The key races in 2020 that aren't the presidency

[RandySF]

Senate

Alabama: Sen. Doug Jones, a Democrat, is facing re-election after beating Roy Moore, who was accused of sexual assault and inappropriate relationships with young girls and women. (Moore denied the allegations.) Jones's potential opponent? Former attorney general Jeff Sessions, who declared earlier this month that he's joining the Republican primary. Oh, and Moore is running again, too.


Georgia: Despite pleas from Democrats, Stacey Abrams has said she won't run for Senate in Georgia, where both seats are up for grabs (one is a regular election and one is a special election). Abrams narrowly lost the Georgia gubernatorial race last year. In the regular election, Sen. David Perdue, a Republican, is the incumbent, and various Democrats are running in the primary. In the special election, there are only two declared candidates, but several potential others could join in the next year. If no one wins a majority in the special election, it will go to a runoff election in January 2021.

Maine: People across the political spectrum will be glued to the results of the Maine election, where Sen. Susan Collins is up for re-election. Collins is known as a fairly moderate Republican, who has criticized Trump's policies numerous times and occasionally voted for pro-choice bills. But her vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court justice despite the sexual assault allegations against him lost her a lot of bipartisan goodwill. It's unclear who she will be facing yet, but Sara Gideon is a top choice for the Democratic primary.


House

California District 22: This seat is currently held by Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, who has been embroiled in criticism over his defenses of Trump during the impeachment inquiry.

Iowa District 4: This seat is currently held by Republican Rep. Steve King, who recently asked why the term "white supremacist" was considered offensive and pondered whether there would be any population left if not for rape and incest.

Kansas District 3: This seat is currently held by Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids, one of the first Native American women ever elected to Congress and the first openly LGBTQ person to represent Kansas. She is being challenged by Republican Sara Hart Weir, a former national disability rights advocate.

Pennsylvania District 17: This seat is currently held by Democratic Rep. Conor Lamb, who has drawn criticism for voting in line with Trump more often than not.


State legislatures

A spokesperson for the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee says the top states they are targeting this year — noting their "huge redistricting implications" because of the 2020 Census — are Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.


Governor's races

Missouri: After Republican Gov. Eric Greitens resigned in 2018 over threat of impeachment due to allegations he tried to blackmail a woman with whom he had an extramarital affair, Lt. Gov Mike Parson was sworn in as governor. Now, Parson faces a Republican primary against state Rep. Jim Neely. The favored Democratic candidate so far is state auditor Nicole Galloway.

North Carolina: LGBTQ advocates are specifically watching the North Carolina governor's race. In 2016, current Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, ousted the incumbent Republican Pat McCrory, who received national ire for his support of HB2, often known as the transgender "bathroom bill." Cooper has not yet announced whether he will run for re-election as the incumbent, but two Republicans have entered the primary so far.


Ballot measures

Colorado will vote on whether all nine of its electoral college votes should go to the winner of the national popular vote in a presidential election.

Louisiana will vote on whether it should amend its state constitution to state that it does not protect the right to an abortion.

Montana will vote on whether to get rid of local governments' authority to regulate guns.

Nevada will vote on whether to amend the state constitution to recognize a marriage regardless of gender and repeal language that defines marriage as between "one man and one woman."

Nebraska and Utah will both vote on whether to remove language in their state constitution that allows for slavery as criminal punishment.

Utah will also vote on whether it should completely remove gendered language from its constitution and replace it with gender-neutral words.






https://www.mic.com/p/the-key-races-in-2020-that-arent-the-presidency-19382438

[mnhtnbb]

1. Gov Cooper of NC is actively fund raising

to run for another term.

I went to one of his fundraisers in September.

Lousy reporting on at least one race.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

2. hey! what about Moscow Mitch?

Don't abandon Ky when Moscow Mitch is the most vulnerable he's been in a while.

[Initech]

3. Is Kentucky a lost cause or do we actually have a chance of unseating Moscow Mitch?