Good morning! Congratulations and condolences to last nights winners and losers. The results may not be what you were hoping for, but rest assured that America won again by conducting free and fair elect…okay, we’ll stop.

We’ve got a lot in store today:

• Last night’s results

• Tonight’s debate

• A cache of Roman coins

• And much more!

Here’s today’s edition of The Elective:

 ELECTIONS 

A good night for Democrats

Last night was mostly positive for Democrats, but Republicans did notch a few important wins. Let’s take a look at what happened. Please note that some of these percentages might still change as final votes are counted.

Kentucky: Gov. Andy Beshear (D) easily defeated AG Daniel Cameron (R) 52%-48% to win a second term. The row offices — Auditor, Agriculture Commissioner, Attorney General, Secretary of State, and Treasurer — all went Republican. Despite its strong Republican lean, Kentucky seems to like its Democratic governors. They’ve won 8 of the last 10 races.

Mississippi: Incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves (R) beat Brandon Presley (D) to win a second term as governor. The final tally of 53%-46% was tighter than the state’s partisan lean would suggest. Republicans won every statewide office as well — Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner, Attorney General, Auditor, Insurance Commissioner, Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, and Treasurer. All won with at least ~60%.

New Jersey: Democrats will keep control of both houses of the New Jersey legislature. Republicans needed to catch lighting in a bottle here to win control for the first time in decades. That did not happen.

Ohio: Pro-choice advocates prevailed in Ohio’s Issue 1 campaign. Abortion will remain legal in the state. Voters also approved Issue 2 to become the 24th state with legal recreational marijuana. Both measures passed about 56%-44%.

Rhode Island: Gabe Amo (D) easily won the special election for Rhode Island’s 1st congressional district. The final tally was 65%-35%. Amo is the first person of color elected to federal office in Rhode Island.

Virginia: Both chambers of the state legislature were hotly contested this year. Republicans desperately wanted wins here to take full control of state government after Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) victory in 2021. They came very close but narrowly missed the mark in both chambers. They lost a handful of House seats and picked up 1 in the Senate. Democrats will keep control of the Senate and take control of the House.

Mayors: Democrats predictably swept the large city mayoral races, keeping control of Charlotte, Columbus, Indianapolis, Orlando, and Philadelphia. Houston will go to a runoff election next month between two Democrats.

Misc.: Republicans in New York City picked up City Council seat in the Bronx (!!) for the first time in decades. Democrats still have an overwhelming majority the Council.

 NEWS 

🇵🇹 Portugal: Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa resigned yesterday. The decision came just hours after police arrested his chief of staff. Prosecutors are investigating his office for corruption involving approvals for huge lithium mines. Lithium is a critical component of electric vehicle batteries and Portugal has Europe's largest reserves. Costa, a member of the Socialist Party, has held the post since 2015. His resignation will take effect once Portugal's president decides whether to run new “snap” elections or to let the Socialist Party in parliament choose a new leader to take over.

⚖️ Trump: Former President Trump took the witness stand in his New York civil fraud trial. He was in typical Trump fashion for the duration of the four hour testimony. Said Trump to the judge, “You’re wrong in your opinion.” Said the judge to Trump’s attorney, “This is not a political rally. This is a courtroom.” Said Trump, “You believe that political hack back there,” referring to New York Attorney General Tish James. The potentially $250 million trial is in its sixth week. It is a bench trial, meaning the verdict will be decided solely by the judge. The former president’s four criminal trials next year will be jury trials. With juries in the room, the judges are likely to be far stricter on conduct if and when he takes the stand.

 POLITICS 

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will host a fundraiser for President Biden and Vice President Harris next week in San Francisco. The event is expected to bring in at least $3 million. Newsom has for months run a not-so-secret underground presidential campaign on the off chance Biden calls it quits. The fundraiser will coincide with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation annual meeting in San Francisco. APEC is an international forum promoting free trade among member states (which includes nearly every country bordering the Pacific).

• The House of Representatives censured Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D) in a vote late Wednesday evening. Twenty-two Democrats and all but three Republicans supported the official reprimand. The resolution accuses Tlaib of “calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.”

• The third Republican presidential debate is tonight at 8 p.m. on NBC (and Peacock). Participating candidates will be Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Former President Trump will not participate. He’ll instead hold an event a few miles away where he will receive the endorsement of Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders (his former press secretary).

Look for fireworks between DeSantis and Haley as they fight to become the leading non-Trump candidate. DeSantis is likely to speak directly to Iowans, touting their governors recent strong endorsement of him. The war in Israel will be a focus. As a former UN Ambassador, foreign policy is one of Haley’s strengths. Ramaswamy came out too strong in the first debate and dialed it down in the second. We’ll see if he finds the right balance tonight. Christie is sure to continue his one-man anti-Trump crusade. Scott is fighting for relevance at this point. His “Iowa or bust” campaign is gasping for air. He needs a big moment. Personally, we’ll be hoping for a huge gaffe like that time in 2011 when Texas Gov. Rick Perry completely forgot his line and settled on “oops.“

 TRIVIA 

 BRIEFS 

🇺🇸 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Seoul, South Korea today for a two-day trip. The visit comes as North Korea attempts to launch its first spy satellite. Blinken just finished a tour of the Middle East and met with his G7 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, EU) counterparts in Tokyo. He’ll be in India later this week.

🎅 Christmas is officially here. Season two of Tim Allen’s “The Santa Clauses” goes live today on Disney+ with its first two episodes (for all the nerds who won’t be watching the GOP debate).

🎥 Nintendo is working on a live-action Zelda movie. No word on a timeline, but Nintendo said “it will take time.” “Spider-Man” producer Avi Arad will produce the film.

🤿 A diver off the coast of Italy hit the jackpot and discovered a trove of between 30,000 and 50,000 well-preserved ancient Roman coins dating to the 4th century (roughly the reign of Constantine the Great).

 QUOTE 

 ANSWER 

73.9%

If you just look at the general election (ignoring the random few who lose their primaries), the number jumps to 78.4%.

This data comes from the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics and includes races from 1946-2020.