I talked before about how the “Blue Wave” on its own will not be enough for us. The results went fairly well with Democrats getting control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 2010. Unfortunately the Democrats did not gain nearly as many seats as the Republicans gained in 2010 but that is likely because more Democratic senate seats were up for election.

My plan here is to do a run down of all the elections of each state from a civil rights perspective. It may take some time because I am looking up most of these people for the first time. If anyone lives in any of these states and has anything to add in regards to their current representatives I would greatly appreciate the additional insight. This is largely meant to observe patterns so I may not touch on everything that’s important.

Before I begin I would like address a few things in advance that I know will be brought up if this piece gets any significant viewership. The first is that yes, there is a strong left wing bias in this piece. I have tried my best to be impartial by sticking strictly to civil rights issues but when one looks at the basic facts, the Republican party is far more often to blame for a lot of the most heinous shit when it comes to bigotry and cruelty. While the left has its fair share of shitheads, and I have done my best to call them all out and draw attention to them as well, It’s only naturally that my interests will be more closely aligned with the left when there is not only less bigoted shitheads, but also that the bigoted shitheads are less bigoted and less shit headed.

If you are a moderate Republican who is in favor of equal rights for LGBT people, women, and people of color then I would highly recommend reading through this entire 27,000+ word piece. I have heard more than one moderate claim that both parties are just as bad, but while I have plenty of criticisms towards the American left as of late, I just find that the right is just so much more hateful and ignorant than the left is. Even if the left only cares about lining their own pockets it does not change the fact that is it only logical to do what will help give us our rights. If you read this piece all the way through then you will likely have a much greater understanding of why LGBT activists hold so much more disdain towards the right.

Even if one does believe that one can merely “disagree” with LGBT rights (which as a heads up, you can’t expect to advocate for LGBT people being deprived of the same basic rights as everyone else and expect them to be okay with it), you will see that a large number of people who are still serving in the united states congress have some outright cruel and hateful views towards LGBT people that a lot of you may have thought died out.

I also ask that you show this piece to anyone who states that the Republican party isn’t homophobic. Hell even if you are a passionate leftist and LGBT rights supporter I think it would behoove you to read this entire piece because it allows you to see the scope of this anti LGBT prejudice, as well as a fair bit of stuff relating to women’s rights and rights for people of color. If you just want to know whose been a piece of shit in your state, I recommend you just skip to the section on your specific state than read the “conclusion” section. The states are covered in alphabetical order.

Lastly I recommend that you read this, and then remember to get out and vote these pricks out of office. This type of abhorrent ignorance and bigotry should have never been tolerated, and it’s up to us all to right this age old wrong that we as a society have allowed. Starting with…

Alabama

There were no senate elections in Alabama this year. The current Republican governor Kay Ivey is still in office despite or likely because of the fact that she believes it is “wrong to legalize other “forms” of marriage, such as same-sex unions, and equally wrong to grant them the same legal rights” and signed a bill that allows the denial of gay adoptions. The plus side is that she won the election with 59.6% of the vote, which is down 4% from Robert J. Bentley’s win in 2014 so there is a higher turnout.

Alabama is a blood red state so it’s not surprising that the Republicans won six of the seven house seats, and the one blue seat was uncontested. The six Republican winners are…

The one Democrat from Alabama to win this year was Terri Sewell who has a pro LGBT track record and was endorsed as “preferred by The Feminist Majority.” I’m going to point out the obvious that Terri Sewell is a woman of color, while all of the other six are white cishets and five out of six are men. Anyone who responds to any call to elect more women, LGBT people, or people of color with “herp derp elect people based on merit derp.” keep this in mind. And no I don’t care about their stances on other issues. No one can be expected to put their support in someone who will stomp out the rights of women, people of color, and the LGBT community.

I know for a fact that not all Republicans are anti gay misogynist racist bigots, but it sure as shit looks like they keep voting for them. If you are on the right and you generally care about us, DON’T vote for people who so obviously don’t! I’m not even saying to vote Democrat, I’m saying to vote in the primaries for those that aren’t raging bigots! And if you end up having a bigot winning the primary, either don’t vote or vote for literally ANYONE ELSE! Otherwise you help put them into office where they can at best hold back any progress we make and at worse actively hurt us!

The silver lining is that five of the six Republicans had less of a lead than they did in 2016. Mike Rogers (63.8%) had a 3.2% decrease, Robert Aderholt (79.9%) ran unopposed since 2012 and thus had a 20.1% decrease), Mo Brooks (61.1) had a 5.6% decrease since 2014, Gary Palmer (69.2%) had a 5.2% decrease, Bradley Byrne (63.2%) ran unopposed in 2016 and had a 5% decrease from 2014. If it continues at this rate then it may be very well possible to see more Democrats in Alabama within the next few years, albeit unlikely. So be sure to get out there and vote when the time comes… as long as it’s not for these dorks.

Alaska

Alaska has had no senatorial elections in 2018. The winner of the Gubernatorial election was Mike Dunleavy, who has compared Planned Parenthood to the Ku Klux Klan. While I am struggling to find any explicit action or statements against LGBT rights at the very least, which is an improvement over the previous governor Bill Walker, these people need to realize that defunding Planned Parenthood puts women everywhere, especially LGBT women, at risk and that their anti abortion crusade isn’t fucking worth it. Mike Dunleavy won with 51.5% of the vote. This is only slightly lower than Bill Walker’s win in 2014 but that can be chalked up to the fact that Walker was an independent. On the other hand, Dunleavy’s lead is down 7.6% from Sean Parnell’s win in 2010 who was the last Republican to hold the office so it may be more likely to see a Democratic Governor in 2022.

Alaska had only one congressional election since there’s only one house representative, and sadly it is still under right wing occupation. Specifically the winner is Don Young, who has kept Alaska’s sole spot in the house SINCE 1973!!!!! Maybe it’s just my youth and thus naivety speaking, but THAT”S WAY TOO FUCKING LONG!!!! He’s been in office for almost fifty years now. Ah but is he good at his job? Well I’ll quote Wikipedia on this one.

LGBT issues Young believes marriage should be between a man and a woman. He has compared gay relations to bulls having sex.[106] He voted against protections for gay and lesbian people in the workplace.[107] He has stated that, “I’ve hired a person of a different orientation,” continuing with, “That’s personal. … I do believe in the Bible. Always have and always will. But hiring is different.”[108] He’s voted for making gay adoptions illegal,[109] and in 2009 voted against sexual orientation being enforced as a protected status against hate crimes.[110] Young has been given a 0% score on gay rights by the HRC.[110] Suicide rate in Alaska When asked about the fact that the state of Alaska has the highest suicide rate in America per capita, Young has stated that he believes the high suicide rates are at least partially the result of government handouts, and that “this suicide problem didn’t exist until we got largesse from the government.” He believes Alaska needs to cut public assistance programs.[82] On October 21, 2014, Young addressed an assembly of students at Wasilla High School, shortly after a student there committed suicide. During a question and answer session, he said that the student’s suicide had been caused by a lack of support from family and friends. During the assembly, Young also recalled a story about drinking alcohol in Paris, and used profanity several times, officials from the school reported.[82] When Young was criticized by a student for his comments on suicide, Young called him an “asshole.” Young apologized for these comments on October 24, stating, “I am profoundly and genuinely sorry for the pain it has caused the Alaskan people.”[111][112]

Hopefully Alaskans get tired enough of him that he gets replaced in the future but at this point you may as well need a wooden stake and some holy water to get rid of him. You know I’m not even looking for much here. My standard here is to not be a bigoted asshole. I know there are a lot of other issues that come into play but I think this should really demonstrate just how ingrained white cishet male supremacy is into out very culture.

I am currently writing each of these entries in the order they appear and I would genuinely like to be wrong about the stereotype behind Republicans but it is currently looking like that stereotype exists for a reason. Alaskans, please get those pitchforks and torches ready in 2020!

Arizona

One Arizona senate seat has been wrestled out of Republican grasp with the Democratic candidate Krysten Sinema barely winning by 1.7%. Krysten Sinema has made history as the first bisexual person in the US Senate. She will almost definitely be an improvement over the previous Senator Jeff Flake who has repeatedly voted to prohibit same sex marriage and believes it should be legal to fire someone for being transgender. It was also a significant win over her opponent Martha McSally who has repeatedly voted against same sex marriage and has refused to take a position when asked about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

Current Governor Doug Ducey has kept his seat in the Gubernatorial race despite the fact that he has consistently opposed same sex marriage and has attempted to block women’s health care at Planned Parenthood. Unfortunately his win is a 2% increase from 2014 so a bit of a push may be necessary to get him out of office.

Arizona also added an additional House seat over to Democrats with the aforementioned Martha McSally’s seat being won by Ann Kirkpatrick who has a much better record of supporting civil rights.

The previously mentioned Krysten Sinema’s seat is now occupied by Greg Stanton, the former Phoenix Mayor who has a fairly good LGBT track record.

The three remaining Arizona house Democrats are Tom O’Halleran, Ruben Gallego, and Raul Grijalva, the former two of which have decent progressive track records and the latter most an especially good one.

There were four Republicans who kept their seats though, those four being Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, David Schweikert, and Debbie Lesko. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs both supported the baker Jack Phillips who sued over the right to use “religious freedom” as an excuse to legally discriminate against LGBT people. Gosar also supported an amendment to ban same sex marriage, co-sponsored the “State Marriage Defense Act,” and voted NO on reauthorizing the “Violence Against Women Act” and so has David Schweikert.

Debbie Lesko has voted to ban Ethic Studies classes from Arizona (and so did Andy Biggs) and to ban affirmative action so she doesn’t seem all that great either.

So this thankfully means that by my standards, five out of nine seats are in decent hands. As for whether or not Arizonans can expect to see Lesko, Gosar, Biggs, or Schweikert booted out of office in the coming years, well each have a decrease in percentage compared to previous years so people are turning on them.

Paul Gosar had a 2.4% decrease in his lead since 2016 but considering that this meant that he went from a 71.5% lead to a 69.1% one this means it is unlikely for him to be going anywhere in the near future (don’t let that stop you from trying though).

had a 2.4% decrease in his lead since 2016 but considering that this meant that he went from a 71.5% lead to a 69.1% one this means it is unlikely for him to be going anywhere in the near future (don’t let that stop you from trying though). Andy Biggs meanwhile is down 4.1% from 2016 and 5.2% from 2014, but he still had 60% this year so it may be difficult but possible.

meanwhile is down 4.1% from 2016 and 5.2% from 2014, but he still had 60% this year so it may be difficult but possible. David Schweikert is down 5.7% from 2016 and 8.5% from 2014, and he had 56.4% this year so he’s the most likely of these three to get the boot.

is down 5.7% from 2016 and 8.5% from 2014, and he had 56.4% this year so he’s the most likely of these three to get the boot. Debbie Lesko is down 7.7% from 2014 and ran unopposed in 2016 so she could be on her way out.

Arkansas

Governor Asa Hutchinson has unfortunately won reelection despite the fact that he voted to ban gay adoptions in DC, thinks marriage should only be between one man and one woman and that the government doesn’t have the authority to change that, and signed a bill allowing for legal discrimination of gay people in Arkansas. Unfortunately his lead is about 10% higher than his win in 2014 so it’s apparent that a lot of Democratic voters in Arkansas were not motivated to show up and vote this year.

Arkansas is another blood red state. The state has gone since 2013 since a Democrat took an Arkansas house seat and has been occupied by the red army. The current representatives of this state are Rick Crawford, French Hill, Steve Womack, and Bruce Westerman.

As for the odds that we can kick these pricks out of the Capitol Building and into the gulag, let’s see… well it’s another long shot since Crawford, Womack, and Westerman have won 2018 with 69.8%, 64.9%, and 66.8% respectively. Their leads are are all down quite a bit since there were no Democratic candidates running against them in 2016, but the only one whose lead has decreased in comparison to the last Democrat they ran against was Steve Womack by 7.5% so I guess he’s the weakest link. Well actually the weakest link would be French Hill who only won with 52.2% in 2018.

This leads me to the obvious conclusion that that bigoted flaming turds that make up most of the Republican party DO in fact represent the interests of Republican voters. And yes I know most of my readership is probably yelling “YOU DON’T FUCKING SAY!!!” at their computer monitors but just give me a second to dissect what this really means.

It means that moderate Republicans are shit out of luck. Many of the hate mongering twat waffles in office are either naturally bigoted OR they will literally sell out the safety of minorities for votes. The only way that this will change is if the Republican voterbase stops thinking it is worse to vote in Democrats than to vote in bigots. If this does not happen then the Republican party will rely on pandering to slack jawed trailer park homophobes until the world ends… which may not be too long but going into why would be going against what I said about sticking to civil rights.

California

Now we are on to California, the most populated state in the country and a mostly blue state. The are a whopping 53 representatives in California but first we will start with the senator. The winner of the general election was the five term incumbent Dianne Feinstein against Kevin de Leon. It is worth mentioning that both of these candidates were Democrats. There has not been a major Republican Senate candidate in California since 2012 in fact, and there hasn’t been a Republican senator from California since 1992 with John Seymour. And yes Dianne Feinstein was in office for 40 years now so she really should step down but it’s better than having a bigot in office at least. Governor Gavin Newsom has also kept his seat which is good since he has a fairly good progressive track record.

Anyway as for those 53 house representatives, California is now even more blue than it was prior to 2018. 14 of those seats were red going into this election and now only 8 of them are. The six dethroned Republicans are Jeff Denham, Steve Knight, Mimi Walters, Dana Rohrabacher, Darrell Issa, and Edward Royce.

Of note is that Edward Royce and Darrell Issa did not seek re-election and that said seats were won by Gil Cisneros and Mike Levin respectively. The two candidates they were victorious against were Young Kim and Diane Harkey respectively.

Meanwhile… Gil Cisneros is pro LGBT and Mike Levin has been endorsed by the HRC. Katie Hill is openly bisexual herself and has been endorsed by several LGBT groups. Katie Porter has been a strong advocate for the LGBT community and her campaign has strongly emphasized her support for Bernie Sanders. Harley Rouda’s campaign has also been supportive of the LGBT Community and has been endorsed by the HRC. Josh Harder has been pretty silent on LGBT rights though.

The remaining California Republicans in office are Doug LaMalfa, Tom McClintock, Paul Cook, David Valado, Devin Nunes, Kevin McCarthy, Ken Calvert, and Duncan D. Hunter.

So yes, there are still eight bigots from California in the US House of Representatives. So what are the chances we may see them kicked out on the street in the future? Well let’s take a look at how the election results compare.

Doug LaMalfa’s lead of 56.3% is down 2.8% from 2016 and 4.7% from 2014 so we may see him booted out in the coming years.

lead of 56.3% is down 2.8% from 2016 and 4.7% from 2014 so we may see him booted out in the coming years. Tom McClintock won with 55.4% of the vote and his lead is down 7.3% from 2016 so there is a good choice that he will get thrown out on his McClint-cock in the next few years… okay SOMEONE had make that joke it may as well have been me.

won with 55.4% of the vote and his lead is down 7.3% from 2016 so there is a good choice that he will get thrown out on his McClint-cock in the next few years… okay SOMEONE had make that joke it may as well have been me. Paul Cook unfortunately did not have a Democrat run against him in 2018 and he won 2016 with 62.3% so it’s going to be a bit harder to get rid of him.

unfortunately did not have a Democrat run against him in 2018 and he won 2016 with 62.3% so it’s going to be a bit harder to get rid of him. David Valado won with 53.8% which is down 2.9% from 2016 and down 4% from 2014 & 2012 so it could be possible that we get rid of him in the next few years.

won with 53.8% which is down 2.9% from 2016 and down 4% from 2014 & 2012 so it could be possible that we get rid of him in the next few years. Devin Nunes won with 55.8% and is down 11.8% from 2016 and 16.2% from 2014. Hopefully this trend continues in the future.

won with 55.8% and is down 11.8% from 2016 and 16.2% from 2014. Hopefully this trend continues in the future. Kevin McCarthy won with 66.5% which is down 2.7% from 2016 and 8.3% from 2014. Still quite a ways to go but progress is being made.

won with 66.5% which is down 2.7% from 2016 and 8.3% from 2014. Still quite a ways to go but progress is being made. Ken Calvert won with 59.3% which is actually up 0.5% from 2016 but down 6.4% from 2014. May be a bit harder to get rid of him.

won with 59.3% which is actually up 0.5% from 2016 but down 6.4% from 2014. May be a bit harder to get rid of him. Duncan D. Hunter won with 54.2% which is down 9.2% from 2016 and down 17% from 2014.



But still… this means that 45 out of 53 seats in California are blue. I already mentioned the six new Democrats in office to take Republican seats but I do know that there are 39 Democrats who kept their seats. Well, I just looked through each of their info on OnTheIssues.org and almost every single one had a pro LGBT voting record and were not bigots. It’s almost as if the Republican party is overwhelmingly made up by bigoted old white men with a few bigoted white women.

This isn’t even a generalization. very few of the Republicans I mentioned thus far were not anti LGBT, while the worst that a Democrat featured in this article thus far has done is just kinda not have any info about their stance on LGBT rights available. If you are reading this and have been naive enough to assume that Republicans aren’t all homophobic and transphobic bigots before then, hopefully now you see why this prejudice against your “politics” exist.

Colorado

Good news, Colorado has elected its first openly gay Governor with Jared Polis! His track record is naturally very solid.

Colorado had no senate elections this year and 4 out of 7 House seats are now Blue. The one new blue seat belongs to Jason Crow who beat out the ex representative Mike Coffman with 54.1% of the vote. While Mike Coffman has been much more pro LGBT than most Republicans, I’m still consider it good to be rid of him because he voted to defund Planned Parenthood. All four of these Democrats seem to have fairly progressive stances but let’s take a look at the three remaining Republicans.

Once again it is quite present that it’s easier to vote out moderates than the genuine bigots because bigotry has a stronger support base. It is becoming quite obvious that voters will gravitate towards one extreme or the other. But let’s take a look at the three remaining candidates leads.

Scott Tipton won with 51.7% of the vote and is down by 2.9% from 2014 and 6.3% from 2014 so he may get tipped out if things continue at this rate.

won with 51.7% of the vote and is down by 2.9% from 2014 and 6.3% from 2014 so he may get tipped out if things continue at this rate. Ken Buck won with 60.9% of the vote and is down 2.6% from 2016 and 3.8% from 2014. It looks like he still has plenty of bucks to spare though so it will be harder to get rid of him.

won with 60.9% of the vote and is down 2.6% from 2016 and 3.8% from 2014. It looks like he still has plenty of bucks to spare though so it will be harder to get rid of him. Doug Lamborn won with 58.3% of the vote and is down 4% from 2016 and 1.5% from 2014, so it may be a bit harder to get him on the lamb.

If one is paying attention to these though, one can definitely see that more people are voting Democrat than previous years. A lot of people are getting sick of the Republican’s shit and want to see them booted the fuck out. Considering that the newer generation is far less likely to to resonate with their bigotry it also means that more of them will register to vote in order to be rid of these pricks. I know it’s a bit of a cliche at this point but every vote counts!

Connecticut

Currently both senate seats in Connecticut are blue. Chris Murphy has successfully defended his seat from his Republican opponent Matthew Corey with 59.4% of the vote. One can chalk this up to the fact that Matthew Corey was a moderate Republican who was both pro choice AND in support of gay marriage. The conundrum I mentioned earlier comes up again in that a large portion of Republican voters only vote for bigotry. Even if Matthew Corey is far more progressive than most Republicans, LGBT people and allies are bound to trust Democrats more regardless. Then again, Matthew Corey came closer to victory than 2016’s Republican candidate Dan Carter who voted against the inclusion of an anti trans discrimination law so maybe Connecticut is better at encouraging basic human decency than most states.

It is also worth mentioning that Democratic candidate for governor Ned Lamont has also won the election and he has a solid track record.

The House members of Connecticut started out this year all blue and that did not change after this election. The only new house member is Jahana Hayes, all five representatives are progressives and I could not find any info on their opponents stances on LGBT rights. There doesn’t seem to be much for me to say about Connecticut so I’ll just move on. Don’t stop voting though.

Delaware

Delaware had on house seat and one senate seat up for election. The Democratic incumbents won both of those states. The senate incumbent Tom Carper has a mostly pro LGBT voting record but thinks same sex marriage should be left to the states and has a “mixed” record according to the ACLU, HRC, and the NAACP so we could probably do better than him. I could not find a recorded stance on LGBT rights from his opponent Robert Arlett though. Lisa Rochester on the other hand has been much more consistently progressive and pro LGBT. I can’t find any information on her opponent Scott Walker (not to be confused with the former presidential candidate from Wisconsin) either. Delaware is another state that is unlikely to elect any Republicans any time soon but keep voting nonetheless… preferably for someone better than Tom Carper.

Florida

Unfortunately Florida’s Republican senator Rick Scott barely won the election with 50.1% of the vote and has taken the former senator Bill Nelson’s seat. Both senate seats in Florida are now Republican and considering that the other senate seat is taken by 2016 presidential candidate Marco Rubio, it will likely be a tough bid. This is especially unfortunate since Rick Scott has stated he supports an amendment to ban same sex marriage and went silent when asked if Florida’s then ban on gay marriage was discriminatory.

Additionally, Republican candidate Ron DeSantis has won the election for Governor despite that fact that he has voted NO on reauthorizing the violence against women act, opposes same sex marriage, and respects faith based opposition to gay rights.

House wise, the make up started with 15 representatives red, 11 blue, and 1 vacant. After the election we now have 14 red and 13 blue. Democrats Al Lawson, Stephanie Murphy, Darren Soto, Val Demings, Charlie Crist, Kathy Castor, Alcee Hastings, Lois Frankel, Ted Deutch, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Frederica Wilson, as well as Republicans Matt Gaetz, Neal Dunn, Ted Yoho, John Rutherford, Bill Posey, Daniel Webster, Gus Bilirakis, Vern Buchanan, Brian Mast, Francis Rooney, and Mario Diaz-Balart have all kept their seats.

Our two new blue seats belong to Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and Donna Shalala. Both of them have fairly progressive track records Both of them are a step up from Carlos Curbelo and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the former of which supports barring gay marriage and the latter of which voted to ban gay adoption in DC (but admittedly has a very pro LGBT stance otherwise surprisingly) and was rated 31% by the NAACP. It is worth mentioning that Shalala’s opponent Maria Elvira Salazar was also pro LGBT which adds more ammo to the argument that the Republican voterbase is full of toxic bigots who won’t show up to vote for candidates who aren’t bigots. I genuinely feel sorry for moderate Republicans who are pro LGBT and minority rights.

As for the remaining Republicans, there is…

Thankfully there is also John Rutherford, Brian Mast, and Mario Diaz-Balart who are all fairly pro LGBT in their track records and Michael Waltz who I cannot find any info for. It’s just a shame that the majority are still bigoted homophobes. Just checked and each of the democrats have pretty solid progressive track records as well. So what are the chances we will see these Republicans booted out in 2020?

Matt Gaetz won with 67.1% of the vote which is down 2% from 2016 so it will be tough to get rid of him.

won with 67.1% of the vote which is down 2% from 2016 so it will be tough to get rid of him. Neal Dunn won with 67.7% of the vote which is 0.4% higher than in 2016 so he is also going to be tough to get rid of.

won with 67.7% of the vote which is 0.4% higher than in 2016 so he is also going to be tough to get rid of. Ted Yoho won with 58.1% which is 1.5% higher than in 2016 but is a 6.9% decrease from 2014 so it may still be possible to get rid of him.

won with 58.1% which is 1.5% higher than in 2016 but is a 6.9% decrease from 2014 so it may still be possible to get rid of him. Bill Posey won with 60.5% of the vote which is down 2.6% from 2016 and down 5.3% from 2014 so it may be possible but will still require greater turnout.

won with 60.5% of the vote which is down 2.6% from 2016 and down 5.3% from 2014 so it may be possible but will still require greater turnout. Daniel Webster won with 65.2% of the vote which is down 0.2% from 2016 so it’s going to be difficult to tear him off his seat.

won with 65.2% of the vote which is down 0.2% from 2016 so it’s going to be difficult to tear him off his seat. Gus Bilirakis won with 58.2% of the vote which is down 10.4% from 2016 so it may be possible to boot him out in the future.

won with 58.2% of the vote which is down 10.4% from 2016 so it may be possible to boot him out in the future. Vern Buchanan won with 54.6% of the vote which is down 5.2% from 2016 and 6.9% from 2014 so we could possibly see him get the boot in the coming years.

won with 54.6% of the vote which is down 5.2% from 2016 and 6.9% from 2014 so we could possibly see him get the boot in the coming years. Greg Stuebe won with 62.3% of the vote which was up 0.5% from 2016 so it may require a bit of a push to get rid of him.

won with 62.3% of the vote which was up 0.5% from 2016 so it may require a bit of a push to get rid of him. Francis Rooney won with 62.3% of the vote which is down 3.6% from 2016 so it may require a bit of a push to get rid of him.

won with 62.3% of the vote which is down 3.6% from 2016 so it may require a bit of a push to get rid of him. Ross Spano won with 53.1% which is down 4.4% so it may be possible to get rid of him in the coming years.

The weakest links in Florida appear to be Ross Spano and Vern Buchanan so it could be possible for the Democrats to get the lead if they take one of their seats. Florida may be one of the more difficult states to take but it’s become obvious that Democrats are putting up a fight there as well. It’s also nice to see that more pro LGBT Republicans are coming out in Florida, pun intended.

Georgia

Republican candidate Brian Kemp has been elected Governor of Georgia despite the fact that he said he would sign a “religious freedom” bill (that’s code for anti gay) that was previously vetoed by his Republican predecessor Nathan Deal, and that his own queer niece voted against him. Thankfully his lead is at least down by about 2% from Deal’s win in 2014 and he only won with 50.2% of the vote so it’s entirely likely he can be voted out in 2022.

Georgia had no senate elections this year, but it is worth reminding people that both seats are red and one will be up in 2020. Going into this year’s election, there were 4 blue seats and 10 red, and now there are 5 blue seats and 9 red. There is little progress but progress nonetheless. Only one seat changed hand in Florida and that seat now belongs to Lucy McBath, whose platform runs on pro LGBT and women’s rights and even explicitly called out her opponent for not standing up for trans rights.

Unfortunately one of the blue seats belongs to Sanford Bishop, who thus far is one of the only Democratic homophobes I’ve come across. Sanford Bishop has thus far voted to ban same sex marriage, voted to ban gay adoptions in DC, and has a rating of 38% by the HRC. Unfortunately his opponent Herman West Jr was even worse. The best thing I can suggest to those in Georgia’s 2nd district, aside from moving, is to only vote for Sanford if there is literally no one else. If there is another Democrat running against him, a third party candidate, or a moderate Republican who isn’t a bigoted pile of shit then VOTE THEM IN!!! But otherwise this is one of the few where the whole “giant douche vs turd sandwich” dynamic really comes into play. The same can be said about David Scott who is also a homophobe. Damn, Georgia sucks!

Well at least 3 out of the five Democrats are reliable and the other two at least have decent tracks records on affirmative action but… is there really no one better? Well, let’s check and see if the Republicans are ass backwards as well and if any are good on LGBT rights. Well…

So the short answer to that last question is “lol no, Georgia sucks!” But can we make it suck less? Well it is going to be difficult to turn Georgia blue but let’s take a look at how the votes turned out.

Buddy Carter won with 58% of the vote, which is an improvement from 2016 where he ran unopposed and is down 2.91% from 2014. It may be possible if there’s a significant increase in turnout, but it will be difficult to cart him out of the House.

won with 58% of the vote, which is an improvement from 2016 where he ran unopposed and is down 2.91% from 2014. It may be possible if there’s a significant increase in turnout, but it will be difficult to cart him out of the House. Drew Ferguson won with 65.6% of the vote which is down 2.7% from 2016 but it is still unlikely we will be getting rid of him any time soon.

won with 65.6% of the vote which is down 2.7% from 2016 but it is still unlikely we will be getting rid of him any time soon. Rob Woodall only barely won with 50.1% of the vote which is down 10.3% from 2016 and 15.28% from 2014 so we only need a slight push to get rid of him.

only barely won with 50.1% of the vote which is down 10.3% from 2016 and 15.28% from 2014 so we only need a slight push to get rid of him. Austin Scott ran uncontested so he’s going to be hard to get rid of.

ran uncontested so he’s going to be hard to get rid of. Doug Collins won with 79.6% of the vote which is down 21.4% from 2016 where he ran unopposed and is down 1.07% from 2014 so chances are pretty slim against him.

won with 79.6% of the vote which is down 21.4% from 2016 where he ran unopposed and is down 1.07% from 2014 so chances are pretty slim against him. Jody Hice won with 62.9% of the vote which is down a lot from 2016 where he went unopposed and is down 3.62% from 2014 so it’s going to need to require a bit of a push to get him out of office… and preferably off a building.

won with 62.9% of the vote which is down a lot from 2016 where he went unopposed and is down 3.62% from 2014 so it’s going to need to require a bit of a push to get him out of office… and preferably off a building. Barry loudermilk won with 61.8% of the vote which is down 5.6% from 2016 so it may be possible but only with a big push.

won with 61.8% of the vote which is down 5.6% from 2016 so it may be possible but only with a big push. Rick Allen won with 59.5% of the vote which is down 2.1% from 2016 so we need a bigger push to boot him out.

won with 59.5% of the vote which is down 2.1% from 2016 so we need a bigger push to boot him out. Tom Graves won with 76.5% of the vote and ran unopposed in 2016 and 2014, so it’s going to be difficult to put him in his political grave.

It’s important that Georgians don’t lose hope though. KEEP VOTING! Even if the person you vote for loses, the fact that the number of votes put against homophobes and bigots still goes up will continue to foster hope in the people, as well as inspire others to run against said homophobes. You have more power than you think!

Hawaii

In the Hawaii Senate Election, Mazie Hirono has successfully retained her seat with 71.1% of the vote which is 9.4% higher than her election in 2012 so it’s obvious that she’s not likely to lose this seat any time soon. Considering that she has a very good track record in regards to LGBT rights, it does not seem like she will be any threat to the LGBT community in the future. The two house reps Ed Case and Tulsi Gabbard also both won with over 70% of the vote and each have good LGBT track records as well. The short version is that Republicans are unlikely to take Hawaii any time soon.

Governor David Ige has also kept his seat. While he did once say that he was okay with civil unions but not “gay marriage” in 2012, his progressive track record has been otherwise pretty good with him signing a law banning conversion therapy in Hawaii earlier this year.

Idaho

Idaho has not had any senate elections but I did find out that one of the current senators is literally named Mike Crapo… he’s a republican of course.In the race for Governor, Republican Brad Little has won despite the fact that he is trying to legally define marriage as “one man one woman” in Idaho, and accused Obama of “stretching the true meaning of the gender equality law for public schools to go around Congress and impose his own agenda on individual states and local school districts” when he said schools shouldn’t prevent trans students from using the bathroom.

There are only two house reps in Idaho and they are also republicans since Idaho is a red state. Those two are Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson. Russ Fulcher replaced the previous house rep Raul Labrador and he thinks providing unlicensed abortions should be a felony with jail time and that same sex marriage should be left to the state. Mike Simpson meanwhile has tried to defund Planned Parenthood, has voted to ban same sex marriage, to constitutionally define marriage as “one man one woman,” to ban gay adoption in DC, voted against banning anti gay job discrimination, has a rating of 0% by the HRC, a 13% by the ACLU, and voted to not enforce against anti gay hate crimes. Yeah he’s a real piece of shit isn’t he?

Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson won with 62.7% and 60.7% respectively so it may be tough to get rid of them, but let’s see how that is compared to previous years. Russ Fulcher’s win is down 5.5% from Raul Labrador’s in 2016 and Mike Simpsons’s 2018 win is down 2.2% from his 2016 win. As has been shown with previous states there is increased Democratic turnout and leads are decreasing. We are unlikely to see these two idiots booted out in the next few years but over time it could be possible. It won’t be easy though.

Illinois

In Illinois, J.B. Pritzker has taken the seat of the previous Republican Governor Bruce Rauner. Considering that Rauner is both pro choice and pro LGBT it makes sense that he lost considering that the Republican base does not approve of such things. Once again, it is quite unfortunate that the current political climate is not allowing progressive Republicans to exist.

Before the 2018 election, Illinois had 11 Democratic seats and 7 Republican. After the election there are 13 Democratic seats and 5 Republican. Three of those seats have changed hands. Our new representatives are Chuy Garcia, Sean Casten, and Lauren Underwood. It is of note that Chuy Garcia has been backed by Bernie Sanders and has been endorsed by an LGBT coalition. Sean Casten was blasted by Breitbart for “not denouncing Anti Christian bully Dan Savage” which alone tells you everything you need to know. And Lauren Underwood has been endorsed by the HRC.



Unfortunately Illinois has another one of those elusive “Democratic homophobes” in the form of Dan Lipinski who voted against prohibiting anti gay job discrimination, in favor of protecting anti same sex marriage opinions as “free speech,” and has a rating of 40% by the HRC. Thankfully every other house democrat in Illinois has a solid pro LGBT track record. As for the five remaining republicans, we have…

So what are the chances of getting rid of these homophobes? In regards to Dan Lipinski it is tricky seeing as how any Republican that runs against him will most likely be a homophobe as well, so the best recommendation is vote third party if there is one available. I’d only say otherwise if his opponent is especially bad. The only reason that there are any Democratic homophobes in office at this time is because LGBT rights only recently took off and these people were already in office. No new Democrat running for office will be able to get elected if they are anti gay, so the best option is to just let them lose then vote for someone better in the next election. Granted there are other factors to take into consideration but this article is specially about civil rights issues. As for the remaining Republicans.

Mike Bost won with 51.8% of the vote which is down 2.5% from 2016 so it’s very well possible to see him get the boot in the coming years.

won with 51.8% of the vote which is down 2.5% from 2016 so it’s very well possible to see him get the boot in the coming years. Rodney Davis won with 50.5% of the vote which is down 9.2% from 2016 so it looks like we only need a little more to push him out.

won with 50.5% of the vote which is down 9.2% from 2016 so it looks like we only need a little more to push him out. John Shimkus won with 71.1% of the vote which is down from 2016 where he ran unopposed and down 3.8% from 2014 so it may be unlikely to get rid of him any time soon.

won with 71.1% of the vote which is down from 2016 where he ran unopposed and down 3.8% from 2014 so it may be unlikely to get rid of him any time soon. Adam Kinzinger won with 59.7% of the vote which is down significantly from 2016 where he ran unoppossed and is down 10.9% from 2014 so he could get his as zinged out if turnout continues at this rate.

won with 59.7% of the vote which is down significantly from 2016 where he ran unoppossed and is down 10.9% from 2014 so he could get his as zinged out if turnout continues at this rate. Darin LaHood won with 67.4% which is down 4.7% from 2016 so it may take a while until he’s booted out of the House and into the hood.

Thankfully Illinois seems to be giving off a pretty good push. A blue state has become bluer and it will only turn even more blue in the coming years at this rate.

Indiana

There was a senate election and unfortunately it was won by Mike Braun, who is your stereotypical “I’m not homophobic but I support religious freedom to legally discriminate against LGBT people” Republican. I suppose this is to be expected from the state that gave us Electric Fence Pence after all. Before the 2018 election, the house had two Democrats and five Republicans from Indiana and that number has stayed the same. Unfortunately it appears that Indiana took an L this election considering that it lost its one Democratic senator and there won’t be another senate election in Indiana until 2022 where Todd Young’s seat will be up for re-election.

Thankfully there is only a two year gap between elections for the House of Representatives so let’s take a look at them. Both of the Democratic representatives Peter Visclosky and Andre Carson are pro LGBT and won their votes by 65.1% and 64.9% respectively, so it’s going to be difficult for the Republicans to take their seats. There are two new representatives in office, and they belong to Jim Baird and Greg Pence.

Jim Baird has voted in favor of a “religious freedom” law that allows legal discrimination of LGBT individuals. As for Greg Pence, he’s the brother of our current vice president and walking Donald J Trump assassination insurance, Mike Pence. Mike Pence’s homophobia is so infamous that many LGBT people, myself included, are opposed to Donald Trump’s impeachment solely because it means that Mike Pence would take over. Mike Pence’s homophobia is literally the subject of memes, and Greg Pence outright says he’s no different. As for the incumbents, we have…

So the question is whether or not we have a chance of getting rid of these homophobes in the coming years? Well…

Sources are inconsistent with how much of the vote Jackie Walorski won. Some say she won with 54.8% while others say she won with 57.1%. This means that her lead is down either 4.5% or 2.2%. Assuming it’s the latter we’d need a decent push to get rid of her.

won. Some say she won with 54.8% while others say she won with 57.1%. This means that her lead is down either 4.5% or 2.2%. Assuming it’s the latter we’d need a decent push to get rid of her. Jim Banks won with 64.7% of the vote which is down 5.4% from 2016 so it will be difficult to vote him out.

won with 64.7% of the vote which is down 5.4% from 2016 so it will be difficult to vote him out. Jim Baird won with 64.3% which is down 0.3% from Todd Rokita’s win in 2016 so win are unlikely to see this district turn blue any time soon.

won with 64.3% which is down 0.3% from win in 2016 so win are unlikely to see this district turn blue any time soon. Sources are inconsistent with how much of the vote Susan Brooks won. Some say she won with 56.8% while others say she won with 59.5%. This means that her lead is down either 4.7% or 2%. Assuming it’s the latter we’d need a decent push to get her out of office.

won. Some say she won with 56.8% while others say she won with 59.5%. This means that her lead is down either 4.7% or 2%. Assuming it’s the latter we’d need a decent push to get her out of office. Greg Pence won with 63.8% of the vote which is down 5.3% from Luke Messer’s win in 2016 so there is a significant increase in turnout but we’d need more to get rid of him.

won with 63.8% of the vote which is down 5.3% from win in 2016 so there is a significant increase in turnout but we’d need more to get rid of him. Larry Bucshon won with 64.4% of the vote which is a 0.7% increase from his 2016 win so giving him the boot is going to be tough.

won with 64.4% of the vote which is a 0.7% increase from his 2016 win so giving him the boot is going to be tough. Trey Hollingsworth won with 59.4% of the vote which is a 5.3% increase from 2015 so we know there are a fair number of people who will vote Blue but it will be difficult to get them to do so.

Indiana seems to be a crimson red state at this time and it’s going to be tough to make significant gains. The weakest links in the house seem to be Jackie Walorski, Susan Brooks, and and Trey Hollingsworth. If the Democrats are to take control it will likely be by overcoming these assholes. Also if there is increased turnout in the districts where Jim Banks and Greg Pence are in office then it could be possible, but it’s going to be a tough fight to take Indiana.

Iowa

Republican incumbent Kim Reynolds has successfully won the election for Governor and has kept her spot despite her push to defund Planned Parenthood. While she seems to have a fairly progressive LGBT track record, especially for a Republican at that, I need to reemphasize that Planned Parenthood is pretty important and that “muh abortions” is a shitty reason to defund a valuable resource to many struggling women. Thankfully she only won with 50.4% of the vote so it is likely that a Democrat will take he position in 2022.

Iowa has not had any senate races this year, but I am sure many of my readers will be happy to know that 3 of the 4 House seats from Iowa are now blue. Going into the 2018 elections there was only one blue seat in Iowa but we now have two new democrats in office. Abby Finkenauer and Cindy Axne have taken the seats of Rod Blum and David Young respectively. Considering that Rod Blum supports banning same sex marriage, is opposed to civil rights for gay people, and respects “faith-based opposition to same-sex marriage” and David Young also supports banning same sex marriage and is opposed to civil rights for gay people, we can rest assured that these two ladies will be a definite improvement, especially since Cindy Axne’s website specifically mentions LGBT rights. The 2nd district incumbent David Loebsack also has a pro LGBT track record so our three blue seats seem to be in good hands.

The down side is that the 4th district incumbent Steve King also kept his seat, and he’s a real scumbag. Steve King has co-sponsored a bill to defund Planned Parenthood, believes that “same sex marriage is part of a socialist agenda to undermine ‘the foundations of individual rights and liberties‘” and well, just take a look at his Wikipedia page.

The silver lining is that he only won the election with 50.4% of the vote, this being the lowest lead he’s ever had in this office that he has held since 2002! He is also down 10.8% from his win in 2016 so I find it unlikely he will have this seat for much longer. Just think about this, before this election Iowa was a mostly red state yet if things continue this way then chances are that both Iowa will be fully blue, and that the republicans will also be plenty blue to match.

Kansas

In the Governor election, Democrat Laura Kelly has successfully taken the seat of Republican Jeff Coyler. Considering that Laura Kelly has a decent pro LGBT track record while Coyler has compared abortion to slavery and has refused to put out an executive order to give LGBT people legal protections, it is clear that Laura Kelly will be an immense improvement for the state of Kansas. Of note is that Coyler was only Governor for the remainder of Sam Brownback’s term. Now Brownback… this guy is a fucking nutcase! So one might by wondering why this nutjob left office? Why because good old King Donald has given him the position of ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.

There were no senate elections in Kansas this year. Going into the 2018 elections all four of Kansas’s house seats were red. Now there are three red seats and one blue seats in the House of Representatives that are from Kansas. The previous seat holder was Kevin Yoder who has a 0% rating from the HRC and is opposed to same sex marriage. He was unseated by Sharice Davids, the first open lesbian AND the first Native American to be elected to congress in Kansas. It is almost guaranteed that Sharice Davids will be an immense improvement over her predecessor.

As for the remaining three representatives, we have…

And two other guys who aren’t that bad by republican standards. It is worth mentioning that Ron Estes doesn’t seem to have any anti LGBT history but nonetheless anyone who supports defunding Planned Parenthood over abortions and putting vulnerable women (some of whom will inevitably by LGBT) at risk needs to be voted out of office.

Roger Marshall is worth noting in that he unseated anti gay Republican congressman Tim Huelskamp in the 2016 GOP primaries so good on him for that. Meanwhile the newly elected Steve Watkins supposedly has “socially liberal” views that include pro LGBT policies, but he hasn’t stated public support for LGBT people. He is still an improvement over the previous representative Lynn Jenkins who co-sponsored a bill to defund Planned Parenthood and voted to NOT enforce anti gay hate crime laws.

Despite Kansas being a red state, things seem to be looking up for LGBT people who live there.

Kentucky

There were no senate elections in Kentucky this year and everyone in the house kept their seats. The one Democratic seat kept his and the five Republicans kept theirs. The 3rd district incumbent John Yarmuth has a pro LGBT track record but let’s take a look at the other five. We have…

So yeah, some bad hombres are representing Kentucky. What are the chances we will be rid of them in the future? Well…

James Comer won with 68.6% of the vote which is down 4% from 2016 so that shows there is an increase in turnout but we will need a lot more to boot him out.

won with 68.6% of the vote which is down 4% from 2016 so that shows there is an increase in turnout but we will need a lot more to boot him out. Brett Guthrie won with 66.7% of the vote which is down a lot since he ran unopposed in 2016 and is down 2.5% from his win in 2014 so we will need a bigger push to get rid of him.

won with 66.7% of the vote which is down a lot since he ran unopposed in 2016 and is down 2.5% from his win in 2014 so we will need a bigger push to get rid of him. Thomas Massie won with 62.2% of the vote which is down 9.1% from 2016 so it could be possible to boot him out but we need a bigger push.

won with 62.2% of the vote which is down 9.1% from 2016 so it could be possible to boot him out but we need a bigger push. Hal Rogers won with 78.9% of the vote which is a 0.6% increase from 2014 and he ran unopposed in 2016 so it’s going to tough to get him out of the Capitol Building any time soon.

won with 78.9% of the vote which is a 0.6% increase from 2014 and he ran unopposed in 2016 so it’s going to tough to get him out of the Capitol Building any time soon. Andy Barr won with 51% which is down 10.1% from 2016 so he appears to be the weakest link in this equation.

Kentucky seems to have a red stain set in it that will be seriously tough to scrub out. But it could be possible in the coming years, albeit unlikely. It seems that the ones most likely to lose their seats are Andy Barr and Thomas Massie. It’s still a tough road ahead for any LGBT people who live in Kentucky though.

Louisiana

Louisiana is another state where literally nothing changed. There were no senate elections and no one lost their House seat. This means that there are still 5 Republicans and 1 Democrats from Louisiana in the House of Representatives. The one Democrat Cedric Richmond has a pretty solid progressive track record but let’s see where the Republicans fall.

So yeah, they are all pretty scummy. So what are the chances we have of ridding the Capitol Building of these pricks?

Steve Scalise won with 71.5% of the vote which is down 6% from 2014 and 3.1% from 2016 so there is a definite increase in turnout but we still got a long way to go.

won with of the vote which is down 6% from 2014 and 3.1% from 2016 so there is a definite increase in turnout but we still got a long way to go. Clay Higgins won with 55.7% of the vote but the rest of the vote was spread out across about 6 other candidates, one of whom was another Republican. This unfortunately makes it difficult measure the the chances of beating him. It will likely be difficult though.

won with of the vote but the rest of the vote was spread out across about 6 other candidates, one of whom was another Republican. This unfortunately makes it difficult measure the the chances of beating him. It will likely be difficult though. Mike Johnson won with 64.2% of the vote which is down 1% from his runoff victory in 2016 so it will require a pretty big push to get him out of the Capitol Building.

won with of the vote which is down 1% from his runoff victory in 2016 so it will require a pretty big push to get him out of the Capitol Building. Ralph Abraham won with 66.5% of the vote. This is an improvement over 2016 where he did not have a democratic opponent but is up 1.3% from 2014.

won with of the vote. This is an improvement over 2016 where he did not have a democratic opponent but is up 1.3% from 2014. Garret Graves won with 69.5% of the vote which is a 6.8% increase from 2016 so it looks like this one is going to be tough.

Yep, Louisiana is so red that it should probably be taken to a burn unit. Out of all of the states covered thus far this one seems to be the one putting up the toughest fight. The weakest link seems to be Clay Higgins, but it could potentially be possible albeit unlikely to see a change in the coming years. Keep voting everyone, it may seem like you are outnumbered but keep in mind that many democrats in these states may simply be discouraged from voting at all. Vote in spite of everything!

Maine

Democratic candidate Janet Mills has won the election and will be a definite improvement over Paul LePage who publicly insulted the NAACP and is against gay marriage.

Maine’s senate seat has been successfully held by independent candidate Angus King. Considering that his opponent was Republican candidate Eric Brakey who opposes funding Planned Parenthood and believes transgender bathroom policy should be left up to the local school board so that schools can be free to jeopardize trans students education and well being… It’s safe to say that Maine dodged a bullet there.

On the subject of house elections, both house seats are now held by Democrats. Chellie Pingree has successfully held here seat and Jared Golden has taken the seat of former representative Bruce Poliquin who supports barring gay marriage, opposes civil rights for gay people, and prevented an executive order meant to protect gay people from legal discrimination by religious institutions from being upheld. It is almost guaranteed that Jared Golden will be an immense improvement over his predecessor.

Maryland

The current Republican Governor Larry Hogan has unfortunately kept his seat despite the fact that he was anti gay for quite some time, was opposed to a transgender rights bill, and has refused to sign any legal protections for LGBT people into actions.

In Maryland’s senate race, Ben Cardin has successfully retained his seat. The House in Maryland has mostly stayed the same. The only change is that David Trone has replaced John Delaney but considering they are both democrats there is unlikely to be too much difference. There are eight House seats from Maryland and 7 of those seats belong to Democrats. The only Republican is Andrew Harris who is your typical conservative homophobe. Andrew Harris won with 60.5% which is down 6.5% from 2016 and 10% from 2014 so we could turn Maryland all blue with enough of a push.

Massachusetts

The Republican Governor Charlie Baker has successfully won re-election in Massachusetts, and that is a good thing considering he is another one of those elusive pro choice and pro LGBT Republicans.

In Massachusetts senate election, Elizabeth Warren has successfully kept her seat. Considering that her primary opponent Geoff Diehl has accused Warren of “wrongfully claiming a minority appointment” and voted against legal protections against discrimination of trans people, it’s safe to say that we dodged a bullet with this one.

Prior to the 2018 elections every House seat from Massachusetts was blue and this did not change after the election. Only two of the nine seats changed hands, those being Lori Trahan who took Niki Tsongas’s seat and Ayanna Pressley who took Micheal Capuano’s seat. I can verify that each candidate has a fairly progressive track record and that Massachusetts is unlikely to see any bigots take office, but that will only happen if you keep voting of course.

Michigan

In Michigan’s senate election Debbie Stabenow has retained her seat and has thus kept both of Michigan’s senate seats blue. Considering that her primary opponent John James is opposed to laws protecting LGBTQ from employment discrimination and is a stronger supporter of Mike Pence, we have thankfully averted a disaster by re-electing Debbie Stabenow.

Another disaster was also averted when Democrat Gretchen Whitmer has taken Republican Bill Schuette’s spot as Governor of Michigan considering that as attorney general he decided that LGBT people did not have the same rights as “normal people.” It is quite obvious that Gretchen Whitmer will be an immense improvement over her predecessor.

Prior to the elections, there were 4 Blue seats, 9 red seats, and 1 vacant seat in the House from Michigan. After the election we now have have 7 blue seats and 7 red, which means that Republicans no longer have free reign. The vacant seat previously belonged to John Conyers Jr. who resigned in 2017 amid sexual harassment allegations. While Conyers was a Democrat, it is nonetheless an immense improvement to not have a sex pest in office and the fact that Rashida Tlaib is also a progressive is just the cherry on top.

The other three newly seated Democrats are Elissa Slotkin, Andy Levin, and Haley Stevens. Andy Levin has taken the seat of the previous 18 term Democratic incumbent Sander Levin who decided that maybe he’s held this office long enough and decided it was time to let someone else take it. No I don’t know if the two Levin’s are related or if the name is just a coincidence.

Ellissa Slotkin and Haley Stevens meanwhile have unseated Republicans Mike Bishop and David Trott. Considering that Mike Bishop is opposed to both same sex marriage and civil unions, respects “faith based” opposition to same sex marriage, and is opposed to affirmative action in colleges and public employment, and that David Trott voted against a bill to prohibit use of federal funds to discriminate against gay or trans people, voted to defund Planned Parenthood, and is rated 0% by the HRC, it is almost certain that our new representatives will be a serious improvement. Unfortunately we still have seven Republicans in office, which include…

So what chance do the republican reps have for re-election? Well…

Jack Bergman won with 56.3% of the vote which is a 1.4% increase from 2016 so we will need a push to get him out of office.

won with 56.3% of the vote which is a 1.4% increase from 2016 so we will need a push to get him out of office. Bill Huizenga won with 55.3% of the vote which is down 7.3% from his win in 2016 so it could be possible to get him out if this rate continues.

won with 55.3% of the vote which is down 7.3% from his win in 2016 so it could be possible to get him out if this rate continues. Justin Amash won with 54.4% of the vote which is down 5.1% from 2016 so he may be on his way out if this rate keeps up.

won with 54.4% of the vote which is down 5.1% from 2016 so he may be on his way out if this rate keeps up. John Moolenaar won with 62.6% of the vote which is 1% higher than in 2016 and 6.1% higher than in 2014 so obviously less people showed up to vote and we will need a strong push if we need to give him the boot.

won with 62.6% of the vote which is 1% higher than in 2016 and 6.1% higher than in 2014 so obviously less people showed up to vote and we will need a strong push if we need to give him the boot. Fred Upton won with 50.2% of the vote which is down 8.4% from 2016 so he could be on his way out if this keeps up.

won with 50.2% of the vote which is down 8.4% from 2016 so he could be on his way out if this keeps up. Tim Walberg won with 53.8% of the vote which is down 1.3% from 2016 so we need a little more of as push to get him out.

won with 53.8% of the vote which is down 1.3% from 2016 so we need a little more of as push to get him out. Paul Mitchell won with 60.3% of the vote which is down 2.8% from 2016 so we will need a pretty big push to unseat him.

Overall some pretty big gains were obtained in Michigan with a Democratic Governor and 2 new Democratic Representatives. I also predict that there will be even greater gains in 2020 Given that some of these Republican Reps are cutting it pretty close. keep voting and we can make it happen!

Minnesota

There was both a normal senate election and a special election in Minnesota this year. Both of the current Democratic incumbents won. Both Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar have progressive track records so it is nice to see that there are less worries there. Additionally Tim Walz has won the Minnesota gubernatorial election so it looks like Minnesota is in good hands in this regard.

The US House Representatives from Minnesota started 2018 out with 5 Democrats and 3 Republicans, this number has not changed. A lot of the seats themselves have been switched around however. The only people that kept their seats were Democrats Betty McCollum and Collin Peterson and Republican Tom Emmer.

The unseated Republicans include Erik Paulsen and Jason Lewis. Considering that Erik Paulsen voted against a bill repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and to deny healthcare to transgender people in the military, and Jason Lewis once compared gay people to rapists and lamented being unable to call women “sluts” anymore, our new Representatives will undoubtedly be a major improvement. Also of note is that Jason Lewis lost to Angie Craig, a queer woman.

On the other hand, the previously mentioned Tim Walz’s seat was taken by Trumpist nutcase Jim Hagedorn. I’ll just quote The Daily Beast on him.

Hagedorn infamously dubbed Washington’s two U.S. senators, both women, “undeserving bimbos in tennis shoes.” He wrote that Harriet Miers’ nomination to the Supreme Court was an effort “to fill the bra of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.” He dubbed a former House Republican’s alleged abuse victim, “white trash”; called Indian reservations “casino parlors” and “redistribution of wealth centers”; and suggested that former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) bucked his party on the Iraq War due to his Jewish faith. In his “Election 2002 Masterpiece Analysis,” Hagedorn wrote: “Good news from Hawaii, Pasty Mink is still dead. Bad news from Hawaii, some other communist will win her congressional seat.” On election night 2008, he predicted that Barack Obama’s victory would usher in mass migration from his “second country” of Kenya.

The remaining two Republicans are Tom Emmer and Pete Stauber. I can’t find anything particular jarring about Stauber but Tom Emmer I will let the Human Rights Campaign speak on.

Emmer has been vocal on a variety of issues revolving LGBT equality. Here are a few examples: Emmer donated to the ministry of the radical anti-LGBT Bradlee Dean who believes Muslim countries that execute LGBT people are “more moral than even the American Christians.”

to the ministry of the radical anti-LGBT who believes Muslim countries that execute LGBT people are “more moral than even the American Christians.” Emmer said he would not sign anti-bullying legislation to promote safe schools because “I don’t want the government doing that for us.”

he would not sign anti-bullying legislation to promote safe schools because “I don’t want the government doing that for us.” Emmer was named the Minnesota chairman for the anti-equality Faith and Freedom Coalition and headed up efforts in the state on a constitutional amendment banning marriage equality.

was named the Minnesota chairman for the anti-equality Faith and Freedom Coalition and headed up efforts in the state on a constitutional amendment banning marriage equality. Emmer compared marriage equality to incest and bestiality. Sworn in on January 6, Emmer is one of the worst new members of Congress who has gone out of his way to stop equality for LGBT people across the country. Extremists like Emmer are more determined than ever to wipe out all the progress we’ve made for the LGBT community.

The good news is that Jim Hagedorn only won with 50.2% of the vote, which is a very low margin and Tom Emmer won with 61.2% of the vote which is a 4.4% decrease from 2016. Additionally it will be unlikely that these two will have any power considering that Dems have the majority in Minnesota. If I had my way these two scumbags would be pelted with rocks and forced to sleep on poison ivy, but voting them out of office works two and won’t get you arrested so be sure to do that.

Mississippi

Mississippi is a crimson red state so there was unfortunately not much in the way of progress. There were two senate elections (both a standard and a special one) and the Republican incumbent won both. This is in spite of Cindy Hyde-Smith’s infamous “public hanging” remarks, and thinks that Planned Parenthood is “one of the worst things that ever happened to us.” She also has a history of homophobia as well. Meanwhile Roger Wicker has voted against legal protections against job discrimination for gay people, voted to constitutionally define marriage as ‘one man one woman,” voted in favor of a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage, voted to ban gay adoptions in DC, is rated 7% by the ACLU and 0% by the HRC, and voted to defund Planned Parenthood.

Thankfully Cindy Hyde-Smith won with 53.9% of the vote which is 6% lower than her predecessor. Unfortunately Roger Wicker’s lead has an increase of about 1% from his 2012 victory.

In regards to the house elections, the only new person is Republican Micheal Guest. I cannot find any specific information regarding his stances on civil rights but he ran as a strong supporter of Donald Trump so I’ll let you draw your own conclusions on that. Even worse is that the one democrat we have is Bennie Thompson, who is one of the unfortunate Democrats who oppose same sex marriage. As for the remaining two, there are Trent Kelly and Steven Palazzo.

Steven Palazzo voted NO on reauthorizing the violence against women act, voted to Protect anti-same-sex marriage opinions as free speech, and voted to have the state definition of marriage supersede the federal one. Trent Kelly has voted to legally protect Religious institution’s ability to discriminate against gay people and he wants to defund Planned Parenthood. As for the shots of booting them out…

Trent Kelly won with 68.7% of the vote, which is down 3% from his win in the 2015 special election and down 1.3% from his 2016 win, so it’s unlikely he will be unseated any time soon.

won with 68.7% of the vote, which is down 3% from his win in the 2015 special election and down 1.3% from his 2016 win, so it’s unlikely he will be unseated any time soon. Steven Palazzo won with 69.6% of the vote which is an increase from his 2016 win so he’s unlikely to be seated either.

won with 69.6% of the vote which is an increase from his 2016 win so he’s unlikely to be seated either. Micheal Guest won with 62.7% of the vote which is 0.5% higher than Gregg Harper’s win in 2016, so sadly it looks like he’s here to stay unless we get more turnout.

Thus far Mississippi has been the most depressing state to look at. My heart goes out to any LGBT people living there. My best recommendation is to get the hell out of that state but if you are stuck there and are of age, FUCKING VOTE!!! Reform is inevitable in regards to LGBT rights, it just seems like Mississippi will be in line.

Missouri

It unfortunately seems as if Missouri took an L in this election. The Progressive Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill has instead been unseated by a Trump tier douchebag known as Josh Hawley. This is despite the fact that Josh Hawley has quite infamously blamed human trafficking on “the sexual revolution,“ is against gay marriage, and he believes that Planned Parenthood attempts “to get women in the door by advertising other services, but ultimately they point them towards their abortion services and their illegal activities.”

Additionally there were no changes in regards to the House makeup which is not a good thing considering it is mostly red. The two democrats Emmanuel Cleaver and Lacy Clay both have fairly progressive track records and won by large margin but there are unfortunately 6 Republicans to those two. Among them are…

As for the chances of booting these pricks out of office…

Ann Wagner has won with 51.3% of the vote, which is down 7.2% from her 2016 win and down 12.8% from her 2014 win so she could very well be on her way out.

has won with 51.3% of the vote, which is down 7.2% from her 2016 win and down 12.8% from her 2014 win so she could very well be on her way out. Blaine Luetkemeyer won with 65.1% of the vote, which is down 2.7% from 2016 and 3.2% from 2014 so there is some increased turnout but we need a bigger push to get him out of Capitol Hill.

won with 65.1% of the vote, which is down 2.7% from 2016 and 3.2% from 2014 so there is some increased turnout but we need a bigger push to get him out of Capitol Hill. Vicky Hartzler won with 64.7% of the vote which is down 3.1% from 2016 and 3.4% from 2014 so she is getting some push back but we still need quite a bit more.

won with 64.7% of the vote which is down 3.1% from 2016 and 3.4% from 2014 so she is getting some push back but we still need quite a bit more. Sam Graves won with 65.4% of the vote which is down 2.6% from 2016 so there is increased turnout but we still need a lot more.

won with 65.4% of the vote which is down 2.6% from 2016 so there is increased turnout but we still need a lot more. Billy Long won with 66.3% of the vote which is down 1.2% from 2016 so we will need a significant increase in turnout to boot him out.

won with 66.3% of the vote which is down 1.2% from 2016 so we will need a significant increase in turnout to boot him out. Jason Smith won with 73.4% of the vote which is down 1% from 2016 so we need some serious push back in order to get him out of Capitol Hill.

It seems like the weakest link is Ann Wagner so I am quite certain she will lose is 2020. Otherwise the ones with the leads that are weakening the most are Blaine Luetkemeyer and Sam Graves but we need a pretty big push to get them out of office. There’s a bit more hope here than in Mississippi though so I am sure it’s possible to take this state back.

Montana

Nothing really changed in Montana. There was one senate election and one House election, the incumbents won re-election in both those states. In the case of Jon Tester it is good because his opponent Matt Rosendale is against abortion even in cases of rape, incest, and when the mother’s life is in danger and is against gay people even having civil unions,. In the case of Greg Gianforte getting re-elected despite his insistence that LGBT customers don’t get protected from legal discrimination, it is not so good.

Nebraska

Ugh, Nebraska is just a straight forward, “no seats changed and they are all Republicans” state. Senator Deb Fisher won re-election despite the fact that she believes abortion should be banned even in cases of rape and incest, is opposed to same sex marriage, and wants to defund Planned Parenthood, Governor Peter Ricketts won re-election despite the fact that he is opposed to same sex marriage, has urged schools to ignore Obama’s guidance that schools should not single out trans students and prevent them from using the restroom, and has cut off federal aid to Planned Parenthood in Nebraska.

Then there are the representatives which include…

So what are the chances of turning Nebraska blue? Well it should be noted that Deb Fischer won with roughly the same percentage as in 2012 but it should be noted that her lead is 6.7% lower than Ben Sasse’s lead in 2014 so take that as you will. Unfortunately Pete Ricketts is slightly higher this year than he was in 2014 so there isn’t much to observe there. As for the representatives, Don Bacon won with only 51% of the vote which is actually higher than in 2016 so it means that not much has changed but also that this district can go either way. Jeff Fortenbarry won with 60.4% of the vote which is quite a bit but is also down 9.2% from 2016 so hopefully this push keeps up. Adrian Smith won with 76.7% of the vote which is a lot but it’s quite low compared to 2016 where he ran unopposed so there is some improvement. There may not have been much progress this year but keep voting everyone!

Nevada

Nevada has had some pretty significant gains this year. Jacky Rosen has unseated the incumbent Dean Heller in the Senatorial election. Considering that Dean Heller voted NO on enforcing against anti-gay hate crimes and voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation, Jacky Rosen will most definitely be an improvement. I am also sure that Nebraska’s new governor Steve Sisolak will be an immense improvement over Brian Sandoval who vetoed a bill that would have prevented transgender health discrimination, and supports defunding Planned Parenthood. The only Republican left is Mark Amodei who believes Nevada should restrict marriage to a union only between a man and a woman. Mark Amodei won with 58.2% of the vote which is roughly the same as in 2016 so we may need a bit more of a push to turn Nevada completely blue.

New Hampshire

Republican Governor Chris Sununu has successfully won re-election despite the fact that he voted to defund Planned Parenthood (although he went back on it). While he does have a decent pro LGBT track record considering he signed bills that ban discrimination against trans people and also ban conversion therapy, the Planned Parenthood thing is kind concerning. I suppose there could be worse than him though.

Another thing to note is that Chris Pappas has also won election and is New Hampshire’s first openly gay person to be elected to congress. Things seem to be proceeding fairly well in New Hampshire.

New Jersey

In the Senate election, the Democratic incumbent Bob Menendez has won which is a good thing considering his opponent Bob Hugin is opposed to abortion even in cases of rape and incest and was a supporter of Donald Trump. I say “was” with uncertainty because Hugin states that he has changed his mind on a lot of his past views and regrets his anti gay and anti woman history. I know first hand that one can change but it’s also difficult to consider whether or not he really will stand up for women and LGBT people. Regardless, Menendez won so it doesn’t really matter.

New Jersey also made some significant gains in the House. Prior to the election there were 7 Blue seats and 5 Red seats. Now there are 11 Blue seats and only 1 Red seat. The four unseated Republicans are Frank LoBiondo, Tom MacArthur, Leonard Lance, and Rodney Frelinghuysen. Frank LoBiondo has voted YES on Constitutionally defining marriage as one-man-one-woman, creating a Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage, and on banning gay adoptions in DC, Tom MacArthur is opposed to same sex marriage and believes it should be left to the states so that gay people in red states can’t get married, and Leonard Lance is opposed to same sex marriage and voted against the repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” Rodney Frelinghuysen does admittedly have a few pro LGBT votes such as voting in favor of ENDA and against the Marriage Protection Amendment, but he also co sponsored and voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, voted against the repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” and voted to defund Planned Parenthood.

Unfortunately it seems as if Frank LoBiondo’s replacement Jeff Van Drew is not much better considering that he voted against the legalization of same sex marriage more than once, did not vote on Prohibit Transgender Discrimination in schools (S3065), and has even received help from anti gay activist groups. Thankfully Andy Kim, Tom Malinowski, Mikie Sherrill are all much need improvements over their predecessors.

The only House Republican from New Jersey still in office is Chris Smith who has co-sponsored a bill to defund Planned Parenthood, Voted NO on enforcing against anti gay hate crimes, Voted NO on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation, Voted YES on Constitutionally defining marriage as one-man-one-woman, Voted YES on a Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage, Voted YES on banning gay adoptions in DC, co-sponsored the Marriage and Religious Freedom Act, and is rated 13% by the ACLU and 0% by the HRC.

The plus side is that Chris Smith won with 55.4% of the vote, which is down 8.3% from his 2016 win and 12.6% from his 2014 win so he could very well be on his way out. New Jersey has definitely made some significant progress this year and hopefully things continue to look up for the future.

New Mexico

New Mexico’s current senator Martin Heinrich has successfully won re-election. Considering that his primary opponent Mick Rich wants to defund Planned Parenthood, and is suspiciously silent on LGBT rights while both Heinrich and Gary Johnson were openly supportive, it’s probably for the best that he wasn’t elected.

Michelle Lujan-Grisham also won the race for Governor of New Mexico and will be the successor to Susana Martinez. Considering that Susan Martinez is opposed to same sex marriage and thinks it should be left to the voters and not the courts (which I don’t think is entirely inaccurate in the sense that we should be trying to get genuine laws passed rather than relying on SCOTUS rulings that can be much more easily overturned, but it’s much more likely that a lot of these politicians just want people to be able to vote against gay marriage and think it’s easier to resist that way), vetoed a bill that would have allowed trans people to amend their birth certificate more easily, and wants to defund Planned Parenthood, Michelle Lujan-Grisham will no doubt be an immense improvement.

In the House elections, all three seats are now held by Democrats thus making New Mexico an entirely blue state. The aforementioned Michelle Lujan-Grisham’s house seat is now in the hands of Debra Haaland who has been endorsed by Equality New Mexico and is the first Native American elected to congress. What is even better is that the seat of Lujan-Grisham’s primary opponent Steve Pearce has been taken by Xochitl Torres Small who was also endorsed by Equality New Mexico.

Considering that Steve Pearce wants to defund Planned Parenthood, Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation, Voted YES on Constitutionally defining marriage as one-man-one-woman, Voted YES on Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage, co-sponsored the Marriage and Religious Freedom Act, and is rated 0% by the HRC, it will be nice to know that that Steve Pearce will no longer pierce Capitol Hill with his bigotry.

Some excellent progress has been made with New Mexico, so lets remember to keep voting so we can maintain the state of this state.

New York

New York is a pretty blue state so naturally the Democratic incumbents Kirsten Gillibrand and Andrew Cuomo won the senatorial and gubernatorial elections respectively.

Prior to the 2018 elections, 17 seats were Democratic, 9 were Republican, and 1 was vacant. After the election we now have 21 Blue seats and 6 Red. No Democratic incumbents lost their elections. The Republicans who lost re-election were Dan Donovan, John Faso, and Claudia Tenney.

Dan Donovan has voted to defund Planned Parenthood and voted against an amendment that would have prohibited the use of federal funds for discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It is of note that Dan Donovan has also been widely criticized for poorly handling the case of prosecuting the police officer who murdered Eric Garner and his support of Donald Trump. It goes without saying that Max Rose will be an immense Improvement.

John Faso wants to defund Planned Parenthood and has mostly been vague on LGBT rights. Considering that he said he is he is “comfortable with where we are” in regards to LGBT rights so that kind of indicates that he won’t be very reliable in that regard considering that most of us AREN’T comfortable with the state of LGBT rights in this country and think they need serious improvement. Claudia Tenney also wants to defund Planned Parenthood, supports “first amendment disagreement” with gay rights, and opposes equal marriage rights for same sex couples so it’s probably good that she’s gone as well.

The new Democrats elected are Max Rose, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Antonio Delgado, Anthony Brindisi, and Joseph Morelle. All of them seem to have fairly solid track records but it would be remiss of me not to make mention of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I do think enough has already been said of her but it is just so awesome that she made as much of a splash as she has. Seriously, this woman has over 1 million followers on Twitter when most representatives tend to have less Twitter followers than I do! I’ve also checked and can confirm that each of the current Democrats from New York in the House are also pro LGBT. As for the remaining Republicans, we have…

So what are the chances of unseating these guys?

Lee Zeldin won with 52.5% of the vote which is down 5.7% from 2016 so he could be on his way out soon.

won with 52.5% of the vote which is down 5.7% from 2016 so he could be on his way out soon. Peter King won with 53.3% of the vote which is down 8.8% and is the lowest lead he’s had since 2006 so he could be on the way out soon.

won with 53.3% of the vote which is down 8.8% and is the lowest lead he’s had since 2006 so he could be on the way out soon.

Thomas Reed won with 55% of the vote which is down 2.6% from 2016 so we will need a bit more of a push if we want to get him out of office.

won with 55% of the vote which is down 2.6% from 2016 so we will need a bit more of a push if we want to get him out of office. John Katko won with 53.1% of the vote which is down 7.5% from 2016 so he may also be on the way out.

New York is definitely a state that is making excellent progress in regard to civil rights. Let’s keep it up and vote those last five fuckers out of office in 2020!

North Carolina

*Sigh*

Nothing changed in North Carolina. There were no senate or governor elections and every representative, Democrat or Republican, kept their seat with one exception that did not result in a change of party. Considering that only 3 of the 13 reps are Democrats this is not a good thing. The three democrats are G.K. Butterfield, David Price, and Alma Adams, each of which have a decent progressive track record. As for the Republicans, you have…

So what are the chances of getting these fuckheads out of office in the future then? Well…

George Holding won with 51.4% of the vote which is down 5.3% from 2016 and 5.9% from 2014 so he could be on his way out at this rate.

won with 51.4% of the vote which is down 5.3% from 2016 and 5.9% from 2014 so he could be on his way out at this rate.

Virginia Foxx won with 57.2% of the vote which is down 1.2% from 2016 and 3.8% from 2014 so we may need a bit more of a push to get her out of office.

won with 57.2% of the vote which is down 1.2% from 2016 and 3.8% from 2014 so we may need a bit more of a push to get her out of office.



Richard Hudson won with 55.4% of the vote which is down 3.4% from 2016 and 9.5% from 2014 so he could also be on the way out at this rate.

won with 55.4% of the vote which is down 3.4% from 2016 and 9.5% from 2014 so he could also be on the way out at this rate. Mark Harris won with 49.3% of the vote which is down 8.9% from Robert Pittenger’s win in 2016 so it’s unlikely he will keep this seat for more than one term as long as you keep showing up to vote.

won with 49.3% of the vote which is down 8.9% from Robert Pittenger’s win in 2016 so it’s unlikely he will keep this seat for more than one term as long as you keep showing up to vote. Patrick McHenry won with 59.3% of the vote which is down 3.8% from 2016 so there is definitely some pushback but we need more in order to take his seat.

won with 59.3% of the vote which is down 3.8% from 2016 so there is definitely some pushback but we need more in order to take his seat.

Ted Budd won with 51.6% of the vote which is down 4.5% from 2016 so he could be on the way out.

North Carolina may not have gained any Blue seats this year, but it is clear that the Republicans are getting some pretty big pushback and some were cutting it pretty close. The weakest links seem to be Mark Harris, Ted Budd, and George Holding. Richard Hudson seems like the next one after those three and thus the one to wrestle majority control from. Either way, keep voting everyone!

North Dakota

North Dakota has not exactly had much change. I’d be tempted to say that North Dakota took a loss since the Democratic senator Heidi Heitkamp lost the election to Republican Kevin Cramer, but considering that Heidi Heitkamp believes same sex marriage should be left to the states and signed the Respect for Marriage Act, I can’t say we lost much. Unfortunately Kevin Cramer is no better considering that he the co-sponsored Marriage and Religious Freedom Act, co-sponsored the State Marriage Defense Act, signed respecting faith-based opposition to same-sex marriage, and sought the support of an anti gay hate group that advocates conversion therapy and compares gay people to pedophiles. Even though Heidi Heitkamp wasn’t all that great, she likely would have been better than this prick.

Additionally Kevin Cramer’s seat in the House was taken by Kelly Armstrong who voted against legal protections for gay people more than once. Kelly Armstrong won with 60.3% of the vote, which is down significantly from 2016 where he ran unopposed but it also shows that it’s going to be tough to take his seat as well. Keep voting though as it is clear that there is some pushback against Republicans here as well.

Ohio

Ohio has not had much change unfortunately. The Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown has won re-election which is good since his primary opponent Jim Renacci co-sponsored a bill to defund Planned Parenthood and is opposed to same sex marriage. Unfortunately Republican candidate Mike DeWine won the race for Governor despite the fact that voted YES on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage, NO on adding sexual orientation to the definition of hate crimes, voted to constitutionally define marriage as “one man one woman,” and believes abortion should be illegal in cases of rape and incest. It should be noted that Mike DeWine only won with 50.7% of the vote which is 12.9% lower than John Kasich’s lead in 2014.

The only new representative in Ohio this year is Republican Anthony Gonzalez who has been quiet on LGBT rights and thus may be an improvement over his predecessor Jim Renacci. Otherwise every incumbent kept their seat. The Democratic incumbents Joyce Beatty, Marcy Kaptur, Marcia Fudge, and Marcia Fudge all seem to have fairly decent progressive track records. As for the Republicans we have…

Also worth mentioning that I couldn’t find anything on Troy Balderson on these issues but he apparently supports Trump so take that as you will. Anyway as for the odds of getting these fuckers out of office…

Steve Chabot won with 51.8% of the vote which is down 7.4% from 2016 and 11.4% from 2014 so he may be on the way out.

won with 51.8% of the vote which is down 7.4% from 2016 and 11.4% from 2014 so he may be on the way out. Brad Wenstrup won with 57.8% of the vote which is down 7.2% from 2016 and 8.2% from 2014 so he’s definitely getting some pushback but we may need a bit more.

won with 57.8% of the vote which is down 7.2% from 2016 and 8.2% from 2014 so he’s definitely getting some pushback but we may need a bit more. Jim Jordan won with 65.4% of the vote which is down 2.6% from 2016 so we will definitely need higher turnout to get him off of office.

won with 65.4% of the vote which is down 2.6% from 2016 so we will definitely need higher turnout to get him off of office. Bob Latta won with 62.5% of the vote which is down 8.4% from 2016 so there is a definite increase in turnout but we will still need more to give him the boot.

won with 62.5% of the vote which is down 8.4% from 2016 so there is a definite increase in turnout but we will still need more to give him the boot. Bill Johnson won with 69.3% of the vote which is down 1.4% from 2016 so we need a pretty big push to boot him out of office.

won with 69.3% of the vote which is down 1.4% from 2016 so we need a pretty big push to boot him out of office.

Warren Davidson won with 66.8% of the vote which is down 2% from 2016 so we still need a pretty big push here.

won with 66.8% of the vote which is down 2% from 2016 so we still need a pretty big push here. Mike Turner won with 56.2% of the vote which is down 7.9% from 2016 and 9% from 2014 so he could be on his way out if things continue at this rate.

won with 56.2% of the vote which is down 7.9% from 2016 and 9% from 2014 so he could be on his way out if things continue at this rate. David Joyce won with 55.4% of the vote which is down 7.2% from 2016 so he could be on the way out at this rate.

won with 55.4% of the vote which is down 7.2% from 2016 so he could be on the way out at this rate.

Well that’s Ohio for you. Not much in terms of actual results but a lot of them were cutting it pretty close and things could definitely change in the coming years. Keep voting folks!

Oklahoma

The Oklahoma gubernatorial race was won by Republican candidate Kevin Stitt despite the fact that he supports a bill that will allow adoption agencies to disallow gay parents and is a fucking anti-vaxxer. The latter one isn’t related but by God is that fucking stupid. I seriously hope the people who voted for this idiot didn’t know about the latter part. If you are an anti-vaxxer then not only are you an idiot, but your also a murderer if/when any of your kids get sick. You sick pricks can go to Hell!

Democrat Kendra Horn has thankfully unseated Republican Steve Russell. Considering that Steve Russell believes that “Marriage is a union of one man and one woman. No government has the authority to alter this definition,” signed signed respecting faith-based opposition to same-sex marriage, voted against an amendment to prohibit federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and voted to defund Planned Parenthood, it is no doubt that Kendra Horn will be an immense improvement. The only other new representative is Republican Kevin Hern who I can’t seem to find much on. The three Republican incumbents include…

So what are the chances of getting these three douchebags out of the white house in 2020? Well…

Markwayne Mullin won with 65% of the vote which is down 5.6% from 2016 so there’s definitely some pushback but we need quite a bit more to get rid of him.

won with 65% of the vote which is down 5.6% from 2016 so there’s definitely some pushback but we need quite a bit more to get rid of him. Frank Lucas won with 73.9% of the vote which is down 4.4% from 2016 so he’s getting some pushback as well but will need a lot more to give him the boot.

won with 73.9% of the vote which is down 4.4% from 2016 so he’s getting some pushback as well but will need a lot more to give him the boot. Tom Cole won with 63.1% of the vote which is down 6.5% from 2016 so he’s getting some pushback as well, but still has a pretty big lead.

It is also worth noting that Steve Russell won with 57.1% of the vote in 2016 so his drop in votes was pretty similar to the rest of the guys here. Hopefully this trend continues and we get rid of the three douchebags currently in office, and Kevin Hern if he does anything shitty.

Oregon

Oregon’s democratic and progressive Governor Kate Brown has successfully won re-election, although it is worth mentioning that her Republican opponent Knute Buehler voted in favor of banning conversion therapy for minors so it’s good to see more pro LGBT Republicans.

No house seats have changed hands this year which is good considering four of the five seats from Oregon are progressive and Democratic. The one Republican is Greg Walden who Voted YES on Constitutionally defining marriage as one-man-one-woman, Voted YES on Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage, Voted YES on banning gay adoptions in DC, and is rated 25% by the HRC and 13% by the ACLU. Greg Walden won with 56.6% of the vote which is down a whopping 15.1% from 2016 so there’s a good chance he could be on his way out next election if this rate continues.

Oregon seems to thankfully be doing well in this regard as not only are most seats blue but even the Republicans seem less shitty than in other states, even Greg Walden has at least voted in favor of prohibiting job discrimination against gay people. That does not justify the other shit he did but it’s at least a step up from some of the other shitheads covered in this piece. We can definitely do better than him though.

Pennsylvania

And here we are. We have finally got to the section of this piece where I get to talk about my home state. Granted I never bothered to look too deeply into elections on the state level until now so most of this is just as new to me as it is to any of you. In the senate election, Democratic incumbent Bob Casey has won re-election which is good because he has a pretty solid progressive record despite being more of a moderate centrist type. He’s definitely a hell of a lot better than his primary opponent Lou Barletta who voted to defund Planned Parenthood and against a bill to prohibit the use of government funds to discriminate against gay and trans people

Democratic governor Tom Wolf has also won re-election which is good considering his primary opponent Scott Wagner thinks trans women should use the men’s bathroom and said he would consider a bill to make same sex marriage illegal in Pennsylvania (although he has been frequently flip flopping on both those subjects).

Prior to the 2018 elections there 6 Blue seats, 10 Red Seats, and 2 vacant seats from Pennsylvania. After the elections there are now 9 Blue seats and 9 Red seats which means it will be much harder for Republicans to get the majority vote. Our new representatives are Democrats Mary Scanlon, Madeleine Dean, Chrissy Houlahan, and Susan Wild as well as Republicans Dan Meuser, John Joyce, and Guy Reschenthaler.

Given that the Pennsylvania district maps were redrawn this year since it was determined that the old maps constituted an illegal partisan gerrymander, comparing the results of this year’s election to previous years may be a bit tricky. This also could very well explain the reason for some of the results. For those that want the details you can read about it here but the short version is that this changed a lot of shit up so it’s harder to measure progress this way.

Also worth mentioning that four representatives that were elected in 2016 did not seek re-election. These six were Democrat Robert Brady and Republicans Bill Shuster, Lou Barletta, and Ryan Costello. Additionally Republicans Charlie Dent and Patrick Meehan have resigned prior to the elections. Republican Keith Rothfus also did not win re-election so that makes 7 who are not returning.

I already talked about Lou Barletta but let’s look at the other six. Robert Brady seems to have a pretty decent pro LGBT track record so he will be missed. Charlie Dent has mixed records in that he voted against defunding Planned parenthood and in favor of prohibiting government funds for use of discrimination against trans and gay people, but has also voted against the repeal of don’t ask don’t tell and to ban gay marriage. Charlie Dent has often been derided by hardline conservatives with the “RINO” pejorative (which more often than not is used as code for “Republican with a moral conscience) and celebrated his resignation, but because karma is a bitch his replacement was Democrat Susan Wild.

Patrick Meehan on the other hand has resigned due to it being made public that he used taxpayer’s money to settle a sexual harassment allegation. Also he voted to defund Planned Parenthood if the sexual harassment wasn’t enough scuminess for one person, so he won’t be missed. Bill Shuster has co-sponsored a bill to defund Planned Parenthood, Voted NO on enforcing against anti-gay hate crimes, Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation, Voted YES on Constitutionally defining marriage as one-man-one-woman, Voted YES on Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage, and is rated 15% by the ACLU and 0% by the HRC so he won’t be missed either.

Ryan Costello has voted to defund Planned Parenthood and voted in favor of an Amendment to block an executive order requiring localities to analyze racial segregation in housing so he won’t be missed. Keith Rothfus has voted NO on reauthorizing the violence against women act, has pledged to “vote to protect the institution of marriage as being between one man and one woman,” and co-sponsored the Marriage and Religious Freedom Act and the State Marriage Defense Act so he definitely won’t be missed.

All four of the democratic women who have been elected are pro LGBT and have progressive track records thankfully enough. I cannot find any statements from Dan Meuser on LGBT rights but he has stated that “I believe Planned Parenthood is out 