Free Republic

The camels at the start line growl and grunt before the gate goes up, then stretch out their long necks and gallop along the sandy track. "Yah! Yah! Yah!" shouts one camel owner from a car parked alongside the racetrack, banging on the car door to urge on animal and jockey alike. Welcome to the event that has been dubbed the Grand Prix of camel racing in Taif, south-western Saudi Arabia, where camels race some 250 laps for prizes worth $13 million. This camel festival, held in honour of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is now in its sixth year...

Senate races in key battleground states such as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan–where Republicans look to flip Democrat-held seats red–are tightening, polling shows. A Fabrizio Ward poll of the three states published by the Pinpoint Policy Institute found very close races in Pennsylvania and Michigan, with Republican challenger Eric Hovde within earshot of Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) in Wisconsin: Swing States poll by Fabrizio Ward (R) MICHIGAN Trump: 48% Harris: 46% MI Senate Slotkin: 43% Rogers: 43% —— PENNSYLVANIA Trump: 47% Harris: 46% PA Senate Casey (inc): 46% McCormick: 43% —— WISCONSIN Harris: 49% Trump: 45% WI Senate … pic.twitter.com/ATsBgoXYZw —...

Several Democrats running in competitive House districts this cycle are breaking from President Biden, underscoring growing concerns that the incumbent could be a down-ballot liability following his rocky debate performance in Atlanta last week. Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) have both declared they have no confidence in Biden winning, while Adam Frisch, a Democrat running to fill the seat being vacated by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), said the president should withdraw. Their remarks come amid growing speculation that more members of the party will call for Biden to step aside after the fallout from last week’s...

Kentucky governor: ANDY BESHEAR (D) vs. Daniel Cameron (R) Mississippi governor: TATE REEVES (R) vs. Brandon Presley (D) Ohio Issue 1: Whether to establish a right to abortion in state constitution Pennsylvania state Supreme Court: Daniel McCaffery (D) vs. Carolyn Carluccio (R) Virginia state Senate: 31st District: Russet Perry (D) vs. Juan Pablo Segura (R) Virginia state Senate: 16th District: SIOBHAN DUNNAVANT (R) vs. Schuyler VanValkenburg (D) Virginia state House: 57th District: Susanna Gibson (D) vs. David Owen (R) New Jersey state Senate: 3rd District: ED DURR (R) vs. John Burzichelli (D) Rhode Island congressional special election: 1st District: Gabe...

As Republicans are now one seat away from capturing a majority of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, there are still 13 races yet to be called that will determine how close the margins could be for the GOP should it ultimately prevail. A party must win 218 seats to win a majority in the 435-seat body, a feat appearing to be within the grasp of the GOP, who have won 217 seats so far to Democrats' 205. Here is where the remaining races stand as votes continue to be counted in states across the country:

Control of the U.S. House of Representatives could be decided by a handful of close races in California — which could take weeks to determine, thanks to the state’s heavy reliance on vote-by-mail and its liberal voting rules. In Orange County, two incumbent Democrats, Reps. Katie Porter (47th district) and Mike Levin (49th district), are holding onto slim leads. In Ventura County’s 26th district, Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA) has been reelected despite a last-minute scare from Republican Matt Jacobs. Elsewhere, in closely-contested races in the Central Valley, the results are too close to call, and each new batch of counted...

Republicans have won nearly six million more votes nationwide in races for the House of Representatives, but have flipped relatively few seats, suggesting talk of a “red wave” may have anticipated the overall mood of the country but not the final result of the election. According to the Cook Political Report, as of Thursday morning, November 10, Republicans have won 50,113,534 votes, or 52.3% of the vote, compared to 44,251,768, or 46.2% of the vote. Republicans lead by 6.1%, which is better than their average in “generic congressional ballot” polls, in which the party led by 2.5% in the final...

Based on recent polling, RealClearPolitics projects Republicans will win the hotly contested gubernatorial races in four states that were once seen as Democrat strongholds: Wisconsin, Oregon, Nevada, and, yes, Michigan. One wonders how the latest polling out of Minnesota — polling that shows Republican Dr. Scott Jensen leading his Democrat opponent Tim Walz, 46.3 to 45.8 percent — will affect that RealClear projection.

Which areas have the most bars as opposed to groceries, meth labs, which races predominate where...

Minnesota Republicans are either ahead of, or in virtual ties with, their Democrat opponents in statewide races as Minnesotans want their public officials to crack down on crime, according to a poll released Tuesday. Minnesota Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen is in a virtual tie with Gov. Tim Walz (D), according to the poll.

The gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races in Arizona are tightening, according to a Trafalgar Group poll released Monday, only 71 days before Election Day in November. The independent poll commissioned by the Trafalgar Group showed that the Democrat and Republican nominees for Arizona gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races are within reach for GOP candidates.

We now have two separate polls showing Pennsylvania’s closely-watched U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races are too close to call. After a series of polls showed Democrat U.S. Senate candidate and former Mayor John Fetterman with what looked like an insurmountable lead over GOP candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, that lead is not looking so insurmountable now. An Emerson poll shows it’s just a four-point Senate race, with Fetterman up 48 to 44 percent. Trafalgar, which has proven over three election cycles to be a remarkably accurate pollster, also shows a four-point race, with Fetterman up 48 to 44 percent. Oz’s hurdle...

Two election handicappers are collectively moving more than a dozen House races in the GOP’s favor, in the latest sign that Democrats are facing an increasingly bleak outlook in their bid to maintain control of the lower chamber in November’s midterms.

Thirty-five Senate seats are up for grabs in November, but 11 of them could determine which party controls the Senate in the next Congress. Republicans need to gain a net one seat to take back the majority in the upper chamber, which is currently split 50–50 but controlled by Democrats because the vice president casts tiebreaking votes.

Democrats are defending the narrowest of Senate majorities in 2022 as Republicans look to fight their way back into power after a series of crushing defeats. While Democrats are going on offense in a handful of states where GOP incumbents are retiring, the party is also facing strong national headwinds in their bid to hold onto the Senate. The party of a new president – in this case President Biden – almost always loses ground in Congress in midterm elections. Given Democrats’ slim Senate majority, control of the upper chamber is likely to come down to just a handful of...

Two real estate sites, Realtor.com and Redfin, have decided not to include crime data in their websites because of racism or something… The idiots at Realtor.com explained it this way: As a relative newcomer to the real estate industry, I’ve been struck by how entrenched this problem is. Stories abound about Black, Hispanic and Asian homebuyers receiving unequal treatment, starting with their ability to see whatever homes they like, and continuing through to the appraisal and mortgage processes. At virtually every step of the way, too often people of color find hurdles in their path, making it difficult to turn...

Republicans are seeing improved prospects in eight states’ gubernatorial contests next year, according to the Cook Political Report. The nonpartisan outlet, which analyzes elections and is often used as a resource among campaigns, updated its ratings for 11 gubernatorial races this week and moved eight in a favorable direction for Republicans, while shifting three toward Democrats.

On Saturday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Velshi,” Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA) argued that if the races in the Ahmaud Arbery case were reversed, “there wouldn’t have even been media about it. There would have been a conviction in the media and a conviction in the court and it probably would not have had the level of deliberation.”

The Democrat stronghold in New England has weakened after a few lower-ticket 2020 election surprises, including an entire state’s legislature flipping to red and two House speakers being ousted by Republicans. One enormous upset came out of New Hampshire, where both chambers of its legislature and its Executive Council lost their Democrat majorities.

I have not heard or scene anything about the GOP taking back the house? Wondering what are chances look like.