Posts Tagged ‘Kentucky’

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Election Roundup Part 1: Just the Facts, Ma’am

Friday, November 11th, 2016

Time, finally, for something vaguely resembling a comprehensive post-election roundup.

As this keeps threatening to turn into a very long and unwieldy post, I’m going to break it up into chunks, with this installment centered on vote totals, race outcomes, and statistical facts about the election. We’ll save analysis, implications, and the saltiest examples of liberal tears for another time.

  • Assuming the current results hold, Trump flipped six states Romney lost (Ohio, Florida, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan), plus Maine’s second congressional district, which gives Trump 306 electoral votes.
  • That’s the highest electoral vote totals for a Republican since Bush41 blew out Dukakis in 1988 (426).
  • Hillary might still edge Trump in the popular vote (right now she’s up by 3/10ths of 1%).
  • Clinton lost over 5 million votes from Obama’s 2012 totals. Trump was down less than a million from Romney’s totals.
  • Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson pulled in over 4 million votes, triple his 2012 showing. Green Party candidate Jill Stein pulled in over 1.2 million votes, which was almost triple her 2012 showing as well.
  • Evan McMullin (or, as Ace of Spades refers to him, “Egg McMuffin”) pulled in less than half a million votes, about a third of which came from his native Utah, where he beat Johnson and Stein. He did not win any counties in Utah, though he did beat Clinton in a few.
  • 1996 was the last time West Virginia (formerly a reliable Democratic state) went for the Democratic presidential candidate. This year they went for Trump by nearly 69%, including every county in the state. Despite that, WV Democratic Senator Joe Manchin says he’s not switching to the Republican Party. Machin, 69, is up for reelection in 2018.
  • Republicans lost two seats (in Illinois and New Hampshire) but maintain control of the Senate. Louisiana will have it’s top two runoff December 9, where Republican John Kennedy will be heavily favored, likely giving Republicans a 53-47 edge.
  • Senators Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania) and Ron Johnson (Wisconsin) both won reelection is historically blue states.
  • Republicans only lost six House seats, easily maintaining control. Three Dem pickups were in Florida (where Republicans flipped two sets themselves), two in Nevada, one in New Hampshire, one in Virginia, and one in New Jersey. Republicans also picked up one House seat in Nebraska. Republicans are guaranteed to retain control of Louisiana’s third congressional district (two Republicans in the runoff) and likely to retain control of the 4th as well.
  • Not a single U.S. House seat in Texas flipped parties, which means that incumbent Republican Will Hurd retained the 23rd Congressional District over Democrat Pete Gallego. CD23 is the only true swing U.S. House district in Texas these days, and Gallego had been the incumbent when Hurd ousted him in 2014.
  • Senator Tim Scott was reelected to a full term. Scott still remains the first black Senator from the South since reconstruction.
  • Republicans control the House, Senate and White House for the first time since 1928.
  • Republicans also picked up three governorships, in Missouri, Vermont and New Hampshire, giving them 33 to the Democrats 15.
  • The North Carolina Governor’s race may not be decided until November 18. If Democrat Roy Cooper’s razor thin lead over Republican incumbent Pat McCrory holds, that will be the Democrats’ only gubernatorial pickup this year.
  • “Eastern Kentucky voters rejected [Democrat] House Speaker Greg Stumbo on Tuesday as Republicans appeared poised to take control of the Kentucky House of Representatives for the first time since 1921.”
  • Democrats pick up four seats in the Texas House.
  • Texas county-by-county Presidential race results. Clinton taking Fort Bend county is a surprise to me; Romney won that by six points in 2012, and Clinton beat Trump by about that much this year.
  • Libertarians maintained automatic ballot access in Texas because their railroad commission candidate pulled in 5.3% of the vote, over the 5% threshold. The Green Party, however, did not, and will have to submit 50,000 petition signatures to make the ballot in 2018.
  • National Review (ad blocker blocker warning) notes that the “Trump won because of racism” talking point is demonstrably wrong:

    Mitt Romney won a greater percentage of the white vote than Donald Trump. Mitt took 59 percent while Trump won 58 percent. Would you believe that Trump improved the GOP’s position with black and Hispanic voters? Obama won 93 percent of the black vote. Hillary won 88 percent. Obama won 71 percent of the Latino vote. Hillary won 65 percent. Critically, millions of minority voters apparently stayed home. Trump’s total vote is likely to land somewhere between John McCain’s and Romney’s (and well short of George W. Bush’s 2004 total), while the Democrats have lost almost 10 million voters since 2008.

    And all this happened even as Democrats doubled-down on their own identity politics.

    But all this is based on exit polls. How do we know they’re any more accurate at capturing the electorate than those other faulty polls?

  • More exit poll analysis from Oren Cass. The thrust is that Trump did better among nonwhites than Romney. But when he gets down to differences of less than 2%, he’s counting angels on the heads of pins.

    • Remember all that MSM talk about Trump turning Texas into a swing state? Instead he turned Michigan and Wisconsin into swing states.

    Here’s a Tweet that encapsulates a New York Times interactive map indicating which areas of the country voted notably more Republican or more Democratic in the Presidential race than in 2012. Note the strong surge of Trump voters in the rust belt.

    As far as the senate, things don’t get any easier for Democrats in 2018:

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    Posted in Democrats, Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »

    Sorta Liveblogging the 2016 Election

    Tuesday, November 8th, 2016

    First results: Trump takes Indiana and Kentucky, Clinton takes Vermont.

    Trump leading the national vote.

    Trump wins West Virginia.

    Trump leads in Virginia.

    Fox calls Portman for Ohio Senate.

    Trump running ahead of Romney’s totals in KY, IN.

    Trump ahead by 10+ points in Virginia. 11% in.

    Trump ahead in Florida.

    Tim Scott wins SC senate.

    Trump up 10 points in NC.

    Fox calls SC for Trump, even though actual totals have Clinton slightly ahead. (Insert shrug emoji.)

    Kentucky Dem Speaker Stumbo going down. Last Dem Speaker in South (if you don’t count Straus).

    Trump now up by 11 in VA.

    Trump still leading national vote total.

    Oklahoma called for Jill Stein.

    Ha, just kidding. Trump.

    Clinton takes lead in FL. Still too close to call. Clinton also now ahead in NH. Not good.

    Trump still up in VA.

    Mississippi called for Trump.

    Missouri called for Trump

    Tennessee called for Trump.

    Pizza break.

    HOLY FUCK! 28 votes separate Trump and Clinton in Florida.

    Trump edges ahead in FL. Now up 8,000 votes.

    GOP takes KY house.

    Fox callas Alabama for Trump. Try to contain your shock.

    Todd Young kicks Evan Bayh’s ass in IN Sen.

    Rand Paul and Marco Rubio win their Sen races.

    NBC calls Republican maintaining control of House.

    Trump lead in Florida keeps widening. 91% of votes in.

    Trump up a full point in Florida.

    Hurd winning in TX CD23.

    Nate Silver says Senate shifts right. Interesting.

    Trump winning Texas by less than I expected.

    Trump behind in Ohio. 1/3rd of votes in.

    Could never imagine Trump winning Florida but losing Ohio, but that’s how it’s trending right now.

    Crist picks up FL House seat, alas.

    Trump still winning Florida and the popular vote.

    Fox: “Ohio. A difference of do the math.”

    Trump still leading Virginia.

    Blake Farenthold (R) crushes it.

    Trump takes lead in Ohio,

    Texas called for Trump. Much narrower than I expected.

    Trump still up in Florida.

    Trump widens lead in Ohio, takes lead in NC.

    McCain wins in AZ Sen, promises more pancakes, Matlock.

    FL: 93% in, trump lead widens.

    Debbie Whatshername Schultz on Fox now. Mute. God it was good for the GOP to have her running the DNC.

    Trump still up in Virginia with 72% of the vote in. Maybe all the felons voted for Trump!

    Trump still leads VA.

    Trump WAY up over Clinton in WI, but only 3% of the vote in.

    GOP guy on Fox: “Trump will win Ohio.”

    Local returns. Restroom break.

    Zimmerman losing ATCC? A Hillary vote surge causality?

    Trump still up in FL with 94% in.

    Trump up in VA and NC.

    Trump winning MN, but only 2% in.

    Hillary under 80% in Philadelphia?

    Trump way up in Ohio.

    NM called for Clinton.

    Tappert: “This may put the polling industry out of business.”

    NYT’s COHN: “Trump favored to win for first time.”

    Trump super narrow lead in VA.

    Slight Clinton lead in VA.

    Stupid Austin passes stupid transportation bond.

    Foxes projects Clinton to win VA.

    Women on PBS definitely gazing into an abyss.

    PBS sounds like a wake. “No one from the Clinton campaign wants to talk to us.”

    Trump up BIG in Michigan. Michael Moore may turn out to be a prophet.

    Trump still up in NH.

    RCP says Trump won Ohio.

    Seeing projections Clinton wins VA.

    Hearing Manchin (D-WV) may flip to Republican next year. His state already has.

    If Trump wins electoral vote and Clinton wins popular vote, liberal heads will never stop exploding.

    Trump up in both MI and WI.

    NYT chances of Trump winning up to 91%.

    Fox: Trump doubles Romney’s black vote total. Me: Not hard.

    Sadly, Daryl Glenn loses in Colorado.

    Fox calls NC for Trump.

    PBS calls FL for Trump.

    “Clinton staffers leaving her victory party.” Well, there’s all that shredding to do…

    NYT’s: Trump’s chances of winning < 95%

    Utah called for Trump. Take that, Egg McMuffin!

    Clinton’s campaign has gone dark. There are all those servers to destroy.

    TRUMP WINS WISCONSIN! The fat lady has started warming up…

    TRUMP WINS IOWA.

    Trump has won the Presidency.

    Trump on verge of winning NH. That’s the last nail in the coffin.

    Trump only 7,000 votes behind in Penn.

    Too busy jaw-dropping and celebrating to blog.

    “Clinton campaign staff in tears.”

    “It’s time to start talking about Trump Democrats.” After tonight, I don’t think they’re Democrats any more.

    Now both hookers and weed are legal in NV.

    Toomey pulls it out in PA Sen.

    AP called PA for Trump. Still waiting for Fox.

    NYT calls Pennsylvania for Trump. Finally, Brunhilda can give her aria.

    AP calls race for Trump.

    Shep Smith is trying to cast a sleep spell upon us.

    FINALLY! Fox calls Pennsylvania (and the Presidency) for Trump.

    Clinton called to concede the race.

    Trump making a very gracious victory speech, calling for the country to come together.

    Thanked Reince Prebius, as well he should. RNC did a fantastic job.

    Congratulations to Donald Trump for being elected the 45th President of the United States of America.

    Goodnight folks.

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    Posted in Democrats, Elections, Republicans | No Comments »

    Presidential Race Update for May 17, 2016

    Tuesday, May 17th, 2016

    Today Kentucky and Oregon have Democratic Presidential primaries, make it possible that “inevitable” Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton could suffer two more losses.

    Here’s a roundup of Presidential race links:

  • “If Hillary does win, if after a string of state losses, after a blundering, scandal-plagued, email-tormented, Benghazi-haunted campaign she limps, staggeringly and breathlessly, across the finish line ahead, where, really, is she? Where’s her party? The Democrats are playing against the laws of cause and effect. Hillary’s campaign is dead, and she’s winning. Bernie’s is alive, and he’s losing.”
  • Hillary did much worse in West Virginia than she did in 2008:

    On Tuesday, Clinton lost the West Virginia primary to 74-year-old socialist Bernie Sanders 51% to 36%.

    That’s a stark contrast to 2008, when she trounced Barack Obama, 66.9% to 25.7% (John Edwards received 7.3%).

    But perhaps what’s more shocking is the raw vote total.

    In 2008, she received 240,890 votes. Yesterday, Clinton netted 84,176 votes, according to NBC — a 65% decline.

    (Hat tip: Director Blue.)

  • If primary-to-general-election ratios hold, “we can plausibly estimate the number of votes for Donald Trump in November at 80 Million. Hillary plausibly tracks to 55 Million.”
  • Trump’s strength in Appalachia: “Of the 420 counties seen as sharing a culture that transcends state lines, Trump won all but 16, including a sweep of western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and the western uplands of Virginia with potentially profound ramifications for the general election.”
  • Hillary’s negatives continue to soar. (Hat tip: Director Blue.)
  • Why Trump can win. “Hillary Clinton also seems to quietly dislike (a) people, and (b) America, and you don’t need an advanced degree in election analytics to know this is not good.”
  • Ted Cruz is not interested in a Supreme Court seat. (Hat tip: Conservatives 4 Ted Cruz, which is still running.)
  • Looking for someone to vote for rather than against? Ace of Spades HQ offers up a list of Republican senators, representatives and governors who supported Cruz.
  • Burlington College closes due to huge debt incurred under leadership of Jane O’Meara Sanders, Bernie Sanders’ wife. (Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ.)
  • Liberal billionaire Tom Steyer, who wasted millions to no effect in 2014, wants to do the same in 2016. Tiny problem: Lots of unions object to his job-killing green politics and refuse to pony up. (Hat tip: Powerline.)
  • Woman at the center of that “Trump is a jerk with women” story says that the New York Times reporters lied about what she said to make Trump look bad.
  • The Washington Post calls Hillary Clinton “Objectively offensive.” (Hat tip: Ed Driscoll at Instapundit.)
  • Clinton-supporting actor Wendell Pierce (Detective Bunk Moreland from The Wire) arrested for punching out a Bernie Sanders supporter. “There you go. Givin’ a fuck when it ain’t your turn to give a fuck.” (Hat tip: Dwight.)

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    Posted in Crime, Democrats, Elections, Media Watch | No Comments »

    LinkSwarm for November 6, 2015

    Friday, November 6th, 2015

    Another Friday, another LinkSwarm:

  • What’s Obama’s strategy in Iraq and Syria? He doesn’t have one. “Without a clear overarching strategy to resolve the conflict.” Say what you want about Bush, he wanted to win in Iraq. Obama wants to do just enough to not get blamed for losing.
  • Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is not wild about George Soros encouraging waves of Islamic refugees in Europe.
  • Speaking of Islamic refugees, shotguns (which don’t need a permit) are selling like hotcakes in Austria. Whatever could be the reason?
  • “The Democratic party is mainly a coalition of interest groups, and the current model of Democratic politics — poor and largely non-white people providing the muscle and rich white liberals calling the shots — is unsustainable…Democrats gleefully predict that demographic changes are going to give their party a permanent majority. The unspoken corollary to that is that white liberals think they’re going to remain in charge of it.”
  • Forget all those Republican obituaries: Democrats are the ones being booted out of office.
  • Victories in Houston and Kentucky were stinging rebukes to cultural war overreach by the left.
  • Ted Cruz, Jedi Debater.
  • Jeb Bush needs an intervention.
  • Pennsylvania’s Democratic Attorney General, facing criminal indictment and calls to resign on all sides, instead send out porny emails.
  • Announce that you’re abandoning your Vegan diet because it was making you sick? That’s a death threat.
  • Owner of bankrupt Atlantic City casino threatens to house thousands of Syrain refugees there.
  • Denmark to Bernie Sanders: Stop calling us socialists, you pinko!
  • Free market economics: It even makes formerly socialist food banks run better!
  • Students entering Yale are evidently ignorant as fark all. (Hat tip: Borepatch.)
  • Dashcam video proves black Texas professor lied about being racially profiled. Hat Tip: Instapundit.)
  • Matt McCall takes another run at Rep. Lamar Smith.
  • I’ll take Least Surprising Sports Headlines for $400, Alex: “Former Raiders first-round pick convicted on three counts of murder.”

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    Posted in Border Control, Crime, Democrats, Elections, Foreign Policy, Guns, Jihad, Republicans, Social Justice Warriors, Texas, Welfare State | No Comments »

    Constitutional Amendments Pass, Tranny Bathrooms Go Down In Flames

    Wednesday, November 4th, 2015

    As expected, all seven Texas constitutional amendments passed easily. The two most heavily promoted amendments, Proposition 1 (homestead property tax relief) and Proposition 7 (dedicating sales tax money to the highway fund), each passed with more than 80% of the vote.

    Other Texas voting news:

  • Houston’s unpopular “tranny bathroom bill” went down in flames. Liberals crying foul that their pet transgender culture war bill was reduced to tranny bathrooms might want to remember that no one forced Houston Mayor Annise Parker (who whispered not a word of it during her own election campaign) to bring it up, and certainly wasn’t forced to sue churches who dared oppose it. Every time an item on the Social Justice Warrior agenda actually gets put before voters, it loses big time.
  • Austin voters rejected a courthouse bond package derided as a big-spending boondoggle. And keep in mind that Austin voters practically never turn down bond proposals.

    • But it wasn’t just Texas. Across the nation, conservatives won big in off-year elections:

  • Republican Matt Bevin won a big upset in the Kentucky governor’s race. The guy who Mitch McConnell crushed by 25 points in a 2014 primary will now become just the second Republican to govern the Bluegrass State in four decades.
  • Democrats failed to pick up Virginia’s state Senate. It’s a huge blow to Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who went all-in to make it happen. Democrats could have won by capturing just one seat because of the tie-breaking authority of Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D). But Republicans held every single seat…
  • Even in San Francisco, the sheriff who steadfastly defended the city’s “sanctuary city” policy went down. Fox News: “Ross Mirkarimi and his office received heavy criticism after Mexican illegal immigrant Francisco Sanchez allegedly shot and killed 32-year-old Kate Steinle on San Francisco’s waterfront July 1. Sanchez had been released from Mirkarimi’s jail in March even though federal immigration officials had requested that he be detained for possible deportation.” The city also rejected new regulations on Airbnb.

    • The Kentucky Governor’s race was the one where Fark’s Drew Curtis ran as an independent. He garnered just over 3% of the vote.

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    Posted in Elections, Social Justice Warriors, Texas | 1 Comment »

    LinkSwarm for October 10, 2014

    Friday, October 10th, 2014

    Another Friday, another LinkSwarm. I think i may have to stop watch Houston Texans games for the sake of my health…

  • The American MSM may be reluctant to tell the truth about Obama’s many manifest failures, but UK’s Telegraph isn’t.
  • Most Americans see Obama as a failure.
  • I’m shocked, shocked to discover that the IRS is auditing the producer of an anti-ObamaCare movie.
  • One in five Americans will have medical bills in collections this year. Thanks, ObamaCare!
  • How do you know your foreign policy sucks? When even Jimmy Carter is dissing it. And he’s right!
  • Even Piers Morgan calls Obama’s governance as marked by “lethargy and complacency.”
  • Why Harry Reid is attacking Koch: Big money Democratic donors will spend more in North Carolina, Colorado and Iowa than all RNC spending across the country combined.
  • Democrats 2014 = Republicans 2006.
  • Democrats pull out all the stops to save Kay Hagen’s North Carolina senate seat. If she wins, I’m sure her family will appreciate the opportunity for more graft in the coming years…
  • Michael Barone says that trends, with so many Democratic incumbents still polling below 45%, indicate the Harry Reid-controlled Senate is still toast. “Rewind back five years: The Obama Democrats expected their major policies to be popular. They expected that most voters would be grateful for the stimulus package, for Obamacare, for raising the tax rate on high earners. They aren’t.”
  • Obama slams billionaires while attending while attending fundraiser at the home of billionaire Rich Richman. Yes, that’s his real name. If I put that in a novel, editors would reject the symbolism as too heavy-handed…
  • Kentucky Democratic Senate candidate Alison Grimes won’t even admit to voting for Obama.
  • While the New York Times has gotten around to talking abut American children dying from Enterovirus D68, they’re still refusing to talk about how Obama’s illegal alien influx might have helped bring it here. (Hat tip: Instapundit.)
  • Michael Totten reports from SE Asia: “Sweden is more socialist than Vietnam.” Except for the stupid propaganda loudspeakers…
  • Philadelphia’s deeply indebted public school system actually cancels it’s contract with the teacher’s union. “The move, in which the Philadelphia School Reform Commission invokes emergency powers, comes after the teachers’ union spent more than a year resisting concessions that the commission was seeking even though rising personnel costs have crippled the budget.” How crippling? “The schools’ budget projects spending $44,100 a year in benefits for every $68,700 in wages earned by the average teacher.”
  • NYC School therapist helps handicapped student launch successful Kickstarter. Reward? 30 day suspension.
  • John Kerry spent Wednesday consulting with allies on ISIS and Ebola. Ha, just kidding! He toured a wind turbine.
  • Islamic State supporters threaten to behead U.S. soldiers in Iraq. And by “soldiers” I mean “elementary school children” and by “Iraq” I mean “Rhode Island.”
  • Remember when Bill Clinton ginned up an “epidemic” over a dozen random church burnings? Boko Haram has torched 185.
  • Brett Easton Ellis on Generation Wuss.
  • Iranian professor jailed for associating with “known Zionists.” Like Noam Chomsky. To Islamists, not even an actual hatred of Israel is enough to remove the taint of your Jewishness…
  • “That’s 21st-century U.S. politics in miniature: a half-assed listicle penned by a half-bright celebrity and published by a gang of abortion profiteers.”
  • Top aide to Al Sharpton and boyfriend of top De Blasio adviser in trouble with the law? Inconceivable!
  • An inside view of feminist groupthink and #GamerGate from a former social justice warrior.
  • Random meme pic I made:

  • Random Twitter exchange with Michael Quinn Sullivan:

  • BattleSwarm extends best wishes for a speedy recovery to Borepatch, who wiped out on his motorcycle to the tune of “7 broken ribs, a broken collar bone, and a bruised lung.” Ouch…

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    Posted in Border Control, Communism, Democrats, Foreign Policy, Jihad, Media Watch, Obama Scandals, ObamaCare, Uncategorized | No Comments »

    Democrats Hold On To Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District

    Saturday, November 13th, 2010

    Incumbent Democrat Ben Chandler eked out a win over Republican Andy Barr by 648 votes.

    That leaves Republicans with a net gain of 61 seats in the 2010 elections, with six races still undecided.

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    Posted in Democrats, Elections | No Comments »

    Kentucky’s Tax Dollars At Work

    Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

    From the fine folks over at The Corner comes this wonderful, two-part story of tax dollars at work.

    It seems that the Louisville African American Think Tank wanted to put on a two day “urban health summit,” and applied for, and received, a government grant. Except there seems to be a few tiny problems:

    • The “think thank” in question wasn’t tax exempt, having been dissolved by the state in 2005 for failing to file annual reports.
    • The board of the think tank had a, ah, “colorful” history:
      • “Treasurer Theron Dunn has been arrested for theft and burglary.”
      • “Secretary Terell Stoner has two full pages of charges including sexual abuse, armed robbery and assault.”
      • “Yancy Davis, a director, has been arrested for drug violations, carrying a concealed weapon and child abuse.”
      • Think Tank Director Rev. Gerome Sutton was once on the “Louisville’s Most Wanted” list for forging his ex-wife’s signature on her car title and failing to pay more than $30,000 in court-ordered alimony, and was also arrested for allegedly threatening to kill his ex-wife.
    • Best of all: The initial $10,000 check from the state was cashed at a liquor store.

    And this was from a state government. Just think: If Rev. Sutton had only applied for some of that sweet stimulus money, he’d still be receiving checks…

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    Posted in Uncategorized, Waste and Fraud | No Comments »

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