What better way to wrap up the year than by previewing the biggest contests of 2023 on this week's episode of The Downballot? Progressives will want to focus on a Jan. 10 special election for the Virginia state Senate that would allow them to expand their skinny majority; the April 4 battle for the Wisconsin Supreme Court that could let progressives take control from conservatives; Chicago's mayoral race; gubernatorial contests in Kentucky and Louisiana; and much, much more.

Of course, we might've thought we were done with 2022 after Georgia, but Kyrsten Sinema decided to make herself the center of attention again. However, co-hosts David Nir and David Beard explain why there's much less than meets the eye to her decision to become an independent: She can't take away the Democratic majority in the Senate, and her chances at winning re-election are really poor. In fact, there's good reason to believe she'd hurt Republicans more in a three-way race. The Davids also discuss the upcoming special election for Virginia's dark blue 4th Congressional District, where the key battle for the Democratic nomination will take place in less than a week.

Thank you to all our listeners for supporting The Downballot in our inaugural year. We'll be taking a break for the holidays, but we'll be back on Jan. 5 with a brand new episode.

Support Aaron Rouse for the Virginia state Senate and Janet Protaseiwicz for the Wisconsin Supreme Court right here

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/13/2141682/-Republicans-would-love-it-if-we-just-relaxed-but-no-chance-There-are-two-huge-races-coming-up 

Transcript available here.

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