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Celerity
Celerity's Journal
Celerity's Journal
November 8, 2018
While a record number of women are projected to win House seats in Tuesday's midterm elections, a local judicial race in Houston, Texas brings even more great news: All 19 black women who ran for various judicial seats in Harris County won their races last night, marking the single biggest victory for black women in the county's history.
Many are highlighting this win as a bright spot amid Democrat Beto O'Rourke's loss to Republican incumbent Ted Cruz in the Texas Senate race. The victory of the #Houston19, as the group of women are called, has obvious local impact: Harris County, which encompasses most of Houston, is the third-largest county in the country, and one of the most diverse. Adding 19 women of color to judicial seats builds a bench that's more reflective of the population it serves, which, as with all elected offices, is a good thing.
Beyond Houston, the election is reflective of an overall increase in women of color who are not just running, but winning local, state, and national races during the Trump administration. A similar thing happened during the 2016 election in Alabama—like Texas, a historically red state—when nine black women were elected as judges in Jefferson County.
Wins like these are an important step in adding much-needed diversity to judicial seats across the country. According to data collected by the American Constitution Society, a national progressive organization focused on the legal system, women of color make up less than 20 percent of state judges. While county judges don't have quite as much jurisdiction, in most states (including Texas), they have important local responsibilities, including a slew of election procedures, signing off on bail amounts, and jury selection.
Snip
All 19 Black Women Running for Judge in a Texas Race Won Last Night
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a24787624/black-women-harris-county-judicial-race-midterms-2018/While a record number of women are projected to win House seats in Tuesday's midterm elections, a local judicial race in Houston, Texas brings even more great news: All 19 black women who ran for various judicial seats in Harris County won their races last night, marking the single biggest victory for black women in the county's history.
Many are highlighting this win as a bright spot amid Democrat Beto O'Rourke's loss to Republican incumbent Ted Cruz in the Texas Senate race. The victory of the #Houston19, as the group of women are called, has obvious local impact: Harris County, which encompasses most of Houston, is the third-largest county in the country, and one of the most diverse. Adding 19 women of color to judicial seats builds a bench that's more reflective of the population it serves, which, as with all elected offices, is a good thing.
Beyond Houston, the election is reflective of an overall increase in women of color who are not just running, but winning local, state, and national races during the Trump administration. A similar thing happened during the 2016 election in Alabama—like Texas, a historically red state—when nine black women were elected as judges in Jefferson County.
Wins like these are an important step in adding much-needed diversity to judicial seats across the country. According to data collected by the American Constitution Society, a national progressive organization focused on the legal system, women of color make up less than 20 percent of state judges. While county judges don't have quite as much jurisdiction, in most states (including Texas), they have important local responsibilities, including a slew of election procedures, signing off on bail amounts, and jury selection.
Snip
November 8, 2018
The gunman apparently was not carrying any form of identification and it will take time to take his fingerprints and run them through databases, local and federal officials said. The gunman was described as a white male, armed with a single handgun, a law enforcement source said.
Shooter is a white male
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/shooting-reported-borderline-bar-grill-thousand-oaks-california-n933831The gunman apparently was not carrying any form of identification and it will take time to take his fingerprints and run them through databases, local and federal officials said. The gunman was described as a white male, armed with a single handgun, a law enforcement source said.
November 7, 2018
Arizona’s former Green Party Senate candidate Angela Green is defending herself against accusations that she has spoiled the Democrat’s chances of winning the race.
While the race is still too close to call, Republican nominee Martha McSally currently leads Democratic nominee Kyrsten Sinema by 15,908 votes (with 99.3 percent of precincts reporting). Green got more than twice that amount, 38,597 votes, despite dropping out of the race less than a week before Election Day — too late for her name to be removed from the ballot.
When she quit the race, Green said that the only way to make her Senate race matter was to drop out:
Arizona Republicans sent mailers to Democrats attempting to link Green to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). The Arizona Republic reported that the mailers “appear to be a tactic to peel off left-leaning voters from U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema.”
snip
Ex-Green Party candidate earns more votes than difference between Sinema, McSally
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/live-updates/midterms/midterm-election-updates/ex-green-party-candidate-earns-more-votes-than-difference-between-sinema-mcsally/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1488e479d5a2Arizona’s former Green Party Senate candidate Angela Green is defending herself against accusations that she has spoiled the Democrat’s chances of winning the race.
While the race is still too close to call, Republican nominee Martha McSally currently leads Democratic nominee Kyrsten Sinema by 15,908 votes (with 99.3 percent of precincts reporting). Green got more than twice that amount, 38,597 votes, despite dropping out of the race less than a week before Election Day — too late for her name to be removed from the ballot.
When she quit the race, Green said that the only way to make her Senate race matter was to drop out:
After seeing the most recent poll numbers, I felt the only way I could make my Senate race matter is to withdraw from it.I knew I wasn’t going to win, so being a true candidate for the people and not the politics, I felt that if I withdrew and could endorse a candidate closest to the ideas and views of those whom I represent, then at least I can feel as though this withdrawal from the Senate race will not be in vain. So I made the hardest decision of my Green Party campaign and that was to drop out and endorse Kyrsten Sinema of the Democratic Party. Although not perfect, she is better than the alternative.
Arizona Republicans sent mailers to Democrats attempting to link Green to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). The Arizona Republic reported that the mailers “appear to be a tactic to peel off left-leaning voters from U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema.”
snip
November 7, 2018
This is vastly larger than the 21-point margin by which Hillary Clinton won them 2016 and even outpaces the 22-point margin Democrats won young voters by in the huge “blue wave” of the 2006 midterms.
We are doing our part, at least those of us who voted.
Young voters (18 to 29) are breaking for Democrats by a massive 37-point margin.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/live-blog/2018-election-results-coverage/?ex_cid=extra_bannerThis is vastly larger than the 21-point margin by which Hillary Clinton won them 2016 and even outpaces the 22-point margin Democrats won young voters by in the huge “blue wave” of the 2006 midterms.
We are doing our part, at least those of us who voted.
November 6, 2018
On Sunday, I watched President Donald Trump warn a rally in Macon, Georgia, that Stacey Abrams, running to become the first Black female governor in US history, “is one of the most extreme far left politicians in the entire country,” adding, “You put Stacey in there, you’re going to have Georgia turn into Venezuela. I don’t think the people of Georgia like that.”
Trump’s rant against Abrams has not driven away her many supporters. But voters like Atlanta filmmaker Rahiem Shabazz are being driven away from the ballot box nonetheless.
“I want to vote for Stacey Abrams,” Shabazz told me, but “I won’t be able to vote in the November 6 election.” Shabazz’s voter registration — his right to vote — has been cancelled by Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brian Kemp. Notably, Kemp, while running the election for the state of Georgia, is also running in the election for governor of Georgia — against Democrat Abrams.
Rahiem is just one of more than 340,134 Georgians Kemp has purged from the voter rolls based on dead-wrong evidence they’d moved from the state or from their home county. It took a federal lawsuit — which I filed jointly with voting rights advocate Helen Butler — to force Kemp to divulge the names and addresses of those whose registration he cancelled in a single year, 2017.
more at link
Purged Voters' "Provisional" Ballots Could Decide Georgia Governor Race
https://truthout.org/articles/purged-voters-provisional-ballots-could-decide-georgia-governor-race/On Sunday, I watched President Donald Trump warn a rally in Macon, Georgia, that Stacey Abrams, running to become the first Black female governor in US history, “is one of the most extreme far left politicians in the entire country,” adding, “You put Stacey in there, you’re going to have Georgia turn into Venezuela. I don’t think the people of Georgia like that.”
Trump’s rant against Abrams has not driven away her many supporters. But voters like Atlanta filmmaker Rahiem Shabazz are being driven away from the ballot box nonetheless.
“I want to vote for Stacey Abrams,” Shabazz told me, but “I won’t be able to vote in the November 6 election.” Shabazz’s voter registration — his right to vote — has been cancelled by Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brian Kemp. Notably, Kemp, while running the election for the state of Georgia, is also running in the election for governor of Georgia — against Democrat Abrams.
Rahiem is just one of more than 340,134 Georgians Kemp has purged from the voter rolls based on dead-wrong evidence they’d moved from the state or from their home county. It took a federal lawsuit — which I filed jointly with voting rights advocate Helen Butler — to force Kemp to divulge the names and addresses of those whose registration he cancelled in a single year, 2017.
more at link
October 22, 2018
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/paul-krugman-says-trump-might-deny-dem-house-majority-victory_us_5bcd3df9e4b0d38b58799307
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman fears that President Donald Trump’s insistent complaints of “voter fraud” are a setup to deny the legitimacy of a Democratic majority in the House should the party win in the midterm elections.
Those who don’t believe such a scenario is possible “haven’t been paying attention,” the Nobel laureate warned. Trump has complained, without evidence, that as many as 5 million people voted illegally in the 2016 presidential election. Hillary Clinton beat Trump in the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes. Trump’s claim, if true, would wipe out that margin and then some.
Trump set up a commission to investigate the votes, but it has not substantiated his claims, nor has it issued any reports. Commission member Matthew Dunlap, Maine’s Democratic secretary of state, said the panel was the “most bizarre thing I’ve ever been a part of.”
Yet Trump keeps raising the issue. Krugman retweeted Trump’s warning Saturday that “all levels of government” are watching out for “VOTER FRAUD” in the upcoming elections.
snip
https://twitter.com/paulkrugman/status/1054014647517569025
Paul Krugman Warns Trump Is Poised To Disregard Democratic House Victory
The president’s complaints about “voter fraud” could be used to deny legitimacy of Democratic victory in the midterm election.https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/paul-krugman-says-trump-might-deny-dem-house-majority-victory_us_5bcd3df9e4b0d38b58799307
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman fears that President Donald Trump’s insistent complaints of “voter fraud” are a setup to deny the legitimacy of a Democratic majority in the House should the party win in the midterm elections.
Those who don’t believe such a scenario is possible “haven’t been paying attention,” the Nobel laureate warned. Trump has complained, without evidence, that as many as 5 million people voted illegally in the 2016 presidential election. Hillary Clinton beat Trump in the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes. Trump’s claim, if true, would wipe out that margin and then some.
Trump set up a commission to investigate the votes, but it has not substantiated his claims, nor has it issued any reports. Commission member Matthew Dunlap, Maine’s Democratic secretary of state, said the panel was the “most bizarre thing I’ve ever been a part of.”
Yet Trump keeps raising the issue. Krugman retweeted Trump’s warning Saturday that “all levels of government” are watching out for “VOTER FRAUD” in the upcoming elections.
snip
https://twitter.com/paulkrugman/status/1054014647517569025
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Gender: FemaleHometown: London
Home country: US/UK/Sweden
Current location: Stockholm, Sweden
Member since: Sun Jul 1, 2018, 07:25 PM
Number of posts: 43,339
