Kansas state Sen. Cindy Holscher (D) was projected to win the state’s gubernatorial race, according to Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ), keeping the office in Democratic hands and denying Republicans one of their best pickup opportunities this year.
Holscher defeated Republican Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson, who had President Trump’s endorsement, to succeed term-limited Gov. Laura Kelly (D). She notched just more than 50 percent of the vote, while her opponent garnered 49. 6 percent as of Wednesday afternoon.
Her victory extends Democrats’ hold on the governor’s mansion in a state Trump carried by roughly 16 points in 2024. Kansas has repeatedly elected Democratic governors, including Kelly, who won competitive races in 2018 and 2022.
I don’t understand. Does it not automatically go to the elected governor?
I gotta say, all these gubernatorial wins are arguably more important than the Senate majority.
Like, what’s 54 D Senators going to change in the next two years, exactly?
But we’re looking at upwards of 30 Democrats in governors’ mansions starting in January. They’ve got far more control over everything from education to policing to health care than any number of Chuck Schumer led blowhards.
If all hell breaks loose, governors will also have a lot of power to defend things too.
It also gives the opportunity to create new rising stars on the left, whether that’s the governors themselves or someone in their staff. More experience is always welcome.
True Democratic control of states means gutting the Electoral College is on the table.
Second to that, Democrats can actually gut the filibuster now with a simple-majority vote, now that a one-off traitor Sinema-like defector can’t block it.
This will force Trump to veto, oh say, Medicare For All.
Some real power is there. Whether Democrats use it is another story…
Gutting the fillabuster is a terrible idea. They don’t control the presidency so whatever they pass will recieve a veto. I understand that it would force Trump to do it, but I just don’t think it will resonate in a way that will change anything
Then if Republicans regain control somehow there’s no fillabuster to slow them down like there has been.
The time to remove the fillabuster would be if they reclaim the presidency and hold the house/senate. Then they could ram through popular reform that should prevent Republicans from winning next cycle, but removing the fillabuster now is a huge risk with a small chance of reward. People just don’t see failing to pass a bill as success, unfortunately too many voters only respond on what they feel at home. Not what politicians tried to do. It’s shortsighted, but that’s the reality
I think it’s quite the opposite! First we need to step back and acknowledge that for better or worse whoever is the party in power was given the reins to lead. As a result the filibuster is inherently undemocratic. Crippling that genuinely gridlocks Congress, just as it did under Obama. Meanwhile half the time Democrats are unwilling to play such hardball with its use anyway. It is a fundamental systemic flaw, independent of strategy, that needs to be corrected for the nation to improve. It has slowed Republicans down some when convenient sure, but it has entirely neutered the Democrats’ ability to implement progressive change for nearly 2 decades now when Republicans are in the minority in Congress.
To be clear I’m referring to the lazy or silent cloture filibuster; traditional filibustering while actively speaking on the senate floor would still be available. For many reasons, this is much preferred.
Gutting the lazy filibuster now ensures that when a Democrat President is in power that they can actually effect change instead of being blocked for 8 years. There’s no reason not to do it now because the winds are in Dem’s favor going into 2028 anyway. We cannot squander this opportunity before the Senate is lost again.
Finally, I still believe that focusing attention on the veto on Trump’s desk is even more more damaging in my opinion. It’s a better PR stunt going into 2028.
Edit: Hell it would be better to at least shift the point of the 60-vote threshold to just passage of the legislation and after floor debate at the very least. That way the bill would have to be litigated in front of the public.
If this was just politics sure, but Republicans have made it clear lives are at stake. Not worth the risk right now, but maybe in the future
I think lives are at stake either way, for the inability to do nothing and effect real change is harming people every day Medicare For All (with supermajority support from the public) isn’t brought to a vote (as just one example).
I would just ask to consider that if you can mount pressure on Trump specifically and while he’s already deeply unpopular, then 2028 Dem gains will be higher. Easy for electorate to grasp. They don’t understand the filibuster (only 20% have a good understanding). They do understand veto power better.
Otherwise we risk the electorate in 2 years going, “Ugh, look how incompetent Dems are… We give them power and they still can’t find a way to fix government! Back to a more Strong but moderate Republican I guess. Vance/DeSantis it is.”
And honestly, if Dems don’t win everything in 2028? Then we are pretty much fucked either way and it’s a moot point. This must translate to gains in 2028.
Virtue signaling by attempting to pass a bill that will be vetoed does not save lives.
As for your request, I did consider that. Even stated it in my original comment. My fear is that too many people only respond after something has happened and don’t follow the debate at all.
I’m unconvinced removing gaurd rails just to debate on bills that will be vetoed is worth the risk of what happens when/if Republicans regain control
Indeed we cannot save lives being lost right now one way or another because Trump is President — That was precisely the point I was making. So this is all future-thinking anyway.
So we’re at an impasse where it’s “Can we sell to the electorate that we need more power in 2028 more clearly by forcing Trump to veto and ending lazy filibuster” — or is it, “Well, we may lose power again at some point down the road and so we better not drop it prematurely.”
So it’s Better Marketing for 2028 Right Now vs. Future Risk Aversion? Well, in fairness, we know Democrats are always gunshy, so skittishness it is.
I think we’re now starting to go in circles, so I’ll cede the final comment to you out of courtesy
Edit: Just stumbled across this but check out Stewart and Sanders discussing filibuster at around 41 minutes.
I’m just happy PA finally has a democratic Congress so we can legalize weed
That is good and hopefully in other states too. They can pass many things in a year with good legislation ready to go and not make mistakes like other states have botched it. Make sure they have good homegrow laws for day one if possible since the dispo process can take time, high prices and low stock of products.
NJ and NY are going to lose out on a lot of free tax revenue though
Maryland, too
Ohio as well
It’s pretty fucked Ohio got legal weed before PA
Ohio makes it really easy to do citizens initiatives, so it’s not that surprising
Good luck, friend!
I think Texas is going to do the same, and when that happens Democrats need to repeat the fact that blue states were the trailblazers of legalization.
People still don’t grasp how big of a deal that has been, and a clear win for Democrats.
Nah, Dems are fucking squares and won’t be proud of something like that.
I’m confident Republican rats fleeing the ship will vote with Democrats to save their own asses.
In that case the retiring republicans in the house should have voted with dems to impeachment the nazi fuck, kegsbreath; but no… they just stayed in line.
They’re cowards
Unfortunately, the Kansas legislature is still controlled by republicans, including a supermajority in the Senate (which from what I could find only had one seat up this year–not sure how that works) BUT they no longer hold a supermajority in the House, where Dems flipped 20 seats!
How does their veto override work? (Assuming they have one).
I suppose a government that’s paralyzed by gridlock is still preferable to what the past couple years has been.
