More like, Republi-can't, amirite??

Well, that was an underwhelming mid-term for the GOP. Inflation surges and crime sprees weren't enough to punish the party in power as Democrats largely withstood the forecasted red wave. While the Republicans have seized a slight majority in the House and came up short in the Senate, it is not the makings of a strong rebuke of horrendous policymaking by the Democratic party which has directly led to said inflation, record gas prices, high crime, defund the police positions and incessant woke-ness from Latinx to transgenderism. Heck, it's not even the makings of a standard mid-term retreat to the middle where the party in power typically loses seats. Under such a measurement, Biden (while underwater in his approval ratings) performed better than most presidents in recent history.

There is voluminous punditry out there analyzing the elections and of much better quality that could happen here, so instead here is a quick-hit analysis of thoughts:

Nationally, MAGA didn't have a great showing. Good riddance to Kari Lake. Trump's handpicked selections in Mehmet Oz and Blake Masters fizzled while Herschel Walker found himself in a run-off while Governor Kemp cruised to re-election. It's quite a clear rebuke on the far right. Meanwhile, competent leadership from Ron DeSantis resulted in an overwhelming win in Florida which quickly prompted Donald Trump to attack him. Of course. 

Also, good riddance to Joe Kent, who foolishly challenged Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler in southwest Washington's 3rd congressional district because she dared vote for the impeachment of Donald Trump. Kent's MAGA, far-right didn't pan out in the moderate district. The same happened in Michigan's 3rd where Rep. Peter Meijer was challenged by another Trumper in John Gibbs for the same crime of voting for impeachment. Gibbs was also trounced by a Democrat. Nice going. So much winning!

Lauren Boebert appears to be holding on to her seat, barely. While every seat matters to give Republicans control of the House, I can't find myself disappointed that Joe Kent won't be in congress. It remains to be seen if any of the MAGA crowd will look in the mirror, but I won't hold my breath. 

In Washington, Tiffany Smiley had a disappointing showing -- further solidifying the notion that this is a blue state. 

Locally, perhaps the most baffling is in Franklin County, where in the race for superior court, Norma Rodriguez had a strong showing against a clearly partisan candidate in George Cicotte: 

Meanwhile, by almost opposite margins, Clint Didier rather handily defeated Rick Miller:

That means there are about 2,000 voters (10%) that voted for Norma Rodriguez and for Clint Didier. I can't wrap my head around that.