Yesterday was election day and it will take some time to assess the results and figure out what they mean for next year’s elections. For good analysis of the Congressional races that is independent of yesterday’s results see my The Coming Realignment and dreaminonempty’s 2008: Blue Wave in House? – Current Conditions.
A quick look at yesterday’s results shows generally good news for the Democrats. Probably the brightest sign came from Virginia, where the Democrats took back the Senate and made gains in the House of Delegates. The highlight was the defeat of Rep. Tom Davis’ wife, Jeannemarie Devolites Davis. It’s a striking reversal of fortune for the Davis family. Two months ago, Tom Davis was the frontrunner to replace retiring Sen. John Warner. Now he has dropped out of the race, his wife is unemployed, and it looks increasingly likely that Davis will retire and his seat will fall to the Democrats, and the senate seat will be claimed by former Governor Mark Warner.
Based on the last three elections in Virginia, the state now has to be considered competitive in next year’s presidential contest.
News was also good in Ohio. You can read about the Democrats’ stunning sweep in formerly Republican Canton, Ohio here. As Tim Tagaris points out, the results are another indication that Ohio is likely going to be a Blue State in next year’s presidential election, and foretells some congressional pickups.
News from Kentucky was mixed. The Democrats crushed the scandal-plagued incumbent governor and retained the Attorney General’s position, but lost the Secretary of State race. The biggest news may be from state’s auditor’s race where the Democratic victor may turn right around and challenge Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s senate seat.
In New Jersey, the Dems added one senate seat to their majority, but lost a couple seats in the assembly and saw the voters reject some Dem-sponsored ballot initiatives.
In Philadelphia, the Democrats elected netroots’ approved Michael Nutter by a record 4+:1 margin. But the Dems slumped in the suburbs where low turnout contributed to typical Republican wins. Nevertheless, it looks like the Dems won two seats on the Supreme Court (yes, we vote on such stuff). The Dems also held off a scare in the Pittsburgh mayoral race. Turned out it wasn’t much of a scare at all, as “Mayor Luke Ravenstahl won easily over Republican challenger Mark DeSantis, beating the underdog 64 percent to 35 percent…”
The story in Mississippi was much different.
The notion that Mississippi Republicans would win an outright sweep of the 2007 general election in the eight statewide offices was thwarted by Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood’s overwhelming win over Republican challenger Al Hopkins.
But in winning an unprecedented number of those statewide offices – the most since Reconstruction – incumbent Republican Gov. Haley Barbour led a Republican juggernaut on Tuesday that not only makes history for his party, but also presents the GOP the responsibility of a true mandate to set a course for Mississippi’s future.
Now dominating the executive branch of state government and with tacit parity in the legislative branch guaranteed by the election of Phil Bryant as lieutenant governor, Mississippi Republicans now bear the full mantle of leadership.
Maybe Mississippi is from Mars and the rest of the country is from Venus. Who knows?
Indiana had some seriously close mayoral elections. The Republicans took over the mayor’s seat in Indianapolis, but lost seats elsewhere, including Fort Wayne, where “Democrat Tom Henry beat Republican Matt Kelty, who was indicted on campaign finance and perjury charges after winning a tight GOP primary.”
Typical.
Got any election news or observations?