It turned out to be a Democratic wave election, even if it didn't look that way the night of Nov. 6. It wasn't the tsunami some of us hoped for. It wasn't even a Waimea Bay wave with Democrats riding the barrel while the crest of the wave crashed down on Republicans' heads. It was one of those Southern California waves immortalized by the Beach Boys, a breaker just big enough to surf, then grab your board and strut over to talk with your friends about the ride.

It was a good wave, but not a great wave. Still, it beat hell out of being dragged out to sea in a Trump undertow.

How did education fare in the election? Again, it wasn't a major pro-education wave, but it was a wave nonetheless. It depends if you're a "wave half empty" or "wave half full" kind of educator, whether you're disappointed or pleased.

A good year for Democrats is a good year for the future of public education, period. But let's break the education picture down to the local, state and national levels.

Local

The big local news is another one of those power shifts for the TUSD board. The voters clearly didn't want Michael Hicks on the board for another term. By his own admission, Hicks didn't much want Hicks on the board either. His seat went to top vote getter, Leila Counts, and Adelita Grijalva held onto her seat. Those two and Kristel Foster share similar educational values, so they're likely to vote together on most issues, a significant change from the Hicks, Mark Stegeman and Rachel Sedgwick majority. Counts brings experience in counseling and special education with her, which will add a valuable perspective to the board's discussions and decisions.

I'm happy with the new board makeup, even cautiously optimistic. It's possible Superintendent Trujillo, who doesn't draw enemy fire like the last two superintendents, will be able to work with the new board majority to effect positive change in TUSD. Here's hoping.

Find more Claytoonz here.

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Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema's prepared remarks tonight as she made a victory speech after being declared the first Democrat to win a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona since U.S. Sen. Dennis DeConcini called it quits in 1994:

Hello, everyone! Thank you so much for being here.

I’m honored to be here today with Arizona veterans - the brave men and women who have worn our country’s uniform. Today, and every day, we honor their service and sacrifice. They’ve given everything to protect our freedoms and our democracy, and it’s because of them that we are here today.

I’m grateful to all veterans and servicemembers - including my brothers, Paul and Sterling, and my opponent, Congresswoman McSally.

We launched this campaign because Arizona veterans and all everyday Arizonans deserve a leader who will fight for them in the United States Senate. Together, over the last 13 months, we have accomplished something incredible. We’ve talked to and engaged more Arizonans than ever before.

We did this because voting is a fundamental part of our democracy. Our country is its best when everyone is engaged and everyone’s voice is heard. That work isn’t over, and we will continue to make sure every vote is counted.

I’m honored that Arizonans chose our vision of a better Arizona. Now, it’s time to get work.

Arizonans had a choice between two very different ways forward — one focused on fear and party politics, and one focused on Arizona and the issues that matter to everyday families.

Arizonans rejected what has become far too common in our country: name calling, petty, personal attacks, doing and saying whatever it takes just to get elected. It’s dangerous, and it lessens who we are as a country.

Arizona proved that there is a better way forward. We can work with people who are different than us. We can be friends with people who are different than us. We can love and care about people who are different than us. We can keep people who are different than us safe. We can be good people who care deeply about each other even when we disagree.

We can start by listening to someone with a different opinion – listening not to rebut or debate, but listening to understand.

We can try to understand another person's life experiences and perspective. We can try to imagine what another person's life might be like, that perhaps her experiences have shaped her life just like our experiences have shaped ours.

We can articulate our own opinions and beliefs without believing or saying that someone else's are therefore wrong. We can embrace difference while seeking common ground.

As I head to serve our great state in the United States Senate, I pledge to double down on this approach. During my six years in Congress, I’ve tried to be a cheerful warrior, willing to work with literally anyone to get things done.

I’ve tried hard to help others see our common humanity and find our common ground. I’m proud of how this approach has worked. We’ve delivered real results for families, veterans, and business in Arizona.

During this campaign I have been honored to meet with thousands of Arizonans in their workplaces, in coffee shops, in neighborhoods. Listening to their stories reminded me each and every day why we do this work and how much is left to do.

One of the very first Arizonans to join our campaign was Leo. Leo is a proud Air Force veteran who served our country with honor and dignity. Today, he’s battling cancer. In between chemo treatments, he spent his time calling Arizona voters because he knows firsthand how much is on the line.

A woman named Michelle from Glendale recently shared her story. Her son was born with one kidney and she’s worried about how she will afford his care if we lose protections for pre-existing conditions.

In Tucson, I met Anne. Her husband is a disabled veteran. He served in Vietnam and has lived with the affects of Agent Orange ever since. It is our responsibility as Americans to make sure every veteran gets the care he or she deserves.

This campaign was about Leo and Michelle and Anne and all the other everyday Arizonans who are sick and tired of the dysfunction in Washington and who want leaders who put aside party labels and focus on just getting things done.

As your Senator, that’s exactly what I’ll do. Not by calling names or playing political games, but by showing up and doing the work to keep Arizona moving forward.

A few months ago, we lost a legend who exemplified that spirit and all the best of Arizona. His example shines a light on the way forward.

Sen. John McCain stood for everything we stand for as Arizonans: fighting for what you believe in, standing up for what’s right even if you stand alone, and serving a cause greater than one’s self.

Sen. McCain is irreplaceable, but his example will guide our next steps forward. He taught us to always assume the best in others, to seek compromise instead of sewing division, and to always put country ahead of party.

It’s up to us to carry on Sen. McCain’s legacy.

Almost everywhere I go, I’m asked a variation of the same question - how did our country get to this place, and how can we make it better? Sometimes the question is targeted towards Congress - how to get elected officials to break the gridlock and work together. Sometimes the question is about the television commercials - how to get the ugliness to stop. But in each question, the root is the same. What has happened and how can we fix it?

Everyone recognizes that it’s broken. And really, we all know the solution. We - we the citizens of this great country - we must fix it. We must be an active part of the solution. We must be willing to put down our sticks sharpened for battle. We must be willing to turn to our neighbors and pick them up instead.

Our challenge today is to heal the rent in our country’s fabric, to come together as a people and as a nation, to set aside our minor differences and unite around our love of country and its fundamental freedoms guaranteed by our great constitution.

Senator McCain said “But we have always had so much more in common with each other than in disagreement. If only we remember that and give each other the benefit of the presumption that we all love our country we will get through these challenging times.”

It won’t be easy, and it won’t happen overnight, but we can work together to meet the challenges our country faces. We can do this differently. For our country, for our future, for Sen. McCain, and for each other I think we must.

Thank you.

Congresswoman Martha McSally congratulated Sinema and gave her concession speech via Twitter.

Congrats to @kyrstensinema. I wish her success. I’m grateful to all those who supported me in this journey. I’m inspired by Arizonans’ spirit and our state’s best days are ahead of us. pic.twitter.com/tw0uKgi3oO

— McSally For Senate (@MarthaMcSally) November 13, 2018

Democrat Kyrsten Sinema has widened her lead over Republican Martha McSally by 38,197 votes following the latest ballot tabulations around Arizona today. Given that McSally continues to lose ground each day and fewer and fewer ballots are outstanding, the odds of a GOP comeback become slimmer with each day.


Meanwhile, Democrat Katie Hobbs has taken a significant lead over Republican Steve Gaynor in the Arizona Secretary of State race. Hobbs now leads Gaynor by 5,667 votes.


And in the race for two seats in the Arizona Corporation Commission race, Democrat Sandra Kennedy and Republican incumbent Justin Olson remain in the lead. Republican Rodney Glassman is trailing Kennedy by nearly 15,000 votes.

I joined the Arizona Daily Star's Sarah Garrecht Gassen and the Green Valley News' Dan Shearer to talk about the aftermath of last week's election on Arizona Public Media's Arizona 360.

CNN reports:

A Republican unseated in the midterm elections last week has come out with an op-ed blaming the late Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain for the party losing control of the House.

In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, outgoing Minnesota GOP Rep. Jason Lewis pinned the wave of Democratic victories last week on McCain's vote in July 2017 to sink a GOP attempt to repeal Obamacare.

"McCain's last-minute decision prompted a 'green wave' of liberal special-interest money, which was used to propagate false claims that the House plan 'gutted coverage for people with pre-existing conditions,'" Lewis wrote.

The classic strategy of blaming the dead guy.

Of course, it could be that Republicans—over the last eight years—have failed to come up with a serious alternative to Obamacare that actually does protect people with pre-existing conditions. Or, as President Donald Trump observed during the 2017 health care debate: "Nobody knew health care could be so complicated."

McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain, responds via Twitter:

This is abhorrent. https://t.co/dPpjYcwk81

— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) November 12, 2018

A note on why women might not have favored the GOP this year, from the CNN story:

Lewis hails from Minnesota's second district and was defeated by Democrat Angie Craig. The race attracted some national attention after a CNN review of audio from a radio program Lewis hosted found that the congressman had a history of misogynistic comments, including complaining people could not call women "sluts."

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An update to our earlier post thanks to a new batch of ballots from Pinal County: Democrat Kyrsten Sinema's lead over Republican Martha McSally now stands at 32,292 votes. McSally has fallen further behind with each Maricopa County tabulation dump and only picked up 348 votes in Pinal County, which has an estimated 15K ballots left to count.

Sinema's campaign calls her lead "insurmountable":

With the latest ballot count, Kyrsten’s lead is insurmountable. McSally’s campaign said today’s results would be her ‘firewall’ but as we expected, no firewall emerged. McSally has lost every batch of votes from Maricopa County and today, Kyrsten won by 6.25 percent – nearly double her overall performance in the county to date. Kyrsten has now expanded her overall lead to 32,640 or 1.52 percent, meaning McSally would have to win the remainder of Maricopa County ballots by 22 percent to take the lead in this race. This is not plausible. Kyrsten will be declared the next U.S. Senator from Arizona.

 Team McSally is holding out hope:

Today our vote total grew at a greater rate than expected, and we expanded our vote margins in rural areas counting mail-in ballots dropped off on election day. The latest release provides compelling evidence that the remaining uncounted ballots are favorable to Martha. And we will continue our effort to make sure all lawful ballots are counted.

Team McSally's argument would be more persuasive if the rural counties had a significant number of ballots to count.

In other races: Democrat Katie Hobbs, who had taken a 150-lead over Republican Steve Gaynor after Maricopa County reported its tally today, has fallen behind Republican Steve Gaynor by 259 votes in the race for Arizona Secretary of State. This looks to be a wild one.


And Republican Rodney Glassman remains 10,000 votes behind the two leading candidates in the race for two seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission. If this trend holds, APS could be in for some real trouble, should current Corp Commissioner Bob Burns become chair of the ACC. Details to follow.

Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes estimates Maricopa County still has 162K ballots to process and a new batch will be counted and released at 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 12.

The latest results for Maricopa County in the 2018 General Election are in, and can be found here: https://t.co/yJpuLCiCXe

The next update will be tomorrow at 5 p.m. pic.twitter.com/jiv2j9IXfy

— Adrian Fontes (@RecorderFontes) November 12, 2018

That's probably not good news for McSally, who is trailing in Maricopa County by more than 46K votes.


Garrett Archer, aka AZ Data Guru, estimates there are now just under 220K ballots left to count.

Arizona outstanding ballot report 11/11 6:33PM

Cochise: 650
Coconino: 4.8k
La Paz: 576
Maricopa: 162k
Pima: 36.3k
Pinal: 14.7k

State of Arizona: 219.8k

— The AZ Data Guru (@Garrett_Archer) November 12, 2018

This post has been updated and corrected to properly characterize Team Sinema's statement.