State by State Recap: New Mexico to South Carolina

If you’re reading this and still haven’t voted early stop, find where you can vote and then go vote. You will avoid the crowds on Tuesday and save yourself valuable time. If you have voted already then let’s continue with our state-by-state recap of this election cycle starting in New Mexico and going through South Carolina.

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.

New York: Scandalous

• 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.

North Carolina: Shifting Sands

• 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.

North Dakota: Locked In.

• 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.

Ohio: Blast from the Past

• 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.

Oklahoma: 2 more for the Underdogs

• 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.

Oregon: GOP’s #1 Draft Pick

• 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.

Pennsylvania: Expect the Unexpected

• 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.

Rhode Island: Time to Retire

• 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

South Carolina: You Lie!

• 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.

Today was the fourth of five posts in our state-by-state recap. We are entering the final stretch and tomorrow will wrap up with South Dakota to Wyoming.