State by State Recap: South Dakota to Wyoming

Here it is, the final state-by-state recap of what’s been happening the past few months to shape this election in South Dakota to Wyoming.

South Dakota: Wide Open Races

• Senator John Thune (R) has no opponent
• Governor Mike Rounds (R) isn’t running again

Tennessee: Business Wins

• Three out of nine House members are not running again.
• GOP and Democrats both nominated businessmen for the open governor’s seat.
• Rep. Steven Cohen (D TN 9) beats his African-American challenger in the Democratic primary.

Texas: Some Things Never Change

• Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) didn’t get nominated for governor, she also didn’t resign her Senate seat as promised.
• All 32 House members are running again.

Utah: Tea Party’s First Victim

• Senator Bob Bennett (R) lost at the convention and was subsequently denied a spot on the primary ballot.
• Tea party candidate Mike Lee (R) will win the Senate seat.
• President Obama picked Governor Jon Huntsman (R) as ambassador to China and his replacement is on the ballot making 37 gubernatorial contests this year.

Vermont: An Easy Win

• Senator Patrick Leahy (D) is a sure bet for reelection.
• Governor James Douglas (R) isn’t running again.
• Democratic gubernatorial primary required a recount.

Virginia: The GOP Starts to Gain Ground

• Republicans picked up the 2009 governor’s race and started the buzz for 2010
• Outgoing governor Tim Kaine (D) is the DNC chair.

Washington: Doing Things Differently

• Both Senators and the Governor are women.
• Dino Rossi (R) is running statewide for third time in six years.
• Washington uses an open primary system where the top two, regardless of party, end up in the general election.
• Washington also has a high percentage of the electorate who are permanent absentee voters.

West Virginia: A Surprising Battlefield

• Senator Bob Byrd (D) died and his special election increases the number of Senate seats this election to 37.
• Rep. Alan Mollohan (D WV 1) lost the Democratic primary.
• The GOP needed to close the gap to control the Senate putting Gov. Joe Manchin (D) in the hot seat.

Wisconsin: Register and Vote Today

• Two-term Governor Jim Doyle (D) decided not to run again.
• Rep. Dave Obey (D WI 7) is retiring after 21 terms.
• Wisconsin has same-day voter registration.

Wyoming: A Narrow Win

• The complicated Republican primary narrowly nominated a winner in the open gubernatorial race.

If you need to review all of the state’s visit all of our previous recaps here. Now that we have each state’s election cycle history fresh in our minds I think we are ready for Election Night. We will be tweeting most of the results with our Twitter handle @BIPAC, while our sister site, www.bipac.org, will be hosting a more in-depth Election Night results coverage.