I’ve just been tallying how many US election races I’ve followed & stayed up for since 2016. It’s a lot. It was stressful. I do not want to do it again, but I’m going to be too anxious to draw myself away, especially if Dems don’t win both of Georgia’s senate seats.

I followed these races & stayed up for the results of -
Gubernatorial (governor): Andrew Gillum (Florida), Stacey Abrams (Georgia), J.B Pritzker (Illinois), Laura Kelly (Kansas), Janet Mills (Maine), Gretchen Whitmer (Michigan), Steve Sisolak (Nevada), Michelle Grisham (N Mexico)

Gubernatorial - Ralph Northam (Virginia). I paid a little attention to Andy Beshear (Kentucky), which means reading up but not actively following or watching the results.

Mayoral - London Breed (San Francisco). I don’t even know why.

Senate races -
Doug Jones (Alabama)
Krysten Sinema (Arizona)
Claire McCaskill (Missouri)
Bill Nelson (Florida)
Jon Ossoff (Georgia)

Congressional -
Katie Hill
Katie Porter
Lucy McBath
Lizzie Fletcher
Abigail Spanberger
Colin Allred
Anthony Delgado
Sharice Davids
Angie Craig

I followed many ^ in Democratic primaries. I also followed results for some amendments & props. Have followed Jaime Harrison for ages + Jamaal Bowman too.

I lost a ton of hours to watch results at 6am.

But Gillum, Jones, Abrams, O’Rourke, & Ossoff were the ones that hit hard

They’re predominately races in the South where these candidates would have made an enormous difference. I had a sense of dread where I felt if I looked away, it would get worse, so I was just in a heightened state of anxiety... for another country :/

So yeah, I’d really like to turn away from the 2022 mid-terms & not feel an impending sense of doom which I’m already feeling :/ It feels good that Biden-Harris won, but it’s not going to get any easier. Arguably, it’s going to get tougher for Democrats. ERA, VRA, etc would help!

Interestingly, I liked Beto O’Rourke the first time around, but then felt meh in the second. The coverage of him was more negative in the second & idk if I was susceptible or examined him more.

I still like Jon Ossoff, but I don’t want to see him lose a second time.

Followed quite a few AG elections too. I think I’ll continue to follow & watch those, as I don’t feel as dispirited about them & they can make a difference (redistrixting, CJS, etc).