SEVEN RACES TO WATCH IN THE U.S. MIDTERMS
N.Y. 14TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Alexandria Ocasio-cortez is a 29-year-old Bronx-born community organizer who already slew a giant in defeating Representative Joseph Crowley, a 19-year incumbent who was favoured to ascend to the speaker’s lectern if Democrats retook the lower chamber on Tuesday. If she pulls off a victory against Republican candidate Anthony Pappas in the predominantly Democratic district, she will become the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.
TEXAS, SENATE
Sen. Ted Cruz is locked in a tight battle with Beto O’rourke, a star congressman trying to do what no Democrat has done since 1988: win a Senate seat in Texas. The Spanishspeaking native of El Paso was polling three points behind the incumbent in the latest poll, released Thursday. And he has raised more money than Cruz, the Canadian-born former Trump rival once known to the president as Lying Ted. But Republicans are skeptical O’rourke can make history on Tuesday. “I think that Texans are conservatives as a rule, and I don’t think they’ll vote for a guy that’s for more taxes and gun control and open borders,” said Kerry Pratt, a West Texas cotton farmer who is the chairman of the Republican Party in Floyd County. “He’s getting the free press because he’s new. He’s handsome. But nobody believes what he believes around here.”
MINNESOTA 5TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Ilhan Omar, a Democrat, is poised to become the first Somali-american elected to the U.S. House. She faces Republican opponent Jennifer Zielinski, a virtually unknown firsttime candidate, in a congressional district that includes all of Minneapolis and hasn’t been represented by a Republican since 1962. But it hasn’t been an easy ride for Omar, whose campaign has been dogged by allegations that she committed immigration fraud and polygamy. What’s more, conservative sites have speculated that one of her two exhusbands is her brother. She has called the accusations absurd and offensive.
NORTH DAKOTA, SENATE
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp is struggling in her fight for re-election against Republican challenger Rep. Kevin Cramer, who has opened a clear lead in recent polls. But her campaign is flush with cash. After she announced that she would not vote to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, donations poured in. She raised an astonishing $12.5 million in 14 days. By comparison she raised about $15 million between her last election, in 2012, and Sept. 30 of this year. “I think that there were many who contributed seeing what she did as an act of political bravery, knowing that she is in a very tight race in a very red state and that voting against Brett Kavanaugh was likely cause for harm in the polls,” said Rodell Mollineau, a Democratic strategist.
MISSOURI, SENATE
Up against Missouri’s Republican attorney general in a battle to hold onto her Senate seat, Claire Mccaskill is distancing herself from “crazy Democrats” in her own party and adopting stances that seem almost Trumpian in nature. She publicly rebuked Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders along with all the other “crazy Democrats” who scream at Republicans in restaurants and painted a swastika on rival Josh Hawley’s lawn signs. In an interview with Fox News last week, Mccaskill urged Trump to “use every tool he has at his disposal” to halt the caravan of migrants travelling north to the United States, adding, “I 100 per cent back him up on that.”
GOVERNOR, GEORGIA
Celebrities have been tripping over themselves to boost Democrat Stacey Abrams in her bid to become the state’s first African-american governor. Oprah Winfrey knocked on doors with her on Thursday and Barack Obama stumped for her on Friday. Michael Jordan and Will Ferrell already made the rounds with her in the state. As have actors Tracee Ellis Ross, Uzo Aduba, Rashida Jones and Aisha Hinds. Republican Brian Kemp has some famous folk (though they’re not from Hollywood) coming in to help him close out his campaign: President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are campaigning for him, with Trump slated to hold a rally in Georgia on Sunday. The state hasn’t elected a Democrat as governor since 1998.
GOVERNOR, FLORIDA
It’s become personal in the gubernatorial race in Florida, where Democrat Andrew Gillum is running to become the state’s first black governor. Donald Trump recently tweeted without evidence that Gillum was a “thief.” And at a recent debate, Gillum noted his GOP opponent, former Rep. Ron Desantis, was backed by an activist who once used a racial epithet in describing Barack Obama. “I’m not calling Mr. Desantis a racist,” Gillum said. “I’m simply saying the racists believe he’s a racist.”