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Maine
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Jared Golden defeated Bruce Poliquin in ranked-choice voting
Maine Rep. Bruce Poliquin, center, lost his re-election on Thursday. He and former New Hampshire Rep. Frank Guinta, right, who lost in 2016, had been the last two New England Republicans in the House. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Maine Rep. Bruce Poliquin’s loss under the state’s new ranked-choice voting system on Thursday likely means the end of New England Republicans in the House.
It’s the first time in over 100 years an incumbent has lost Maine’s 2nd District. Poliquin is still pursuing his legal challenge to the ranked-choice voting system in federal court, but Democrat Jared Golden won more than 50 percent after state election officials tabulated the ranked-choice votes on Thursday afternoon.
Democrat Jared Golden claimed lead after third-party candidates eliminated
Maine Rep. Bruce Poliquin has lost to Democrat Jared Golden. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Democrat Jared Golden has defeated Maine Rep. Bruce Poliquin in the nation’s first use of ranked-choice voting for a congressional race, according to state election officials.
The Democrat won just over 50 percent of the vote in the ranked-choice tabulation, meaning he’ll be the next congressman from the 2nd District unless Poliquin’s legal challenges to the voting system prevail.
Some counties in Florida expected to miss Thursday’s machine recount deadline
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) addresses his election night party in Naples, Fla., where he declared victory in the Florida Senate race with incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., on November 6, 2018. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Updated 2:54 p.m. | Officials have yet to determine the winners in one Senate contest and seven House races — a week and two days after the midterm elections.
If the 2000 presidential race is an indication, the outcome of the Florida Senate race could be weeks away as state election personnel recount votes for Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and his GOP challenger, Gov. Rick Scott. Nelson trailed Scott in the initial tally by less than 15,000 votes.
Democrats appear poised to pick up two more seats in California after winning pair over the weekend
The Associated Press called the race in California’s 10th District for GOP Rep. Jeff Denham’s challenger Josh Harder Tuesday night, bringing the number of unresolved House races to nine. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Officials have yet to determine the winners in one Senate contest and eight House races — a week and a day after the midterm elections.
If the 2000 presidential race is an indication, the outcome of the Florida Senate race could be weeks away as state election personnel recount votes for Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. Nelson trailed in the initial tally by less than 15,000 votes to his challenger, GOP Gov. Rick Scott.
Poliquin could lose his narrow lead under new system
Maine Rep. Bruce Poliquin is suing to stop the state’s ranked-choice voting system from going forward in his 2nd District re-election. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Maine Rep. Bruce Poliquin has sued state Attorney General Matthew Dunlap seeking an injunction to stop the tabulation of ballots under the state’s ranked-choice voting system, which is being used in his race against Democrat Jared Golden in the 2nd District.
Since no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, the state’s ranked-choice voting system kicked in last week. This year is the first time it’s being used at the federal level in Maine, and the 2nd District will likely be the first House race in the country to be decided under this process.
Meanwhile, recount in Florida Senate race goes on
Florida Gov. Rick Scott addresses his election night party in Naples, where he declared victory in the Florida Senate race with incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson on Nov. 6. Scott and Nelson are now locked in a recount a week after Election Day. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
A week after the midterm elections, officials have yet to determine the winners in one Senate contest and 10 House races.
If the 2000 presidential race is an indication, we could be waiting weeks for the outcome of the Florida Senate race as state election personnel recount votes for Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who trailed in the initial tally by less than 15,000 votes to his challenger, GOP Gov. Rick Scott.
It’s just like college, but with more catering
Newly elected members of the 116th Congress arrive in Washington today for new member orientation. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Freshly elected faces will descend on Washington on Tuesday for the start of their congressional orientation, including a new session on workplace rights on Capitol Hill. If past years are any indication, they’ll be eating tens of thousands of dollars of food.
Lunches, tours and briefings will pack the agenda, and winners from around the country will mix and mingle like freshmen on a college campus. It will be their first taste of life as a member of Congress, from interacting with media to forging relationships with their future colleagues.
Medicaid expansion was the biggest winner in last week’s elections
As health care debates raged over the last few years, Congress was smack dab in the middle. After Tuesday’s elections, most of the action moves to the states. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Newly-elected leaders in the states will be in a stronger position than those in Washington to steer significant shifts in health care policy over the next couple of years as a divided Congress struggles with gridlock.
State Medicaid work requirements, prescription drug prices, insurance exchanges and short-term health plans are among the areas with the potential for substantial change. Some states with new Democratic leaders may also withdraw from a multistate lawsuit aimed at killing the 2010 health care law or look for ways to curb Trump administration policies.
Results were good enough to constrain Trump, and that alone made it the most important midterm since 1930
As Donald Trump in the White House fulfills every dire prophecy about his vitriolic fear mongering, affluent suburbs are increasingly becoming part of the permanent Democratic coalition. (Sarah Silbiger/CQ Roll Call file photo)
OPINION — It was the most important midterm election since voters repudiated the unsteady hand of Herbert Hoover in responding to the Great Depression. But unlike 1930 when the Democrats garnered more than 50 House seats and gained effective control of the Senate, the electoral verdict last night was far more equivocal.
As anyone who spent last summer at the beach knows, waves come in all sizes. There are gentle waves made for diving seven-year-olds. There are deceptively strong waves that bring with them an undertow. And there are, of course, fierce storm waves that require a response from FEMA.
