There Is No Understanding The Voters

In general I have faith in the voters to do the right thing, or something relatively close to it. Even though I think that the Democratic Party has gone almost completely nuts, nonetheless in the recent Democratic sweep I think I can see a perspective that some sensible voters might have, and that could have brought about the result, at least as to the congressional races: There was a huge element of Trump fatigue, not necessarily with his policies, but definitely with his demeanor, and with his constant pursuit of his own personal interest, from the crypto profiteering, to the pardon free-for-all, to the sale of watches, and much more. Even if these things do not qualify as prosecutable corruption, voters are completely allowed to take them into account when evaluating his presidency. Some congressional push-back might not hurt.

But then there were the many state and local races, where there was no direct or obvious Trump connection. Democrats also did extremely well in those, including taking (or maintaining) control of numerous governorships, legislatures, and mayor’s offices. In many of those, I can’t come up with any rational explanation for how the voters chose as they did. Maybe you can.

Consider some examples:

Mayor of Los Angeles — Nithya Raman

Although the vote counting is still not complete, last evening the incumbent far-left Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass conceded the race to her even-farther-left opponent, Nithya Raman. With Raman’s election, all three of the nation’s largest cities now have mayors from the most remote left extreme of the Democratic Party. Raman joins New York’s Zohran Mamdani as an out member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Brandon Johnson of Chicago has not formally joined that group, but is closely aligned.

What do Angelenos hope for from Raman? Beats me. The policy ideas Raman is known for range from creating unarmed response teams to respond to 911 calls, to making Los Angeles “carbon neutral” by 2030. How about “zero-emissions” shipping at the Port of LA? Yes to that, along with zero emissions buildings and vehicles for the city government.

But the thing Raman is known for above everything else is her advocacy on the issue of homelessness. She got her start as a homelessness activist in her neighborhood of Silver Lake:

After serving several years as the Co-Chair of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council Homelessness Committee, as well as co-founding the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition, Nithya felt there was a gap between city services and the expanding homelessness crisis — a gap she was equipped to fill.

In 2020 she got elected to the LA City Council, where again dealing with homelessness has been her main thing:

Since taking office, Councilmember Raman has prioritized delivering compassionate and effective services for people experiencing homelessness, [and] building more affordable housing. . . .

Since 2023, Raman has been the Chair of the LA City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee. In 2022 she campaigned for a measure known as the “mansion tax” that has since raised an incremental $1 billion plus for the cause; and Raman as City Council Housing and Homelessness Chair has had a main say in passing out the money to bureaucracies and NGOs.

So how has it gone in finally solving the homelessness crisis once and for all? Here from the LA City Controller’s office is a chart of the LA homeless census for the years 2015 to 2026:

From here it doesn’t look like they’ve made even the slightest dent in the problem. But don’t worry, Raman promises that if you just elect her and give her infinite resources to pass out to her friends, she’ll fix everything. From her campaign website:

By the end of my first term, the City will have developed the capacity to effectively eliminate long-term encampments throughout the city in the areas Angelenos live, work, play, shop, worship, and go to school.

Who wants to bet as to whether homelessness will be up versus down in LA four years from now?

Governor of Texas — Gina Hinojosa

While the Texas Senate race had long looked to be close, it was far less clear that Texas Governor Greg Abbott was in trouble. But he lost to challenger Gina Hinojosa by about 7 points. Hinojosa had previously been the member of the Texas House representing the district covering central Austin — likely the farthest left-leaning spot in the state.

In Texas, the Republicans have spent the last decade and more gradually building a legislative majority in favor of school choice. They finally passed a school voucher law in 2025, which has just taken effect in the current 2026-27 school year. And Hinojosa made it her signature issue to get that rolled back. With newly-elected majorities in the legislature, she may well succeed in that. Too bad for minority kids in the urban districts.

But even crazier is that Hinojosa has openly advocated for an energy transition and suppressing fossil fuels — in Texas! From an article she wrote in the Austin American-Statesman in 2021, headline “A national climate plan needs a Texas component”:

Unfortunately, we know that these weather disasters will continue to occur with increased frequency and magnitude due to climate change. Texas needs a plan to address climate change and we have one — the Texas Climate Plan. . . . Texas is the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the country and a major emitter of methane. Carbon dioxide and methane are the primary greenhouse gases contributing to climate change. If Texas were a country, we would rank 7th in the world for our carbon dioxide emissions. Major sources of these greenhouse gases are the vehicles we drive, and the oil and gas industry. . . . After examining the data, we concluded that any national plan to combat climate change must have a substantial Texas component. I collaborated with several House Democrats to develop the Texas Climate Plan as a roadmap to reduce emissions.

Hinojosa did not make her “climate” advocacy a focus of her campaign, as far as I can tell. But I also can’t find that she walked any of this stuff back.

Here in New York, it has become the norm for politicians to campaign to punish and suppress the main engine of our wealth, which is the financial community. But could Texas really follow us down this crazy road? (The new Texas Senator Talarico also has been something of a “climate” activist during his time in the legislature.)

Governor of New Mexico — Deb Haaland

New Mexico is the number two oil and gas producing state in the country, after Texas. Its voters just elected a far-out anti-fossil fuel activist, Deb Haaland, as their new Governor.

There can be little doubt as to Haaland’s position on this. She was the Interior Secretary in the Biden administration, and in that role took extreme steps to ban drilling on public lands and otherwise suppress production of oil and gas. In imposing her bans, she famously invoked “indigenous knowledge.”

And during the recent campaign, she didn’t try to play down her well-known anti-fossil fuel position. The Washington Free Beacon has a summary on November 5:

Haaland—who spearheaded vast oil and gas drilling bans while serving in the Biden administration—didn't shy away from rhetoric promising to dismantle oil and gas development during her campaign. She vowed, for example, to set the state on a pathway to eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and "go all in on" green energy.

Does Haaland — or do New Mexico voters — understand that the oil and gas industry generates just under half of the state’s general fund tax revenue? I really struggle to understand what they are thinking.

Governor of New York — Kathy Hochul

But then, no one can top the New York voters for inexplicable insanity. My fellow New Yorkers have chosen to continue the state’s current path of decline by re-electing Governor Kathy Hochul. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman ran an energetic campaign to attempt to defeat her, but came up almost 20 points short, losing by about 60-40.

Hochul finds herself in a total trap of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019, which sets firm mandates for an energy “transition” away from fossil fuels. When they passed the Act, they thought they had set the deadlines so far out that it would be easy to meet them. But now those deadlines are rushing at everyone who finds themselves in office, first and foremost at the Governor.

Everyone from Hochul on down has stopped talking about this, and they proceed as if nothing is wrong. I have no idea how it will all turn out, other than one thing: the supposed energy transition is definitely not occurring, and the mandates will be missed. Then what?

Those are just a few examples. I’m sure that there are multiple hundred more. Good luck to our country.