Have you valued Chicago Public Square’s election coverage—like yesterday’s bonus pre-election voter guide and last night’s frequent updates on Facebook and Twitter? Thank the people whose financial support makes Square possible—including Cate Plys, Teresa Powell and Barbara Powers. Please consider joining them here. And now (deep breath) … the news:
Now what? After “one of the great political blowouts of modern history,” President Trump faces “a chamber of Congress that is looking to destroy and defeat him” …
■ … and that will include a record number of women …
■ … including the youngest-ever woman in Congress …
■ … and many other historic firsts.
■ Matthew Yglesias in Vox: “Trump’s free ride is over, thanks to activists who never accepted him.”
■ Here’s a list of actions you can expect a Democratic House to launch.
■ But impeachment isn’t on it.
■ And the Republicans have tighter control over the Senate, which Trump says can fire back at House Democrats if they “waste Taxpayer Money investigating us.”
■ But, the Daily Beast’s Michael Tomasky says, Democrats’ grip on the House means special counsel Robert Mueller “has protection. Mr. President, you want to fire him? OK. The House Democrats can hire him.”
■ Also: Christmas music starts tomorrow on Chicago radio station WLIT.
‘A huge win for the resistance.’ Mother Jones says Lauren Underwood’s win over four-term Republican Randy Hultgren in Chicago’s western suburbs “speaks volumes about the impact of suburban women who sprang into political action after President Trump’s 2016 victory.”
■ See also: Democrat Sean Casten's defeat of Rep. Peter Roskam.
■ But, FiveThirtyEight says, results nationwide serve as “a reminder of the challenges Democrats face in winning back white voters, particularly those without a college education” …
■ … and (as Matt Lewis noted in the Daily Beast before the election), losing the House will “allow Trump to (plausibly) spread the blame.”
Rauner out, Pritzker in. A “bluenami” gives the Democratic Party control of every statewide office in Illinois—including the governor’s mansion, which J.B. Pritzker takes from Bruce Rauner—and potentially a House supermajority that spells insurmountable control over the next legislative map.
■ In Michigan, voters have amended the constitution to take the drawing of political districts out of lawmakers’ hands.
■ Illinois is one of at least six states with newly-gained newly gained Democratic “trifectas”—governments where the party now controls all three branches of government …
■ … not to mention near-total control of Cook County government.
■ Mark Brown in the Sun-Times: “Tuesday was Rauner’s last chance, not ours.”
Judged. For the first time in 28 years, Cook County voters have rejected a judge running for retention.
■ Millennials drove Chicago voter turnout to its highest level in 32 years.
■ In Florida, voters have given more than a million ex-felons the right to vote.
Great Lakes states not so great for Trump. Republicans had a rough night in Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania—which went for the president in 2016.
■ Bloomberg: The Rust Belt is sending Trump a warning.
■ Ex-Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker is out as Wisconsin governor.
■ Voters in three predominantly Republican states have voted to expand government health care coverage for the poor.
■ In California, the notion of year-round daylight saving time won big.
■ Updating coverage: In Georgia, absentee ballots could decide whether the nation gets its first female black governor.
■ David Leonhardt in The New York Times: “Democrats are getting trounced outside of metropolitan areas.”
■ But nationwide, Republicans suffered a “suburban bloodbath.”
Something wicked. The Nazi who ran for Congress from Chicago’s southwest suburbs lost—but still got one in four votes.
■ Nazi-friendly Iowa Rep. Steve King won a ninth term.
■ For the second time in a week, Nazi graffiti has turned up at Oak Park and River Forest High School—in the heart of a community that avowedly has embraced diversity.
■ The Sun-Times’ Neil Steinberg: “Hatred sells.”
Oops. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi made a goof during her victory speech.
■ In Nevada, a dead Republican brothel owner won a seat in the state legislature.
New at O’Hare. A ribbon-cutting today marks the debut of a transportation hub designed to ease airport parking and car rental.
■ Five architects have made the cut for a shortlist to design a larger O’Hare expansion.
Thanks. To Joel Meyerson (yes, relation) for inspiration this issue.