Boston 25 political analysts provide insight into Election Day results

Okay, Lisa, thank you. Boston 25 News bringing you complete analysis of election results as they roll in, and we are going to get a little bit of help with that, which we appreciate. We definitely do. So we want to introduce you to our political analyst for the night. First, Anissa Asabi-George, a Democrat who served as a Boston City Councilor. She ran for Mayor of Boston in 2021. And we also have alongside her Lizzie Guyton. She served as the spokesperson for the Republican Governor Charlie Baker and his administration during both his terms. She's the co-founder of South and Hill Strategies. Thank you both. Thank you both for being here tonight. So I want to get your thoughts on some of the big state races. Let's start with the race for governor. Did the Republican Mike Minogue make enough of a case to oust incumbent Governor Healey? And did Healey prove to voters she deserves another four years? Lizzie, since you served with the previous administration, let's start with you. I think one thing that we're seeing in the polling is that voters disapprove more of Donald Trump than they disapprove of some of the economic factors that we're feeling in Massachusetts from the Healey administration, from affordability to housing to health care. And despite the fact that Minogue has made a strong case as a businessman, he's provided another alternative vision for Massachusetts voters for the future. Will that be enough to outpace the unpopularity of Donald Trump? And Anissa, obviously we saw all the ads, the current administration here trying to link Mike Minogue to Donald Trump. Well, those ads cost a lot of money, too. We know that the Minogue campaign spent about $20 million in this season, probably a record set in this gubernatorial race. All right, Anissa, Lizzie, do you think we'll see any surprises when it comes to the race for the Senate, or is Ed Markey easily on his way to a third term in the Senate? Anissa, we'll start with you on this one. I think we'll probably agree on this. Senator Markey will cruise into victory this evening. Not expecting too many surprises. I think all eyes will be on some of the other New England races, particularly the Senate races in New Hampshire and Maine. Yeah, those are the hot ones tonight. Nine ballot questions this year on these ballots. It's taking people a long time to get through them. Any that are really jumping out to you, Anissa? Well, there's so many of them. First of all, I think the ballot today when I went to vote, three pages worth, both sides, took a little bit of time to get through them. I'm particularly interested in question three, which is the all-party ballot system. I held a discussion at my home a couple of weeks ago talking about that very issue. Quick national predictions. Do you anticipate the blue wave that we've been hearing so much about, or Republicans, will they maintain control of both chambers? I think it will depend a lot on voter turnout today. We often see times that Republican voters come out later and will start engaging more in the process, particularly in the midterm elections. There certainly could be changes. It could be incremental. Keep in mind the margins in both the House and the Senate right now are very small for there to be a turnover. And all eyes will be on some of these ruby red states where the quality of some of the Democratic candidates seems to be outpacing the Republican challengers. Democrats need a net gain of four seats in the Senate to take the chamber. Lizzie Guyton, Anissa Asabi-George, we're going to check in with both of you throughout the night. Stay with us. Thank you so much.