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Democrats are rightfully ecstatic that they won two of the three 2019 elections for governor in deep red Southern states, overcoming relentless campaign visits by President Donald Trump. But in truth, their twin triumphs had less to do with Trump and more to do with GOP Gov. Matt Bevin's toxicity in Kentucky and Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards's popularity in Louisiana.

Edwards and Democratic Gov.-elect Andy Beshear ran well ahead of Hillary Clinton's 2016 support virtually everywhere in their states. But the results also reaffirmed where Democrats' true opportunity lies in 2020: suburbs with lots of college-educated whites.

Democratic victories in Kentucky (where Trump won by a huge 30 points in 2016) and Louisiana (where Trump won by 20 points), are all the more impressive because turnout skyrocketed compared to the races four years ago. In Kentucky, the number of votes cast spiked 51 percent over 2015, and in Louisiana, votes cast surged 31 percent far higher than the 21 percent increase in Mississippi, where Democrats fell short.

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But a closer look at the results suggests it wasn't necessarily higher turnout that put Edwards and Beshear over the top. In both Kentucky and Louisiana, turnout surged strongly in both heavily blue and heavily red parts of each state, suggesting both Trump and the Democrats were effective in galvanizing their supporters to the polls.

Instead, the difference-maker in both cases was big Democratic gains in those suburbs that have high shares of college-educated white voters. For example, Edwards won 57 percent in Jefferson Parish, just outside New Orleans, compared with 51 percent in his 2015 race. And Beshear took 42 percent of the vote in Boone County, just outside Cincinnati, Ohio, compared with 32 percent for Democrat Jack Conway four years prior.

Overall, Democrats' narrow wins in both races wouldn't have been possible without changing suburban attitudes. In the aggregate, blue gains in the 20 Kentucky counties and Louisiana parishes with the highest shares of whites with college degrees concentrated in the New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Louisville, Lexington and Cincinnati metro areas were barely enough to offset Republican gains elsewhere.

The continued migration of highly college-educated suburbs away from Republicans in the Trump era is welcome news for Democrats. The Kentucky and Louisiana results are a continuation of midterm gains for Democrats in places like the suburbs of Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Charleston and Oklahoma City.

However, robust turnout in more rural parts of Kentucky and Louisiana is a silver lining for Trump. More critically, Democratic gains among suburban college-educated whites and relative stagnation among other voters could actually widen Trump's advantage in the Electoral College relative to the popular vote.

Of the dozen states where college graduates make up over 40 percent of all eligible white voters California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Virginia none are likely to be decisive in the race for the Electoral College.

In other words, unless Democrats are able to retain support among other groups in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, they risk further adding to their vote-wasting problem in 2020, which could allow Trump to win re-election while losing the popular vote by 5 million or possibly more.

David Wasserman

David Wasserman, House editor for The Cook Political Report, is an NBC News contributor and senior analyst with the NBC Election Unit.

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Democrats are making big gains in the suburbs. Here's why that may not be enough to beat Trump. - NBC News

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b : one who practices social equality

2 capitalized : a member of the Democratic party of the U.S.

a true democrat, he has always abhorred that nation's class system

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'democrat.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

1789, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

borrowed from French dmocrate, derivative from the base of dmocratie democracy or dmocratique democratic, probably after aristocrate aristocrat

More Definitions for democrat

1 : a person who believes in or practices democracy

2 capitalized : a member of the Democratic party of the United States

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Democrat | Definition of Democrat by Merriam-Webster

For over a century, the Democratic Party dominated Georgia state and local politics.

From 1872 to 2002, the Democratic Party controlled the Governor's Mansion, both houses of the state legislature and most statewide offices.

In 1976, Democratic Governor Jimmy Carter (1971-1975) was elected the 39th President of the United States.

After switching to the Republican Party in 1998, Sonny Perdue went on to defeat Democrat Roy Barnes in the 2002 gubernatorial election. Perdue's unexpected victory marked the beginning of a decline for the Democratic Party of Georgia.

Georgia House Speaker Tom Murphy, the longest serving Speaker in any state legislature, lost his bid for another term in the state House.[1] Four Democrats in the Georgia State Senate changed their political affiliation, handing the upper house to the GOP. And in 2004, the Democratic Party lost control of the Georgia House of Representatives, putting the party in the minority for the first time in Georgia history.

The Democratic Party of Georgia entered the 2010 elections with hopes that former Governor Roy Barnes could win back the Governor's Mansion. Polls showed a tight race between Barnes and Republican gubernatorial nominee Nathan Deal,[2] with some predicting a runoff election.[3] However, on election day, Republicans won every statewide office.[4]

The Chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia is Nikema Williams. Porter was elected in August 2013 via special election and was reelected in January 2015 to serve a full four-year term. In 2019, First Vice Chair Nikema Williams was voted to succeed him.

Seven individualsChairman DuBose Porter, First Vice Chair Nikema Williams, Wendy Davis, former state AFL-CIO President Richard Ray, Sally Rosser, State Representative Pamela Stephenson and former state Democratic Party Chairman David Worleywere elected to represent Georgia on the Democratic National Committee.

State Representative Robert Trammell serves as Minority Leader in the Georgia House of Representatives.[5] State Senator Steve Henson serves as Minority Leader in the Georgia Senate.[6]

Officers of the Democratic Party of Georgia are elected by the state Democratic committee at a January meeting following each regular gubernatorial election.[7] Democratic Party of Georgia officers serve four-year terms, and there is no limit on the number of terms an individual can serve as a Democratic Party of Georgia officer. Below are the current officers of the Democratic Party of Georgia:[8]

Five Democrats represent Georgia in the United States House of Representatives. The Democrats do not hold either of the two United State Senate seats. To date, the last Democratic senator from Georgia was Zell Miller, serving from 2000 to 2005.

Members of United States Congress

The Democratic Party of Georgia controls none of the fourteen state constitutional offices. The Democrats control 20 of the 56 senatorial seats and 63 of 180 state house seats. Two-year terms of office apply to both houses, and the entire membership of each body is elected at the same time in even-numbered years.

Since 1948, the Democrats have secured the state of Georgia 7 times, while the Republican party secured Georgia 8 times. However, during the past 6 presidential elections, the Democrats won the state of Georgia only once, in 1992. Bill Clinton won 43.47% of the vote while incumbent President George H.W. Bush carried 42.88%, while losing his quest for a 2nd term.

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Democratic Party of Georgia - Wikipedia

Elections in New Jersey are authorized under Article II of the New Jersey State Constitution, which establishes elections for the governor, the lieutenant governor, and members of the New Jersey Legislature. Elections are regulated under state law, Title 19. The office of the New Jersey Secretary of State has a Division of Elections that oversees the execution of elections under state law (This used to be the New Jersey Attorney General). In addition, the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) is responsible for administering campaign financing and lobbying disclosure.

Historically, it has voted about half the time, nationally, for each of the two major parties since 1860.[1] Traditionally a swing state, It has voted Democratic in recent decades. The governorship has alternated between the two major parties since the election of Democrat Richard J. Hughes in 1961, with a succession of Republicans and Democrats serving as governor. The New Jersey Legislature has also switched hands over the years, and one house was evenly divided from 19992001, when the Democrats took control. Three of the last four gubernatorial elections have been close. New Jersey leans Democratic in national elections. The Congressional seats have been as evenly divided over the decades, with little change due to political trends in the state. New Jersey currently has a Democratic governor, Phil Murphy and recently elected their second lieutenant governor, Democrat Sheila Oliver.[2]

At the national level, the state favors the Democratic Party: Both of its Senators have been Democrats since 1982, and George H.W. Bush was the last Republican candidate for President to carry the state, in 1988. However, previous governor Chris Christie was a Republican serving from 2010 to 2018, as was Christine Todd Whitman, who served from 1994 to 2001.

New Jersey is split almost down the middle between the New York City and Philadelphia television markets, respectively the largest and fourth-largest markets in the nation. As a result, campaign budgets are among the largest in the country.

In 1776, the first Constitution of New Jersey was drafted. It was written during the Revolutionary War, and was created a basic framework for the state government. The constitution granted the right of suffrage to women and black men who met certain property requirements. The New Jersey Constitution of 1776[3] allowed "all inhabitants of this Colony, of full age, who are worth fifty pounds proclamation money" to vote. This included blacks, spinsters, and widows; married women could not own property under the common law. The Constitution declared itself temporary, and it was to be void if there was reconciliation with Great Britain.[4][5] Both parties in elections mocked the other party for relying on "petticoat electors" and accused the other of allowing unqualified women to vote.

The second version of the New Jersey State Constitution was written in 1844. The constitution provided the right of suffrage only to white males, removing it from women and black men. Some of the important components of the second State Constitution include the separation of the powers of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The new constitution also provided a bill of rights. The people had the right to directly elect the governor.

In national elections, the New Jersey has recently leaned towards the national Democratic Party.

For much of the second half of the 20th century, New Jersey was one of the most Republican states in the Northeast. It supported Republican presidential candidates in all but two elections from 1952 to 1988. It gave comfortable margins of victory to the Republican candidate in the close elections of 1948, 1968, and 1976. New Jersey was a crucial swing state in the elections of 1960, 1968, and 1992.

However, the brand of Republicanism in New Jersey has historically been a moderate one. As the national party tilted more to the right, the state's voters became more willing to support Democrats at the national level. This culminated in 1992, when Bill Clinton narrowly carried the state, becoming the first Democrat to win it since 1964. Since then, the only relatively close presidential race in New Jersey was in 2004, when Democrat John Kerry defeated George W. Bush in New Jersey by a margin of about seven percentage points. Clinton won it handily in 1996, and Al Gore won it almost as easily in 2000. In the 2008 and the 2012 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama carried the state by more than 15 percentage points. Hillary Clinton won it by over 14 points in 2016. Indeed, the 2004 election is the only election in recent years where the race hasn't been called for the Democrat soon after the polls closed. As a result, at the presidential level New Jersey is now considered part of the solid bloc of blue states in the Northeast.

The most recent victory by a Republican in a U.S. Senate race in the state was Clifford P. Case's reelection in 1972. Only Hawaii has had longer periods of exclusive Democratic victories in U.S. Senate races. The last Republican to hold a Senate seat from New Jersey was Jeffrey Chiesa, who was appointed a U.S. Senator by Governor Chris Christie in 2013 after Democrat Frank Lautenberg died in office. Chiesa served four months in office and did not seek election in his own right.

After Kean won the biggest victory for a gubernatorial race in New Jersey in 1985, no Republican ever won 50 percent of the vote in a New Jersey election for three decades until Chris Christie was re-elected in 2013 with 60% of the vote. Christine Todd Whitman was elected governor with 49 percent of the vote in 1993 and with 47 percent in 1997.

On November 3, 2009, incumbent Democratic Governor Jon Corzine was unseated by Republican challenger Chris Christie. Christie's margin of victory was 49%-45%.[7] Four years later, Christie was reelected with 60 percent of the vote, becoming the first Republican to clear the 50 percent mark since 1985.

As New Jersey is split almost down the middle between the New York City and Philadelphia television markets, advertising budgets for statewide elections are among the most expensive in the country.

The state's Democratic strongholds include Mercer County around the cities of Trenton and Princeton; Essex and Hudson counties the state's two most urban counties, around the state's two largest cities, Newark and Jersey City; as well as Camden County and New Brunswick/Middlesex County and most of the other urban communities just outside Philadelphia and New York City. The northeastern and southwestern counties, with over two million voters between them, have made it extremely difficult in recent years for a Republican presidential candidate to carry New Jersey. In 2004, for instance, Bush lost the state largely due to being completely shut out in those areas.

The state's more rural to suburban northwestern counties are Republican strongholds, especially mountainous Sussex County, Morris County, Hunterdon County and Warren County. Somerset, a more rural northwestern county, also leans Republican but can be competitive in national races. In the 2004 presidential election, Bush received about 52% in Somerset and 60% in Hunterdon, while in rural Republican Sussex County, Bush garnered 64% of the vote. Parts of rural to suburban northwestern Bergen and Passaic counties which are also mountainous, are also usually Republican.

The southeastern counties along the coast also favor Republicans, notably Ocean County, Monmouth County, and Cape May County. However, Atlantic County, which includes urban Atlantic City, has recently swung Democratic in national elections.

About half of the counties in New Jersey, are considered swing counties, though most lean toward one party, usually the Democrats. For example, Bergen County is solidly Republican in the wealthier and in some places rural and mountainous north and solidly Democratic in the more urbanized south. Due to the influence of the south, Bergen County has not gone Republican in a presidential election since 1992. The same is true of Passaic County which has a densely populated, heavily Hispanic Democratic south and a rural Republican north. Some other counties such as Salem County lean Republican because the urbanized areas in those counties are relatively small compared to those of the more heavily Democratic counties. Statistically, Atlantic County is the most representative county.

Unaffiliated is a status for registered voters in New Jersey. Those voters who do not specify a political party affiliation when they register to vote are listed as unaffiliated.[8] Affiliated voters may change their status to unaffiliated or to another political party if they wish, although any such change must be filed with the state 55 days before the primary election.[8] As of 2017, there were 2.4 million unaffiliated voters in New Jersey, more than members of any party in the state.[9]

New Jersey is a closed primary state.[10] This means that only voters who affiliate with a political party may vote in that party's candidate selection process (i.e., the primary election). However, unaffiliated voters may declare their party affiliation up to and including the day of the primary election.[8] Unaffiliated status does not affect participation in general elections.

Following each decennial census, the New Jersey Redistricting Commission forms to realign the districts. New Jersey currently has 12 House districts In the 116th Congress, eleven of New Jersey's seats are held by Democrats and one is held by a Republican.

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Elections in New Jersey - Wikipedia

WASHINGTON The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, using a little-known provision in the federal tax code, formally requested on Wednesday that the I.R.S. hand over six years of President Trumps personal and business tax returns, starting what is likely to be a momentous fight with his administration.

Representative Richard E. Neal, Democrat of Massachusetts, hand-delivered a two-page letter laying out the request to Charles P. Rettig, the Internal Revenue Service commissioner, ending months of speculation about when he would do so and almost certainly prompting a legal challenge from the Trump administration.

Responding to questions from reporters in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump suggested that he would fight the request because, he said, he was being audited.

I guess when you have a name, you are audited, but until such time as Im not under audit I would not be inclined to do that, he said.

[Read Mr. Neals letter to the I.R.S. commissioner.]

The move by Mr. Neal came as other panels controlled by House Democrats were flexing their muscles. The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning authorized its chairman to use a subpoena to try to force the Justice Department to give Congress a full copy of the special counsels report and all of the underlying evidence used to reach his conclusions on Russian interference in the 2016 election.

And the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee said that he would soon ask for a vote on a subpoena of his own to compel Mazars USA, an accounting firm tied to the president, to produce a decades worth of Mr. Trumps financial records.

They have told us that they will provide the information pretty much when they have a subpoena, the chairman, Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, told reporters. And well get them a subpoena.

Unlike the chairmen of other committees, Mr. Neal is not relying on a subpoena or standard congressional processes. Instead, he is invoking an authority enshrined in the tax code granted only to the tax-writing committees in Congress that gives the chairmen of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee the power to request tax information on any filer.

Mr. Neal gave the agency until April 10 to comply with the request, and if he receives the information, he will then confidentially review it with his committee staff.

The provision, which dates in some form to the Teapot Dome scandal of Warren G. Hardings administration, at least on its face gives the Trump administration little room to decline a request like Mr. Neals. It only says that the Treasury secretary shall furnish the information.

President Trump is the first president in nearly a half century to break precedent and refuse to voluntarily release his tax returns, said Representative Dan Kildee, Democrat of Michigan and a member of the Ways and Means Committee. The president is the only person who can sign bills into law, and the public deserves to know whether the presidents personal financial interests affect his public decision making.

The Treasury Department and the I.R.S. did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

But Democrats anticipate that the Trump administration will object to the request and force the matter into the courts, where its adjudication could take months or longer. Though the provision No. 6103 in the tax code is invoked frequently by the committee, there is little precedent for using it to view the returns of a president who has not invited the scrutiny.

Republicans have vigorously argued against the request, saying that whatever justification Democrats produce will belie their true intent: to fish for information that could embarrass the president politically.

Representative Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, called the request an abuse of the tax-writing committees statutory authority.

Weaponizing our nations tax code by targeting political foes sets a dangerous precedent and weakens Americans privacy rights, Mr. Brady said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. As you know, by law all Americans have a fundamental right to the privacy of the personal information found in their tax returns.

Defying modern presidential norms, Mr. Trump has refused since he became a candidate for president to release any of his tax returns. Democrats suspect the tax information could provide clues to wrongdoing by Mr. Trump, and they made getting the documents one of their top oversight priorities when they reclaimed control of the House in January.

[A New York Times investigation showed that the president engaged in suspect tax schemes as he reaped riches from his father.]

Mr. Neal said he was making the request as part of his committees oversight of the extent to which the I.R.S. audits and enforces the federal tax laws against a president. Under I.R.S. policy, the personal tax returns of presidents and vice presidents are supposed to be automatically audited each year. Mr. Neal said the committee was considering legislation related to the issue.

I take the authority to make this request very seriously, and I approach it with the utmost care and respect, Mr. Neal said in a statement. This request is about policy, not politics; my preparations were made on my own track and timeline, entirely independent of other activities in Congress and the administration.

He added, I trust that in this spirit, the I.R.S. will comply with federal law and furnish me with the requested documents in a timely manner.

In addition to Mr. Trumps personal returns for 2013 to 2018, Mr. Neal requested returns for Mr. Trumps trust and seven other core Trump business entities that control scores of other Trump operations, including his golf club in Bedminster, N.J. He also asked the I.R.S. to share any information it had related to the entities, including whether they had been audited.

Liberal Democrats have complained for weeks that Mr. Neal, 70 and a roll-up-your-sleeves legislator, was dragging his feet on making the request. They have organized events in his district, taken out advertisements and produced legal briefs meant to make a case that he should act and act quickly.

Mr. Neal said throughout that he was chiefly concerned with crafting a request, alongside the House general counsel and the Ways and Means Committee staff, that could withstand legal challenge.

I am certain we are within our legitimate legislative, legal and oversight rights, he said on Wednesday.

In the Judiciary Committee, the chairman, Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, said he would not immediately issue the subpoena for the Mueller report. But the party-line vote won by Democrats who control the committee ratchets up pressure on Attorney General William P. Barr as he decides how much of the nearly 400-page report to share with lawmakers.

I will give him time to change his mind, Mr. Nadler said in his opening statement. But if we cannot reach an accommodation, then we will have no choice but to issue subpoenas for these materials.

The committee also approved subpoenas for five former White House aides who Democrats said were relevant to an investigation into possible obstruction of justice, abuse of power and corruption within the Trump administration.

They included Donald F. McGahn II, a former White House counsel; Stephen K. Bannon, the presidents former chief strategist; Hope Hicks, a former White House communications director; Reince Priebus, the presidents first chief of staff; and Annie Donaldson, a deputy of Mr. McGahn.

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House Democrat Demands Six Years of Trump Tax Returns From I ...