November 12, 2018 07:35 PM UTC

Democrat Wins Arizona Senate Race

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• by: Colorado Pols

Democrat Kyrsten Sinema has won a hotly-contested U.S. Senate race in Arizona. From the New York Times:

Ms. Sinema’s victory over Martha McSally, a Republican congresswoman and former Air Force pilot, marks the first Democratic triumph since 1976in a battle for an open Senate seat in Arizona. Ms. Sinema takes the seat being vacated by Jeff Flake, a Republican who retired after publicly clashing with President Trump.

Ms. Sinema’s victory guarantees the Democrats at least 47 Senate seats. Republicans control 51, with two still undecided: Florida, where there is a recount, and Mississippi, where there is a runoff.

This is more bad news for Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, who chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) for the 2018 cycle. Gardner and the NRSC have taken a lot of criticism over the past few days for alleging — without any evidence whatsoever — that Arizona Democrats were somehow conspiring to “steal” this seat from Republicans.

There are still two undecided Senate races in Florida and Mississippi. The latter will be decided in a runoff election on Nov. 27 (for retiring Sen. Thad Cochran’s seat), while Florida is in the middle of a recount. If just one of those races are won by a Democrat, Gardner and the Republicans will have failed to gain a single seat despite beginning the 2018 cycle with one of the most favorable Senate maps in decades.

That’s not a conversation Gardner wants to have with donors as he starts hitting them up to support his own re-election in 2020.