Yet Another Disappointing Election Night for Republicans

On the menu today: Are you tired of all the winning yet? Eh, maybe that joke isn’t all that fair, as Donald Trump wasn’t on the ballot yesterday, and conservatives hit one disappointment after another for rather non-Trump issues — the popularity of the Beshear name in Kentucky, the pro-Democratic reflex of Virginia’s electorate, and the fact that even deep-red Ohio isn’t comfortable with the notion of sweeping restrictions on abortion.

Don’t Panic over Last Night’s Results

This is where I’m supposed to decry the outcome of last night’s elections and say that all is lost for Republicans.

No doubt they’re disappointing and ominous for the GOP, but the results last night are not reason for panic. The elections in the year before the presidential election are a little odd — much lower turnout, governors’ races in a trio of Southern states with their own quirky histories and dynamics, and intense waves of advertising in state legislative races that usually fly under the radar.