与...的关系里克·克莱因
对于所有关于经验教训的谈论，2022年的最后一场比赛看起来有点像一个月前刚刚发生的选举——如果不是两年前在同一个州发生的那些选举的话。
民主党带着巨大的优势进入乔治亚州参议院决选的选举日在破纪录的提前投票日的推动下超过180万人已经投了票。根据民主党数据公司TargetSmart的数据，这比民主党上个月进入第一轮投票时的优势更大，当时参议员拉斐尔·沃诺克(Raphael Warnock)最终以近4万票的优势领先于共和党挑战者赫歇尔·沃克(Herschel Walker)。
共和党人再次寄希望于投票日。在决选中，沃克不像他的对手那样积极参与竞选，他关于制衡华盛顿民主党人的信息几乎没有改变。
“投票率，投票率，投票率，”沃克周一告诉美国广播公司的拉莉·伊布萨。“我认为投票给沃诺克就是投票给这些失败的政策。为我投票是一个更好的开始。”
民主党方面也没有太大变化。由于前总统巴拉克·奥巴马(Barack Obama)的竞选活动停止，以及乔·拜登(Joe Biden)总统的更多间接帮助，投票机迅速转向沃诺克。
“如果你想想刚刚发生的中期选举，总统在这里发挥了很大的作用，”白宫新闻秘书郭佳欣·让-皮埃尔周一对记者说。"他讲述了民主党将如何前进。"
然后是前总统唐纳德·特朗普。他也没有访问该州，尽管他在周一晚上打电话参加了闭幕集会，他宣布再次竞选白宫——以及随后迅速出现的有争议的行为和声明——构成了过去一个月格鲁吉亚以外最大的政治新闻。
这种情况以前也发生过。民主党人在2021年1月5日赢得了参议院的两次决选，这是在特朗普关于他2020年11月失败的虚假陈述导致国会大厦遭到袭击的前一天。
与...的概要亚里沙·维尔塞马
对于民主党人来说，周二决选的利害关系尤为突出不仅希望巩固他们在参议院的多数席位但也是为了在下一轮选举前巩固他们在共和党长期大本营的优势。
尽管民主党人在2024年之前已经获得了多数席位，但赢得第51个席位将为谈判提供更大的空间，因为民主党的关键优先事项——包括阻挠改革——由于本党内部的抵制而被搁置。
额外的席位也将允许参议院民主党人脱离目前的权力分享委员会协议。在一个50-50的议院中，两党在委员会中的党派代表人数持平，但如果沃诺克保住他的席位，他的参议员同伴将能够占据委员会的多数席位。这种动态将为民主党人打开大门，让他们更好地把握未来司法和行政提名的方向。
虽然决选将决定未来六年在一个新建立的战场上的一个联邦席位，但2024年的不确定性和潜在的艰难政治日历的阴影也意味着政党领导人正在密切关注他们的甲板如何提前堆叠。
对于民主党人来说，2024年已经开始在参议院地图上带来挑战，因为蒙大拿州、俄亥俄州和西弗吉尼亚州的共和党倾向的蓝色席位将会出现。这一艰难的竞选预测还可能因同时进行的总统竞选周期而放大，这一周期长期以来提高了选民的参与度和投票率。
小费汉娜·德米斯
亚利桑那州民主党国务卿兼当选州长凯蒂·霍布斯(Katie Hobbs)周一在今年重要的中期选举后认证了该州的选举结果。
亚利桑那州是拒绝选举的候选人的聚集地，正因为如此，许多人说那里的民主可能处于危险之中。在全州范围内的参议院、州长、国务卿和司法部长竞选中，所有共和党提名人都否认2020年选举的合法性。
但随着共和党在全州范围内的每一场主要竞选中失利，除了司法部长，美国广播公司新闻部(ABC News)没有预测谁会获胜，并且正在重新计票，似乎该州的一些保守派正在向前看。
“这个国家没有比亚利桑那州更好的地方来建立成功的生活了。即将离任的共和党州长道格·杜西(Doug Ducey)在仪式上说:“让我们记住这一点，因为我们认证了选举，并开始了下一个篇章。”。
在认证过程中，霍布斯谈到了她如何感受到民主在今年的选举中受到保护，免受选举否认者的影响，如她的对手卡莉·莱克，她还没有承认，以及如何在2024年需要做到同样的事情。
“亚利桑那州的选举很成功。但在整个过程中，强大的声音经常散布错误信息，威胁到选民的选举权。“民主占了上风，但它还没有脱离险境。”
2022年12月5日，亚利桑那州民主党当选州长、现任亚利桑那州国务卿凯蒂·霍布斯在凤凰城亚利桑那州国会大厦举行的仪式上，在认证亚利桑那州大选拉票之前发表讲话。
罗斯·富兰克林/美联社
Republicans fight from behind on runoff day in Georgia: The Note
The TAKE withRick Klein
For all the talk of lessons learned, the final contest of 2022 is looking a bit like the election that just happened a month ago -- if not the ones that happened a shade under two years ago in the same state.
Democrats come into Election Day in Georgia's Senate runoff with a significant edgedriven by record-breaking early voting daysthat saw more than 1.8 million people already cast ballots. According to the Democratic data firm TargetSmart, that has powered a bigger edge than Democrats had going into the first round of voting last month, when Sen. Raphael Warnock ultimately topped GOP challenger Herschel Walker by nearly 40,000 votes.
Republicans, again, are banking on day-of voting. Walker has been less of an active campaign presence in the runoff than his rival, and his messaging about being a check on Democrats in Washington has barely changed.
"Turnout, turnout, turnout," Walker told ABC's Lalee Ibssa on Monday. "I think a vote for Warnock is a vote for these failed policies. A vote for me is a better coming."
Not much has changed on the Democratic side, either. The turnout machine whirled into action for Warnock, fueled by a campaign stop by former President Barack Obama and more indirect help from President Joe Biden, who did not visit the state during the runoff period.
"If you think about the midterms that just occurred, the president played a big role here," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Monday. "He set the narrative on how Democrats were going to move forward."
Then there's former President Donald Trump. He didn't visit the state either, though he phoned into a closing rally Monday night, and his announcement of another campaign for the White House -- and the controversial conduct and statements that quickly followed -- amounted to the biggest political news outside of Georgia over the last month.
That, too, has happened before. Democrats won both Senate runoffs on Jan. 5, 2021 -- a day before the assault on the Capitol that grew out of Trump's false statements about his November 2020 loss.
The RUNDOWN withAlisa Wiersema
The stakes in Tuesday's runoff are particularly salient for Democrats who arenot only hoping to solidify their Senate majorityfor immediate legislative purposes but are also aiming to cement their gains in a longtime Republican stronghold before the next election cycle.
Even though Democrats already clinched the majority until 2024, winning a 51st seat would offer greater room for negotiation given that key Democratic priorities -- including filibuster reform -- have been stalled due to holdouts from within their own party.
The additional seat would also allow Senate Democrats to depart from current power-sharing committee agreements. In a 50-50 chamber, both parties hold an even split of partisan representation on committees, but ifWarnock keeps his seat, his fellow senators would be able to hold committee majorities. This dynamic would open the door for Democrats to be better equipped to steer the course of future judicial and executive nominations.
Although the runoff will determine the next six years of one federal seat in a newly established battleground, the looming specter of 2024's uncertainties and potentially tough political calendar also means that party leaders are paying close attention to how their decks are stacked ahead of time.
For Democrats, 2024 is already set to bring challenges on the Senate map given that blue seats in the Republican-leaning states of Montana, Ohio and West Virginia will be in play. That tough campaign forecast is also likely to be amplified by the simultaneous presidential campaign cycle, which perennially heightens voter engagement and turnout on both sides of the aisle across the ballot.
The TIP withHannah Demissie
Katie Hobbs, Arizona's Democratic secretary of state and governor-elect, on Monday certified the state's election results following this year's consequential midterm race.
Arizona was ground zero for election-denying candidates and, because of that, where many said democracy could be in danger. In the statewide races for Senate, governor, secretary of state and attorney general, all the Republican nominees denied the legitimacy of the 2020 election.
But following Republican losses in every major statewide race except for attorney general, for which ABC News has not projected a winner and which is heading to a recount, it seems that some conservatives in the state are looking forward.
"There's no better place in the nation to build a successful life [than in Arizona]. Let us remember this as we certify the election and begin this next chapter," outgoing Republican Gov. Doug Ducey said during the ceremony.
During the certification, Hobbs spoke on how she felt democracy was protected in this year's election from election-deniers, like her opponent Kari Lake, who hasn't conceded, and how the same would need to be done in 2024.
"Arizona had a successful election. But too often throughout the process, powerful voices proliferated misinformation that threatened to disenfranchise voters," Hobbs said. "Democracy prevailed, but it's not out of the woods."
