What can be said about last night’s election that hasn’t been said about malignant tumors? Okay, let’s look at the good, the bad and the ugly.
Good
Lexington, Kentucky, has an openly gay mayor! His name is Jim Gray, and his election is a nice silver lining for a state which elected an ophthalmologist with a distaste for the Civil Rights Act to represent them in the United States Senate. Also, the new Congressman from RI-1 is Providence’s mayor David Cicilline, who is also openly gay. And perhaps sweetest, Barney Frank beat back his opposition, Sean Bielat, who had inexplicably been endorsed by GOProud, and retained his seat in the House. In all, 106 openly gay candidates were elected around the country last night.
NOM spent a ton of money trying to get rid of the Democratic governor of New Hampshire, John Lynch — they think he is terrible because he signed the marriage equality law there — but voters there gave Lynch an unpredecented fourth term in office.
California has a Democratic governor again in Jerry Brown, and Meg Whitman is $141 million poorer. So that’s funny. Tom Tancredo will decidedly not be the governor of Colorado. Sexist, anti-gay wingnut freak Carl Paladino lost, lost, LOST in his bid to become governor of New York; that job is for Andrew Cuomo, thanks.
House: Democrat Loretta Sanchez squeaked out a victory in California, thank goodness. New Orleans is back in Democratic hands, though the Republican who lost was probably the most decent guy on that side of the aisle. Marcy Kaptur is still with us in Ohio; her challenger, Rich Iott, who like, dresses up in Nazi garb or something on Saturdays, is filling out job applications today.
Senate: At least we still have the Senate. Carly Fiorina is a loooooser; Barbara Boxer keeps her job. Democrats hold Connecticut, while sending wrestling wingnut Linda McMahon back to find a different job. Christine O’Donnell, of course, will not be the Senator of anything, ever; that job is for Chris Coons. Harry Reid brought it back to defeat Sharron Angle, which has to make wingnuts insane. One of the LGBT community’s staunchest allies, Kirsten Gillibrand, has been elected to a full term in the Senate, and Chuck Schumer’s still with us too. Also, Joe Manchin pulled it out in West Virginia.
Those are the good things from last night. Now…
Bad/Ugly
A majority of Iowans, thanks to the Religious Right, apparently are illiterate when it comes to the role of the judiciary, having ousted three of the Supreme Court judges who granted same-sex couples the long overdue right to marry. The judiciary, of course, is not intended to be run by partisans, but don’t expect anything short of a preschool-level understanding of civics from groups like the National Organization for Marriage and the Family Research Council, which spent hundreds of thousands of dollars that could have been spent feeding impoverished children on hurting gay families in the state. Silver lining there, though: if you’ll remember, the Iowa Supreme Court decision was unanimous, which means that seven judges voted for it. Regardless of who gets those jobs, we still have a majority on the court.
Jan Brewer has now been elected as Arizona’s governor. They’re workin’ real hard to make sure everybody knows Arizona as the Alabama of the Southwest, aren’t they? The proposition to legalize marijuana went down in California, continuing California’s pattern of doing really good things and really bad things, all at the same time, when they go to the polls.
Senate: Welcome wingnut senators Marco Rubio in Florida, Mark Kirk in Illinois — we’ll get that seat back easily, by the way — , Dan Coats in Indiana, Rand Paul in Kentucky, Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania, and welcome back the biggest yokel in the Senate, Jim DeMint, who somehow pulled out a massive win over his handpicked opponent, Alvin Greene. Sadly, Russ Feingold lost his job, to pave the way for new wingnut Ron Johnson in Wisconsin.
And the House. Oh, the House. Enjoy wingnuts, all y’all who thought voting To Teach Democrats A Lesson was a good idea. Thanks for taking the stalemate in Washington up nine or ten notches. It’s not like government is supposed to do anything, is it? My favorite Congressman, Alan Grayson, lost his job last night, due to the confusion and stupidity of voters in his district. Michele Bachmann won again, proving that district is likely one of the most frightening in the nation when it comes to reading comprehension, etc. Virginia Foxx is also still with us in North Carolina, so that will continue to make for hilarious television.
Still too close to call: Michael Bennet (D) or Ken Buck (Wingnut) for Senate in Colorado? Kinda scary. Mark Dayton (D) or Tom Emmer (OMG) for governor of Minnesota? Scarier.
Just funny: The wingnuts of Oklahoma have overwhelmingly chosen to make English their official language, which means those voters have a LOT of basic grammar to study, and they’ve also chosen to ban Shari‘a law within their borders. So, um. Did not know that was a threat! Also, Tennessee has now enshrined in its Constitution the God-giv’n right to hunt and fish, as if that was somehow threatened.
Anyway. That’s what I find significant from last night’s election. What are you happy/sad/enraged by from last night?
