I admit it.  I stayed up until after 3 a.m. this morning to see who would become our next president.  And I have a feeling many of you did as well.  While it is safe to say that no one is sure what to expect from a Trump presidency, we can pray that he makes good on his campaign promises to appoint pro-life judges and defend religious liberty.

In local races, it appears that recreational marijuana has been legalized.  As the father of four young children, the eldest of whom is a newly minted teenager, this is deeply troubling.  I remember when I was that age and public schools promoted the DARE program and “just say no” to drugs.  With marijuana having only become more potent in the last 30 years, it is appalling that we have now made it far, far easier for this gateway drug to fall into the hands of our children.

We are grateful to all of the local faith leaders and activists who stood together in opposition to Question 4.  This loss only demonstrates the importance of mobilizing the faith community earlier and more often on issues like this.  We are working to make that happen.

Unfortunately, MA wasn’t alone in the cannabis fight last night.  Recreational Marijuana ballot initiatives were also successful in California and Nevada, and are still too close to call in Maine and Arizona.

On a positive note, MA voters resoundingly rejected casino gambling expansion by a margin of 60 to 40.

A lot of attention was paid to the race in the critical swing state of North Carolina last night.  While we know that Trump won the presidential vote in the Tar Heel state, the governor’s race is still too close to call.  This has national significance, as incumbent Governor Pat McCrory was heavily targeted by the left for his valiant stand against the transgender juggernaut earlier this year.  A McCrory victory (as currently being reported by at least one news outlet) would have high symbolic value for the national fight against the transgender bathroom agenda.

Speaking of the bathroom bill, we learned late Monday that there will NOT be a legal challenge to the certified signatures MA voters collected this past summer to put our bathroom and locker room law on the ballot in 2018.  This is a major answer to prayer and would mean that KeepMASafe has passed the last hurdle to giving the people the right to vote to restore privacy and safety in our Commonwealth on our next election night in two years.

For our families,