Things have been touch-and-go for Democrats since the annus horribilis of 2016, but recent signs have been encouraging. 
 

• Continuing a trend we saw in the midterm elections, Democrats are not only outpacing their GOP counterparts in swing states, they’re putting up considerably better numbers in congressional races than President Biden did in 2020. The results of Tuesday night’s special election exceeded the DNC’s expectations: Democrat Jennifer McClellan will become first Black woman elected to Congress to represent the Commonwealth of Virginia, filling a vacancy created by the death of Rep. Don McEachin (D-VA). What’s more, McClellan outperformed McEachin’s usual results by about 15 points, in a race where abortion was a dominant issue. 
   

• In Kentucky, Cassie Chambers Armstrong defeated Republican Misty Glin by more than 50 points, earning about 77 percent of the total votes cast. She far outpaced Biden’s performance in her district and will join the heavily Republican Kentucky General Assembly. Every seat counts. 
   

• Moving north to New Hampshire, Democrats picked up a seat in the near-evenly divided New Hampshire House of Representatives. Democratic candidate Chuck Grassie—not to be confused with the ancient Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)—bested his Republican challenger David Walker after the two tied in November’s election with exactly 970 votes each.

Federal elections certainly garner the most attention, but as we’ve seen time and again, down-ballot races are often even more consequential. 
 

• In the all-important swing state of Wisconsin, a judicial race (ordinarily one of the least-sexy on the ballot) has drawn unprecedented attention. The race for the open seat on Wisconsin’s State Supreme Court will determine whether liberal or conservative justices are the final word on the state’s abortion policy, its outrageous partisan gerrymanders, and perhaps the future of American democracy itself. If liberal-leaning justices regain the court’s majority for the first time in 14 years, they are likely to reverse some oppressive GOP policies and will be able to revisit the election maps that have given Republicans huge margins in the state legislature and U.S. congressional delegation, even when Republicans lose the popular vote in the state. 

• Democrats got the conservative judicial nominee they were hoping for, Daniel Kelly, an appointee of former Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) who lost his seat on the bench in 2020 but has since picked up an endorsement from disgraced former president Donald Trump—presumably because he appears supportive of Trump’s efforts to overturn the last presidential election. Kelly has touted his rulings to allow concealed carry of firearms on city buses and end the coronavirus lockdown imposed by Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) so he’s clearly a great guy. Liberal-leaning Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz received 46.5 percent of the vote in the open primary, and the two candidates now sprint to the April 4 general election. 

So what does this mean? Well, it looks like the Republican decision to go all-in on the culture wars they created (because they have nothing else to offer the American people) isn’t working. Democrats continue to win, even as the incumbent party. Voters continue to reject Dobbs and insurrection. And a new Marist poll shows that Joe Biden has a positive approval rating among registered voters for the first time in forever, perhaps because of his strong State of the Union performance, dwindling inflation, and/or because he’s delivered better substantive policy than most people (us included!) ever thought he would. Hopefully, Democrats will continue this strategy of taking no seat for granted, and fighting like hell at every opportunity.

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have been subpoenaed in the January 6 special counsel investigation, the latest sign that no high-level witness is off limits. 

Newly released documents show that Arizona’s former Republican attorney general intentionally concealed records which showed that virtually all claims of errors or malfeasance in the 2020 election were unfounded. You don’t say!

Alaska’s House of Representatives voted to censure Wasilla Republican Rep. David Eastman after he asked during a committee hearing whether there could be economic benefits from deaths of abused children. 

An “historic” blizzard in the U.S. heartland has caused the cancellation of over 1,200 flights. At least 75 million Americans are under winter storm weather advisories. 

Conservative venture capitalist Vivek Ramaswamy, author of the book “Woke, Inc.” (gag) announced on Tucker Carlson that he’s running for president. 

NPR announced that the network is laying off 10 percent of its workforce, citing erosion of advertising revenue.  

A federal judge in Texas rejected a request by social-media giant Meta to throw out a $175 million jury patent verdict that ruled the company’s walkie-talkie app infringed on two patents related to video streaming and messaging. 

President Biden responded to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to suspend the Russian-American nuclear arms-control treaty, calling the move a “big mistake.” Very Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman."

The toxic train derailment in East Palestine, OH, continues to garner public scrutiny, as it should, but the way national news outlets have been reporting on it leaves something to be desired, if we’re honest!! Donald Trump visited the town today, accompanied by the Mayor of East Palestine, Trent Conway, who had previously called Biden’s trip to Ukraine “a slap in the face.” The fact that the Trump administration eliminated many rail-safety rules and regulations, including one explicitly intended to prevent oil tankers from exploding near communities by requiring new brakes to reduce the risk of derailments and also downsized the EPA? No mention of it! Of course, that’s not to give current Transportation Secretary Buttigieg, a pass. He r another senior  cabinet official should have been on the first flight to Ohio when the derailment happened (reports indicate that he will travel there tomorrow), and the Biden administration does seem to be fumbling the bag with this entire disaster, but Republicans are using it to create a false narrative that Joe Biden and Democrats don’t care about the rural White working class, and news outlets  should be more discerning about how they report Republican talking points. 

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Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) announced he will run again in 2024, a much-needed decision for Democrats facing a tough Senate map next year. 
 

Minnesota is poised to restore voting rights to tens of thousands of residents after the state legislature adopted a bill yesterday to narrow felony disenfranchisement.