Joe Manchin Wins Big in Virginia and New Jersey

If Sens. Manchin and Sinema were waiting for a sign, here it is.

“With Trump’s numbers low, Democrats have renewed hope for 2018: they could keep the Senate close and maybe win back the House. But to get there, they will need to forge a broad path. That means truly understanding the states and districts that will decide the fate of Congress. On July 19, 2017, Third Way hosted a breakfast discussion with some of the Members of Congress who understand this best: Senator Joe Manchin (WV) and Representatives Emanuel Cleaver (MO-5) and Suzan DelBene (WA-1).” (photo: Third Way Think Tank)

Elections were held yesterday in several hot spots throughout the country- in case anyone hadn’t heard.

Republicans, all things considered, did very well whereas Democrats have far less to celebrate today. In the wake of political newcomer Glenn Youngkin’s (R-VA) victory over former VA governor Terry McAuliffe (D-VA), political analysts and experts are busily predicting everything from another wave of retirements among Democrats in Congress to enough mail-in ballots tipping the scale back towards Democrats in the coming days.

Most agree that history was made by Republican Winsome Sears, who beat her Democratic challenger to become the first female African-American Lieutenant Governor in Virginia history. This might have partially been due to the ocean of campaign ads against her, many of which, perhaps unwisely, pictured Sears looking exactly like the sort of person you’d put in charge if crime rose sharply in your state.

Sears is also a Jamaican immigrant and a former member of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Winsome Sears is what Terry McAuliffe might have been, had the Virginia Democratic Party primary went a different way. The one-time governor and former Clinton-man may have seemed like a safer bet to…