Washington

Analysis | Three early takeaways from the Alaska and Wyoming elections

Published

2 years ago

August 17, 2022

Analysis | Three early takeaways from the Alaska and Wyoming elections

Fourteen years after Republicans nominated Sarah Palin to succeed Dick Cheney as vp, Palin tried a political comeback in her house state of Alaska, whereas Cheney’s daughter Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) was forged out in an awesome rebuke by her house state of Wyoming.

Whereas the ends in Alaska are nonetheless being counted and can take days or perhaps weeks, listed here are some early takeaways from Tuesday’s elections in these two states.

1. A dismal exhibiting for impeachment-backing Republicans

It was recognized going into Tuesday that Cheney was probably a goner in Wyoming’s Republican main. Cheney has cemented her standing as Donald Trump’s highest-profile GOP critic, a stand she embraced despite the fact that her state delivered 70 p.c of its votes to Trump in 2020 — his widest margin within the nation. Cheney owned her Trump criticism regardless of dropping her place because the No. 3 Home Republican chief and jeopardizing her political profession because of this.

In the long run, it wasn’t even shut. The newest outcomes present she trailed Trump-backed Harriet Hageman by a margin of 66 p.c to 29 p.c, with 99 p.c of anticipated votes counted.

It was probably the most lopsided loss for one of many 10 Home Republicans who voted to question Trump. And it underscored the excessive threat that every of the impeachment backers took with their vote.

Of the ten who voted to question, 4 opted to not search reelection. And of the six who ran once more, simply two of them have now superior to the overall election — each through uncommon top-two main techniques in California and Washington state. Within the states holding a conventional partisan main, the impeachment backers misplaced, taking a median of simply 34 p.c of the vote and dropping by a median of 23 factors.

Cheney is the second to lose by greater than a 2-to-1 margin, after Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.), however her margin of defeat was the most important. (Rice misplaced by greater than 27 factors.) And turnout in Wyoming was very excessive, suggesting voters have been fairly eager to ship Cheney a message.

It’s uncommon for 4 members to lose a main in any election cycle for any motive — aside from their districts being considerably redrawn in redistricting and/or dealing with a fellow incumbent — making clear simply how a lot this vote price the members who forged it.

Some Republicans have survived voting to take away Trump from workplace — a listing that would come to incorporate another person on the poll Tuesday — however the overarching message of the 2022 primaries is that crossing Trump is a recipe for sacrificing your political profession in immediately’s GOP. And with authorized scrutiny of Trump rising, that’s a well timed message for the previous president.

At the same time as Cheney’s political profession was coming to an finish — a minimum of for now — the lone Senate Republican who voted to convict Trump at his impeachment trial and sought reelection in 2022 appeared as if hers is perhaps salvaged.

As anticipated, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) was one among 4 candidates to advance to the ranked-choice normal election alongside Trump-backed Kelly Tshibaka. And notably, Murkowski truly held a slender lead — one thing that, if it holds up, will augur effectively for her probabilities of survival in November.

With 68 p.c of anticipated votes counted within the Alaska’s Senate main, Murkowski led Tshibaka 44 to 40 p.c.

A lot of the vote has but to be counted, which can take a while, however it stands to motive that the primary votes counted can be extra favorable to Tshibaka than the others, provided that Election Day votes are counted first, and Trump-backed candidates are inclined to do higher with them. Murkowski appeared to rally Democratic assist, with the very best Democratic vote-getter, Patricia Chesbro, taking simply 6 p.c of the vote — suggesting that Murkowski is more likely to be the primary selection for the overwhelming majority of Democrats come November.

Pollsters have sought to simulate Alaska’s new ranked-choice system in a normal election involving Murkowski, Tshibaka and Chesbro, and it has proven Murkowski gaining floor within the normal election. One July ballot confirmed Murkowski trailing by eight within the preliminary matchup however defeating Tshibaka by 4 factors as soon as the race was whittled down to 2 candidates, as it is going to be below the state’s advanced course of.

On the identical time, that ballot confirmed Chesbro as extra of a contender, taking 17 p.c — which, along with Tuesday’s outcomes up to now, suggests Murkowski would possibly have already got consolidated Democratic assist to a big diploma; she won’t acquire as a lot between now and November. But when she continues to indicate a lead after the first, that may be an excellent signal.

Had been Murkowski to outlive, she would be part of Reps. David G. Valadao (R-Calif.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) in voting in opposition to Trump throughout impeachment and surviving in 2022. However every of them could have survived in states with uncommon processes supposed to favor extra reasonable candidates — a big caveat with regards to how the GOP proceeds with Trump.

3. Palin’s comeback try hangs within the stability

One other distinguished Alaska Republican waging a comeback try discovered herself dealing with a really unsure future.

With two-thirds of anticipated votes counted within the particular election for the Home seat of the late congressman Don Younger (R-Alaska), former Alaska governor and GOP vice-presidential nominee Palin surprisingly trailed a Democrat, Mary Peltola, 38 p.c to 32 p.c. The opposite front-running Republican, Nick Begich, was at 29 p.c.

The place this goes from right here, no one is aware of. However Peltola far outperformed the first ends in June, through which she took simply 10 p.c of the vote. She appeared to learn from the choice of unbiased/Democratic-aligned Al Gross to drop out of the race after the first, making it a three-candidate contest with two Republicans and a Democrat. However even accounting for that, Peltola’s exhibiting is powerful.

The query from here’s what meaning because the ranked-choice votes are tallied — a posh course of that would take two weeks. All of it boils all the way down to voters’ second selections Begich is more likely to profit from being the second selection of many citizens for each Peltola and Palin, provided that Palin has appealed extra to the extremes of the GOP. However Peltola would possibly profit from being Begich voters’ second selection, provided that these voters opted to not go together with the big-name, well-known amount in Palin.

It’s method too early to say. Nevertheless it doesn’t appear out of the query that Peltola might win. As issues stand, she would want to take fewer than half of Begich’s second-choice voters. After all, that may imply that of the voters who ranked a Republican first, a large quantity would have needed to decide a Democrat over a Republican as their second selection. And Begich trails Palin by simply three factors, that means he might plausibly shoot from third place to first. Many first-choice votes have but to come back in, that means the image might shift considerably.

All three candidates may even advance to the November election for a full time period. Tuesday’s main outcomes for that election have been related.

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Washington

What Gonzaga’s Mark Few said after win vs. Washington State

Published

1 hour ago

January 12, 2025

Press Room

What Gonzaga’s Mark Few said after win vs. Washington State

The Gonzaga men’s basketball team pulled away from Washington State for an 88-75 victory in the first meeting between the in-state rivals in over a decade.

Graham Ike led the way with 21 points on 8-for-11 from the field, Nolan Hickman added 19 points and the Bulldogs (14-4, 5-0 WCC) earned their fifth straight win to open league play by putting the Cougars (13-5, 3-2 WCC) away early in the second half. After ending the first half on an 8-2 scoring run, the Zags came out of the second half with a sense of urgency on both ends, sparking a 15-5 scoring run to make it a double-digit margin.

Here’s what Gonzaga head coach Mark Few had to say after the game.

On what he told the team at halftime that led to the strong start to the second half:

“I just told them, ‘hey, we’re in a we’re in a battle. It’s a great game. Both teams are competing really hard, and we’re at our best when we’re in attack mode.’ And they did a great job of taking the message and I thought we really went out and turned defense into offense, and we knew that was going to be a big key for us. [The Cougars] are hard to guard, they’re big and they’re physical, and [WSU coach David Riley] does a really lot of nice stuff on on offense that exploits mismatches. But our guys battled tonight, so I was really proud of them.”

On the team’s performance while Ryan Nembhard was on the bench for the final 9 minutes of the first half:

“They played great. I told them that in the locker room that that was huge. We haven’t really had to do that all year. And this guy [Nolan Hickman] stepped up. He was amazing tonight. I mean, seven boards … defensively in there, battling in the post. I mean, he did a lot of stuff that, as I said, he’s now, he set a high standard, so kind of be counting on that moving forward, but he and Dusty [Stromer] both really helped during that stretch and [Khalif Battle] and obviously having Ben [Gregg] and then Graham was rock solid all night.”

On the team’s effort on the defensive end of the floor in the second half:

“I thought our effort and our making plays, I thought it was definitely up there [with the best of the season], and just the physicality that it took. Because, again, they’re so much bigger than us at several of those spots. And again, you just don’t see the post-up thing like this, where your guards are getting constantly posted. But so in that way, we fought, we were physical and kind of had to navigate our way through a lot of different actions. There’s staggers and some curls and some switches and all that. For the most part, we did pretty good.”

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Washington

Washington Nationals Agree to Terms With Former All-Star Reliever

Published

9 hours ago

January 11, 2025

Press Room

Washington Nationals Agree to Terms With Former All-Star Reliever

The Washington Nationals have continued to invest into the pitching staff with another free agency move on Saturday.

Shared on social media, the Nationals announced that they had agreed to terms with relief pitcher Jorge Lopez on a one-year contract. That deal will be worth $3 million plus incentives per Jon Heyman.

This is the third pitcher that Washington has signed this offseason, with Michael Soroka brought in as a free agent and Trevor Williams receiving a new deal to say.

They also added another reliever, Evan Reifert, as a Rule 5 draft pick from the Tampa Bay Rays.

Lopez made headlines last year with his infamous exit from the New York Mets. He caused a stir after a loss when he referred to himself as ‘the worst teammate on the worst team in baseball.’

For a lot of players, that might spell an end to the season. The fastball-heavy reliever was able to bounce back. He was released and then signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs.

The 31-year-old came back from controversy as strong as ever, posting a 2.03 ERA over the final 26.2 innings of work.

With the loss of Kyle Finnegan, Lopez makes sense as a potential replacement at closer. He does have some closing experience, but has not been his main role for much of his career.

That season, 2022, was the year he made his first and only All-Star team.

He is a ground ball machine that loves to force bad contact. Keeping him in a situational role could also be a smart idea, given that he struggles against lefties.

No matter how he is used, this is another good signal that the Nationals don’t want to throw any season away.

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Washington

Michigan basketball vs. Washington prediction: Can U-M stay undefeated in Big Ten?

Published

19 hours ago

January 11, 2025

Press Room

Michigan basketball vs. Washington prediction: Can U-M stay undefeated in Big Ten?

For Michigan basketball, the recent West Coast trip went about as well as hoped.

The No. 24 Wolverines (12-3, 4-0 Big Ten) picked up a pair of double-digit wins against the Big Ten’s Los Angeles-based teams — topping USC, 85-74, last Saturday and then defeating No. 21 UCLA, 94-75, Tuesday night as wildfires raged a few miles away — and now return home looking to make it three consecutive wins against league newcomers, welcoming Washington (10-6, 1-4) to Ann Arbor on Sunday afternoon (2 p.m., Big Ten Network).

The Huskies’ first trip to the Midwest hasn’t started well; they were dog-walked by Michigan State in East Lansing, 88-54, on Thursday. U-W trailed by 29 points at the half (42-13) and by more than 40 points in the second half (82-41 with less than five minutes to play) in an utter annihilation.

After two tight wins in conference play — by three points over Wisconsin and two over Iowa — U-M has won four games in a row by double digits and could make it five straight, with one of the bottom teams in the Big Ten coming to town.

Great Osobor with not-so-great help

U-Dub forward Great Osobor made headlines this offseason when he transferred from Utah State to Washington (following head coach Danny Sprinkle) for a then-record NIL deal worth $2 million.

Apparently, money doesn’t buy wins, because while Osobor has been decent, it hasn’t been nearly enough for the Huskies.

The senior leads the Huskies in scoring (13.8 points per game) and rebounding (8.4) but his efficiency has taken a large drop, as he has shot just 45% from the floor on 3s after hitting at least 57.7% in each of his first three college seasons. Some of that might be attributable to his increased 3-point tries — after attempting just 18 3s (and making four, for a 22.2% success rate) in his first 104 games, he has 14 3-point tries in 16 games this season (with only two makes, a 15.3% rate). More concerning is his 2-point shooting percentage: After hitting 59.1% last season, he’s at 47.7% inside the arc this season.

He has scored in double figures in 11 games with the Huskies, though much of his success came in a weak nonconference schedule. Though he put up 20 points and 14 rebounds vs. Maryland, he had just nine points and three boards vs. USC and a combined 15 points and eight rebounds vs. Illinois and MSU.

Sophomore guard Tyler Harris (Portland) is next at 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while freshman point guard Zoom Diallo, a top-50 recruit according to 247 Sports’ composite rankings, averages 10.8 points per contest for Sprinkle’s team.

Overall, U-Dub is simply not up to Big Ten standard. On defense, the Huskies are No. 7 nationally in limiting 3-pointers (28%) and No. 69 in efficiency (99.9), per KenPom, but on offense, the Huskies are No. 149 in efficiency (107.4), No. 201 in 2-point shooting (50.1%) and No. 240 on 3s (32%).

Depth on display

The Wolverines, meanwhile, continue to flex their depth and balance with each passing game.

Michigan just defeated UCLA by 19 on the road and did so by scoring 94 points (the most a Mick Cronin team has ever allowed at home) without perhaps its most proven guard: Roddy Gayle Jr. (knee bruise) missed Tuesday’s game vs. the Bruins. U-M coach Dusty May said then it was too early to say if he’d play Sunday.

“Long-term health is priority No. 1 for us,” May said. “But I would say he’ll be back relatively soon.”

Gayle is one of five U-M players scoring in double figures for May in his first season in Ann Arbor. After putting up a career-high 36 points vs. the Bruins, center Vlad Goldin now leads the Wolverines at 15.8 points per game. Point guard Tre Donaldson (13.1 points) is next while Danny Wolf, Goldin’s frontcourt partner, averages a double-double at 12.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.

All three had standout games on the trip; Wolf started the L.A. double-dip becoming just the third NCAA player in more than 20 years with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and six blocks, and Donaldson made a career-high four 3-pointers vs. USC, then topped it with six vs. UCLA.

And then there’s Gayle (12.4 points) and Nimari Burnett (10.5 points), who are both shooting better than 50% from the floor. Every starter has led the team in scoring at least once this season, a major reason U-M leads the country in 2-point shooting (62%) and effective field goal percentage (60.2%).

“I mean numbers don’t lie,” Donaldson said. “We’re shooting over 60% inside the arc, I mean just continuing to do that. We got big guys out here … with Danny doing what he does in and out. It’s hard to guard. Nobody’s seen nothing like that before.”

Prediction for Michigan basketball vs. Washington

The Wolverines’ outlook is worlds away from a year ago, when it was often U-M on the wrong side of the talent and coaching ledger. U-M is better than Washington in every facet. As long as the Wolverines don’t have a horrendous shooting night, or commit an egregious number of turnovers (they’re 16th nationally, at 15.2 per game), they just have too much talent and depth for U-Dub to slow down. The pick: U-M 88, Washington 68.

Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

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