“Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who is heavily invested in the AI industry, is leading the charge to allow tech companies to build data centers on the public lands he oversees,” ProPublica reports.
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Louisiana May Not Have Heard the Last of Jamie Davis
“We may not have seen the last of Jamie Davis,” The Downballot reports.
“After coming shockingly close to winning Tuesday’s U.S. Senate race, the Louisiana Democrat is now talking about challenging the state’s Republican governor next year.”
Said Davis, at his election night party: “Jeff Landry, you’re on notice, buddy.”
Trump Confronts His Lame Duck Future
“Over the course of his life, Donald J. Trump has readily embraced many identities: A hotel developer. A reality television star. A president. A firebrand,” the New York Times reports.
“Now, at 80 years old, he is confronting one he would rather not: a lame duck.”
“In the hours after voters put a check on the expansive power he has flexed in his second term, giving Democrats control of both the House and the Senate, Mr. Trump seemed to be cycling through the stages of grief. He denied that a blue wave across the country had been his fault, or a direct result of his decision to go to war with Iran. (The vice president explicitly said otherwise.) He accepted the election results.”
“And, as he absorbed the waning power he will have in his final two years in office, he bargained, saying he’d work with Democrats while clinging to his veto Sharpie.”
How Accurate Were the Prediction Markets?
New York Times: “An analysis… using statistical methods, found that for most of the midterm race, prediction markets performed no better than election forecasts, which produce odds using polling and other indicators instead of betting activity.”
“But as Election Day neared, prediction markets performed better as forecasts and polling became stale.”
Gina Hinojosa Vows to Undo Policies She Calls Divisive
“Texas’s first Latina governor pledged to abandon the extreme partisanship that she said has defined politics in this deeply red state for decades. But she has also made clear her determination to quickly undo many of her predecessor’s initiatives,” the Washington Post reports.
“At a Thursday briefing where — unlike her predecessor, GOP Gov. Greg Abbott — she answered questions in English and Spanish, Gina Hinojosa said she had spoken with Abbott, who was ‘gracious’ and assured her he would ‘fully cooperate’ with the transition.”
The Midterms Blew Open the 2028 Map
“Brutal red-state losses are raising alarm among Republicans about the 2028 presidential battlefield,” Politico reports.
“Democrats’ midterm blowout is upending the political calculus for future presidential campaigns… Republicans are stressing the ramifications of a major tranche of once-reliably Republican Electoral College votes being in jeopardy, while Democrats are weighing how much surprise wins on red turf should reshape their electoral strategy.”
Said former Trump 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien: “Last night undoubtedly made the mechanics of winning in 2028 harder for Republicans.”
The newly-designed interactive Electoral Vote Map is updated with many more states in play than the last three presidential elections.
Why Is the Mississippi Senate Race So Close?
G. Elliott Morris: “Two things happened that helped Democrats in the South this year. First, white Mississippians, who backed Trump by 67 points in 2024, voted far less Republican this time around. And second, turnout surged among Black voters; they made up 33% of Mississippi’s electorate this year, up from 30% in 2024, according to estimates from the New York Times.”
“And that turnout boost among Black voters could be the deciding factor in Colom’s win.”
Scott Colom Flips County Named for KKK Founder
“Mississippi Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Scott Colom has flipped Forrest County, a once reliably Republican County named for Ku Klux Klan founder Nathan Bedford Forrest,” the Mississippi Free Press reports.
Epstein Files Back in the Spotlight
“Congress returns next week facing a renewed push for transparency over the Jeffrey Epstein files, as a top House Democrat promises new investigations following the party’s midterm victories,” Axios reports.
“The Epstein files controversy has been a recurring political issue throughout President Trump’s second term and featured prominently in the midterm campaigns. Democrats’ incoming House majority could bring fresh scrutiny of his administration’s handling of the files.”
Majority Say Trump Doesn’t Have Mental Acuity Needed
A new Fox News poll finds 57% of voters don’t think President Trump has the “mental acuity” to serve effectively as president.
Trump and Putin Are Close to a Deal About ‘All of Europe’
“Russia and the United States are close to making a ‘big, beautiful agreement,’ not just about Ukraine but about ‘all of Europe,’ President Donald Trump said Thursday, declaring that he met the Kremlin’s top peace negotiator — but not Ukraine’s — at the White House earlier in the day,” the Washington Post reports.
Rural Voters in GOP Strongholds Helped Carry Democrats
“Democrats have a surprising group of voters to thank, in part, for their sweeping victories in the midterm elections Tuesday,” the Washington Post reports.
“Rural counties across the country swung more than 15 percentage points toward Democrats this year compared with 2024. While rural communities remained more Republican than Democratic, their support waned significantly, hurting GOP candidates who relied on the typically deep-red voting bloc.”
“From Maine to Texas, weakened Republican support in rural areas contributed to flipped Senate seats and governor’s offices. House districts with significant rural populations in Wisconsin, Kentucky, Iowa and elsewhere swapped their Republican lawmakers for Democratic ones.”
Framed, Fucked, and Freed
Coming soon: Framed, F*cked, and Freed: A Governor's Odyssey by Rod Blagojevich.
New York Magazine reports Blagojevich wants to make a comeback.
Midterms Spark Calls for White House Shakeup
Semafor: “The White House faced calls for policy and personnel shakeups after brutal midterm elections, with the defense secretary under most pressure.”
“Senior Republican lawmakers and strategists have reportedly pressed the Trump administration to fire the Pentagon chief and swiftly end the Iran war, blamed for fuel-price inflation that topped voters’ concerns. Their calls add to mounting criticism of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.”
Democrats Are Pushing Toward a Historic Majority
CNN: “Democrats, who have won their largest majority in the House in nearly 20 years, are on the verge of exceeding the 257 seats at the start of Barack Obama’s presidency and the 258 at the start of Bill Clinton’s tenure. They’ve already flipped over 40 seats.”
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Another Bonus Quote of the Day
“One of the big issues of disagreement that kept showing up when it came to the Jewish community was my position on Israel. I’m not going to change my position, but… I intend to lead on all the issues that we agree on — whether it’s the right to a union or the right to health care, clean air, clean water, or religious pluralism, and respect for the Constitution — and I hope that over time I can earn their support on those issues.”
— Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D-MI), quoted by Politico.
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Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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