Republican Mark Gordon was elected governor of Wyoming over Democrat Mary Thorne.

Also running were Rex Rammell of the Constitution Party and Lawrence Struempf of the Libertarian Party.

With 99% of precincts reporting, Gordon won with 67 percent of the vote to Thorne’s 27 percent, Rammell’s 3 and Struempf’s 1.

Gordon was raised on his family’s ranch in Kaycee and attended college in Vermont.

After working in the energy industry, Gordon was appointed state treasurer in 2012 and elected to a full term in the 2014 primary.

On read to me day, volunteers sign up with the United Way of Summit County to read to an elementary school classroom for 30 minutes.

Joe May and I were assigned to a kindergarten and third grade class at the Harris-Jackson Community Learning Center in the Akron Public School (APS) system.

I read “Leo the Late Bloomer” and “The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig” to the kindergartners. These books were recommended by retired APS teacher, Zoe McClish.

The kids LOVED both books, and the teacher was quite excited when I gifted them to the class.

Upon finishing, I got a Certificate for Participating, and even received some sweet hugs for coming in!

Joe May read “The Chocolate Touch” and “Pippi Longstocking” to his third grade class.

The teacher and the students were truly excited to receive those books as gifts too!

Campaign Finance

Arizona: “Arizona Voters OK Public Campaign Finance Change” by the Associated Press for Arizona Daily Star

New York: “NYC Charter Amendments Win Approval from Voters” by Noah Manskar for New York City Patch

Oregon: “Portland Voters Pass Campaign Finance Limits” by Amelia Templeton for Oregon Public Broadcasting

Elections

National: “Democrats Oust Walker in Wisconsin and Kobach in Kansas but Fall Short in Florida and Ohio” by Adam Nagourney, Sydney Ember, and Patricia Mazzei (New York Times) for WRAL

National: “Three Candidates Indicted on Felony Fraud Charges Survive Midterms. One Just Barely.” by Meagan Flynn for Washington Post

National: “Midterm Elections: Democrats flip House as GOP expands Senate majority” by David Fahrenthold, Isaac Stanley-Becker, and Elise Viebeck for Washington Post

Ethics

National: “Sessions’s Ouster Throws Future of Special Counsel Probe into Question” by Rosalind Helderman, Matt Zapotosky, and Carol Leonnig for Washington Post

Missouri: “Amendment 1: Voters strongly support Clean Missouri redistricting plan, ethics reform” by David Reynolds, Thomas Oide, and Tessa Weinberg for Columbia Missourian

New Mexico: “New Mexico Voters OK Ethics Commission” by Associated Press for KRWG

North Dakota: “Aimed at Combating Corruption, North Dakota Voters Pass Measure 1” by Tu-Uyen Tran for Dickinson Press

Legislative Issues

Utah: “Voters Favor Proposed Constitutional Amendment Empowering Lawmakers to Call Themselves into Special Session” by Dan Harrie for Salt Lake Tribune

Redistricting

National: “Anti-Gerrymandering Reforms Sweep the Nation Tuesday” by Shawn Griffiths for IVN

The people of Tennessee voted to elect Republican Bill Lee as governor, defeating Democrat Karl Dean.

26 Independents also ran for governor, each receiving 0.2 percent or less of the vote.

Many of the Independents were part of the Libertarian Party, which placed 15 candidates on the ballot to protest Tennessee law which has fewer restrictions on Independent candidates being added to the ballot.

Lee has worked for his family’s construction business, the Lee Company, serving as CEO and Chairman prior to his candidacy. He also helps run the family’s Triple L Ranch.

Lee is native to Tennessee, continuing to live in Franklin.

Billionaire Democrat J.B. Pritzker defeated first-term Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, by a margin of 54 percent to 39.3 percent. Less than an hour after polls closed, Rauner conceded his re-election bid, giving Democrats near total control of Illinois’ state government.

“Voting is an act of optimism that the levers of our Democracy still work,” Pritzker told supporters moments after declaring victory. “You embody that optimism. You light the beacon fire on the hill of history that signals from one generation to another that these are the things that we stand and fight for.”

In addressing the exuberant crowd, he reminded them that the first McDonald’s opened here and the ice cream sundae was born here, as well.

“We taught the nation how to debate, how to shuffle to the Super Bowl and how to eat a pizza,” he said.

According to U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, “Pritzker did something different in this campaign,” Durbin said. “Here was a Chicagoan, clearly a Chicagoan, who wasted no time getting Downstate. I looked around and thought, ‘This is what I’ve been looking for — a governor who starts off by unifying the whole state.’”

In his concession speech, Rauner stated, “This is a time for us to come together.  This is a time for us to unite. To Mr. Pritzker, I said, Godspeed.  I hope and pray you serve Illinois well.”

Longtime Republican lawmaker and Idaho Lieutenant Governor Brad Little has defeated Democratic challenger Paulette Jordan by a margin of 59.5 percent to 38.4 percent to become Idaho’s next governor.

Jordan, a former state lawmaker and member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, was the first woman to earn her party’s nomination in Idaho. Even though there was significant national media attention given to Jordan, Little’s win was predictable in this intensely conservative state.

Little has been lieutenant governor since 2009 and ran on a platform to carry on retiring Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter’s policies that lead to the state’s recent growth.

“Twenty-four years ago Phil Batt broke a 24-year cycle of Democrats having control of the governor’s office,” Little said during his victory speech Tuesday night before a packed room of cheering supporters.

“This is the 24th anniversary of that and Idaho is still a very red state. I look forward to working with President Trump as we continue to allow Idahoans to be the masters of their own destiny,” he said.

“Idaho has been fairly successful, but we have more work to do in taking back the authority that the federal government over the years has taken, whether it is in the areas of education, transportation, health care, public lands management and all of the areas of regulation.”

South Dakotans elected Republican Kristi Noem as their governor over Democrat Billie Sutton and Libertarian Kurt Evans.

With all precincts reporting, Noem won with 51 percent of the vote to Sutton’s 47 percent and Evan’s 1 percent.

Kristi Noem has been a member of South Dakota’s House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011, and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 2011.

A native South Dakotan, she has helped run her family’s ranch in Hamlin County.

Incumbent Gov. Gina Raimondo has easily won reelection, despite a crowded field vying for her office.

Gov. Raimondo faced Republican Allan Fung, three independents, and one minor candidate who was arrested in October for possession of 48 pounds of marijuana.

Despite the crowd, Raimondo still garnered almost 53 percent of the vote, with Fung a distant second at 37 percent.

Raimondo made job creation a priority in her first term. Unemployment has dropped from the highest in the nation to being in step with the national average in her first four years.

Republican Henry McMaster defeated Democrat James Smith to become governor of South Carolina.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, McMaster beat Smith 54 percent to 45 percent.

McMaster is the former Attorney General and Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina.

He became governor of South Carolina in 2017 when Nikki Haley was appointed Ambassador to the United Nations.

Incumbent Democrat Sen. Joe Donnelly has lost his senate seat after an aggressive election contest brought by Indiana State Rep. Mike Braun.

Braun, a Republican state politician and businessman, unseated Donnelly in a state heavily supportive of President Trump.

As part of an effort to keep Republican control of the U.S. Senate, the president held four political rallies in Indiana in support of Braun.

Trump appeared in Indiana in May, two days after Braun won the Republican primary, in August, on Friday, November 2, and again on Monday in Fort Wayne, a day before yesterday’s election.

Braun’s election victory yesterday in Indiana helped the Republicans keep control of the U.S. Senate.

Democratic Congresswoman and former state health secretary Michelle Lujan Grisham won last night’s New Mexico gubernatorial election with 56.91 percent of the vote. Lujan Grisham became the first Democratic Latina governor, taking over a seat held by Republicans for two terms.

Lujan Grisham’s win will mark the first time a Democratic candidate has won the gubernatorial seat since 2002, according to Vox.

She focused her platform on an expansion of preschool education, lowering crime rates, economic expansion, and investments in solar and wind energy.

Lujan Grisham has an extensive political tenure—she is a three-term U.S. congresswoman currently serving New Mexico’s first district. Prior to her federal service, she served as cabinet secretary for three different New Mexico governors.

Upon taking office, her current U.S. seat will be filled by Debra Haaland.

Jared Polis blew a victorious horn on November 6, 2018, as he claimed an historic win as Colorado’s governor over his opponent Walker Stapleton.

Polis became Colorado’s first Jewish governor and the first openly gay man elected to lead any U.S. State.

Colorado Governor-elect Polis emerged on stage alongside his running mate Dianne Primavera during a Democratic watch party in downtown Denver.

Polis succeeds the outgoing Democrat John Hickenlooper.

In Kentucky, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis lost her bid for reelection Tuesday. Davis, who became nationally known when she refused to sign marriage licenses for gay couples, lost to her Democratic challenger by roughly 700 votes.

Davis was initially thrust into the spotlight in 2015, when she was ultimately jailed for five days by U.S. District Judge David Bunning for contempt of court for her continued refusal to grant marriage licenses to gay couples.

She was ultimately released when she promised not to interfere with licenses granted by deputy clerks.

Elwood Caudill Jr., her victorious opponent, is currently the chief deputy property valuation administrator for the county.

Larry Hogan, a moderate Republican who has emphasized bipartisanship, was re-elected as Maryland’s governor.

He is the first Republican to win re-election in Maryland since 1954, although Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state 2-1.

Hogan has the same priorities for his second term as his first: making improvements in education, job creation, transportation infrastructure and working for tax relief.

Hogan defeated Ben Jealous, who would have been Maryland’s first black governor and is a former national president of the NAACP.

Jealous had a progressive agenda that included tuition-free college and expanding Medicare to all. He supported funding full-day, universal kindergarten with the tax revenue from his proposal to legalize marijuana for recreational use.