What Went Down On Election Night 2017

We’re getting more results from New Jersey, and Murphy’s margin is now up to 15 points, according to The New York Times (which has more results reported than the networks do). But looking at a more comprehensive set of counties, I’m less sure about my earlier assertion that Murphy’s margin will eventually get into the high teens — 15 points may be about where it settles.

The Associated Press has called Question 2 in Maine — voters there have chosen to expand Medicaid. What happens next? First, the legislature will have a chance to repeal or amend the measure. But it has already passed the Medicaid expansion five times, and this time, it is not subject to a veto from Republican Gov. Paul LePage. So if Question 2 becomes law and Maine expands Medicaid, estimates indicate that somewhere in the ballpark of 70,000 people are likely to gain health insurance. There also might be an effect on other states: Idaho advocates recently filed to put the Medicaid expansion on the ballot there.

With 45 percent of precincts in the special U.S. House election in Utah’s 3rd District in, Republican John Curtis leads 59 percent to 25 percent over Democrat Kathie Allen. As I wrote before, it’s unclear how exactly to read that result in the context of the national environment. It’s a district that was very heavily in favor of Romney in 2012 but where Trump underperformed. What I can say is that Curtis will be the next representative from that district.