Photo by Yoshiaki Miura (Japan Times)
Democrats from across the Kanto region met at Two Dogs Taproom to follow election results in real time.
The results were slow coming in, but we started with some bad news: Beto O'Rourke was defeated by Ted Cruz, Amy McGrath lost in Kentucky, and Andrew Gillum lost the Governor's race in Florida. Democrats were surging in the House races, but it was clear the Republicans would maintain control of the Senate, and possibly gain seats.
Two days later, the election watch is over, but the races are not. It appears there may be a recount in the Florida gubernatorial race as Rick Scott's lead is falling, and falling steadily. Although Brian Kemp--the candidate who seems to think he can oversee the election in which he is a candidate--has declared himself the winner, Stacy Abrams has NOT conceded and will not concede until every ballot is counted. And it seems her tenacity has paid off; the margin of Kemp's "win" is dropping and dropping. It appears there will be a run off, and the good news is that Kemp has resigned as Secretary of State, so he won't be overseeing the counting of remaining ballots in this election or those in a potential runoff. And it just may be possible that Kyrsten Sinema may win the Senate seat in Arizona.
Democrats hava a lot to be proud of. We won some key governorships. We won the house, we held our own in places that had long been Republican strongholds, and there will now be over 100 women in Congress. The 2019 Congress will be more diverse thanks to wins by Native and African Americans, young people, gay people, muslims, liberals and moderates. THIS is how Democrats will change the face of Congress and America.
So, today, we celebrate the wins we have, we mourn what could have been if our other candidates had won. But tomorrow, we start all over again, because there are still major battles to be fought and still much work to be done.
Please join us.