11/20/2018
Democrats’ “Blue Wave” didn’t just flip the House, governorships and state legislatures. In large areas of the country, it made Republican officeholders extinct.
From the small towns of rural Maine to the sprawling suburbs of California, Beacon is proud to have played a role in knocking out Republicans from coast to coast.
We congratulate all our candidates, clients and their teams on their victories.
U.S. HOUSE
In one of the most expensive races in the country, Jared Golden (ME-02) made history as the first candidate in a federal race to win through rank choice voting and the first challenger to defeat an incumbent in Maine’s Second District in over a hundred years, depriving Republicans of their last House seat in all of New England.
Tom O’Halleran (AZ-01) was reelected to a second term in a sprawling rural district that voted for Trump, Romney and McCain.
We were proud to have helped Katie HIll (CA-25) defeat the last Republican House member standing in LA County through our work for House Majority PAC, VoteVets, League of Conservation Voters and Environmental Defense Fund.
Likewise, we are excited to have played a part in ridding Orange County of Republican members of Congress through House Majority PAC to elect Mike Levin (CA-49).
STATE LEGISLATURES
In a stunning upset, Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (CA AD-21) defeated the sole Republican legislator in the San Francisco Bay Area to win a seat in the California Assembly.
In Iowa, we helped flip the 7th State Senate District with Jackie Smith and hold targeted districts for Amanda Ragan (SD-27) and Kevin Kinney (SD-39).
BALLOT PROPOSITION WORK
We are proud to have worked with homeless advocates and the tech giant Salesforce to pass Yes on C with over 61% of the vote, despite stiff resistance from the mayor, mainstream press and large corporations. Happily, Mayor Breed heard the voters and is now fighting to implement Proposition C as soon as possible.
ISSUE ADVOCACY
We worked with Allied Progress to tank the Sinclair-Tribune merger which would’ve devastated local news coverage across the country.
We are proud to have stood with UltraViolet, NARAL and Demand Justice against the outrageous appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
THE GOOD FIGHT
A Democrat has not been elected governor of South Dakota since 1974. But Billie Sutton captured national attention with his inspiring story and bipartisan appeal to win 47.6% of the vote in a state that voted for Trump by 30 points.
We were heartbroken when Betsy Dirksen Londrigan narrowly lost IL-13 by only one point. With the help of Emily’s List and an amazing team, Betsy ran an energetic and aggressive campaign in a tough Trump district.
Democrats won many House seats in 2018, but they could’ve definitely won one more in PA-01. There was a better choice: Navy veteran and prosecutor Rachel Reddick, who was outspent 16 to 1 in the primary by a wealthy self-funder.
And we had the honor of working with many more wonderful candidates who worked hard in tough races. We wish they would've won those, too.
Thank you to all the candidates, managers, campaign staff, fellow consultants, Democratic committees and progressive groups. Win or lose, it was a pleasure to work with you all.
After a much deserved holiday and vacation breaks, let’s gear back up for the next one.
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