New Mexico: Freshmen
- All 3 House members are freshman.
- Governor Bill Richardson (D) had to turn down an Obama Administration appointment because of ongoing ethics investigations.
- Both parties nominated women for governor.
- Both the Governor and one Senator were not elected to their post.
- Both senators on the ballot in 2010
- GOP lost an open House seat in the 23rd district because of splits between conservatives and moderates.
- Freshman Eric Massa (R NY 29) resigned after a sex scandal.
- Rep. Charles Rangel (R NY 15) was ousted as chair of the Ways and Means Committee due to an ethics investigation but Rangel still wins renomination in the Democratic primary.
- Michael Bloomberg barely won reelection as NYC mayor as an independent.
- Both Senators and the Governor are in their first terms.
- President Obama won both the primary and general election in 2008.
- Women have been winning more statewide offices lately.
- Population increases and shifts have altered the political turnout patterns up and down the ballot.
- Senator Byron Dorgan (D) is retiring and Governor John Hoeven (R) is running for his seat.
- Republicans are counting this as an automatic gain on their way to controlling the Senate.
- President Obama carried the state’s 20 Electoral College votes with big turnout from students across multiple campuses.
- Senator George Voinovich (R) is not running for a third term.
- GOP is “reaching back” to former House members for Senate and gubernatorial candidates.
- Democrats took both the Governor and the Senate seats in 2006
- All 18 House members are running again.
- An upset in the Democratic primary led to two women being nominated for governor.
- Rep. Dan Boren (D OK 2) beat Democratic primary opponent who cited incumbent’s GOP-like voting record.
- GOP voters in the 5th district’s open seat nominate a camp counselor over big-spending legislators with big name endorsements.
- Democrats nominated a former governor, GOP pick a former NBA player for governor.
- Senator Ron Wyden (D) has avoided the GOP target list in his bid for a fourth term.
- Senator Arlen Specter (D, formerly R) lost his primary despite labor & party endorsements and a polling advantage
- Democratic choice for governor also lost in the primary
- Republicans lost in the 12th district’s special election despite making Obama, Reid and Pelosi the issue in a blue collar district.
- Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D RI 1) is not running again
- Governor Donald Carcieri (R) is retiring.
- Defeated Senator Lincoln Chafee (I, formerly R) is running for governor
- You’ve read the headlines about Mark Sanford, no need to relive it.
- Republicans nominated an Indian-American woman for governor after she was endorsed by outgoing governor’s ex-wife.
- The late Senator Strom Thurmond’s son lost to an African-American legislator in the 1st district’s GOP runoff.
- Rep. Joe Wilson (R SC 2) hollered “you lie” and it became a household word.