RationalWiki:What is going on with the elections?/2022

December 2022
A recount has confirmed that Democratic candidate Kris Mayes narrowly won the Arizona attorney general's race by just 280 votes. [https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-arizona-katie-hobbs-2a1ef57c4902c8460eaee8ec0bc394d6 A Maricopa County Superior Court judge, appointed by Arizona's GOP governor, has thrown out Kari Lake's legal challenge to her 2022 election loss. Lake's team alleged that some ballot printers temporarily running low on ink proved widespread fraud and called to overturn the election]. [https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-walker-warnock-runoff-3d4e4d1ab1760792454e1cbd618ce332 Warnock defeats Walker in the Georgia runoff, meaning the Democratic majority in the US Senate will grow to 51-49. This also makes it likelier that Georgia's 2020 election results weren't a fluke for Democrats.] Several Fox News pundits seem to be wondering if the network's repeated attacks on early voting have backfired on the GOP. Genderfluid comedian Eddie Izzard has lost her attempt to stand as the Labour candidate of Sheffield Central in the upcoming general election. Her campaign was noted by the amount of transphobia aimed at her, and the fact the strong likelihood of being the first genderfluid MP. US District judge rejects bogus lawsuits from failed GOP candidates Kari Lake and Mark Finchem over the Arizona midterm results, orders them to pay resultant legal fees incurred by Maricopa County.

November 2022
Independent Arnold Palacios wins a runoff election for governor of the CNMI, defeating the ultra corrupt Republican incumbent Ralph Torres. The Kuomintang win most of Taiwan's local elections. The leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (and the country's president) subsequently resigns as DPP party leader, but will remain in office until 2024. The 2024 Presidential race really heats up, with Kanye West announcing his candidacy. Outgoing Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, is now demanding that votes in the election should be invalidated after losing to Lula. Update: Court rejects Bolsonaro's attempt to overturn the Brazilian election, fines his party 4.3 million US dollars for asking in "bad faith". Mary Peltola defeats Sarah Palin again and wins reelection for Alaska's at-large district. Meanwhile, Lisa Murkowski wins reelection for the Senate, defeating Donald Trump-backed challenger Kelly Tshibaka.

Control of the Pennsylvania House of Representative has flipped to Democrat. Butthurt Sarah Palin helps initiate petition calling for a ballot measure to abolish ranked-choice voting after she finished behind Democrat Mary Peltola in the House election. After a week and a half of waiting for results, Lauren Boebert is declared the winner of CO-3. Nancy Pelosi to stand down as leader of House Democrats. Get ready for two years of split control in the United States government! Republicans won the 218th seat after over a week of waiting for results. It's official: announces 2024 presidential run. Katie Hobbs defeats Kari Lake, giving another election denier a humiliating loss. This also breaks a Republican trifecta in the state. Cortez Masto wins the Nevada senate race, meaning Democrats retain control of the Senate. A huge upset — Democrat Marie Glusemkamp Perez defeats Republican Joe Kent in the race for Washington's third district, which had been considered safe for Republicans. The original incumbent was Jaime Herrera Beutler, who had voted to impeach Donald Trump, but she was primaried by Kent, who has ties to white nationalist groups. [https://www.npr.org/2022/11/11/1134201118/nevada-governor-midterm-results-sisolak-lombardo Republican Joe Lombardo narrowly defeats incumbent Gov. Steve Sisolak. Lombardo notably rejected Trump's claims of voter fraud in 2020 and dropped his support for a 13-week abortion ban]. Mark Kelly now projected to win the Arizona senate race for the Democrats. Also: Democrat Adrian Fontes wins election as secretary of state, defeating election denier Mark Finchem, who had ties to extremist groups and wanted to limit voting access. Democrat Steve Hobbs wins the election for Washington Secretary of State. While this may seem like an expected result, the last time a Democrat had been elected into that position was 1960. It has been decided. Oregon Democrats won the governorship. Colorado votes to legalize psilocybin, aka "magic mushrooms". It is the second state to do so after Oregon. Brazil's military has released a report stating there is no evidence of election fraud. In Minnesota, the state Senate flipped blue to give Democrats first trifecta since before 2014. Incumbent Kansas governor Laura Kelly wins reelection over her GOP opponent (who promised to sign an anti-trans bill that Kelly vetoed). Colorado voters have passed a ballot measure funding free school meals for all public students by raising taxes on people making more than $300,000 per year. The Senate race between Rev. Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker is headed for a runoff, so get ready for that fun again. Missouri votes to legalize recreational cannabis, becoming the 21st state to do so. However, measures to legalize recreational cannabis have failed in Arkansas, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Several important victories for Democrats in the Great Lakes State: Firstly, Proposal 3, which will provide a state constitutional right to abortion, has passed. Secondly, Governor Gretchen Whitmer won reelection. Thirdly, and perhaps most surprisingly, Democrats have managed to flip both chambers of the Michigan state legislature, putting them in full control of the state for the first time since 1984. Update:Democrat Jocelyn Benson has won reelection as secretary of state, defeating a Trump-backed election denier. Illinois voters approve a amendment to the state constitution banning laws interfering with collective bargaining and unionizing. Nebraska voters approved a ballot measure to raise the state minimum wage by $1.50 per year until it hits $15 in 2026 and then tie the minimum wage to inflation thereafter. [https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2022-11-09/slavery-rejected-in-some-not-all-states-where-on-ballot Voters in Alabama, Tennessee, and Vermont voted to amend their state constitutions to outlaw slavery as a criminal punishment. Louisiana voted to retain prison slavery.] Update: Oregon has abolished prison slavery as well. [https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/gov-ron-desantis-cruises-re-election-solidifying-gop-hold-florida-poli-rcna56196 Wingnut Florida governor Ron DeSantis wins landslide reelection with increased Latino support across the state and in Miami. Senator Rubio also won, and Florida will likely have no Democrat in any statewide office]. And the moment you all have been waiting for: John Fetterman defeats that quack Mehmet Oz. J.D. Vance wins the U.S. Senate race in Ohio, defeating Democrat, Tim Ryan. Democrats win upset victories in Ohio's first and thirteenth districts. This means that despite the Ohio legislature's absurd gerrymander, Democrats still won more districts than they did in 2020. Maryland votes to legalize recreational cannabis, making it the twentieth state to do so. Josh Shapiro wins PA's governor election, keeping January 6 lunatic Doug Mastriano away from the governor's mansion. Federal judge imposes a restraining order on "Clean Elections USA", a conservative group operating in Arizona that believes that massive voter fraud swung the 2020 presidential election, from carrying weapons near voting areas, or videotaping and doxxing voters suspected of being "mules" carrying multiple ballots on social media, on the grounds that it is basically a textbook case of voter intimidation. [https://www.npr.org/2022/11/02/1133516979/israel-election-results-netanyahu Netanyahu's Likud party and the far-right Religious Zionism party have won a clear majority of seats in the Knesset, putting Netanyahu on the cusp of regaining power. He campaigned on imposing tougher law enforcement on Palestinians and emphasizing Israel as a Jewish state.] Also: Bad news for the Israeli left as Labor wins just four seats and the pro-LGBT Meretz party fails to win any seats at all. Update: PM Lapid concedes after Netanyahu's coalition confirmed to get 64/120 seats, says he'll ensure orderly transition of power.

October 2022
[https://www.npr.org/2022/10/30/1132122321/oregon-ballot-measure-114-more-difficult-buy-guns-permits A ballot measure in Oregon would require people who want to buy a gun to pay a fee, take a safety course, submit fingerprints, and pass a background check to obtain a permit. It would also ban high capacity (meaning more than 10 rounds) magazines.] Brazil's runoff election between Luiz Inacio da Silva and incumbent Jair Bolsonaro has started. [https://resultados.tse.jus.br/oficial/app/index.html#/eleicao/resultados In current live results. Lula is barely leading over Bolsonaro.] Update: Lula defeats Bolsonaro Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota have ballot measures for voters to consider legalizing recreational marijuana. [https://www.denverpost.com/2022/10/23/colorado-proposition-ff-healthy-school-meals/ A ballot measure in Colorado would make school lunches free by raising taxes on state residents making over $300k annually. It needs a simple majority to pass.] Slavery as a criminal punishment is on the ballot for voters in 5 US states. Dear Leader DeSantis has Floridian voters arrested two years after the fact because they believed under Amendment 4 that their voting rights were restored. Fox News is providing more prime time coverage of key US Senate races than CNN and MSNBC combined. Brazilians go to the polls for the first round of general elections between eleven candidates, including right-wing nationalist/populist incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, and leftist former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. If none of the candidates receive over 50% of the vote, there will be a runoff election on October 30th between the top two candidates (likely Bolsonaro and Lula). Update: It seems that there will be a runoff election. Lula is in a slight lead with ~48% of votes while Bolsonaro received ~43%, outperforming polls.

September 2022
Preliminary referendum results in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine show the public overwhelmingly support joining Russia. The public, of course, faced no coercion whatsoever. A recent The Times/YouGov poll has put Labour at its highest lead over the Conservatives in 21 years with a seventeen percent lead, at 45% over 28%. Cubans to vote in a national referendum on whether to protect gay rights, including gay marriage. No polling has been done on the issue, however it can be roughly ascertained that the measure will succeed, in part due to state media strongly backing it. The Catholic Church is opposed, and some anti-government Cubans want to use disapproval votes to signal disapproval of the government in general. Update: It passed, 67% to 33%. Election in Italy expected to result in the country's most right-wing government since Mussolini. Update: The most votes (some 26%) went to Giorgia Meloni's "Brothers of Italy" party. Meloni began her political career in the 1990s as president of the student branch for a neo-fascist party (MSI), which succeeded Mussolini's banned National Fascist Party. And at least two living descendants of Benito Mussolini are politicians for Brothers of Italy today. Sweden's right-wing parties (ranging from centre-right to far-right) appear set to gain a narrow lead in the country's parliament in the recent elections, with 98% of districts counted. UPDATE: Prime Minister of Sweden concedes the election, right-wing prepares for power. A new WSJ poll suggests that overturning Roe v. Wade made voters more likely to support abortion rights. Not only that, but voters ranked abortion as having made them more likely to vote in the 2022 midterm elections than inflation did — and voters ranked abortion as their #3 most important issue. Also, Catholic voters are now almost 60% in favor of abortion rights in all or most cases — despite the Catholic Church being anti-abortion. Chile votes overwhelmingly to reject new, progressive constitution.

August 2022
In a major upset, Democrat Mary Peltola defeats Sarah Palin in the special election for Alaska's at-large House district. Laura Loomer has lost the primary for Florida’s 11th U.S. House district. Update: She is now refusing to concede defeat and has claimed voter fraud. Ron DeSantis, incumbent governor of Florida, randomly takes time off from campaigning against an active challenger in his home state to campaign for other Republicans in Ohio and Pennsylvania, in what is surely unrelated to any alleged presidential ambitions. He was there to support besieged candidates J. D. Vance and Doug Mastriano, perhaps in exchange for strategic endorsements at some. The commits $2.5 million to supporting incumbent Republican Senator Mike Lee amid fears that Never-Trumper and former CIA agent Evan McMullin could pose an unexpected threat. McMullin is running in the Senate race as an independent. He received 21.5% of the vote in the state of Utah during the 2016 presidential election. Mitch McConnell is worried about the GOP's chances of taking the Senate this year due to dogshit quality Senate candidates. The rats are finally jumping ship. Alex Jones no longer endorses Donald Trump. Jones is now supporting Ron DeSantis. Version you don't have to register for Various anti-vax, climate "skeptic" and other conspiracy nutters are trying to organize themselves to get elected in New Zealand's upcoming local council elections. One group has a stated aim "to make New Zealand ungovernable". They also advise their candidates not to admit they have any affiliation with the group, 'cos honesty is important or something.... And racist Philip Arps, jailed for spreading the Christchurch Mosque massacre video seeks election to the board of one of the country's most diverse schools Campaigning has begun for the presidential election in Brazil, pitting the right-wing Jair Bolsonaro against the left-wing. There are other candidates, but none meet their level. First voting round occurs on October 2, followed by a run-off on October 30. Polling is very favorable to Lula, currently. Rep. Liz Cheney loses her Wyoming primary in landslide over her opposition to Trump despite previous loyalty to far-right politics. Update: Now she says she is considering running for President in 2024. Liz Truss has gained a considerable polling lead over her rival Rishi Sunak in the race to become the next leader of Britain's Conservative Party, a survey of Conservative voters taken from 3 to 8 August suggests. Sunak has also lost his polling advantage with the general public. Without a change in the winds soon, it looks like Truss may well be the new overlord of the UK, come September 5.

July 2022
Andrew Yang and other Democrats and Republicans have formed a new centrist party called the Forward Party, which will probably have as much success as all the other third parties in US history. Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss are the final two candidates for Conservative Party leader and UK Prime Minister. Tory members will vote over summer, with the result expected in early September. Ken Akamatsu, a manga artist, wins a seat in the House of Councillors election, on a campaign focused on freedom of speech, better working conditions and copyright protections for manga artists

June 2022
SCOTUS plans on taking up a case in the upcoming court term that could basically hand total control and oversight of federal elections to state legislatures, and remove the authority of state constitutions and state courts to have oversight of how state legislatures operate those elections. The case, Moore v. Harper, won't have an impact on the 2022 midterms, as it will be decided after it occurs, but could impact 2024 election and beyond. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon asks the UK government and UK Supreme Court for permission to hold a new independence referendum in 2023. Mo Brooks, long time Freedom Caucus member, has lost his bid for Alabama’s U.S. Senate seat to Katie Britt, who was endorsed by Trump after distancing himself from Brooks who told Trump to move on from the election. Just to note, both Brooks and Britt believe the election was stolen. Leftist Gustavo Petro wins Colombia's presidential election, becoming their first leftist president and beating Hitler follower Rodolfo Hernández. Emmanuel Macron's party is set to lose its majority in the French National Assembly. The left-green alliance under Jean-Luc Mélenchon and national rally under Marine Le Pen are set to make big gains. Some mildly entertaining news of how Trump "fundraising" e-mails were worded exactly like actual scams. The fun part is they were actually scams by the Trump team to make off with their supporters money. Setting the stage for 2022 and 2024? Trump's big lie has taken over a New Mexico county, as a GOP-led commission refuses to certify the primary vote, citing baseless claims of election fraud. This has prompted the state Supreme Court to step in and order the immediate certification of the election results. (One of the sitting members of the commission was involved in the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot and was convicted and sentenced for trespassing on Capitol grounds.) They have until June 17 right before midnight to avoid further legal action. Update: The commission voted to certify the election, albeit by a narrow 2-1 margin. The man who voted against is the same guy who was present at the January 6 Capitol riot. (non-paywall version) Mayra Flores, an ultraconservative accused of supporting QAnon, has flipped Texas' 34th district and is heading to Congress after a runoff election. Flores is expected to defend her seat in the general election in November. The 2022 Ontario provincial election has the lowest voter turnout in history. Only 43% of eligible voters turned up. The Progressive Conservative Party wins a majority (I.E all the power) with only an 18% share of all eligible voters. Oh great, Republicans win. Florida Supreme Court will not hear a challenge to the state's congressional maps until after the midterms. After weeks of recounting, [https://news.yahoo.com/mccormick-concedes-oz-pennsylvania-gop-223844824.html David McCormick concedes defeat to Dr. Oz by a razor thin margin in the GOP primary. Oz is expected to face John Fetterman in a race for a Senate seat in Pennsylvania.] Need we remind you that Fetterman had a stroke. Around two-thirds of Danes have voted in favour of scrapping an opt-out from EU security and defence policy, in a referendum triggered by Russia's war in Ukraine.

May 2022
After the Republicans on Ohio's redistricting committee refused to come up with a new map, US District Court's Southern District of Ohio has ordered Ohio to use 'Map 3', a set of state legislative district maps already rejected twice by the Ohio Supreme Court for being illegally weighed in favor of Republicans. As usual, the Ohio Supreme Court has washed their hands of it, by refusing to hold committee members in contempt for blatant disregard for court orders, including submitting the already rejected Map 3 again on May 6. Jo Rae Perkins, a QAnon believing candidate, has won the GOP primary for the Oregon U.S. Senate seat. This is her second attempt to run as a Senator after losing in 2020. Katie Britt leads over Mo Brooks in a race for a Senate seat with 45% of the vote. The two are expected to face each other again in a runoff election on June 21st. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Mike Huckabee’s daughter (and former White House Press Secretary), easily wins nomination for Arkansas’ Republican nomination for Governor. Herschel Walker, Trump-approved candidate and former football star, wins GOP primary to challenge Raphael Warnock’s seat in the U.S. Senate in Georgia. Georgia governor Brian Kemp defeats Trump approved candidate, David Perdue, in the GOP primary. With counting underway for the the Federal Election in Australia, it is apparent that there will be a change of government, with Anthony Albanese set to be the 31st Prime Minister and the Labor party unseating the three term Liberal/National Coalition government. It's yet to be seen if it will be a majority or minority government. Update: Labor set to form majority government. Trump approved candidate for North Carolina's Senate seat, Ted Budd has won the primary and is expected to face Cheri Beasley. Hardcore Trumpist and US Representative Madison Cawthorn is defeated by Chuck Edwards in the primary election for NC-11. Good riddance. Doug Mastriano, Trump endorsed candidate who attended the Capitol riot, has won the Republican Primary for the Pennsylvania gubernatorial election. Hezbollah and its allied parties lose their majority in Lebanon's parliament amid an ongoing financial meltdown. France's centre-right prime minister Jean Castex has been replaced by technocrat Élisabeth Borne, after Castex has handed in his resignation to Emmanuel Macron. Borne would be France's second female prime minister, after Édith Crasson who served back in 1991 to 1992. Once again, the Ohio redistricting committee has had to explain to the Ohio Supreme Court why they shouldn't be held in contempt, after they re-approved the already rejected Map 3 on 5 May. The Republican argument is that the Ohio Supreme Court doesn't have authority to hold them in concept as it's a violation of separation of powers. (As they're separate branches of government.) (Trying to catch up on this mess? Here's a timeline. The son of the late Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, claims victory in Philippine presidential election     Egregious Florida gerrymander, forced by Ron DeSantis, has been struck down. UPDATE: Florida Republicans appealed, forcing the decision to be put on hold.   Elise Stefanik and Adam Laxalt- endorsed House candidate in Nevada's 1st congressional district Carolina Serrano comes out against civil rights The 2022 local elections in Great Britain have been a mixed bag, but the Conservatives have fared badly by losing over 400 councillors and twelve councils. Notable losses include; Westminster, Wandsworth and Southampton to Labour, Gosport on the south coast to the Lib Dems and no overall control in Maidstone and Huntingdonshire. The Tories have lost Monmouthshire, meaning they have no Conservative-controlled councils at all in Wales. The only gain was Harrow, and that is suspected to be due to the high number of British-Indians living there.

April 2022
Florida has established an election "fraud" police force with a new bill signed into law. Slovenia's 3-term, Trump-loving, nationalistic Prime Minister, Janez Janša, defeated by liberal Freedom Movement, which only formed in January. Exit polls suggest a 58% - 42% win for incumbent Emmanuel Macron over his rival Marine Le Pen in the French Presidential election. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga) is due in court today to defend her eligibility to hold office against a charge that she has breached the 14th amendment - if you take an oath to defend the constitution you are inelgible for office if you then engage in insurrection and rebellion.... and she'll have to testify under oath against penalty of perjury....  which might be interesting given her lack of practiice at speaking truthfully anywhere else. Oh cool, Republicans win. A panel of 3 federal judges will impose the previously rejected Map 3 proposal and an August 2nd legislative primary date, if the redistricting committee fails to come up with a new map by May 28. Shocker, Ohio Supreme Court rejects a fourth legislative map proposal. (This is not surprising, as it's just the rejected third map with a few minor tweaks.) Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen achieved the top 2 votes, will be faced in the runoff. Imran Khan has lost the confidence vote and is ousted from power. Ohio's redistricting is going about as well as expected. A split primary is all but inevitable, as Ohio house & senate races have been removed from ballots. The redistricting committee members are now, for the second time, explaining to the Ohio Supreme Court why they shouldn't be held in contempt, after the four Republicans just resubmitted an already rejected map, slightly tweaked. Also, a group of GOP voters have been trying to take it into federal court and force the state to use the already struck down third map. This lawsuit is now delayed determining when the inevitable split primary will happen. Unhappy with the Ohio Supreme Court not letting them gerrymander the state, the GOP are trying to pay the court back. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has said impeaching a Republican Ohio Supreme Court justice "may be the right thing to do" and that she "violated her oath of office", because she's voted against the GOP approved maps multiple times. He then tried to deny it, in a hair splitting argument. Meanwhile, a GOP lawmaker has put forth a bill to pay for the second primary out of the court's budget. Pro-Russian SNS president Aleksandar Vučić is re-elected while his party lost seats in the national assembly. Orban’s party wins major victory, ensuring at least several more years of his leadership and likely placing him at the head of a two-thirds parliamentary majority. Facing a confidence vote he was likely to lose, Pakistan’s PM Imran Khan dissolves parliament and calls for snap elections. Update: The Supreme Court reverses his attempted dissolution of Parliament. (paywall) Caribou Barbie announces she’s running for Congress in Alaska: “As I’ve watched the far left destroy the country, I knew I had to step up and join the fight.”

March 2022
Low turnout in the general election made both the Labour and Nationalist party make little to no gains. Alleged QAnon kingpin, Ron Watkins, has enough signatures to be on the ballot in Arizona's Republican primaries. "America First" Republican Mo Brooks, floundering in the polls for his bid to the United States Senate in 2022, has lost his endorsement from Trump. The two immediately began to sling hilarious jargon at each other. Labor has won a sweeping victory against the incumbent Liberals in South Australia's state-wide general election. Even the state premier has lost his seat! This election is crucial, as it is only months from the nationwide general election, and already Scotty from Marketing is looking very vulnerable. Former Bogotá mayor leftist Gustavo Petro leads in the primary elections. In addition, left-wing party Historic Pact made gains in both government chambers. What are the motives behind the timing of Farage’s new political campaign? Is the launch of the anti-Net Zero group intended to be a distraction from Farage’s Putin links and sympathies, a desperate bid by the former UKIP leader for relevance - or a bit of both? The conservative People Power Party candidate, Yoon Suk-yeol, wins the South Korean presidential election by a narrow margin

February 2022
South Korea's Presidential Election: A deep dive into the issues and their implications for Korean politics and society Ohio lawmakers still can't draw a congressional map that doesn't break the state constitution... They've sent the map drawing task back to the Ohio Redistricting Commission, after lawmakers failed to devise and approve a suitable map by Sunday, 6 February, the deadline set by the Ohio Supreme Court. SCOTUS in a 5-4 decision, allow Alabama to use their gerrymandered congressional map, deemed a violation of the Voting Rights Act by a three judge panel in January. North Carolina Supreme Court strikes down gerrymandered map, also orders proportional map.

January 2022
80 year-old Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who was hoping to retire, has agreed to serve a second term after the Italian Parliament failed to choose a successor. Court shoots down Alabama map as racial gerrymander, in yet another Democratic redistricting victory. Prime minister wins re-election from Barbados in a landslide, as her party wins all 30 seats in the election. Mike Lindell says he has "enough evidence" to put 300 million Americans in jail for election fraud Ohio Supreme Court strikes down R gerrymander in a huge win for the left. Alternate source for those afflicted with "This content is not available in your country/region."