'17 Specials & '18 Midterms Thread

[Kory]

PredictIt strangely high on Blankenship taking this primary. I'm betting NO.

 

[PhDeac]

Blakenship got a ton of national word of mouth the weekend before the election. Doubt that hurts.

 

[dot com]

Patrick McHenry regrets he has but one McLife to give for his country.

 

[Demonwolverine]

“They are calling me a bigot, a moron, a despicable character and mentally ill,” Blankenship says in the ad. “But even if all of this is true, I will do a better job than they have done.”

 

[myDeaconmyhand]

My wife and I have a voting tradition of going to Kermits Hotdog House in Winston afterwards and getting hotdogs and milkshakes - first time with the baby today

 

[Highland Deac]

“They are calling me a bigot, a moron, a despicable character and mentally ill,” Blankenship says in the ad. “But even if all of this is true, I will do a better job than they have done.”

Trumpism defined. "I'm not denying that I'm a bigot, or a moron, or a despicable character, or that I'm mentally ill - but I'll still do a better job than those big city East Coast elitists with their fancy college degrees! Let's piss off libruls some more and vote to send a nutcase and former convict like me to Washington. That'll show 'em!"

 

[avalon]

Super early, and he's closed the gap some, but he's still losing.

Two Indiana congressmen gave up their seats to run for Senate. It certainly looks like they're both about to lose in the primary to a wealthy state house rep who spent $5 million of his own money on his campaign.

 

[PhDeac]

$5 million of his own money to win a primary? One has to wonder how that investment will pay off.

 

[Kory]

PredictIt strangely high on Blankenship taking this primary. I'm betting NO.

+60$ easy money

 

[avalon]

99% reporting, Pittenger is still down in the primary by 800+ votes in NC-9. Meanwhile the Dem challenger has received more votes than all Republican candidates combined.

Link

 

[ChrisL68]

Kathy Manning beats Adam Coker handily.

 

[avalon]

Looking more at numbers:

In NC-2 both Republicans and Dems had a competitive primary. The Dem first and second place finisher each had more votes than the Republicans first (the incumbent) and second. 16,500 Dems voted in the primary in 2016 compared to 32,700 in 2018. Turnout almost doubled from a presidential election year to a mid term.

In NC-11, Mark Meadows district, 33,000 Dems showed up to vote compared to 19,100 in 2016.

I already noted that the NC-9 Dem received more votes than the Republican candidates combined, but I have nothing to compare it to because the Dem was uncontested in 2016. The Dem is also sitting on more than $1 million.

Now I know primary turnout is indicative of a competitive primary and doesn't necessarily correlate to general election turnout, but that seems wild given that the 2016 primary was also competitive.

Also, I'm not seeing the same trends in Ohio, which makes it NC specific. NC has a Dem candidate in every state house and state senate race, I wonder if that had an impact.

And count Evan Jenkins as a third congressman who gave up his seat to run for Senate and lost the primary. His district:

Richard Ojeda’s West Virginia primary win gives Democrats their best chance to turn coal country blue

 

[JManslow]

Twice as many Dems voted in the primary in NC5 as 2016 too, which is pretty crazy. Foxx is still probably fine but the energy is there.

 

[bym051d]

In NC-11, Mark Meadows district, 33,000 Dems showed up to vote compared to 19,100 in 2016.

Unfortunately, compared to 40k Republicans.

 

[PhDeac]

Good article about Ojeda. Perhaps his approach will work. Question why West Virginians are so poor despite sitting on all that coal. Ask why teachers and schools are paying the price instead of coal companies.

 

[avalon]

It'll be tough to compete with his opponent's logo:

But his logo is pretty sweet:

 

[PhDeac]

Women did well.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...-big-winners-in-tuesdays-primaries/ar-AAx0Mmc

More than half of the winning Democratic candidates for House seats in Tuesday’s primary elections were women ― a fresh indication of women’s sustained political mobilization since President Donald Trump’s election.
In the four states that held primary elections — Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia — 22 out of 40 congressional districts picked women as their Democratic nominees, including eight black women, according to Gender Watch 2018, a project of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
Women won 17 of 20 Democratic primary races for open seats, according to Politico.

 

[myDeaconmyhand]

Richard Ojeda and Conner Lamb represent the types of regional-fit populists that I believe can win enough blue collar whites away from Trump to be successful. I'd really like to see similar candidates in the with platforms and messaging that speak to POC with the same energy. A problem with that is that southern gerrymandering has made it so that any district with minorities is packed and establishment Dems dominate those districts.

Even with the increased energy in the 5th NC district, the fucking gerrymandering has made it impossible to compete. Virginia Foxx received more votes than DD Adams and Jenny Marshall combined. The district has a dozen fucking rural counties and only half of Winston in it.

 

[PhDeac]

Quality work, Mitch. Quality work.

 

[LadyDeac03]

Quality work, Mitch. Quality work.