People have been asking for a House update — here’s the latest from The Downballot:
About two dozen House races remain uncalled by the Associated Press, but while Democrats have a narrow path to a majority, they’d have to virtually run the table when late-tallied votes are counted.
At the moment, Republicans are guaranteed 211 seats in the next Congress while Democrats are assured of holding 199. That means Democrats would need to win 19 of the unresolved races, including several where they currently trail.
Among the outstanding contests, many favor one party or the other; only around half are in doubt. (You can find a complete list by checking our continually updated overtime tracker.)
Basically, the House will probably end up within a couple of votes either way, so assisting with ballot curing in the disputed districts (if possible) is definitely a worthwhile activity.
The Downballot piece also has a good roundup of state legislatures and ballot initiatives. Democrats made some gains in some legislatures, and lost a couple seats in others.
Mai Naem mobile ¹
If its that close with the Dems holding the GOP will just pick off one Dem and convince them to switch either by blackmailing them or bribing them. We’ve already seen similar stuff happen in state legs in the recent past – IIRC I think GA,NC and VA.
UncleEbeneezer
Since this is an OT, I have a question for the hive-mind for all who have partners/spouses etc.:
How do you navigate when one of you really wants to talk about disastrous possibilities and nightmare scenarios, right now in order to feel better, but the other person wants to hold off on that sort of thing for now, for the sake of their own mental health?
It’s a bit of a communication/needs impasse and I’m asking here because I’m guessing that we aren’t the only people struggling with it, at times.
zhena gogolia
@UncleEbeneezer: I worry that I’m torturing my husband, going over all the nightmare scenarios. But I have no one else to do it with! I wish I could stop.
narya
@UncleEbeneezer: I have been going elsewhere (here, for example), and doing my reading and newswatching without necessarily even talking about it with him. It helps that we don’t live together. He is both doom-and-gloom AND doesn’t want to watch the news, so I’ve been focusing on encouraging connection, kindness, engaging with people, avoiding rabbit holes, etc. Pointing out that the stuff he does–volunteers at a folk music school, playing music with others–is important, because continuing to create art and music is important.
Mr. Mack
@UncleEbeneezer: That’s an excellent question. For us, it can be very difficult to set timelines once we agree to a strategy. My wife is not a snap decision maker, and she tempers my inclination to do something….now. Fortunately, our adult kids get the enormity of this, and we are using the Thanksgiving Holiday to meet, plan, and implement what seems prudent in the near term. We have all agreed to limit spending. So, I guess I’d advise to break it up into easily digestible pieces, and do your best (as we do) to make all voices heard.
Juju
@UncleEbeneezer: I have no partner, but what I keep saying to myself is protect my finances and my loved ones, and I’ll deal with it if or as it happens. Also, I don’t know anything about anything.
realworldrj
I think this WSJ article from today captures the election results well
“Earlier this year, an adventurer announced he believed he had found Amelia Earhart’s long-lost aircraft.
Turns out what he found was a rock” https://apple.news/A95FyCKf5RX2XfkQErQ2xAA
Searcher
It’s already factored into the current 199-to-211 tally, but when I finally had the courage to check the NYS results the other day, it looked like NY had flipped three R seats in the House.
Since the fuckery in NY in the midterms had cost us a couple of seats previously, it made me a little happier.
I was also glad to see that my sort-of-upstate/rural county had stayed blue.
frosty
@zhena gogolia: You can torture us! Ms F is swearing off the news so I’m trying not to inform her of anything.
Plus, there’s no news now that is at all valid. Everything is up in the air.
Steve in the ATL
@UncleEbeneezer: that’s what this site is for, since most of us have normie spouses. Is Leto/arrieve the only Balloon Juice couple we have? Assuming that Baud and Omnes are still keeping their relationship on the DL.
Maxim
My local congressional race (CA-27) is one of the nail-biters yet to be decided. I don’t know if the outstanding votes will favor the Dem or not.
Timill
@Steve in the ATL: No. My wife has been known to drop by, and there’s a married couple I’ve known for years who both hang out here.
cope
House update? Here’s our house update.
Since moving back to Western Colorado from Central Florida at the beginning of 2022, we have done these things to our house. First, we updated the swamp (evaporative) cooler. Then we replaced about 9 outside lights on the house. We also replaced a side yard of rock with artificial grass for the dog to do her thing. We had the laundry room extended an extra five or six feet into the garage. The footprint of the kitchen was changed to make it usable by more than one person at a time. LVP planking was set throughout the house except for the bathrooms which got terrazzo tile floors. The master bath was reconfigured such that a huge impractical jetted tub was replaced with a walk-in shower and a door was installed to replace the curtain we were using. Totally new cabinets and counter tops were put into the new kitchen, new vanities went into the two bathrooms and we had some decorative elements of the house changed. We also replaced four fugly ceiling fans and had new lighting installed for the kitchen/dining area. This doesn’t include some new furniture here and there, painting of most rooms and outside plantings and improvements. I am sure to be missing some things but that hits the high spots.
The major interior work began last March and is done except for a couple of minor tweaks. By doing the inside in two different phases, we were able to stay in the house the entire time. This was hard but we now have a house we love and fits our needs.
That’s our house update.
Ohio Mom
@cope: My house update is how torn I am about going ahead with some much needed updates while thing are still cheaper than they will be, and hoarding every possible penny for the coming recession.
We started getting estimates on correcting the front yard drainage issues and that is going to happen. But the long list of other things I think will help when we are ready to sell this house, well, maybe we will never sell this house. The future is too murky right now.
On the spousal front, Ohio Dad has always been on the paranoid side when it comes to politics but when I bring up jiggling our saving /investments, he insists we are fine. So half the time I am trying to get him to chill and the other half the time I am trying to get him to panic.
Ah well. At least I’m not my cousin married to the Republican.
Ohio Mom
@UncleEbeneezer: What I have found works for me is empathy, even when I’m not feeling it. Something along the lines of: “i can see why you feel (fill in the blank). That’s hard.”
People never tire of being validated and feeling heard. Sometimes knowing you grok them is enough for them to take steps in your direction.
The other thing I can tell you, it’s only been what, two days? Go for a walk and distract yourself. Sorry, that wasn’t very empathetic, was it?
cope
@Ohio Mom: I understand your hesitation about big projects. We owned our Florida house and sold it for quite a bit more than the Colorado house cost. We were lucky to be able to use that difference to pay for the reno work.
ETA: Condolences to your cousin.
WeimarGerman
I ran into Katie Porter at the dog park last night. She said there’s about a 20% chance we take the House. Her seat, CA-47, currently has a 600 vote margin for R with 100K votes remaining.
Her top worry is Schedule F which would change thousands of federal workers into appointees, gutting expertise in favor of loyalty.