Democratic incumbents in North Dakota, Indiana and Missouri had all lost. Republicans led in Florida, Nevada, Montana and Arizona. The only “good” news for Democrats was that West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) had been re-elected in a overwhelmingly Republican state — and even that news wasn’t all that great given that Manchin is anything but a reliable Democratic vote.

Boy, can a week change things.

At the moment, Democrats have lost a total of one seat from where they were before the 2018 election. The worst they will do is a net loss of two seats — assuming Scott’s 12,000-ish vote lead stands after the recount and appointed Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who is doing herself no favors, wins the November 27 runoff against former Rep. Mike Espy (D). The best-case scenario for Democrats — and, to be clear, this is NOT likely — is a net gain of a single seat; that would mean Nelson somehow comes from behind in Florida and Espy wins the runoff in an overwhelmingly Republican state.

Let’s say that at the start of the next Congress Senate Republicans have gained two seats, expanding their majority from 51 to 53 seats. Which is, obviously, good for Republicans because, um, controlling more Senate seats is usually a better thing than a worse one.

But, context! Everyone seems to forget that the 2018 election cycle was a once-in-a-generation sort of map for Republicans. Democrats had to defend 26 seats as compared to just 9 for Republicans. Of those 26 Democratic seats, 10 — 10! — were in states that President Donald Trump won in 2016 including five (Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia) he won by double digits. When the 2018 cycle began, there was not-crazy talk among Republicans that they had an outside chance at controlling 60 seats — a filibuster-proof majority — at the start of 2019.

From that to a modest gain (at best) is a big, big difference. And the reason that’s important is that the battle for control of the Senate majority isn’t a one-cycle affair. It’s about minimizing your losses in bad cycles (when you have lots and lots of vulnerable seats up) and maximizing your gains in good ones.

GOP gerrymandering did not envision the upending of the Republican coalition.

Excerpt:
Then along came President Donald Trump.

House Democrats steamrolled Republicans in an array of districts last week, from those drawn by independent commissions or courts, to seats crafted specifically by Republicans with the intention of keeping them in the GOP column.

The overriding factor: a Republican president who political mapmakers could not have foreseen at the beginning of the decade. Trump altered the two parties’ coalitions in ways that specifically undermined conventional wisdom about the House map, bringing more rural voters into the GOP tent while driving away college-educated [WHITE} voters. […] – Politico

ABC News: Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith under fire over ‘public hanging’ comment ahead of runoff

Less than a week into Mississippi’s Senate special election runoff, GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is facing criticism from her African-American opponent and from civil rights groups over a comment she made about “a public hanging” in the days leading into Election Day.

In a video posted by the publisher of the Bayou Brief, a Louisiana blog, Hyde-Smith, who is white, embraced a supporter after he praised her and said before a cheering crowd, “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.”

Hyde-Smith is now coming under fire from her Democratic challenger in the upcoming Nov. 27 runoff, Mike Espy, and the greater African-American community for evoking language reminiscent of lynchings that scar Mississippi’s history. [….]

Yes sirree! Nothing like attending a good ole fashion LYNCHING is it?/sarc

Trump and his ilk have proved that the the politics of Ignorance, Hate, Fear, Division, Chaos, Scapegoating and Lies is quite appealing to a “certain kind” of Americans. Thankfully, the majority of Americans are proving WE want NO part of such evil.

CONGRATS!…to Senator-elect Sinema on her historical win. The voters of McCain’s Arizona have spoken.

Well done.