The pro-Russia Republican who once arm-wrestled with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California, has lost his seat to Democrat Harley Rouda. Rohrabacher has been a strong supporter of Donald Trump and he has served for three decades in the heavily Republican 48th House District in California.
“BREAKING: Putin loses proxy war in Orange County as his minion Dana Rohrabacher is defeated by Harley Rouda. Rohrabacher was the main person in Congress who determinedly tried to get the Magnitsky Act repealed. A good day for truth and justice. Good riddance.”
BREAKING: Putin loses proxy war in Orange County as his minion Dana Rohrabacher is defeated by Harley Rouda. Rohrabacher was the main person in Congress who determinedly tried to get the Magnitsky Act repealed. A good day for truth and justice. Good riddance https://t.co/HSNGkIVRux
— Bill Browder (@Billbrowder) November 7, 2018
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
It was just one of many upsets favoring Democratic candidates over the course of the evening.
Rohrabacher has been called “Putin’s favorite congressman†because he used information received Russia to promote one of Purin’s top priorities — removing the name of the murdered Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky from a global anti-corruption law.
FBI agents also once warned him that he was considered a target for recruitment by Russian intelligence operatives because of his close ties to Putin.
Rouda is a former Republican who switched parties because, as she said: “President Trump has changed everything.â€
Here are some other races that ended in surprise defeats for Republican candidates.
- A very important win for Democrats in their bid to win back House control occurred in Virginia where Democrat Abigail Spanberger’s won over Tea Party Republican Dave Brat in the 7th district. Brat is the right-wing rebel who defeated onetime House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a 2014 GOP primary.
- Trump flunkie Kris Kobach lost his race for Kansas governor against Democratic state senator Laura Kelly. Kobach was a close ally of Trump and worked on the election fraud panel. The panel was shut down when they couldn’t find cases of widespread voter fraud. Kobach was then scrubbed from the White House’s website.
- Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) –who battled with the teen survivors of the Parkland shooting — lost his seat in the 26th district to Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. Mucarsel-Powell is an Ecuadorian immigrant who came to the country with her mother when she was a child. The district was progressively moving blue and Curbelo was not moderate enough to hold the state this time
- There was a shocking upset in New York’s 11th district as GOP Rep. Dan Donovan lost to Max Rose. The district, which voted for President Donald Trump by nine points in 2016, was considered a major stretch for Democrats, as forecasters FiveThirtyEight gave Rose only a 25% chance of winning.
- In a stunning loss for National Rifle Association, Democrat Jason Crow has beat Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) in one of the most expensive races in the country. Crow won in Colorado’s sixth congressional district while openly calling for a ban on assault weapons, expanded background checks and restricting high-capacity magazines.
- Kim Davis, the clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, lost her campaign for re-election.
- In South Carolina’s first district a Democrat won for the first time in 30 years as Joe Cunningham defeated Katie Arrington. The district had voted 53%-41% for Trump in 2016
These were some of the biggest upsets on Tuesday night. And even though Donald Trump had claimed victory, it definitely was a big night for Democrats as the Blue Wave really did happen.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
