a bipartisan group of 20 Senators (10 D and 10 R) is announcing a breakthrough agreement on gun violence - the first in 30 years - that will save lives."
- Hero and GOP Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney skewered fellow GOP reps during the Select Committee Hearings. “Tonight, I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain."
- A Texas judge just blocked Greg Abbott from ordering child abuse investigations of the parents of all trans youth in the state
- Historic Job Growth under President Biden
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- In a far-reaching agreement, U.S. Women's Soccer has prevailed in achieving equal pay that sets the global standard moving forward in international soccer. The deal also encompasses other areas such as child care, parental leave, short-term disability, mental health impairment, travel and equal quality of venues and field playing surfaces.
- President Biden reopened the U.S. embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, and the Senate confirmed a new U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine -- Bridget Brink
- President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to increase production of baby formula and to start a new program that will use commercial aircraft to pick up overseas formula that meets U.S. standards
- Once the final candidates were nominated for the Pennsylvania governor's race -- Josh Shapiro (D) vs. Doug Mastriano (R) -- two major ratings agencies upgraded the race rating from Toss Up to Leans Democratic
- Illinois became the first state in the Midwest to pass legislation banning untraceable "ghost guns."
- The House passed the MST (Military Sexual Trauma) Claims Coordination Act to better assist survivors of military sexual assault and harassment access medical care and mental health services.
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- Emmanuel Macron won re-election as France’s president after defeating Marine Le Pen, a far-right candidate many in Russia favored.
- A state court in Kansas threw out a new map of congressional districts as an unconstitutional gerrymander.
- All criminal charges have been dropped against Pamela Moses, the Memphis woman who was sentenced to six years in prison for trying to register to vote.
- Davide Martello, the "Piano Man" travelled from Germany to the border of Ukraine and Poland with his piano on wheels to play John Lennon's Imagine for refugees entering the country.
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- President Biden took executive action to regulate the sale of ghost guns. The order mandates background checks on people who buy these gun parts & requires adding serial numbers to the assembled weapons.
- TPS (Temporary Protected Status) Is designated for Cameroon. This announcement is warranted under law, and it's hoped that the administration continues to take more steps to help dismantle the anti-Black sentiment within the immigration system.
- Wisconsin Supreme Court DENIES Republican Congressmen's last ditch effort to block new congressional map. A final victory in this long and hard fought battle.
- Alyssa Nakken of the @SFGiants became the first woman to have an on-field role during a Major League Baseball game when she came in as First Base Coach. The first @MLB game was played May 4th, 1871, 151 years ago.
- Amazon Workers on Staten Island Vote to Unionize in Landmark Win for Labor
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- The House passed the CROWN Act, legislation that would ban discrimination against individuals based on how they choose to wear their hair.
- Congress reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act, a top priority of President Biden’s that expired in 2019. It was included in a wide-ranging government spending bill.
- Twelve years ago, @chefjoseandres founded the World Central Kitchen after Haiti’s devastating earthquake. Today, the WCK is currently serving about 100K meals a day out of 5 countries in Eastern Europe for Ukrainian refugees.
- Three Russian cosmonauts arrived at the International Space Station in yellow and blue flight suits in support of Ukraine. It was a daring statement against the war.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger warns Russians they are being fed misinformation about their country's assault on Ukraine in a powerful video.