Morning Headlines - Friday, Nov. 11, 2022 | Recent News

U.S. and World Headlines

The Path To 218: Why Democrats Aren’t Out Of The Race For The House Yet

Republicans still have a wider path to the House majority than Democrats — but it’s narrowed a lot over the past 24 hours.

As the vote count continues, particularly in mail-heavy Western states, Democrats continue to win most of the contested races, keeping them in the hunt and meaning news organizations won’t declare a winner in the overall fight for the chamber.

Not all of the 32 races that remain uncalled are truly in doubt: In some of them, one party is clearly favored, and Democrats are likely to win more of them than Republicans, according to a POLITICO analysis.

But that alone wouldn’t be enough for Democrats to snatch the majority, with the GOP only seven seats away. Democrats would still need to win the vast majority of the nearly-a-dozen races that are truly in doubt.

Georgia Runoff: Trump Factor, Shortened Schedule Pose Challenges For Walker

Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker forced Sen. Raphael Warnock into a runoff election, but former President Donald Trump's expected 2024 run and an abbreviated runoff period to turn out voters could pose challenges for the candidate.

Walker, who may have a chance to win a Senate majority for Republicans, closed a polling deficit in the last month of the race to draw nearly even with Warnock, D-Ga., at the ballot box. But now he'll have to bring his voters back to the polls in less than four weeks against an opponent with experience winning runoffs.

Trump is also expected to start his 2024 presidential campaign on Tuesday. University of Georgia professor of political science Charles Bullock told Fox News Digital that risks drawing attention away from Walker.

House Conservatives Withhold Support For McCarthy, Press For Delay To Election

Conservative House Republicans are pushing for GOP leadership elections to be delayed ahead of closed-door votes next week on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) Speakership bid and other offices.

It’s still not clear which party will control the House, with nearly three-dozen races without a winner. While the GOP is still favored to win the majority, it is expected to be much smaller than once thought, which has given critics of McCarthy an argument to make against him.

“We don’t even know if we have the majority or who’s in the majority,” House Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry (R-Pa.) told The Hill in an interview on Thursday. “People haven’t come to Washington, D.C. because they don’t know if they’ve won their races yet.”

“And how can they be expected to vote for a rules package, how we run this place, or leadership if they haven’t met these people, they haven’t heard their pitch?” Perry said.

Putin 'Tried And Failed' To Test 'Doomsday' Poseidon Nuclear

Russia has tried and failed to test its pioneering 'doomsday' torpedo, American intelligence sources believe, in a possible sign that the sanctions against Moscow are beginning to bite.

The fearsome nuclear-powered torpedo, named Poseidon, is launched from the Belgorod - the world's largest submarine, which only went into service this summer.

Belgorod was unveiled with great fanfare in 2019, and the Poseidon torpedo - first announced in 2015 - seen as the crown jewels of the submarine.

Russia boasted at the time that Poseidon would be capable of destroying entire cities by triggering a tsunami.

Veterans Day – November 11, 2022

Veterans Day, observed annually on November 11, is a tribute to military veterans who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Not to be confused with Memorial Day, which honors those who died while in service, Veterans Day honors all military veterans, including those still with us.

Veterans Day, originally celebrated as Armistice Day, was first issued on November 11, 1919, by President Woodrow Wilson a year after the end of World War I. The purpose of Armistice Day was to honor the fallen soldiers of the Great War for their sacrifice and bravery. Seven years later, in 1926, Congress adopted a resolution requesting that President Calvin Coolidge issue annual proclamations on November 11, making Armistice Day a legal holiday.

In 1945, World War II veteran Raymond Weeks had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans rather than just the ones who died in World War I. He led a delegation to General Dwight Eisenhower, who was all for the idea. Weeks then organized the first Veterans Day celebration in 1945 in Alabama and every year since, until he died in 1985. In 1982, he was honored by President Reagan with the Presidential Citizenship Medal. Weeks was also named the ‘Father of Veterans Day’ by Elizabeth Dole.

Wisconsin's Voter Turnout In 2022 Hasn't Surpassed 2018, With Status Quo Reigning

The 2022 elections are now in the rearview mirror — and despite a record high number of midterm voter registrations in Wisconsin, overall turnout dipped below what it was in 2018.

Unofficial counts from the Associated Press show over 2,640,000 votes were cast for the major party candidates in Wisconsin's U.S. Senate race, the highest number in any statewide race, and making for a turnout of 58.2%. However, with the vast majority of votes tabulated, that is still an overall slight decrease compared to the 2018 midterm election, when turnout hit 59.4%.

That decrease in voter turnout was particularly visible in Milwaukee County, which saw about 47,000 fewer votes in the 2022 U.S. Senate race than in 2018.

Amid this slight decrease in turnout compared to 2018, Democrats outperformed expectations during the 2022 midterm election. Results show that voters chose to stick with the status quo — electing every incumbent candidate on the ballot for statewide positions and Congressional seats.

Does Tony Evers' 2022 Midterm Win Expose Republican Gerrymandering In Wisconsin?

Think about this: The same statewide voters who gave Democrat Gov. Tony Evers his second term in office on Tuesday also voted to keep Republicans in control of Wisconsin's State Assembly and Senate.

A number of theories are buzzing around about why that happened. One of those theories, which is gaining steam online via a video from MSNBC, purports that this Evers/Wisconsin Republican dynamic "exposes the distortion of Republican gerrymandering in Wisconsin."

TMJ4 News decided to go deeper into the issue.

Vos Reelected Assembly Speaker, Says It's Time For GOP To Move On From Trump

After spending the past year at odds with Donald Trump, Robin Vos will be Speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly again. And Vos thinks it's time for Republicans to move on from the former president.

Vos easily won reelection Tuesday night against a write-in campaign from Adam Steen, the Republican he narrowly defeated in the August primary. Trump endorsed Steen in both elections, promoting him at a Wisconsin rally in August and in a robocall in November.

Some of Trump's most prominent endorsements around the country also lost Tuesday, including in Wisconsin where Republican Tim Michels lost to Democrat Tony Evers in his bid for the governorship. The GOP's performance in the midterm led many Republicans to call for a different candidate to run for president in 2024. On Thursday, Vos joined them.

"We have to be smart enough to say, 'I want to win,'" Vos told reporters at the state Capitol. "I can't stick with one person and ride the ship down.'"

Vos spoke after being reelected speaker in a closed door meeting of Assembly Republicans. Last session, he led a 61-seat majority in the Assembly. Next session, that majority will stand at 64.

Analysis: Dem Gains In Dane, WOW Counties In Guv Race Make Up For Drop In Rural Support

Tuesday’s gubernatorial election underscored that Republicans have an acute problem in Dane County and suburban Milwaukee.

And insiders say that is helping Dems overcome their eroding support in rural Wisconsin.

Tony Evers beat Tim Michels by 174,233 votes in deep blue Dane County, according to results posted at the clerk’s website. And he improved on his 2018 performance in all three WOW counties — Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington — in what had long been a GOP stronghold in the Milwaukee suburbs and exurbs.

And that more than offset the fact Evers fared worse than 2014 Dem guv nominee Mary Burke in 44 counties, many of them in rural areas. Burke lost her race to then-Gov. Scott Walker by 5.7 percentage points eight years ago despite beating Walker by 102,261 votes in Dane County.

Dane County has been a turnout machine for Dems in recent statewide elections, and it continued that run yesterday. The 174,233-vote margin Dane County gave Evers was more than the 171,686 votes it cast overall in the 2002 gubernatorial campaign.

Meanwhile, Michels underperformed Walker’s 2018 numbers in all three WOW counties as the GOP slide in the Milwaukee suburbs that began with Donald Trump continued.

Wisconsin Fall Drug Take Back Collection Yields 54,040 Pounds Of Unwanted Medications To Fight Opioid Epidemic

Attorney General Josh Kaul today announced that during the October 29, 2022, Drug Take Back Day, Wisconsin collected a total of 54,040 lbs. of unwanted medications.

“Wisconsinites consistently step up for Drug Take Back, making sure tens of thousands of pounds of unused and unwanted medications are safely disposed of,” said Attorney General Josh Kaul. “Thank you to everyone who helped collect over 54,000 pounds of unwanted medications.”

Statewide over 140 law enforcement agencies participated in Drug Take Back Day. Medications were also collected from permanent drug disposal boxes at law enforcement agencies. Wisconsin has more than 490 permanent drug disposal boxes accessible year-round at law enforcement agencies, hospitals, pharmacies and health clinics.

Drug Take Back Day provides a safe, convenient and responsible means of disposal, while also educating the community about the potential abuse and consequences of improper storage and disposal of these medications.