FEATURING CLIFF ALBRIGHT – The legal team representing Georgia’s Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams held a press conference on Thursday saying that until all the votes were counted, Ms. Abrams would not accept the official election results.

Her opponent Brian Kemp, who has distinguished himself by perhaps the most egregious voter suppression tactics this election, resigned from his position as Secretary of State on Thursday morning and declared victory as Governor elect.

Meanwhile in Florida, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis’ lead against Andrew Gillum has fallen dangerously close to the required recount margin. There are apparently still tens of thousands of ballots that had not yet been tallied.

Both Florida and Georgia’s gubernatorial races were characterized by contentious racist attacks on the two black candidates by the Trump-backed white candidates. Voters justifiably fear foul play in the vote counts.

Cliff Albright, Cofounder of Black Voters Matter, Radio Host, Writer, Consultant, Social Justice Activist.

FEATURING STEPHEN SPAULDING – President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced the resignation of his Attorney General Jeff Sessions just hours after the midterm elections were over. The President had publicly berated Sessions repeatedly almost as soon as he began his tenure for recusing himself from overseeing the Special Counsel’s investigation. In his resignation letter Sessions made it clear that he was being fired, saying, “At your request I am submitting my resignation.”

Trump apparently does not understand that the nation’s top law enforcement officer serves the country and not the President. He has announced that the new acting Attorney General will be Matthew Whitaker, who had served as Sessions’ Chief of Staff. Whitaker will now take on the oversight of the Special Counsel investigation from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein – a troubling development given that Whitaker has been a guest on television shows multiple times, slamming the Russia probe.

Stephen Spaulding, Chief of Strategy and External Affairs for Common Cause.

Thirteen people were killed in a mass shooting in Thousand Oaks, California late Wednesday night. According to Associated Press, “A hooded gunman wearing all black opened fire at a country dance bar holding a weekly ‘college night’ in Southern California, using a handgun and a smoke device to kill 12 people and sending hundreds fleeing.” Among the dead are a Ventura County Sheriff’s Sergeant who was the first officer on the scene. Survivors used chairs to break windows and escape. The gunman was found dead inside the Borderline Bar and Grill. The shooting is the worst since the Parkland massacre in Florida where 17 people were killed.

On Wednesday, soon after he finished a contentious press conference focused on the results of the midterm races, President Donald Trump announced the resignation of his Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Mr. Sessions had been under fire from the President almost as soon as he began his tenure two years ago, for recusing himself from the Special Counsel’s investigation. Trump, who does not understand why the nation’s top law enforcement officer serves the country and not the President, has complained bitterly in public about the recusal. Sessions’ resignation letter made it clear that he was being fired, as it opened with the words, “At your request I am submitting my resignation.” The Washington Post reminded us that the GOP warned Trump against firing Sessions and that they would not even hold hearings to replace him if he was pushed out. But now that Trump has actually fired Sessions, Republicans are silent.

Trump announced the acting Attorney General to be Matthew Whitaker, who had served as Sessions’ Chief of Staff. Whitaker will now take on oversight of the Special Counsel investigation from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein – a troubling development given that Whitaker has been a guest on television shows multiple times, slamming the Russia probe. Whitaker also publicly defended Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey. Democrats, who will take control of the House in January have called on Whitaker to recuse himself from overseeing the probe, and vowed to open an investigation into Sessions’ firing.

Just before Sessions’ firing was announced, Trump held a lengthy press conference, which primarily focused on complaining about those Republicans who lost their midterm election races and blamed their losses for refusing to ally themselves with him. 

Following that he took questions from reporters and had a cringe-worthy exchange with CNN’s Jim Acosta, with whom he has clashed before. Later in the day White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced that Acosta’s White House Press pass was, “suspended until further notice.” She said in a statement that the President, “believes in a free press and expects and welcomes tough questions of him and his Administration.” But Sanders added that the White House would “never tolerate a reporter placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern.” During the exchange between Trump and Acosta,

FEATURING PAUL SONG – Although the issue of healthcare was not strictly on the ballot on Tuesday, it emerged as a major issue. Associated Press conducted an exit poll in which a whopping 60% of voters agreed that, “it should be the responsibility of the federal government to make sure that all Americans have health care coverage.” This strong support has emerged in spite of the Trump Administration’s ardent efforts to demonize ideas like expanding the Medicare program to cover all Americans.

Meanwhile in several Republican states voters passed ballot measures expanding access to Medicaid after their GOP state lawmakers refused to comply with the Affordable Care Act.

Was healthcare access the unsung issue of the 2018 midterm elections?

Paul Song is the Healthcare Correspondent for Rising Up With Sonali. He’s a board-certified radiation oncologist, the co-chair of the Campaign for a Healthy California. He’s also on the board of Physicians for a National Health Program.

FEATURING ROSA CLEMENTE – President Donald Trump on Wednesday morning held a press conference to comment on the midterm election results and spent much of it chastising those Republicans who didn’t support him during their campaigns. What he did not acknowledge was how strongly Americans rebuked his racist fear mongering through a powerful showing for diverse candidates, or how his party is now engaged in minority rule, having lost the popular vote but won elected office.

Women, and particularly women of color broke several records and won decisive races especially in the House. How will these women change the shape of politics? And how does the country operate with Trump and the Republicans still at the helm of power in the White House and Senate?

Rosa Clemente is a news correspondent for Rising Up With Sonali. She is also a community organizer, active with Black Lives Matter, freelance journalist, 2008 Green Party Vice Presidential candidate, and currently a doctoral candidate in the W.E.B. DuBois Department of AfroAmerican Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

FEATURING ARUN GUPTA – Voters showed up in full force on Tuesday to vote in midterm races, breaking decades-long records. One hundred and fourteen million people cast ballots for House races, turning over control of the House to Democrats. In comparison 83 million voted in 2014.

There has been much talk of a divided nation and indeed turnout was high among both ends of the political spectrum. What will Democrats do with their new-found power in the House? How will Republicans move from what was in some ways a referendum on the President? How will the nation recover from the racist and nationalist war that is emerging?

Arun Gupta is a regular news correspondent for Rising Up With Sonali. He’s an investigative journalist who has written for dozens of publications including the Washington Post, the Guardian, The Nation, Salon, and Raw Story. He is also author of the forthcoming book, “Bacon as a Weapon of Mass Destruction.”

FEATURING DAVID DAYEN – The November 6th midterm elections are over and the Wednesday morning forecast points to a Democratic sweep in the House of Representatives while the Republicans gained two seats in the Senate. Several Governors races flipped control of State Houses from Republican to Democrat. All 435 seats in the House and 35 Senate seats were up for election on Tuesday, as well as 36 state governorships.

David Dayen, contributor to The Intercept, The Nation, and a weekly columnist for the New Republic. He is the author of ‘Chain of Title: How Three Ordinary Americans Uncovered Wall Street’s Great Foreclosure Fraud’.

FEATURING JODI JACOBSON – Women made history on election night with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez becoming Congress’ youngest ever woman, Deb Haaland and Sharice Davids becoming the two first ever Native American women in the House and Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib becoming the first ever Muslim American women Representatives. Despite the devastating loss of Stacey Abrams in Georgia’s gubernatorial race, women candidates shone through the night and were buoyed by record turnout among female voters.

Jodi Jacobson, President and Editor in Chief of Rewire.News.

President Donald Trump is making a last-minute and baseless assertion about so-called “illegal voting,” to draw Republicans to the polls on voting day. It appears to be Trump’s final touch to a long-campaign of anti-immigrant fear mongering as a ploy to increase conservative voter turnout. On Monday he tweeted, “Law Enforcement has been strongly notified to watch closely for any ILLEGAL VOTING which may take place in Tuesday’s Election (or Early Voting). Anyone caught will be subject to the Maximum Criminal Penalties allowed by law. Thank you!” He repeated the claims in person to reporters as he continued his campaign blitz for Republicans running for Congress, saying in Ohio, “There are a lot of people — a lot of people — my opinion, and based on proof — that try and get in illegally and actually vote illegally.” According to the Washington Post, “There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the United States. Trump formed a commission to study the issue shortly after he took office that was disbanded without finding evidence of fraud after states refused to turn over voter data.”

On Monday Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Justice Department would be sending election monitors to 35 jurisdictions in 19 states on election day. In a statement Sessions said, “This year we are using every lawful tool that we have, both civil and criminal, to protect the rights of millions of Americans to cast their vote unimpeded,” but then added, “Likewise, fraud in the voting process will not be tolerated.” He made no mention of what sort of voter fraud he was worried about or what evidence there was that it was even a concern. One attorney with the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project said, “Given Trump’s past animus toward immigrants and minorities, it’s certainly not a stretch to think these warnings about illegal voting along with DOJ’s announcement could be intimidating to voters and scare them from the polls.” Voting rights groups are asking people to call 1-866-OUR-VOTE if they have any questions or problems in their attempt to vote. That’s 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

The President and his Attorney General have made no mention of possible election interference from outside actors, for which there is some evidence. But Secretaries of State around the country have taken precautions since the 2016 election to ensure protection from hackers in countries like Russia. According to the Wall Street Journal, “This year, voters will be casting ballots in what experts say will be the most secure U.S. election since the birth of the internet, thanks to steps taken since 2016.” The Department of Homeland Security is also ensuring that voting machines are protected and the FBI is apparently tackling potential interference on social media.  The paper also reported that, “There is no evidence that election infrastructure, including voter registration systems or voting machines, has been targeted by Russia leading into the midterms, but Moscow is still attempting to spread disinformation on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, according to senior officials.”

An election ad that Trump debuted on his Twitter feed last week and that was running on TV stations around the...

FEATURING SONALI KOLHATKAR – Unprecedented amounts of money have flowed into the 2018 midterm elections, and voters are being bombarded with TV commercials and mailers that use misleading and fear-based language. President Donald Trump, and the Republicans in particular, are sending a strong message to Americans that the economy has never been better, and that the GOP will protect us from all the “other” people looking to take away our rights and earnings: immigrants, LGBTQ Americans, Muslims, Black Lives Matter activists and more.

But if one clears away the confusing barrage of messages, there is one narrative that has the strongest bearing on reality, and that is that most Americans are financially struggling to stay afloat—people of color more so than whites—and corporate elites are laughing all the way to the bank as politicians blame vulnerable communities for the ills facing whites.

Read the entire column at Truthdig.com.