US: MIDTERMS: GOP's Zeldin & Lake Refuse To Concede NY, AZ Gov Races

Nov-09 05:27

Two Republican challengers to incumbent Democratic governors are refusing to concede in races for the governors' mansions of the states of New York and Arizona, despite partial results indicating that they have lost these contests.

  • In New York CBS, CNN, NBC and ABC news have called the contest for incumbent Governor Kathy Hochul. However, in recent minutes Republican candidate Lee Zeldin has refused to concede the race, stating that "This race will get closer and closer as the night goes on." Data from NYT has Hochul leading Zeldin with 54.2% of the vote to 45.8% with 80% of the vote counted.
  • In Arizona results are in a much earlier stage, but early indications are that incumbent Democrat Katie Hobbs is well positioned to hold on, with CBS having the race as 'lean Democratic'. NYT has Hobbs leading Republican Kari Lake by 56.7% to 43.3% with 48% of votes counted.
  • In an address to supporters, Lake railed against the state's election system, “The system we have right now doesn’t work. We deserve to know the winners and losers on election night….we’re going to be patient. When we win, and I think it will be within hours... we will declare victory and get to turning this around. No more incompetency and no more corruption in Arizona elections!"

Historical bullets

LOOK AHEAD: UK Timeline of Key Events (Times BST)

Oct-10 05:23
Date Time Period Event
11-Oct 0001 Sep BRC-KPMG Shop Sales Monitor
11-Oct 0700 Aug Labour Market Survey
11-Oct 1900 ---- BOE Cunliffe Panels IIF Annual Meeting
11-Oct 1935 ---- BOE Bailey in Conversation w. Tim Adams at IIF Meeting
12-Oct 0700 Aug GDP (m)/Consutruction/Trade/Production/Services
12-Oct 0900 ---- BOE Haskel Speech at The Productivity Institute
12-Oct 1030 BOE FPC Sept 30 meet minutes
12-Oct 1235 ---- BOE Pill in Conversation with SCDI
12-Oct 1800 BOE Mann Canadian Association for Economics Webinar
13-Oct 0001 Sep RICS House Prices
13-Oct 1400 ---- BOE Mann Speech at Peterson Institute
15-Oct 1400 ---- BOE Bailey Opens/Panels Group of Thirty Seminar
17-Oct 0001 Sep Rightmove House Prices Index

LOOK AHEAD: Eurozone Timeline of Key Events (Times BST)

Oct-10 05:18
Date GMT/Local Country Event
10-Oct ---- EU ECB Lagarde at IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings
10-Oct 0930 EU Sentix Economic Index
10-Oct 1400 EU ECB Lane Opens ECB Monetary Policy Conference
11-Oct ---- EU ECB Panetta IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings
11-Oct 0900 IT Industrial Production
11-Oct 1345 EU ECB Lane Keynote Speech
11-Oct 1900 EU ECB Lane NY Fed Fireside Chat
12-Oct ---- EU ECB Lagarde & Panetta IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings
12-Oct 1000 EU Industrial Production
12-Oct 1430 EU ECB Lagarde in Conversation with Tim Adams (IIF)
13-Oct ---- EU ECB Lagarde & Panetta IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings
13-Oct 0700 DE HICP (f)
13-Oct 0830 EU ECB de Guindos Speech at (M&A) España y Europa Event

RUSSIA: Putin Calls Security Council Meeting After Crimean Bridge Blast

Oct-10 05:11

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the explosion that heavily damaged on the Crimean bridge on Saturday morning a "terrorist attack" and blamed it on Ukrainian secret services, accusing Kyiv of trying to destroy Russia's critically important civilian infrastructure.

  • The attack left the only bridge connecting mainland Russia with the Crimean Peninsula severely damaged, despite heightened security measures taken by the Russian military. It not only provided a key supply route for the Russian troops operating in southern Ukraine, but bears notable symbolic significance. The longest bridge in Europe, it was personally opened by Putin in 2018 to mark the annexation of Crimea and featured prominently in Russian state propaganda.
  • While the bridge was reportedly partly operational on Sunday, the importance of the attack cannot be overstated. Shipments of heavy weapons will remain disrupted for some time and Russia is struggling to establish secure supply lines across the newly annexed parts of Ukraine. A successful strike on such a critical object demonstrates Ukraine's capability to penetrate Russian defences, weighing on the morale of invading Russian troops. Furthermore, it makes any red lines set by Putin ring hollow, pressuring him to step up the intensity of his offensive to regain credibility.
  • Domestically, the attack has the potential to undermine public confidence in the Russian leadership, while exacerbating divisions in the ruling elite amid the search for a scape goat. The lack of an immediate, unified response from Moscow (there was some inconsistent communique from official propaganda in the initial hours) suggests that the top brass were taken by surprise. There is also growing backlash from pro-war hawks, amid reports of a brewing conflict between Defence Minister Shoigu and Wagner mercenary group leader Prigozhin.
  • Ukraine has not officially claimed responsibility for the attack but its leaders repeatedly expressed the intention to destroy the bridge. Local media (Ukrainska Pravda and UNIAN) ran source reports noting that the Security of Service of Ukraine was behind the operation. For the record, we cannot be fully certain that this was the case, but it is by far the most likely scenario.
  • Putin has called a meeting of his Security Council for later today. The aftermath of the meeting may shed light on any retaliation measures to be taken by Russia. The Kremlin's spokesman said the President will not be holding any bilateral meetings with Security Council members prior to that, including with Defence Minister Shoigu.