Excellent news. North Carolina could have certainly done worse than Kay Hagan: we could have had a Chuck Schumer, Harry, Reid, or Al Franken. But, Kay was all about the Democrat Party and Obama’s agenda, rather than what was important to North Carolina. We’ll see if Thom Tillis puts NC first
(WRAL) Republican state House Speaker Thom Tillis has ousted U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, a first-term Democrat, according to incomplete and unofficial returns.
Tillis’ margin of victory will be narrow, most likely less than 2 percentage points once all votes are counted, after a bitterly contested race that was the most expensive congressional race in the country. His victory helped give Republicans control of the U.S. Senate.
“My name is Thom Tillis, and I’m the next United States senator from the state of North Carolina,” Tillis said at 12:15 a.m. Wednesday, claiming victory before a crowd of cheering supporters in Charlotte.
I’m waiting for Democrats to complain about the vast amounts of money spent
At least $111.2 million has poured into the campaign, according to figures put together by the Center for Responsive Politics. The actual spending is certainly higher, as candidates have yet to fully disclose their efforts and some nonprofit groups fell into legal loopholes that allowed them to keep their efforts undisclosed.
Of course, what most media outlets fail to note is that Kay and outside support groups significantly outspent Tillis and the groups supporting him, to the tune of $22 million to his $8, $35 million from liberal outside groups to $10 million from the right.
The big question of the night is: did he win because of being a Republican and his policies, or did he, and the other Republicans, win because of opposition to Obama? There’s certainly a mixture of both.
Elsewhere in North Carolina, Renee Ellmers handily beat Clay Aiken 59-41.
The only Democratic congressional candidates celebrating victories Tuesday were those in races where the outcomes were foregone conclusions. Former state Rep. Alma Adams of Greensboro won the 12th Congressional District in the race to replace Mel Watt, U.S. Rep. David Price of Chapel Hill won re-election in the 4th Congressional District (that’s mine, darnit), and U.S. Rep. G. K. Butterfield of Wilson will continue representing the 1st Congressional District.
Ten Republicans and three Democrats will represent the state in the next Congress, as the state will see another district flip Republican: the 7th District, which has been represented by a Democrat for more than a century.
That would be David Rouzer, who took out Jonathan Barfield (D) 59-37.
Nationally
(CNN) A Republican tide ripped the Senate away from Democrats Tuesday, giving the GOP full control of Congress and the power to pin down President Barack Obama during his last two years in office.
The thumping win upends the balance of power between the White House and Capitol Hill only six years after Obama’s Democrats swept to power and marginalized Republicans in a rush to reform health care, Wall Street and pass a huge stimulus package.
Now, it’s Democrats who will take the back seat on Capitol Hill, relying mostly on the power of the filibuster to stymie Republicans and keep Obama’s legacy intact.
“For too long, this administration has tried to tell the American people what is good for them and then blame somebody else when their policies didn’t work out,” Mitch McConnell, who is expected to become the next Senate majority leader, said in a victory speech.
Democrats lost seats in Colorado, Iowa, Montana, South Dakota, Arkansas, West Virginia, to go with North Carolina. Louisiana is certainly going to a runoff, with Mary Landrieu leading Bill Cassidy 42-41, with Republican Ron Manness taking 14%, mucking it up. Virginia is so close, with Democrat Mark Warner leading Ed Gillespie (R) by just 12,000 votes. We’re still waiting for Alaska numbers. Sullivan (R) is leading Begich 49-45 with 73% of the votes in.
Two other Republican governors meanwhile won reelection and stirred buzz for their own 2016 White House prospects — John Kasich in swing state Ohio, and conservative Republican Scott Walker in Wisconsin. In New Mexico, Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, often mentioned as a possible GOP vice presidential pick, strolled to reelection.
Maryland — a traditionally Democratic state — elected Republican Larry Hogan as governor. And Illinois, Obama’s home state, ousted its Democratic governor.
Also, Massachusetts, which elected Charlie Baker over very leftist Democrat Martha Coakley. Republicans control the majority of governor’s mansions across the country. And don’t discount how big the win was for Scott Walker, which could very well position him for a 2016 White House run.
When we jump over the House, Republicans increased their hold by adding at least 12 seats to their majority, while only losing 1. Guess we won’t be seeing Nancy Pelosi with the gavel again.
“We’ve listened to the American people,” Boehner said. “We’ve kept our focus on the economy and jobs non-stop. I think the voters in America today are going to send a very clear message to the president and Democrats in Washington that the American people want us to focus on their priorities, not Washington’s priorities.”
Democrats yammered on about uterus’ and #WarOnWomen and so many other marginal issues and things that are very low on the priority scale for Americans.
Oh, and we will get treated to mopey Harry Reid as minority leader in the Senate. Bummer.
Crossed at Right Wing News.
“We’ll see if Thom Tillis puts NC first”
This type of phrase is the biggest problem in federal politics and half of the reason pork-barrel spending occurs. His job is not to put NC first. It’s to put America first. A state is supposed to send whomever they think is their best and brightest to move America forward. Your governor and state legislature are the ones who put NC first. Not the ones you elect to the federal government.
How would he put NC first? The main (imo corrupt) way to do that is to attach an amendment to a good bill that sends money specifically to your state at the expense of every other state. Usually in the form of money for roads, buildings, military products made only in your state even if they are not requested by the military, etc. I’m very much against this damaging and practice. It divides us and wastes precious resources.
I don’t think Tillis will be like that. It’s us who are the problem. We as voters need to change our mindset. It’s half of the battle to ending pork. The other half is pork for political donations (eg Solyndra). Stop asking what our reps in DC can do for our state and ask what they can do for our country.
It’s a tough sell. People are generally pretty selfish.
I have to disagree a bit, Kevin. The Framers set it up so that a Senators first allegiance was to their state legislative body, which in turn was held accountable by the citizens of the state. One of the problems in politics today is that too many officials think of the national party first, rather than their constituents. One of the big reasons the 17th amendment needs to be repealed.
“The Framers set it up so that a Senator’s first allegiance was to their state legislative body”
I see what you mean, kinda. In fact, the Framers set it up so the first allegiance of a Senator was to the dozen or so people who elected him. That is not now acceptable, and shouldn’t have been even when we were formed.
I love you like a brother, but I’m quite shocked that you think our ‘betters’ in the House should be electing our Senators instead of us.