memeorandum: Phil Murphy beats Kim Guadagno to succeed Christie as N.J. governor (Brent Johnson/New Jersey Online)

9:40 AM ET, November 8, 2017

Top Items:

With Virginia, Voters Give Democrats First Big Wins of the Trump Era — FAIRFAX, Va. — Voters delivered their first forceful rebuke of President Trump and his party on Tuesday night, with Democrats exploiting Mr. Trump's deep unpopularity to capture the governorships in Virginia and New Jersey …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Raw Story, viraltop1, New York Magazine, The Week, CNN, New Republic, Talking Points Memo, Fox News Insider and The Atlantic

Antonio Olivo / Washington Post:

Danica Roem is Va.'s first openly transgender elected official, unseating conservative in House race — Democrat Danica Roem ousted longtime incumbent Del. Robert G. Marshall (R) Tuesday, becoming the first openly transgender elected official in Virginia — and one of very few in the nation.

Discussion: The Hill, Balloon Juice, ABC News, AOL, The FADER, Refinery29, TheBlaze, The Slot, Raw Story, Shareblue Media, The Week and viraltop1

Michael Martz / www.richmond.com:

Democrats erase 32-seat GOP advantage in House; recounts likely to determine control — Virginia Democrats are poised to claim at least a share of control of the House of Delegates after erasing a 32-seat Republican advantage in a “tsunami election,” with control of the chamber likely to be ultimately decided by vote recounts.

Discussion: Power Line, Taylor Marsh and Hullabaloo

New York Times:

Live Election Results and Estimates: Virginia Governor Race — Dem. — 1,390,597 — Ed Gillespie — Rep. — 1,160,314 — Lib. — 30,020 — 99% reporting (2,561 of 2,566 precincts) — Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, won a decisive victory in the race for governor of Virginia …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Politico, Vox, Townhall.com, viraltop1, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Signal and Mother Jones

The Charlotte Observer:

Democrat Vi Lyles makes history in Charlotte mayoral win — Casting herself as a unifier after two years of tumult, Democrat Vi Lyles easily defeated Republican Kenny Smith on Tuesday to become Charlotte's first African-American female mayor. — Lyles took about 58 percent to Smith's 42 percent in unofficial returns.

Discussion: ABC News, Daily Kos, NPR, The Hill and The Root

New York Times:

Virginia Rejects Your Hateful Politics, Mr. Trump — Ralph Northam's election as Virginia governor amid reportedly high turnout on Tuesday is a stinging and welcome rebuke to President Trump and white nationalism. — Mr. Northam's Republican rival, Ed Gillespie, an establishment operative …

Discussion: CNBC, Wall Street Journal, Washington Free Beacon, Business Insider, WRIC-TV, RT, Axios, IJR, Fox News Insider, Vox, ABC News, The Daily Caller, WTKR-TV, 105.9 FM and AM 630, Washington Times and Talking Points Memo

James Hohmann / Washington Post:

The Daily 202: Anti-Trump backlash fuels a Democratic sweep in Virginia and elections across the country — THE BIG IDEA: Tuesday was the best day for Democrats politically since Barack Obama won reelection in 2012. Remember, conservatives scored significant victories in the November 2014, 2015 and 2016 elections.

Michael Tackett / New York Times:

Trumpism Without Trump: A Losing Formula in Swing-State Virginia — ALEXANDRIA, Va. — For Ed Gillespie, Trumpism was an ill-fitting suit. — His résumé was pure establishment — national Republican Party chairman, counselor to President George W. Bush, well-connected K Street lobbyist.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Bloomberg, Vox, Washington Post, Blunt Force Truth, Media Matters for America, IJR, Mediaite, Townhall.com and The Daily Caller

Lisa Hagen / The Hill:

Northam wins big in Virginia, thrilling Democrats — FAIRFAX, Va. — Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) won the Virginia governor's race in a blowout Tuesday, fending off a potential gut punch for his party and giving Democrats a badly needed jolt of momentum ahead of the 2018 midterms.

Discussion: Politico, IJR, Rochester Democrat … and ABC News

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Five takeaways from the Virginia governor's race — Democrat Ralph Northam's Tuesday night routing of Republican Ed Gillespie to become the next governor of Virginia has significant national implications. — Here are five takeaways from Democrats' big night. — Reinvigorated Democrats score their first big Trump-era victory

Discussion: New York Times, WTVR-TV and The Daily Caller

Brent Johnson / New Jersey Online:
Phil Murphy beats Kim Guadagno to succeed Christie as N.J. governor

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Chicago Tribune, Outside the Beltway, CNN and The Nation

Reid Wilson / The Hill:
Dems win from coast to coast

Discussion: Governing magazine and TalkLeft

New York Times:
Election Results: Virginia

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Michael Scherer / Washington Post:
Republicans seek new path after failure of Gillespie's ‘Trumpism without Trump’

Discussion: New Republic, Althouse and Joe.My.God.

Albert R. Hunt / Bloomberg:
Virginia Win Soothes Democrats and Makes GOP Sweat

Discussion: New York Times and Washington Free Beacon

Mike Allen / Axios:
Democrats swamp Republicans in pre-midterms wave

Discussion: Politico, Associated Press and The Nation

BuzzFeed:
Latino Victory Fund: We'll Double Down On Controversial Ad Strategy After Virginia Win

Discussion: Politico, Durango Herald, The Daily Caller, AOL and Washington Free Beacon

New York Times:
Live Estimates of the Final Vote

Discussion: Washington Post, Weekly Standard, Breitbart, New York Magazine and Politicus USA

Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart:
Dem Wins in Virginia, New Jersey: Not a Repudiation of Trump, but a Warning

Discussion: Business Insider

The Hill:
First openly transgender state legislator elected in Virginia

Discussion: Washington Post, bizpacreview.com, New York Times, ABC News, Business Insider, KTLA, Axios, Rewire, The Daily Caller, MTmofo and The Week

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:
Democrats euphoric after Tuesday election romp

Discussion: Mother Jones and ABC News

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:
Northam beats Gillespie in Virginia governor's race

John Verhovek / ABC News:
Transgender Virginia candidate makes history and how other races to watch turned out

Discussion: Axios, Lawyers, Guns & Money and IJR

Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:
Democrat Ralph Northam Wins Virginia Governor Race

Discussion: RedState, New York Times, New Republic, ABC News, viraltop1, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Business Insider and Mickey Kaus

Eric Bradner / CNN:
Democrats sweep in Virginia, New Jersey

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Shareblue Media, Business Insider, WTVR-TV, Washington Post, KXLY-TV, IJR, Mother Jones, Axios, WTKR-TV, BuzzFeed, Mediaite, New Republic, The Week, HuffPost and The Guardian

Leigh Ann Caldwell / NBC News:

Trump Tells Democrats He'll ‘Get Killed’ Financially in GOP Tax Bill — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump called 12 Senate Democrats Tuesday, hoping to sway them in favor of the Republican tax cut bill, and told them he would personally “get killed” financially by the GOP bill.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

James Griffiths / CNN:

Trump to become first foreign leader to dine in Forbidden City since founding of modern China — Trump's whirlwind Asia tour: The big issues — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Hong Kong (CNN)Donald Trump will receive an honor in Beijing not granted to any US President since the founding …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, KTLA and The Guardian

CNN:
Trump attempted to go to DMZ but had to turn back because of weather

Discussion: KTLA, New York's PIX11, The Week and CBS Los Angeles

Shane Savitsky / Axios:
Trump in South Korea and China: Itinerary and photos

Discussion: ABC News

Joseph O'Sullivan / The Seattle Times:

Manka Dhingra leading Jinyoung Englund in pivotal 45th District Senate race — Democrat Manka Dhingra held a double-digit lead over Republican Jinyoung Englund Tuesday night for the 45th District state Senate seat. — Holding a double-digit lead Tuesday night over her 45th District Senate opponent …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Hill and The Week

Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
Democrats In Washington State Win Full Control Of The Government

Discussion: CNBC, GeekWire and Vox

H.W. Vail / Vanity Fair:

Gay Talese Would Like to Profile Kevin Spacey — And not necessarily for the reason one might imagine. Plus more scenes from the New York Public Library's Literary Lions Gala. — One night a year, the New York Public Library, the Beaux-Arts bastion of the city's literary life, becomes a shade less public.

Discussion: Jezebel and Mediaite

Travis M. Andrews / Washington Post:
Author Gay Talese feels sorry for Kevin Spacey, says his accusers should ‘suck it up’

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Trudy Ring / Advocate:

Jenny Durkan Elected Seattle Mayor … Jenny Durkan has been elected mayor of Seattle, making her the city's first out lesbian mayor and its first woman mayor since the 1920s. — Durkan won 61 percent of the vote, more than 21 percentage points ahead of her opponent, Cary Moon, The Seattle Times reports.

Discussion: GeekWire

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Inside secret court hearing in Mueller's Trump-Russia probe — One of the first court appearances by special counsel Robert Mueller's team got off to an inauspicious start with a federal magistrate scolding prosecutors for being late. — “Where were you all?

Thomas Plank / Helena Independent Record:

Collins unseats Mayor Smith; ‘progressive ticket’ sweeps Helena City Commission — Wilmot Collins will be Helena's new mayor, unseating incumbent Jim Smith in a close race Tuesday. — Collins, 54, will be the city's first new mayor in 16 years after running a long campaign based in progressive principles.

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

Corey W. McDonald / New Jersey Online:

Ravi Bhalla wins Hoboken election, becomes N.J.'s first Sikh mayor — HOBOKEN — City Councilman Ravi Bhalla has emerged victorious in the six-person mayoral race, becoming the first Sikh mayor of the Mile Square City — and the state of New Jersey. — Bhalla, an Indian-American born in New Jersey …

Discussion: CNN, The Week, The Hill and 105.9 FM and AM 630

Bloomberg:

Senator Menendez Juror Asks Trial Judge: ‘What Is a Senator?’ — On their first full day of jury deliberations at the bribery trial of Senator Robert Menendez, a juror asked the judge a basic question: What is a senator? — U.S. District Judge William Walls declined to answer the question …

Discussion: Instapundit and twitchy.com

afsa-nfe2015.informz.net:

Time to Ask Why — As I have done a few times previously this year, I am sharing with you an advance copy of my President's Views column for the December edition of The Foreign Service Journal. — ADVANCE COPY — President's Views — By AFSA President Ambassador Barbara Stephenson

Discussion: Axios and ABC News