WHAT'S BREWING
THE SQUAD IS HERE TO STAY The quartet of first-term progressive representatives best known as “the Squad” are sticking around Washington: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) all won reelection to another two years in Congress. On Tuesday, the Democratic women of color, who are frequent targets of Trump, resolidified their standing in Congress by winning reelection in New York, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Michigan. [HuffPost]
GEORGIA: LOEFFLER, WARNOCK, HEADED FOR RUNOFF Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) and Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock will face off in a Jan. 5 runoff election after Rep. Doug Collins (R) conceded in Georgia’s special Senate election and The Associated Press projected they would receive the most votes. Under the state’s rules, the contest goes to a runoff if no candidate wins a majority of the votes. The race was an open election, meaning that there were no primaries. Loeffler, Warnock and Collins consistently led the 20-person field. [HuffPost]
HICKENLOOPER BEATS GOP INCUMBENT IN COLORADO Last month, Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) said he believed Trump to be a moral and ethical man. On Tuesday, Gardner was projected to lose his bid for a second term to former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) in a race that never really lived up to its early hype, mostly due to Trump’s unpopularity in the state that has an increasingly diverse electorate. [HuffPost]
NORTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN WILL SOON BE YOUNGEST HOUSE MEMBER Madison Cawthorn, a 25-year-old Trump-loving conservative, is projected to win the North Carolina House seat once held by Mark Meadows, now White House chief of staff. Cawthorn beat out Democrat Moe Davis, a 62-year-old retired Air Force colonel and former military prosecutor at Guantánamo Bay, by more than 10 percentage points. He is set to become the youngest member of Congress. [HuffPost]
GOP SEN. DAINES WINS REELECTION Montana GOP Sen. Steve Daines has defeated Democrat Steve Bullock in a hard-fought battle in a Republican-leaning state. Bullock was considered the only Democrat with a chance of ousting Daines. Meanwhile, Mitch McConnell beat Amy Magrath to win reelection in Kentucky. And in Iowa, Sen. Joni Ernst, a first-term Republican, is projected to win her reelection bid. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is projected to win against Democratic challenger M.J. Hegar to keep his Senate seat [HuffPost]
MCBRIDE BECOMES FIRST OPENLY TRANS STATE SENATOR Sarah McBride made history on Tuesday night when she became the highest-ranking openly trans official in America after winning a seat in Delaware’s state Senate. The 30-year-old Democrat is projected to defeat Republican Steve Washington to take the seat of now-retired state Sen. Harris B. McDowell III (D). McBride said she’s “so thankful to the hundreds of volunteers who made calls, sent texts, and talked to voters to bring our neighbors together.” [HuffPost]
LOUISIANA PASSES STRICT ANTI-ABORTION AMENDMENT Louisiana voters passed a ballot measure that enshrines anti-abortion language in the state’s constitution. Amendment 1 adds language to the Louisiana Constitution stating that nothing in it “shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion.” Meanwhile, Colorado voters approved a ballot measure that will establish paid family leave in the state, and Oregon is set to become the first U.S. state to decriminalize possession of all illegal drugs. [HuffPost] | 
