Today is Nov. 9, 2023, and here’s what you need to know:

Voters delivered different messages in Colorado’s school board elections across Tuesday, with candidates backed by teachers unions sweeping in multiple districts across the state even as conservatives and reformers picked up sizable wins.

“There were a lot of mixed messages,” said Republican political consultant Tyler Sandberg. “In some places, there were some real clear narrative – voters spoke clearly – but in other areas, they were a little more mealy mouthed, if you will, in their messages to politicians.”

If there was a consistent theme, he added, it was a desire by voters to throw out the incumbents in districts whose boards have been dominated by controversy and chaos.

After losses by all three Denver school board candidates endorsed by the teachers union, school advocates from different points of the political spectrum predicted changes ahead.

“I think we’re going to have a lot less drama and more focus on kids,” said Parker Baxter, director of the Center for Education Policy Analysis at the University of Colorado Denver.

The Center for Education Policy Analysis works with educators and school districts, nonprofits and government agencies to improve public education as a resource for decision makers.

For months, the public has criticized the Denver Public Schools Board of Education for a series of missteps that began with a school closure list last fall through the firing of a beloved principal this past summer.

The palpable frustration was captured in a couple of polls leading up to the election showing low public confidence, with 70% of likely voters dissatisfied with the all-union backed board.

Tuesday’s election results reflected that frustration.

A jury will decide whether a state employee was subjected to racial discrimination when she was repeatedly passed over for promotions for reasons a federal judge deemed “incredible” and “flat out wrong.”

Deanna Butler, who has worked for the government for 30 years, filed suit against the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment based on multiple instances of applying for a higher-level position, only to see the jobs go to younger, White applicants. Butler, who is Black, argued she then had to train the less-experienced hires and wound up performing the duties of one position anyway, despite being denied the promotion.

Although U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney found the evidence did not support some of Butler’s claims, she agreed after a hearing on Tuesday that Butler could proceed to trial over one specific instance of non-promotion. When a younger, White man was hired in 2019 instead of Butler, Sweeney concluded the department’s representation of his qualifications and characterization of Butler’s interview were so questionable as to raise a credible case of discrimination.

“I do find that poses a question of fact whether the decision to hire him over her was valid,” Sweeney said.

Abortion rights messaging proved to be a winning issue during Tuesday night’s off-year elections and it could help President Joe Biden’s reelection as it struggles to defend itself against worrying polls in hypothetical rematches against former President Donald Trump.

Polls from the New York Times-Siena College showed Trump leading Biden in five out of six key battleground states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania – prompting Democratic fretting over the 2024 elections. A CNN poll released Tuesday night showed Trump leading Biden 49% to 45%, another troubling sign. But positive signs from across the nation on Tuesday may give Biden a narrative strategy to counteract Trump, should he win the GOP nomination.

In bellwether Virginia, Republicans lost control of both chambers in the state legislature, severely thwarting Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s hopes of enacting a 15-week abortion restriction. Youngkin had argued that if Virginians gave him legislative trifecta, he could pass conservative policies he can’t enact currently due to Democrats controlling the state Senate.

Sarah Chamberlain, president and CEO of the Republican Main Street Partnership, told the Washington Examiner the results were “disappointing,” but it wouldn’t damper Youngkin’s ability to run for president in 2028 should he want to seek higher office.