Daily Archives: December 27, 2021

Dear Readers,

The New Year is upon us, and along with it come those resolutions. There is room for improvement in all our lives, right? As many as 70% of Americans will resolve to eat healthier in 2022. Others will set a goal to exercise regularly. And, of course, many will seek to lose weight.

Eating healthier is a lifestyle change; its as simple as that. There is no such thing as magic. There are no pills to melt fat away and no diets to trick your body into burning calories more efficiently. We have to change our habits and our thinking around food. Here are some recommendations to get you on the right track.

Eat a variety of foods. Your plate should be half filled with fruits and vegetables. Choose lean proteins, whole grains, and dont forget low-fat dairy products to fulfill your calcium needs. Eliminate fast food, junk food, and snacks after the evening meal. Save dessert for a once-a-week treat.

Calories in, Calories out. If weight loss is your goal, you simply have to burn more calories than you consume. Keep it simple. A healthy weight loss calorie level for women is 1500-1800 calories per day; for men, 1800-2000 calories a day. These levels vary according to age, weight, and physical activity.

Create a food plan. When you have a plan, you are less likely to grab something unhealthy when hunger pangs hit. Plan your meals ahead of time and write them down. Pack a lunch for work, and plan healthy snacks. A good snack consists of protein and carbohydrates, such as an apple with one oz. of cheese or one tablespoon of peanut butter, a low-sugar Greek yogurt, or cup nuts with raisins. Keep snacks to 100-200 calories each, and have 1-2 per day.

Dont get too hungry. This is perhaps the most important guideline. Many diets fail because they are too restrictive in calories or eliminate an entire food group. In this case, you may feel deprived, overcompensate, and find yourself bingeing on a pint of ice cream or a family-size bag of chips. You may feel like you have failed, making it difficult to get back on track.

Journal. Record your food intake; it helps to see it in black and white. Journaling can also help you get in touch with your feelings when you eat out of emotion instead of physical hunger.

Set realistic goals. A realistic goal for weight loss is one pound per week. The diets that claim you will lose 5-7 pounds the first week do this by depleting glycogen stores in your body. Glycogen is an intermediate energy source made up of carbohydrates. When these storage fuels are depleted, water is released with them. Hence, the rapid weight loss.

Find emotional support. Have a buddy system or join a weight loss support group like TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly). Those who join a support group have greater success rates than those who go it alone.

Finally, be patient. Habits are hard to change, and it takes time. If you follow the new health plan as best you can (not perfectly) for 30 days, you will be well on your way. By this time, you will start to see results, which will motivate you to keep up the good work.

I wish you all a happy, healthy New Year!

Leanne McCrate, RD, LD, CNSC, is an award-winning dietitian based in Missouri.

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Healthy lifestyle for the New Year | News, Sports, Jobs - Marshalltown Times Republican

Kevin S. Carpenter| St. Cloud

Minnesota Republican state legislator Peggy Bennett (District 27A)wrote a letter dated Dec. 8to the boss of some Minnesota health care workers, challenging the employers requirements for employees getting vaccinated and wearing masks, and threatening to refuse to support future state funding for this clinic. 37 other Republican state legislators added their signatures to the letter, including St. Cloud-area representatives Tama Theis and Shane Mekeland.

The letter can be found at: https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/goppdf/KjjzzR9JvE2GyqQV2Nc_eA.pdf.

The letter was addressed to Dr. Gianrico Farrugia, CEO & President of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

In an interview about the letter, author Bennetts answers to questions reflected that the letter was based on anecdotal information rather than statistics and science.

This is so sad. First, party members of the supposed party of less government, in their roles as government representatives, decided to interfere in the business of Minnesotas largest employer.

Second, these legislators demonstrated that they do not understand that the Mayo Clinic, like most employers in Minnesota, is not democratic; it is autocratic. The leaders have to make decisions that they feel are best for the company, including its employees and, in this case, its patients. The Mayo Clinic employs 71,350 in all its locations and sees more than 1 million patients from around the world every year.

Third and foremost, these 38 Republicans decided to challenge the worlds most renowned experts in medicine on their stand on a medical issue. When faced with a serious medical condition, how many people consult the Republicans in the MN State House of Representatives rather than the Mayo Clinic?

I suggest that these Republicans work on their research skills. They should begin by reading about the Dunning-Kruger effect.

Kevin S. Carpenter

St. Cloud

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Republican legislators come to the aid of health care workers: Letter - SC Times

The clock on congressional redistricting in New Jersey for 1972 began in 1970 when Gov. William Cahill was trying to clear the field for GOP State Chairman Nelson Gross to run for the United States Senate.

Republicans thought they could beat two-term incumbent Harrison Williams with Gross, who had served as an assemblyman from Bergen County and had close ties to President Richard Nixon. Standing in his way was State Sen. Joseph Maraziti (R-Boonton), a longtime Morris County legislator who wanted to run for the U.S. Senate.

Cahill and legislative leaders offered Maraziti a deal: in exchange for dropping his U.S. Senate bid, he would chair the committee that would redraw New Jerseys fifteen congressional districts for the 1972 election. Maraziti took the deal; Gross lost his race by twelve points.

Jersey style, Maraziti drew a district for himself.

Maraziti eliminated one of the two Hudson County congressional seats, putting Democrats Dominick Daniels (D-Jersey City) and Cornelius Gallagher (D-Bayonne) into a primary fight.

The new 13th district was hugely Republican. It started East Hanover and went through northern Morris County, picked up all of Hunterdon, Sussex and Warren counties, and ended in northern Mercer. In the 1968 presidential election, the towns in the new 13th had given Richard Nixon a 55%-36% win over Democrat Hubert Humphrey.

Not all Republicans were thrilled with the map. Assembly Speaker Thomas H. Kean (R-Livingston) and State Sen. James H. Wallwork (R-Short Hills), both potential congressional candidates in the future, saw their hometowns put into a district that went through Morris and Somerset counties into Princeton.

The map went to federal court and a three-judge panel upheld it they tinkered with the plan by moving the boundary between two Bergen-based districts so that South Hackensack wasnt split.

The new map put the entire city of Newark into the 10th, a move designed to make the 11th district seat of five-term Rep. Joseph Minish (D-West Orange) more competitive. The candidate the map was draw for was former State Sen. Milton Waldor (R-South Orange), who had lost his Senate seat in 1971 by 908 votes to Essex County Freeholder Wynona M. Lipman. (Lipman, who would later move from Montclair to Newark to survive 1973 legislative redistricting, became the first Black woman to serve in the New Jersey Senate and remained there until her death in 1999.)

Maraziti faced a primary challenge from two assemblymen, Walter Keough-Dwyer (R-Vernon) and Karl Weidel (D-Pennington), and Delmar Miller, Sr., a political newcomer from Ewing who ran under the slogan Speaking for the Silent Majority. Maraziti won big: a 7,491 vote, 50%-25% victory over Keough-Dwyer, with Weidel finishing third with 17% and Miller getting 8%.

Three Morris County candidates sought the Democratic nomination: Joseph P. ODoherty, Jerome Kessler and Norma Herzfeld. ODoherty won the nomination by 1,248 votes over Kessler, 43%-35%, with Herzfeld receiving 22%. (Kessler and Herzfeld both won Democratic legislative primaries in 1977 but lost the general election.)

During the primary, Herzfeld filed a lawsuit challenging ODohertys constitutional eligibility to run for Congress, alleging that the Irish-born Chester resident had not become a U.S. citizen until 1967.

ODoherty dropped out of the race a week after the primary.

Democratic State Chairman Salvatore Bontempo convinced former New Jersey First Lady Helen Meyner to become the replacement candidate. The wife of former Gov. Robert Meyner and the cousin of former Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson, Meyner lived in Princeton but had a home in Phillipsburg, where her husband had served as a state senator.

In the general election, Maraziti defeated Meyner by 25,154 votes, 56%43%. Nixon carried the 13th by a 70%-40% margin over Democrat George McGovern.

Under a Republican-drawn map, Democrats won eight of the states 15 House seats, a net pickup of one.

Republicans held the open seat of retiring eight-term Rep. Florence Dwyer (R-Elizabeth), with State Sen. Matthew Rinaldo (R-Union) defeated former State Sen. Jerry Fitzgerald English by 27 points.

The closest an incumbent came to losing was in the Middlesex-based 15th when newcomer Fuller Brooks held five-term Rep. Edward Patten to a 52%-48% win. Nixon won the district by 22 points.

In a Camden-Gloucester district, three-term Rep. John Hunt (R-Pitman) defeated 35-year-old Assemblyman Jim Florio (D-Runnemede) by a 52.5%-47% margin. Nixon carried the 1st, 60%-40%.

Four much-heralded GOP challengers fell way short: former Nixon White House aide Bill Dowd, making his second bid to unseat four-term Rep. James Howard (D-Spring Lake Heights), received 47% of the vote. Frank Thompson, Jr. (D-Trenton) won his 9th term by a 58%-42% margin against Assemblyman Peter Garibaldi (R-Monroe); Assemblyman Alfred Schiaffo (R-Closter) lost to four-term Rep. Henry Helstoski (D-East Rutherford), 56%-44%; and Minish beat Waldor 18 points. Nixon carried all four of these districts by double-digit margins.

Daniels won the Hudson Democratic primary with 51% against West New York Mayor Anthony DeFino (32%), Gallagher (1%) and former Rep. Vincent Dellay (2%0. He received 61% in the general election.

Republican Map Flips to 12-3 Democratic

Even though Republicans drew the new congressional map, the Watergate scandal resulted in the loss of four seats in the 1974 mid-term elections that came three months after Nixon resigned the presidency.

Florio ousted Hunt by 19 points, 57.5%-38.5% in the 1st district. The GOP has never been able to win that seat back.

In the 2nd district, four-term Rep. Charles Sandman (R-Erma), the unsuccessful Republican candidate for governor in 1973, lost his seat to former Cape May County First Assistant Prosecutor William J. Hughes by 16 points.

Democrats flipped the Bergen County-based seat of 12-term Rep. William Widnall (R-Ridgewood) by five points. The winner was Democrat Andrew Maguire, who had served in the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Local newspapers aimed considerable coverage at Maraziti, whose seat on the House Judiciary Committee put him on national television as Nixons defender. He voted against all three articles of impeachment.

Maraziti also became bogged down in a scandal as he faced a rematch with Meyner.

Meyner had to first win a Democratic primary. She faced ODoherty, who now met the citizenship requirement, former Hunterdon County Prosecutor Oscar Rittenhouse, and Fairleigh Dickinson University Professor Bernard Reiner.

Her 47% -26% win in the Democratic primary was unimpressive. She defeated ODoherty by just 3,801 votes, with Rittenhouse finishing third with 18% and Reiner at 9%. Meyner won everywhere but Hunterdon, where Rittenhouse defeated her, 49%-36%.

Maraziti put his 35-year-old girlfriend, Linda Collinson, on his congressional payroll in a no-show job while she continued to work at Marazitis Morris County law firm.

Collinson was outed after she applied for a loan with the House Credit Union. A staffer in Marazitis Washington office told the credit union that she had never heard of Collinson.

Reporters later discovered that Maraziti owned the house Collinson lived in.

Maraziti was also damaged by reports that a Warren County newspaper fired their managing editor, Donald Thatcher, after learning that he was also on Marazitis congressional payroll. Later, news broke that Nicholas DiRienzo, the general manager of two New Jersey radio stations, was also on the congressmans staff.

Meyner became one of the Watergate Babies, defeating Maraziti by a 57%-43% margin. She carried Mercer with 65%, Warren with 61%, Hunterdon with 58%, Morris with 56%, and Sussex with 51%.

There was one open seat in 1974: Rep. Peter Frelinghuysen (R-Harding) retired after 22 years in Congress. Republican Millicent Fenwick (R-Bernardsville) defeated Kean by 83 votes in the GOP primary a little more of Essex under the Maraziti map would have sent Kean to Congress. She won the general election by a 53%-43% margin against Fred Bohen, a former Johnson White House staffer.

GOP Gains

By the end of a map drawn by the GOP, Republicans had picked up just two of the seats they lost in Watergate, plus two more. In a decade, the map went from 9-6 Democratic to 8-7 Democratic. During the decade, six incumbents lost re-election.

In 1976, Republicans flipped the Bergen-Hudson 9th district seat after six-term incumbent Henry Helstoski became embroiled in a scandal. The winner, by a 53%-44% margin, was former State Sen. Harold Hollenbeck (R-East Rutherford).

Meyner held the 13th seat by 5,241 votes, 50%-48%, in 1976 against former State Sen. William Schluter (R-Pennington). President Gerald Ford had carried the district that year by a 50%-41% margin against Democrat Jimmy Carter.

But 1978, Carters mid-term election, Meyner lost.

After his close call, Schluter sought a rematch against Meyner in 1978. This time, Schluter faced a strong primary opponent, Assistant Warren County Prosecutor Jim Courter. Courter beat Schluter by just 134 votes in a campaign managed by Roger Bodman, who would go on to run Keans campaign for governor and later serve in his cabinet. Courter unseated Meyner that year by a 52%-48% margin.

Ford had also carried the 7th, 58%-42%, but Maguire defeated Republican James Sheehan, a Wyckoff township committeeman, by 13 points to secure a second term.

The Republican challenger against Maguire in 1978 was Marge Roukema, a former Ridgewood school board member.

Roukema won the primary, 39%-32%, against a well-known name in the Republican primary: Joseph Woodcock (R-Cliffside Park), who served 12 years as an assemblyman and state senator, four years as the Bergen County prosecutor, and was briefly a candidate for the 1977 Republican gubernatorial nomination.

Maguire won by six points but lost a 1980 rematch to Roukema

The Republicans also picked up the 4th district. Thompson, a 26-year incumbent and the chairman of the House Administration Committee, was implicated in the FBI sting operation known as Abscam, when an undercover agent pretending to be an Arab sheik offered the congressman a cash bribe to help him circumvent federal immigration laws.

Republican Christopher Smith was the 25-year-old executive director of New Jersey Right to Life when he challenged Thompson in 1978. He lost by 24 points.

But with Thompson under indictment, Smith beat Thompson by 26,967 votes, a 47%-41% margin. Hes held the seat for the last 41 years.

Hughes held the 2nd district seat in 1976 against the strongest possible Republican challenger, Assemblyman James Hurley (R-Millville). He won 62%-38% in a district where Carter beat Ford by two points.

In the 15th district, Republicans nearly unseated Patten.

details began emerging about Pattens involvement in the Koreagate scandal. Lobbyist Tongsun Park was charged with using funds provided by the government of South Korea to bribe six congressmen as part of a bid to ensure that the United States kept their military presence there.

The allegation against Patten was that he solicited an illegal campaign contribution from Park, including funds that found their way into the account of the Middlesex County Democrats. Patten allegedly took cash contributions from Park and then wrote personal checks to the county organization.

A 30-year-old Edison attorney, George Spadoro, challenged Patten in the Democratic primary and held him to 59% of the vote, a 6,323-vote plurality. (Spadoro would later become the mayor of Edison and an assemblyman.)

Summer headlines on Koreagate dominated the summer news, as well as Pattens testimony before the House Ethics Committee. Patten steadfastly proclaimed his innocence. In October, the Ethics panel voted unanimously to clear him of the charges. And the Friday before the election, state Attorney General John Degnan announced that he had cleared Patten of any wrongdoing in Koreagate, which had become a state issue since some of the contributions had come to the county party organization.

Patten also faced allegations that he failed to disclose his assets as required by House rules. Patten had filed a financial disclosure saying that he had no personal assets; he eventually announced that all his assets were in his wifes name.

The scandal took its toll on Patten. He won re-election, but just narrowly 48%46%, with a plurality of only 2,836 votes, against Republican Charles Wiley, a conservative radio commentator from Sayreville.

New Jersey lost one congressional seat after the 1980 census.

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The time NJ Republicans won the congressional map but lost the election - New Jersey Globe | New Jersey Politics

Looming over the Democratic primary is a political environment likely benefiting Republicans amplified by the GOPs victory in neighboring Virginia last month. One of the Democratic hopefuls told POLITICO he thinks 2022 could be the most difficult election for his party in a half-century.

The roster of candidates includes King, who is Afro-Latino; former Prince Georges County executive Rushern Baker and author Wes Moore, who are both Black; former DNC chair Tom Perez, the son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic; and former Obama administration official Ashwani Jain, who is Indian American.

Among the white candidates are longtime state Comptroller Peter Franchot and former state Attorney General Doug Gansler, as well as nonprofit executive Jon Baron; and Jerome Segal, who unsuccessfully tried to primary Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin in 2018.

The demographics of the state are a key factor: Maryland is among the most racially diverse states in the country, and white people make up only roughly 4-in-10 voters in the Democratic primary.

According to the Census Bureaus Diversity Index a formula that measures the probability that two people chosen randomly will be from different ethnic or racial groups Maryland saw the largest gain of any state in the U.S. since 2010.

Moore, the only one of the Democratic candidates who lives in Baltimore, thinks the party should lean into the history-making nature of its field.

It's not lost on me that we've only had two African Americans elected as governor in this country's history, Moore said.

The reason that people become so excited about the history-making fashion of this is there is hope that [Maryland] can cross this hurdle is something that people think is real in our campaign, said Moore, a first-time political candidate and former CEO of the anti-poverty organization Robin Hood, who has picked up endorsements from several state and local lawmakers as well as two former state party chairs.

Staffers and candidates in the state caution that the race is still in its infancy. No candidate has launched a TV ad yet for the late-June primary, and candidates cant file to officially get on the ballot until mid-February. Operatives point to a Jan. 20 campaign finance report deadline as an early first barometer for the seriousness of candidates.

Party leaders in the state project optimism despite the crowded field, with no clear-cut frontrunner at this early stage. I think it actually helps the party because it brings in a variety of perspectives, said Yvette Lewis, the state Democratic Party chair. That speaks to who we are as Democrats.

Yet recent history has not been kind to Maryland Democratic gubernatorial candidates, either. After Martin OMalley scored back-to-back terms in 2006 and 2010, Democrats lost subsequent governor elections to Hogan.

He trounced former NAACP CEO Ben Jealous in 2018, in a year that was otherwise a wave year for Democrats nationally. Four years earlier, Hogan shocked pundits by toppling a Democrat Anthony Brown, who was OMalleys lieutenant governor and seen as the favorite to be the states first Black governor.

In 2014, we were coming off of an eight-year run of almost annual tax increases, said Brown, who is now a member of Congress and is running for state attorney general in 2022.

While he feels this was the right approach in the years immediately following the great recession, Brown says a tax weary electorate took a chance on Hogan, who painted himself as a Republican businessman who would roll back taxes.

So a personal narrative is going to be important in 2022. But we're also going to have to make sure that we are speaking directly to issues that Marylanders are focused on, Brown said. And that means speaking to pocketbook issues.

Two Democratic candidates who came up short in previous gubernatorial bids say theyve also learned from past races.

Gansler, the former state attorney general who is running in the more moderate lane of the gubernatorial primary, said that Democrats recent losses in the state coupled with an expected tough political climate for the party nationally are why the party should nominate a candidate best suited to win the general election.

We have the most Democratic state in the country yet we lost three of the last five elections, said Gansler, who also finished second in the 2014 primary. Looking forward to next year, were staring at headwinds of what appears to be the biggest Republican year in the last 50 years.

The idea that somebody that might come out of the Democratic primary thats never held a political office and then try to take on the Hogan machine in an incredibly Republican year is myopic, he said.

Baker, who finished second in the Democratic primary in 2018, is also leaning on his tenure in government as the selling point this cycle. He ticked off three issues around which hes framing his campaign: health care, crime and education.

Asked about his loss to Jealous in the 2018 primary, Baker said his campaign was too focused on his home base in majority-Black Prince Georges County, at the expense of voters in and around Baltimore City, who didnt get a chance to know him. Of Marylands 24 counties, Baker carried only Prince Georges and neighboring Calvert, and was blown out in other parts of the state.

I tried to run a race where everyone told me I was in the lead at that time and everyone said, 'Here's what you do: You play it safe.' And that's a mistake," Baker said.

And Franchot, who has been the states chief financial officer since 2007, is also leaning on his campaign experience. The path to victory is that I have a base, and I have four statewide elections under my belt, he said. The rest of the field is fractured by very impressive, well-financed folks, but the path to victory is pretty clear.

He, too, sold himself as a strong general election candidate, and said he had no regrets, no doubts at all, about his non-endorsement in the 2018 race where he declined to back Jealous against Hogan, whom he has praised and any potential blowback this year.

For his part, King is leaning into his bailiwick: education. To bolster his liberal bonafides, then-President Barack Obamas final education secretary launched a digital ad this month challenging national Republicans characterizations that critical race theory is bigoted and racist.

The framework of the theory, developed by Black legal scholars in the 1970s, is based on the idea that race and racism are ingrained in American institutions since slavery and Jim Crow. Its become a hot-button issue in recent elections as some Republican-backed state houses have sought to ban its teaching in schools, even in jurisdictions where its not part of school curricula.

Some far-right politicians want to erase my story, says King says in the ad, who can trace his family lineage back to slavery in Gaithersburg, in now-suburban Montgomery County.

Perez the former DNC chair who also served as both the federal and state labor secretary and recently secured the endorsement of House Speaker and Baltimore native Nancy Pelosi says he plans to lean into unions for support.

"I'm proud of the support I've had in labor," Perez said, citing the role public- and private-sector unions played in helping New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy secure a second term last month, even as Democrats lost Virginia.

The race also includes two other candidates: Nonprofit executive Jon Baron; and Jerome Segal, who unsuccessfully tried to primary Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin in 2018, both of whom are white.

Marylands demographic shifts may be a boon for Democrats heading into 2022. The state saw jumps in its Asian and Hispanic populations, while the white population fell to 47 percent in 2020, down from 55 percent a decade earlier.

Black residents still make up the largest minority population, but their 29 percent of the state population remained unchanged from the 2010 census.

For Maryland Republicans seeking to retain the control of the governors mansion, the states Black population holding steady could be seen as a positive.

Mileah Kromer, the director of the Sarah T. Hughes Center for Politics at Goucher College which conducts polling in the state, says that Hogan was able to attract about 30 percent of Black voters in 2018.

But it's not clear his brand of moderate Republicanism is transferable to other candidates.

There has not been any evidence of Hogan coattails in the state, Kromer told . So that leads to the discussion of whether Hogan is a unique entity and whether that sort of brand can be run on again.

Republican Kelly Schulz, the state commerce secretary, could make history of her own by becoming the first woman to serve as Maryland governor.

She is facing state Del. Daniel Cox, who has the backing of former President Donald Trump. Schulz sidestepped questions about Trumps endorsement and its effect on the race, while highlighting Hogans support of her candidacy. She cast her candidacy as one of continuity of the popular outgoing governors tenure.

My campaign is the only campaign that is going to continue to move Maryland in the direction that Marylanders are very, very comfortable with right now."

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Dems face off in Maryland primary in an incredibly Republican year - POLITICO

Democrats are defending the narrowest of Senate majorities in 2022 as Republicans look to fight their way back into power after a series of crushing defeats.

While Democrats are going on offense in a handful of states where GOP incumbents are retiring, the party is also facing strong national headwinds in their bid to hold onto the Senate. The party of a new president in this case President BidenJoe BidenThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Bidens: Desmond Tutu's legacy will 'echo throughout the ages' Media love bad news; you don't have to MORE almost always loses ground in Congress in midterm elections.

Given Democrats slim Senate majority, control of the upper chamber is likely to come down to just a handful of states. Here are the 10 races that will decide the Senate majority next year:

Pennsylvania

With President Bidens narrow victory in the state last year and the coming retirement of Sen. Pat ToomeyPatrick (Pat) Joseph ToomeyMeet Washington's most ineffective senator: Joe Manchin Black women look to build upon gains in coming elections Watch live: GOP senators present new infrastructure proposal MORE (R-Pa.), Pennsylvania may well offer Democrats their best chance to pick up a new Senate seat in 2022.

So far, more than half a dozen Democrats have entered the race to succeed Toomey, including Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, Rep. Conor Lamb (Pa.) and Montgomery County Board of Commissioners Chair Val Arkoosh.

And while the Democratic primary field has yet to yield a clear front-runner, the Republican field is just as fluid.

Sean Parnell, who had won former President Donald TrumpDonald TrumpThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority How American conservatives normalize anti-Semitism VP dilemma: The establishment or the base? MOREs endorsement and was seen as the likely GOP front-runner, dropped out of the race last month amid a series of personal controversies, leaving a vacuum on the Republican side. The entrance of celebrity physician Mehmet OzMehmet OzThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority McCormick drawing support from Trump alumni ahead of Pennsylvania Senate bid McCormick moves closer to Senate run in Pennsylvania MORE into the GOP primary in late November only served to shake up the race further.

Georgia

Sen. Raphael WarnockRaphael WarnockThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Democrats set for showdown over filibuster, voting rights History shows only a new Voting Rights Act can preserve our fragile democracy MORE (D-Ga.) is heading into 2022 fresh off a history-making victory in a January runoff, making the 2022 Senate contest in Georgia a test of whether Democrats can maintain their momentum in a state that has only recently become a battleground.

Republicans argue, however, that the state still leans in their direction, especially in a midterm year that is expected to be unfriendly for Democrats.

Former football star Herschel Walker, who has high name recognition in the state as well as Trumps endorsement, has emerged as the favorite for the GOP nomination. And while he still faces some primary opposition, top Republicans including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Let's be honest: 2021 wasn't all bad Your 2021 holiday dinner political survival guide MORE (Ky.) have coalesced around Walker, seeing him as the best candidate to oust Warnock next year.

Given both Trumps involvement in the race and Democrat Stacey Abramss entrance into the contest for Georgia governor, the 2022 Senate election in Georgia is quickly emerging as the epicenter of the battle for control of the upper chamber.

Arizona

Like Warnock, Sen. Mark KellyMark KellyThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Senate Democrats press for info on nursing home boosters Democrats mull hardball tactics to leapfrog parliamentarian on immigration MORE (D-Ariz.) is heading into his 2022 reelection bid having just run a competitive race in 2020, and hes among the GOPs top targets in the Senate.

But before they can take on Kelly directly, Republicans will first have to resolve a relatively crowded primary.

While polling shows state Attorney General Mark Brnovich leading his rivals for the GOP nomination, Trump has somewhat complicated that picture by publicly taunting Brnovich for not doing more to reverse Bidens win in Arizona in the 2020 presidential election. Trump also appeared at a fundraiser for another GOP candidate, Blake Masters, at Mar-a-Lago last month.

The eventual winner of the Republican primary will have to contend with Kelly, one of the most prolific fundraisers in the Senate, in the 2022 general election. Still, with Democrats facing tough national headwinds next year, Kellys seat is far from safe.

Wisconsin

Sen. Ron JohnsonRonald (Ron) Harold JohnsonThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Ukraine president, US lawmakers huddle amid tensions with Russia The Memo: Nation's racial reckoning plays out in 2021's big trials MORE (R-Wis.), one of the most despised figures by the left, hasnt yet said whether he will seek another term in the Senate in 2022, leaving Wisconsin Republicans in limbo for the time being.

The field of Democrats vying to take Johnson on, however, is vast. So far, Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes has led his top primary rivals in fundraising, while also picking up high-profile endorsements from the likes of Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth WarrenThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Cardin on future of Biden spending bill: 'A lot of us are gonna be disappointed' Elizabeth Warren goes to war against SpaceX's Elon Musk MORE (D-Mass.).

Still, Wisconsin wont hold its primaries until August, leaving the nominating contest far from settled. Meanwhile, Johnson indicated last month that he will make a decision on his political future soon. If Johnson chooses to seek another term, hell be the only GOP Senate incumbent to seek reelection in a state that Biden won in 2020.

Nevada

Former Nevada state Attorney General Adam Laxalt is the likely GOP favorite to challenge Sen. Catherine Cortez MastoCatherine Marie Cortez MastoThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Democrats mull hardball tactics to leapfrog parliamentarian on immigration Senate parliamentarian rejects Democrats' third immigration offer MORE (D-Nev.) next year. Hes already picked up the support of both Trump and McConnell, and has the benefit of already having run statewide, both successfully and unsuccessfully.

Democrats have been eager to cast Laxalt as a Trump acolyte who has backed the former presidents false claim that the 2020 election was rigged. Theyre also quick to note that Laxalt lost his 2018 bid for the Nevada governors mansion.

Still, theres little doubt that Nevada is in play for the GOP. Trump lost the state last year by only 2 points. At the same time, Republicans picked up some support among Latino voters in 2020, which could give Democrats a rockier path to victory next year.

North Carolina

Despite Trumps victories in the state in 2016 and 2020, North Carolina remains nearly evenly split between the two parties statewide. At the same time, Sen. Richard BurrRichard Mauze BurrThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Pelosi faces pushback over stock trade defense Members of Congress not running for reelection in 2022 MOREs (R-N.C.) decision to retire after his current term expires in 2023 has created a classic battleground scenario.

While 2020 proved disappointing for North Carolina Democrats Trump narrowly carried the state, while Sen. Thom TillisThomas (Thom) Roland TillisThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority North Carolina Democrat Jeff Jackson drops out of Senate race The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Uber - Senate debt limit drama ends; Trump legal troubles rise MORE (R-N.C.) beat Democrat Cal Cunningham in a hotly contested Senate race the party is hoping to make a comeback in 2022, even in the face of national challenges for Democrats.

For now, the Republican primary field is mired in division. Trump has endorsed Rep. Ted BuddTheodore (Ted) Paul BuddThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Members of Congress not running for reelection in 2022 North Carolina Democrat Jeff Jackson drops out of Senate race MORE (R-N.C.) for the GOP Senate nomination, but former Gov. Pat McCrory is putting up a tough fight. Another GOP candidate, former Rep. Mark WalkerBradley (Mark) Mark WalkerThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority North Carolina Democrat Jeff Jackson drops out of Senate race Democrat Jeff Jackson set to exit North Carolina Senate race: report MORE (N.C.), is considering a possible run for the House instead, though he has said he will remain in the Senate contest for the time being.

Former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley is the favorite to win the Democratic nomination. State Sen. Jeff Jackson exited the Democratic field earlier this month and threw his support behind Beasley.

Ohio

Democrats, for the most part, have rallied around Rep. Tim RyanTimothy (Tim) RyanThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Democrats confront rising retirements as difficult year ends Members of Congress not running for reelection in 2022 MORE (D-Ohio) as their choice to succeed retiring Sen. Rob PortmanRobert (Rob) Jones PortmanThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Ukraine president, US lawmakers huddle amid tensions with Russia Members of Congress not running for reelection in 2022 MORE (R-Ohio) next year, seeing him as the kind of candidate capable of replicating the success of Sen. Sherrod BrownSherrod Campbell BrownThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Ukraine president, US lawmakers huddle amid tensions with Russia Equilibrium/Sustainability New life blossoms in Antarctic ice shelf MORE (Ohio), the last remaining statewide elected Democrat in Ohio.

In the Republican field meanwhile, the candidates have lurched to the right in an effort to capitalize on Trumps success in the state in 2016 and 2020.

The former president has yet to endorse in the contest, but that hasnt stopped several of the top candidates including former state Treasurer Josh Mandel, entrepreneur and author JD Vance and former state GOP Chair Jane Timken from fighting over their loyalty to Trump.

Still, Democrats have had a tough run in Ohio in recent years, leading some to question its status as a political battleground, and for now, its still seen as leaning in the GOPs favor in 2022.

New Hampshire

Republicans were dealt a blow last month when New Hampshire Gov. Chris SununuChris SununuThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Sunday shows - Manchin says he cannot back Biden spending plan Sununu won't say if he would support a Trump 2024 run MORE announced that he would seek reelection next year instead of challenging Sen. Maggie HassanMargaret (Maggie) HassanThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Don't just delay student debt, prevent it Democrats set for showdown over filibuster, voting rights MORE (D-N.H.), denying Senate GOP leaders one of their top recruits of the 2022 elections.

Still, Republicans are bullish about their chances of ousting Hassan next year, even without Sununu in the race, arguing that she remains one of the most vulnerable Democratic Senate incumbents in the country. A University of New Hampshire poll conducted in October found Hassans favorability underwater at 33 percent to 51 percent.

Nevertheless, Republicans have yet to coalesce around a single candidate to take her on. Another potential heavyweight contender, former Sen. Kelly AyotteKelly Ann AyotteThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Manchin, Sanders will oppose Biden FDA nominee Califf Sununu setback leaves GOP scrambling in New Hampshire MORE (R-N.H.), also announced in November that she would not run.

Florida

Rep. Val DemingsValdez (Val) Venita DemingsThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Members of Congress not running for reelection in 2022 Key centrist Democrat Stephanie Murphy won't seek reelection MORE (D-Fla.) has emerged as the leading candidate to take on Sen. Marco RubioMarco Antonio RubioThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Biden signs bill punishing China for Uyghur abuses Equilibrium/Sustainability New life blossoms in Antarctic ice shelf MORE (R-Fla.), giving Florida Democrats a high-profile name on the ticket in 2022.

But beating Rubio isnt going to be an easy task. For one, Democrats have been dealt a series of stinging defeats in Florida in recent years, most recently in 2020 when Trump carried it by a more-than-3-point margin a relative landslide by Sunshine State standards.

And for the first time in modern history, Republican registered voters now outnumber Democrats.

Still, Demings is a prolific fundraiser, raking in nearly $8.5 million in the third quarter of 2021 alone. And despite the GOPs newfound voter registration advantage, Republicans say theyre taking the Senate race seriously, well aware of how expensive and unpredictable Florida can be.

Missouri

Missouri has, for the most part, become safe territory for Republicans, handing Trump a 15-point win in the 2020 presidential election.

While theres a crowded field of Republicans seeking the nomination to succeed retiring Sen. Roy BluntRoy Dean BluntThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Blunt blasts Democratic 'gimmicks' in Build Back Better as bill's future remains in jeopardy Sunday show preview: Omicron surges, and Harris sits for extensive interview MORE (R-Mo.) next year, many GOP operatives remain concerned that the state could become competitive for Democrats if disgraced former Gov. Eric Greitens wins the Republican nod.

Trump hasnt endorsed in the Senate race yet, though he hasnt ruled out the possibility of backing Greitens, who resigned from the governors mansion in 2018 following an investigation into allegations of sexual and campaign misconduct.

There are still a handful of other Republicans seeking their partys nomination to succeed Blunt, including Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Reps. Vicky HartzlerVicky Jo HartzlerThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Photos of the Year Members of Congress not running for reelection in 2022 MORE (Mo.) and Billy LongWilliam (Billy) H. LongThe 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Members of Congress not running for reelection in 2022 Republicans fret over Trump's influence in Missouri Senate race MORE (Mo.).

Democrats are also contending with a primary of their own. Who emerges from the two nominating contests could determine just how competitive the Senate race in Missouri will be.

--Updated on Dec. 27.

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USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Editorial Board| Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Voting is the beating heart of democracy, the way we claim control of this government ofthe people. But in Wisconsin, an infection in the bloodstream of the body politicis threatening our ability to be self-governing.

Donald Trumps repeated lies about the 2020 election over the past year have put our democracy at grave risk, but he has not done this alone. His enablers, from U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, haverefused to stand up to a dangerous man.

If they wont do their duty, then citizens must: TellJohnson, Vos and the rest to stop undermining confidencein Wisconsin elections.

EDITORIAL: Ron Johnson's dangerous shilling for Donald Trump makes him unfit to represent Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate

EDITORIAL: Ron Johnson, Scott Fitzgerald and Tom Tiffany should resign or be expelled for siding with Trump against our republic

EDITORIAL: Michael Gableman's sham investigation is a threat to democracy. A Republican leader just called him out.

Here are the facts. Donald Trump lost the popular vote in Wisconsin by about 20,600 votes; he lost nationally by 7 million. Recounts in Milwaukee and Dane counties last year confirmed that he lost. Courts repeatedly threw out ludicrous challenges by Trump backers.

A legislative audit found nothing that would call the results into question.

A conservative group found no widespread fraud.

And an Associated Press review of every potential case of voter fraud in six battleground states that the former president complained about foundfewer than 475 votes in dispute.Biden won Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin; thedisputed ballots represent just 0.15% of his margin in those states.

In other words, there was no steal and nothing to investigate. Just lies.

But the Republican sycophants in Wisconsininsist on appeasing Trump.

After Trump hectored him last summer for not doing enough to investigate and spread the former presidents lies, Vos launched a partisan review with former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman at the helm. Gableman bungled it, choosing to talk to more conspiracy theorists than electionexperts. His work has been anembarrassment to the state,even to many Republicans.

In November, Johnson literally called for the takeover of federal elections by the partisans in the Wisconsin Legislature. In other words, his own party. Johnsonsaidlocal officials should ignore the bipartisan Elections Commission that his own party set up six years ago.

Thestench of racism permeates much of this, especiallyefforts by Republicans to clamp down on access to voting. People of color are likely to be most affected.

But the lying also corrodes trust in the most basic act of democracy.

A wide majority of Republicans 68% nationwide according to a Marquette University Law School Poll in November dont have confidence in the 2020 election.

This growing lack of trust opens the door for more problems in 2024. If every election a politician loses is now somehow rigged, then the very idea of elections is suspect.

This breakdown in faith could lead to what Trump falsely claims happened to him: a stolen election.

Imagine if in 2024 a Democrat once again carries the popular vote in Wisconsin in a close presidential election, but the Republican-dominated Legislature chooses to certify an alternative slate of electors to cast the state's 10 electoral votes. It could make the chaos following the 2020 vote look like child's play.

Johnson would be happy to take the first step toward such a corruption: He would seizecontrol of election oversight taking that job away from a bipartisan commission. Similar efforts are ongoingin other battleground states.

Laura Thornton, director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, has seen it all before. The German Marshall Fund is a non-partisan policy organization that advocates for democracy and human rights around the world.

I spent more than two decades living and working overseas to advance democracy and credible elections giving me plenty of opportunity to see the lengths to which autocrats will go to gain power,"Thornton wrote of Wisconsin recently.

"Even so, the proposed Wisconsin power grab is shocking in its brazenness. If this occurred in any of the countries where the United States provides aid, it would immediately be called out as a threat to democracy.

RELATED: Why international election observers would give Wisconsin a failing grade

We believe the state should do all it can to make it easier for everyone to vote. With that in mind, we supported drop boxes and other outreach, especially with a deadly pandemic raging. But there is also no doubt that the conduct of elections can be improved.

Installing cameras to monitor drop boxes strikes us as a reasonable idea. Beginning the counting of absentee ballots before election night so the final results can be learned earlier is another.

EDITORIAL: Wisconsin should allow clerks to start counting absentee ballots before Election Day

Unfortunately, instead of actually caring about improvingelections, Johnson,Vos,and others in the Legislature have chosento pander to Trump.

Citizens canstill have the final say, but they mustband together now to protest this nonsense. Now is the time not next year, not the year after.

Now is the time to tell these so-called leaders to find their backbones and stand up to Trump.

To tell them to cut offGablemans $676,000 taxpayer-funded budget.

To tell them towork with Gov. Tony Evers on constructive changes that strengthensthe electoral process for all Wisconsinites.

To tell them to let the Elections Commission do its work.

And, perhaps most important,to insist that they respect the results of elections.

When leaders are so willingto put at risk the most successful democratic experiment in human history, the beating heart of democracy is in danger.

But it's not too late to defend it.

Editorials are a product of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin editorial board, which operatesindependently fromthe network's news departments. Email:jsedit@jrn.com

Why we write editorials. Meet theeditorial board.

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Democracy is at risk from repeated Republican lying about the 2020 election. You can stop this nonsense. - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel