-Eric Adams, NYC's profoundly normal new mayor

There’s no sugarcoating it: Democrats got thumped in Tuesday’s Virginia and New Jersey elections. It’s too early to draw firm conclusions about exactly what went wrong (which has not stopped Twitter from trying), but it’s abundantly clear that Democrats have a problem.
 

• Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the Virginia governor’s race by two points, a year after President Biden carried the state by 10. Republicans also appear to have flipped the six seats they needed to regain control of the Virginia House of Delegates, if not more. And Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) only narrowly won reelection after unexpectedly hanging on for dear life against GOP challenger Jack Ciattarelli. (Lips right up against the microphone) Not great.
   
• So, Virginia was a bloodbath, and the intra-party finger-pointing began immediately. Here’s what we know so far: It wasn’t as simple as Democratic apathy. McAuliffe turned out even more voters than Gov. Ralph Northam (D-VA) in 2017, but it wasn’t enough to overcome higher GOP enthusiasm. Youngkin appears to have both flipped a bunch of moderate voters in the suburbs and fired up the MAGA base; his “normal vest-wearing guy in the front/far-right sympathizer in the back” campaign strategy was, alarmingly, a success. McAuliffe’s focus on linking him more explicitly to Donald Trump was not. 
   
• Looking at Virginia alone, it would be tempting to say that Republicans rode to victory on a wave of racist, fake, anti-“critical race theory” panic. And that culture war undeniably played an ugly role! But it doesn’t account for what happened in New Jersey, where CRT wasn’t at the center of the gubernatorial election, and where the most powerful Democrat in the state legislature appears to be losing to a truck driver who spent a total of $153 on his campaign. Democrats’ troubles are larger than one candidate, one opponent, or one astroturfed moral panic.

There’s some good news hidden in there: Yelling about imaginary, ill-defined education issues doesn’t seem to be the magical wedge that GOP operatives had hoped for.
 

• A CRT-centric campaign may have worked out for Youngkin in Virginia, but it wasn’t a universal winner in school-board elections around the country. A number of high-profile anti-CRT candidates were soundly defeated in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Connecticut, in exactly the kinds of suburbs that that strategy was designed for. That doesn’t mean Republicans will put down this particular dog whistle—the House’s Republican Study Committee sent around a memo on Wednesday encouraging candidates to follow in Youngkin’s CRT footsteps—but they’re not guaranteed to sweep elections with it.
   
• Given that CRT and off-year sleepiness weren’t the whole story, how much of Democrats’ losses and Republicans’ gains should we chalk up to President Biden’s low approval ratings, Donald Trump’s involvement, or Democrats’ stalled legislation in Congress? In a TL;DR of Dan Pfeiffer’s Wednesday Message Box, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. There are plenty of Takes flying around, but no actual data to support them yet. The one takeaway the left seems to agree on: Tuesday’s results should motivate Democrats to get Biden’s agenda passed quickly, and finally take the “Dems in disarray” narrative out behind the shed.

Tuesday night wasn’t a complete black hole (keep scrolling for some inspiring local developments), but the results overwhelmingly amounted to a wake-up call for Democrats that they’ve got an uphill fight to maintain their majorities in 2022. Flexing those majorities to pass a transformative agenda and protect democratic institutions would be a hopeful first step.

It’s been over a year since the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. And still, police have killed more than 500 people in 2021 already – from Daunte Wright to 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant, and far too many others. Meanwhile, the resounding calls to divest and defund the police continue to grow. Calls that Black organizers and advocates led long before now.  

So what does it all really mean for our country? And how does this moment differ from so many past efforts in America to stop racist police practices that have terrorized Black people for centuries?  

The ACLU will dive into these questions and more in our inaugural email course, “Racism in Policing” –and we want you to be a part of it. Sign up for the email course today.

In this four-email course, you’ll receive one lesson every week delivered to your inbox from us, Paige Fernandez and Carl Takei, your  course guides and ACLU experts.   

We’ll help you develop a deeper foundational knowledge of U.S. policing institutions, its inseparable ties to white supremacy and systemic racism, and the larger meaning behind police divestment as a solution for the safety of all communities.

By the end of our course, you’ll come away with historical context, learning resources, and the insight needed to take meaningful actions on this critical issue.  

We truly couldn’t think of a more significant topic to delve into and we’re looking forward to having you with us. So don’t wait – sign up and let’s get started.  

Your course guides,  

Paige Fernandez   
She, her, hers  
Policing Policy Advisor, National Political Advocacy Department, ACLU  

Carl Takei  
He, him, his  
Senior Staff Attorney, Trone Center for Justice and Equality, ACLU  

The Supreme Court looked ready on Wednesday to strike down a New York law that limits who can carry a concealed gun in public, in the Court’s first major Second Amendment in over a decade, and a surprising reminder that the Supreme Court still knows how to strike down laws in blue states. The six conservative justices made clear that they were extremely skeptical of laws that authorized state or local officials to deny gun permits to law-abiding citizens, and most argued that people who live in “high-crime areas” should be allowed to carry a gun for self-defense. (“How many muggings take place in the forest?” asked Chief Justice John Roberts, as he argued for more guns in densely populated cities.) California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island have similar laws, which would also be overturned if New York’s is struck down. The one positive caveat: Both liberal and conservative justices seemed to agree that cities should be able to restrict guns in sensitive public places, like subways, stadiums, and college campuses.

• House Democrats have added four weeks of paid family and medical leave back into the reconciliation bill, to Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) pouty dismay.
   
• Minneapolis voters rejected a ballot proposal to replace the city’s police department with a more comprehensive Department of Public Safety.
   
• Buffalo, NY, Mayor Byron Brown  won his write-in campaign against democratic socialist India Walton, who beat him in the Democratic primary.
   
• At least eight Republicans who attended the January 6 rally in DC were elected to office on Tuesday, including two candidates who were re-elected to the Virginia House. All have either denied participating in the Capitol riot, or refused to answer questions about it.
   
• The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved Rahm Emmanual’s nomination as ambassador to Japan, despite opposition from Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Ed Markey (D-MA). 
   
• This week in Haha Please Abolish The Filibuster And Pass Redistricting Reforms: The North Carolina Senate has approved an extreme gerrymander that would give Republicans control of 71-78 percent of the state’s House seats, and Ohio Republicans have unveiled one of the worst maps yet.
   
• More than 10,000 John Deere workers will remain on strike after voting down a second tentative deal with the company. Across industries, over 22,000 American union members are currently on strike.
   
• Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti tested positive for coronavirus while in Glasgow for COP26, but is “feeling good and isolating in his hotel room.” Any Angelenos who need to yell at the mayor, you have a captive audience.
   
• Hundreds of QAnon adherents gathered in Dallas on Tuesday for JFK Jr.’s return from the dead. (He remained dead, rudely.)

The Federal Election Commission has ruled that foreign donors can dump money into U.S. ballot initiatives, because they don't count as "elections" under federal law. States can pass their own regulations if they want, but the FEC's ruling will seemingly open the floodgates for foreign nationals to directly influence U.S. policy at the state level, which most traditional democracy fans would characterize as Very Bad. What’s not clear is whether the ruling clears the way for foreign entities to spend money on referendums that directly affect the election process, like redistricting measures. The July decision stemmed from a complaint against a Canadian subsidiary of an Australian mining company, which in 2018 helped finance a measure to block new environmental protections in Montana. In a 4-2 vote, the FEC ruled that this was perfectly legal, thereby creating an official loophole for foreign cash in American politics. Sure!

Here at What A Day, we bring you what to know now, so you can feel ready for what’s next. It feels good to be tuned in. To make smart choices. (Most of the time, at least). And because we’re here to inform your tomorrow, here’s what you need to know today: a better sneaker is out there.

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Tuesday was a historic night for candidates of color: Michelle Wu has become the first woman and person of color to be elected mayor of Boston, Pittsburgh has elected Ed Gainey as its first Black mayor, Aftab Pureval will become the first Asian-American mayor of Cincinnati, Abdullah Hammoud will become the first Arab-American mayor of Dearborn, MI, the very cool list goes on.

Check out this whole thread of Run For Something winners.

Tucson, AZ, voters overwhelmingly approved raising the minimum wage to $15. (U up, Kyrsten Sinema?)

Kids’ vaccines have arrived. :’)