THE LONG COUNT: It could be days before a winner is declared in the Mississippi Senate race and even weeks for Alaska. In Mississippi Democrat Scott Colom leads incumbent Cundy Hyde-Smith by just 1,138 votes. Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola leads incumbent Sen. Daniel Sullivan by just 637 votes and far less that the 50 percent required to be the winner in the state’s ranked-choice vote.

  Democrats so far have 54 seats in the Senate against 44 for Republicans, and 245 to 147 in the House, enough to run the table with more seats yet to be decided.

 On the day after an electoral debacle for the Republican Party, President Trump gave reporters a tour of his ballroom construction, ignoring an election that was a massive repudiation of his leadership. He said the massive Corinthian columns will be the “crème de la crème.”

  Trump was also online whining about changing clocks for the fall returning to standard time. “Too bad the Senate has not yet approved the Sunshine Protection Act or, the I Don’t Want to Change My Clocks Anymore Act,” he wrote. “It’s so dark outside, so early (Sunset was 5:06 P.M., and it was dark by 5:31 P.M. — Isn’t that ridiculous?).”

  The real darkness for Trump was at the polls even within his own political circle. The President admitted that his war in Iran resulted in the higher gas prices that fueled higher prices at the pump, but he expressed no regrets.

  Vice President JD Vance, who is sure to declare for the presidency, went further, saying in a  social media post that contributing factors to the big loss were the Iran war, inflation, and a desire to change the country’s relationship with Israel. Vance said pollsters told him, “a lot of Trump 2024 voters were angry and planning to vote for Democrats.”

IN CONCLUSION: NPR reached several conclusions about the election. 

• The big win doesn’t mean voters are enamored with the Democratic Party.
• Republican mid-decade district gerrymandering didn’t work.
• Latinos are now a swing group.
• The polls underestimated Democratic voting.
• The Blue wave does not mean gasoline prices are coming down.

LAWYER UP: Immediately following the election, California Democrat Robert Garcia, who would be chair of the House Oversight Committee, said, “lawyer up.”

  The Democrats have a long list of issues with the Trump administration to pursue and investigate, posing the question of whether they plan to legislate or litigate.

  Among targets are the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficker files, public corruption, immigration enforcement, public health, the executive power of the President, the Iran war, and the influence of Tesla trillionaire Elon Musk.

LUXURY TAX: A New York appeals court ruled that the city administration under Mayor Zohran Mamdani may proceed with levying a higher real estate tax on second homes above the value of $5 million that could reap $500 million a year.

  Owners of high-end second homes in the city had sued on the technical issue that the city had sowed confusion by sending out notices to about 17,000 owners, informing them that their properties might be subject to the tax without being certain that they were not full-time residents.

  The notices had asked property owners to provide proof of residency, or a copy of a lease to show that the home was being rented out.

INFINITE SCROLL:

— A federal planning board is expected today to approve construction of President Trump’s triumphal arch in Washington. Lawsuits to stop it continue and a Democrat Congress could also block it.

  California Democrat Jared Huffman said; “The arch is an illegal project. It’s a monstrosity. It’s a slap in the face to veterans and to the history and the aesthetics of this sacred place.” 

— Shares in Donald Trump’s Truth Social media company hit a new low yesterday, closing at $4.49. Shares are down more than 90 percent since they went on the market but don’t worry, the President has other grifts to make himself richer.  

THE SPIN RACK: Water rescues are underway as flash flooding rips through northern Georgia and Tennessee. Water is up almost to the roof of cars in streets. — Viewership for Fox News dropped 28 percent from October to October, according to Nielsen ratings. It’s the lowest in 25 years. CEO Lachlan Murdoch attributes it to “viewer fatigue where our viewers have gone through some incredible news cycles the last few years.” Also, they might be just tired of being lied to. — A New York appeals court struck down a ban on transgender girls participating in Nassau County, New York sports, delivering another blow to County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who was trounced in Tuesday’s election to replace Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. The court found that both human rights law and civil rights law “expressly prohibit the county from restricting access to places of public accommodation based on a person’s gender identity or expression, including whether the person identifies as transgender.” — Music legend Bob Dylan visited Pope Leo at the Vatican. Dylan became a born-again Christian in 1979. — Police in Berkely, California arrested a man who had hidden a camera in his shoe to shoot “upskirt” videos of women. A woman at a Taco Bell accidentally stepped on his foot, revealing the camera.

BELOW THE FOLD:  Homeless in Cambodia. The residential cruise ship Villa Vie Odyssey disembarked more than 200 passengers in Cambodia after they had paid tens of thousands of dollars to live on board for years, saying fuel prices made it too expensive to keep operating.

  Then the ship sailed away, presumably burning expensive fuel. 

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