This is an excerpt from Incoming, BuzzFeed News’ morning newsletter dedicated to making sense of this chaotic world we live in. Join the club here.
Arizona went for Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020. This election, the state rejected MAGA candidates for Senate and governor.
Democrat gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs has won her race against Republican Kari Lake, Decision Desk announced Monday night. Additionally, incumbent Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly was reelected, defeating Republican candidate Blake Masters.
These results are a huge, and somewhat unexpected, victory for Democrats. The state, which voted for former president Donald Trump in 2016 and then President Joe Biden in 2020, was at the center of Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. On Tuesday, voters had a chance to embrace Trumpism with two Republicans who followed his playbook or to stick with the Democrats who had proudly — but barely — turned the state blue.
Retaining the Senate seat and turning the governor’s office blue also means more secure abortion rights in Arizona. Masters supported abortion restrictions and, during the Republican primary, described abortion as a form of “genocide.” Lake advocated for Arizona to enact a law similar to those in Texas and Georgia that ban abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy, and has called abortion the “ultimate sin.”
In contrast, newly elected Gov. Hobbs said that she would “use every tool at my disposal to restore and expand abortion rights in Arizona. And if any legislation restricting reproductive access arrives on my desk, I promise to use my veto plan to block it.”
At G20, world leaders condemn Russia
- At Indonesia's G20 conference — where 19 countries plus the EU gather to discuss global economic affairs — Western allies support a resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also called on Russia directly to withdraw its troops.
SNAPSHOTS
Three University of Virginia football players were killed in a campus shooting. Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler, and D’Sean Perry had been returning from a class field trip to see a play when a shooter opened fire inside the bus. Friends and family spoke about the three students' infectious energy and contributions to the community.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom, filmmaker and the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, took the stand in Harvey Weinstein’s second sexual assault trial. This story contains descriptions of sexual assault.
Jay Leno has been hospitalized with serious burn injuries after a car at his garage reportedly exploded. "I got some serious burns from a gasoline fire. I am ok. Just need a week or two to get back on my feet," Leno said in a statement provided to BuzzFeed News.
King Charles has asked Parliament to add his siblings Princess Anne and Prince Edward to the Counsellors of State. This proposed change would mean the King’s brother and sister could represent him if he is ill or outside of the UK.
Pete Davidson and Emily Ratajkowski were apparently seen "holding hands" after his split from Kim Kardashian. No, I can't believe I'm writing this either.
This is what a $100,000 income gets you in the US
A longtime aspirational income in the US, $100,000 is just above what many families earn these days. The median income for families (including single parents) was $91,000 in 2021, according to the Census Bureau, and about 45% of families earned $100,000 or more last year.
BuzzFeed News spoke to multiple people about what life on a household income of $100,000 looks like in 2022. Many shared a sense that while earning $100,000 was a relative privilege they're grateful for, it was not living up to their expectations of what making six figures would be like. Some still found getting ahead — for instance, buying a home, saving for retirement, or maintaining an emergency fund — surprisingly hard at this income level.
"If someone would have told me 10 years ago that I’d be making $95,000 base salary with commission, I would have thought, Well, this is it. We did it," Greg, a parent in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, told BuzzFeed News. "But no — this is the cost of living. I thought I’d be able to afford a house, but that $150,000 to $180,000 house is now costing $400,000 to $500,000."
Others don’t understand how to make our systems for saving and growing money work for them.
"When you step back, we’re actually very fortunate. I’ve never made this amount of money, and we don’t know how to manage it," said Alison, a 32-year-old raising her family in Birmingham, Alabama. "I wish there had just been a time in life where you were taught that, because I was not taught great money habits growing up."
IMAGE OF THE DAY
I actually thrive in the winter. Some experts helped me understand why.
While many people dread the end of daylight saving time and the “fall back” to standard time, I go to sleep knowing that I am entering my dark, gloomy, icy-cold prime, Katie Camero writes.
I know not everyone shares this sentiment, and that winter can be a difficult time for many people, including those experiencing homelessness, financial issues, or illness. That said, I know I’m not the only one who likes winter. So why is it that some people flourish in the frigid darkness while others would rather hibernate until it’s over?
In 2014, health psychologist Kari Leibowitz moved to Tromsø, Norway, to study how residents coped with the long winters, two months of which are spent in complete darkness because the sun never rises above the horizon. What she found was that people "didn't see winter as this terrible time of year that they had to survive,” Leibowitz said. “Instead they focused on all of the things that they enjoy about the winter and all of the opportunities provided by it.”
Even if you're in a mental health or life situation that makes it feel impossible to love winter, it's important to know how much of your mindset you can control and how much is influenced by other factors. Leibowitz’s advice for embracing winter is simple: “You might hate 99 things about the winter, but focus on that one thing” that sparks joy, no matter how small that spark may be.
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