November 9, 2022 at 10:13 a.m.
Evers, Tiffany, Swearingen win; Johnson is likely victor
Democrats post strong mid-term victories but could still lose Congress
Evers, Tiffany, Swearingen win; Johnson is likely victor
The race between Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and Democrat challenger Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes was too close to call as of Wednesday morning, but Johnson seemed poised to win that seat, leading Barnes by almost 32,000 votes, 50.6 to 49.3 percent, with more than 98 percent of the votes counted.
Evers defeated Michels by more than 3 percent, 51.1 percent to 47.9 percent, with a lead of about 84,000 votes.
In the attorney general's race, Democrat Josh Kaul nosed out GOP nominee Eric Toney 50.5 to 49.5 percent, a margin of about 28,000 votes. Toney conceded the race.
The run for secretary of state was also extra close and this one was too close to call, with GOP challenger Amy Loudenbeck trailing incumbent Democrat Doug La Follette by only 1,360 votes out of more than 2.5 million ballots cast.
Over in the third congressional district-the only competitive congressional district in the state-Republican Derrick Van Orden was clinging to a 52-48 percent lead over Democrat Brad Pfaff, a lead of just under 13,000 votes but with only 75 percent of the votes counted.
If Van Orden wins, that would be a Republican pick-up. The Wisconsin congressional delegation would move to six Republicans and two Democrats, up from the current five Republicans and three Democrats.
In the Northwoods, both Tiffany and Swearingen had strong nights. Tiffany cruised to a win with 61.9 percent of the vote, with 90 percent of the ballots counted, to 38.1 percent for Richard Ausman.
In the 34th Assembly district, Swearingen scored a 61.8 percent to 38.2 percent win over Democrat Eileen Daniel with 99 percent of the vote counted.
The national scene
Nationally, it turned out to be a good, not-so-good, no possibly very good night for the Republicans.
It was good because the GOP has apparently retaken control of the U.S. House of Representatives. While that is not official because many races had not been called as of Wednesday morning, the GOP had claimed 207 seats to 188 for Democrats. Forty seats were not called, but Republicans were leading in many of them, and the analytic website 538 was projecting the GOP to wind up with 224 seats, a net gain of 11 seats.
As for a not-so-good night, the expected red wave did not come; it was more of a damp spot on high dry ground after an autumn rain. In fact, it was worse than that; it was the worst mid-term performance by an opposition party since 2002.
In the House, Democrats were holding on to seats they seemed likely to lose, and Republican hopes were being dashed from coast to coast. In Texas, newly elected Mayra Flores lost to her Democratic challenger. The GOP hoped to pick up a swing district in New Hampshire but Republican challenger Karoline Leavitt lost unexpectedly.
In North Carolina's 13th district, that state's only swing district, the Trump-backed candidate lost unexpectedly. In Virginia's 7th district, Rep. Abigail Spanberger beat back a challenge from Yesli Vega in a bellwether race that the GOP hoped would signal a wave. Trump had won the district twice.
It signaled the lack of a wave instead.
In the it-could-still-be-a-very-good-night category, the Republicans could nonetheless wind up controlling the Senate. The disappointment came in Pennsylvania, where Trump-backed candidate Mehmet Oz lost to Democrat John Fetterman.
With GOP Trump-backed challenger Blake Masters losing in Arizona, that leaves the Senate in the hands of the voters in two states, Georgia and Nevada.
In Nevada, GOP nominee Adam Laxalt led incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto by about 3 points with around 80 percent of the vote counted. The Republicans now need him to win to get back the loss of the seat in Pennsylvania. However, while he leads, most of the remaining ballots are in Democratic Las Vegas, as well as in mail-in votes, most of which are no doubt Democratic.
If Cortez Masto pulls it out, it's game over for the Republicans, who could not do better than 50-50 in the Senate.
If Laxalt holds on, all eyes will turn to Georgia, where Republican Herschel Walker and Democrat Raphael Warnock are basically tied with 49 percent of the vote, with 96 percent reporting. Warnock actually leads by about 18,000 votes, but it's considered unlikely that he will get to the 50 percent mark he needs to avoid a run-off, where Walker will be better positioned.
So get the popcorn ready.
There were two big winners coming out of the election. Number 1 was President Joe Biden, who can now exploit the Republicans' big predictions of a wave, and even tout that, by historical standards, the Democrats beat the average loss for the party in power during a president's first mid-term.
At the very least, avoiding a wipe-out will ensure that he does not have to moderate his legislative agenda, as Bill Clinton and Barack Obama had to do after wipe-out midterm losses. After all, Democrats did historically well even as Biden doubled down on a radical agenda that he says means shutting down all coal-fired plants and ending all U.S. energy drilling.
And if Democrats hold onto the Senate, Biden will likely claim a mandate for continuing that legislative agenda. He can also continue to cast most Republicans as enemies of democracy after not being held accountable for the inflammatory rhetoric on Tuesday.
The other big winner of the night: Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, who scored a landslide victory and moved Florida firmly into the red state column after decades of being a toss-up. DeSantis also carried Miami-Dade County, with its heavy Latino population, by a 53-46 percent margin.
In his victory speech, DeSantis called it a win "for the ages," and, given what happened elsewhere, it just might be the win for the ages for the Republican Party's anti-establishment wing, which suffered by all accounts a disheartening night.
Tuesday's print edition will carry a more detailed election analysis.
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