On September 13, the U.S. finished selecting its candidates for the November 8, 2022 general election in 49 states and 14 territories to determine all 435 House members, 34 U.S. senators, 36 state and 3 territorial governors, 37 secretaries of states, and a myriad other state and local legislators/officials. Only one state, Louisiana, waits until the general election to start its candidate process for a final decision. With these final decisions in three states, the electorate will be inundated with TV ads, online commentaries, and newspaper articles and letters to the editor. But this will be over in 45 days when the Republican claims of “stolen election” commences. The final primaries in three states:
Delaware:
President Joe Biden flew home to cast his vote in a significantly low voter turnout (12.37 percent of registered voters), narrow results, and overturned incumbents. His decision caused criticism for not having voted absentee, as most of the media generally lambasts him, trying to turn every one of his actions into a scandal.
State Auditor Kathleen McGuiness lost her race to newcomer Democrat Lydia York after McGuiness’ criminal convictions of misdemeanors in hiring her daughter and payments to a consulting firm working on one of her past political campaigns. In the only statewide primary, York received over 70 percent of the vote.
No candidate was opposed in each of the four party primaries for U.S. representative: Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, and Independent.
Two longtime state legislature incumbents, GOP Sen. Colin Bonini, and Democratic Rep. Larry Mitchell (Also the Majority Whip), won’t be returning next year. Bonini lost to a county commissioner and retired teacher Eric Buckson who won the GOP primary by 51 percent of the vote. Nonbinary DeShanna Neal, a first-time candidate, won the Democratic candidacy by 24 votes. A majority of the 14 races for General Assembly lawmakers included challenges against long-time incumbents. In 2020, four of seven incumbent Democratic legislators lost primary races to underdog challengers who were younger, more diverse, and more progressive. The other results are here.
New Hampshire:
DDT didn’t endorse anyone for Congress. In most states, his endorsement would give a bump to the candidate’s vote, but in New Hampshire, 36 percent of undecided voters said his endorsement would make them less likely to vote for that candidate, compared to only 16 percent who said more likely. The 2nd Congressional District might be even less likely because of its more educated and higher earning electorate.
The excitement in the New Hampshire election swirls around the GOP candidate for U.S. Senate to run against incumbent Maggie Hassan who could face a close race in November.
Retired Army Gen. Don Bolduc, the far-right GOP winner, greatly concerned GOP leaders in the state because he might give the race to Hassan, a centrist Democrat. A believer in the “big lie” of a “stolen election,” he accused GOP Gov. Chris Sununu of being a “Chinese communist sympathizer,” questioned whether the FBI should still exist, and doesn’t believe that people should elect their senators—the position he wants. Bolduc declared the current voting system permits a “corrupt system of ballot stuffing” that “circumvents the machine.” Making no sense, he used write-ins for a dog catcher as an explanation. An anti-vaxxer, Bolduc thinks Bill Gates plans to implant people with tracking microchips and work with the government for a vaccine registry. (Bolduc objects.) COVID was a Chinese plan to “kill” Americans and destabilize the West. In addition, Gates and George Soros funded the “militant wing” of Black Lives Matter as a military group, but Bolduc wants the preservation of Confederate statues as “a symbol of hope, a symbol of inspiration, a symbol of moving forward.” All schools, even private ones, should have government bans on discussing “sexuality.”
Bolduc says he has PTSD and a traumatic brain injury, perhaps the source of his ideas. In his victory speech, Bolduc displayed his ignorance about history when he held up a fake shield said was Spartan, with arrows and said:
“We have taken their arrows. We have successfully protected ourselves. We are now going to rally around the circle. Unity, Freedom, Liberty and together.”
The Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC) failed to delay the invading Persian army from Greek forces led by Spartan King Leonidas, and his 300 bodyguard nobles plus another 700 lower-ranked Spartan warriors and other enslaved fighters were annihilated. Leonidas’ head was cut off, stuck on a pole, and paraded before Persian troops after he lost in the miitary disaster. Bolduc’s shield is a toy model of the aspis from the 2006 Zack Snyder film 300 based on a comic series, a bigoted inaccurate film about Leonidas’ failure changed to make the defeat look like a heroic victory. The Spartan shields used in Leonidas’ defeat also had no letters.
Sununu called Bolduc a “conspiracy theorist-type candidate.” Hassan has $7.3 million available, and Bolduc’s campaign has $83,900. With 94 percent of the vote tallied, Bolduc received 52,637 votes, winning by 1,837. In the past two decades, the state has moved from a GOP to a Democratic majority.
[Note: Hungry to get elected and needing the non-MAGA vote Bolduc said that he’s changed his mind about DDT’s election being stolen. He had held the “stolen election” position” until the election but now says it wasn’t.]
Karoline Leavitt, DDT’s former 25-year-old aide who fully embraced the stolen election lie, defeated Matt Mowers, another DDT administration official more cautious about the lie although he supported DDT policies, to become the GOP candidate for the 1st Congressional District. Leavitt plans to impeach President Joe Biden, but when asked about the new coronavirus vaccine, said it was “none of your business.” Mowers v. Leavitt was also GOP Kevin McCarthy (House Minority Leader from California) v. Elise Stefanik (third-ranking House Republican from New York) with McCarthy losing with Mowers. Hardcore DDTers Jim Jordan (OH), Mike Lee (UT), and Madison Cawthorn (NC) supported Leavitt while Mowers had support from Steve Scalise (minority whip from Louisiana), Tom Cotton (AR), and other DDT officials Mike Pompeo and Nikki Haley. The GOP sees Leavitt as a chance to unseat Rep. Chris Pappas.
Within hours of her win, Leavitt had scrubbed her website of all mentions about DDT and Stefanik.
Robert Burns, a conservative businessman who opposes abortion, barely defeated a moderate mayor, George Hansel as GOP candidate for the 2nd Congressional District.
Three-term incumbent Chris Sununu, the fifth most popular governor in the nation, won the primary for governor. He faced three challengers, all staunch conservatives attacking him for his handling of the pandemic in the state. Despite strong encouragement from GOP leaders, Sununu stuck to governor instead of running for the U.S. Senate because of the political problems facing—and caused by—Republicans in Congress.
Rhode Island:
Seth Magaziner, the state treasurer, won the candidacy for the 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary in what may be a highly competitive race in November. Democrat Rep. Jim Langevin is retiring after over two decades, and Biden won the district by 14 points, but Republicans are putting up the GOP candidate in 2014 and 2018 losing twice against former Gov Gina Raimondo, Allan Fung, but performing well in the western half of the stated, comprising the district. McCarthy has great hopes for Fung.
Incumbent Gov. Dan McKee will be the Democratic candidate again, facing down four primary challengers including Bernie Sanders-endorsed progressive favorite Matt Brown. McKee replaced Gov. Raimondo in 2021 after she was appointed Commerce secretary and will face newcomer GOP businesswoman Ashley Kalus.
In races for governor, AG, and secretary of state in 17 states, at least one GOP election-denying candidate is on the November ballot. Some of these are competitive races in critical battleground states such as Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Alabama, Arizona, and Michigan have election deniers running for all three jobs. GOP election deniers are running for governors in 22 states, AG in ten states, and 12 for secretaries of state in 12 states.
At least 19 of the Republican nominees for the 35 U.S. Senate seats contested in the 2022 midterms questioned the 2020 election legitimacy by rejecting, raising doubts about, or trying to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential victory. Five are incumbents, and another 11 have a chance of winning the election; that makes almost 20 percent of the Senate.
DDT endorsed almost 200 candidates in the 2022 primaries and won 92 percent of them, about two percent higher than in 2020 for 94 candidates. Of his wins, over 25 percent of them, 54, ran unopposed, and 74 percent were incumbents. He lost only Rep. Madison Cawthorne (R-SC). More detail about DDT’s record. He has another seven weeks to decide on his general election choices.
Nel's New Day 