In 2018, 33 US Senate seats, or one-third of the US Senate, will be up for election.

Eight incumbents are Republicans, but each of their states routinely vote Republican and so they are unlikely to face serious competition. At this early date, the following five Democratic incumbents appear to hold the most vulnerable US Senate seats.

#1. Claire McCaskill – Missouri

First of all, credit where credit is due: Donald Trump went on TV last night and told his supporters to “stop it,” with “it” referring to acts of violence and intimidation aimed at Latinos, Muslims, and other groups who were targeted in some ways by the campaign rhetoric. This was an important step in the right direction.

I saw two maps shown by John King on CNN when he was analyzing the 2012 election. They illustrated with striking clarity the political divide in this nation. Those maps pointed towards a possible path liberals could take to reasert their importance in the political system.

The first map showed the states, colored red or blue, depending on which presidential candidate won a majority in each one. In that election they were pretty evenly divided.

The 2016 presidential race has been called for Donald Trump. But Clinton won the national popular vote. This is the fifth time in history that the popular vote winner wasn’t elected president—a failure rate of about 10%. For most people—irrespective of political ideology— denying the national popular vote winner seems unfair.

This election was historic for the movement to break big money’s grip on our political system. On November 8, 2016, voters in South Dakota passed the first-ever statewide Anti-Corruption Act. This ballot initiative was led by Represent.Us volunteers and members.

In San Francisco, a Represent.Us volunteer-led coalition passed a new law to stop lobbyists from bribing politicians. It passed by one of the widest margins of any law in San Francisco history.

I've written many times on the Electoral College. While there are problems we should address, I'm not for the wholesale elimination of the concept.

I'll admit, I'm a center-left, cross-ballot voter. This year, my ballot looked like a Christmas tree, lit up with red, blue, and yellow blips of light that would drive any exit-pollster nuts -- and as such, in the last 16 years I've been 'burned' twice by my presidential pick winning the popular vote while losing the Electoral College.

You may be asking how the Libertarian Party could have won the 2016 election with no seats in Congress and with its presidential candidate finishing in a very, very distant third place behind the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.

But in an election year that everyone considers eccentric at the least, it might not be which party technically "won" so much as which party made forward strides, and by that measure it's a great year to be a Libertarian.

Is criticism of Trump fair-minded? After what has been called 'the most disgusting US presidential race ever,' fair judgement of President-Elect Donald Trump will play a key role in bringing the US together.

La democracia funciona mejor cuando el mayor número de gente participa. Ese fue el slogan que empoderó las campañas de las Medidas K y L, y fue celebrada con victorias para ambas medidas, las cuales reformarán el Acta de la Ciudad de San Diego.

La Medida K ganó con el 58% de los votos. La Medida L obtuvo el 65% del voto favorable.

San Diego, Calif. -- The Independent Voter Project (IVP), in partnership with Alliance San Diego, has succeeded in helping to pass Measure K, expanding the decision making process for voters in the City of San Diego.