Well, I guess the answer was sublime. Indeed, there are sweeteners to the sublime everywhere you look, and I expect to find more as we go. Here’s a partial list in no particular order.
First, it is sweet enough that the Mississippi Senate race is currently too close to call, with the Democrat (Colom) having a slight edge over the Republican incumbent Hyde-Smith. However, note this from the Mississippi Free Press:
Colom’s candidacy, too, is partially of Republican design. Hyde-Smith herself blocked President Joe Biden’s nomination of Colom to a federal judgeship in the Northern District of Mississippi in 2023, freeing him to run for office this year. Hyde-Smith cited past support for Colom from a PAC tied to billionaire George Soros and Colom’s support for transgender rights and healthcare in her decision to bar the nomination.
And then there is this tidbit from Alabama: Allison Montgomery wins Alabama House seat, becomes state’s first transgender lawmaker. Montgomery defeated the incumbent Republican to take the seat.
Montgomery, a software engineer, campaigned on affordability and divestment from corporate interests. During the campaign, she faced attacks over her gender identity, including one from the chair of the Alabama Republican Party, Republican lawmaker Scott Stadthagen.
“Republican politicians always point to vague concerns about ‘the children’ when talking about women like myself, while Republican Rep. Brett Easterbrook gets arrested for soliciting sex with a minor,” Montgomery wrote in a Facebook post.
And, oh look: Lauren Boebert is currently losing in a race that has not yet been called.
Virginia Foxx is currently losing.
What’s that? Dummymanders! Via the Texas Tribune: Texas Republicans’ gerrymander backfires as Democrats gain ground in U.S. House delegation.
In 2025, Texas Republicans, pushed by President Donald Trump, redrew the state’s congressional map before the midterms, converting five Democratic-held districts into ones Trump would have carried by at least 10 percentage points.
The move backfired: GOP candidates lost four of five seats their new congressional map was designed to flip and lost two of their own.
That means Texas Republicans will head to Washington in January with 24 U.S. House seats, one less than they had at the start of the current Congress. When the state Legislature in Austin pursued the controversial mid-decade gerrymander, Republicans had hoped for a 30-8 split in the delegation but will end up instead at 24-14.
Speaking of Texas, the down-ballot blue wave is something to behold. Dan Patrick’s ouster as Lt. Governor is huge, as is the election of a Democratic AG. In addition, Bo French, who came to national prominence due to racist tweets about University of Texas students at the Ohio State football game, lost his bid to join the Texas Railroad Commission. It is refreshing for a politician to be punished for rank and obvious xenophobia and racism.
But wait! There’s more!
- Via NBC News: GOP Rep. Max Miller loses re-election in Ohio following abuse allegations from his ex-wife.
- Via The Hill: Navy admiral fired by Hegseth flips Mace’s South Carolina seat.
- Via Politico: Elon Musk suffers major blow in US midterms.
- Via MS Now: ‘Lawyer up’: A new Democratic majority prepares for a slate of Trump investigations
- Via CBS News: Trump asking advisers if Hegseth should go, sources say.
- Via NBC News: The lawmaker who led Republican efforts to keep the House loses his re-election bid.
Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, lost his re-election bid Tuesday, NBC News projected.
Hudson fell short to Democrat Richard Ojeda in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District. Ojeda bested Hudson by about 2 percentage points.
Republicans have held the district since 1963.
