Tag Archives: election

Editorials/Student Voice, National, News

Blue tsunami: Midterm election results

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By: Louise Wallraff

Photo by Edmond Dantu00e8s on Pexels.com

Last Tuesday night was an unprecedented win for democrats, with both the Senate and House of Representatives comfortably winning the majority. Even long-time republican strongholds like Kansas, South Carolina, and Texas “turned blue”.

In a time of hyper partisanship, Americans came together to vote against an administration driving up the cost of living, funding an unwanted war, and supporting reckless ICE agents. Although President Trump wasn’t on the ballot, this is a direct rebuke against what his administration has, and hasn’t done, in the past two years.

As of now, the senate is secured 54-44, with democrats winning in many states President Trump won by double digits in 2024. The Mississippi and Alaska senate races still remain too close to call. Wins in states like Kansas where a democrat hasn’t been elected in 94 years, or in Texas where James Talarico won despite Elon Musk spending half a billion speak loud. 

The house is currently 254-165, a majority not seen since the Obama era in 2008, with 16 undecided races. Democrats improved their performance in 99% of the roughly 2,100 counties nationwide compared to 2024, especially in counties with Hispanic voters, as well as young voters. Angie Nixon, a democratic socialist running in Florida with minimal support from her party only lost by two points.

There are many other notable achievements. Georgia elected the United States’s first black woman as Governor, Keisha Lance Bottoms. Michigan elected the first Muslim U.S. Senator, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. Minnesota elected the first Native American Female Senator, Peggy Flanagan. New Mexico elected the first Native American Female Governor, Deb Haaland. New Hampshire elected the first openly gay male Senator, Chris Papaas. Lastly, there was a record number of women running for congress.

What’s next? Right after democrats started their sweep, news anchors were already discussing the 2028 presidential election and what this means for both parties. This is mainly speculation, as no noteworthy presidential campaigns have been announced.

As for what our nation’s Senators and Representatives plan on doing when they get sworn into office in January, there remains some conflict. While more moderate democrats are arguing for bipartisanship and working with the Trump regime, progressives and anti-establishment democrats support immediately investigating the current administration and passing the policies American voters are asking for.

There is a last minute attempt to elect Chris Van Hollen over Chuck Schumer for Senate Majority leader, as some senators argue Chuck Schumer is far too aligned with the status-quo. Hakeem Jefferies is on track to be the first Black House majority leader, although he is being criticized for the same reasons.

Overall, the record 124 million voters shows that right now people have hope for better futures and want to make their voices heard, we can only hope democrats are able to deliver their promises when they step into office in January.

Editorials/Student Voice, Local, National, News

Midterms

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By: Louise Wallraff

Midterm elections are TOMORROW! (Tuesday, November 3rd) The best way to make change in Minnesota and in your community is to VOTE. Midterm elections take place two years after presidential ones, and serve the purpose of electing new senators, representatives, governors, and more, who all work to represent and lead Minnesota.  Because Midterms have less voting turnout, your voice matters that much more. Even if you are not 18, you can still remind your family and friends to drive to the polls.

It is important to research what the candidates are running for. Make sure to look at a variety of sources to prevent bias: there are many ads targeted at candidates that focus on getting an emotional reaction rather than informing you. There is a list of sources at the end of the article further detailing who is running, and you can do research on your own time as well.

These midterms are especially important as CBS News states: “Whether the Democrats or the Republicans win will determine whether Congress acts as a check or an enabler on presidential power for the final two years of Donald Trump’s presidency.” Essentially, if the house and senate get more democratic leaders, President Trump will have less control over the country than he does now with a republican house and senate.

These midterms are also the most expensive elections that have ever happened in the US, with billions of dollars spent by megadonors like Elon Musk and super PACs (U.S. political committees that can raise and spend unlimited money for or against candidates).

There have also been attempts at undermining people’s voices with misleading voters, redrawing voting maps (redistricting), and making people scared to go out and vote. This shows just how crucial winning the election is for the people running, but what do average Americans care about? Bringing down food and gas prices, ending the war in Iran, and cheaper healthcare are all priorities.

Two important elections happening in Minnesota are:

Peggy Flanagan VS Michele Tafoya for US Senate

Peggy Flanagan is our current lieutenant Governor, she is campaigning on a progressive platform for Medicare for All, universal child care, and economic affordability. Michelle Tafoya is a broadcast journalist endorsed by Donald Trump who describes herself as a pragmatic, pro-choice conservative. She is running on strict law and order policies in MN, and mainly shares President Trump’s policies.

Amy Klobuchar VS Lisa Demuth for Governor

Amy Klobuchar is our current U.S. Senator. She is running on eliminating state fraud, lowering healthcare costs, expanding housing development, and protecting abortion rights. Lisa Demuth is the speaker for the Minnesota house of representatives, she is running on tax relief, less state budget spending, and targeting fraud.

On top of that, Steve Simon and Tad Jude are competing for Secretary of State, and Keith Ellison and Ronald Schutz for Attorney General.

On the national level, races like Abdul El Sayed VS Mike Rogers in Michigan, Josh Turek VS Ashley Hinson in Iowa, James Talarico VS Ken Paxton in Texas, and Mary Peltola VS Dan S Sullivan VS Daniel J Sullivan Jr. in Alaska are all getting plenty of media attention.

They are all races that determine which senators will be elected, because although media outlets are confident democrats will win the house, whether or not the senate will be red or blue is still somewhat uncertain.

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Editorials/Student Voice

The consequences of the 2024 election

By: Priya and Ruby Anderson

Source: Microsoft Designer AI Image Creator, prompt by us

Americans sat anxiously Tuesday night two weeks ago. It’s been 8 years since a female has run for president, and almost 12 years since a person of color has run. When asking around, people stated they were disappointed, but not surprised by these results. Trump is now the 47th president of the United States, serving for his last term.

We asked our good friend and community organizer, Charlie St. Dennis, his opinion on the matter. He mentioned how every swing state that turned blue in 2020 suddenly shifted towards red, and how all but 2 states had close margins. A lot of factors play into this shift, such as the undeniable factor of identity. Charlie stated, “The societal standard that a duly elected district attorney, attorney general, senator, and vice president who is a Black/South Asian-American woman, is less qualified than an old, White, male criminal.” Inflation and a troubled economy are also very important when looking at peoples’ voting choice. Many blame Biden and his administration for those issues, not looking at the bigger issue we are facing with Trump’s re-election.

The consequences of Trump being the president for a second term lies in Project 2025. According to the Project 2025 site, their mission statement is:

“To promote conservative and right-wing policies to reshape the federal government of the United States and consolidate executive power after Donald Trump is inaugurated as president in 2025.”

When reading the “about” section, it talks a lot about how the left has brought damage to America, and there needs to be an effective conservative administration. They are built on the “four pillars”: a policy agenda, personnel, training, and a 180-day playbook. What this means is they essentially want a broad coalition of conservative organizations to ensure the administration begins January of 2025. Project 2025 is also built by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, whose stated principles are free enterprise, limited government, and traditional American values.

Project 2025 may sound innocent enough, but this administration has some extremely concerning policies. These policies are concerning because they infringe on the rights of almost all minorities in this country. While they primarily target these minorities, this administration also affects the entire American population. According to the Project 2025 site, their policy suggestions are:

  1. Secure the border and deport illegal aliens
  2. De-weaponize the federal government by increasing accountability and oversight of the FBI and DOJ
  3. Unleash American energy production and reduce energy prices
  4. Cut the growth of government spending (this includes social security and essential title 1 school funding)
  5. Ban biological males from competing in women’s sports (and heavily limit the resources for trans health care)

And some other policies that are not included on the public page are:

  1. The Department of justice can rush to use death penalty
  2. National book bans, but also word bans, such as diversity, gender, and abortion
  3. Abortion care inaccessible and illegal to anyone no matter the circumstance

On page 6 of this manifesto, it states,

“This is just the beginning.”

Not only do these policies show the individualistic nature of America and its leaders, but it shows the fear people have for change and equality. Many can argue that traditional American values are extremely flawed and toxic, leaning heavily on white supremacy and the patriarchy.

While this policy does target the LGBT community, people of color, and women, this also affects men and White Americans just as much. Once the doors are open to banning and prohibiting rights, that only leaves room for more basic freedoms to be stripped from everyone, in order to secure the high-class, corrupt Christians who misinterpret the bible, and white supremacists a place in power.

To the White women, lower class/working class and people of color who surprisingly voted for Trump, they may have believed that he was on their side. That he would protect them. What they don’t realize is that while they may have gained lower taxes, they have also elected a false prophet: someone who is not fighting for you, but for the wealthy, White, male elites in our country. As we stated many times before, even White men are not safe from these policies. America has beaten down its citizens for so long that we are desperate for any way out, even if it means selling out our fellow Americans.

Trump has shown he is not a fitting president through his actions and words. All we can do now is create safe spaces within our communities, and stay close to our people. And while safe spaces are dwindling, the oppressed always remain strong and connected throughout human history. Some good can come out of this presidency, and while we are clearly biased, that is the truth. The good, however, will be in lower gas prices.

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Local, National

The other results of last week’s election

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By: Nathaniel de Sam Lazaro

Image Credit: Wikipedia commons

By now, you probably already know that Donald Trump has won the 2024 US Presidential election. What you might have missed, however, are the other races that defined this election.

The president cannot make laws and do things all on his own. He needs to work together with both houses of congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate.

These two chambers are responsible for creating the laws that the executive branch is in charge of putting into place. In addition, the president often has to petition congress in order to get his agenda passed and put into effect. For this reason, it is much more difficult for the president to enact their agenda if the party in charge of congress does not align with the president’s party.

Each state has two senators, who serve six year terms. Every two years, roughly a third of the senators are up for election.  In this election, one of Minnesota’s senators, Democrat Amy Klobuchar, was up against Republican challenger Royce White. The Associated Press has called this race for Klobuchar, but they have also declared that Republicans will take a majority in the senate, having flipped a number of other Democratic seats. This is good news for president-elect Trump, since it means the senate will align with him as he attempts to enact his agenda as president.

In addition, the nation is divided into 435 congressional districts, each having one representative. These districts are distributed roughly proportionally to population, and redrawn every ten years in order to better represent groups of people as demographics shift. Highland Park is a part of congressional district MN-4, which has been represented by Democrat Betty McCollum since 2001. She has been elected to her thirteenth term in congress, easily defeating Republican challenger May Lor Xiong. AP has also projected that Republicans will win the house, having officially secured the 218 seats required for a majority. This is good for President elect Trump, as the house aligns with his party making it easier for him to pass legislation he wants enacted.

In addition to the federal government, each state also has their own government, which passes laws that only affect us in that state. Minnesota’s government works similarly to the federal government, with a governor and two chambers of congress. The Minnesota House of Representatives has elections every two years, while the Minnesota Senate holds elections every four years, with election years being the non-presidential even years.

This year, state senator Kelly Morrison stepped down from her position to run for US congress in district MN-3, which she has now won. This caused a special election to occur in her district, which had the potential of flipping the state senate. The Minnesota Star Tribune has called this race for DFL candidate Ann Johnson Stewart, meaning the DFL will retain control of the senate in Minnesota. Meanwhile, the state’s House of Representatives appears to be deadlocked with both major parties having 67 seats, but a recount of two seats could narrowly give the house to the republicans. If this occurred, it would make things difficult for our democratic governor.

There were also a few ballot measures in Minnesota and across the country. In Minnesota, the state asked whether state lottery funds should continue to be used to protect the environment, which passed with 77.5% of the vote.

Here in Saint Paul, two additional referendums were included. The first asked whether city property taxes should be increased to pay for childcare funding. This failed with 59.9% of the vote, according to the Star Tribune. The other ballot measure, asking whether city elections should be moved to presidential years, passed with 60.7% of the vote.