Democrats’ historic rout was fueled by massive voter swing to the left

WASHINGTON — Democrats heralded a new era in American politics Wednesday after voters broke Republicans’ control of government and delivered a pivotal rebuke of President Donald Trump.

Victories that handed Democrats control of the House and Senate on Tuesday night came in historic form, with margins outstripping expectations, posting double-digit shifts to the left by nearly every voting bloc. In some of the reddest states in the union, even Republican redistricting efforts designed to shield districts from competition were not enough to prevent Democratic inroads.

The sweeping wins were driven by a rare coalition of voters across nearly all walks of American life, in cities and countryside, from the rural Midwest and Deep South to a traditionally conservative mid-Atlantic. Not since voters were repulsed by President Richard Nixon after the Watergate scandal half a century ago has the popular vote swung so decisively in a single election cycle.

The wave was so comprehensive that it handed Democrats wins that for decades have been unthinkable — flipping Senate seats in Kansas, South Carolina and Texas — and gained a majority of governors’ seats for the first time in a generation. How large their House majority would be remained to be seen as states continued counting votes.

—Los Angeles Times

Mike Johnson won’t seek top GOP spot as House flips

WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson will not seek to serve as House minority leader in the next Congress.

A source familiar with the speaker’s decision confirmed that the Louisiana Republican would not seek the post after Tuesday’s midterm elections saw Republicans lose their narrow majority in a Democratic tsunami.

Other candidates were already lining up. Fellow Louisiana Republican Steve Scalise, the current majority leader, is expected to launch a bid for minority leader Wednesday, according to a person familiar with his plans who described him as a “proven and tested leader.” And House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio is also throwing in his hat, according to multiple reports.

The Republican conference is set to hold its leadership elections next week. Johnson held an election night event in Shreveport, La., after crisscrossing the country trying to protect the GOP majority, arguing throughout the campaign that polling favoring Democrats would not be accurate.

—CQ-Roll Call

Christa Pike's lawyers warned rare blood cancer could complicate execution, report says

Christa Pike is reportedly suffering from a rare blood disorder linked to cancer that her attorneys previously warned could cause dangerous complications during her execution by lethal injection.

Lawyers for Pike revealed her diagnosis in court documents filed nine months before her botched execution in Tennessee, People reported. She was scheduled to be executed at the Riverbend Maximum Security Prison in Nashville on Sept. 30, but she survived a double dose of pentobarbital, the drug used to execute prisoners in the state.

Pike’s “platelet count is significantly elevated, likely due to a rare form of blood cancer called myeloproliferative disorder,” according to the complaint. Her lawyers noted the cancer likely triggered thrombocytosis — a condition where your body produces too many platelets — which could increase her risk of developing severe pulmonary edema, a potentially dangerous buildup of fluid in the lungs, during a lethal injection.

“A pulmonary edema is not simply painful or uncomfortable; it can create a sense of suffocating or drowning that has been likened by experts to the sensation intentionally induced by the practice of waterboarding — an unambiguous form of outright torture,” Pike’s lawyers said, per People.

—New York Daily News

Israel edges toward coalition talks even as Netanyahu cries foul

Israel paved the way for talks on a new government, certifying last week’s election results despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s continued claims about voting irregularities.

The results of the Oct. 27 ballot were presented by The Central Elections Committee to President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday. They put Netanyahu’s bloc ahead of that of his main challenger, Gadi Eisenkot, while leaving both short of a parliamentary majority needed to claim victory.

Herzog will within days give one of them a first crack at forming a ruling coalition. Neither has a clear path to power, and days or weeks of negotiations are expected to take place before an outcome is known. Netanyahu remains leader in a caretaker capacity.

Herzog said in a speech that in order to prevent another round of elections, political parties must understand that not every commitment and promise they made to voters can be fulfilled.

—Bloomberg News