Wednesday News & Notes
NOVEMBER 3, 2021 -- CHICAGO TRIBUNE MISTAKENLY DECLARES 'DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN', 1948
•The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11.
•Russia has left 90,000 troops deployed near the Ukrainian border, Ukraine’s defense ministry says, after having completed military exercises (The Hill).
•The Supreme Court hears arguments today in a major Second Amendment case. The question is to what extent Americans have the right to carry and conceal loaded firearms restricted by New York City laws (WaPo).
Off-Year Elections Lean Red – In a likely harbinger for the November 2022 midterm elections, conservative Republicans won the most closely watched elections, including Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin. A roundup of the major elections:
•Virginia: Republican Glenn Youngkin won 50.7% of the vote to Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s 48.6%. Republican Winsome Sears won the lieutenant governor’s seat and will serve as the tie-breaking vote in the state’s House of Delegates, where the GOP gained two seats for a 45-45 split. Republican Jason Miyares will be the next attorney general in a state that had gone deep blue the last decade. (The Washington Post)
Note: Youngkin already was gaining in the polls on McAuliffe, former governor in the commonwealth where incumbents cannot run for a second consecutive term, when the Democrat said in a debate, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” Youngkin’s campaign pounded McAuliffe on the statement and tied it to the issue of critical race theory, a college-level study not taught in Virginia schools. The Youngkin campaign also was successful in portraying the former executive for The Carlyle Group as a fiscal conservative in line with Donald Trump on tax cut issues.
•New Jersey: The New York Times is calling the New Jersey gubernatorial race “too close to call.” By late morning Wednesday, incumbent Democrat Phil Murphy took a thin lead over Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a former state legislator, with 90% of the vote counted.
Note: This could be another disappointment for Democrats, who were expecting Murphy to become the party’s first incumbent Democratic New Jersey governor [CD1] to win re-election since 1977.
•Minneapolis: Voters rejected by a 12-point margin a proposal to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a public safety agency to be determined by the city council (Star Tribune). Mayor Jacob Frey had a “commanding lead” in his re-election, and another charter amendment shifting certain powers to the mayor from the city council also was approved.
Note: This is the latest victim of the misguidedly named “defund the police” movement. The vote came nearly 18 months after Derek Chauvin was video-recorded choking George Floyd to death.
•Ohio: Shontel Brown easily won a special election for the 11th Congressional District seat vacated by President Biden’s Housing secretary, Marcia Fudge, Newsweek reports. She defeated Republican Laverne Gore for the seat covering deep-blue Cleveland but must run for re-election next November and already has several challengers for the Democratic primary. In the race to replace 15th District Rep. Steve Sivers, a Republican who retired in May to run the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, coal lobbyist and Trump acolyte Mike Carey defeated Democratic state Rep. Allison Russo, 59-41, Roll Call reports.
•New York Mayor: Former police captain Eric Adams, Democrat, defeated Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, Republican, for New York City mayor 57% to 28%, according to the New York Post. Adams becomes only the second Black mayor in the city’s history.
•Boston Mayor: Michelle Wu, the 36-year-old daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, becomes Boston’s first elected mayor who is not a white male, The Boston Globe reports. With an “unabashedly progressive agenda,” Wu easily defeated the more moderate Annissa Essaibi George.
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Trump Being Sued by Pennsylvania Voting Machine Custodian — Donald Trump, Rudolph Giuliani and other Trump advisors are being sued in Philadelphia County court by James Savage, the voting machine warehouse custodian in Delaware County for slandering him, Politico reports. It cites J. Conor Corcoran, Savage’s attorney, as saying, “Simply put, Mr. Savage’s physical safety, and his reputation, were acceptable collateral damage for the wicked intentions of the Defendants herein, executed during their lubricious attempt to question the legitimacy of President Joseph Biden’s win in Pennsylvania.” The charges in the suit include defamation and civil conspiracy.
Note: Seems like Team Trump will be facing an ever-increasing number of lawsuits.
--Edited by Todd Lassa, Gary S. Vasilash and Charles Dervarics