Intercept and Democracy Now team up for election night special
Don’t have cable? Do have cable but think it’s awful? I’ve got you covered. Tonight The Intercept and Democracy Now are teaming up for a live election night special. You can watch our coverage here from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET on theintercept.com. I’ll be on from 8 to 10 p.m., which means those are the times you should avoid or try not to miss, up to you.
I’ll also be appearing throughout the night on CBSN, which is CBS’s streaming network.
If you need a distraction until polls close, here’s two years’ worth of my reporting dumped into one feature story about how all this came together.
We’ll also be publishing live updates throughout the night at TheIntercept.com.
The other day I asked readers of this email to flag for me the dark horse House candidates they were following. I got a ton of interesting answers and am reproducing them here below. I haven’t had time to look into each of these races, but the breadth is astonishing.
Whatever the results tonight, it’s clear that the Democratic Party is getting more progressive. Candidates for Congress ran on much more progressive platforms than they have over the last decade, according to a new report by Data for Progress, produced with support from MoveOn.
Its key findings: In 2010, just 27 percent of candidates supported Medicare for All or a Medicare buy-in. That rose to 58 percent this cycle.
Also in 2010, 36 percent of Democratic candidates had an “A” NRA rating. That’s now down to 22 percent. In 2010, only 19 percent had an “F” rating. This year, 52 percent had an “F” rating.
We’ll have more on this movement in The Intercept tonight.
Here are the candidates that readers of this email are following. The commentary is from the readers not me...
John Welle in NJ04 (running against anti-choice nutter Chris Smith)
We’re pretty excited about Courtney Tritch. Democrat running in the 3rd district in Indiana. The seat has been in republican hands for years even though the district is in the 2nd largest city in Indiana, Ft Wayne, which is a diverse city that elects Democrats to city government. But lots of small, rural areas are gerrymandered in. Historically low turnout is now record levels in early voting. Courtney is a strong, moderate Democrat who has campaigned hard.
Nate McMurray, the Supervisor of Grand Island, who is taking on Republican Chris Collins in NY-27. The district has 40,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats. Many people had written this race off months ago, but in August, Collins was indicted on 11 felony counts by Trump's Justice Department for insider trading, wire fraud, and lying to the FBI. Suddenly, McMurray was riding a tidal wave of support that has not let up since.
Mike Siegel in TX10. Feeling very good. Have a good chance to win based on who has been voting so far. Nice surges of support in working class pockets of this District that have been left behind in previous years.
Tedra Cobb over Elise Stefanik in NY 21st
Would say Liuba Grechen Shirley. I met her while organizing the protests against the Muslim ban in February 2017, since then she has organized a campaign that continues to grow exponentially each day. I was at her office last month and there was a line out the door of people coming to volunteer — I’ve never seen anything like it in the 2nd district and although polling has her down by ~3 points I think this election cycle is different from previous examples in NY-02.
Jamie McLeod-Skinner, Democrat, who may well bump incumbent Greg Walden (architect of ACA repeal) out of OR 2.
Katy Geppert, Missouri
Humbly, I think we’re going to win here in NC-06. Early voting totals have us -- Ryan Watts -- in the top two of early vote projections. :-)
Liz Watson, Indiana 09
Carolyn Bourdeaux GA07
Lucy McBath GA06
Kendra Horn, OK-05. I know the problems with trying to read early ballots, but absentee ballots in Oklahoma County, which makes up a large portion of the district, have looked wildly good for Dems. Steve Russell’s fundraising has been absolutely anemic, and he’s largely an absentee representative — low name ID for a two-term congressman. Ironically Horn ran in the primary as a very conventional DCCC-type Dem (her website is full of the most milquetoast policy you’ll see) but after the primary, leading up to the general, she’s embraced truly populist rhetoric.
https://twitter.com/hornforcongress/status/1057791170191998976?s=21
Couple all this with a competitive governors race in which the Dem has a real shot (if Edmondson wins the governors race, Oklahoma County will have to come through for him) that should lift Horn even further. The teachers strike still looms large in Oklahoma, and Horn and Edmondson were there every day marching with them. She may not win, but this is a race that will be tighter than most people think.
How about Dr. Hiral Tipirneni in AZ?
I’m pulling for Tracy Mitrano, 23rd congressional district, New York. One recent poll had her only 1.5 points down.
David Holden, in Florida's 19th Congressional District is crushing it! He's raised more money than any Democrat ever has in this District. He's an extraordinarily gifted speaker, a wise and compassionate leader. [My note: My uncle-in-law (also a newsletter reader) handed out flyers in this district today and said that even though turnout was off the charts and skewed young, Holden has little chance.]
Kendra Fershee, WV I. She may not beat McKinley; but she should.
You might take a look an Anthony Flaccavento (https://www.flacc4congress.com/), 9th congressional district, Virginia -- bible belt, coal country. He certainly is not well known at the national level. However his name recognition and approval ratings in the district have risen steadily throughout the campaign. The thought here is that he definitely has a chance to beat Morgan Griffith. But the 9th district is a gerrymandered one and Mr. Griffith does not seem worried enough to do more than run some really ugly attack ads. Anthony would be a true godsend to all of us if he can get to congress.
Tim Canova Fl dist 23.!
Not sure if she meets your criteria, but she could always use more publicity, I'm pretty hopeful for Lisa Ring in GA-1. She's running against Buddy Carter. She was a bernie delegate at the dnc, and I think the district is R+9.
I think Ron DiNicola has a chance of beating Mike Kelly.
Diane Mitsch Bush for Colorado’s 3rd District, a strong shot at flipping this district.
The Unaffiliated Vote is going to make the difference in this purple state, more unaffilliateds registered then either D or R. She has put in soli , continuous work across the district over the past 18 months. The Denver Post recently refused to endorse her opponent. Help us fund one of the rural races that the National groups have overlooked. Personally I am about to drive 120 miles to do 3 days of final door to door canvassing for Diane and overall ‘Blue’ turnout. (MY county is pretty well in hand for turn-out, a shining dot of Blue on Colorado’s west Slope.