It’s only two days after the 2018 midterm elections and Trump is dismissing the blue wave, taking a “war-like posture” with the new Democratic majority in the House, and likely using unconstitutional means to replace the Attorney General in a transparent move to interfere with the Mueller investigation.
There are still a bunch of undecided races, including 11 House seats and governorships in Georgia and Florida. But despite that, and the distractions of Trump tantrums, it is worth taking a step back to assess what happened Tuesday.
First, obviously, the Democrats gained control of the House. They flipped a net of 31 seats and have a majority of 222 seats with more likely to come once the vote counting is done. But getting much less notice is what happened at the state level. At this point, Democrats have flipped seven governorships and went from seven to 13 states where they control all branches of state government.
Trump can deny it all he wants, but we did see a blue wave on Tuesday despite falling short on some high profile races (looking at you Texas).
In New Jersey, for example, Democrat Andy Kim seems poised to unseat Tom MacArthur in the state’s last undecided congressional race (Kim has now declared victory though no official confirmation yet). Politico reports that two years ago the NJ delegation was evenly split between six Republicans and six Democrats. If Kim has indeed won, the breakdown will 11 Democrats to one Republican.
To celebrate the blue wave, with a nod to the NJ blue wave, have a Newark cocktail. From Meehan’s Bartender Manual, the story behind this variation on the Brooklyn cocktail (and all the Brooklyn neighborhood variants it inspired requiring the need to look across the river) is worth a read.
The Newark is:
2 oz Laird’s 100 proof apple brandy
1 oz sweet vermouth
.25 oz Fernet Branca
.25 oz Maraschino Liqueur
Stir, strain into a chilled coupe, no garnish.
Cheers!
Gin & Bitters 