WWTBAM Bored

All results and posts regarding non-presidential races (U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governors, ballot Initiatives, etc.) go into this thread.

Mark Warner will be the new U.S. Senator from Virginia. This is a Democratic pickup.

Mitch Daniels over Jill Long Thompson for Indiana Governor. No surprise there.

No surprise, but only because Mitch Daniels has had an aggressively successful first term. Indiana is not feeling near the dip from this recession that other states are. Also, the Dems ran one of the weakest candidates in recent memory.

Indiana definitely tilts Republican in national contests, but before Daniels' first win, we had had 16 straight years of Democrats in the Governor's office.

Jeanne Shaheen defeats incumbent John Sununu for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire.

This is Democratic pickup #2 in the Senate.

Kay Hagan has upset Elizabeth Dole in the U.S. Senate race in North Carolina.

Dem pickup #3.

MSNBC has called the Missouri governor's race. Democrat Jay Nixon will defeat Republican Kenny Hulshof. Nixon will replace Republican Matt Blunt (son of House minority whip Roy Blunt), who chose not to seek a second term.

CNN has projected that Sen. Mitch McConnell will be re-elected narrowly here in Kentucky.

Tom Udall wins the U.S. Senate seat in New Mexico. This is Democratic pickup #4.

Democrat Bev Perdue has won the North Carolina gubernatorial race.

The Republicans got one tonight. Republican Bill Cassidy has defeated incumbent Democrat Don Cazayoux in Louisiana's 6th House District.

NellyLunatic1980 wrote:The Republicans got one tonight. Republican Bill Cassidy has defeated incumbent Democrat Don Cazayoux in Louisiana's 6th House District.

We'll get another in Texas-22

John Murtha, goin' back for an 18th term. Even with his bad case of Foot-In-Mouth Disease

Jason Altmire defeats Missy Heartless, er, Melissa Hart, up in District 14. Jason (D) took the seat from Melissa (R) 2 years ago, & looks like he's keeping it.

It looks like the Senate will be either 58-42 or 57-43 depending on the result in Oregon. Although there's no results in Alaska, I can't see Stevens holding that seat. It also looks like Saxby Chambliss will win without a runoff.

This means the Democrats will still have to deal with Joe Lieberman. If they suck up to him, they will find it easier to peel off a couple of the more moderate Republicans to get to 60 votes.

The best thing the Republicans have going is the fact that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are about as incompetent a pair of leaders as you will find. The second best thing the Republicans have going is that Obama isn't going to push hard for any specific agenda (people will discover real quick that he's no socialist and no progressive).

NellyLunatic1980 wrote:Tom Udall wins the U.S. Senate seat in New Mexico. This is Democratic pickup #4.

Cousin Mark Udall won in Colorado.

It now looks like it will probably be 56-44 but the Dems could catch a break and make it 58-42. Apparently Saxby Chambliss is up by about 20,000 votes over what he needs to avoid a runoff. Ted Stevens won in Alaska, which says to me that voters there were more scared of a filibuster-proof Senate than shocked about Stevens. Norm Coleman is up by less than 1000 votes in Minnesota, and Gordon Smith is up by about 15000 in Oregon. The votes total is complete in MN and GA, about 75% in OR. Look for recounts for sure.

One prediction I made is coming true. The close races for Senate are all breaking the same way, for the Republicans this time.

Now the question becomes whether Sarah Palin will get herself apponted to take Stevens' place when he steps down. And will Jesse Jackson Jr. be named Senator from IL.

The worst result for the Dems in the Senate races was Kentucky. Mitch McConnell has proved very adept as a minority leader and he will have just enough votes, if he can convince Lieberman and a couple of the more conservative Democrats like the Nelsons or the Arkansas Senators to go along with him, to effectively block a good bit of the Democratic agenda. I wonder if Harry Reid stays on as majority leader or resigns.

silverscreenselect wrote:Now the question becomes whether Sarah Palin will get herself apponted to take Stevens' place when he steps down. And will Jesse Jackson Jr. be named Senator from IL.

I'll bet that's why he won. The Alaska folkses wanted to reward Palin even if McCain lost.

SportsFan68 wrote:

silverscreenselect wrote:Now the question becomes whether Sarah Palin will get herself apponted to take Stevens' place when he steps down. And will Jesse Jackson Jr. be named Senator from IL.

I'll bet that's why he won. The Alaska folkses wanted to reward Palin even if McCain lost.

Well, my guess is that Palin will not be appointed for the short time before the special election.. I think that it is a good possibility that she runs in the special election after Stevens steps down. (Why give up the Governorship to be Senator until it is a permanant position?)

If Palin runs, would there be just token opposition?

Appa23 wrote:

SportsFan68 wrote:

silverscreenselect wrote:Now the question becomes whether Sarah Palin will get herself apponted to take Stevens' place when he steps down. And will Jesse Jackson Jr. be named Senator from IL.

I'll bet that's why he won. The Alaska folkses wanted to reward Palin even if McCain lost.

Well, my guess is that Palin will not be appointed for the short time before the special election.. I think that it is a good possibility that she runs in the special election after Stevens steps down. (Why give up the Governorship to be Senator until it is a permanant position?)

If Palin runs, would there be just token opposition?

Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich might run again.

Bob Juch wrote:

Appa23 wrote:

SportsFan68 wrote: I'll bet that's why he won. The Alaska folkses wanted to reward Palin even if McCain lost.

Well, my guess is that Palin will not be appointed for the short time before the special election.. I think that it is a good possibility that she runs in the special election after Stevens steps down. (Why give up the Governorship to be Senator until it is a permanant position?)

If Palin runs, would there be just token opposition?

Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich might run again.

I'm not sure, but my understanding is that any special election would occur in 2010, and that if Stevens steps down between now and then, the appointee would serve the remainder of the time between now and then. There were two Senate races in both Wyoming and Mississippi this year because of vacancies that occurred since the last election. Whoever is appointed in IL and DE will serve until 2010 as well.

The way I see it, if Palin is thinking of the Presidency in 2012 or 2016, she goes after the Senate seat now. If she returns to Alaska as governor, she'll be another Geraldine Ferraro in a few months.

And if Mark Begich couldn't beat Ted Stevens, how can he expect to beat a Republican who hasn't been convicted of a felony?

NellyLunatic1980 wrote:CNN has projected that Sen. Mitch McConnell will be re-elected narrowly here in Kentucky.

No surprise here, either, although it was closer than expected. Had the Democrats chosen a decent candidate the outcome might well have been different.

silverscreenselect wrote:

Bob Juch wrote:

Appa23 wrote: Well, my guess is that Palin will not be appointed for the short time before the special election.. I think that it is a good possibility that she runs in the special election after Stevens steps down. (Why give up the Governorship to be Senator until it is a permanant position?)

If Palin runs, would there be just token opposition?

Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich might run again.

I'm not sure, but my understanding is that any special election would occur in 2010, and that if Stevens steps down between now and then, the appointee would serve the remainder of the time between now and then. There were two Senate races in both Wyoming and Mississippi this year because of vacancies that occurred since the last election. Whoever is appointed in IL and DE will serve until 2010 as well.

The way I see it, if Palin is thinking of the Presidency in 2012 or 2016, she goes after the Senate seat now. If she returns to Alaska as governor, she'll be another Geraldine Ferraro in a few months.

And if Mark Begich couldn't beat Ted Stevens, how can he expect to beat a Republican who hasn't been convicted of a felony?

Alaska law (either one) requires a special election within 90 days (well, 60-90 days, IIRC) of Stevens resignation.

Sec. 15.40.140. Condition and time of calling special election.

When a vacancy occurs in the office of United States senator or United States representative, the governor shall, by proclamation, call a special election to be held on a date not less than 60, nor more than 90, days after the date the vacancy occurs. However, if the vacancy occurs on a date that is less than 60 days before or is on or after the date of the primary election in the general election year during which a candidate to fill the office is regularly elected, the governor may not call a special election.

Sec. 15.40.145. Temporary appointment of United States senator. [See revisor's note]..

When a vacancy occurs in the office of United States senator, the governor may, at least five days after the date of the vacancy but within 30 days after the date of the vacancy, appoint a qualified individual to fill the vacancy temporarily until the results of the special election called to fill the vacancy are certified. If a special election is not called for the reasons set out in AS 15.40.140 , the individual shall fill the vacancy temporarily until the results of the next general election are certified.


(There was an iniative passed that says that the Governor can not appoint a replacement until the special election, but it appears to be unconstitutional.)

Oh, SSS beat me to the punch on "if Begich can't beat a convicted felon, how is he going to beat the most popular Governor of Alaska?"

silverscreenselect wrote:Now the question becomes whether Sarah Palin will get herself apponted to take Stevens' place when he steps down. And will Jesse Jackson Jr. be named Senator from IL.

As to the former, I'd almost bank on it. Palin needs national experience and there's no better way to get it than being in the Senate.

Both houses of the Tennessee's state legislature is controlled by the GOP for the first time since Reconstruction.

A friend of mine narrowly lost his bid for a state house seat.

The latest returns in Georgia now show that there will be a runoff. Saxby Chambliss is about 11,000 votes short of a clear majority. There's no way to know how many votes are left to count or where they are, but both he and Martin are acting like there will be a runoff.

earendel wrote:

silverscreenselect wrote:Now the question becomes whether Sarah Palin will get herself apponted to take Stevens' place when he steps down. And will Jesse Jackson Jr. be named Senator from IL.

As to the former, I'd almost bank on it. Palin needs national experience and there's no better way to get it than being in the Senate.

Didn't Alaska change it rules on how a senator gets replaced after Murkowski appointed his daughter to take over his seat when he became governor?

And even if it hasn't, is Palin allowed to appoint herself?