Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Florida’s U.S. Senate race, incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D) conceded yesterday to outgoing Gov. Rick Scott (R), ending their extremely close contest. Would the Democrat have prevailed were it not for the ballot design in Broward County? Probably, yes.
* On a related note, Andrew Gillum (D) also conceded Florida’s gubernatorial race over the weekend. With no remaining gubernatorial contests, we now know that in the new year, there will be 23 Democratic governors — up from 16 now.
* And speaking of the Sunshine State, Broward Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes submitted her resignation over the weekend.
* In California, it looks like Gil Cisneros (D) has prevailed over Young Kim (R) in the state’s 39th congressional district. It’s the sixth “red” to “blue” flip in California this year, and it means Dems now represent all of Orange County, up until recently a Republican bastion.
* A notable piece of trivia: Texas’ 36-member U.S. House delegation will now feature 13 Democrats, while California’s 53-member congressional delegation is sending just 8 Republicans.
* Mississippi’s U.S. Senate runoff is a week from tomorrow, and with Republicans feeling antsy about Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith’s (R) chances, Donald Trump will travel to Mississippi a week from today to headline two rallies on the GOP senator’s behalf. * In Arizona, we now know that Katie Hobbs (D) eked out a narrow win in the secretary of state race. It’d the third secretary of state to flip from “red” to “blue” this year, following other Democratic wins in Colorado and Michigan. There may yet be a fourth: Georgia will hold its runoff election for its next secretary of state on Dec. 4. * There are only a handful of undecided U.S. House races remaining, including the contest in New York’s 22nd, where the latest tallies show Anthony Brindisi (D) building on his narrow lead over incumbent Rep. Claudia Tenney (R). If this pattern holds, and Brindisi prevails, it will push House Dems’ net gain for the cycle to 38. * And for those keeping track, as of this morning, the Democratic lead in the U.S. House popular vote is up to 7.7%, and it may yet inch higher. For comparison purposes, note that in 2010 — which was widely seen as a GOP “wave” cycle — Republicans won the U.S. House popular vote by 6.6%. In 1994, which was seen as a Republican “revolution,” the GOP won the U.S. House popular vote by 7.1%.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
