7 Things: Red wave never reaches the beach, Alabama Republicans roll, and more …

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November 9, 2022

7. Biden limps out of midterms

Heading into the midterms it definitely appeared that President Joe Biden was going to be a drag on the Democrat ticket, his polling numbers were down and history said Democrats would suffer because of it. That did not materialize.
Coming out of the midterms, Biden is hardly strong and Speaker Nancy Pelosi will likely be unseated but it was supposed to be so much worse.

6. Alabama elections go smoothly, Arizona has the biggest issues with voting

Secretary of State John Merrill repeatedly touted how well Alabama elections were carried out. Some issues in Cullman appeared with voting not being available at 7 a.m., but they kept the polls open an extra hour and avoided any other issues.
The national embarrassment came from Arizona this year with 27% of precincts in Maricopa County having tabulation problems leading U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters, gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and the GOP filing lawsuits. A court would reject attempts to extend voting hours.

5. Ivey and statewide Republicans trounce

Gov. Kay Ivey’s re-election was never in doubt and she won 67.4% to 29.4% over her opponent. Ivey’s fellow statewide Republicans, Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, Treasurer Young Boozer, and Attorney General Steve Marshall won decisively as well. Ivey’s wins were projected by media outlets seemingly seconds after polls closed.
Newly elected statewide Republicans include State Rep. Andrew Sorrell (R-Muscle Shoals) winning his race for State Auditor and State Sen. Wes Allen (R-Troy) winning an election for Secretary of State.

4. U.S. Rep.-elect Dale Strong (R-Huntsville)

With only one contested U.S. House race in the state, 6 of the 7 House races were never in doubt with the seventh as Madison County Commission Chairman Dale Strong delivered a strong victory over Kathy Warner-Stanton 67.2% to 29.6%.
The re-election of Alabama’s delegation was overwhelming, ranging from U.S. Rep. Gary Plamer (R-Hoover) getting 84.7% of the vote to U.S. Rep. Terry Sewell (D-Selma) receiving 63.9% of the vote.

3. Senator-elect Katie Britt

Republican Katie Britt easily won 67% to 31% over Democrat candidate Will Boyd to become Alabama’s first female U.S. Senator and replace U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Tuscaloosa), who she served as chief of staff.
Britt declared herself a “Mama on a mission,” she will be the only U.S. senator with school-age children, the youngest Republican woman elected to U.S. Senate and the second youngest woman ever elected to the upper chamber, as well.

2. Alabama Republicans get exactly what they want

Alabama Republicans hold on to their super-majorities in the Alabama State House and State Senate. State Sen. Tom Butler (R-Madison) won re-election, as did Sen. Vivian Figures (D-Mobile), two contested state House seats in North Alabama went to Phillip Rigsby (HD-25) and David Cole (HD-10).
Every contested race in the state of Alabama went to the incumbent with the exception of State Rep. Charlotte Meadows (R-Montgomery) and State Rep. Dexter Grimsley (D-Abbeville) losing to Republican Rick Rehm.

1. No red wave, it’s a red spray

While the economy was the main story, President Joe Biden was able to hold off a massive loss of seats in the House with a divided U.S. Senate up in the air. The House appears to be headed toward a flip with a small Republican majority taking over.
Like 2020, control of the Senate will come down to Georgia, where U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Republican Herschel Walker are heading to another expensive and contentious runoff. Former President Donald Trump’s candidates struggled mightily in Arizona, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire – falling in their U.S. Senate races. He still seems poised to announce his intentions to run for president next Tuesday.