2024 Elections Archives

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz wins third term, defeats Dallas-area congressman

November 5, 2024
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, R, has won a third term in the Senate after fending off a challenge from Democratic Congressman Colin Allred. This is an important victory for Republicans as they try to win a majority in the chamber.

Update: Donald Trump projected to win 2024 presidential election: DDHQ

Cruz’s campaign focused on border security, a hot button issue in Texas as the state has dealt with an influx of migrants throughout the Biden Administration. Cruz accused Allred of supporting open borders and said he was too liberal for Texas.

During the campaign, Allred criticized Cruz for his stance on abortion. The Democratic party ran ads pointing to Cruz’s support for overturning Roe v. Wade which led to a total abortion ban in the state. The law has only narrow exceptions for life threatening conditions and the patient being at risk of “substantial impairment of a major bodily function”. Cruz previously co-sponsored a 20-week national abortion ban that included exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.

Cruz previously served as Texas Solicitor General and ran for president in 2016. Allred is a former NFL linebacker and civil rights attorney who flipped his congressional district, which covers portions of the Dallas area, when he was first elected in 2018. He would have been the state’s first black Senator.

This was the most expensive Senate race in Texas history, beating the Cruz v. O’Rourke contest in 2018. In total, the candidates and outside groups spent about $207 million.
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Maryland becomes first state to protect abortion in 2024 general election

November 5, 2024
Voters in Maryland officially said they want to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution. The ballot measure only needed a simple majority to pass, but voters approved it by a significant margin.

Maryland’s current law allows abortion. Democratic Gov. Wes Moore signed a reproductive freedom legislation package in 2023 that further protected electronic health data, shielded abortion providers from prosecution in other states and required public colleges to give students access to comprehensive reproductive care.

The amendment does not set any limits on the procedure, it states people have reproductive freedom and “the ability to make and effectuate decisions to prevent, continue, or end one’s own pregnancy.”

“Today marks a significant victory for the rights, dignity, and autonomy of every person in our state, and those patients and their families who are forced to leave their home communities to travel to Maryland for healthcare,” Morgan Nuzzo, co-founder of Partners of Abortion Care, a clinic in Maryland, told NPR’s local affiliate.

Since Dobbs, which overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion has become a significant issue on state ballots. In the 2024 election, voters in 10 states are deciding on abortion-related measures. These states include Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York and South Dakota.

Abortion rights groups significantly outspent their opponents in these campaigns, raising more than $160 million. That total is nearly six times what anti-abortion groups raised. In Florida alone, proponents of the abortion rights measure have raised over $75 million.

Florida’s attempt to protect abortion access failed in the 2024 general election, the first statewide measure to fail since 2022. Advocates had previously prevailed on all seven ballot measures that have gone before voters since the Dobbs decision, with many states aiming to enshrine the right to abortion in their state constitutions.
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Florida voters reject amendment to guarantee abortion access

November 5, 2024
Floridians rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights before fetal viability. Amendment 4 is now the first state level measure to protect abortion access to fail since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs vs. Jackson decision in 2022, according to a projection from Decision Desk HQ.

Amendment 4 needed 60% support to pass and become a part of Florida’s constitution. The state’s 6-week abortion ban will remain in place.

Since Dobbs, which overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion has become a significant issue on state ballots. In the 2024 election, voters in 10 states are deciding on abortion-related measures. These states include Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York and South Dakota.

Abortion rights groups significantly outspent their opponents in these campaigns, raising more than $160 million. That total is nearly six times what anti-abortion groups raised. In Florida alone, proponents of the abortion rights measure have raised over $75 million.

Advocates had previously prevailed on all seven ballot measures that have gone before voters since the Dobbs decision, with many states aiming to enshrine the right to abortion in their state constitutions.
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Florida rejects proposition to legalize marijuana despite Trump, Harris support

November 5, 2024
Florida voters rejected a proposition that would legalize recreational marijuana in the state. Amendment 3 needed 60% of voters’ support to pass.

Both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris advocated in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana while on the campaign trail.

Marijuana was on the ballot in four states: Florida, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

24 states and Washington, D.C., have fully legalized marijuana. Another 13 states have legalized medicinal use. Marijuana is still illegal at the federal level.

Senate Democrats introduced a bill that would not only legalize marijuana at the federal level, but expunge the records of Americans with non-violent offenses. That proposal has not gained much traction. However, there is a broader coalition that’s willing to allow marijuana dispensaries to access the federal banking system, which they can’t do currently because it’s illegal.

In May 2024, the Biden Administration formally moved to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule 1 drug to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Schedule I drugs have no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Those drugs include heroin, LSD and ecstasy. Schedule III drugs are those with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence, including ketamine, anabolic steroids and testosterone.

A recent data analysis done for The New York Times found that nearly a third of all users – about 18 million people – have reported symptoms of cannabis use disorder, and about 3 million of them would be considered addicted to cannabis.

Proponents say legalization has economic benefits like increased tax revenues and job creation at the nearly 15,000 marijuana dispensaries around the country which create on average 6.2 jobs each, according to Investopedia.
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Florida Sen. Rick Scott reelected for second term

November 5, 2024

Florida Sen. Rick Scott, R, has won reelection, defeating former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, D-Fla. The state is a key hold for Republicans as they try to take a majority in the chamber.

Scott was seeking his second term in the Senate. He was first elected in 2018 after serving two terms as Florida’s governor. Before politics, he was a healthcare executive, a career in which he made a fortune that allowed him to give tens of millions of dollars to his own campaign.

Scott is used to running extraordinarily close races. In 2018, he defeated Democratic incumbent Senator Bill Nelson by about 10,000 votes, or .2%. He won his 2014 governor’s race by 1% and the 2010 governor’s race by 1.2%.

Scott focused on issues he’s known to talk about in the hallways of Senate office buildings: low taxes, reduced federal spending and stricter border security.

Mucarsel-Powell served one term as a U.S. Representative, from 2019 to 2021. She immigrated from Ecuador at the age of 14 and has worked in higher education and nonprofits. She talked about border security and standing up to dictators, something Cubans and Venezuelans in Florida want to hear.

Given that they were vying to represent a state with so many retirees, both candidates said they’d work to protect social security and medicare.

Scott is also vying to replace Mitch McConnell as the Republican Senate leader.

According to OpenSecrets, the spending in this contest was nowhere near as much as some other close races. Scott raised more than $40 million and Mucarsel-Powell raised over $31 million.
Rep. Andy Kim wins NJ Senate seat previously held by Bob Menendez

November 5, 2024

New Jersey voters elected Democratic Rep. Andy Kim as their next Senator. Kim defeated Republican candidate Curtis Bashaw, a hotelier and restaurateur on the Jersey shore.

Kim will take the seat of former Sen. Bob Menendez, who resigned after being found guilty of bribery, fraud, extortion and acting as a foreign agent.

Kim was first elected to the House in 2018 after flipping the third district in central New Jersey. The district covers portions of central New Jersey. Kim currently sits on the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees.

Before Congress, Kim worked at the Pentagon, State Department and the White House National Security Council. Kim also served as an advisor to Gens. David Petraeus and John Allen in Afghanistan.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice elected to US Senate, flipping seat for Republicans

November 5, 2024
West Virginia’s Republican Gov. Jim Justice has been elected the state’s next Senator, replacing former Democrat-turned-Independent Joe Manchin, who is retiring. This race is a long-expected flip for Republicans as they try to win a majority in the chamber.

Justice won his governor’s race in 2016 as a Democrat. In August 2017, he made a surprise announcement at a Donald Trump rally that he was changing parties. Flipping Manchin’s seat is the culmination of West Virginia’s decades-long transition from Democratic stronghold to ruby-red.

When it came to key issues, including the economy, the border, the second amendment and abortion, Justice ran in line with the national Republican platform. He criticized the Biden Administration as weak and promised to help West Virginians with America first policies.

Justice owns more than 100 businesses around West Virginia. He was once a billionaire but due to a downturn in the coal business and other financial difficulties his wealth has plummeted, some estimates say by half.

In August, his family avoided foreclosure on their 710-room, 11,000 acre Greenbrier Resort. Beltway Capital, which had taken over the property’s loan from J.P. Morgan, was going to auction the property. Justice said the family originally took out a $200 million unsecured loan on the property, which the family paid all the way down to $9.4 million.

A couple days before a court hearing and auction, Justice announced they made a deal and said the Greenbrier would be in their family “forevermore”. Other businesses owned by the family have had problems with debts, fines and late taxes.

While Governor, Justice continued coaching a high school girls basketball team, which he’s led since 2000.

Justice won the West Virginia Senate race against former Wheeling, West Virginia Mayor Glenn Elliott, who has multiple degrees from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and a law degree from Georgetown.
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Universities create ‘coping spaces’ for students with election stress

November 5, 2024
Colleges across the U.S. are offering “coping spaces” to help students manage potential stress following the 2024 presidential election. These efforts, aimed at fostering mindfulness and relaxation, include designated spaces for activities like coloring, Lego-building and drop-in counseling.

The Free Press reports how Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, the day after the election, features an all-day “self-care suite,” where students can take part in stress-relieving activities, including a “Legos station,” coloring exercises and guided meditation.

According to Jaclyn Clevenger, Georgetown’s director of student engagement, the initiative is intended to provide a break during a tense period.

Getty Images

Missouri State University’s counseling center has also set up a “no phone zone,” with calm jars, sensory fidget tools and coloring pages. The school describes this space as a quiet area where students can unplug from social media and focus on personal relaxation.

Washington University in St. Louis, as part of its “Engage Democracy 2024” program, has introduced drop-in counseling sessions where students can talk with mental health professionals individually or in small groups. The university states that this is meant to offer supportive spaces for students who may feel anxious or stressed after the election results.

These programs reflect a broader trend in higher education, as universities increasingly seek to address student mental health during national events. Schools like the University of Michigan have implemented measures like flexible deadlines and additional mental health support to ensure students have access to resources during what they say are potentially challenging times.
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FBI warns of fake videos depicting agency, false voting information

November 5, 2024
The FBI issued a warning on Election Day about fake videos circulating online using the agency’s name and insignia to spread misinformation. Officials said they have identified at least two clips that appeared on social media.

Authorities believe the videos are part of a larger disinformation campaign involving fabricated news reports. In some clips, the video alleged of voter fraud. Other videos falsely claim that the FBI advised people to “vote remotely” due to a terror threat at polling stations.

Researchers tracking disinformation said these videos were likely created by a Russian network. The network is known for mimicking U.S. government entities and news outlets.

The creators even included QR codes linking to legitimate news sources to make the fake content appear more credible.

The FBI released a statement following the discovery of the videos. The agency said that protecting election integrity remains a top priority.

“Attempts to deceive the public with false content about FBI threat assessments and activities aim to undermine our democratic process and erode trust in the electoral system,” the statement read in part.

As millions of voters headed to the polls, the FBI continued to work closely with state and local law enforcement to address any election-related threats and ensure public safety.

Officials urged voters to be cautious about the information they encounter online and to verify sources before sharing any election-related content.
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Astronauts celebrate Election Day in space, cast early votes from ISS

November 5, 2024
Did you know it’s possible to cast a ballot from space? Astronauts including Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams and Don Pettit voted early in the 2024 presidential election from the International Space Station.

The astronauts posted an Election Day photo of themselves on Instagram wearing patriotic socks. The caption read, “It doesn’t matter if you are sitting, standing or floating – what matters is that you vote!”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by NASA Astronaut Nick Hague (@astrohague)

They managed to be a part of the more than 1 million people who voted in early in Harris County, Texas, thanks to NASA’s Near Space Network. The network is a constellation of satellites in space that communicate with antennas and Earth.

An encrypted word document gets sent up to their email addresses and they can open the document with their password.

Once the astronauts vote, the ballot is returned, printed and processed with other ballots.

NASA said astronauts have voted in U.S. elections since 1997 when Texas passed a law allowing astronauts to vote from space.

It’s not just from space but Americans overseas are also voting. According to Vote from Abroad, the number is actually higher than it was in 2020.

This group includes military personnel, dual citizens and people born outside the U.S. to American parents.

As elections have gotten tighter, both parties are counting on those abroad votes that could be the margin of victory.

The Democratic National Committee gave Democrats Abroad $300,000 to fund its get-out-the-vote effort.

Former President Donald Trump pledged to end the requirement that Americans living overseas file a U.S. tax return.

However, some have questioned the validity of overseas voting, filing lawsuits in swing states.
Related Stories
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Texas Sen. Ted Cruz wins third term, defeats Dallas-area congressman

Maryland becomes first state to protect abortion in 2024 general election

Florida voters reject amendment to guarantee abortion access

Florida rejects proposition to legalize marijuana despite Trump, Harris support

Florida Sen. Rick Scott reelected for second term

Rep. Andy Kim wins NJ Senate seat previously held by Bob Menendez

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice elected to US Senate, flipping seat for Republicans

Universities create ‘coping spaces’ for students with election stress

FBI warns of fake videos depicting agency, false voting information

Astronauts celebrate Election Day in space, cast early votes from ISS

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