Election Updates for October 25, 2021

As the race for Governor in Virginia gets tighter, other election developments are continuing throughout the United States.

State

In Arizona, even after the controversial audit proved former President Donald Trump’s election beliefs wrong, several state Republicans are continuing to push the claim that the election was rigged. Political activist Ron Watkins is running in a congressional election in the state. Many believe Watkins is the anonymous poster “Q” who fueled the QAnon movement.

In Florida, election officials from both parties are sounding the alarm that attacks on elections undermine democracy. A special election for the seat of the late Congressman Alcee Hastings has become contentious among 11 candidates who are running in the Democratic primary. Given the partisan bent of the district, the Democratic primary essentially serves as the general election. Also in the state, the announcement of a third Democrat candidate for Governor will make the primary more divisive, which will make it more difficult for Democrats to defeat Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.

In Georgia, Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is calling for a bipartisan federal commission to look at ways to reform elections. Meanwhile, both Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker and controversial Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene have broken with Trump’s calls for Republicans not to vote.

In Pennsylvania, there are important judicial elections in a few weeks that could impact future elections due to the judiciary’s role in election disputes. The state house Democratic leader is pushing for a voting rights bill.

In Utah, a Republican lawmaker is calling for an audit of the 2020 election results in Utah, despite the fact that Trump won the state overwhelmingly.

In Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer has vetoed several Republican backed election security bills.

In Virginia, the latest campaign financial numbers have been released as more money flows into the state primary due to the close gubernatorial election. Both gubernatorial candidates are seeking to turn out their voters as the early voting numbers tally up. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has weighed in on the gubernatorial race with an attack video on Democratic nominee, former Governor Terry McAuliffe. Voting rights activist Stacey Abrams has also become involved in the race to help turn out Black voters. The latest polls have the race tied. While much of the focus is on the gubernatorial election, the race for control of Virginia’s House of Delegates is just as close.

In New Jersey, which has the other gubernatorial election for 2021, Republican gubernatorial nominee former assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli has pushed back against the common conservative talking point that elections are fixed. On a similar note, early voting numbers have appeared low, so some are claiming that voter suppression is at play. Early voting has cost New Jersey $80 million, but some experts believe early voting does not make a difference. Although some voting will take place in schools, voters will not have to wear masks when voting in a school on election day. Beyond the governor’s race, there are several important elections in New Jersey. Former Governor Chris Christie is campaigning, but largely at private events, seemingly because he is not that popular in the state.

In Wisconsin, as the state audit of the 2020 election attracts more controversy, there are growing calls to end it. Trump ventured into the Wisconsin gubernatorial race to call on former Republican Congressman Sean Duffy to run for Governor, despite there being a prominent Republican candidate in the race, former Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch.

In California, San Francisco will have recall elections for several school board members due to disagreements over the curricula in school.

In Texas, the GOP-controlled legislature passed its congressional redistricting maps, which will help Republicans in trying to take back the House.

In New York, prominent Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is campaigning for Democratic nominee for Buffalo mayor, India Walton, while the state Democrat establishment is backing the incumbent mayor who lost to Walton in the primary and is now running as a write-in.

In New York City, the Democratic nominee for mayor, Eric Adams, is a shoe-in for the general election, but the Republican nominee, activist Curtis Sliwa, is still giving him a spirited fight.

In Tennessee, legislators on both sides are expressing skepticism about doing an audit of the 2020 election results, given that Trump won the state by so much.

In Nevada, former state Attorney General and Republican candidate Adam Laxalt is picking up support for his Senate bid, which some see as a sign that Republicans will dominate the 2022 midterms.

Culture

School board elections have turned into a new area for contentious elections.

Now that Senate Republicans have filibustered Senate Democrats’ voting rights bill again, the Democrats are looking for another way to enact it. Actress Alyssa Milano was arrested with other activists at a voting rights protest related to the bill.

This past week, several key House Democrats announced their retirement, creating further fear among Democrats that they may lose the House. Virginia has become a key bellwether for many of how the midterms will go. It could particularly test Republicans’ strategy to gain back territory in the suburbs that they lost during Trump’s presidency. A Washington Post columnist is warning Democrats that their strategy of painting opponents of critical race theory as racist will hurt the Democrats in Virginia. First Lady Jill Biden has shown her political appeal by traveling to Virginia and New Jersey to help the Democrats in those races.

Corporate

Trump has attacked Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg over Zuckerberg’s power to influence elections. Meanwhile the Salesforce CEO continues to be active in pushing for progressive change in politics.

Salon is taking issue with major corporations that advertise that they support voting rights, but have donated to Conservative state AGs, who want more restrictions on voting.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is embracing cryptocurrency ahead of his re-election.

Democrats are hoping that the strategy of raising taxes on businesses helps them in the mid-term elections.

Arizona Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema is receiving large donations from Republican donors due to her opposing far left policies.

Todd Carney is a writer based in Washington, DC. The views in this piece are his alone and do not reflect the views of his employer.