Good morning! For the casual F1 fan out there, Max Verstappen won the São Paulo Grand Prix yesterday to notch his 17th win of the season. That’s 17 wins. Out of 20 races.

Today we’re taking a look at:

• Elections across the country tomorrow

• A bad poll for Biden

• A new AI in town

• And much more!

Here’s today’s edition of The Elective:

 ELECTIONS 

Tomorrow is election day 2023

Tomorrow is election day. Cities all over the country will elect mayors and city councils tomorrow. New Jersey and Virginia will elect their state legislatures. Kentucky will elect its governor and a few state offices. Mississippi will do it all. For anyone living in Virginia, the state commonwealth offers same-day voter registration. So it’s not too late to go make your voice heard! Here’s a quick look at what to expect:

Virginia: Virginia’s legislative elections have become a national political battleground. Republican strength here has eroded over the past decade as Northern Virginia (NoVA) has drifted left. But the GOP notched a big win when Glenn Youngkin (R) took the governorship in 2021 (and he’s still popular). But split control has made life a little difficult for Youngkin. Republicans narrowly control the House of Delegates while Democrats narrowly control the Senate. Democrats sounded the alarm in Virginia earlier this year, worried they were going to lose to Youngkin’s rebuilt state GOP (porn scandals don’t help, either). Since then, massive amounts of money have poured into the state from both parties. But Democrats have the fundraising edge. And Barack Obama jumped in to help. We’ll find out in a few days whether or not a host of Biden-won areas will feel comfortable swinging right and electing Republican state legislators. If Youngkin can grab a big win on Tuesday, look for him to make a bigger splash in a presidential race soon. Virginia governors can’t run for reelection, so Tuesday could be his political swan song.

New Jersey: Democrats hold moderately strong majorities in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature. The Senate is 25-15 Democratic while the General Assembly is 46-34 Democratic. Party control is not expected to change barring something wildly unexpected happening.

Kentucky: Kentucky is one of the most Republican states in the country. Despite this, the state has only elected three Republican governors in the past 76 years. Current Gov. Andy Beshear won the office in 2019 after serving a single term as the state’s attorney general. He defeated the incumbent Republican by 0.4% (being the son of a popular former two-term governor probably helped his case). His opponent this year, Daniel Cameron, is looking to repeat that feat. He’s finishing up his first term as attorney general after working in Washington for Sen. Mitch McConnell. If elected, Cameron would become just the fourth African American ever elected a state’s governor. Most polls show Beshear overcoming the state’s lean to win this one. But a late-breaking poll of likely voters shows Cameron winning in a squeaker.

Mississippi: In 2019, Republicans won complete control of Mississippi’s government for the first time since the 1870s. But with a single term exception, Republicans have controlled the Mississippi governorship since 1992. Incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves is seeking a second term. His Democratic opponent is Brandon Presley (a member of the state’s Public Service Commission that regulates utilities). Democrats are hopeful but the polls have Reeves winning comfortably. The likelier question is can he top 50% to avoid a second round runoff election?

 NEWS 

✖️ AI: Elon Musks’s X platform (RIP Twitter) announced the release of Grok. Grok is an AI chatbot rival to ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, et al. What makes Grok different? For one, the company says it will answer questions with "a bit of wit" and recommended users who "hate humor" stay away. It will also answer "spicy" questions other bots avoid. But the key differentiator for Grok is that it, unlike competitors, has access to real-time data from X. It's in early beta right now but will soon be available to subscribers of X's new Premium+ plan ($16/mo.). No word yet on when, if ever, X's Basic ($3/mo.) and Premium ($8/mo.) subscribers will get access.

📅 Sam Bankman-Fried: Late last week, after just a few hours of deliberation, a jury of twelve found FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried guilty seven charges involving wire fraud and money laundering. So how long will he spend behind bars? That's up to the judge. Federal sentencing guidelines provide for a maximum sentence of about 115 years. But federal court system grants the judge wide leeway in making a final sentencing decision. Some experts believe the judge will want to give SBF a chance at a productive life when he eventually gets out. Others believe SBF is in for a long, long haul due to the nature of his crimes (defrauding small investors out of their hard-earned cash). We won't find out for quite a while though — sentencing will take place in March 2024.

🇪🇬 Egypt: The Egyptian government halted evacuations out of Gaza Saturday after a deadly attack on an ambulance. Egypt’s Rafah crossing is the only way in or out of Gaza that’s not controlled by Israel. Officials were in the process of reopening the crossing on Sunday. US Deputy National Security Advisor Jonathan Finer said some Americans remain in Gaza. More than 300 have already escaped.

 POLITICS 

⚪ The New York Times and Siena College polled a few swing states about the 2024 presidential election. And wow. The results are not great for President Biden:

• Arizona: Biden 44 - Trump 49

• Georgia: Biden 43 - Trump 49

• Michigan: Biden 43 - Trump 48

• Nevada: Biden 41 - Trump 52

• Pennsylvania: Biden 44 - Trump 48

• Wisconsin: Biden 47 - Trump 45

Trump leads in 5/6 swing states. Were that the result on election night, he would win by a wide margin. Voters increasingly do not believe Biden has the “mental sharpness” required to do the job. The good thing for Biden supporters is it’s just a poll. And the election isn’t for another year. This poll is also one of registered voters (rather then likely voters). Sixteen percent of respondents here did not vote in 2020. Will they in 2024? But Team D shouldn't panic over this. And Team R shouldn't celebrate. At this point in 2011, Mitt Romney led Barack Obama in similar polls. And we all know how that turned out.

🔴 Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) will endorse Ron DeSantis for president at a rally in Des Moines today. Former longtime Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) declined to endorse anyone in either 2012 or 2016. The Reynolds endorsement comes at a key time for DeSantis. Recent polling data show Trump beating him by an average of over 30 points (about 49-17) here. So the DeSantis campaign is likely desperate for any help they can get in the Hawkeye State. The loser here might be fellow presidential hopeful Sen. Tim Scott. His “Iowa or bust” campaign had courted the Reynolds endorsement. The Iowa caucus on January 15 is the first delegate-awarding contest in next year's race for the Republican nomination.

 TRIVIA 

 BRIEFS 

🦵 Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg tore his ACL while training for an MMA fight scheduled for early next year. Zuck’s been big into jiu-jitsu for a while now. No word yet on his oft-rumored bout with Elon Musk.

🗯️ Wednesday's upcoming third Republican debate might only have four participants. Only DeSantis, Haley, Ramaswamy, and Christie have hit the polling numbers required to snag an invite. The Scott and Burgum campaigns say they’re close.

🎢 Theme park giants Six Flags and Cedar Fair will merge. The new company will use the Six Flags name and control dozens of parks under the names Six Flags, Cedar Point, Knott’s Berry Farm, and more.

👩‍🏫 A month after the first, a Missouri high school has placed a second teacher on leave after administrators became aware she was running a side hustle on OnlyFans.

🎞️ Gruesome footage of the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel will be screened for audiences in Hollywood and New York this week. Most of the 45-minute video, titled "Bearing Witness," was shot by the attacks' Hamas perpetrators.

 QUOTE 

 ANSWER 

The longest-serving governor in US history was Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R). He served over 22 years (non-consecutively) between 1983 and 2017. He later served as US Ambassador to China.

The number two spot goes way, way back. New York Gov. George Clinton served a collective almost 21 years from 1777 to 1804 (also non-consecutively).

After that it gets a little murky. A whole slew of governors have served 16 years, plus or minus a few days.