So how did everyone else's local races go?

[teen persuasion]

I'm absolutely dumbfounded and disgusted with our local elections.

For me there were 6 races. Four were uncontested, the incumbent ran on Republican and Conservative lines. No other parties at all. One had an extra Libertarian candidate, it was pick 2 council members, but the incumbents were again R&C alone. Final race was two different candidates, one each on R & C lines. 

My co-workers are technically in the town north of me, so had a few different races. Apparently, the anti-solar  contingent spread enough fake news about the dangers of solar farms to clean house  - all the incumbents were forced to run on the Conservative line only while the disruptors got the R line, and all the incumbents are out. One of the races was pointless - the candidate running on both R&C lines unopposed plans to quit immediately after the election.

Even a local businessman with a blog I follow, who's a Republican, was bemoaning the lack of competition and idiocy of this year's races. He's got an unusual perspective, as a manufacturing business owner, farmland owner, nature enthusiast. Not MAGA, but thoughtful and interesting, always positive and forward looking. Very pro-immigrant, he hires them (legally) in his factory, and supports them, thinks they are wonderful workers and people.

[resolution]

The vast majority of our local positions were contested, and the R's received about 70% of the vote. A few positions like Sherriff and School positions were listed as DAR, which I am guessing meant he was nominated by both parties. There was one position that no one ran for, so idk if a write in would get that or what they would do...

[pooks]

All I really had was a mayor race.  It is supposed to be nonpartisan, but everyone knows where the 2 candidates stand.  It was incumbent (D) versus an ex cop(R).  It was closer than I would have expected.  The incumbent hasn't been great and if there was a different challenger, she may have lost.  

[dondubble]

Most important here in Seattle were all the City Council races. Not all the results are finalized but moderate demos are taking control from the progressive socialist element. They failed, but held lots of meetings. In the meantime 2000+ tiny houses for the homeless went unused and hundreds of millions for low income housing went underutilized.

Hopefully this new crop coming in will fucking do something! And thay have an amenable mayor that wants to work with them.

And to Hell with Kshama Sawant.

[tallguy]

Nov 9, 2023 13:55:15 GMT -5 dondubble said:

Most important here in Seattle were all the City Council races. Not all the results are finalized but moderate demos are taking control from the progressive socialist element. They failed, but held lots of meetings. In the meantime 2000+ tiny houses for the homeless went unused and hundreds of millions for low income housing went underutilized.

Hopefully this new crop coming in will fucking do something! And thay have an amenable mayor that wants to work with them.

And to Hell with Kshama Sawant.

Little bit concerned that late-breaking vote counts will go for the progressives, but it looks good so far.  Of course, I'm all the way across the country for the moment so don't follow as closely as if I were home.

One more good thing about Sawant not running for re-election is that I no longer have to hope she gets hit by a bus...so there's that!  

[teen persuasion]

I forgot to mention - one of the disruptors in the town north is a book banner. Boo! She was part of a group making trouble at a nearby tiny library in my system.

That library has had a tough few years. First, it burned to the ground, likely electrical fire. The director was out of the country on vacation, and got the news. It still isn't yet rebuilt due to insurance delays. They are temp renting a pottery shed. Then that location had a water heater flood (after losing the entire collection in the fire, lost more new books). Now book banners checking out ALL the books in an LGBTQ display, and refusing to return them. Umm, that's theft, people. And rounding up lots of people from their conservative churches to create trouble at the library board meetings. They have to rent space elsewhere for meetings, now, because the tiny library can't hold 60+ protesters.

[mollyanna58]

I live in a very Republican county in a blue state. The Republicans won the Senate and Assembly seats (mostly re-elected). The Democrats won my township's committee seats (re-elected). Not large turnouts. My sister lives in a town of about 4,000 and only around 400 votes were cast for the mayor's race (incumbent ran unopposed).

[dondubble]

Nov 9, 2023 15:14:05 GMT -5 tallguy said:

Nov 9, 2023 13:55:15 GMT -5 dondubble said:

Most important here in Seattle were all the City Council races. Not all the results are finalized but moderate demos are taking control from the progressive socialist element. They failed, but held lots of meetings. In the meantime 2000+ tiny houses for the homeless went unused and hundreds of millions for low income housing went underutilized.

Hopefully this new crop coming in will fucking do something! And thay have an amenable mayor that wants to work with them.

And to Hell with Kshama Sawant.

Little bit concerned that late-breaking vote counts will go for the progressives, but it looks good so far.  Of course, I'm all the way across the country for the moment so don't follow as closely as if I were home.

One more good thing about Sawant not running for re-election is that I no longer have to hope she gets hit by a bus...so there's that!  

HAHAHAHAHAHA! She was a main reason I finally traded my Greenlake 13u after 43 years. The writing was on the wall for landlords. I went to Ferndale.😎

[swamp]

Dems swept the local city council race, replacing 5 republicans 

the sheriff and the county clerk both ran unopposed as republicans 

[Tennesseer]

No major state elections in Tennessee.

But yesterday I received an unsolicited call asking me if I wanted to listen in on a call with U.S. senator Marsha Blackburn.  I disconnected from the call and blocked the number.

[djAdvocate]

no local elections this year.

[Tennesseer]

In school board elections across America, voters offer stunning rebuke of culture war politics

First came the classroom culture wars.

Now, the backlash.

Conservative activists pushing for parents to have more of a say in what their children are taught in school suffered a series of high-profile losses in Tuesday’s election, dealing a major blow to a movement that has advocated for book bans and restrictions on classroom discussion about issues of gender and race.

Voters in multiple states rejected local school board candidates backed by groups such as Moms for Liberty, choosing moderate or liberal candidates instead.

Just over a third of the candidates endorsed by Moms for Liberty won their races on Tuesday. The Florida-based nonprofit, which has been at the center of many of the battlers over school curricula, said 50 of the 139 school board candidates it endorsed were elected. The group’s track record for the entire year is only slightly better. Overall, the group said 44% of the candidates it has backed this year won their races.
Tiffany Justice, one of the Moms for Liberty founders, said she feels good about the election results even though the candidates backed by the group lost far more races than they won.

Pointing to the candidates who did win, Justice said, “That means you have 50 liberty-minded individuals that are going to go serve on school boards, that are going to put the focus back on the basics in school, and they’re going to make sure that parental rights are respected.”

Rest of article here: In school board elections across America, voters offer stunning rebuke of culture war politics

[teen persuasion]

Nov 10, 2023 12:28:57 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

In school board elections across America, voters offer stunning rebuke of culture war politics

First came the classroom culture wars.

Now, the backlash.

Conservative activists pushing for parents to have more of a say in what their children are taught in school suffered a series of high-profile losses in Tuesday’s election, dealing a major blow to a movement that has advocated for book bans and restrictions on classroom discussion about issues of gender and race.

Voters in multiple states rejected local school board candidates backed by groups such as Moms for Liberty, choosing moderate or liberal candidates instead.

Just over a third of the candidates endorsed by Moms for Liberty won their races on Tuesday. The Florida-based nonprofit, which has been at the center of many of the battlers over school curricula, said 50 of the 139 school board candidates it endorsed were elected. The group’s track record for the entire year is only slightly better. Overall, the group said 44% of the candidates it has backed this year won their races.
Tiffany Justice, one of the Moms for Liberty founders, said she feels good about the election results even though the candidates backed by the group lost far more races than they won.

Pointing to the candidates who did win, Justice said, “That means you have 50 liberty-minded individuals that are going to go serve on school boards, that are going to put the focus back on the basics in school, and they’re going to make sure that parental rights are respected.”

Rest of article here: In school board elections across America, voters offer stunning rebuke of culture war politics

Liberty-minded
It really is double speak like in 1984.

[teen persuasion]

In surprise news,  the Dem  Representative for the metro area near me has decided to resign to take a job as CEO of Shea's  Performing Arts Center. He's probably the longest serving Rep in the region currently, most others are relative newcomers in Congress. 

Local news is speculating on who could replace him. I didn't think the state or governor could appoint a replacement, they didn't when Collins resigned because he was arrested - we had to wait for the next election to vote on the replacement.
But news is speculating anyway: the #2city mayor (reelected last year to a record 4th term, but controversial), the county exec (just reelected to 4th term, also controversial recently), umm, there were two more faces in the story, but one makes no sense (he's rep in adjacent district), and I can't recall the last one, obviously not very likely. All D, because it's a solidly D district centered on the city.  Apparently we must just bump people up the political ladder. But, oh, what bad timing immediately after election day, and with Congress in its current state - we need the experienced, common sense members willing to work bipartisan.

ETA: just looked it up, the last two are state senate members. Governor has ten days to call a special election to be held within 90 days. Not clear if Higgins has *officially* announced yet, but it's a done deal. He was obviously looking to leave, he was also pursuing the President of Buff State job (as was the mayor).

[djAdvocate]

Nov 10, 2023 12:28:57 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

In school board elections across America, voters offer stunning rebuke of culture war politics

First came the classroom culture wars.

Now, the backlash.

Conservative activists pushing for parents to have more of a say in what their children are taught in school suffered a series of high-profile losses in Tuesday’s election, dealing a major blow to a movement that has advocated for book bans and restrictions on classroom discussion about issues of gender and race.

Voters in multiple states rejected local school board candidates backed by groups such as Moms for Liberty, choosing moderate or liberal candidates instead.

Just over a third of the candidates endorsed by Moms for Liberty won their races on Tuesday. The Florida-based nonprofit, which has been at the center of many of the battlers over school curricula, said 50 of the 139 school board candidates it endorsed were elected. The group’s track record for the entire year is only slightly better. Overall, the group said 44% of the candidates it has backed this year won their races.
Tiffany Justice, one of the Moms for Liberty founders, said she feels good about the election results even though the candidates backed by the group lost far more races than they won.

Pointing to the candidates who did win, Justice said, “That means you have 50 liberty-minded individuals that are going to go serve on school boards, that are going to put the focus back on the basics in school, and they’re going to make sure that parental rights are respected.”

Rest of article here: In school board elections across America, voters offer stunning rebuke of culture war politics

this is a very perceptive article.  they really DID start in the classrooms.  their idea was that if school boards are bottom up governing, they would start at the bottom.  and this has been going on for a LONG time.  but it is getting noticed now that these people are in charge, to an unfortunate degree.

i think what is going on right now is a national rebuke of Republicans.  and yeah, that needs to happen.  for a while.  until they are so far down in numbers that they are FORCED to change to what they once were: the moderate center.

in the mean time, we will have one party rule.  Americans can choose which party in a year.

PS- please read about Moms For Liberty.  utterly repulsive bunch of Bible Thumping fascists.

[Tennesseer]

Nov 10, 2023 20:21:48 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

Nov 10, 2023 12:28:57 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

In school board elections across America, voters offer stunning rebuke of culture war politics

First came the classroom culture wars.

Now, the backlash.

Conservative activists pushing for parents to have more of a say in what their children are taught in school suffered a series of high-profile losses in Tuesday’s election, dealing a major blow to a movement that has advocated for book bans and restrictions on classroom discussion about issues of gender and race.

Voters in multiple states rejected local school board candidates backed by groups such as Moms for Liberty, choosing moderate or liberal candidates instead.

Just over a third of the candidates endorsed by Moms for Liberty won their races on Tuesday. The Florida-based nonprofit, which has been at the center of many of the battlers over school curricula, said 50 of the 139 school board candidates it endorsed were elected. The group’s track record for the entire year is only slightly better. Overall, the group said 44% of the candidates it has backed this year won their races.
Tiffany Justice, one of the Moms for Liberty founders, said she feels good about the election results even though the candidates backed by the group lost far more races than they won.

Pointing to the candidates who did win, Justice said, “That means you have 50 liberty-minded individuals that are going to go serve on school boards, that are going to put the focus back on the basics in school, and they’re going to make sure that parental rights are respected.”

Rest of article here: In school board elections across America, voters offer stunning rebuke of culture war politics

this is a very perceptive article.  they really DID start in the classrooms.  their idea was that if school boards are bottom up governing, they would start at the bottom.  and this has been going on for a LONG time.  but it is getting noticed now that these people are in charge, to an unfortunate degree.

i think what is going on right now is a national rebuke of Republicans.  and yeah, that needs to happen.  for a while.  until they are so far down in numbers that they are FORCED to change to what they once were: the moderate center.

in the mean time, we will have one party rule.  Americans can choose which party in a year.

PS- please read about Moms For Liberty.  utterly repulsive bunch of Bible Thumping fascists.

WIKI: Moms for Liberty

[thyme4change]

All we had is bonds and budget overrides. They all won in my district. Woo hoo. I’m so sick of the Republican legislature cutting spending until everything is failing - and it appears everyone else is too.

[djAdvocate]

the founder is a piece of work.  if you try to look up her bio, it is hard to find anything going back more than a few years.  for good reason.

her parents divorced when she was a toddler.  mother had three kids by her second marriage.  lived with her aunt.  she is a thrice married, twice divorced Mormon convert, mother of five by two men, with a strong association with the Air Force.

not that any of that bothers me.  other than the Mormonism and the quiverfull, it sounds like me.
but i don't try to tell people what to read, how to think or try to ban books from schools.
in other words, i don't pretend to know how others should run their lives.

she does.

[djAdvocate]

(17 is a reply to 15)

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Nov 10, 2023 20:21:48 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

Nov 10, 2023 12:28:57 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

In school board elections across America, voters offer stunning rebuke of culture war politics

First came the classroom culture wars.

Now, the backlash.

Conservative activists pushing for parents to have more of a say in what their children are taught in school suffered a series of high-profile losses in Tuesday’s election, dealing a major blow to a movement that has advocated for book bans and restrictions on classroom discussion about issues of gender and race.

Voters in multiple states rejected local school board candidates backed by groups such as Moms for Liberty, choosing moderate or liberal candidates instead.

Just over a third of the candidates endorsed by Moms for Liberty won their races on Tuesday. The Florida-based nonprofit, which has been at the center of many of the battlers over school curricula, said 50 of the 139 school board candidates it endorsed were elected. The group’s track record for the entire year is only slightly better. Overall, the group said 44% of the candidates it has backed this year won their races.
Tiffany Justice, one of the Moms for Liberty founders, said she feels good about the election results even though the candidates backed by the group lost far more races than they won.

Pointing to the candidates who did win, Justice said, “That means you have 50 liberty-minded individuals that are going to go serve on school boards, that are going to put the focus back on the basics in school, and they’re going to make sure that parental rights are respected.”

Rest of article here: In school board elections across America, voters offer stunning rebuke of culture war politics

this is a very perceptive article.  they really DID start in the classrooms.  their idea was that if school boards are bottom up governing, they would start at the bottom.  and this has been going on for a LONG time.  but it is getting noticed now that these people are in charge, to an unfortunate degree.

i think what is going on right now is a national rebuke of Republicans.  and yeah, that needs to happen.  for a while.  until they are so far down in numbers that they are FORCED to change to what they once were: the moderate center.

in the mean time, we will have one party rule.  Americans can choose which party in a year.

PS- please read about Moms For Liberty.  utterly repulsive bunch of Bible Thumping fascists.

Moms of Liberty sent my husband many emails during the pandemic accusing him of murder.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Where we live, we only had the renewal of the tax to pay for 21% of the city police budget. It won 78-22.

Where I work, there was a school bond on the ballot. It lost ~75-25.

[dondubble]

Nov 11, 2023 0:47:56 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Nov 10, 2023 20:21:48 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

this is a very perceptive article.  they really DID start in the classrooms.  their idea was that if school boards are bottom up governing, they would start at the bottom.  and this has been going on for a LONG time.  but it is getting noticed now that these people are in charge, to an unfortunate degree.

i think what is going on right now is a national rebuke of Republicans.  and yeah, that needs to happen.  for a while.  until they are so far down in numbers that they are FORCED to change to what they once were: the moderate center.

in the mean time, we will have one party rule.  Americans can choose which party in a year.

PS- please read about Moms For Liberty.  utterly repulsive bunch of Bible Thumping fascists.

Moms of Liberty sent my husband many emails during the pandemic accusing him of murder.

What?

[Tennesseer]

Nov 11, 2023 0:47:56 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Nov 10, 2023 20:21:48 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

this is a very perceptive article.  they really DID start in the classrooms.  their idea was that if school boards are bottom up governing, they would start at the bottom.  and this has been going on for a LONG time.  but it is getting noticed now that these people are in charge, to an unfortunate degree.

i think what is going on right now is a national rebuke of Republicans.  and yeah, that needs to happen.  for a while.  until they are so far down in numbers that they are FORCED to change to what they once were: the moderate center.

in the mean time, we will have one party rule.  Americans can choose which party in a year.

PS- please read about Moms For Liberty.  utterly repulsive bunch of Bible Thumping fascists.

Moms of Liberty sent my husband many emails during the pandemic accusing him of murder.

Moms of Liberty probably banned the book 'How to Win Friends & Influence People' from all U.S.libraries and people of all ages.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Nov 11, 2023 11:42:35 GMT -5 dondubble said:

Nov 11, 2023 0:47:56 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Moms of Liberty sent my husband many emails during the pandemic accusing him of murder.

What?

He's a superintendent of a public school district. 

[happyhoix]

Nov 11, 2023 13:26:45 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Nov 11, 2023 11:42:35 GMT -5 dondubble said:

What?

He's a superintendent of a public school district. 

So sorry for the bullshit he has to deal with. 

I have friends who are librarians. We live in a conservative area. Back when the Harry Potter books came out, the church ladies kept coming by the library to harangue the staff about how they are corrupting the children by encouraging them to be witches. 

The bad part is, you have to be polite to the dingbats. 

[happyhoix]

I’m not from Ohio (well, I was born there but haven’t lived there in 50+ years) but looks like the Ohio Republicans have lost their damn minds.

Ohio voted to keep abortions legal, and to legalize pot, and the GOP contingent has decided they just aren’t going to go along with that. Fuck the will of the people, I guess.

ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/11/08/gerrymandered-ohio-republican-lawmakers-are-already-scheming-to-attack-voters-over-election-results/

[dondubble]

Nov 11, 2023 14:30:00 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

I’m not from Ohio (well, I was born there but haven’t lived there in 50+ years) but looks like the Ohio Republicans have lost their damn minds.

Ohio voted to keep abortions legal, and to legalize pot, and the GOP contingent has decided they just aren’t going to go along with that. Fuck the will of the people, I guess.

ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/11/08/gerrymandered-ohio-republican-lawmakers-are-already-scheming-to-attack-voters-over-election-results/

Fascists everywhere.

[djAdvocate]

Nov 11, 2023 14:26:20 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Nov 11, 2023 13:26:45 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

He's a superintendent of a public school district. 

So sorry for the bullshit he has to deal with. 

I have friends who are librarians. We live in a conservative area. Back when the Harry Potter books came out, the church ladies kept coming by the library to harangue the staff about how they are corrupting the children by encouraging them to be witches. 

The bad part is, you have to be polite to the dingbats. 

permission is not encouragement.
if they don't want their kids reading shit, it is up to them.

personally, i didn't want my son engaging in things like football or boxing in school.
that was my choice as a parent.  
thank goodness.

[Tennesseer]

Nov 11, 2023 14:53:33 GMT -5 dondubble said:

Nov 11, 2023 14:30:00 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

I’m not from Ohio (well, I was born there but haven’t lived there in 50+ years) but looks like the Ohio Republicans have lost their damn minds.

Ohio voted to keep abortions legal, and to legalize pot, and the GOP contingent has decided they just aren’t going to go along with that. Fuck the will of the people, I guess.

ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/11/08/gerrymandered-ohio-republican-lawmakers-are-already-scheming-to-attack-voters-over-election-results/

Fascists everywhere.

[Tennesseer]

What is 'Operation White Christmas'? Moms For Liberty comes under fire for sharing allegedly problematic flyer

Moms For Liberty is at the center of a whirlwind of controversy as an online flyer for 'Operation White Christmas,' reportedly shared on the group's telegram channel, recently went viral online. For the uninitiated, 'Operation White Christmas,' organized by the National Justice Party (NJP) is an annual "online toy drive for White families in need".

The flyer shared by Moms For Liberty went viral, triggering a barrage of backlash as people condemned the group's association with NJP, an organization reportedly known for propagating white supremacy and neo-nazism. In light of the connection, netizens rallied against Moms For Liberty for being nothing short of a "hate group."

On December 1, 2023, popular TikToker and rural teacher, Jess Piper shared a TikTok of a screenshot she received from her friend, Laura Burkhart. It showed a November 26 post from a Telegram channel named, Moms For Liberty Uncensored, the official Telegram channel of the now under-fire organization. The post was of a flyer of an event organized by the National Justice Party.
The flyer shared the details about the National Justice Party's 4th annual 'Operation White Christmas,' an online toy drive for "White families in need." The flyer read as follows:

"In the interest of racial justice and pro-White advocacy, we want to ensure that White families in need are not turned away, as they frequently are by other charitable efforts."



Rest of article here:  What is 'Operation White Christmas'? Moms For Liberty comes under fire for sharing allegedly problematic flyer