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NPR Bracket, Round 1 Results: Top Seeds Advance, 'The Mooch' With An Upset

Anthony Scaramucci, whose tenure at the White House was short but attention-getting, made a splash in the first round of voting in the NPR Top Political Story of the Year Bracket.
Chip Somodevilla

It was a pretty predictable first round of voting in the NPR Top Political Story of the Year Bracket.

The top seeds all advanced easily. The only upset was 10-seeded Anthony Scaramucci's 10 days in the White House breezing past the far-more important New York Truck Attack, which was a 7-seed.

But "The Mooch's" staying power in the bracket might turn out similarly to his stay in the White House — make a splash, but short-lived. That's because he's up against the 2-seed Charlottesville violence in the next round. (Charlottesville advanced easily, 97-3, over Majority GOP Support for marijuana legalization, a first.)

There was one tie by percentage, No. 7 TPP torn up vs. No. 10 Trump says "Pocahontas" in front of Navajo Code Talkers. It turned out 50-50, but there was an odd number of votes, and Twitter says TPP won (though we were unable to see raw-vote totals.)

Voting commences again at noon. Log onto Twitter and vote here.

Here's the bracket with Round 1 results:

NPR's Top Political Story of the Year bracket with Round One results filled in. Voting in Round Two begins Wednesday at noon ET.
Domenico Montanaro / NPR

What to watch in Round 2

1 Trump Inaugurated vs. 9 Gold Star Mom: All the No. 1 seeds advanced easily, but Trump Inaugurated showed some weakness only beating Trump Looks at Eclipse, 72-28. And it's against a strong 9 seed Wednesday, Trump vs. Gold Star Mom. It did quite well, beating out No. 8 Priebus Out of White House, 64-36.

Some other possible close ones:

5 Deportations/DACA vs. 4 Women's March
5 McCain thumbs down vs. 4 Trump vs. NFL/black athletes
6 Travel ban vs. 3 Gutting Obamacare
5 Doug Jones' win vs. 4 The End of Net-Neutrality
6 Donald Trump Jr's email revelations vs. 3 Gun violence
7 Transgender ban vs. "Alternative Facts"
6 North Korea missile tests/"Rocket Man" vs. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Domenico Montanaro is NPR's senior political editor/correspondent. Based in Washington, D.C., his work appears on air and online delivering analysis of the political climate in Washington and campaigns. He also helps edit political coverage.
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