“Ed Gillespie, who nearly pulled off an upset in Virginia’s Senate race, conceded the battle Friday to Democratic incumbent Mark Warner. The former Republican National Committee head also told Politico this week that he isn’t planning to run for governor, despite predictions he would do so if he failed to reach the Senate.”
Republicans Caught Democrats on Ground Game
New York Times: “The Republicans’ ground game and digital strategy in 2012 were disasters, bad enough to become a political punch line. The party was determined not to repeat those mistakes, and operatives were well on their way to overhauling its systems this election cycle when the Democrats announced their ‘Bannock Street project,’ an ambitious voter-mobilization program.”
“Though the Republicans were already building a national ground game, they decided to leverage the Democrats’ $60 million get-out-the-vote effort to their own advantage. They devoured news reports about the project and scoured Federal Election Commission filings to learn as much as they could about how their rivals were structuring their turnout operations in battleground states.”
Huffington Post: Democrats argue their ground game worked
Peters Defeats DeMaio in California
Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA) took a seemingly insurmountable lead over Carl DeMaio (R) on Friday in California’s closely-watched 52nd congressional district race, the San Diego Union Tribune reports.
The Associated Press has projected a Peters victory. The DeMaio campaign has not publicly reacted to the new vote totals.
Roll Call reports there are still 10 uncalled races from Tuesday’s elections.
Guide to the New Congress
Free download: CQ Roll Call’s exclusive 76-page Guide to the New Congress.
“There are more than 50 new lawmakers to meet. Nine House committees will have new leaders. Every single committee in the Senate will have a new chair. And the power dynamics between the two chambers and the White House has been altered completely.”
Daley Tapped for Rauner Transition in Illinois
Illinois Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner (R) named 25 people to his transition team, including former Obama White House chief of staff Bill Daley (D), who started a run for governor and quickly dropped out in 2013, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Juror 68 Helped Edwards
As Edwin Edwards (D) celebrated making a 6th Congressional District runoff spot in Louisiana, “his past was in evidence all over the party,” the Baton Rouge Advocate reports.
One supporter was Victor Durand, known as Juror 68, an old juror from the federal trial that sent him to prison on racketeering charges: “I have been helping him on my own during the campaign. I got an invitation and I wanted to be there.”
Running Away from Obama Didn’t Work
First Read: “For all Southern Democrats’ efforts to distance themselves from Obama – (ie refusing to say whether they voted for the president, pushing pro-gun and pro-coal policies) it’s notable that NONE of the Democrats in ’14 ran significantly better in the South (including West Virginia and Kentucky) than Obama did in ’12. And in some cases, they were worse.”
Obama Says He’ll Listen to Those Who Didn’t Vote
“President Obama did something extraordinary, perhaps unprecedented, in his post-election news conference Wednesday: He claimed a mandate on behalf of voters who didn’t vote,” Byron York reports.
Said Obama: “To everyone who voted, I want you to know that I hear you. To the two-thirds of voters who chose not to participate in the process yesterday, I hear you, too.”
The Midterm Elections Weren’t Even Close
“Say what you want about the American people; on Tuesday, they were decisive. Very decisive. In fact, of the 435 House and 36 Senate races, only about nine percent of them (41) were decided by single digits,” the Washington Post reports.
“By contrast, in the 2012 presidential election, 83 House districts and 15 states were decided by single digits — about 20 percent of all House districts and 30 percent of all states.”
Quote of the Day
“I don’t know if I can give it a specific ranking, but it’s pretty high up on the list. I’d put it in the top 10 for sure.”
— White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer, in an interview with Bloomberg, on where the 2014 midterm election ranks in terms of worst moments for the Obama administration.
Landrieu Faces Runoff Alone
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) “is on a solo mission to retain her Senate seat,” Politico reports.
“Democrats are scrapping a multimillion dollar ad buy, liberal groups aren’t jumping in to help her campaign and national political staffers haven’t moved down en masse to help get out the vote.”
“Her early strategy is to blunt Republican attempts to nationalize the race, as they did when the balance of power was up for grabs in the Senate, into a local campaign.”
Not Much to Show for Biggest Democratic Donor
“In the last days before the midterm elections, Tom Steyer, the billionaire environmentalist who spent at least $57 million of his own money to influence Tuesday’s outcome — more than any other single donor — set off on a frenetic get-out-the-vote tour to Colorado, Iowa and finally New Hampshire… After all that, Mr. Steyer appears to have largely wasted his time and money,” the New York Times reports.
“Most of his candidates lost, even though Mr. Steyer, his advocacy organization NextGen Climate, and other environmental groups spent a total of about $85 million — a magnitude greater than they had ever spent in any election year.”
Number of Midterm Donors Fall
Open Secrets: “In every midterm election since 1990 (as well as in every presidential), the total number of individual donors has increased along with the total cost. This time, CRP has projected the total cost of election will rise, but, for the first time in 24 years, the total number of reported donors will likely decline.”
White Men Were the Decisive Vote
First Read: “Over the past few cycles, we’ve talked so much about the Latino vote, African Americans, female voters. But the decisive force on Election Night 2014 turned out to be … white men. They made up 37% of the electorate (up from 34% in 2012), and they broke for Republicans 64%-33% (compared with Romney’s 62%-35% margin in ’12). The question for Democrats is if this is simply a midterm phenomenon, or if it’s a longer-term challenge for the Democratic Party — being able to talk to white male voters.”
The Biggest Surprises from the Midterm Elections
The breadth of the Republican win was surprising, but the Wall Street Journal highlights six other surprises:
- Virginia Senate race
- Maryland Governor’s race
- Kansas Governor’s race
- No runoff in Georgia
- Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY) wins
- Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) loses
Are there others? Let us know in the comments.
Republicans Have Historic Majorities in State Legislatures
Libby Nelson: “One Republican victory in the midterm elections has been mostly overlooked. Yes, Republicans took control of the Senate and a surprising number of governorships. But they also won a record number of state legislature seats.”
“Republicans now control state government outright in at least 24 states, one more than they did before the election. They control at least 66 of 99 state legislative chambers nationwide. And they cut the number of states with total Democratic control from 14 to seven — the lowest number since the Civil War.”
Cantor Says Obama Never Called After Loss
Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) told CNBC that President Obama never called him after he lost his June primary.
Said Cantor: “Not a word.”
He added: “I did from the vice president several times and several of the members from both sides. Obviously you have a lot of friendships there.”
If Not Obama’s Policies, Was It His Leadership?
President Obama and his aides “are arguing that the stinging defeat Democrats suffered at the polls Tuesday wasn’t a rejection of the policies he’s advocated over the past six years, citing evidence of popular support for his agenda even as voters turned against his party,” Politico reports.
“But that line of argument might not be the best one to boost Obama’s post-midterm standing, as it leads to a conclusion even more uncomfortable for the White House: that voters were instead passing judgment on Obama himself.”
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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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