The big headlines from Election Night were great, of course, but there are so many other stories that flew under the radar. Here are some of those stories.
Wins from the states
Tucson, Arizona: Tucson’s first female and first Latina mayor, Regina Romero, was elected with almost 55 percent of the vote.
Virginia: Ghazala Hashmi became the first Muslim woman elected to the Virginia Senate, flipping a GOP seat in the process.
Kentucky: A Republican, Daniel Cameron won the Attorney General’s race, becoming the first African-American to hold the position.
Lewiston, Maine: Safiya Khalid, 23, became the first Somali American elected to Lewiston City Council.
Pennsylvania: “Democrats won political control of the once-legendary GOP stronghold of Delaware County for first time since at least the Civil War.”
Pennsylvania: “Democrats won a majority on the Chester County Board of Commissioners for the first time in history, in the only suburban Philadelphia county where Republicans still outnumber Democrats.”
Pennsylvania: “In Bucks County, Democrats captured the Board of Commissioners for the first time since 1983.”
Texas: “A constitutional amendment was also passed that will allow police K-9 units and other animals to live with their handlers when they go into retirement. Until now, many law enforcement animals were considered state property and could only be auctioned off or faced euthanasia.”
Significant developments
Equal Rights Amendment: “The ERA, an amendment that guarantees equal rights regardless of sex, passed Congress on a bipartisan basis in 1972 and requires 38 states to ratify it in order to become part of the Constitution.” There are currently 37 states that have ratified it. Now that the Democrats have won full control of Virginia, they are extremely likely to be the game-changing 38th state.
Kentucky Governor: Democrat Andy Beshear won the Kentucky governor’s race, beating incumbent Matt Bevin by over 5,000 votes. But… Bevin won’t concede and wants a recanvass (a type of recount). And then, the Republican Senate President said they might have the state legislature (heavily controlled by the Republicans) decide the race, citing a provision in the state constitution that hasn’t been used for over 100 years. More on that story HERE.
Voting Rights: Assuming he holds onto his win, Andy Beshear can unilaterally restore voting rights to the 140,000 former felons in Kentucky who have completed their sentences. In Virginia, now that the Democrats hold all the levers of power, they can pass automatic voter registration, expanded voting hours, and many other voting rights.
Plus, read Heartwarming Election Stories that Didn’t Make the National News, via DemCast.
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