#trifectas

    You might know, by now, of my views on ESG, which I have described as an empty acronym, born in sanctimony, nurtured in hypocrisy and sold with sophistry. My voyage with ESG began with curiosity in my 2019 exploration of what it purported to measure, turned to cynicism as the answers to the Cui Bono (who benefits) question became clear and has curdled into something close to contempt, as ESG…

People who don’t live in those states may be unaware of gains made by Democrats in state governments in the midterms.

There was a setback in Nevada where the GOP candidate upset the Democratic incumbent governor. But otherwise it was a decent series of statewide elections for Dems. 

Why the Democrats’ biggest wins of the midterms weren’t in Washington DC

In the midterms, however, Democrats flipped at least three state legislative chambers and held on to their majorities in several states where they were in jeopardy. The victories ended years of Democratic defeat and disappointment and caught even some Democrats off guard. It marked the first midterm election since at least 1934 in which the president’s party didn’t lose control of a single legislative chamber, according to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), which focuses on state legislative races.

Victories in state legislative chambers will help prevent Trump Republican mischief in the 2024 election.

Those victories could play an important role in ensuring a free and fair election in two years. In 2020, Donald Trump tried to lean on GOP state legislative majorities in key battlegrounds like Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona to try to overturn the results. The Democratic wins could also offer a critical safeguard against the US supreme court, which could soon endorse a fringe legal theory, backed by Republicans, that says state legislatures have virtually unchecked power to set rules over federal elections.

 While Dems lost the governorship of Nevada, they ousted the GOP in Maryland, Massachusetts, and (way vital) Arizona. They also held on in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Kansas.

So the number of states with GOP trifectas (control of upper chamber of legislature, lower chamber of legislature, and governorship) is now down to 21 — with New Hampshire’s lower chamber and both chambers in Alaska unresolved.

EDIT: In the vid at the top, Nathaniel mistakenly names Vermont as a state where Democrats have full control of the state government. In fact Liberal Republican Phil Scott was re-elected governor. However, Democrats do have super majorities in both chambers of the legislature and they won both the open US Senate seat and the open at large US House seat.

Welcome to Tacos and Trifectas! Each week, America’s Best Racing’s Southern California correspondent Jose Contreras – @LosPoniesto those who follow him on Twitter – will provide a taco review along with a selection that he will key in trifecta bets in hopes of winning some cash to buy more tacos! Contreras will map out a trifecta betting strategy for how to key his main pick and keep track of…