Opening
“Welcome back, as we begin to look over the results of the 2010 midterms, opening up with the governor races' across the country. It is argued that the address by President Obama on the killing of Osama bin Laden on October 22nd played a pivotal part in the shifting of many races, but for now we'll go with the five closest races on Election Day; those being Florida, Maine, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin, and we'll open up with Florida first. The race between Florida was between that of Democrat Alex Sinks, the Chief Financial Officer of Florida, and Republican Rick Scott, venture capitalist. Charlie Crist's refusal to run for a third term set the election into motion, with Alex Sinks winning the Democratic nomination handily, while Rick Scott and Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum engaged in a constant and negative Republican primary, with Rick Scott winning the primary. For both Alex Sinks and Rick Scott, it was a very close campaign, with it being an indicative toss-up. As the results started to come in on the 2nd, by midnight, Rick Scott conceded to Alex Sinks over the phone placing her as Florida's 45th governor and first female governor. For her, the State Legislature will prove to be a problem controlled entirely by the Republicans, but not enough for a supermajority in the House, being one representative shy.
“Moving now to Maine, it was arguably more of a surprise, between Democrat Elizabeth Mitchell, President of the Maine Senate, Republican Paul LePage, Mayor of Waterville, and Independent Eliot Cutler, attorney and former staff member to Senator Edmund Muskie and adviser to President Carter. In the case of Mitchell, she found herself winning a very closely divided race, while LePage won by a large amount in his primary. The general election however, found Mitchell declining against LePage while Cutler himself started to gain, as attacks by both the Democrat and Republican candidate oriented towards Cutler to try and prevent a loss to him. As the results came in throughout the night, and into the morning it showed Cutler in the lead, but by a very slim margin. For now, Mayor Paul LePage has demanded a recount with the margin likely closing on the tens if not hundreds of votes, but it is expected that Eliot Cutler will be Maine's 74th governor and third independent. The state legislature is also of an interesting makeup, in that while the State Senate has found itself staunchly Republican, the House of Representatives has found itself in a tie between the Republicans and Democrats, with independent Benjamin Chipman of the 119th finding himself as the 'tiebreaker' as it were for the government. It will be interesting to see where it goes in Maine with this kind of situation.
“Shifting to Minnesota, we had the race between Democratic-Farmer-Labor Mark Dayton, former Senator, and Republican Tom Emmer, State Representative. Mark Dayton would wind up narrowly winning the party primary in a close race, while the announcement that Tim Pawlenty would not seek a third term would see an open field among Republicans with Tom Emmer winning the Republican primary. The general election found itself between Mark Dayton and Tom Emmer, with Mark Dayton consistently edging over Tom Emmer in polls and winning the election as Minnesota's 40th governor. He is the first Democrat since Rudy Perpich lost in the 1990 election, and will find himself in a secure position with the State Legislature remaining consistently Democrat despite fears it would flip Republican. Mark Dayton faces a better road ahead for Minnesota with a Democratic trifecta in place.
“Ohio found itself caught between Democrat Ted Strickland, incumbent Governor, and Republican John Kasich, former Representative. Strickland faced no challenge in his primary, while Kasich won his with no challenge. The race arguably found itself as a constant tossup between the two per polls, with polls in late October starting to show a slow uptick to Ted Strickland's numbers versus that of John Kasich as results were waited for. As the results came in, they moved to Kasich, but with Hamilton County and Cuyahoga County coming in Democrat, it started to rapidly shift and erode Kasich's lead as the results continued to come in. By 3AM, John Kasich had conceded the election to Ted Strickland, securing a second term for him as Governor of Ohio. The statehouse was a different story, with the Senate remaining in the hands of the Republicans, while the House was a different story. The House found itself under one of the closest margins, with it seeming to suggest the Democrats holding it by a single seat, but two seats will be heading towards recounts and could shift the House into either remaining Democrat or Republican, but it seems like both seats will stay the same. With the Democrats having maintained the Governorship, State Auditor, and the House, it will grant them majority control ahead of the next redistricting which will offer the Democrats something of a breather in Ohio.
“Finally arriving at Wisconsin, it saw a race between Democrat Tom Barrett, Mayor of Milwaukee, and Republican Scott Walker, Milwaukee County Executive. Tom Barrett won his primary when incumbent governor Jim Doyle announced he would not seek a third term, while Walker won the Republican primary handily. The general election would be somewhat tough with the emerging Tea Party Wave, and it would be, with Scott Walker having managing to win the Governorship at one of the closest margins yet in Wisconsin history. For Scott Walker, while he will face challenge from the state legislature, that despite the victory of Republicans in the State House, the Democrats in the State Senate (like those of the Ohio State House) found themselves barely holding onto the Senate by one vote. It will pose a significant challenge to Scott Walker moving forward and for now we'll have to see where that will take Wisconsin.
“Pennsylvania and Illinois also saw something of expectations, with Representative Joe Sestak winning the Senate election there after having defeated Pat Toomey in the general and Arian Specter in the primary. In Illinois, State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias winning the race against Senator Mark Kirk. Per the results from both Pennsylvania and Illinois, we can project the 112th Congress to have a Democratic-controlled Senate, with 53 Democrats, 45 Republicans, and 2 Independents, and a Republican-controlled House, with 228 Republicans and 207 Democrats. For President Obama, it will be somewhat less of a challenge than expected, with only twenty-one Representatives between the Democrats and Republicans in the House, and maintaining the control of the Senate.”
“Moving now to Maine, it was arguably more of a surprise, between Democrat Elizabeth Mitchell, President of the Maine Senate, Republican Paul LePage, Mayor of Waterville, and Independent Eliot Cutler, attorney and former staff member to Senator Edmund Muskie and adviser to President Carter. In the case of Mitchell, she found herself winning a very closely divided race, while LePage won by a large amount in his primary. The general election however, found Mitchell declining against LePage while Cutler himself started to gain, as attacks by both the Democrat and Republican candidate oriented towards Cutler to try and prevent a loss to him. As the results came in throughout the night, and into the morning it showed Cutler in the lead, but by a very slim margin. For now, Mayor Paul LePage has demanded a recount with the margin likely closing on the tens if not hundreds of votes, but it is expected that Eliot Cutler will be Maine's 74th governor and third independent. The state legislature is also of an interesting makeup, in that while the State Senate has found itself staunchly Republican, the House of Representatives has found itself in a tie between the Republicans and Democrats, with independent Benjamin Chipman of the 119th finding himself as the 'tiebreaker' as it were for the government. It will be interesting to see where it goes in Maine with this kind of situation.
“Shifting to Minnesota, we had the race between Democratic-Farmer-Labor Mark Dayton, former Senator, and Republican Tom Emmer, State Representative. Mark Dayton would wind up narrowly winning the party primary in a close race, while the announcement that Tim Pawlenty would not seek a third term would see an open field among Republicans with Tom Emmer winning the Republican primary. The general election found itself between Mark Dayton and Tom Emmer, with Mark Dayton consistently edging over Tom Emmer in polls and winning the election as Minnesota's 40th governor. He is the first Democrat since Rudy Perpich lost in the 1990 election, and will find himself in a secure position with the State Legislature remaining consistently Democrat despite fears it would flip Republican. Mark Dayton faces a better road ahead for Minnesota with a Democratic trifecta in place.
“Ohio found itself caught between Democrat Ted Strickland, incumbent Governor, and Republican John Kasich, former Representative. Strickland faced no challenge in his primary, while Kasich won his with no challenge. The race arguably found itself as a constant tossup between the two per polls, with polls in late October starting to show a slow uptick to Ted Strickland's numbers versus that of John Kasich as results were waited for. As the results came in, they moved to Kasich, but with Hamilton County and Cuyahoga County coming in Democrat, it started to rapidly shift and erode Kasich's lead as the results continued to come in. By 3AM, John Kasich had conceded the election to Ted Strickland, securing a second term for him as Governor of Ohio. The statehouse was a different story, with the Senate remaining in the hands of the Republicans, while the House was a different story. The House found itself under one of the closest margins, with it seeming to suggest the Democrats holding it by a single seat, but two seats will be heading towards recounts and could shift the House into either remaining Democrat or Republican, but it seems like both seats will stay the same. With the Democrats having maintained the Governorship, State Auditor, and the House, it will grant them majority control ahead of the next redistricting which will offer the Democrats something of a breather in Ohio.
“Finally arriving at Wisconsin, it saw a race between Democrat Tom Barrett, Mayor of Milwaukee, and Republican Scott Walker, Milwaukee County Executive. Tom Barrett won his primary when incumbent governor Jim Doyle announced he would not seek a third term, while Walker won the Republican primary handily. The general election would be somewhat tough with the emerging Tea Party Wave, and it would be, with Scott Walker having managing to win the Governorship at one of the closest margins yet in Wisconsin history. For Scott Walker, while he will face challenge from the state legislature, that despite the victory of Republicans in the State House, the Democrats in the State Senate (like those of the Ohio State House) found themselves barely holding onto the Senate by one vote. It will pose a significant challenge to Scott Walker moving forward and for now we'll have to see where that will take Wisconsin.
“Pennsylvania and Illinois also saw something of expectations, with Representative Joe Sestak winning the Senate election there after having defeated Pat Toomey in the general and Arian Specter in the primary. In Illinois, State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias winning the race against Senator Mark Kirk. Per the results from both Pennsylvania and Illinois, we can project the 112th Congress to have a Democratic-controlled Senate, with 53 Democrats, 45 Republicans, and 2 Independents, and a Republican-controlled House, with 228 Republicans and 207 Democrats. For President Obama, it will be somewhat less of a challenge than expected, with only twenty-one Representatives between the Democrats and Republicans in the House, and maintaining the control of the Senate.”
